Shen Humor Guide by NeroM1

Introduction

Hi guys!,

I'm NeroM1 and this is my third mobafire guild, i've been playing Shen for about 60% of my games and normally getting a decent K/Dr, i start experimenting with other builds but i found this build to be there most versatile and deadly, please don't down vote me before reading through my guild.

Pros / Cons

PROS:

*Shen has great sustain in lane = less b's
*Shen makes your enemies fear your team
*Is really tanky early game without items, with high early-game damage using your passive.
*He uses energy making his skills spam able
*Shen has an OP Dash+AOE Taunt ability
*Hard to Gank!

CONS:

*His shadow dash could make his energy go down real fast if used idiotically
*He has a low base armor
*farming could be hard till lvl 4
*countered easily by some champions

Masteries

I first used 0-21-9 masteries, but i found that the utility tree is kind of useless. Now I would pick 9-21-0 for my masteries, getting Brute Force , Sorcery and Arcane Knowledge in the offensive mastery tree. In defense take Resistance , Hardiness , and Vigor . Grab Indomitable because Evasion is totally useless and Indomitable helps you from a lot of minion damage, Take Durability and Veteran's Scars since it gives you health and 13 bonus damage in your Ki Strike @ 18 LVL .We take Enlightenment since Initiator is **** after landing phase, and finish off with Honer guard and Juggernaut . This mastery provide additional damage and tankiness in the early game, which makes sustaining and farming much easier, which makes your overall game better. The other option would be going 0-21-9, getting Summoner's Insight , Swiftness , Expanded Mind , and Runic Affinity . the only thing useful would be Expanded Mind but that extra 10 energy wouldn't help you much since you still can't Shadow Dash twice if you don't hit a champion with it.

Runes

Shen's Runes is just like any other Solo top Champs with the exception of AS, since his AS is very low taking his Ki Strike AGES to Proc, so i added a lot of AS in his runes, but still Shen can go easily with any other runes, but these runes are aimed to give him maximum Damage.

Glyph
For shen, glyphs isn't going to change much but you may choose to use 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist over Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist but Greater Glyph of Magic Resist would scale ALOT BETTER late game.
Note:Normally solo top champs would be AD so you won't need MR much early game.

Marks
For Marks i think Shen will benefit most using 9 Greater Mark of Mana, you can also use 9 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration for added damage for you Ki Strike but it would Proc 15% less often. Personally i find it very hard to push my lane or to last hit under the turret without it.

Seals
For solo top Greater Seal of Armor should be your only choice since you need armor for reduced harras early on ,not couple levels after, this way it would save you a few health pots, but you can still pick Greater Seal of Defense but i highly don't recommend it.
Note:Most solo tops are AD champs so armor is needed.

Quintessence
For Quintessences i would use Greater Quintessence of Mana for 10% of AS, stacking it with your marks your AS would be about 0.9 at lvl1 much higher than an average AD carry at lvl 6, once again it helps you with your last hitting and pushing power.

Items

Early game

Start off by taking a Ruby Crystal don't take Doran's Shield it will just slow your build. Ruby Crystal will give you health for your Ki Strike and Vorpal Blade. After this, pick up Boots of Speed(when farming well/pushed to their tower) or Heart of Gold(being zoned and losing last hits).Or shop when you have 1460 for boots and giants belt since it make last hitting even easier using your passive. Finishing Mercury's Treads if the enemys AP is fed or have a strong CC team (or Ninja Tabi if your AD laner is winning you, and having lots of AD on the enemy team), after that start building towards your Sunfire Cape or Wit's End if your fed. DO NOT FORGET TO BUY WARDS. but if your low on cash you can get away with it if you have lots of health(3k health by 18-20min mark) since you would normally getaway with it.

Mid/Late Game

Mid game is when you start changing you build bait depending on your opponents, how much AD/AP do they have? Which kind of damage should i fear most? Is your opponent's AD carry out farming your own AD carry? then in that case you should build your Sunfire Cape faster, is your enemy Cassiopeia or malzahar fed? then in that case build your Wit's End or Force of Nature first, if your team lacks a support or your support don't intend to build an ages of legion than build it, since your the tank so the aura should stay longer in team fights than your support having it. Most of the item builds are situational to every game NERVER BUILD THE SAME ITEMS EVERY GAME since it is better to counter act your enemies, but still rush more hp when you can.

When people is Crushing your NUTS!(Fed AD/Mostly AD Enemies)

Thornmail
Only against very heavy/super fed AD ( Tryndamere, Vayne, Master Yi). Don't use it even your enemies AD isn't that fed since it provides no health and another bonus except for its passive.

Randuin's Omen
Great 75 armor, not bad HP, and a great Active(AOE slow and AS slow). However it can be used after team fights if your most likely yo win to chase down enemies and this item is also extremely expensive.

Wriggle's Lantern
Great passive that gives you a Ward every 3 minutes, giving you some armor and nice life steal but it falls off late game and isn't really an item for tanks PS a creep killing passive i guess that it helps last hitting, get it early if your EXTREMELY FED.

Locket of the Iron Solari
This item gives Armor, little health and bait of Hp and Mana regen and a ****py passive, this item falls off late game and it is for supports but still buyable

When your always ZAPED to death(Fed APS/Mostly AP enemies)

Force of Nature
This item is great for Shen since you would be building mostly HP, it is great and have 76 MR too, this item gives about 128-143 HP Regen Per 5 with my build. Great item overall trade it with Randuin's Omen when needed.

Spirit Visage
This items really for early game, buy it when your fed and it also synergies really well with your Vorpal Blade, the best thing for this is its cheap, so make sure your trade it with an other when your build is complete.

Quicksilver Sash
This item is not bad but it gives you only MR which is bad because you won't get much out of it, get this if your top lane opponent is an AP or having champions like Warwick/ Malzahar as the enemy junglier/top.

Abyssal Scepter
This item gives you nice MR, some AP and an Aoe MR debuff, it is great since you would be in the middle of the team fights making most of your enemys lose MR, best combined with Kennen/ Nunu/ Malzahar/ Anivia in your team.

Every one kicks your ***(All rounded/Very late game)

Guardian Angel
Its a great item since it gives a great amount of Armor and a generous amount of MR, But it would make people focus others but not you the tank, but if your very fed people would focus you so buy it only when your fed.

Aegis of the Legion
This item gives you everything you need as a tank, also gives an Armor and MR Aura to everyone around you, get this if your teams support don't feel like getting it, get it early since it falls off late game.

Leviathan
Not A bad item if you know you will get fed, this item break even at 13 stacks and at 20 stacks it reduces all incoming by 15% which is pretty OP it also make people focus you more often, but it will make you think more before using your ult or saving others which may change the battle out come.

Warmog's Armor
I know that this item is mentioned in my guide but still in my opinion HEALTH IS KING! health is just OP in every possible way, this item provides about 1270 HP when fully farmed which means it gives your Ki Strike an additional 127 magic damage.

When you wana KICK SOME ***!(Offensive items)

Atma's Impaler
This item is best on offtanks, but you would be getting a LOT of AD about 60 at 3000 HP. it also provides Armor and some crit chance as well which is great, but for Shen HP is still KING so don't buy it unless your team lacks damage.

Frozen Mallet
This is in my guide but i still want to talk about it, it gives 700 health and 20 AD, and it make you auto attacks slow your enemy for 40% for 2.5 seconds so this item gives 20 more magic damage to your Ki Strike then Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Not a bad item gives 500 health and massive AP, it also slows your enemies for 35% with your Vorpal Blade and 15% with your Shadow Dash for 1.5 seconds, can be traded with Frozen Mallet

Maw of Malmortius
Great item, provides 55 AD and 36 MR, in addition i gives you a 400 Magic shield when you go below 30% HP which is great to counter DOT damage like Malzahar's Malefic Visions and Brand's Blaze, it also gives you 1 AD per 2.5% of health missing(total of 39 bonus AD)

Frozen Mallet VS Rylai's Crystal Scepter
So Frozen Mallet or Rylai's Crystal Scepter? In my opinion, Frozen Mallet would be the better choice because it gives 200 more health and it gives a better and more reliable slow, not only it slows the target more it also slows the target longer and by auto attacking a champion the CD of Ki Strike is also lower, since Frozen Mallet gives 200 more health so it would make your Ki Strikes hit harder and your Vorpal Blades heal more. so overall Frozen Mallet would be the better choice.

Abilities

KI STRIKE Your Free damage every 8 seconds your passive that does magic damage every 8 seconds, best for last hitting early game and your main damage source. reduces CD by 1.5 seconds every time you hit an enemy champion. At late game it would deal 500+ damage with 4200 health, with this build it would proc every 2 seconds of auto attacking(1.5 AS). Vorpal blade Your healing device through the whole game it heals a lot since it scales on your max health, it is your best harassing tool and your free health pot, since you heal about 18 health through 3 seconds and when you have your full build you will gain about 85 health per 3 seconds. just spam it as much as possible since the energy would be regained after the CD. Feint Your spam able shield this is your best defense against tower hits and harassment since it has a low CD and it only uses 50 energy, many people forgets to use it or simply don't bother too, this is also the best thing to help you tank minion damage for you to last hit them, while pushing your lane use it to get your Ki Strike faster. Shadow Dash What Makes You A Flipin Ninja! this is your skill that makes you Shen, this skills makes your enemies must attack you it is simply OP! You can also use it to escape dangerous situations and crossing walls, this is the ultimate life saver literally dashing into danger and a channel stopper. Stand United Your Hearts Are Alined for Saving or Ganking This is what makes a ninja, with it you could save dozens of lives or make a 1v1 fight a 2v1 or turn an enemy gank into a failure, it could also be a tool to get back to your lane provided that your junglier is close to it, over all it is just an awesome ult to have. Our Wills Aline!

Skill Sequence

• Stand United It is your ult so max it first i could help you save a lot of lives and make a losing fight into a winning one, also gives a massive shield to the selected person.
• Vorpal Blade It is your best poke and last hit ability, it also grants you lane sustain making the money used in health pots alot less.
• Feint This skill makes pushing and tanking less "health consuming" helps you from harassment and saves you from dyeing from Dot damages for example Ignite and Grog Soaked Blade.
• Shadow Dash Leveling this last because it only grants very little cd reduction and damage per lvl, it is your best form of escape and skill to save your team mates.

Summoner Spells

In my opinion, all solo top tanks should use teleport, but using Shen teleport is a must because after using Stand United if your tower is pushed you can go right back and push that lane(provided your not almost dead), even with 40% health you can regain it right back using Vorpal Blade and also tank minion damage when needed using Feint, if you have a teammate like Teemo or Shaco you could Teleport to their mushrooms or jack-in-the boxes, you can also teleport into an ally ward too making you literally a ninja from the shadows.



In my opinion, having Flash is great and it also helps land your Shadow Dash to hit multiple enemy champions, flash can also be use to escape situations much easier ,sometimes missing a Shadow Dash means alot, it means that you can't cast any other ability since you can't generate enough energy for your second dash, but having flash ensures that or lessens the odds of missing