Table of Contents

• 1. Rune Deep Dive: The Sorcerer's Resolve
• 2. Jungle Pathing: Securing Your Win Condition
• 3. Heartsteel Rush Item Build
• 4. Hullbreaker Rush Item Build
• 5. Pros & Cons
• 6. Import Item Set for Hearsteel
• 7. Import Item Set for Hullbreaker

1. Rune Deep Dive: The Sorcerer's Resolve

---

This rune setup is the engine of our build. Instead of a traditional tank keystone, we take Phase Rush to supercharge our mobility and ganks. The combination of Sorcery and Resolve gives Shen surprising damage, excellent clear speed, and amplified shielding, making him a menace from level 1.

Primary Tree: Sorcery

Keystone: Phase Rush
Hitting an enemy champion with 3 attacks or abilities grants a massive burst of Movement Speed and Slow Resistance. This is core to our strategy. It allows you to stick to targets during ganks, escape collapsed fights, and reposition perfectly after ulting in. It turns Shen from a slow warden into a swift hunter.

Slot 1: Axiom Arcanist
This is the key to amplifying our ultimate. As described, it increases the shielding of Stand United. Furthermore, scoring a takedown on an enemy helps refund its cooldown, allowing for more frequent map-altering plays. This rune buffs your ultimate in every possible way.

Slot 2: Absolute Focus
While above 70% health, you gain extra adaptive damage. This synergizes perfectly with a healthy jungle clear. You will almost always have this active against monsters, speeding up your clear significantly. It also provides extra punch in early skirmishes when you engage at high health.

Slot 3: Waterwalking
As a jungler, you live in the river. This rune gives you bonus Movement Speed and adaptive damage there, which is crucial for contesting Scuttle Crabs, rotating between lanes, and fighting for objectives. The synergy with Phase Rush makes you incredibly fast during river skirmishes.

Secondary Tree: Resolve

Slot 1: Shield Bash
One of the best damage runes for Shen. Every time you gain a shield from your Ki Barrier or Stand United, your next basic attack deals bonus adaptive damage. You will be proccing this constantly, adding a surprising amount of consistent damage.

Slot 2: Revitalize
This rune is pure value. It increases all your healing and shielding power by 5% (and more when you are low health). This amplifies your passive shield, your ultimate shield, and any healing from your jungle pet. When you Stand United to a low-health ally, the combined power of your empowered shield can single-handedly turn a fight.

Stat Shards

• Offense: +10% Attack Speed - Crucial for getting your three empowered Twilight Assault attacks off faster, which speeds up your clear and helps proc Phase Rush.
• Flex: +9 Adaptive Force - More damage for clearing and ganking.
• Defense: +65 Health - Provides a solid base of early-game durability.

2. Jungle Pathing: Your Blueprint for Victory

---

As a jungler, your first 5 minutes are a strategic chess match. Your pathing isn't just about farming; it's about setting up your win conditions, controlling the map, and anticipating the enemy. This section will break down the core philosophies and the specific paths you can take to dominate the early game. Many of the advanced strategies discussed here are inspired by pro play and high-level junglers, as demonstrated in excellent pathing guides like the one found here.

The Pathing Philosophy: Gank vs. Farm vs. Invade

Every decision you make should be guided by this simple question: What is the highest value play right now? This boils down to three priorities.

• Ganking (Tempo): Is an enemy lane overextended? Does your ally have a strong setup (e.g., Leona's Zenith Blade)? A successful gank that secures a kill or burns summoner spells on a key target is almost always the highest value play. This is your primary way to influence the game directly.
• Farming (Scaling): Are all lanes stable? Is there no clear gank opportunity? Your goal is to clear your camps as efficiently as possible to gain a gold and XP advantage. Hitting Level 6 for Stand United is a massive power spike for you and your team.
• Invading (Disruption): Do you have a stronger 1v1 than the enemy jungler (e.g., vs. Evelynn or Amumu)? Do your nearby lanes have priority? Invading can cripple the enemy jungler, putting them significantly behind and relieving pressure from your lanes. This is a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

The First Decision: Where to Start?

Your starting buff should be a strategic choice based on where you want to apply pressure first.

• If your bot lane is your win condition (e.g., an aggressive duo like Draven + Leona), start on your top-side buff and path downwards.
• If your top laner has a favorable matchup (e.g., Darius or Sett) and your bot lane is a scaling or safer lane, start on your bot-side buff and path upwards.

Jungle Tracking: Playing with Full Information

Knowledge is power. Knowing the enemy jungler's location allows you to make proactive plays and warn your teammates of incoming danger.

• The Level 1 Ward: At the start of the game, move with your team to safely place a ward on one of the enemy's buffs. Spotting which buff they start on is the single most important piece of information you can get.
• Communicate and Predict: If you see the enemy start their Red Buff, ping it immediately. You now know their most likely path is towards their Blue Buff. Inform your mid and top laners that they should expect a potential gank around the 3:00 - 3:30 mark. This simple communication can prevent deaths and tilt.
• Mirror the Enemy: Shen's clear speed is quite standard. This means you can often "mirror" the enemy jungler's position. If you both start on your Red Buffs, when you are clearing your Wolves, they are likely clearing their Wolves. This allows you to predict their location with high accuracy, setting you up for counter-ganks or safe invades.

Essential Mechanic: The Lazy Q

A simple but essential mechanic for a fast and healthy clear. Cast your Twilight Assault just before you walk into aggro range of a camp. By the time you land your three empowered autos, your Q will be off cooldown, allowing you to immediately use it again for three more empowered autos. This maximizes your damage and clear speed.

---

The Paths

Here are several distinct paths, each with its own purpose, pros, and cons.

Path #1: The Standard Full Clear (The Foundation)

This is your bread-and-butter clear. It's reliable, safe, and provides a solid foundation of gold and XP, giving you options after your first clear.

Blue Side Start Route: Blue Sentinel > Gromp > Murk Wolves > Raptors > Red Brambleback > Krugs. Goal: A full clear ending bot-side, ready to contest Scuttle Crab, gank bot, or recall.

Red Side Start Route: Red Brambleback > Krugs > Raptors > Murk Wolves > Gromp > Blue Sentinel. Goal: A full clear ending top-side, ready to contest Scuttle Crab, gank top/mid, or recall.

When to use this path: This is your default path when you're unsure of what to do. It's consistent and keeps you on par with the enemy jungler. After clearing, assess the map and decide whether to gank or fight for Scuttle Crab.

Path #2: The Super Clear (The Level 6 Rush)

This path is designed to maximize your XP and gold gain by sequencing camp respawns. By clearing the multi-mob camps (which have faster respawn timers) first, you create a hyper-efficient farming loop.
Route: Raptors (no leash) > Krugs (use Smite) > Red Brambleback -> Full clear the rest of your jungle across the map ( Murk Wolves -> Gromp -> Blue Sentinel).
Goal: Hit level 6 and a major item breakpoint as fast as humanly possible. After your first recall, your Raptors and Krugs will be respawning, allowing you to continue farming efficiently.
When to use this path: Use this when all of your lanes are stable or winning on their own. If you have no clear gank opportunities and don't fear an early invade, this path will give you a significant mid-game advantage, turning Stand United into a global threat much sooner.
Warning: This path leaves you vulnerable to invades and offers zero early pressure for your team. Use it wisely.

Path #3: The 3-Camp Gank (The Tempo Setter)

This path sacrifices farm for immediate map pressure. It's about getting to a lane quickly to create a lead for your win condition.
Route (Same-Side Gank): Start Red Brambleback > Blue Sentinel > Gromp -> Gank Top/Mid.
Route (Opposite-Side Gank): Start Red Brambleback > Krugs > Raptors -> Gank Mid/Bot.
Goal: Get level 3 and immediately influence a key lane.
When to use this path: This is ideal when you have a high-volatility lane that you want to snowball (e.g., your Draven/ Leona bot lane) or a lane that desperately needs pressure relief (e.g., your Kayle into a Darius).

Path #4: The 3-Camp Invade (The Disruptor)

An aggressive, high-risk strategy designed to punish weak early-game junglers and steal their resources.
Route: Clear 3 of your camps (e.g., Red Brambleback > Blue Sentinel > Gromp) to hit Level 3, then immediately path into the enemy's jungle to contest their second buff.
Goal: Kill the enemy jungler and steal their buff, crippling their early game.
When to use this path: This is best against junglers who are weak duelists at level 3, like Amumu, Evelynn, or Fiddlesticks. Crucially, you need priority in the lane closest to the invade point. If your mid laner is pushed under their tower, do not attempt this.

Path #5: The Reverse Clear (The Defensive Pivot)

Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense. This path is designed to avoid the enemy jungler entirely when you know you cannot fight them.
Route: Start your Red Brambleback. Then, instead of clearing towards your top side, path directly to your Blue Sentinel. From there, clear the rest of your jungle backwards ( Gromp > Murk Wolves > Raptors > Krugs).
Goal: Avoid a dangerous Level 2 or 3 invade from a strong early duelist like Warwick, Kindred, or Graves.
When to use this path: When the enemy has a dominant early-game jungler and you have no lane priority to help you. By pathing away from them, you concede the opposite side of your jungle but guarantee you get your own buffs and a safe clear, preventing a disastrous early death.

LOW ELO PATH: THE SCALING JUGGERNAUT (HEARTSTEEL)

This build is centered around a powerful core of Heartsteel into a defensive AD or AP item, making you a scaling health tank with surprising damage. After your two-item core, you will adapt your build to counter the enemy team's biggest threats.

Starting Items & First Back

Start: Scorchclaw Pup is the standard choice for its burn and slow. Mosstomper Seedling is a strong alternative against heavy AP or CC, providing a valuable shield and tenacity later on. A Health Potion and Stealth Ward round out your start.
First Back Goal: Your #1 priority is Bami's Cinder and Boots. The burn from Bami's is essential for speeding up your multi-camp clears. Pick up an Oracle Lens and a Control Ward if you can.

---

The Core Build Path: Your Powerspike Duo

First Powerspike: Heartsteel Rush
This is the engine of our build. Heartsteel gives you a huge injection of Health and an infinitely stacking "Bonk" passive. As Shen, you have no problem proccing this after a Shadow Dash. Every stack increases your health, the damage of the proc, and the size of your passive shield. Rush this every single game in this build path.
Second Powerspike (VS AD Heavy): Death's Dance or Plated Steelcaps first
When the enemy team is loaded with AD threats like Zed, Jhin, or Aatrox, building Plated Steelcaps and Death's Dance after Heartsteel is key. Death's Dance provides Armor and AD, but its true power is the damage-storing passive. It prevents you from being bursted, giving you precious seconds to fight back or for a Stand United shield to land.
Second Powerspike (VS AP Heavy): Maw of Malmortius or Mercury's Treads first
Against teams with powerful mages like Syndra or an AP jungler like Evelynn, Maw of Malmortius and Mercury's Treads are essential. Maw gives you AD and MR, and its Lifeline passive grants a massive magic shield when you drop low, completely negating an enemy's burst combo and allowing you to survive and turn the fight.

---

Example Low Elo Builds

Standard V.2
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: A well-rounded build that provides a mix of AD/AP defense, health stacking, and late-game split-push pressure with Hullbreaker.

VS AP Heavy (Giga Chad 5 Shields)
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: You stack shields to become immune to AP burst. The combination of Mosstomper Seedling, Maw of Malmortius, and Kaenic Rookern on top of your own Ki Barrier and the resistances from Jak'Sho, The Protean makes you incredibly resilient.

VS 2+ Heavy Attack Speed Stackers
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: Your goal is to cripple their damage output. After Heartsteel, rush Frozen Heart. Its "Rock Solid" passive reduces incoming attack damage, and the "Winter's Caress" aura cripples the attack speed of everyone around you. Randuin's Omen adds even more anti-AS and anti-crit.

VS AP Based Healing (e.g. Vladimir, Swain)
Build Path: -> (buy ) -> -> -> ->
The Logic: You must cut their healing early. After Heartsteel, immediately buy an Oblivion Orb. Sit on this component while you build Maw of Malmortius for survivability, then finish the full Morellonomicon. Force of Nature rounds out the build for maximum magic resistance and mobility.

HIGH ELO PATH: THE OBJECTIVE ACCELERATOR (HULLBREAKER)

This build is for higher-elo play where games are faster and objective control is paramount. Instead of scaling with Heartsteel, we rush Hullbreaker to create immense tempo, dominate key objectives, and accelerate your team's path to victory.

Starting Items & First Back

Start: Scorchclaw Pup is the standard choice for its burn and slow. Mosstomper Seedling is a strong alternative against heavy AP or CC, providing a valuable shield and tenacity later on. A Health Potion and Stealth Ward round out your start.
First Back Goal: Your #1 priority is Bami's Cinder and Boots. The burn from Bami's is essential for speeding up your multi-camp clears. Pick up an Oracle Lens and a Control Ward if you can.

---

The Core Build Path: Winning the Feats of Strength Race

First Powerspike: Hullbreaker Rush

This is the core of the high-elo build, and its purpose is precise: it is an **objective-securing super tool**. Your primary goal with a rushed Hullbreaker is to single-handedly win the **Feats of Strength** race for your team.

The passive bonus damage from Hullbreaker applies not only to turrets but also to epic monsters. This means you can:

• Rapidly clear Voidgrubs, making them a priority objective to secure progress towards the "Monster Slaying" feat.
• Take down the Rift Herald and Dragons with superior speed, often giving the enemy team little time to react.
• Demolish turrets after a successful gank or skirmish, locking in the crucial "First Turret" feat.

By quickly securing these objectives, you rush your team towards the Blessing of Noxus buff, unlocking powerful tier-3 boots and a significant stat advantage. This isn't about passively pushing a lane; it's about forcing the action. You become the engine that accelerates your team's win condition.
Second Powerspike (VS AD Heavy): Iceborn Gauntlet
When facing AD champions, Iceborn Gauntlet is the perfect second item. It provides a large amount of Armor and Health, and the Spellblade passive synergizes with your Q to create a massive slowing field. This makes you incredibly sticky, ensuring no one can escape your dueling pressure as you contest objectives.
Second Powerspike (VS AP Heavy): Spirit Visage
Against AP threats, Spirit Visage is your go-to. It provides significant MR and Health, and its passive boosts all shielding effects by 25%. This dramatically increases the size of your Ki Barrier and any other shields (like from Stand United or Locket of the Iron Solari), making you much harder for mages to kill while you secure objectives.

---

Example High Elo Builds

Standard High Elo
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: The quintessential high-elo build. Hullbreaker for objective acceleration, Iceborn for armor and sticking power, Spirit Visage for mixed resistance and shield power. Sundered Sky and Randuin's Omen round out the build for maximum survivability and dueling.

VS AD Heavy
Build Path: -> (buy ) -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: After rushing Hullbreaker, grab an early Bramble Vest if anti-heal is needed. Then, stack armor with Iceborn Gauntlet and Randuin's Omen. Jak'Sho, The Protean provides massive scaling resistances in extended fights, and you finish Thornmail last.

VS AP Heavy
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: Accelerate with Hullbreaker, then immediately stack magic resist with Spirit Visage and Kaenic Rookern. This combination, especially with the Mosstomper Seedling shield, makes you nearly immune to AP burst. Randuin's Omen and Jak'Sho, The Protean are your late-game items for general tankiness.

Utility / Bodyguard Pivot
Build Path: -> -> -> -> -> ->
The Logic: A sophisticated build for when your team has a hyper-carry that needs protection. You still provide early objective tempo with Hullbreaker, but then you pivot to pure team utility. Locket of the Iron Solari, Redemption, and Knight's Vow turn you into the ultimate protector, using your global presence and tankiness to keep your win condition alive.

4. Pros & Cons

---

• Powerful Draft Advantage
  Picking Shen masks your role. The enemy team will almost always assume it's a top lane pick and try to counter it. This gives your actual top laner valuable information and often allows them to secure a favorable counter-pick, freeing you up to focus on bot lane.
  
• The Ultimate Insurance Policy
  Stand United is one of the most powerful abilities in the game. It acts as a safety net, allowing you to turn ganks, save overextended teammates, and punish enemy dives from anywhere on the map.
  
• Always Relevant, Even From Behind
  Because Shen's power comes from utility, you are never useless. Even if you're behind, a clutch Stand United shield or a multi-person Shadow Dash taunt can single-handedly win a crucial teamfight.

---

• None. Shen is perfect.
  
• Lacks Hyper-Carry Potential
  Make no mistake: with a stacked Heartsteel, you are a formidable duelist who can one-shot squishy targets. However, you are not a 1v9 hyper-carry. If your team has no other damage threats, you will struggle to win 5v5 teamfights alone.
  
• High Map Awareness Required
  Your greatest strength is Stand United, but it's only as good as your ability to use it. You must constantly be watching your teammates' health bars and the state of all three lanes to find the perfect moment to ult. A missed opportunity is a massive waste of your power.

---

{"title":"Shen JG - Heartsteel","associatedMaps":[11],"associatedChampions":[98],"blocks":[{"items":[{"id":"1103","count":1},{"id":"1101","count":1},{"id":"2003","count":1},{"id":"3340","count":1}],"type":"start"},{"items":[{"id":"6660","count":1},{"id":"1001","count":1},{"id":"3364","count":1},{"id":"2055","count":1}],"type":"first back"},{"items":[{"id":"3084","count":1},{"id":"3111","count":1},{"id":"3156","count":1},{"id":"3173","count":1}],"type":"vs AP heavy - DO NOT FINISH BAMI's"},{"items":[{"id":"3084","count":1},{"id":"3047","count":1},{"id":"6333","count":1},{"id":"3174","count":1}],"type":"vs AD heavy - DO NOT FINISH BAMI's"},{"items":[{"id":"3143","count":1},{"id":"3742","count":1},{"id":"8020","count":1},{"id":"3065","count":1},{"id":"4401","count":1},{"id":"2502","count":1},{"id":"2504","count":1},{"id":"6610","count":1},{"id":"6665","count":1}],"type":"general pool"},{"items":[{"id":"3190","count":1},{"id":"3109","count":1},{"id":"3075","count":1},{"id":"6695","count":1},{"id":"3165","count":1},{"id":"3053","count":1},{"id":"3181","count":1},{"id":"3110","count":1},{"id":"3153","count":1}],"type":"situational & others"}]}

{"title":"Shen JG - Hullbreaker","associatedMaps":[11],"associatedChampions":[98],"blocks":[{"items":[{"id":"1103","count":1},{"id":"1101","count":1},{"id":"2003","count":1},{"id":"3340","count":1}],"type":"start"},{"items":[{"id":"6660","count":1},{"id":"1001","count":1},{"id":"3364","count":1},{"id":"2055","count":1}],"type":"first back"},{"items":[{"id":"3181","count":1},{"id":"3111","count":1},{"id":"3065","count":1},{"id":"3173","count":1}],"type":"vs AP heavy - DO NOT FINISH BAMI's"},{"items":[{"id":"3181","count":1},{"id":"3047","count":1},{"id":"6662","count":1},{"id":"3174","count":1}],"type":"vs AD heavy - DO NOT FINISH BAMI's"},{"items":[{"id":"3143","count":1},{"id":"2504","count":1},{"id":"3190","count":1},{"id":"2502","count":1},{"id":"6665","count":1},{"id":"6610","count":1},{"id":"3065","count":1}],"type":"general pool"},{"items":[{"id":"8020","count":1},{"id":"3110","count":1},{"id":"3075","count":1},{"id":"3109","count":1},{"id":"6695","count":1},{"id":"3165","count":1},{"id":"3053","count":1},{"id":"4401","count":1},{"id":"3107","count":1}],"type":"situational & others"}]}