Shyvana Build Guide by Junksie

Introduction

Welcome, and thank you for reviewing my Shyvana guide. I originally was not going to make one, but a friend of mine recently started playing Shyvana, and I thought it would be easier (and would keep both of us more sane), if I made a guide that she would be able to learn from whenever she wanted, rather than shove all the information down her throat over Skype. So, without further ado, I present: Shyvana; a jungling guide.

The ado:
I want to thank Jhoijhoi for her guide on making proper guides;
My nameless friend for inspiring this guide;
And multiple others for miscellaneous assistance.

What did season 3 do to Shyvana?

In the short answer, the Season 3 update buffed Shyvana. The slew of new items as well as the jungle changes made her better overall, and even more viable than before. Some changes in the patch make her harder to play, but easier as well. Tank items got better, Atma's Impaler got better, Wit's End got nerfed (slightly), etc. As for jungling, not much has changed. You can jungle pretty much any route you want, and you (theoretically) make more money. So, read on for Season 3 Jungle Shyvana!

Pros and Cons

PROS:

*Insane farming/jungling speed all game
*High counterjungling ability
*High mobility
*Extremely disruptive in teamfights
*High teamfight damage
*High teamfight durability
*Is a dragon (need I say more?)

CONS:

*Is squishy early game
*Semi-low health jungle early on
*Vulnerable to CC (hey, Merc Treads)
*CC-lacking ganks

Masteries

There's plenty of leeway in the new masteries for Shyvana; you can pick between multiple options. 9-21-0, as shown, provides tons of defense in the defensive tree and the usual 9 points into offense. Why do I take the masteries I do in this one? Fury is because you scale better in the jungle with 4% attack speed than CDR, and the other 5 points are self-explanatory. As for the defensive tree, Hardiness , Tough Skin and Bladed Armor are great for jungling, while Perseverance gives you nice jungle sustain. Safeguard is taken because you should be one of the main tower tanks/divers for your team. Relentless is taken because slows mess you up like crazy, Tenacious being taken for a similar reason (however, you COULD take Legendary Armor ). Juggernaut will give you a couple extra hundred health when fully built, and I can't explain how many times it has saved me. Defender is taken because, at one point, it is better than 3 points in Legendary Armor in a teamfight up until 101 armor/magic resist. Good Hands because it shaves off 10% of death times for one point, and that can add up to saved minutes, great pushes, or clutch base defenses in a game. Honor Guard is taken because it's pretty damn great.

This is only one set of masteries, and you could go into the utility tree or even more into the defensive tree when you jungle, but this is my favorite setup for Shyvana.

Runes

SEALS
These give you so much damage reduction in the jungle, or while ganking. These are the only runes I consider necessary, for their sheer utility and value, and are easily affordable.

GLYPHS
I like these because this build gives you very little resistances other than your basics (and those from your Dragon's Descent), and every little bit helps. I avoid CDR because Shyvana's cooldowns are absolutely fine, and I do not take MR flats because they break even at level 9.

MARKS
Greater jungle speed, lower cooldowns on your ultimate and Twin Bite, and higher DPS. I suppose you could go flat AD or Armor Pen, however, most of your farming damage is magic ( Burnout).

QUINTS
Same as with Marks, but you could also take movement speed, even though I advise against it.

You could also take AD in Marks/Quints, but I prefer this setup.

Items

Shyvana's build depends mainly on how you play her. Damage soak, disruptive team fight anti-carry? High DPS, durable, 1v3 queen? Dueling champ? I usually change my build ingame to tailor to what is needed, whether that is more durability or higher DPS, but this build (or one similar) works for me.

Starting Items

Hunter's Machete and 5 Health Potions. Not too much leeway here for a start, especially since Hunter's Machete is so good. Once you start to make some cash, it becomes decision time. You have a choice of 4 boots (not including upgrades), and 2 jungle items.

For boots, you want Ninja Tabi, especially if they have an autoattack team, Boots of Mobility for extra gank/mobility, or Boots of Swiftness if you gotta go fast. Mercury's Treads are definitely an option especially if they have a lot of magic damage. However, you could just get Spirit of the Ancient Golem. Eventually, you want to give your boots one of 2-3 upgrades. Enchantment: Captain is almost always going to be the best choice for pushing and teamfights, unless someone else already is getting them. Enchantment: Homeguard is amazing, especially with Boots of Mobility and the Good Hands mastery. Lastly, Enchantment: Alacrity is absolutely fine, especially because that and Boots of Swiftness brings you up to 425 BASE movement speed.

Spirit of the Ancient Golem or Wriggle's Lantern?
Spirit of the Ancient Golem gives you crazy defense at 500 health and 30 armor, and, most importantly, TENACITY. I prefer this item at almost all times, unless their team lacks CC. If they have few CCs that they will use on you, definitely take Wriggle's Lantern for superior sustain and buff control, as well as slight DPS increase.

Next, grab your Recurve Bow. DPS and farming and pushing BOOST, especially once you grab your Null-Magic Mantle and upgrade into Wit's End *Dun-nu-du-duuuuuuu!*. A different option, if you want higher DPS or do not need MR, is The Black Cleaver. I personally have taken a bit more liking to The Black Cleaver, as it increases your Twin Bite and Burnout damage. The downside is a loss of AS, the magic damage on-hit, and the MR. However, The Black Cleaver is very strong right now, so the trade-off may very well be worth it.

Mid/Late Game

First of all: Defense or Offense?

Defense:
Now, we have a difficult decision: Super-durability, or durability balanced with DPS? I usually end up getting both Frozen Mallet and Sunfire Cape or Warmog's Armor, taking Frozen Mallet first unless I have or will be towerdiving, teamfighting, or tanking in skirmishes. The Frozen Mallet helps tons in ganks and duels, and you may want to pick up a Phage early on, even if you will be getting Warmog's Armor or Sunfire Cape first. Finally, pick up Atma's Impaler, Spirit Visage, or Randuin's Omen. If your support isn't getting Runic Bulwark, then get that amazing resistance god for yourself.

Offense:
There's not too much variation here, pick up a Frozen Mallet, then The Bloodthirster and/or Wit's End The Black Cleaver, depending on what you have already. Grab The Bloodthirster again, and you should have a full six item build.

But what about our Wriggle's Lantern?

Extreme Late Game

If you have one, sell your Wriggle's Lantern. I'll wait. You done now? Good. Time for your last item. You have a choice of 3 different items: Guardian Angel, Warmog's Armor, and The Bloodthirster. Which do you pick?

Well, If you pick the bloodthirster, that brings your total count up to 2 (or 3 O_o), so this isn't really advised, unless you do not need defense (it happens, trust me).

Guardian Angel is really nice, even though it adds no health, it gives you a shot in the arm for resistances, and the possibly game-changing passive. Just got owned in a teamfight? Guess what b*tches, I'm back!

Warmog's Armor (unless you already have one, in which case pick up a Spirit Visage) is never a bad choice as well, because (especially in dragon form), it gives you so much more than 1000 effective health.

To consider: If you didn't fit Sunfire Cape into your build, this may be the time. It adds survivability, and increases your Burnout damage (not really, but you get my point).

Ability Description/Order

This is fairly basic, we take Burnout first because it is your jungling ability, main damage source, and speed boost/ganking tool. Twin Bite maxes last with one point second because its main utility is to build fury faster, help destroy turrets, etc, etc. Flame Breath is maxed second because it deals good damage and increases your DPS by debuffing their armor and adding to your damage. As always, Dragon's Descent at 6, 11, and 16.
You can swap Twin Bite with Flame Breath if you really want.

Summoner Spells

Smite
This is a jungling spell. Take it if you are jungling.

Exhaust or Ignite
I prefer Exhaust, as it powers up your ganks and can shut down a fed enemy late-game. Also, Ignite is taken by many other lanes, but if you have Exhausts and not Ignites on your team, take Ignite.

Heal
It's not horrible, especially in Season 3. Avoid however.

Flash
Pre- Dragon's Descent, one of the best spells for Shyvana. After? not so much. Your dragon is a longer dash with lower CD, causing this spell to be essentially redundant.

Jungling

Start with your Hunter's Machete and 5 Health Potions, and go to Wolves. Kill them once they spawn (leash not necessary), then move to Wraiths. Blue is optional, and completely up to you, but it slows your ganking time and counterjungling time. After Wraiths, gank mid if you can. If not, go kill the double Golem or gank other lanes . After Golems, get Red, Wraiths again, then gank or counterjungle. I find Red extremely EXTREMELY helpful ganking with Shyvana, so try to keep it up as much as possible. Once you have 1000+, head back to base and get boots of some kind and Wriggle's Lantern or work on your Spirit of the Ancient Golem. Beyond this point, just continue your normal build. If you have to return before getting enough successful ganks for this amount of gold, try to finish your Spirit Stone or just grab Boots of Speed.

COUNTERJUNGLING
Shyvana is definetly one of the highest tier counterjunglers. She has great mobility, fast clear speed, and great duel potential - Flame Breath and Twin Bite, and their health drops early on. However, counterjungling for extended periods of time is extremely dangerous. The key is map awareness. If their mid and jungle are MIA, DO NOT GO TO THEIR BLUE ALONE, unless you know for certain one/both have recently backed. However, just because their jungler is MIA doesn't mean you cannot counterjungle him. Run from your Wolves to their Wraiths, and you will be able to clear it in under 5 seconds. If their jungler appears and their mid is otherwise occupied, BEAT THE EVER-LOVING SH*T OUT OF HIM. If you start to lose the fight (wtf?), Burnout and run away. DO NOT DUEL AN Udyr. Nocturne and Trundle are possible, if difficult. If their mid is not busy, just run. However, if not caught at Wolves, you can check the Red buff you love so much. Walk BEHIND the camp into the bush and peek into the camp. Is their jungler there?

If so, wait till Red(or the jungler) gets low, then use EVERYTHING to get it (or him). Smite, Ignite, and Exhaust, as well as Twin Bite will be your tools here. I cannot tell you how many times I've Smited the buff from their jungler while still in the bush, then killed him with it and an Ignite. Again, caution is the key. Do not continue in a protracted fight if their mid or bottom suddenly MIA.

If not, you have two choices; wait until he appears, or take the buff yourself. If you chose the former, make sure you do not waste precious jungle time on a wild goose chase. If you choose the latter, run if their jungler appears and you cannot take them both on, or if he can beat you with Red if he gets a lucky Smite off.

If their jungler appears in a gank, this is a prime time to counterjungle (unless your laners need help). Run to Wolves and take them or Blue, or run to Wraithsand take them, Golems, Red, or all 3, depending on how much available time you have. Then return to your jungle and clear it. +1 awesome point for you.

Again, I cannot stress this enough: MAP AWAERNESS IS KEY. If their bot/mid/top suddenly disappear with no reason, get ready to bolt at any time, if you do not run instantly. You lose your awesome point if ganked in their jungle. Avoid using your Dragon's Descent while in their jungle, and save it for the escape to jump over Dragon, Baron, or mid walls.

In Conclusion

Season 3 Shyvana is an absolute DEMON no matter how she's build, and is amazingly effective in most team compositions. Enjoy burning everyone else to a crisp!
Thanks for reading,
-Junksie

Update Log

Dec 16, 2012
UPDATED FOR SEASON 3
Oct 22, 2012
Switched leveling order of Twin Bite and Flame Breath
August 11, 2012
Reviewed for Diana patch
May 22, 2012
Posted guide