Leona - Sun Goddess of the Jungle

Introduction

Leona has lost some of her steam as a tank... Welcome to the Jungle!


This is my first guide on mobafire and I want you to enjoy it. Please provide constructive criticism when you vote on the page and be kind. She has been one of my favorite Champions since joining the League and I hope she is for you as well.



*Please actually play the build before you vote so you can provide relevant information on why you like/dislike the build

Pros / Cons

• CC, CC, and more CC
• Understimated Ganking Potential
• Fills support and Tanky DPS role
• Not Blue dependent

• Cynicism from peers
• Not as tanky as other builds
• Takes kills from Carries

Runes

Greater Mark of Alacrity Leona has a great base AS and AS/lvl. Take advantage of it. The damage marks are good for the start of the game but fall off mid to late game. This provides a good bonus throughout the game.

Greater Seal of Resilience The added armor makes you tankier at the start of the match and helps with Jungling and Ganking

Greater Glyph of Warding ^^

Greater Quintessence of Desolation I prefer these to others but you could easily swap these out for ones you like better.

Masteries

Brute Force Extra damage for an easier jungle
Butcher 4 more damage to minions and monsters. Nuff said.
Alacrity The AS is not necessary but is nice to have for your first rotation
Sorcery CDR is always good to have
Weapon Expertise Great for those early ganks
Havoc Ive actually been pausing over this one and am wondering if 3 points is not optimal and I should switch out 1 point for Arcane Knowledge
Sunder More ArP!
Executioner Kill Them All!!!

Summoner's Resolve An absolute must for quick, effective Jungling. Smite is your friend
Hardiness More armor = reduced damage
Tough Skin More sustain
Vigor Just better than your other options
Bladed Armor Faster Jungle

Abilities/Skill Sequence

Sunlight Passive: Unimpressive because it adds nothing to Leona when by herself. Good for team fights. I hope it is buffed so that she can activate her passive herself.

Eclipse W: Your early game tankiness and AoE damage for a faster Jungle. It is one of the best tank steroids in the game adding 6 seconds of better sustain especially in early-mid game. Take it first and max by level 9.

Shield of Daybreak Q: A nice stun that provides enough of an interrupt at one rank for successful Ganks. Sadly then stun doesnt scale upwards in duration at higher ranks. The reason why you max this over Zenith Blade is because it does magic damage + your attack damage. Remember to use in between attacks so you do not reset the swing timer. Take at level 2 and max by level 13.

Zenith Blade E: Good gap closer and immobilize but is a skillshot and takes a little time to become proficient at it. You need to lead a moving target. Can be used to initiate Ganks but I prefer to save the ability for fleeing enemies. Take at level 4 and max last.

Solar Flare R: Great range and great versatility with a relatively short cooldown. Can be used to run down low-health enemies, flee from a losing battle, disrupt a group of enemies, or help an ally make an escape. Take at level 6, 11, and 16.

Items

Cloth Armor and Health Potionx5 are the standard items for a Jungler. You will have a nice damage reduction and sustain to start the game.

Madred's Razors and Boots of Speed should be your next upgrades for a faster Jungle. Depending on how the game is going would decide whether you should get Wriggle's Lantern or Berserker's Greaves first. I prefer Berserker's Greaves over other boots because of how well AS compliments Leona but you can switch them out for Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi if you are worried about CC and sustain. I think your Ganks will suffer if you do though.

Warmog's Armor makes you beefy by mid-game and has perfect synergy with Atma's Impaler.

Atma's Impaler makes you both tankier and more of a threat. This is good since Leona doesnt have a taunt and forces enemies to attack you or pay if they do not.

Trinity Force Gives Leona everything she wants; AS, AD, AP, HP, crit, movement speed, a snare (or slow if you prefer), and a nice damage proc. I suggest buying Sheen first but zeel and Phage are also good options.

Banshee's Veil a very nice passive on a short cooldown, health, mana, and MR. Solidifies you are a tanky DPS champion.

Creeping / Jungling

My preferred route is Blue, Wolves, Wraiths, Red, Golems. Now depending on how the lanes are looking you can coordinate a Gank in any lane; I like to gank bottom or mid first. You can also cover a lane if needed. If no Ganks are possible due to your allies being too far pushed or lack of poking, I head back to Wraiths, Wolves, Golems, and Wraiths before recalling back to base to buy items.

You can start off at Red and move to Wraiths, Golems, Wolves, Blue if you want to try to Gank top first. Leona has enough mana and mana regen for this.

Ganking should always be your priority!!! Tell your teammates when you plan on Ganking ahead of time so they can set it up before you get there.

Leona has every tool you want in your arsenal to Gank successfully short of a snare (slow). Use your W Eclipse before you engage so that you land it when you are in range of your Q Shield of Daybreak. Try to save your E Zenith Blade for fleeing enemies if you can, I find it much more effective for finishing off Ganks especially if they use Flash to try and escape. You can use your Flash to engage if you are confident in your teammates and will not need to bail on a failed attempt.



*Thank you to Jungling 101 - What You Need To Know! for the map image.

Why Not AP?

Leona is NOT and AP tank contrary to what many will tell you. She has putrid AP scaling; Shield of Daybreak 0.3, elcipse 0.3, Zenith Blade 0.4. Only her R Solar Flare gets good returns for AP 0.8. This is one of the biggest flaws of her design and part of the reason why she isnt seen as much at higher ELO.

Her Q Shield of Daybreak scales better with AD. The reason for this being is it deals attack damage + additional magic damage depending on rank. Every 10 AD adds 10 damage while every 10 AP adds 3 damage. You will lose damage on your W, E, and R by going AD but you will do more damage overall.