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Shyvana Build Guide by

Shyvana - Jungling the fast way

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4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author scaffdaddy

Shyvana Build Guide By Updated on

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Spells:

Smite

Exhaust

Ability Order

Shyvana Passive Ability

Introduction

Shyvana is one of the fastest junglers and best counter-junglers in the game to date, and I feel that any laning Shyvana is a waste of her full potential. This is a short guide for jungling and counter-jungling with Shyvana, it's not the only or necessarily the best way to build Shyvana, but it's always worked for me as a sure way for jungling success. It will not suit all playing styles, but it works for me and I hope you will give it a go.

Pros / Cons

Pros

Very fast jungler
No mana = Spam abilities all day
High early game DPS
Great at counter jungling, can usually win a 1v1 with an enemy jungler

Cons

No CC, ganking can be difficut
Not as useful endgame

Summoner spells

Exhaust

Smite

These are the only two summoner spells I ever get with Shyvana, you need the for the early game ganks as Shyv has no natural CC moves. Its attack speed reduction also makes it useful lategame for shutting down an enemy carry that is causing havoc. is a must have for any jungler, combined with from the masteries to get you a bit extra early game gold, every little bit helps!

Some people go for over with Shyvana, I don't think this is needed because Shyvana does enough damage on her own and has less use late game.

Runes

Pretty standard rune setup, magic resist per level glyphs because we won't be encountering much magic damage early game, flat armor seals so the jungle monsters dont kill us early game. And of course attack speed quints and damage marks for more damage/clear speed.

Items

Some of the items in the build are situational, if there isn't really any strong AP characters in the enemy team I don't get a and replace with because the magic resist is a waste of gold, sometimes if I really want to do a lot of DPS I'll get a , but no matter what I always start with and 5 health pots.

Why not boots and 3 health pots?

Some players go for the boots, but I don't for a few reasons, first of all the bit of added armor makes a lot of difference in taking damage from jungle monsters, so you can stay out there longer, the two extra health pots also contribute to this. Some people say that you have to get boots for the faster ganking, but the speed boost from her ability is more than enough.

Wriggle's Lantern

One of the best early game items there is, gives everything we want for Shyvana, more armor for jungle monsters, attack damage for better farming/ganking, and life steal so you can stay out there. I always get this before finishing my boots for a few reasons. The extra attack damage is more useful than tier 2 boots, because Shyvana has her speed boost to make her faster than most champions anyway. And the lifesteal means you should't need to buy health pots anymore. The ward wriggle's gives is very useful as well.

Wit's End

This item is so good on Shyvana because of its passive, the bonus magic damage is applied to both of your hits when you use , and the magic resist is great when your ganking mid AP champions.

Frozen Mallet

Another great item on Shyv, I always get it for its CC, if your chasing down an enemy champion, use to catch up to them and then hit them to slow and you have a kill. The extra attack damage and health is great too.

Late game

After these items the build really depends on the enemy team, if they have heavy AD, then I get a . If they have AP carries that are doing well, then a . Whatever I buy, it is always a tanky item because at this stage of the game I often use, to initiate team fights. All the armor, health and magic resist are handy for surviving long enough for the rest of your team to come in and help. After , you're gonna have a lot of health so is a great item to get.

Last thing to add, if there any enemies armoring up a lot (like Garen), then or come in very handy.

Skill Sequence

The skill sequence I've put in is just a general guide, if I'm covering a lane for someone against a ranged champion I'll get her before her so I can harrass them a bit. Basically you want to max her first, just cause it's so great at farming, then her for its good damage. Go for the at 6,11 and 16. The passive magic resist and armor increase her tankiness.

Using her abilities

Burnout

has many uses, it is great for farming, useful for catching up to/getting away from enemies and great for its AoE damage in teamfights, both in and out of dragonform. I hit this as soon as I enter any fight if its not already on for its extra damage, you can always do this due to Shyvana's lack of mana.

Twin Bite

I use this much the same as burnout in fights, hit it before you enter the fray and the first enemy you hit will be hit twice! In dragon form this ability is great for damaging multiple enemies, useful for taking down turrets that bit faster as well.

Flame Breath

This ability is Shyvana's only ranged ability, it is a akillshot and can be very easy to miss with. I use this very similarly to Shyvana's two other abilites, in any fight with champions, monsters or creeps, it does a bit of damage but also reduces their armor for a short period, use it at the start of a fight so your attacks do even more damage!

Dragon's Descent

While in dragon form all your abilites gain AoE damage. Charge it up by farming minions and monsters, then jump into a fight and wreak havoc! I often come around behind enemies and then use this to push them into my teammates. Another useful thing about Shyvana's dragon form is that her leaves a burning trail that deals damage, so in addition to being able to get away quicker while its on, enemies chasing you will be hurt by it. Don't be afraid to use her ulti to get away, it may seem like a waste but you get it again quickly, it's not worth dying just to save your ulti for another time. Just pop burnout then ulti away and any enemies chasing you will be hurt by the fire trail you leave.

Jungling

My jungle route changes depending on whether I am in the blue or purple team, due to the red buff being on opposite sides but the solo top staying the same. Here I will explain what I do at the very beginning of a game. If you jungle my way you will need a leash from a cooperative teammate on the red buff, and you will need to get burnout first. But because red spawns at 1:55, and wraiths spawn at 1:40, you have time to get wraiths first, burnout is very useful on the wraiths as it hits all of them at once. Save your smite for the red but pop a health pot after killing them, then move onto red, hopefully your teammate is there ready to leash, use your smite and pop another health pot, this should bring you to level 2 already. After this there are a few options.

Gank top

This is the path shown in orange in the picture (green is how I start every game),I would go this way for a few reasons, it gives the most experience, sometimes the mid will want blue buff, so you can help your team out there, and it gives the most xp and gold. You go up and get wolves, pop a health pot, then you go back to wraiths. This is because they should be back by now, and you will have to wait a bit longer for your smite to cooldown. Once you've gone and got wraiths and gone back up to blue your smite should be ready again. Even though the blue is a bit wasted on Shyvana as she has no mana, if nobody else wants it get it anyway for the experience and gold. After this you can either gank top or mid if any enemies are low health or overextended.

Gank bot

I choose to go this way if bot needs help or has a champion who is just waiting to be ganked. I do this route less because the golems can take away a lot of health early game, and because bot is usually 2v2 and will rarely have enemies too far from their turret. If bot is getting really hammered though and top is doing fine, this is the option you'll need to take.

Gank mid

I go this way if the enemy in mid is really low health and pushing, it's usually fairly easy to run in there after getting red or blue and kill them. Basically when anyone is on low health or has overextended, run up there and exhaust them and if your teammates help you one of you should get a kill.

Whichever way you go, make the most of the red buff while you have it, its 20% slow and extra burn damage make your ganks that much easier. Gank as much as possible while you have it, if you don't plan on ganking early, start off at the blue buff and get the red buff later.

Ganking tips

Be wary of sight wards in the bushes, if your waiting in a warded bush for a gank you could be the one who gets ganked.
When running out from the bushes sometimes its worth using Burnout just for its speed boost so your exhaust will be in range. If the enemy is low health and your teammates in the lane help you you usually won't need the extra damage it gives.
Once you have Frozen Mallet ganking becomes a breeze.
Often when you come in for a gank and exhaust an enemy they will just flash away to safety, there's not much you can do about that, but exhaust has a shorter cooldown than flash, this can be a handy thing to keep in mind if your going for the same enemy again. If you only just got your exhaust back they won't be able to flash away this time.

Warding

It is unoficially the junglers job to ward the map as well, always have dragon warded once its spawned. This lets you know when the enemy is getting it so your team will see and stop them if possible. It might not seem like much, but the free 190 gold for the whole team is a big bonus. A handy trick is stealing dragon with smite, if dragon is warded, just wait for it to be weak enough and steal the kill with smite. Robbing the other team of 190 gold each and giving it to your team is a massive boost. Once Baron has spawned, try to keep him warded at all times as well, especially lategame, if the other team gets baron, it can often lead to a quick ace then gg.

Preventing counter jungling

If the enemy team shows any signs of counter jungling, like if you go into your jungle and any of the camps only have one small monster left, definitely ward up your own jungle. Chances are your jungle has been warded and they are going to know what your doing. The wards will help you tell if they are going to come to gank you. Even if you have done this, it still pays to be extra careful.

Vision wards

If your playing a higher level game it is totally worth it to get vision wards for baron and even dragon, to see the other teams sight wards and destroy them. They are more expensive but isn't it worth the extra gold to keep the enemy team from knowing when your going baron?

Counter Jungling

Counter jungling relies on warding of the enemy jungle so that you know what the enemy jungler is doing, two good places for wards are at the enemies blue buff and red buff. Here is a general map guide for warding

Key

1: Baron and dragon, most important, ward these even when not counter jungling.
2: Red and blue, put these in for counter jungling.
3: Other bushes, not as important, only if you want to really know what the enemy jungler is doing all the time.
I usually put these in later game when mid is pushed a bit. Often enemies can go into the jungle bushes to get away or to come and attack from behind, wards here help you stop the enemy getting away or alert you to a surprise attack from behind.

Warding the buffs

Having sight at enemy buffs is very useful. When an enemy jungler goes for them you come in and kill them and steal the buff as well if possible, smite makes this easy. While doing this it is important to keep watch on the other lanes to see if they are coming to help their teammate. If they are coming, you might not secure the kill, but it will allow your teammates to push. Shyvana is one of the best counter junglers because she does damage very quickly, so it is rare that the enemy will get away, or that the team will get there quick enough to save them.

When to enter the enemy jungle

You have to be very careful when entering the enemy jungle, if they have warded up their own jungle, you will most likely get ganked by the enemy team. Only go into the enemy jungle if all enemies are accounted for, either you can see them or they are dead. When you go in to steal their buffs or even their other camps, leave one of the small monsters behind, the bulk of the reward is always from the big monster, then stick a ward there. Then when an enemy comes to get the buff, there will only be a little monster because the camp won't respawn unless all monster have been killed, and the ward will let your team know where they are.

Summary

That's it, thanks for reading my guide, I know it still needs a few things so if you downvote it, please leave feedback telling what was wrong with it and I'll change it. This is just the way I play Shyvana and it works for me, I can't imagine it working for all playing styles though so if you don't go well with it, don't downvote and say rubbish guide. Thanks for reading and see you on the fields of justice!