AD Leona Build

"THE FIRST 4 GAMES ARE ALWAYS BAD RIGHT?!?!" I continued to tell myself, tears rolling down my face as the realization that I had just spent my hard bought RP on a champ that wasn't the "Hard hitting tank" which I was promised.

I slaved away in CO-OP V AI games trying out around 8 different builds all along the strand of AP/TANK. Then I got to thinking she had skills that would benefit from a lich bane, however for that to be viable I would have to sacrifice most of my survivability and just become another burst champion, with Leona's cooldowns and the terribad AP ratios (0.3,0.3,0.3,0.8) this build wasn't working... I gave up.

I played some Nocturne after this and after casting his ulti and flying towards them something... clicked.

And thus AD Leona was born.

I am completely open to advice about the build but the first build in particular hasn't given me a negative game yet. Two are shown below:

I would have more games but I filled my history with Vayne. I will upload more if anyone questions the builds potency.

The frozen mallet is just a favorite item of mine, coupled with the AOE stun/slow of her ulti, her Q stun and exhaust there is no way anyone is getting away from you. The speed increase from the P-D and the T-F allow you to stickyback most people, destroying them with a mixture of stuns and slows.

The one thing I would suggest changing if going against a heavily AD team is swapping out that frozen mallet for a sunfire. You NEED a good health item on leona otherwise you will get taken down to fast as she doesn't have any skills that increase her attackspeed or damage which normally would allow you to out-lifesteal damage in fights like Master Yi.

Because of the health bonus from T-F, Frozen mallet and the Armour/magic res of your W skill you can still tank towers for your team. Also if another melee AD champ starts attacking you that will be his downfall, below I will talk about tactics I employ as AD Leona.

You will never loose first blood with this build if you have a competent lanemate. First stun, when the stun wears off use exhaust to hold them there, if they have flash they will use this now so use yours as well! if you are fighting them in your bush you should be able to get another stun off before they get into their tower range or just under it, with your health quints this wont be too much trouble. If the other enemy laner is still about turn around stun his *** and embrace your double kill.

At level 3 you can easily take a champ down if you grab berserkers, if not its still possible if you have good lane communication with your lanemate. First try and get into their bush, you should always be just last hitting the minions not attacking them down, this means they are forced to over-extend to minion kills. When you are in their bush press W, wait till its about to burst then E to their squishiest laner, this will ping for about 300 damage, if you then hit with with Q straight away then your lanemate can close the distance and poke him down too. The other enemy laner always runs away at this time leaving you some time farm or gank on other lanes.

Ganking on other lanes should probably be reserved for level 6+ otherwise you might find closing that distance difficult. If they are in a position when you can hit them with the combo highlighted above then by all means lead in with that, if not then lead in with your ulti to get the stun allowing your teammate to close up. At this point they will probably flash in the direction of your tower which is why you should save the rest of your skills so you can hit them with that combo allowing your teammate to one again close that distance. If they aren't dead right now they are defiantly going B, by 6 you should have already built your phage meaning if all goes well you may be able to take down mid tower very early in the game, totally destroying their mid carries game.

If you are forced to initiate because you have a stupid team pop your ult, stunning some and scattering the others, this forces the enemy to fight your team not as a group but as scattered solo fights. Try and hit their glass cannon (squishy with high damage) with your E then pop your shield and stun him, you should easily be able to take him down with a few crits after the damage from your ulti and your burst. After this the beauty of Leona as a champ begins, use your exaust on who you think is the best person (someone being chased, a AD champ ripping through your ranks or someone attacking you) If you are being targeted flash out because you wont be able to withstand that much punishment. Now you have a chance to fly around each solo fight and take down the enemy quickly, moving on from enemy to enemy with lightning speed. Kill the squishiest first then the team will either all be dead or begin to retreat, either way they are helpless before your blade.

Or if it all goes badly... run away, stunning as you go.

I really wouldn't recommend taking anything other than exhaust and flash as this will maximize your damage early game while still being of use late game as an escape and a 1v1 tool.

Ghost is always an option, however it doesn't have as much utility as flash and wont help you win fights like exhaust.

The reason I haven't put any points into defensive masteries over utility is you wont have enough space in your build for a mana regen item, this means early game, unless you want to run out of mana your going to have to take some points in utility.

I get a lot of hate by people when the game first starts "NOOB LEONA AD XDXDX" "LEONA IS TANK NOOB!!!"

They are swiftly silenced.

Although quite beefy don't expect to be able to initiate a 5v5 without nearly dying, I would never attempt to do this without flash up.

Not an easy build to play. Leona is not an easy champ and it might be that its not really suited to your play style... I would rather you didn't vote it down just because you can't play it.

Before you comment or rate I would suggest you give the build a go. I assure you you wont be disappointed.