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Lee Sin Build Guide by GankinMachine

AD Offtank The Blind Punk

AD Offtank The Blind Punk

Updated on November 4, 2014
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League of Legends Build Guide Author GankinMachine Build Guide By GankinMachine 7,086 Views 4 Comments
7,086 Views 4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author GankinMachine Lee Sin Build Guide By GankinMachine Updated on November 4, 2014
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Lee Sin
    Regular
  • LoL Champion: Lee Sin
    Sightstone

Introduction


Hello fellow Summoners!My Summoner name is GankinMachine of the EuW servers.This is my second guide.Check out the first one for an insight on Lee Sin.Well unlike the last guide.this one will cover runes,masteries and builds,so lock on for a long read!
And be sure to upvote if you find it helpful and leave a comment about your thoughts,argues and general advice for me to become a better author.Thanks!
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Summoner Spells


There really isn't anything to discuss about Summoner spells. Flash and Smite are the most ideal Summoers on Lee Sin when jungling.But here is a noteworthy thing.A very few people run Ignite and Smite.I don't say these are bad choices but without Flash you become more Ward jump dependent which makes you vulnerable since Lee Sin's Safeguard / Iron Will's cooldown is not lowered if not used on allied champions and the energy cost is doubled.But your ganks and counterjungling will be more efficient with Ignite.So my final verdict is,you can try Smite and Ignite on normal games for fun,but I suggest you keep it out at ranked games,since it gives a huge disadvantage early game when you only have 1 ward via your Stealth Ward as Flash,which makes you vulnerable in the jungle when you are not counterjungling and not expecting your enemy jungler to counter you.
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Runes

Runes are a bit tricky with Lee Sin.So I'll explain them category-wise.

Marks-There are 3 viable options with Marks,1 being a bit more viable than the other 2.The one I'm talking about is the flat Attack Damage Marks.Its really simple,so there's no need to explain anything about it.The second choice is Armor penetration Marks.Pick this only when you know you can counterjungle and the opponent is tanky (specially Rammus).And as you will be hitting the opponent jungler a lot more than the jungle creeps at early game,Armor Penetration is most suited.Lastly are the Attack Speed marks.A lot of people will go 'meh' on this but I think this is a really good addition to Lee Sin's kit.And this is how my theory goes;More Attack Speed=more basic attacks,more basic attacks mean-more Passive procs,more passive proc means-more energy sustain,more energy sustain means-more ability casts.This theory is still not approved so I don't suggest anyone to try this but I left it here anyway so that if it becomes the next big thing,people will know I thought of it before it was cool.

Seals-There are 2 options on Seals,flat Armor and Armor per/level.But as you are going to jungle and all the creeps deal physical damage,you really shouldn't grab Armor/level.But it is still a choice so I dropped it.So flat Armor it is.This is pretty simple too,so I won't go in depth.

Glyphs-2 options on Glyphs too.Flat Magic Resist and Magic Resist/level.I'll explain these 2 in parts as well.
Flat-If the enemy jungler is AP and you want/can counterjungle him.If their mid has high burst and can potentially kill you when you gank before he goes out.If 3 or more of the enemy team are AP.

Quintessences-2 options here.Flat Attack Damage or Armor Penetration.Flat if you don't counterjungle.Armor Penetration if you will.Like I wrote at the MArks-Armor Penetration part.

So this wraps up the Runes section.If you have any inquiries or questions please drop 'em in the comments.
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Items


I'd like to clarify what I wrote at the item purchase order.Builds indeed need to go as the game you're in starts and progresses.So there really is no help in builds for DPS champions.Suggested builds in guides do work on APCs and ADCs since they really don't have to adapt 'that much' like DPS champions.So,my advice is,build as you go.But there is one thing that needs to be clear,don't get Black Cleaver if your team doesn't have any other AD other than the ADC (it would be really less likely but still its worth pointing out.) Hexdrinker could be a situational item when enemy have burst AP champions.
That's about it for items but if you have any questions,thoughts or a build to share with me,drop 'em in the comments.

Picture of example build with Sightstone will be added soon.
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Skill Sequence

The skill sequences do not need any discussing.Max Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike right off the bat,as it is your strongest damage tool.Max Tempest / Cripple second for the utility,follow it up with Safeguard / Iron Will.And pick Dragon's Rage at levels 6,11 and 18.
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Masteries

Masteries can have few changes depending on the game you're going into.Drop out Enchanted Armor if you're not going to counterjungle and get 2 points of Recovery instead for the bonus sustain while clearing the jungle.Some people prefer Cooldown Reduction ( Sorcery) over Attack Speed ( Fury ),I have no problem with that.So run them as you like.(By the way,I run Attack Speed.)IF you are going Trinity Force,then absolutely pick Frenzy over Blade Weaving .
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Pros / Cons

Now to the actual guide.Lets start off with pros and cons.

Pros-
~Great early game.
~Decent sustain in the jungle.
~Great early game skirmish potential for effective counterjungling.
~Great utility.


Cons-
~Well known fact,bad late game (specially if he does bad in early.)
~Really sensitive early game.Few mistakes can cost you your late game.
~Hard to master.
~Only 1 AoE ability.
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Jungle Route

Always start with Blue when jungling.You might ask why.Blue gives CDR which helps in jungle clearing,Red gives true damage and a slight slow which helps ganking.Now you know why?I always start with Blue because the CDR helps in clearing the camps fast.After that I move to Red and then gank.

Now lets discuss the route on each side of the map starting with the Blue side.
1,2,3=your jungle route.Trinket=your where your Trinket should be placed when you are doing red.Bot Ward=ask your Support to ward that bush to lookout for invades or steals.Potential Pink Spots=Depending on where you want to have more control on,put a Vision Ward on the other side-At Blue side,junglers are most of the time encouraged by their teams to start Red so than they can work their way upto top for first blood ganks or simply to mirror enemy jungle route.I do approve of this IF only top seems like easy first blood,their top more aggro,their top doesn't have escapes early level except Flash or if you think mirroring the enemy jungler and counterganking would be ideal.Or else just start as I do.
Blue>Wraiths>Red>gank.Your ganks will be 70% more efficient.
Now Purple side.1,2,3=your jungle path.Trinket= where your Trinket should be placed when you are doing red.Top Ward=ask your Top to ward there.Potential Pink Spots=Depending on where you want to have more control on,put a Vision Ward on the other side-

Purple side is the best for this route.Bot lane leash is better than Top,your Top lane won't have to miss any XP to the opponent Top and you can try for a first blood gank at Top and possible mirror the enemy jungler.
Blue>Wraiths<Red>gank.
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Map Control

Every game,you have to decide on which lane/side of the map you are going to roam more.Suppose you want to take control of Bot for Dragon control,then you'd want to place a Vision Ward on the Mid-river at the Top side of the map,so that your jungler can watch out for enemy Mid and jungler movements as a compensation for not ganking.Likewise for Bot lane when you want Top side control (but you probably won't have to do that as Support will do it.)This is the decision you have to take as a jungler.Along with others like when to gank,which lane to gank,to give Blue to Mid or keep it to yourself.When to go for Dragon or when to go for a quick counterjungle session.
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Counterjungle

Speaking of counterjungle,I had to discuss it on a separate chapter.
Before you say I want to counterjungle,you will have to know what it means.Basically people would say,
Quoted:
Counterjungling means going to enemy team's jungle and stealing his creeps to deny him XP.
Well this is half correct.The full correct version would be,


Here are two maps detailed with the possibilities of counterjungling from each side of the map

Blue side-
1=Most common level 2 counterjungle.Do a fast Smite Blue,move to the enemy Red,put Stealth Ward in bush and wait.Try to secure Red with Smite before enemy jungle and Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike him.If he decides to Flash away,let him go and walk away,or if he doesn't and tries to fight you,you get first blood.(Grab a point of Tempest / Cripple at level 2 if you want to do this instead of [[Safeguard / Iron Will].
2=Right after this you could go steal his golem.This could also be done every time you successfully gank Top lane.
3,4=After ganking Bot lane,killing both or burning Summoner Spells,you can do these 2 camps at ease.But be aware of enemy jungle if you are low at health.
5=After good gank at mid (burning Summoner Spells work).This is the most common place where the enemy junlger can be found.So if you are confident you can out duel him,roam around here.


Purple Side=Same instructions here as Blue side.Will add more counter routes later on.




You should always clear full camps when you steal enemy buffs.In that way you can keep track of its respawn time and possible go in for another steal once it respawns.Or simply to note down where the enemy jungler would be.It also helps tracking the enemy jungler's movement,making your Dragon decision easier and safer.Most people leave one lesser creep and think they slowed the enemy jungler down.This is also effective.If you know you can't or you don't want to come back for another steal and if the enemy jungler is buff dependent,leave one lesser creep.Similar on the case of lesser camps.Always keep one lesser creep from small camps,but this might not be as effective,because the map has 6 camps each side,and the enemy jungler can just move to another camp if his Wraith camp hasn't respawned yet.
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Combos

Without this chapter,this wouldn't be a Lee Sin guide.Here I'll point out some cool combos.

Firstly,the most common one (in depth.)

Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike> Dragon's Rage> Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike.
Pretty standard combo.Helps you to displace an opponent you are facerolling and stay on him with second activation of Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike.This can be used quickly in skirmishes against champions who have channeled abilites ( Fiddlesticks, Katarina, Pantheon to mess up his ultimate Grand Skyfall.

Next is Ward kick.

Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike> Tempest / Cripple>Place Vision Ward / Stealth Ward> Dragon's Rage to the team.

This combo is fairly hard to execute,and if you are successful,the victim is in a world of pain.This could also be achieve with the help of Flash or Safeguard / Iron Will-ing to an ally behind the enemy.

That's all for now,know some other pretty cool combos but will add them later.If you have any cool ideas,let me know and I might add them to the guide.
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Sightstone

When I first launched the guide,I got a couple of comments regarding Sightstone.Well it was pretty stupid of me not including it in the build and not doing a chapter on it.The main reason to this is because I myself don't use Sightstone a lot after his Safeguard / Iron Will changes previously this season.Ever since that I found Sightstone not as useful as before because the energy cost and the cooldown was longer altogether.But that didn't mean its completely useless.
After that I went onto to try Sightstone myself again.Divided by findings in different paras.

Firstly lets do a para on Sightstone itself.What is a Sightstone?Well simply put its a sack of wards which refreshes everytime you hit the fountain.Its mainly a Support item.For more info just click on this link- Sightstone.

Advantages-Most commonly it makes Lee Sin incredibly mobile.
Counterjungling is way more easier and you can keep track of enemy jungler.
Late game your team's ward power increases by a 50%.Since you won't be needing the wards a lot late game,you can just ward up important places of the jungle or your buffs or even the Baron Nashor and Dragon itself.
You can switch your Stealth Ward and get Sweeping Lens for better map control.

Disadvantages-
Your Safeguard / Iron Will goes on a very long cooldown and also costs a lot of energy.
You lose a lot of your potential playmaking ability.
You lose your ability to Insec (although it is possible with Stealth Ward).It affects you more when your team doesn't have an engage for team fights.

Here is a bonus para on the problems on not having it-
Less vision throughout enemy jungle hence causing your ventures into the enemy jungle more fearful and dangerous.
Less mobility for you and your ganks are less frightening.
No room for tryharding without it.
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Match Ups

Lee Sin's matchups are pretty variable.It solely depends on how good you are with him.But there are a few matchups that you just can't screw up.

NOTE-This chapter is solely based on my experience.So this might not be entirely accurate based on your thoughts.But you might still wanna give all of them a look.


Xin Zhao
This is an even matchup.Both have exceptional clear speed and ganking power.Try not to counterjungle him.Only do so if you have an advantage over him with items or more health at the moment.Mid game he tunes down as well,but his late game is pretty decent. Battle Cry gives him a lot of dueling power,while Three Talon Strike has good damage early game and slow is pretty good.If you want to back away from a fight with him,make sure he used his Audacious Charge.You can bait it with a ward jump and then Flash to safety,Try to keep this in your head every time you think of going to duel him.


Master Yi
This too is an even matchup in my opinion.As Master Yi lacks the damage early game to outduel you.Take this into advantage and constantly counterjungle him.In skirmishes before level 6,he basically has 2 abilites,as Meditate is pointless early game.You don't have to worry about it,it heals him for so little in early game.But nevertheless,a small bit can make the difference some times though.Late game be very wary of him and focus him down immediately with the help of your team.



Kha'Zix
This is an easy matchup at early game.He doesn't do well without Armor Penetration.If you want to shut him down,ask your team to help you in warding the enemy jungle and always scout him down and kill him.Mid and late game he can easily outduel you,so watch out.Deny him Red Lizard as much as you can.



Maokai
This will be easy for you in counterjungle-wise.But gank wise,he wins hard.His ganks are great after the changes.but he won't be able to counterjungle you.So your initial strategy should be to pin him down in the jungle as much as possible.Mid and Late game he will be tanky as hell,so if you don't run Armor Penetration you will have touch time dueling him as he deals **** tones of damage even when he goes full defensive.


Rammus
Same as Maokai,but you won't be able to kill him when counterjunglionga.He is just that tanky even at early game.Best you can do is deny his buffs and XP,and countergank as much as possible.His mid is pretty weak teamfight-wise.Late game is where he really shines,ignore him at that point in teamfights.


Trundle
This guy will chew on you.Try not to counterjungle or countergank against him.Secure your buffs safely.He will outduel you any day thanks to Chomp,suck your damage and make you helpless.Early-Mid-Late,at every point of the game,try avoiding skirmishes with him.


Rengar
You got this guy early.He will be helpless if you can just get the slightest advantage over him.He performs bad when he is under leveled.You can outduel him at Mid game as well.Late game may vary,if he did well in Mid game and secured a lot of kills with Thrill of the Hunt,you may want to avoid him then.


Udyr
With Godyr build he can outduel you anytime.He will constantly roam your jungle so ward properly and keep track of his movement.Only attempt to fight him in 1v2 situations.If he goes tanky build,you will be safe to counterjungle him,as he won't be able to kill you,nor you be able to kill him.He won't counterjungle you as well,so there's that.Overall-don't try anything on Godyr through out entire game,do small steals on Udyr.


Nocturne
This is again an equal matchup.Both have great dueling potential and ganking power (where Nocturne gains a little bit of advantage after level 6).If you want some dueling always roam his jungle and counter gank.He really isn't any kind of threat throughout the entire game,unless he is seriously fed.


Amumu
Same as Rammus and Maokai.You can counterjungle him but can't kill him,he won't counterjungle you.As his ganks are strong,always keep on the look for counter ganks.Never try to fight him as he is the strongest when being attacked thanks to Tantrum.Just ignore him and in every fight and save him for the last.



There are a few more matchups I want to do.But they are at hold on for now as I need data. Vi, Volibear, Sejuani.I haven't played a lot against them so i need more experience and will update then eventually.Comment any matchups you and I might think of it.
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Conclusion


Well this is it.Its been a long guide.Hope you read it all and found it helpful.And if you did I'd like an upvote.Share it with your friends,suggest it to new Lee Sin players you know and comment if you have any suggestions,questions or inquiries about anything.
I wrote this guide in a span of 2 weeks,where I could have played about 40 games and possible climb out of Silver 1 and into Gold 5.But this is what I wanted,to share all I've learned maining Lee Sin.Hope you enjoted the guide.Thanks for reading.
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Revamp

Yes the Season is coming to an end.So that means lot of changes coming this Preseason.So the guide is up for a revamp.It will be done by the time Season 5 starts.

Like my Facebook page for a chance to be featured in my next guide-https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lee-Sin/1445728952363545?ref=hl
News about the revamp will be posted there as well.
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Change Log

NOTE-I will update this guide on new patches and/or every month.Minor spelling fixes,tags,new additions to grammar won't be mentioned/recorded here.

16-8-2014
Guide officially published.
6-9-2014
Some of the pictures are acting strange and I'm working on their fix right now.They'll be up as soon as possible.And the Sightstone chapter is something I am currently working on and will be finished at a later date.
4-11-2014
Completed Sightstone chapter.Added Revamp chapter.The pictures are still unattended as they'll need more time.They'll be fixed with the revamp.
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