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Leona Build Guide by Wishful Requiem

AD Offtank Leona Jungle Season 7

AD Offtank Leona Jungle Season 7

Updated on December 5, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Wishful Requiem Build Guide By Wishful Requiem 24,059 Views 0 Comments
24,059 Views 0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Wishful Requiem Leona Build Guide By Wishful Requiem Updated on December 5, 2016
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Introduction: Why play Leona Jungle

Leona's primary role in League is a support, but what makes her a good support can also make her a good jungler. She has some of the highest single target lock down in the game and her W makes her tanky enough to dive into team fights or under towers. While her early clear is a little slow, her ganks are devastating, and she synergizes very well with Courage of the Colossus.
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Pros / Cons

Pros:
Lots of fun
Powerful ganks at all points in the game
Good tank scaling with W, Cinderhulk, and Colossus
Strong team-fight presence
One of the best single target lock downs in the game
Off-meta but good, your enemies will often underestimate you

Cons:
Weak solo-dueling early game
Slow early clears
Somewhat vulnerable to counter-jungling from the likes of a Shaco or Lee Sin (you probably won't die but you can't kill them)
Enemy teams that are good at kiting are the bane of your existence
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Runes

I use my standard AD page for Jungle Leona. Flat MR and armor give a bit of tankiness early, as you don't itemize fore resistances early on with this build. The AD and attack speed are pretty necessary for your early clear - I tried taking AP and hybid pen instead and nearly got executed on my first clear. Scaling armor and MR would also work if you have it, though you'll take a bit more damage on your first clear, which reduces the power of your early ganks.
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Masteries

Colossus is why you play this, so take that obviously.
Meditate over Merciless helps if you are looking at a low mana build, and usually having the mana to keep casting will let you do more damage than Merciless does anyways.
Take all the resistances buffs in the Resolve tree, they make your W even stronger
You need Savagery and Tough skin to stay high enough in your early clears to be able to gank early in the game.
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Items

Start Machete and three pots. You're going to be doing the red/krugs level 3 gank and if you take talisman or refillable you get too low (more on that later).

Cinderhulk is the obvious enchantment for a tank jungler like Leona. All 3 smites are viable, and are dependent on your personal play style. I personally prefer skirmisher's, as you're guaranteed at least 3 autos with ur AA-Q-AA, which already does more damage than chilling, and the damage reduction make you even tankier. Personally, I feel like the slow from chilling, while nice, is unnecessary because of the rest of your CC, and Tracker's just isn't my playstyle, though is usually necessary at higher levels of play.

Trinity Force and Titanic Hydra are the damage core of this build. At 3800g and 3500g, they are two of the most expensive items in the game, so it's really important to remain active all game, farming and getting kills and assists. Situationally you can replace the Trinity Force with a Frozen Gauntlet, but that sacrifices most of your damage. The Sheen and Tiamat are the most important parts of the two build paths. Sheen gives you higher single target damage, great for gank heavy games, and tiamat gives lots of AOE to power farm better. Buying an early tiamat does slow down your Trinity Force, but it does speed up your early clears, allowing you to spend more time ganking. If you're having a game that looks like it's going to be fast paced from the outset, I'd suggest starting a tiamat so you can have more time to roam and be a presence on the map. If a game looks slow, I'd just go straight for the Trinity Force, as the sheen rush will make your ganks significantly stronger.

For boots, you want to pick up tier one early on in the game, as they will make ganks and roaming easier. If the enemy team upgrades to tier two early, you should as well so you can keep up. If not, it's safe to wait until finishing your core damage items before upgrading your boots, unless you need their defensive stats. For jungle Leona I recommend Ninja Tabi or Mercury Treads, into AD or AP teams respectively. Swiftness boots aren't that great and your Cinderhulk will mess up mobility boots. You already have all the attack speed you need from the Trinity Force so Beserkers are a bad buy and you don't deal enough magic damage to justify Sorcerer's Shoes. While some builds will work with Lucidity boots, you already have 20% CDR from the Trinity Force Rush, and are usually better off itemizing more defensively, as you are a tank.

For actual tank items, your build will vary greatly by game.

Armor:
Frozen Heart: Great pickup. Caps you at 40% CDR, it's cheaper this patch that before, passive is great, and has loads of armor. Mana is always good.
Randuins Omen: If they have a lot of Crit Damage, get this one. Think something like a Draven, Caitlin, Tristana, or Yasuo. Has health so it goes well with your Cinderulk.
Deadman's Plate: If you're against people you have to run down a lot. While your E will usually mean you don't have problems sticking to people, another slow and a mild speed-up on yourself doesn't hurt. Mainly buy only if you need health AND armor, and they don't have the crit to make Randuins worth it.
Thornmail: Usually only something to buy after you already own a lot of armor because of how it's passive works, a Thornmail rush can actually work in a few situations with Leona. Since her W adds, for up to 6 seconds, a flat amount of armor and MR, plus 20% of her bonus resistances, she can add over another 100 armor with W and masteries.

Magic Resistance:
Locket of the Iron Solari: Thematically appropriate on Leona through her lore, the Locket also functions as a solid MR pickup. The item now gives Armor and MR, and the active shield can get up to 665 damage absorption per champion. Against teams with lots of high AOE damage or predictable wombos, Locket is a must buy, and still serves as a valuable MR pick-up most games, as throwing the shield up on yourself while your W is up will let you soak a ridiculous amount of damage.
Banshees Veil: Good against people the spell shield will help you against. Otherwise, just not a good buy on Leona.
Spirit Visage: You don't get much out of the passive aside from smiting jungle camps (unless you get a Knight's Vow), but the MR, HP, and CDR are always nice, especially if you didn't get a Frozen Heart and still need the CDR.

Other Options:
Righteous Glory: Run at them fast. Really good for hard initiations if the enemy team is doing well at pulling back when you engage.
Warmogs: Health, health, and more health. 10% cdr is nice, but you're really only getting the full use of this item if you're making good use of the passive. If you're having fights where you get out with a sliver of health but then can't go back in, get a warmogs, just stay at the edge until you regen enough to rejoin. Also good if you win a team fight but then need to still be able to tank a subsequent Baron or Elder Dragon for your team. Not a super good buy if you're behind though, as you're probably dying in fights and not getting use of the passive.
Ohmwrecker: Kind of troll, but if you're diving a lot it's a decent buy. Leona is naturally a really good diver with her W so you shouldn't need this, but if your team is going in before you and taking tower agro, this will help save them.
Knight's Vow: Last but not least. This item is really good, and is designed for tank supports like Leona. While this is a jungle guide, Knight's Vow is still a good pickup in the jungle, especially if you have a hyper-carry who can heal you a lot, and needs the damage reduction. Someone like a late game Kog-maw, Tristana, Cassiopeia, or Caitlyn would be prime for a Knight's Vow buy.
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Skill Sequence

Start Q level 1, it'll let you take less net damage that starting W, as it lets you get in an extra auto-attack for more lifesteal, and you take 0 damage while red is stunned.
W level 2 to take less damage from krugs, then E level 3 to do a level 3 gank. If you're just going to keep farming and not gank, wait until level 4 to put a point in E.

Passive: Sunlight. All your spells apply "sunlight" to your enemies. Allied auto-attacks proc this mark for bonus magic damage. The fact that Leona can't proc her own sunlight is why she is usually stuck bot, but it makes her jungle ganks surprisingly potent, as each gank should result in at least 3 procs, and in teamfights, a single target can be subjected to up to 8 sunlight procs in one spell rotation alone. If possible, try to space out your spells so your team can proc the sunlight for extra damage.

Max Q second. Auto-attack reset that also stuns, does a bit of damage. Stun duration doesn't go up but the cooldown drops and damage goes up. Your Q synergizes very well with Sheen. Ideally you'd get an auto off, and then reset your AA with Q, as that does more damage. Sometimes, however, if you're trying to initiate a teamfight on someone who might flash out, just press your Q before you E into the fight, so you can stun them as soon as you land and start to chain your CC.

Max W first. This is where Leona gets her tankiness. Activate it as you're about to start taking damage. It lasts 3 seconds, and if the burst hits an enemy, it then lasts another 3 after that. By the time those 6 seconds are up, you should have won any skirmish, and if you haven't, you should probably run because you get a LOT squishier once your W runs out.

Max E last. It's really a one point wonder. It passes through minions and does a bit of damage. Passes through all units in its range, then snares and pulls you towards the farthest enemy champion you hit. This is your engage tool, and puts you right on top of your target. Can be used for a little extra damage on jungle camps, but usually a waste of mana on everything except for Raptors.

Put a point R whenever you can (duh). The range on Solar Flare is much further than most people expect - most people think Nasus E when it's a lot more like Kog'maw R (first rank). Little circle that stuns in the middle, larger circle that just slows. You can use it to catch someone out from distance, but usually you'll just chain it of of your E-Q combo to guarantee the stun. Your next 3-5 (scales with rank) auto attacks gain range and bonus magic damage, and apply your passive.
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Gameplay

EARLY GAME

Start Red Buff. Make sure you don't get invaded early by setting up a ward line in the river - your team will almost always be happy to help. If you do get invaded, just run, any jungler who's invading you can probably kill you unless you have help.
Take red, the krugs, you're now level 3. Make sure you have enough mana for a full combo with 3 spells, then gank the nearest lane (as long as they are gankable... don't dive level 3). If the enemy player(s) don't expect it, you're almost guaranteed a kill, showing up level 3 against enemies only level 2 (or even level 1 sometimes botlane).


MID-GAME and SKIRMISHING

Buy a Bami's Cinder early if you can, the passive helps your clear speed a lot. Gank whenever you can, without sacrificing your farm. In the season 7 jungle, camps tank a lot longer to spawn than before, so it's usually most advantageous to do a full clear, then gank, back, buy, repeat. Focus on objectives above kills - if you win a teamfight, take a tower or dragon over chasing down the last enemy. Keep an eye on Baron once it spawns, always have a ward in the area.

If the enemy jungler shows up on one side of the map, if you can, run into their jungle and steal their camps. Is counter-jungling very frustrating to play against? Yes. Does is help you win? Also yes. If you can clear a side of their jungle, even if the gank was successful, you just denied them a kill's worth of gold, and even more in XP, so overall, you came out better, even though your ally died. Don't get too distract counter-jungling though - make sure you're still ganking. Just don't hang around in or near a lane for too long or the enemy jungler will come and steal your camps.


LATE-GAME and TEAM FIGHTS

When teamfighting, Leona only has one mode: All. In. Hard. Only go in if you're sure your team is going to follow up, or you'll just be suiciding. When you go in, turn on your W and try and dive a carry, usually the ADC or enemy midlaner, and lock them down with your Q and R. Use your auto attack resets to maximize your damage to burst them down with your team.
Sometimes you'll end up in a situation where you need to be peeling against their engage - usually when the enemy team has fed assassins or bruisers and keep getting to your carries and killing them every fight. In this circumstance, try to just sit next to your carries and stun lock their divers when they go for your carries. Be careful using your E, as you can accidentally pull yourself away from you carries, and only use your W once the enemies start hitting you, as it remains the main source of your tankiness.


CLOSING OUT A GAME aka WINNING

Baron. Or a team fight wipe. Try and bait the enemy team to baron and ambush them in a favorable fight for you. You need to have vision control though for this to work (kill their wards, place wards of your own, etc. in this your team's support is your best friend). If you kill them all, just end the game. If you win strong enough to Baron, go for that. As jungler, securing it is your job. Know how much damage your smite will do and watch out for steals. This honestly just takes practice. Once you have baron, have your team recall if they are kind of low, then group and seige. The minions will do most of the work, and since you're Leona, you can just dive under the towers if needed. Just remember, towers are more important that kills - not only do they give more net gold, they also lead directly to winning.

If somehow you got behind despite your gank pressure and roaming, try to create picks for your team and clean up for them. If you team is behind, never take a 5v5 if you can help it. Look for picks, then fight or push an objective. If you're ahead, just group up and shove objectives. When the enemy team shows up, move somewhere else. Since they can't follow too close or you'll kill them, you can gradually peel away their base.
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Summary

Leona jungle is something a little off-meta but still very effective in the right circumstances. While I wouldn't pick it right up and take it into ranked blind, after a few games of practice, and picked with the right comp, I would definitely use it in ranked myself.
More than that though, it's fun. I started playing this again this season because I'd already gotten tired of the 3 or 4 really good, meta junglers I had and was good at, and wanted something a little unique to try out. So if you're looking for something new, fun, but still good, I hope Leona jungle will work for you as well as it has worked for me :D
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About Me

I first started playing League towards the end of Season 4, and I started the game as a support main. Gradually toxic ADC players became too much for me so I moved topside, and eventually settled in the jungle. While I have spent the time learning meta junglers at different points in the game, like Sejuani and Elise, I get tired of playing the same handful of "OP" champs over and over again, and like trying new, off-meta picks, like Irelia, Fizz, and Leona jungle, or tank Karma top. I ended last season in Bronze 1, with 20 wins and 12 Losses, mostly just getting into a ranked game when my friends wouldn't do normals. I didn't climb any higher because I didn't enjoy the atmosphere in ranked, as I mostly play League for fun.
I will try to make guides for some of the other off-meta picks I play for fun if people like this one. I hope you found this guide informative, and if you try Leona jungle, I hope you enjoy it! Good luck on the Rift!
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