Shen Build Guide by WarlordShen

Introduction

Hi there. I'm WarlordShen and this is my guide to playing Shen.
This is my first guide on Mobafire so if you have any queries about anything be sure to PM me and leave a comment.

Shen is probably my favorite tank in the whole game besides Nunu.
He can be viable in any part of the game since his skills can be used at any phase during the game.

This build is based on my personal usage and likings of Shen and is based on how I play him. So other guides may vary.

Credits to jhoijhoi for the awesome template.

Okay lets get started.

EDIT: I'm not finished yet but it is still viable to use the item and skill builds.

Coming Up

Videos of Gameplay
Hall of Fame

Pros / Cons

- Very good in banking because of his ultimate
- Has very useful skills to support allies
- Full Master Taunt
- Amazing Survivability
- Using his ultimate he can pop on the map pretty fast




- Low Damage output throughout the game
- The shield won't absorb as much damage as AP Shen would
- Your a tank, You die a lot
- Try to avoid stealing pins from allies

Summoner Spells

For Summoner Spells I recommend the following three.

All three are optimal for a good Shen player.





Heal Together with Summoner's Resolve this summoner spell will give you a nice and strong heal to help out your teammates in teamfights and give them that extra boost to jump in the fight and come out alive.



Flash: Same reason as Ghost! It can also be used to position you use your Shadow Dash on multiple champions instead of just 1. It is also a great spell for escaping and ganking the enemy team.



Teleport: This is the best summoner spell you can have when you are doing a solo top! Ultimate to save an ally and teleport back to your lane to be able to sustain even more!

Optional summoner spells:


Exhaust : Having this summoner skill gives you the opportunity to slow down the enemy that is fleeing or gives you the chance to escape your death. It can also be used in teamfights to lower the damage of a carry.

Ghost : If you like to be fast to run to gank the enemy team, to chase fleeing enemies or just to get fast back in lane, take Ghost.

Revive : Can save the life of your teammates in team fights. You are the tank and if you do your job right, you should've die first. So by reviving, you can harass and help your teammates even more when you die.

Ignite : Since you don't do that much damage as Shen, this can help out a little bit to send the enemy back to their base.

Clarity : If you are playing the support character, I recommend taking this summoner spell to provide some info for you and your jungler about your jungle and the enemy's jungle to prevent/engage counter-jungles.

Runes

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: You need to do some damage to help you out early in game and to hold your lane.

Greater Seal of Armor: You are a tank/support so you want to have quite a lot armor to take less physical damage.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Since you're a tank/support, you want to have some magic resistance to take less magic damage.

Greater Quintessence of Health: You're still a tank so health is needed.

Abilities

Ki Strike Your free extra damage every 8 secs.Fun little passive that deals out some extra damage every 8 seconds. This is good in early games to get the last hit on minions and maybe harassing your enemies.

Vorpal Blade Hit and heal. This will be your main attack (you only have 1). This attack is very useful in the laning phase to help your teammates heal and harass your enemies (ranged attack). The heal is not that great since you will be having quite high health but it's very useful in the laning phase so you can heal up a little to stay longer in your lane. You want to spam this ability since the energy will be back when the CD is over.

Feint Your shield This ability can be very useful because you're a tank and want to take as much as damage on you as you can. A lot of summoners forget to use the ability but it can be very good to block towers, some abilities of enemies, ...
Since you will be a tank/support, the shield won't be so high as AP Shen but it will still block some.

Shadow Dash Escape or taunt your enemies This ability is really useful in every situation. You can use this ability to run away if you're almost about to get killed but, it can really be a lifesaver for your teammates thanks to the taunt. If you use it right your teammate can escape from champions. You want to use this ability also to catch up running champions and try to hit them when they run away, they will be taunted and have to attack you.

Tips & Tricks

Tips and Tricks with Vorpal Blade
Use Vorpal Blade as a way to mark the target you're attacking. This will result in a faster kill and your allies will gain a little health.
Using Vorpal Blade in combination with Ki Strike is the best way to harass enemies.

Tips and Tricks with Shadow Dash
Shadow Dash is the best to use on the most troublesome enemy since they will probably try to take out your carries first.
Shadow Dash can be used to break channels such as Nunu's Absolute Zero.
Positioning yourself with Flash before using Shadow Dash can help you to taunt multiple champions instead of 1.
Shadow Dash can bring enemies such as Evelynn, Teemo, Shaco, and Twitch, out of stealth and will also work on wards.
Shadow Dash is a great skill to use if you need to flee away since it can teleport you over walls, brushes, ... like Flash.

Tips and Tricks with Stand United
Don't forget to tell your allies who you're going to use it on so the shielded ally can take advantage of it.
Can be very usefull for protecting a teammate who's attacking a tower and joining in the fight.
By using Stand United you won't reveil a stealthed ally so you can teleport easy to him/her for a more succesful gank.
People often forget about your ulti so by using that info, you can try to push a lane while your team is in another lane. The other team will see a 5 vs 4 and they will try to take advantage of that or try to gank you. That way you can push a lane AND save/jump in the fight at any time and turn the chances.

Tips and Tricks with Feint
Feint is the perfect skill to block tower hits.
After using Shadow Dash it's most wisely to use your Feint since you will pull the aggro and so taking the damage on you.
General Tips and Tricks
If the enemy has Banshee's Veil, throw in a Vorpal Blade first before you use Shadow Dash.
Don't just jump in fights. Know the location of all the enemies and allies and know their skills! Using a skill too early or too late can make a very big difference.