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Lee Sin Build Guide by

A Dragon's Rage. 5.6 Updated

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0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author KingTwister

Lee Sin Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion More Lee Sin Guides

Spells:

Smite

Flash

Items

Starting/Early Game

Core Items.

Mid-Late Game

Late Game

Super Late Game

Damage Build

Ability Order

Lee Sin Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Pantheon

Extreme

The guy can just beat you up. He has a better early game than you and scales just a tad worse than you. Keep deep wards in his jungle to see him ult. Don't try to duel unless you ahead in items.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

I am currently Platinum IV having peaked at promotionals for Diamond V. Since the beginning of S3 I have played over 1000 ranked games as Lee Sin (smurfs included in this count). My win rate with him sits around 50~53%. In this guide I'll give you tips and pointers to help exploit his powers, and to stay away from his weaknesses.

Pros / Cons

Pros

Great Kill Potential
Very good early game pressure
High Skill Cap
Incredible Mobility
Good Utility

Cons

Struggles if gets put behind early
Has no natural tank abilities other than a weak shield from Safeguard
Slow jungle clear
Bad early game sustain
High skill cap

Spells

You're a jungler

You need this to secure kills also to be able to escape. As well as inSec plays.

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Dark Harvest

Phase Rush

Runes

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Basic runes, used for clear time and overall damage.

Runes

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Another basic setup for AD junglers. Allows for more tankiness.

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Dark Harvest

This is where it runes get personal. I like the 5% CDR offered since it's good for your along with your , , HOWEVER if you don't feel comfortable or safe with the Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction just run 9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Yet another personal choice. is for those of you that farm a lot. Good synergy with , could be sustain overkill though. Additionally with Lee Sin's poor pre-level 8 clear this could offer extra needed sustain. , a safe selection also it is overall the best pick. Better clear, more damage.

Masteries

is an incredible mastery. Given it's ability to help keep you alive in 2v2 ganks.

Items

Early Game

You have two choices for jungle items. and . The reason isn't listed here is after the nerfs it has received it is no longer a good item on . If you want to clear your jungle fast and stay topped off. Take . If you are looking to duel or perhaps getting into a 2v2 is not in your favor then is what you'll want. Also it scales VERY WELL into the late game. This is due to the 20% damage reduction buff it applies to the smited target. is what I pick up when in doubt.

When you get your you often get the on one back and the on the next. This is also the time you need to pick up a . This is the order How I do it.

on one back

on the next back

I do this because I need wards to jump to.

Mid Game

This is where you start to pick up either your tankiness or damage items. By default I go tanky but if I get a HUGE lead then I build damage.

Let's start with the tanky build.
Your two core tank items are and . I go first about 80% of games. Only time I start is if they have two AP carries in either the Jungle,Mid-lane or Top-Lane. So if its an . I start . Also another reason to not rush straight into a is if their AP gets really fed. In this case I just go into .

Late Game
This is when you're on your 6th item and working on replacing other items. My standard go to pick up for my 6th item is a . This is a good pick up with Lee Sin since he often is in the middle of team fights. Also if you inSec a carry you're all alone in their back line. is great in this position. If the enemy is AP heavy go or . If you are plenty tanky for the situation and want to go more damage and are all good pick ups. Each one also gives you some sort of defense whether it's sustain, hp or MR+MR Shield.

Super Late Game

This is where you begin trading out your other items. First step get or Then following that with Homeguard Enchantment Upgrade your to for extra HP. Finally you want to trade out your for more damage or more defense. Pick your poison according to your situation.

Creeping / Jungling

For the sake of this image your are the blue team (bottom left). The red numbers are the first camps you take. I back after that then get my along with as many as possible. Next you take Blue(4) then 5-6 are if their are no open ganks. After your first four camps of the games you should always looks for ganks while clearing. I almost am NEVER watching myself take jungle camps but instead looking at my lanes and seeing if their is an opening. Sometimes after your first buff you can gank as lee sin. I advise this only if a flash on the enemy is down and they are 40%hp or lower.

Timers

You need to know your timers so here is a good website to learn all about the jungle camps.
Jungle Timers

Second Wave Of Buffs

Around 7:30 (give or take given the jungler) is when the first of your second buffs re-spawns. So if you see an enemy Pantheon ganking top at 7:00, go to the buff he started and steal it. This also is telling you do be on the correct side at the time. So if you're Blue side (bottom left). You should be doing golems/raptors come 7:00. Or ganking mid-lane / bot-lane. Losing a second wave of buffs for a gank when you're pre-six as Lee is not worth it. Unless you pick up a kill.SO BE SURE! Most important thing to take away from this, be on the correct side of the jungle within 15/20 seconds of your buff re-spawning. Knowing the timers can also help with timed invades. If you're ahead of the enemy jungler and their flash is down or they have poor escapes ie. Fiddlesticks a 7 minute invade of his blue may work. Just make sure your mid laner is on board.
When it comes to taking your second wave of buffs (not giving Blue Sentinel to your mid), it's situational. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT give your Blue Sentinel to a mid that is losing. So if you have a Ziggs who's 0-3 and down 40 cs. Take the buff. Now if you have someone like LeBlanc in the same situation, it is all about preference. LeBlanc is an assassin so she gets a huge power spike at 6. If the match-up is favorable for LeBlanc then you can hand over the buff. In most cases though you keep it. Better you keep it than let your mid lose it.

Invading

Level 2 Invade
With it being the pre-season and now jumping into S5 I have only found 1 way of invading pre-level 3 but it has 2 variations.
- Start your BUFF and go directly across the river to their buff as they have to start at a camp then ,over to their buff.
This is where the variations come in. You can go to the buff they're starting to kill them, or to their second buff and steal it.

Let's discuss the first variation of killing them first.

This best works when you're the purple team (top right) and you start blue. It's a quicker run to the enemy red buff and the Ancient Krug is tankier than the Gromp so it also takes the enemy longer to take his first camp. This does work when on blue team (bottom left) and you start your red as well. It just cuts it a little close sometimes.

I only like to do the first variation against someone with a slow early clear and someone who is weaker than me at level 2. Some good examples are Fiddle Sticks Kha' Zix Rengar Master Yi. People who you don't want to invade level 2. Shyvanna Pantheon Warwick Nunu & Willump.

The second variation of not killing them but stealing their second buff is the exact same. Only thing that mechanically changes this is your starting point. So if you're blue team (bottom left) you want to start opposite the buff the enemy jungler is not starting. In most cases this means blue buff. So you take blue then immediately go to their red and steal it. You can save smite for their red or use it on your blue. I however use it on my blue in this situation and just pull their red buff out so they think it's gone if they run by it.

Additional level 2 Invading Notes: Tell your team what you are doing. This way they can ping and even respond faster than the enemy if a duel breaks out. Ask for a good leash as well as this will net one maybe two more hits onto your buff which can GREATLY increase your clear time. As far as abilities go, if you are trying to kill them take your Tempest second. If you are trying to steal their second buff take Safeguard as it has a lower cooldown so you can use it more for Flurry. Also if you need to escape you can ward hop with it.

Regular Invade

Their are multiple rules of invading.

1. If you are stronger by a good amount than the enemy jungler. Constantly contest their jungle. So if you get that early level 2 kill onto them. You continually try to kill them in their jungle as long as they are pre-6. Also WARD their jungle heavily early on so you can see where the enemy jungler is at or not at. This makes camp stealing and catching the enemy much much easier.

2. If the enemy ganks bot and you are up by baron pit. This is freedom to roam into his jungle take a camp or two and WARD it. Never leave the enemy jungle without having placed at least one ward. If you don't have a ward then work on buying more. Vision is power. Power is victory.

When invading his jungle unless it is a buff DO NOT complete the whole camp. Always leave at least one monster behind. This will reduce the gold and exp the enemy jungler can get. If you are taking a buff ONLY clear the entire camp if you plan to contest it next time it spawns. If you know their is a slight chance you will not be able to take it when it resawpns then simply leave one alive. This is very good with buffs because at higher levels people time their ganks and invades around when they have buffs. So throw that timing off and you can mess up their game. One of the most important things you can do when invading besides warding, is watching your mini map. If you go to their Raptors and see the enemy mid laner go into the Fog Of War you leave. No sense in dying 70 gold.

Farming

Starts

If you start Ancient Krug (golem) you lead with smite. Since Ancient Krug gives you Gift Of Heavy Hands when smited. Gift Of Heavy Hands stuns all monsters and minions on the 6th attack.
If you start Gromp (toad) you can smite whenever you please, but it'd be advised to start off with smite so you can have it back up for jungle camp 3.

So now you have taken camps 1 and 2.

Question: Camp three comes around and you have smite up. Do you save smite for the next buff or use it now?
Answer: Smite. You almost never save a smite for buffs because the buffs give you a passive if you kill it. Only the smaller camps give you a buff if smited.

Camp#3 is down and you have no backed to base.
You are approaching your second buff and smite is about 10-15 seconds away from coming off cooldown. So I ask...
Save?? or Smite??

Save. Use smite on Camp#5 and if you follow my guide and pick up Ranger's Trailblazer, the smite will heal you for more since it heals based on missing hp.

The Art of Smiting

When securing a camp with smite whether it be a regular camp, buff or Dragon / Baron you have a combo you need to pull off. Here is the combo you use.

Sonic Wave into Resonating Strike into Smite. Now you should time it so the Resonating Strike hits after Smite. Resonating Strike deals more damage based on MISSING HP so try to understand how much damage it does and try to time the Smite with it correctly. This can be used to secure any type of jungle camp. I also use it to steal buffs as well. Pretty much just cast Smite when you're in mid air.

One thing I like to do also if something is contested by the enemy jungler. Just Dragon's Rage them away a little before you have to smite. So when something is near 1500HP or so.

Another thing to note is when you are farming make sure that you are using your passice Flurry correctly. Allow Lee Sin two basic attacks in-between ability cast to maximize efficiency.

Additional Notes: Buy lot's of Health Potion With your bad sustain early you need em. I continue to get them until I finish my Randuin's Omen.

Warding

[*]Pink- Best places to pink. Yes that is a pink above their Red. Super OP. Almost never found and give good vision of when their taking their Red Buff or rotating from Golems or Raptors.

[*]Blue- Generic wards. These are good places to start wards since slowly you want to move them into the jungle. Also good spots for pinks against junglers that don't gank a lot ie. .

[*]Yellow- Good wards that can make your life easier if your looking to invade or counter gank. These give you great vision of rotations from mid laners as well. Try to get these down before it's time for the second wave up buffs (7:30).

[*]Red- If you're facing big time invaders such as these can be good. Also good if their mid roams into your jungle. However, you want to keep your wards at the entrances of your jungle more so to see when they enter and leave.

A tip to warding also is if you have a fight in a lane and you exit through the enemy jungle ALWAYS drop a ward in their jungle. It's a free way to get wards down in the enemy jungle and not having to worry about getting caught.

When team fighting as your job is to also help with vision control in fights. If you are fighting in the jungle there are TONS of areas that the enemy can run too where you have no indirect vision on. So if a fight is a bout to break out throw wards all around the immediate area to gain full vision of that battle ground. I can't tell you how much good vision helps with team fights. Also if the enemy is retreating and you are chasing. Before you face check a brush, throw a ward in it. This can not only tell you which direction they are going. But also if they plan on turning and fighting again.

What it looks like without wards for fighting.

What it looks like with wards for fighting.

Notice how much more you can see. This way a carry with a lot of range like will be seen and not only revealed when she attacks. One thing that pro's do so much better than Solo Que stars is warding. Watch a C9 or a Fnatic game and only pay attention to their warding. Tons to be learned from it.

Objective Securing

When taking or you need to ward it before hand. This way you can see the enemy coming and prepare for a fight. Also it gives you vision control of fights.

These are places where blue team needs to ward before taking or .
This is where red team needs to ward before or Draong
Where both teams need to have a ward. Probably the most important ward for objective securing since it's the closest access to both pits.

The lines that I drew on this map represents an area where you need a ward. A ward along any point on those lines will do. Try to ward close to the objective and try to ward where they will come from.

Ganking

There are many routes to take when ganking. Explaining to you in text on how to do so is long and not descriptive enough so for some paths to take I'll leave you a couple videos.
/league-of-legends/champion/lee-sin-73 If you only take two things away from this video. Make sure it is

How much ground you can cover with Resonating Strike Safeguard and Flash.
How ballsy he is. I know my greatest weakness as Lee Sin is that I'm not ballsy enough. So be ballsy, just don't be stupid.

Another video of a very interesting way to gank is this

How to inSec

This is probably the best Lee Sin mechanic in the game. So first we need to define what it is.

An inSec is when you Sonic Wave Resonating Strike Safeguard to a Vision Ward behind the enemy and Dragon's Rage them towards your team. Also you can throw in a flash instead of a Safeguard, or add it to the combo.

This is difficult as hell. Especially since you have to have a smooth transition to your Vision Ward. Which is made hard by you being able to ward father than you can Safeguard. Practice, Practice, Practice.

You can pull off the above combo in multiple ways. A lot of times you will never be able to hit a carry with Sonic Wave. So landing it on a tank or a minion is just as reliable. Once you land Sonic Wave on said tank or creep you simple need to see if the carry is close enough for you to inSec them. If they are...bon` appetite.

Another ganking tip is the animation canceling of Dragon's Rage
/league-of-legends/ability/dragons-rage-373

Team Work

Come team fight phase you look to do two things.

Peel for your carries
inSec their carries

Most of the time you try to inSec. Begin to use your wards for vision around objectives. Always save at least one ward saved so you can inSec or escape if needed. Also be sure to use your activatable items such as .

When team fighting as your job is to also help with vision control in fights. If you are fighting in the jungle there are TONS of areas that the enemy can run too where you have no direct vision on. So if a fight is a bout to break out throw wards all around the immediate area to gain full vision of that battle ground. I can't tell you how much good vision helps with team fights. Also if the enemy is retreating and you are chasing. Before you face check a brush, throw a ward in it. This can not only tell you which direction they are going. But also if they plan on turning and fighting again.

What it looks like without wards for fighting.

What it looks like with wards for fighting.

Additional Notes:

When in doubt of what to do just peel. Don't make the mistake of only looking for an inSec or a catch onto a carry. When you peel keep an eye where the enemy carries are and if they present themselves then take the chance. If you have a fed ADC or MID then peeling will work fine. If the enemy backline is to hard to get to then peel. A lot of times players (including myself) get so caught up in wanting to make flashy game/team fight winning plays that it's easy to get ahead of yourself and screw up big. Play it smart and make adjustments as the game goes on.

If you get initiated upon then just peel for your carries. There is no harm in using for disengage.

How To Gain ELO

Two Tips To Gain ELO

1.Ward
2.Pings

Wards are knowledge. Knowledge is power. Power is success.
Pings are communication. The team that talks the most wins the game. Ping everything.

Summary

Understand your role with your team and play it accordingly. If you fall behind you're a tank if you get ahead you can play damage or tank. Make your adjustments through out the game. Apply MASSIVE pressure early, but tread with caution once everyone hits 6, one wrong step and you could die. Secure vision on important areas and around where a fight may occur. In team fights be sure to know what you're looking for.

Farewell

Questions or comments? Let me know! I am MORE than happy to discuss things with you. If you have specific questions about a scenario or you want to talk about a different jungler. I am here to help you become a better gamer. Don't hesitate to ask me something or start a conversation.