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Shen Build Guide by

''The elegance of equilibrium'' SHEN SOLO TOP [S5]

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5 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Kinkou Guardian

Shen Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (5) More Shen Guides

Choose Champion Build:

SOLO TOP
RUNES - AD ENEMY
RUNES - AP ENEMY

Spells:

Flash

Teleport

Items

Starting Items

Boots + Zz'rot Portal(3rd/4th item)

Armor + HP

Magic Resist + HP

Wards and Improvements

Example Build

Ability Order

Shen Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Darius

Extreme

Good Darius player is a NIGHTMARE to lane against. He win all the trades. Stay back and cs with auto-attacks and Q. You can occasionally throw Q at him for poke. CAN INTERRUPT ULTIMATE!

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

My Shen Build Guide :-)

Playing Shen from the end of 2011. Enjoy my guide. I'll try to edit it when I find something new. :-)

IMPORTANT NOTE!
This was an all-around Shen Guide(Top/Jungle/Support). I'll try to update it if I find time. Also I don't play LoL as much as before. Just updated the guide to the way I played Shen recently.
SOME MATCH-UPS/INFORMATIONS MAY BE DIFFERENT AS I CHANGED THE WAY I PLAY(runes/items/masteries)MANY TIMES IN SEASON 5.
BTW.: Sry if my English would be bad.

check out linky317 guide http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/linky317s-guide-to-top-lane-shen-the-flippin-ninja-395771

SOME OF MY GAMES:

Shen's Lore

There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness - all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Shen is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Watching the Stars - exercising judgment untainted by prejudice.

Born to a clan whose members have decorated the ranks of the Kinkou for generations, Shen was trained his entire life to become the Eye of Twilight, and thereupon to dispassionately determine what must be done in the interests of equilibrium. As his final trial to ascend to this position, he was made to attend the Takanu, a ceremony in which his father was tortured before his eyes to test his resolve. Any reaction whatsoever would have resulted in his immediate disqualification, but he never averted his gaze and never blinked, not once. As the Eye of Twilight, Shen must make decisions that would buckle the wills of ordinary men, removing all emotion from the equation. He now works with his fellows Akali and Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the triumvirate to the Fields of Justice.

The Eye of Twilight sees not the despair of its victims, only the elegance of equilibrium.

Friends:

Rivals:

Shen Champion Spotlight

Pros and Cons

Pros:
* Global Ultimate (split-pushing potential, global pressure, can save teammates from dying, etc.) *(quite long cd)
* Good Sustain and Poke with his Q
* Can start to be a good duelist in Mid-Game
* Good Split-Pusher
* Good Tank with his 1.5s taunt, shield, health regeneration (his E has low cd in Late Game)
* Has quite good dmg while going tank due to his passive (more HP - more Magic Dmg)
* Good Peeling, Iniciating, Escaping with his E 1.5s taunt (more enemies hit - more energy will refund, Shen can also hit his 'Flash-Taunt' combo for unexpected initiation, or catching up enemies)
* Energy based champion
* Rarely banned in Season 5

Cons:
* Shen is reliant on teammates in teamfights
* Is slow pusher before getting Sunfire Cape
* Without Ultimate it's risky to start split-push (countered by getting Teleport as 2nd Summoner Spell)
* Small Kill Potential in Early Game and can be bullied and forced to cs under tower
* Has a bit Under-Powered W shield compared to other champions (but still W is good skill and very usefull)
* Missing E can be painful (makes u a bit useless for a while in teamfights)
* You might lose some cs while watching the map to use 'Stand United' properly

Summoner Spells

Flash:
'Must have' on almost every champion, Shen is no exception. Flash provides escape, and you can use it also as gap closer for 'Flash-Taunt'.

Teleport:
I use teleport as my secondary spell becouse of: *Split Pushing when Ultimate is on cooldown *Not missing farm after first back *After using Ultimate you can go back quickly at lane if you are getting pushed and don't want to give up tower for an enemy *TP when there is soon a fight and u don't want to waste Ultimate too early just to show up before fight when team need you to iniciate *Backdoor in some cases :-D
2nd Option: Ignite: Provides Kill Potential in Early Game and can be helpful against healing champions.

Runes

deleted... i'll try to update it for new runes explanation

Base Stats

Health: 571 – 2016

Health Regeneration: 8.4 – 17.7 [per 5s]

Energy: 200

Energy Regeneration: 50 [per 5s]

AD: 60 – 118

Attack Speed: 0.651 (+3.4% per level)

Armor: 25.7 – 93.7

Magic Resist: 32.1 - 54.6

Movement Speed: 335

Items

Sunfire Cape:
CORE! Helps Shen mainly with wave-clear. It also provides AOE magic dmg, better split-pushing, better dueling. Great item for tank like Shen.

Spirit Visage:
10% Cooldown Reduction, 400 Health, 55 Magic Resistance. Passive: +100% Base Health Regeneration. UNIQUE Passive: Increases your healing, regeneration and drain effects on yourself by 20%
I feel like i don't have to explain why this item is good on Shen. :-)
Rushing this item against AP champion on lane will increase your survivability as he'll probably have strong poke/harass which you have to survive in Early Game. Start building this item from:

Spectre's Cowl.

Randuin's Omen:
Very good tank item providing 70 Armor, 500 Health, enemy attack speed de-buff and active slow which is improving after u get more resists.

Thornmail and Banshee's Veil:
Heavy AD (fed auto-attack based champ/ADC) and Heavy AP (heavy AP poke/AP enemy team) options.

Warmog's Armor:
800 Health. UNIQUE Passive: Restores 1% of maximum health every 5 seconds. Health restore increases to 3% of maximum health if damage hasn't been taken within 8 seconds.
Late Game tank item. Period.
Increasing: Passive Dmg, Shen tankyness, Q HP Regeneration.
Combined with

Spirit Visage makes HP Regeneration even better.

Skills

[Passive] Ki Strike:
Every 9/8/7 (1/7/13 lvl-s) seconds, Shen's next attack deals 4+(4x level)+(10% of his bonus health) as extra magic damage. Whenever Shen hits with a basic attack, the cooldown is reduced by 1 second.
Shen gains 10/20/30 energy when he Ki Strikes.

Ki Strike <-video

-> This passive ability makes Shen being able to do good dmg while building tank items. Also providing Shen better duel-ing/push-ing/farm-ing and trade-ing.

[Q] Vorpal Blade:
Deals 60/100/140/180/220 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to target unit. That unit becomes life tapped for 5 seconds, healing any champions who attack it for 6/10/14/18/22 (+1.5% of Shen's maximum health) health over 3 seconds. If Vorpal Blade deals the killing blow, it will trigger 33% of the heal effect for Shen.
COOLDOWN: 6s/5.5s/5s/4.5s/4s
COST: 60 Energy
RANGE: 475

Vorpal Blade <-video

-> Q is Shen's main short cooldown dmg ability. Which should be maxed first becouse this ability is good tool for laning [good constant poke as Shen uses Energy and HP regeneration sustain not only for yourself but also for teammates].
HP regeneration is scaling from maximum health so as a tank this sustain will be very good for u and your teammates in team-fights, Baron/Dragon fight etc.
As this ability has short cooldown when maxed first you can last hit minions easier and poke enemy laner more efficiently.

[W] Feint:
Shen enters a defensive stance, shielding the next 60/100/140/180/220 (+60% of ability power) damage. Lasts up to 3 seconds or until it is destroyed.
While Feint is active, Ki Strike’s cooldown reduction on hit is increased to 2 seconds.
COOLDOWN: 9s/8s/7s/6s/5s
COST: 50 Energy

Feint <-video

-> Very good ability useful in many scenarios. Use it to simply block upcoming dmg [Harras/Poke/Trade-ing etc.]. Keep on mind that while W is active auto-attacks will increase Ki Strike’s [Passive] cooldown reduction on hit from 1 to 2 seconds. By timing Feint properly, you will maximise your bonus Ki Strike damage.

[E] Shadow Dash:
Shen rapidly dashes to a target location, taunting enemies he collides with for 1.5 second(s) and dealing 50/85/120/155/190 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to them. While taunted, enemy champions basic attacks deal 50% reduced damage to Shen.
Shadow Dash restores 40 Energy to Shen for every enemy champion he collides with.
COOLDOWN: 16s/14s/12s/10s/8s
COST: 100/95/90/85/80 Energy
RANGE: 600

Shadow Dash <-video

-> Another versatile ability. Dash can be used for: peeling/iniciating/escaping/catching up enemies/dueling/all-in trade-ing/dashing through walls etc. With 1.5s taunt Shen is a true tank champion [along with passive and... all his abilities :-D].

Combo

is also providing some burst dmg.
Also remember that you can combine

with

for unexpected iniciation, catching up enemies, etc.

[R] Stand United:
Places a shield on a target allied champion, absorbing 250/550/850 (+150% of ability power) damage for 5 seconds. After channeling for 3 seconds, Shen teleports to the target's location.
COOLDOWN: 180s/160s/120s
CAST RANGE: ∞

Stand United <-video

-> One of the best Ultimates in the game. With this ability you can save your teammates from dying, split-push freely, etc.
Stand United has quite long cooldown, so use it carefully and don't waste it for example when teammate has 100hp left and is surrounded by 4 enemies. You should mainly use this ability to save a teammate or join a team in a fight while split-pushing.
R has also some other interesting uses. One of them is global gank, which you can try out.

TIPS:
* Some of the champions can interrupt your R by using hard CC on you. (you'll still give the shield to the teammate but u won't be able to teleport to him)
* Enemies won't see that you casted Ultimate on stealthed allies
* It's good to use R on carries to give them additional protection in team-fights while they're beeing focused or use it on iniciator depending on situation
* In rare occasions you can use 'Stand United' as an escape on safest teammate when u are sure that you'll make it in time before enemies get to you, also if they don't have cc abilities that can interrupt your Ultimate or wait till they use them all then use

* There is a way to cancel

teleportation by using

near the end of channeling.
* Try to avoid using R on teammate who has no chance of surviving for the duration of the channel. 'This is a bad idea because your ult will go on cooldown, you won't save anybody, and you won't get to the fight, which will almost assuredly make it a lost cause and you'll be stuck alone in top lane to feel sad about ulting the wrong target. Pick someone that can benefit from the shield, put you in a good position, and live long enough for the channel of to finish.' -> sentence from gleebglarbu guide

SOLO TOP:
I max Q first for sustain, poke, and use it as a lower cooldown last hit tool. Then I max W for better dueling, and resistance (you can put some points earlier if u have hard match-up and enemy is doing a lot of dmg). I max E last mainly becouse of lower cooldown more usefull in Mid-Late Game teamfights as a low cd 1.5s taunt which can be used for peeling, iniciating, escaping, and catching up enemies.

Synergy

...

Top Lane Shen

EARLY GAME: In Early Game you should focus on cs-ing as much as possible with your auto-attacks, Ki Strike [Passive] and Q. Look to poke your opponent with Q as often as possible. If trade-ing with your opponent you should use auto-attacks, Q and W. If you're confident in your match-up you can land

combo for some burst dmg and later zone your opponent a bit if u have clear advantage on lane (i don't recommend all-in and too much trade-ing against champions which rely on getting early kill to snowball later, example: Riven). If jungler ganks your lane remember to follow up with your E (Shen is very good at following up ganks). Remember to soak up upcoming dmg with your W

shield (while trade-ing with your opponent and your W turned on remember that your passive cd reduction is increased from 1 to 2 seconds). Sustain yourself by Q-ing a minion and heal by using auto-attacks on him (Combine

and

to quickly regenerate some HP and kill medium hp minion). Use your E

dash also when u need to escape quickly. Q poke is so good becouse you are energy based champion (constant poke/sustain) and also skills don't attract minion aggro. 'If you are safe to cs with your auto attacks, you should use your Vorpal Blade on the enemy instead, because skills don't aggro creeps.' -> sentence from C9Balls guide
Last Hitting Under your Tower:

MID GAME: Mid Game is the time where team fights are happening the most. You can choose: *to split-push when u can duel with your opponent (while watching to use R on other side of the map) *stick to your team if the enemy group up and your teammates need u to iniciate/peel/help while taking dragon. In teamfights always try to taunt as many enemies as possible while iniciating/peeling. If carry, iniciatior or anyone in your team need additional protection use R on them. 'Your goal in teamfights is to either ult your carries and taunt the front line so that your team can kill them, or to ult an initiator on your team so that you can taunt the carries and instantly kill them.' -> sentence from C9Balls guide. As a top laner when u have advantage on your opponent you should try to be as big of a threat as you can to send more enemies to deal with you while split-pushing.
LATE GAME: Stick with your team and save R on most important teammates. Try to kill isolated enemies to force them to play defensively. Fight for Baron and last Dragons. Always peel for ur carries and iniciate last teamfights if you are iniciator in your team.
-> 'High elo Shen's mechanics' video by Gosu Shen

Zz'Rot Portal

Zz'Rot Portal:
60 Armor, 60 Magic Resistance. Passive: +100% Base Health Regeneration. UNIQUE Passive: Point Runner: Builds up to 30% Movement Speed over 2 seconds while near turrets, destroyed turrets or Void Gates. UNIQUE Active: Spawns a Void Gate at target location for 150 seconds. Every 4 seconds the gate makes a Voidspawn that travels down the nearest lane. Voidspawn explode when attacking structures. Voidspawn ignore champions and void targets (150 second cooldown.)
The first and every fourth Voidspawn made by Void Gate gains 100% of your Armor and Magic Resistance as damage.
Shen mentioned as the best user of this item <-link !
-> ''Zz'Rot portal is a unique item that was added in patch 4.21 and is a very nice item for toplaners. It is suggested that toplaners who excel at splitpushing should pick this up as a third or fourth item and use it to continue the splitpush while you teleport away, or use it as an item to keep the lane push in your favour if you are a low aoe damage champion.''
-> ''The champion who I see will have the most use of this item is a Shen top. This item gives him the 60 armor and magic resist that a dedicated tank needs, as well as the movement speed that a champion with very little available mobility needs when trading with the enemy top laner. The active portion of this item is very interesting for Shen, and he is able to utilize this much better than any other splitpushing toplaner. Because of Shen's teleport ultimate as well as the generic teleport taken on toplanes, he is able to keep the pressure and splitpushing up toplane while he makes an impact on the other side of the map.''
[link to article above]

Tip: You can use

''The Voidspawn are the creature that comes out of the Voidgate every four seconds.''
Voidspawn is granting gold for Shen every time when killing a minion.

Shen Match-ups

<Above in build section>

Q&A

Why Shen?
My first champion. I was looking at more defensive and team oriented champ then i saw Shen in the store.

What Skin?
Classic Skin was my favourite in the past, I had almost all Shen skins and I couldn't decide which one do I use becouse they all are great. Frozen Shen is the coolest I think and fits me the most.