Hello everyone and welcome to my jungle Leona guide! Iv'e made a lot of changes from when they updated the items and jungle for S3 so this guide may still get changed over time so please check the bottom for more information about the changes with the guide and future updates. In this guide I will explain to you how to be an effective jungler as Leona. Many people see her as that aggressive and sexy bottom lane support who helps the carry get all the kills with style but why can't she offer this to all the lanes? Many people may doubt just how viable a Leona jungler can be but I will make it clear just how amazing she is, so that you can truly rival even a Diana jungler and show that your team has a brighter future.

Pros
Very tanky early game while Eclipse is up.
Amazing ganks even at early levels.
Great burst damage which is made even better if someone can proc your passive.
Scales very well as the game goes on.
Still very useful to the team even with little farm and kills.
Never breaks her own nails!

Cons
Pretty low movement speed early.
If not played right can be very predictable and easily avoided.
Not the fastest clear time in the jungle.
Can't stare directly at her for to long.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed
I personally pick this rune set up so I can clear the jungle a lot faster then normal. Also this combined with Greater Mark of Attack Speed will give you very fast early attack speed and once you get the Madred's Razors or Wriggle's Lantern you'll be able to get those nice extra minion damage procs more often for even faster clearing.

Greater Seal of Armor
This is a must have if you're going to want to gank a lane without having to go back to heal after you finish a few camps. This combined with Greater Glyph of Armor and your Eclipse will make it so you can jungle a lot longer without losing to much health quickly.

Other Options:

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
I personally feel this rune isn't necessary because you'll be building magic resistance anyways and being able to get through the jungle with as little damage as possible so you can gank seems better to me. However if you feel you'll need that extra magic resistance then take these. Another option could be Greater Glyph of Magic Resist if you really need that early game resistance.

Greater Quintessence of Armor
If you feel you really don't need the extra attack speed then these runes are the perfect substitute for them.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
Having a faster mobility will really help you catch up to running foes so you can lock them down and use your stylish combo on them. Remember "Its only fun if they run".

I highly recomend taking Flash and Smite while playing jungle Leona. However this could be changed a little to better suit your play style.

Recommended Spells:

Flash
This is a very useful spell that is very helpful throughout the entire game. It can help you close the gap for when you want to get a kill or it could help you escape by getting you over walls and such. This is a very versatile spell and it has many uses.

Smite
This skill is an absolute must have when playing jungle Leona. It really helps you clear the jungle a lot faster and is very useful in securing or stealing monsters such as Dragon and Baron Nashor

Ghost
Has about the same uses as Flash but it can really help you stick onto an enemy if need be. I feel Flash is vastly more useful but this is still a very viable choice.

Teleport
This is very useful in many ways. It can help you either destroy or save a turret if nobody is close enough to do it. It can also help with surprise ganks giving little time for your enemies to react.

Ignite and Exhaust
These spells are very useful if you want to really make sure to secure a kill. Exhaust could also really help with escapes but its not as effective as Ghost or Flash

Heal
Even though you're the jungler you can still play the support tank and pick this up. It's not a bad spell to have but it's just not as good as some of the other spells.

Sunlight
Leona's damaging spells affect the target with Sunlight for 3.5 seconds. When allied champions deal damage to those targets they consume the Sunlight debuff to deal 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 / 125 / 140 additional magic damage. Leona is unable to activate the additional damage herself.

This is one of the reasons that makes Leona so great in ganks! When working together to take down a target this passive will be very useful in making sure the enemy takes "Tons of Damage". Not only that but it also helps a little for when you decide to donate the blue buff to someone who needs it.

Shield of Daybreak
Leona's next basic attack will deal 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+30% of ability power) additional magic damage and stun the target for 1.25 seconds.

This skill will boost Leona's next basic attack and stun them for a bit which is very important to lock down your enemies even longer when ganking. Though this doesn't do the best damage its still very important and can really help if you need to get that kill or even stop anything that needs to be channeled like Katrina's Death Lotus or Fiddlestick's Crowstorm.

Eclipse
Leona raises her shield to gain 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 bonus Armor and Magic Resistance for 3 seconds. When the effect ends she deals 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to nearby enemies and prolongs the effect for a bonus 3 seconds if any enemies are struck.

This move has great damage, AOE, and it gives her bonus defensive stats which makes this the best skill she has no matter where you play her. I level up this skill first.

Zenith Blade
Leona projects a solar image of her sword, which deals 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies in a line. When the image fades, the last enemy champion struck will be immobilized for 0.5 seconds and Leona will dash to them.

This skill takes a lot of practice to get right. It's very frustrating to miss this skill when the enemy is just out of range or they juke it. That is why it's very important to be unpredictable with this move and at the same time predicting the enemies movements. Landing this could mean the difference between getting the kill or not. I level up this either second or last but I recommend second for its damage and it can hit multiple monsters.

Solar Flare
After a brief delay, Leona calls down a beam of solar energy dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and slowing enemies by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the beam are stunned instead of slowed.

This is Leona's ultimate and it's an amazing skill. It has a very low cool down compared to most other ultimate's so you'll be able to use this often. It is very useful in starting team fights or escaping from an enemy. You could also use this to surprise enemy carries because of its very long range and could mean the difference between a loss or victory on how it's used.

For jungle Leona you want to start with the Hunter's Machete and five Health Potion's.

Jungle:

A lot of you must be thinking "this on Leona, that's crazy", well its not if you're playing her as a jungler. This item in a way has been nerfed in some ways but it's still one of the most useful items for her because I find getting those extra damage procs off a lot better for then just a little extra minion damage from Hunter's Machete and the Spirit of the Ancient Golem passive alone. It also gives you a free ward which is the greatest item in the game.

These boots are very useful because it offers tenacity which lowers cc and the extra magic resistance is nice. This item will also stack with Tenacious giving you a lot of Tenacity. However if you're going up against a heavy attack damage team then consider taking Ninja Tabi instead.

This is an amazing item on Leona and it helps her in many different ways. It provides you with more mana, hp, ad, ap, attack speed, two different passives and most importantly movement speed. Overall this item is a must have if you plan to go offtank Leona.

This item is a great item and is meant to take the place of the Banshee's Veil and Randuin's Omen that used to be standard in this build but with the update things have changed a bit. This item is built off the Aegis of the Legion which is a great and very cost effective item on its own since it gives a good amount of armor, magic resistance, hp and health regen. This item also gives an arua that gives all nearby teammates bonus armor, magic resistance and health regen.

When you need the extra armor and hp this is the way to go! Normally you wouldn't want to get this item for the damage unless you have some type of AoE move like Amumu Despair but since you'll find yourself near the enemy a lot this item could be very useful in dealing constant damage while you wait for your Eclipse to hurt them. Also consider getting this item after your Trinity Force if you're up against a heavy AD team.

This item gives you some armor, magic resistance, and the ability to be revived if you lose all your hp. With this item you'll have an aura around you that screams don't focus me and if they do that is exactly what you want and you'll be back to help out your team.

Other choices:

This item now offers a flat 1000 hp and a lot of health regen. It's very helpful if you need to be able to tank a lot of damage.

This is a great alternative to the Trinity Force. If offers so much utility like the Trinity Force but the only thing it lacks is bonus hp and most importantly bonus movement speed. This item still offers armor, ap, cool down reduction, an amazing passive that will help with your burst and it also slows the enemy!

If you need more magic resistance this is the way to go. It also gives you a good amount of AP and an aura that lowers enemy magic resistance which is can be very useful and since you have to get close to do your combo you'll be doing a lot more damage.

This is a great item and it provides you with a decent amount of hp and armor. It's no longer built off a gp5 item so its cost maybe to steep and this item armor has been reduced.

If you have to deal with a lot of ap on the other team this is item is the way to go. It gives not only a decent amount of magic resistance but it also gives more hp, mana and a bubble that is very useful against moves such as Rocket Grab.

This is a very cheap and great item in case you are in need of some extra armor and hp. This item also has an active that shields all nearby teammates and the power of the shield increases with level.

Summary

Remember to always build depending on how the game is going. It's not the best idea to follow a set build all the time. So build how you feel would be best for your game.

The best route to take would be start at Wolves then blue. Ask for help when starting at these two because thanks to Eclipse and your passive Sunlight it should give you a nice and easy start. After you get blue buff you can either gank or do Wraiths then back to Wolves so you can be level 3 before starting red or you can gank with almost your full combo.

Remember to not use Eclipse until after you started to make full use of the defensive bonuses. Also try to hit as much of the monsters as you can with your Zenith Blade to start with.

Tips on ganking

Remember that you have to be unpredictable when you're ganking. If you can't land a Zenith Blade when you're out of sight and have to run in to get closer to an enemy make sure to predict the enemy movements and take note if the have some type of escape ability like Arcane Shift.

I feel that Leona is a great and viable jungler that is very underrated and seen only as a support. I hope my guide has helped you get a better understanding on how to play jungle Leona and inspired you to try it out! When you know the enemy team has a jungle Diana you can get some true rivalry going on and prove that your team has a brighter future!

I will also be updating this guide when I feel it is needed. Please leave feedback on what you think and let me know how it worked out for you if you tried it. If you want me to add any pictures of your success using this guide i'll be more then happy too. If you ever make a video of yourself playing as jungle Leona please let me know if you want it featured on this guide. Thank you!

With the new updates and items that has been recently added I felt that I needed to make some quick changes with my guide to keep up with everything.

Edits that were made right now:

- New Mastery set up

- New standard item order

- Updated information for some items and new item choices

Edits and changes you should expect in the near future:

- Possible updates with items

- Huge updates with the jungling chapter

- New chapters explaining match ups and what you should do in case of counter jungling and how to counter jungle as Leona.