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Leona Build Guide by

16.15 Chosen Of The Sun

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Leona Build Guide By Updated on

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Runes: Engage Tank

1 2 3

Resolve

Aftershock

Demolish

Conditioning

Overgrowth

Domination

Sudden Impact

Ultimate Hunter

Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+10-180 Bonus Health
+10-180 Bonus Health

Spells:

1 2

Ignite

Flash

Ignite

Items

Starter Item

World Atlas Upgrades

Tank/Support

First Back (Ahead)

First Back (Behind)

Core Items

Anti Heal Options

Boot Options

Vision Control Options

Situational Items

Health Options

Armor Options

Magic Resist Options

Utility Options

Elixir Options

Standard

Supportive

Chase Down

Ability Order Standard Build

1 2

Leona Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Brand

Extreme

Brand pokes you hard and makes it hard to help your team. Moving around as much as possible is the only thing you can do in this fight, or wait and try to catch him on cooldown.

Ashe

Ideal

Ashe has good ways to make your crowd control easier to hit, but it's only sometimes guaranteed to beat them. So make sure you both are on the same page when going for an all-in.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Ashe

Ideal

Ashe has good ways to make your crowd control easier to hit, but it's only sometimes guaranteed to beat them. So make sure you both are on the same page when going for an all-in.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Pros & Cons

Abilities

Game Plan

Summoner Spells

Vision Control

Stats To Consider

Which Boots & Why?

Itemization

Runes

Rune Shards

Summary

Introduction

Hello there! My name is Demonsedge, and I'm a fan of League of Legends. I love this game and can't recommend it enough.

When I'm playing as a , I tend to choose because I'm familiar with her setups and combos. In this guide, I'll take a closer look at 's team and itemization and share some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of playing her.

I hope you find this helpful guide and follow my suggestions to improve your gameplay with . So, without further ado, let's dive into my guide on playing as - The Radiant Dawn!

Leona - The Radiant Dawn
Vanguard,

Specialties: Durability, Engage, Lockdown
Why choose Leona?:
• A simple champion to pick up and can be fun to play.
• Provides effective

crowd control engagement for teammates while setting up picks for her carries, and she can be that big damage soaker when you need to get objectives such as or .
• She has great potential to make plays, the odd time she can carry for her team while being a potent frontline team fight asset.

I always enjoy taking her on the rift when playing league matches, and I hope you will, too.

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Pros & Cons

+ Strong engage (ex: Solar Flare & Shield of Daybreak)

+ Exceptional peeling

+ Very durable (with Eclipse)

+ Fits into most team comps

+ Strong early game

+ Great roaming support

- No sustain in lane

- Susceptible to constant harass

- Predictable engage

- Dependent on team follow-up

- Vulnerable to disengage tools

- Potential for mana issues

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Abilities

Sunlight

is a fantastic way to increase your allies' damage in fights with the enemy or when taking neutral objectives ( or ).

works well when mixed with other

on-hit item effects.

Shield of Daybreak

| Cost: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 Mana | Cooldown: 5 | Cast Time: - |

A great engage/interrupt stun tool that is effective to peel for your team or when getting ready to engage the enemy in a team fight, all-in, or skirmish. That helps lockdown your target and makes them easier to kill.

Additionally, when attacking with , you will trigger any

on-hit effects.

Eclipse

When playing as , one of her most impactful abilities is . Increasing her durability during combat and reducing the damage she takes makes it great to use when you are looking to start a fight or after you have stunned a target in anticipation of follow-up damage.

It is important to note that has a self-slow attached, even though the ability description does not mention it upfront.

Zenith Blade

is a strong engage tool for . It is an effective way to engage and lock down isolated targets or eliminate specific targets. Remember that this ability targets the enemy at the back of the group, making it an excellent choice for hitting backline targets.

However, it is essential to be cautious when using it around a cluster of enemies because it may result in death if you cannot disengage from the fight you initiated.

Solar Flare

This ability defines you in combat, allowing you to stun/slow an entire team while also dealing magic damage to all within its epicentre. It is effective when used on high-priority targets or targets who try to run away from you and your team.

Note that the animation time is slow, meaning enemy champions flashing out of your ultimate can be a scenario, thus wasting your engagement and making you lose a powerful ability.

Timing this ability is necessary and can make or break a team fight, and with its long cooldown, I would not recommend spamming it just because you see a target in sight.

Combos:

In this section, I will share some of the effective combos for that are simple to understand and that you can apply while playing summoners rift (draft and ranked) games.

Tips & Tricks:

Playing As :
• Lead the charge and mark your foes with before your allies’ deal damage.
• and form a powerful offensive combo.
• The damage reduction effect from cannot reduce the damage below 50%.
• Save your for targets recently using their dash/blink or .
• Due to its high cooldown, should only pick off isolated enemies or foes you want to eliminate.

Playing Against :
• When activates , you have three seconds to get away from her before she deals damage.
• Only foes in the center of get stunned, so you can often avoid this if you are quick.
• Avoid standing directly in front of , so you are not being rooted by and stunned by .
• Have your handy to dodge 's .

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Game Plan

In this section, I will outline the things to focus on/consider at each game stage as .

Early Game:

Your primary focus as involves establishing as much vision as possible to protect both you and your bot lane partner from incoming enemy dives. Doing this will ensure both of you are safe and can react quickly.

With the aid of your item (), you will earn gold passively, and with the charges it offers, you will also be sharing gold with your team.

Be sure to gain as much gold & experience as possible to acquire your core items while also getting ahead in your matchup. Also, be sure to roam when you can (helping other lanes or setting up deep wards), and make sure your bot lane knows when you do so. Doing so ensures they understand what your plan is.

Setting up a freeze (holding the just outside your ) or trading with the enemy can ultimately deny them gold & experience.

Mid Game:

By now, you should be gathering with your team and focusing on team fighting and objective securing (, , or ). Continue to place vision throughout the mid-game, and always try to block as much damage as possible for your team.

Late Game:

If your games reach this stage, you'll want to be with your team on the frontlines and continue to put up wards around primary objectives while also grabbing soul, & , which are essential to close out the game if ahead. Make sure to deny your opponent these objectives.

Things to Consider:

Rotate towards early or other objectives to assist your . Also, be sure to gather enough experience so you'll be relevant to your team and be able to soak up the damage needed for your backline carries to take over the game.

If a team fight erupts during your games, always consider the risk of the upcoming battle:
• Will you impact the outcome of that fight or objective?
• Does your team come out on top without you being there?

When deciding to enter combat with , you should be mindful of where you are during the fight (positioning) and also be aware of where the enemy is when attempting to engage with your abilities.

Always be mindful of this when playing .

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Summoner Spells

Below is a detailed overview of the summoner spells you can choose from that can improve your success in lane as .

By understanding your opponents, you can choose the best spells to counter potential threats.

Default

Flash

An essential spell for that you should pick for your games 100% of the time. If caught out or stuck in a rough situation, having at the ready can help when dodging a crucial skill shot or escaping your enemy's auto attack range. It is also effective when looking to make aggressive plays.

Secondary Options

Exhaust

Good against very mobile/ or strong champions that will burst you down quickly. Great when applied on targets, you need to slow down or reduce their incoming damage from all sources.

Be mindful that can't reduce true damage dealt from the following abilities:
• 's (recast)
• 's
• 's
• 's
• 's (3rd hit)

Ignite

It helps reduce healing, so you can finish off kills that your adc may not be able to secure immediately. With the damage it provides, you can secure advantages in team fights; therefore, I recommend as your other go-to spell in most games, as . If your adc plans on running , let them take and opt for another option.

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Vision Control

Here are trinkets and consumables that can help detect potential invades or prepare for the next objective to secure or deny on the Rift. Always be sure to consider your options when planning your vision game.

Default Trinket

Stealth Ward

is the default trinket as , revealing units within a target location. With a maximum of three wards to place, you'll create sightlines for you and your team when roaming the rift. Great when side laning/placing deep wards in enemy territory or getting vision on objectives ( & ).

Secondary Options

Oracle Lens

is your best choice for and should be acquired on your first back so you can start denying enemy vision and protect critical areas of the rift while making dives more accessible for you and your team. Formidable when dealing with stealth champions who plant traps, such as , & . It's also beneficial against champions who use stealth as a means to engage/disengage, like , , or .

Consumables

Control Ward

s can be placed anywhere on the map, revealing and disabling enemy wards. s function similarly to the trinket displaying stealth & camouflaged based champions (, , and ) that approach them. As support, you will buy this most of the time since you want to clear your vision as much as possible.

Upon acquiring the final upgrade to your item (, or ), you're granted four s, giving you the option to mix and match between the different trinkets above, making vision placement and denial much more accessible to control around the map.

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Stats To Consider

In this section, I will highlight key attributes (stats) that enhance 's effectiveness in battle. Be sure to consider these during champion select, as they can impact your performance and strategy.

• Armor/Magic Resistance: As , these are the best stats to have as they offer additional durability in combat and provide excellent synergy with .

Always get as much armor and magic resistance as possible to become very hard to kill in team fights and skirmishes.

• Health: This stat is essential for fights, adding another layer of survivability when playing . Always look to obtain this when itemizing for combat.

Though we don't scale with it, having more on makes you durable alongside your other necessary stats.

• Ability Haste: Having ability haste does grant us more freedom to spam our skills, and due to how low 's cooldowns are in the later stages, therefore it can be a viable option.

It is not something we aim for above all others, but it is still good to consider.

• Movement Speed: As , it can help with roaming, keeping up with enemies, and dodging skill shots.

• Attack Speed: Not heavily prioritized on outside the rune shard option we get (explained below), so we typically ignore this stat in every other way.

• Attack Damage: As the of your team, your main goal is to take damage and not deal it. As , it's best to skip this stat and aim for a more defensive style with more defensive stats.

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Which Boots & Why?

Boots of Swiftness > Slow Resist
Your premier mobility option when roaming lanes or dealing with slowing effects like 's ///, or other movement impairing abilities that would leave you vulnerable when trying to escape.

Swiftmarch

Mercury's Treads > Magic Resistance & Tenacity
A strong option for , helping to reduce the effects of

crowd control from enemy champions while offering a small amount of magic resistance. Standard choice into teams with heavy magic damage threats.

Other sources such as the tenacity & slow resist shard or the work nicely in tandom for improved resistance agaisnt

crowd control effects.

Chainlaced Crushers

Plated Steelcaps > Armor
is an excellent choice when playing as a . The armor provided and the auto attack damage reduction passive make it easier to soak up from basic attacks for your backline. Great when facing heavy physical damage teams or auto-attack-centric champions.

Armored Advance

Be mindful that none of the tier 3 boots upgrades are accessible to us as support, as now if we want them, we'll have to role queue to mid lane and earn them through their specific role quest.

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Itemization

Starter Items

As the default option for , grants extra sustain, along with added gold income throughout the match. As time progresses, it will upgrade into two other unique items and increase your warding capabilities.

Then you might be asking: Well, Demonsedge, how do I complete the support item quest?

That's a great question summoner, and here's how:

You'll receive your first charge before the first three units perish.

When charges are available, always use them when possible, as it increases your gold gain and your teammates.

When executing , or a , you'll gain a fixed amount of gold with each charge. At the same time, your nearby teammate will earn the total value of the executed .

Damaging champions will yield higher gold values (compared to executing ), allowing you to complete your item quickly.

Either strategy is effective when looking to complete your item.

Support Item Upgrades

- is your offensive support upgrade for . It amplifies all future damage her target takes while debuffed by . It functions similarly to in terms of effectiveness. However, unlike , the bonus damage is available to your team, rather than just the user who triggered it.

- fits nicely on . When paired with , or , gains even more frontline/engage potential in team fights. It is an excellent option to consider against high burst comps or when you need to absorb heavy damage for your backline carries.

- Consider using the on to improve both sustain and combat effectiveness. While the health and mobility gained is low, it could help you save a near-death ally or secure a kill.

Core Items

- With gains an increase in her effectiveness as a frontline in prolonged combat with enemy champions, which in turn increases the strength of her .

It is a strong durability option to consider on in most games.

- An effective sustain option for while being a strong durability option for her attached ally. It is helpful when taking extended trades or during team fights with the enemy.

- is a potent supportive option as . The shield provided can help in near-death instances should they arise. Take this when facing burst heavy or damage over time champions.

Situational Items

- is an effective purchase for when against champions such as , , or who have high burst in their kit. It can also be helpful to your allies by amplifying their magic damage in team fights and skirmishes.

- It is an excellent asset when paired with champions such as , , , , or who love a little boost to their dueling strength. Since Leona has plenty of immobilizing effects, it's a perfect fit for her and her team if the above conditions are ideal.

- Effective in roaming to objectives/team fights or chasing down fleeing targets. It provides a small damage bonus, and slows down the target you hit based on the stored mobility gain as you move around.

It's also practical for against enemies who possess movement slows in their abilities or auto attacks, such as , or through items like .

- Due to how effectively you can root or stun enemies as , you'll have no issue triggering 's shield effect more often during combat.

I recommend purchasing it for increased team fight durability as .

- Very efficient when dealing with multiple

immobilizing effects or against teams with magic damage based abilities. allows you to sustain burst damage champions like / or with heavy-dot damage play styles.

- is excellent for against champions whose kits revolve around heavy attack speed builds/play styles, such as , or .

Purchasing it against

lethality champions such as , or can also help.

- You might ask, why , well it greatly enhances your durability in team fights, converting your health pool as a weapon, dealing a portion of it as physical damage. It has the potential to scale indefinitely.

A strong choice when combined with high armor and magic resistance, or other items or runes that synergize with health, such as , or .

- An excellent option to consider on is . When acquired, you gain shielding similar to 's , providing durability against burst mages such as , , , .

It's best to purchase in games where most of the enemy team is magic-heavy.

- Provides excellent durability at its base value and is great against teams that could burst you down. As you near low health, you'll begin to heal, providing you with a short window to potentially peel an ally in combat or set up a team-winning play.

- Like , you will reduce the damage of auto attacks you receive, though instead of reducing attack speed, you will reduce the damage of critical strikes dealt to you. Handy when dealing with champions who build these items (the class, , , or ).

- Reduces the effectiveness of healing from targets that hit you in combat with auto attacks. Useful against champions such as (), , or the healing from items such as , or .

- is an excellent defensive option for , providing increased durability during team fights and skirmishes. Its regeneration effect is triggered once you have enough bonus health, allowing you to stay active on the rift longer.

Also, you'll gain health based on a percentage of all other health items built.

- creates an area of effect slow (upon casting ), that damages all nearby enemies hit. The slow field provided helps stick close to any fleeing targets.

Elixirs

- is a strong late-game option for , granting extra health and resistance to

crowd control effects while also providing added mobility for your team (when behind you).

If at any point you no longer require your support item (, or ) in your match, sell it and buy a situational item from the list above to complete your build path.

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Runes

The following keystone and rune choices are great for and will complement her in combat. Always pay attention to the enemy team comp, plus your item builds when selecting your runes to get the most value in each game.

Keystone Runes:

- is an excellent keystone for during team fights and short trades because of the slow it provides. This keystone is best when paired with other champions with slows or crowd-control impairing effects.

- turns into an aggressive lane bully. It has strong potential with her, and when paired with , you'll have increased combat strength. Just be mindful, stick with her standard defensive itemization, which is key to surviving whatever your opponents throw at you.

Great with aggressive (, , , or ) or against squishy s ( or ). It's best to avoid this against , Janna, or .

- After hitting any of your

immobilizing abilities on targets triggers , gaining bonus armor and magic resist and then dealing magic damage + a portion of your bonus health to all nearby enemies in the shockwave—the standard option for in most games when .

Domination Runes:

- is excellent for , dealing bonus true damage upon damaging a target afflicted with

crowd control effects. Since can trigger from any of her damaging abilities (, and ), it allows for more efficient dueling and team fights with her allies.

- After using or , we'll activate , dealing extra true damage regularly during combat, allowing for increased damage on specific targets. It's an excellent choice for when looking to be highly aggressive in fights.

- provides a smoother ability setup when engaging/chasing down the enemy with its out-of-combat movement speed bonus. Helps get to lane faster when getting to team fights/reaching objectives on the map.

- helps gain more access to in teamfights and skirmishes. With the increased access to , you'll have more chances to isolate or subdue priority targets in teamfights allowing for the momentum to shift in your teams favor.

Inspiration Runes:

- allows to channel a hexflash, travelling a short distance. Great for catching your opponents off guard if they aren't paying attention to your movement and positioning, surprising them with a cheeky combo. You gain access to hexflash while your is on cooldown.

- is helpful when you need additional sustain after trades and skirmishes while giving you more max health per biscuit. An optional choice for , though helpful when dealing with poke matchups.

- provides access to more summoner spells (, ) and item/ward trinket haste. This rune is excellent when paired with items like or other active item effects. It is also beneficial for increasing your vision score.

- is an excellent rune for , granting you movement speed toward any nearby targets affected by

crowd control. Great when paired with champions such as , or .

Precision Runes:

- helps by restoring health and grants additional gold upon getting a kill or assisting in fights with your team. The sustain gained from (increased by max health) can help , while the income earned gets her one step closer to key item spikes.

- is a very helpful rune for to gain more access to your skills in combat. With the increased ability haste chasing targets becomes a bit easier and also helps to improve your teams overall presence in extended combat.

- offers increased damage when you're low health. Since we don't typically purchase bruiser or items as , it won't be that noticeable in team fights with this rune. Compared to other tier three rune options, it's the best for 's play style.

Resolve Runes:

- is an effective way to apply tons of pressure on the enemy by dealing increased damage to all (based on a % of your max health) you encounter. It allows for improved lane sieging, gains gold plates faster, and increases roam timings from the lane. Another advantage of is when paired with the buff (from ), you'll reach the enemy nexus faster than expected.

- helps by increasing her armor and magic resistance. It pairs nicely with 's and can be helpful when you need extra survivability and late-game durability.

- for as an engage helps to regenerate missing maximum health after a skirmish or team fight. Stacking health (with items or runes) helps to improve the regeneration effectiveness. Very efficient into champions such as , , , or .

- offers excellent upfront durability for , reducing the damage you receive from champions in duels, skirmishes or team fights. The damage reduction is excellent on when dealing with burst or assassin champions such as , , or .

- As a , getting more health is vital to your survival, and is a great choice, as it helps by increasing her durability and frontline potential in team fights.

While she doesn't scale with health compared to such as , or , it's still a viable option to consider, especially when taking the following runes:
•
•
•

When fighting against champions or items that possess max health burn or shred, it may be ideal to select another option.

is very potent for against heavy

crowd control teams increasing your durability. An excellent choice when fighting champions such as , , , or .

Sorcery Runes:

- is a great way not only to increase your mana, but also to speed up your recovery. A good rune option that can help prevent you from having to back and allow for more ability casts in the lane.

- , while not often taken on , can be helpful. It helps by offering permanent ability haste, a passive effect reducing your non-ultimate cooldowns upon scoring a takedown. As a result, you'll have more opportunities to continue stunning and disrupting the enemy in the lane and team fights.

- Since rotation speed is key for supports to have success on the rift, provides increased mobility from all sources you acquire (, or ). Also applies to any movement boosts your allies give you.

It's also a great option to consider when you need to keep up with fleeing targets or escape skill shots coming your way.

- increases our damage output against targets, scaling in damage based on game time. While such as wouldn't consider this rune, it can prove useful on her, just in case you need a little more damage to close out a kill.

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Rune Shards

When we are deciding on what rune shards (offensive and defensive) to pick for , you need to factor in a few things in champion selection.

Offensive Shards

• Do I need attack speed on my champion? While auto attacks on can feel very slow, it is a good option when looking to chain autos after/during your combos.

• Do you need additional adaptive force? As , having adaptive force can be useful, but since we are opting to be the for our team, it's much more reliable to pass on this for something else (attack speed shard or ability haste shard).

• Do I require any ability haste? can benefit from the added ability haste, as that would enable us to use our engage tools more frequently and lockdown targets with ease.

Defensive Shards

• Do I require movement speed? A solid choice for roaming supports such as .

• Do I require tenacity & slow resist? Very strong into comps with multiple

immobilizing effects. Excellent when combined with .

• Do I require more health? A viable option for . With scaling health for late game fights/skirmishes, or the flat health for an early to mid game boost. Both are helpful in games where only one type of resistance is needed. An excellent option when against mixed damage team comps.

Always pay attention to the team compositions you are fighting when mixing and matching the rune shards listed above with your and items. It's a sure way to improve your overall survivability in games.

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Summary

Upon reading this guide, I hope it has helped you understand how to build . By explaining which abilities, items, and runes work well together, you should now be able to make the most of her kit. If you found this helpful guide, please share it with your friends and fellow gamers.

If you have any questions or thoughts you wish to share, feel free to contact me in the discussion section. I'll be happy to discuss anything with you and help you find the answers you need to the best of my ability.

To view my other guide click on the following link below:

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16.15 Chosen Of The Sun

Table of Contents

Introduction

Pros & Cons

Abilities

Game Plan

Summoner Spells

Vision Control

Stats To Consider

Which Boots & Why?

Itemization

Runes

Rune Shards

Summary

16.15 Chosen Of The Sun

16.15 Chosen Of The Sun

Recommended Items

Runes: Engage Tank

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Exhaust

Flash

Items

Ability Order Standard Build

Sunlight (PASSIVE)

Shield of Daybreak (Q)

Eclipse (W)

Zenith Blade (E)

Solar Flare (R)

Sunlight (PASSIVE)

Shield of Daybreak (Q)

Eclipse (W)

Zenith Blade (E)

Solar Flare (R)

Threats & Synergies

Alistar

Annie

Bard

Blitzcrank

Brand

Braum

Galio

Janna

Karma

Lulu

Lux

Maokai

Mel

Milio

Morgana

Nami

Nautilus

Neeko

Pantheon

Poppy

Pyke

Rakan

Rell

Renata Glasc

Senna

Seraphine

Shen

Sona

Soraka

Swain

Tahm Kench

Taric

Thresh

Vel'Koz

Xerath

Yuumi

Zilean

Zyra

Shaco

Aphelios

Ashe

Caitlyn

Corki

Draven

Ezreal

Jhin

Jinx

Kai'Sa

Kalista

Kog'Maw

Lucian

Miss Fortune

Nilah

Samira

Sivir

Smolder

Tristana

Twitch