GUIDE IN PROGRESS



Being my first buy, I've had enough experience to get familiar with Lee Sin for a while now. I purchased him the day before he was "brutally" nerfed by the Riven patch. In my opinion, Lee's still a great champion choice and is my main choice when playing.

Lee Sin is a very versatile champion that specializes in Tanky DPS/Assassin gameplay. Instead of Mana, Lee Sin utilizes Energy (yellow bar) which means that Lee Sin is more limited by cooldowns than his energy, since it recharges rapidly. He's an exceptional jungler as much as he is a laner. He also has great potential to solo mid because of his high damage output and harass.

When I play Lee, I typically take bottom lane. What I've noticed is that he synchronizes fantastically in lane with any champion with disables such as stuns/snares/slows. Unlocking Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike allows me to check the bush, revealing any possible enemies, as well as to easily secure first blood with the ability to kick to an enemy if they're escaping while dealing a high amount of damage.

When playing Lee, using his abilities and passive correctly can determine your survivability in conflict.

His passive, Flurry, allows Lee's next to basic attacks after using an ability increased attack speed as well as the ability to refund energy quickly. So when you're in a fight, you generally want to space out your abilities by two basic attacks at a time. The only exception of this is if you're escaping and need to slow with Cripple and make a quick dash away with Safeguard.

Sitations

Chasing

(If enemy is out of auto-attack range, switch steps 1 and 2 around)

1) Tempest/Cripple - To damage and slow your enemy's attack/movement speed.
2) Sonic Wave - To damage and mark enemy in case they flash/ghost or use another escape method so you're able to catch up to them. If opponent's health is dangerously low, skip 3.
3) Dragon's Rage - To greatly damage your enemy, and if you're crafty, you can use your slow from cripple to run around your opponent and kick them the opposite way.
4) Resonating Strike - Dashes to your enemy and allows you to catch up to them after they've been kicked away from you.
5) If the enemy is still alive, utilize your passive by self casting Safeguard, 2 auto-attacks, then Iron Will, 2 auto-attacks. If you're opponent is being a tanky ******* and is still alive, repeat from step 1. (you'll have to skip step 3 if you end up repeating because Dragon's Rage will be on cooldown)

Being Chased

1) Tempest/Cripple - Damages enemy and slows their attack/movement speed
2) Safeguard/Iron Will - Shields you and grants you armor. Try to cast safeguard on a near ally champion, minion, or ward to gain distance from opponent.
3) Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike - If you're near jungle creeps or enemy minions, throw your sonic wave to one and resonating strike to gain distance from your enemy. Keep in mind that your sonic wave is capable of going through walls, so if you're aware of a creep through a wall, you'll gain an incredible amount of distance by using resonating strike to the creep.
4) Dragon's Rage - If all else fails, send that *****-*** flyin' in a jiffy with a quick kick from Dragon's Rage. You'll gain a good amount of distance and escape without a doubt.

Staying in Combat

1) Safeguard/Iron Will - (self cast) Grants a shield as well as armor, life steal, and spell vamp.
2) Tempest/Cripple - Damages enemy and slows their movement/attack speed.
3) Sonic Wave - Damages enemy and marks them for resonating strike.
4) Dragon's Rage - Greatly damages enemy and knocks them back.
5) Resonating Strike - Damages enemy with base damage plus 10% of their missing health, and catches you up to the opponent after the kick from Dragon's Rage.

Wriggle's Lantern
Reasoning:

Grants Lifesteal - Lifesteal is a must for most champs but especially Lee Sin because you're constantly utilizing his passive, allowing for speedy attacks which quickly regenerate Lee's health.
Grants Armor - Lee is designed to be a tanky fighter, so having this early armor boost will allow for solid, early durability during game.
Grants Attack Damage - All but Lee's Safeguard ability are scaled off high AD ratios. Stacking AD is imperative for having a high damage output.
Grants Bonus damage to minions/creeps - Allows for swift farming and the ability so solo dragon early game, allowing bonus gold for your team as well as preventing the opposing team from obtaining it.
Grants Placable sight wards every 3 minutes - This attribute of Wriggle's is probably the one which personalizes the item for Lee Sin. The reason is because Lee has the ability to dash to allied wards with his Safeguard ability. Setting the bonus ward over a wall or even at just a further distance sets up a easy dash which allows for an easy, yet effective escape while being chased.


Berserker's Greaves
Reasoning:
For Lee Sin, attack speed is often neglected. It's not until we build our final item, The Black Cleaver in which we gain bonus attack speed. Purchasing Berserker's Greaves for Lee Sin are key for two prime reasons:

Enhanced Movement Speed 2 - The extra movement speed allows Lee Sin extra mobility in the field, reinforcing and solidifying his already fantastic movement capabilities.
25% Bonus Attack Speed - Building an early attack speed item makes Lee's passive, Flurry, more potent. Upon purchase of the boots his attacks are significantly faster and with the added effect of Wriggle's Lantern's passive, Lee is able to clear minion waves at a gasping rate, allowing outfarming and overleveling of the opposing team early on.


Frozen Mallet
Reasoning:

Health - This item purchase is the main source of Lee's tankyness in game. Building it early allows for longer sustain in lane as well as in battle. Ganks are also easier to endure because of the extra damage that must be dealt in order to weaken Lee.
Attack Damage - Being an item that gives Attack Damage as well as health, it's the perfect item for a Tanky-DPS champ. I go straight from building Phage to Frozen Mallet early without hesitation because the extra AD will be useful as soon as possible.
Slowing Effect - Frozen Mallet's passive allows Lee's basic attacks to slow a targeted enemy by 40% for 2.5 seconds. This is extremely useful for Lee because he's an Assassin, and slowing his enemy will allow for a smaller window of escape as well as insurance of a kill.


The Bloodthirster
Reasoning:

Attack Damage - This is the first major attack damage boost towards your game. After purchasing it, your damage output will noticeably increase significantly. This is because not only are Lee's abilities highly scaled off AD, but his auto attacks also receive a greater damage boost, allowing faster farming/assassinating.
Life Steal - The combination of this item and Wriggle's Lantern provide 30% lifesteal. With this you're quickly receiving a high amount of healing for the damage being done because of your high damage output as well as your speedy attack speed.
Bonus Stacks - The Bloodthirster stacks increased attack damage and lifesteal with every minion/champion kill. Because the stacks can be received through creep kills, it's easy to maximize and benefit from. Having a stacked Bloodthirster results in higher sustainability in combat, as well as a higher damage output.


Trinity Force

Pros:
- High damage output
- Extreme mobility
- All of his abilities work well for escaping as well as chasing
- Perseveres as a strong champion throughout the entire game
- Has two abilities that are capable of revealing stealthed champions

Cons:
- A difficult champion to master
- Requires absolute precision in timing between abilities
- Missing the Sonic Wave often results in a fail gank, or an inability to chase your enemy
- Misusing Dragon's Rage can piss off your team by kicking your opponent to safety

All in all, Lee Sin is a great choice to players who are open to a strong, versatile champion. He is and will always be my default champion. His mobility around the battlefield and high damage output give him power throughout the entire game. If you've got 6300 IP laying around, go buy him! Just remember that even though Lee's tough, it takes skill to contain his power, and like he says, "Force is meaningless without skill."

-reversefl0w