So this is my second build here on mobafire. My first one got a pretty high rate and I felt like doing another. This guide is about Lee Sin, one (in my opinion) of the best early game domination champion. Have played him a lot lately, and tried a lot of different ways to build him. After about 2 weeks I found the build that worked perfectly for me, and it will hopefully do for you to.

PLEASE READ THE BUILD AND TRY IT OUT BEFORE RATING, THANKS

It is a sort of self serving guide, with lots of guidelines instead of a full guide telling you exactly how to play and what to do, since everyone plays in their own way.

Pro's

Very good farmer
Can dance into walls
Good and harassing from early game
Probably the best at getting first blood in the game (except maybe udyr
Is a nightmare for every shaco, akali and other stealth champion in the game

Cons

Have to be able to use the skillshot (q)
Takes time to learn what to prioritize in situations like teamfights and 1v1.
Needs time to learn how to play (like most champions)
Hard not to use W on yourself all the time, instead of saving it for getting out of tough situations (especially when chased)

I have lined up my skill sequence with 1 point in sonic wave/resonating strike at lvl 1 and then leaving it for the end. The reason for this is that your tempest/cripple ability is sooooo strong when fighting in 1v1, it is pretty much like an extra exhaust, which makes it even harder to take you on.

There are 2 major reasons for ranking tempest before sonic wave.

1. Cripple helps out so much more in teamfights, can slow all enemies at once and at a higher rate the more you lvl it.

2. lvling resonating strike instead only adds a small amount of damage. It doesn't do more damage on based on the passive (10% of enemies missing health), it only adds another 50 damage or so, which isn't really great compared to cripple, or even safeguard, which can save you A LOT.

I rank safeguard/iron will before sonic wave because it can be extremely helpful when shielding yourself and teammates, it can take out the ignite who would have ticked you to death or shield a teammate from an early game requiem.

When starting a fight 1v1, make sure to always use either tempest or safeguard, and to use 1 ability until your passive is off, and then start with a new one.

Tagging enemies with sonic wave when low on health is great, but there is a lot of patience in it to. If you use resonating strike to fast, then will be able to flash after you kick them. Make sure to hit them enough to FORCE them to use flash before casting resonating strike.

When fighting in 3v3, I almost always take the top lane, because it is very easy to get first blood at lvl 2 with Lee Sin. I start with doing some damage on my enemy, and since I also will get hit, I pop a potion almost immediately. I wait until I lvl up and take tempest/cripple as my second skill. I rush up to the enemy champion, use tempest, hit 2 times, use cripple, and then ignite and exhaust.

The exhaust + cripple makes it almost impossible for your opponent to fight back. Always try to land q on him before he flashes away, because when he does, you just come flying after with the kick of doom.

I start with boots and pots because of 2 main reasons.

The first one is that I usually get my teammates to assemble at the creeps between mid and our base, take them out and then head out to the lanes. this way you will lvl up after only the 3 melee creeps, which makes it easier to get fb with your opponent only having 1 skill.

The second reason is that I dont really like to get dorans on lee sin, since it is a bugger out of the way lategame, and cant be built into anything more useful. The extra movement speed is always a plus when you chase down the enemy champion to.

After first blood I port back to base to get a long sword and a cloth armor, which I will build into madreds and later on wriggle's. I do this because you have top lane, aka it is closest to the jungle from there.

Lee sin is a formidable jungler, and can easily get red at lvl 4 or 5 (you usually have madreds at lvl 5) and the dragon at lvl 6/7, depending on when you get wriggle. The lifesteal from wriggle's gives you a great advantage in 1v1 fights to, and with your Iron will you will be gaining as much as you are loosing in HP.

The Trinity Force is my third major item, and I get it not only because of the passive burst damage, but also because you gain so much with Lee Sin if you buy it. You get hp, damage, ap (for your shield) movement speed and crit chance, and also a 25% chance to slow your opponents on hit.

After I have finished these 3 items the game is usually over, mostly from surrendering. But if you have tough opponents you should start building defensively from now on.

Enemies with loads of ap? Get a negatron cloak.
Enemies with loads of ad? Get a chain vest.
Loads of both? Get both. It's all situational, and I will let you decide on your own from this point forward. Get more ad if you feel like it, I wont say it's bad. Just think about the situation.

When facing Mordekaiser I would like to recommend a quicksilver sash though, because with that you can nullify his ultimate.

This is all about what everyone prefers the most. I feel that I can do the most damage with exhaust and ignite, since I already have 2 flashlike skills which counters the need for ghost and flash. When I need to jump over walls I just use either a ward + safeguard, or use sonic wave on dragon (should not be done at early lvl's, dragon's got a high dps at lvl 4~)

Flash is of course a viable choice, if you want a really safe escape. It is in my opinion not needed though if you know how to use safeguard right.

Ghost can always be nice to have, but I close distances faster with safeguard/sonic wave, and feel that I can be without it too.

Can be fun to have and useful early game, not a viable choice unless your opponent stays and fights though.

You wont die. No need for revive. Nah, kidding, but revive is a hell of a waste in 3v3, where it is important to take advantage over your opponent with summoner spells.

If you feel that you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE IT, then feel free to go with it, I prefer to use it on char's with mana though.

Pretty viable in 3v3, though I feel ignite and exhaust is better for fighting 1v1, since there are many ways to counter heal (ignite for example)

Please don't. You are not support.

Pics for added credibility.

And here is a picture from preseason 2, 18 ranked games in 3v3, 1 in 5v5

In masteries I go very offensive, taking improved exhaust 4 points in sorcery. I have tried building him more tanklike with a 9/21/0 build, but found offensive more efficient, due to my defensive runes.

I want as much damage as possible on Lee, but I also want to be durable enough to face pretty much anyone in lane without having troubles. This is the reason I picked the runes I did.

The Greater Mark Of Desolation greater mark of desolation helps me to scale my opponents armor, which usually isn't very high early game.

The Greater Seal of Resilience helps me when I start with the neutral mobs with my team. I usually tank, but even though I have pots, I like the fact that I don't have to pop 2 to get full hp again in lane.

The greater glyph of warding helps with early game harassment from mages such as Cassiopeia and Teemo, and I chose them mostly because I hate poison and get so annoyed watching my hp tick away.

The greater quint of strength adds some well needed damage, which is needed for fb. It is very problematic to get fb without any extra damage, and when I get the wrong runes I usually see my enemies slip away with just an ounce of hp left, laughing straight into my face.

The first thing I want to do here is actually to ask for some help. I am trying to fix pictures for Lee's abilities (sonic wave/resonating strike, tempest/cripple, safeguard/iron will) but I can't quite seem to get it right. Any tip would be greatly appreciated :)

2/9 2011,

Added a 5v5 build for jungling lee sin, not sure if I have the time to put up a route, but if it's requested, I will do my best.

Here I will keep the guide updated when Lee Sin is affected by patches, and I will do it within the time of a week after the patch is released.