Pantheon is my favorite hero, and this is how I like to build him. There is a heavy focus on attack damage and his Aegis of Zeonia + Heartseeker Strike. This is my first build guide, so please leave CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Thank you, and enjoy.

If you can afford runes, I would pick up attack damage per level seals, marks for armor penetration, seals for flat attack damage, and movement speed quintessences. These should all be Tier Three runes.
The attack damage helps get your enemies DEAD FASTER, get more lifesteal from your bloodthirsters, and you do more damage.
Armor penetration helps you deal damage against characters like Malphite and helps deal extra damage.

Movement speed allows you to chase fleeing enemies and run from those pesky stealth heroes that pop up and and gank you, like Twitch and Evelynn

Spear Shot: Pantheon's harrassing spell. It has a very low cool down and low mana cost, making it great for poking at those fragile heroes like LeBlanc. Also, it is amazing for kill stealing. Don't do that. Heheheheheh.

Aegis of Zeonia: Pantheon's stun. Aegis of Zeonia applies a 1 second stun, which is perfect for hitting you stunned enemy with a Heartseeker Strike or stunning underneath a friendly turret to get a kill. Also, you can stun an enemy chasing you to increase your chances of getting away.

Heartseeker Strike: Pantheon's damage ability. This ability dishes out some serious damage. It scales very well with your attack damage, and synergizes perfectly with Aegis of Zeonia. Also, it's passive ensures you deal critical damage to targets with less than 15% health, which is excellent for last hitting minions and champions.

Grand Skyfall: Pantheon's damaging teleport. This is an amazing spell when used correctly. At level 16, it deals 1000 damage at it's center. This is excellent for helping the mid lane from the bottom or top lanes, saving a turret from a huge minion wave, ganking enemies who think they are safe behind their turrets, or running from an enemy infested area. Make sure you take into account the 3.5 second casting time. I usually aim it where my enemy will be, not where the enemy is at the moment. Generally, this area is slightly behind the enemy.

These are Pantheon's abilities. On the whole, they allow him to deal out damage quickly from mid range. His ultimate can devastate a team fight if the enemies aren't paying attention. A good combo is his W+E+Q. He stuns and damages with Aegis of Zeonia, and while the enemy is stunned, deals major damage with Heartseeker Strike. If the enemy is still alive, finish them off with a Spear Shot which will deal critical damage because the enemy is probably almost dead by now. Have fun using Pantheon's awesome abilities!

I usually go for a 21 in Offense and 9 in Utility. In our offense tree, what we are really interested in are: Weapon Expertise, Lethality, and Vampirism. Of course, Executioner is nice as well because of the help it gives you in killing those low health fleeing heroes.

Weapon Expertise is one of my favorite masteries. The 10% armor penetration helps significantly when facing people who have taken items like Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen.

Lethality helps immensely with your overall damage output, because after Phantom Dancer, you will hit criticals basically every 3rd hit. :D

Vampirism helps you because your attack speed will be fairly high and, since Pantheon is very squishy, farming will also restore health. At higher levels, feel free to jungle just to restore some health before team fights. Since you will be dealing over 500 damage an attack at level 18 with a full build, just 3% spell vamp, plus the bloodthirsters, will help your survivability significantly.

In utility, grab movement speed for the same reason you took movement speed runes. Also, grab good hand, because, even though you won't be spending much time dead, you have to be alive as much as possible to help your team. Take Summoner's Insight to lower the cooldown on your flash (the best spell for Panth besides Ignite) in my opinion). Put one point in greed for some extra moolah, because you need the money more than the other team.


Alternate Build

The Masteries are the same, but you put 9 in defense instead of utility for the added armor and magic resist.

Items. You want to focus on your ability to get in, DESTROY UTTERLY, get out. You are useful in team fights for sniping the fragile carries, but really you want to use your ganking potential to get fed during the midgame so you just end the game before everyone is level 18 and can kill you with all the AOE which will be flying around just because how squishy you are. So, try to avoid initiating team fights, and use Grand Skyfall to jump in and clean things up. I get Boots of Swiftness for that ability to chase down most heroes. (Except for that fking Master Yi. Next, get the Brutalizer. I get this item simply because it costs 1337.


Seriously though, It gives CDR, AD, and that delicious armor pentration for killing those tanky champions faster. Now, I want to go for the Bloodthirster. I pick this item because it helps your survivability and improves your main abilities a great deal. Try to kill creeps in the jungle to build up AD and life steal stacks. Next, the Phantom Dancer. This item is great because it gives attack and movement speed, as well as critical chance. This item synergizes with your boots, and your Heartseeker Strike passive. After this, go for another Bloodthirster. The two Bloodthirsters are your main source of damage, especially at full stacks. +200 damage and 50% lifesteal can't be ignored.

At this point, you probably already won, but, if not, let's rub it in some more by upgrading your brutalizer to Youmuu's GhostBlade, which is basically a better Brutalizer with a sweet active. Then, if they still haven't surrendered, get an Infinity Edge.

At this point, you will basically 5 shot everyone, thanks to the critical damage increase. If facing a very AP heavy enemy team, feel free to swap out the Phantom Dancer for Force of Nature: you still have move speed, but you can also deal with magic much easier. If you are facing a lot of AD, feel free to get a Thornmail instead of Phantom Dancer. Basically, if you feel that the team you are facing has a lot of one thing, remove Phantom Dancer to counter it. For example, if the enemy team has lots of armor, I like to go for Black Cleaver to shred that armor. You can really change that one item slot around if you like to suit your needs.

The best spell in the game, the savior of many a champion, the universal spell: Flash. It is great for every champion: the gank/run/dodge summoner spell. I always take this. It is great for getting in range of enemy champs to land your Aegis of Zeoniaand forowning noobs in the jungle who think that they can play ring a round the rosie. TAKE Flash.

The next spell is a toss up between three: Exhaust, Ignite, and Clairovoyance.

You may be thinking, "Clairovoyance? On Pantheon? This guy is stuuuuupid." However, it is great because of this: An enemy runs. You can't see them anymore. Plop down clairovoyance and then use your Grand Skyfall to drop into the area where you now have vision and get a kill.

Ignite is great for capitalizing on Pantheon's effectiveness early game. Enemies may run back to the turret after you hit them with a "W-E-Q" combo. Your spells are on cooldown, so just use ignite and wait. Also, it's good in a fight against heroes with high lifesteal like Sion and Yi's stupidly overpowered Meditate.

Exhaust is so useful for Pantheon. You can exhaust that pesky fast champ getting away to get another kill. You can exhaust that guy who's trying to gank you while you have low health and run. You can exhaust the guy in a teamfight who is dealing lots of physical damage (probably another Panth who read this guide). Exhaust is great.

Really, take a spell depending on your play style. Personally, I go with ignite for that great first blood potential, but it's up to you.


Alternate Build

I take Flash because it is THE SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE.

Also, i take exhaust. Always. It is great because it lowers the damage of those pesky champions who want to focus you quickly, and lets you attack those annoying fast characters who are trying to kite you.

If your team has a jungler, playing Pantheon solo top is ideal. Pantheon gets nice and fed from all the experience he gets, so he can probably grab a bunch of kills up top by stunning enemies near the turrets at low health. Also, when he is fed, he can Grand Skyfall to mid for absurd damage early game to help gank without the other team having time to call mia. Use your HSS passive to last hit minions easily, and use HSS to clear large groups of low health minions. In midgame, feel free to grab the lizard buff for a slow, or golem buff for the mana regen because Pantheon is quite a mana hog. Just go kill creeps in the jungle to gain exp, and maybe trick enemies into calling MIA. Heheheh.



If you are with another champ in the lane, try to go with a tank or support character. Personally, I love going with Jarvan. His ult traps the enemy, and then you can ult in while the enemy can't run away. Also, he is a tank, so he can help soak up damage while you dish out the damage. Malphite and other tanks with stuns or snares are great too. If you can go with Akali, do it, because Akali is OP and you will win no matter how good the enemy is if your Akali is decent.

Dominion is easy. Take ghost and flash (or exhaust). Dominion is all about mobility, so take your mobility spells. Pantheon's ultimate is amazing here. Your items are as follows: Boots of Swiftness, two Sanguine Blade, and Frozen Mallet. Now you have two slots you should customize. Personally, I get either the Black Cleaver for attack speed and armor penetration, or the Last Whisper for armor penetration and attack damage. The next slot could be another one of the previous items, but i prefer to fill it with either a Force of Nature or Youmuu's Ghostblade. Force of Nature is the item of choice against nukers or burst damage teams with AP, or if you just feel like moving faster, while the Ghostblade should be taken if you want to just deal more damage in a 1v1 with the added attack damage, critical chance, and the neat passive for not allowing those pesky [[Sivir}'s to run away. You win. Trust me, you become absurdly hard to kill, and you just kill people practically instantly. Farm minions to regen your health ridiculously fast. Grab the storm shield to make yourself nigh unkillable through additional health.

HOWEVER! MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING STUPID! PANTHEON IS STILL VERY FRAGILE COMPARED TO OTHER MELEE CHAMPS! TURRET DIVING IS NOT ADVISED!

Pantheon doesn't use teamwork! (Mid game) He is a SPARTAN. (Except late game when he is not as good because everyone is tankier than him) You need to stay with your team late game.. It's that simple. Late game, just get your whole team and push a lane to win. You will do crazy damage from mid/close range.

If you really don't feel your style is suited to that of a fast-hitting, fragile champ, here is a tankier, more defensive build. (Due to popular request.) I build the same skill sequence, but the items are much different.

Depending on what I am facing, I will build either Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads.
Ninja Tabi is excellent for absorbing early game attack damage and minion damage because of armor.
Mercury's Treads are great throughout the game because of the magic resist provided. I usually go for these when faced against champions like Morgana or Brand.

Next, get a Bloodthirster, just like the other build. This will give you respectable damage and lifesteal, but for this build we will be getting just one, and it will be your main source of damage.

The next item is toss-up. If facing really annoying champions like Karthus, I go for Banshee's Veil]. This item gives great magic resist, health, and mana. However, the most important part is it's passive. It blocks unfriendly spells every 45 seconds, which is amazing for running from [[Nocturne when his ultimate is up, because he then cannot reach you.
On the other hand, if facing teams with characters like that sick **********er called Pantheon, Thornmail is a great choice. People will smack you with their attacks, and you smack them harder with your attacks plus their 30% own attacks running away from your awesomeness into their ballsac.

Next, we go for the Frozen Mallet. This item provides a great bit of tankiness while also increasing your damage a bit more. Remember, you could just stack 5 Warmog's Armor, but then you would do no damage. You don't want to be that big annoying bug: never dying, but doing nothing. Damage and tankiness must be balanced so that people actually focus you while your carries kill their entire team.

Now, go for Hexdrinker. It provides excellent magic resist, attack damage, and a nifty passive so that you are more effective against magic users. If you happen to not be facing many magic users, you can go for Atma's Impaler. The armor helps against attack damage, and the added damage is good because you will have lots of health, and therefore lots of damage.

Now, we grab Warmog's Armor. This item is AMAZING with Atma's Impaler. The added health grants tankiness AND massive damage, and the passive is great for adding even more damage.

However, if you took Hexdrinker, I would recommend a Sunfire Aegis. This item deals good damage to all enemies near you in teamfights; and, as a tanky champion, you will be in or near the center of many a teamfight. Also, the armor makes you more balanced against AD and AP with Hexdrinker.The health is nice because it just makes you tankier, which is always nice.

You definitely have won by now, and you are smacking your enemies with your shield in the face . CONGRATULATIONS

Tell me if you think this build works, and what I should do to improve this guide as a whole.

Thanks for reading!

I have been told my two builds are too extreme: one a glass cannon build, and one too tanky. So, this is a mix between the two.

ITEMS

Boots of Swiftness are basically my boots for every champion. You want to never let them get away, so you get these. Duh.

The Brutalizer is ABSURDLY good with Pantheon. The item is relatively cheap, grants cooldown reduction, attack damage, and armor penetration for those pesky Malphites and armor champs early-mid game.

B.F. Sword I like to get two B.F. swords before turning them into things, just because I really want the attack damage boost (90) now.

This next item is a toss-up. If you are facing lots of fragile champions ( Ashe, Sivir), do option A. If you are facing tankier champions, or just want a little more security overall, do option B. And then there is Option C, which is sort of a mix between the two. (Option B also recommended for less experienced players.)

After you choose on option, your next items should be the other option. It's just a matter of what you want to do first.

OPTION A

The Bloodthirster is amazing. 60 to 100 additional attack damage, and up to 25% life steal. This a great item to have when doing mid-game laning, or one vs. one action in the jungle. Life steal provides a bit of durability because of your high attack damage, but you are very fragile now. Even the slightest misclick is very unforgiving in a fight.

Infinity Edge is what we will turn our other B.F. Sword into. You receive a huge attack damage increase, and the critical damage passive synchronizes exceptionally well with your "Certain Death" Passive (You always do critical damage to targets under 15% health). Still, you don't have much health, so you rely on the element of surprise, and the fact that you can probably burst quickly through fragile champion life bars. Avoid tanks with this option. Sure, you dish out a lot of damage, but any stupid OP Volibear can probably just have 5000 health and laugh while he kills you.

OPTION B

Warmog's Armor will come in handy sooo much with Pantheon. You may be like, "WTF?" but trust me. You receive 1270 health max, and some good health regen.

Now, we see why we have Warmog's armor. At level 18 with this item, you gain 45 armor, 60 attack damage, and 18% critical chance, which goes great with Infinity Edge which you should already have or will be getting. Really, it's just great all around.

OPTION C

Now, this option is for those who just don't feel like the other two work, so the substitute out one Option and insert this one into the build. Frozen Mallet is what we will start with here. Plus 700 health and 20 attack damage, as well as a passive which slows enemies on basic attack hits, make this item great with nearly every AD champion.

The Black Cleaver is great with Pantheon. If you are facing lots of armored champions, get this because it provides great armor penetration. Also, the attack speed helps get your passive up faster, and you deal more damage, faster. Oh, and it gives good attack damage too.

Last Whisper is just for those who prefer it over Black Cleaver. It really isn't a better item, but it is cheaper. If you need that armor penetration NOW you can go for Last Whisper and maybe sub it out for Black Cleaver later.



Now, your final item.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is a great item on Pantheon. It gives CDR, attack damage, armor penetration, critical chance, and an awesome active which grants 20% movement and 50% attack speed. You should also just get this because your Brutalizer turns into it (DUH).

This is the Alternate Alternate Build, and depending on how you build it, can be more or less tanky. The way you play it is up to you.

You deal a ****-ton of damage and basically don't lose 1v1's. Unfortunately, you have next to no magic resist, so facing AP heroes is not very fun. Subsitute Force of Nature for Phantom Dancer against AP heavy teams. You move very quickly, and have good farming ability with Heartseeker Strike. Your ult is mostly used as a teleport, not an attack move (Depending on which summoner spells you take and who you are facing). Also, you should move with a tank late game to make up for your worse than average health. Still, you will rack up kills quickly with this, especially versus squishy teams.


Alternate Build

Pros

You are have great attack damage resistance.
You are great at warding away lone champions.
Your damage output is repectable.

Cons

You don't deal as much damage as you could.
Your lifesteal is meh.
It isn't as badass, and you are more likely to die more often but get lots of assists.

Thanks for reading, enjoy playing PANTHEON. Pantheon is 3150 IP, so buy him.

Alternate ALTERNATE Build
Pros

You have pretty good health.
You still can deal lots of damage.
It's customizable.

Cons

Your lifesteal is still meh.
Can be pretty fragile if you take options C and A.

This is my first guide, so don't be trolls. If you actually tell me how to improve (gently please), I will make an effort to improve this guide, and hopefully make better guides in the future. AND TELL ME SOME NAMES FOR MY ALTERNATE BUILDS!!!