Lee Sin Build Guide by Greekjr14

Introduction

Hello everyone! If you are here then that means you want to learn how to build and play as the Blind Monk. This build will give you some nice beef on Lee Sin as well as some surprising damage output which is better than building straight Glass Cannon. I have played Lee Sin nonstop ever since he came out, and always thought he was a special champ. Even though he gets mocked constantly in high ELO play, I feel that Lee Sin will soon take a stand among the champions. Again, this build is not the highest damage output that you can get, but it will be enough for you to hurt.

Pros / Cons

PROS:
- Uses Energy, so he can stay in lane longer than most champs.
- Has good chasing ability and escaping ability.
- Works somewhat better than most champs when facing AD carries because of his E ability.
- Has a targetable shield which can be used for him, an alley, or to teleport to safety.
- Has a ranged harrass that works well in both laning phase and late game.
- Almost all of his skills are AD so it is easier to focus on what to build.

CONS:
- Requires good knowledge and aim with skill shot.
- Can be focused at times.
- If hit with a hard stun first, ult can be hard to pull off.

Runes

Marks:
- 9 Greater Mark of Desolation: I find Lee Sin can do damage with AD items, but just straight armor pen gives him the damage he needs.

Seals
- 9 Greater Seal of Resilience: Flat armor is good for fighting AD champs/carries early game to make sure they are shut down.

Glyphs:
- 9 Greater Glyphs of Shielding: Magic Resist per Level is good since you do not build any magic resist early, and will let you focus more on farming for your Warmog's Armor and other items.

Quints:
- 3 Greater Quintessence of Desolation: Again, armor pen is Lee Sin's best friend.

OTHER GOOD RUNES TO USE:

- Seals: Greater Seals of Evasion. The dodge chance with this plus the defensive masteries are great to have when going up a heavy AD team. If they are that heavy of AD, you can get Ninja Tabi to get even more armor and dodge.

- Glyph: Greater Glyphs of Celerity. The cooldown per level makes Lee Sin able to spam his abilities more as the game ends. With the energy he gains back from the auto attacks, it just guarantees that you will have the energy to spam more often. If you get Ionian Boots of Lucidity, then the cooldowns are even greater. Go with Mercury's Treads though if they have too much CC.

- Glyph: Greater Glyph of Warding: Flat magic resist can help if you find yourself being too harassed by casters early game, but will not leave you with more MR as the game goes on until you actually build items with MR.

Masteries

I go with a 21-9-0 build on my masteries. This is because not only of the way you will build Lee Sin, but also because the utility tree isn't really needed for him. Yes it offers less time spent dead, greed, and CDR, but I would much rather have the extra damage output and little bit of tank armor that I can get. I also take the 2 points in Offensive Mastery rather than the extra 1% in Alacrity because being able to farm better is more important than the extra percent in attack speed.

Skill Sequence

If you noticed, I max out my Safeguard / Iron Will and Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike first rather than Tempest / Cripple as most guides do. Let me say why first. Your shield should always be a main priority as it helps a lot with not only the shield itself, but the extra properties that go with it. Secondly, Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike is better for early game harass (so that Lee Sin actually does some decent damage to people) and to help farm. Tempest / Cripple can farm as well, but the damage output alone and from the extra 10% health missing from Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike is a much better choice.

Summoner Spells

BEST

OKAY

NEVER

Item Explanation

Mercury's Treads are great for Lee Sin. Because he is very vunerable when hit even with 1 hard CC, these boots will help prevent that, while also giving some nice early magic resist.

Warmog's Armor is a great item to stack up on health with. This just makes you even scarier since you will have the armor and MR to back it up with the health. It is important to get this item ASAP after your armor pen item so that you can begin to farm it up to its full health.

Remember that favorite thing that Lee Sin likes? Oh yeah, it's armor pen. And what better item to get than a Last Whisper. You will normally get The Brutalizer first before your Warmog's Armor and then sell it later to buy Last Whisper, but if I have a good early game then I normally go straight for this instead of The Brutalizer.

Force of Nature gives great MR and also some nice health regen to quickly refill that huge chunk of health from your Warmog's Armor. I normally get this after my Warmog's if the enemy team has a lot of AP burst hurting me.

A Randuin's Omen is a great item to get. Not only does it give health, armor, health regen, and CDR, but it also has a unique passive and active. The passive has a 20% chance on being hit to slow the targets movement speed and attack speed by 35% for 3 seconds (just a little more than the first point in your Tempest / Cripple does). The active on it slows movement speeds and attack speeds of surrounding units by 35% for 2 seconds + 0.5 seconds for each 100 Armor and Magic Resist. Wait it gets better. It is only on a one minute cooldown!

This item is the main reason for building up all that health. It gives a good amount of armor, some critical strike chance, and your physical attacks deal 2% of your max health in damage. Being beefy never felt so good.

OTHER GOOD ITEMS TO CONSIDER:

So here is how I actually build it in game:

Tier 1 Boots + 3 health bots ---> Brutalizer or Last Whisper ---> Warmog's Armor ---> Force of Nature (or Randuin's Omen) ---> Randuin's Omen (or Force of Nature) ---> Atma's Impaler

Skills

Lee Sin projects a discordant wave of sound to locate his enemies, dealing physical damage to the first enemy it encounters. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike for the next 3 seconds.
Resonating Strike: Lee Sin dashes to the enemy hit by Sonic Wave, dealing physical damage plus 10% of their missing health.

Sonic Wave: Lee Sin projects a discordant wave of sound to locate his enemies, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+) physical damage to the first enemy it encounters. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike for the next 3 seconds.

Resonating Strike: Lee Sin dashes to the enemy hit by Sonic Wave, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+) physical damage plus 10% of their missing Health (Max: 400 damage vs. Monsters).


This is going to be your main high damage output. This skill is good for last hitting minions from far away if you are getting zoned. I feel that if you do not max this early, then just hitting it once on someone without jumping to them is not going to be an effective harass at all. It can also be used to hit someone over a wall and then jumping over the wall to catch them. You can also use it to hit monsters (yes even Baron and Dragon) from the other side of the wall, which is a great escape mechanism for when you do not have flash up.

Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both from damage. If a shield is broken, half the Energy cost is returned. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.
Iron Will: Lee Sin's intense training allows him to thrive in battle. For 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains Lifesteal, Spell Vamp, and Armor.

Safeguard: Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both for 40/80/120/160/200 (+0.8) damage over the next 5 seconds. If a shield is broken, half the Energy cost is returned. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.

Iron Will: Lee Sin's intense training allows him to thrive in battle. For 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains 5/10/15/20/25% Lifesteal, Spell Vamp, and 10/15/20/25/30 Armor.


This skill is to help you stay in lane with its extra lifesteal and armor that it gives you. The shield is not a very strong shield since it scales with AP and therefore only shields up for 200 damage when maxed out. It is good to save then for when it really counts (like if a teammate is going to die from a Caitlyn ult, all you do is shield as she is aiming and it will most likely absorb the hit and sometimes bring you in front of them to take the damage yourself. This is also good against Karthus ult and while running through a Gangplank ult. This skill can also be used to shield to something else in order to escape. These things can be teammates (even over walls), Teemo shrooms, Shaco's Jack in the Boxes, and even wards.

Lee Sin smashes the ground sending out a shockwave that deals magic damage and reveals enemy units hit. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast cripple for the next 3 seconds.
Cripple: Lee Sin cripples nearby enemies revealed by Tempest, reducing their Movement and Attack Speed for 4 seconds. Movement and Attack Speed recover gradually over the duration.

Tempest: Lee Sin smashes the ground, sending out a shockwave that deals 60/95/130/165/200 (+) magic damage and reveals enemy units hit for 4 seconds. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast Cripple for the next 3 seconds.

Cripple: Lee Sin cripples nearby enemies revealed by Tempest for 4 seconds, reducing their Movement and Attack Speed by 30/37.5/45/52.5/60%. Movement and Attack Speed recover gradually over the duration.


This skill is what makes Lee Sin such a great anti-AD carry. The attack speed slow early and late game is enough to shut down almost any melee or something ranged AD carry for a short while so that you or your team can get the burst off needed to take them down during the duration. This can also be used for chasing and even escaping. It can also see invisible champions, just like his Sonic Wave. It is so much fun to use this skill on an invisible Evelynn, Twitch, or Akali in her Twilight Shroud. Use this to your advantage.

Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick launching his target back, dealing physical damage to the target and any enemies they collide with. Enemies the target collides with are knocked into the air for a short duration. This technique was taught to him by Jesse Perring, although Lee Sin does not kick players off the map.

Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick launching an enemy champion back, dealing 200/400/600 (+) physical damage to the target and any enemies they collide with. Enemies the target collides with are knocked into the air for a short duration.


Oh this ultimate is one of the funniest and if not most versatile ultimate in the game. You can kick one enemy into the rest of the team dealing the full damage of it to all who collided with the person you kicked. You can use Sonic Wave, kick someone, and then use it again to catch back up to them. You can kick an enemy over most walls back into a team fight or kick them back into a Katarina or Nunu ult. It can also be used to save a low health teammate. Do not be afraid to use this as it is on a low CD.

Conclusion

Thank you all for reading this guide. I put a lot of time into making this and a lot of time playing with Lee Sin himself to prove how amazing of a champion he really is to the League. Any questions or comments are welcome. I will be sure to update any item or ability changes/stats over the patches. Also my IGN is Greekjr14 if any of you want to see how this build works. Thanks again!