**Update 04/01/14** 2nd Update, this updates the build quite a bit

Changed the Gold Income item.
Get 2nd Tier boots a lot earlier (around 2950 Gold earlier)
Removed Thornmail, good armour but passive is not as good as presumed.

Hi, I'm BlessingOfChaos. I have been on LOL for about 8 months now and, at the time of writing this guide, have just hit 30 (Currently Silver 1 :D). I hope you find this guide helpful and "current" as this has been written to accommodate the changes in S4.

Leona in patch 3.14 has had the ability Eclipse updated. This is the reason for my writing this guide as the new changes to Eclipse mean that having a Leona with more armor makes for a more powerful support.

Pros

+ POSITIVE ATTRIBUTE's + Tank (At Level 3 onwards) + Easy to use grab skill + Multiple stuns

Cons

- NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTE's - Skill reliant - No heal skill - Squishy below level 3

Mark

Greater Mark of Armor This is used because early game Leona needs armour to initiate. Before level 3 she is squishy and without extra starting armour Leonacould not help the ADC.

Seal

Greater Seal of Armor This is used for the same reason that Greater Mark of Armor is used because of Leona being squishy early game.

Glyph

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist Very useful for any Tank. Although Leona should not face AP enemies early game this can still help against jungler's and AP supports such as Sona and Lulu. Another option is to take Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist as this will become more useful late game when there is more chance of AP fights.

You may be thinking that 0/25/5 is a weird spread of Masteries. But I feel for Leona this is a better spread than the more common 0/21/9. 0/21/9 gives you access to the Culinary Master and Alchemist Masteries, which may sound good. But in the games I have played Leona I don't feel that Health Potions play a big role in her builds. You can usually get to level 6 with just purchasing the 1 potion. And then after that they are rarely needed.

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Offence

0 Points, keep it that way.

Defence

Yes 25 Points! Putting 25 points into the Defence Masteries Tree unlocks quite a bit of extra defence for our Leona.
Through the use of Enchanted Armor , Hardiness and Tenacious Leona gains quite a bit of armour pre-game.
Tenacious , Resistance and Evasive also allow Leona to handle AP opponents.
More Notable Defence Masteries are:

This works well for Leona because and stuns/slows

Runic Shield

Starting the game and every Respawn with a 50 Health Shield can't be a bad thing right?

This is the top Tier Mastery for Defence, And it lives up to its title. Reducing a CC by 15% is just amazing.

Utility

Just 5 points in Utility? Why!?
As I stated in the start of the Chapter I feel that having the extra points in Defence to unlock things like Runic Shield, Reinforced Armor and Oppression is better than the extra health given from the Utility health potion Buffs ( Alchemist and Culinary Master )
So with that being reiterated. What have we got in Utility?

For those times that you just cant reach.

The 1st rank gives you a 4% cooldown bonus and the next 2 ranks only give an extra 3% each. Not worth any more of my precious Defence points.

Ruby Sightstone
Support StapleRuby Sightstone is something that every Support should pick up quite early game, with Leona we are going straight for the Sightstone because of how important this item is.
Thornmail
Tank & DamageGetting Thornmail early allows for easy in lane tank due to the extra 100 armour, but also allows for some damage during an initiate do to the passive.
Talisman Of AscensionTalisman Of Ascension
Its all about the money.Not really. Talisman Of Ascension is one of the best ways for a support to get extra gold in lane, but also for our Leona it gives Cooldown Reduction and Mana/Health Regen. Don't play without it.
Ninja Tabi
Blocks and extra Armour Ninja Tabi may seem another strange choice for Leona but once again, it gives extra armour to make your Eclipse more effective. and it also has the passive of blocking damage for basic attacks.
Sunfire Cape
Girl on FireLook at the name. This was made for Leona! This when used with Thornmail Can make Leona quite a feared tank. Using both can cause a lot of health loss from opponents but gives you enough armour to walk back out after a pull.
Locket of the Iron Solari
Support Staple Another item made for Leona she even holds this item in a Skin! This is a support staple. Don't need to say more. Spirit Visage
AP Tank ItemThis is a good buy late game after you have finished laning. This allows Leona to initiate on AP users without feeling the full force of their attacks.
Twin Shadows
Go FetchThis allows Leona to slow enemy champions that are out of reach. It also gives a nice AP and MR Bonus.
Guardian Angel
Best of BothThis gives you 50 Armour and 40 MR, with a nice little perk of coming back alive if you do something foolish like die.

The reason I go with Shield of Daybreak before Zenith Blade is that you use Zenith Blade to initiate, and you should be using Shield of Daybreak at the same time or soon after. So once in and surrounded by enemies. I would rather get my Stun back before my Initiate skill. This may just be my personal opinion but this is the order that works for me.

This is used to initiate or to stop an opponent running away. Use with Zenith Blade. This is a very long stun and is the most important skill in terms of helping the ADC.

Use this to make yourself a tank. Plain and simple. If you get Eclipse to hit an enemy when it bursts then you also get another 3 seconds of extra stats which should be used to get away if they are still alive.

Compared to Blitzcrank and Thresh I find Leona's Pull very easy to use. It its not hard to hit with and you can usually still hit even if the blade is slightly off, unless they are running away. Try and use it when they are coming towards you. Use Shield of Daybreak before/after to get an easy stun.

This is a very useful CC skill. This slows a very large radius and has quite a long cast range, but if you are close enough to hit straight in the centre of the circle, then you also get a Stun to go with that slow.

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Skill Sequence In Lane

>> >> >>

The reason for this order is that Shield of Daybreak can be activated and will only do its effect on the next hit. This is how you use it before Zenith Blade. Once you are in with Zenith Blade hit the champion with a Basic Attack and this will apply the Stun from Shield of Daybreak, straight away after this you should activate Eclipse because that will lower the damage taken and allow you to tank and your ADC to fight. If they manage to get too far from the ADC this is when Solar Flare can be used to Stun/Slow for the ADC to finish off. (Could also use Exhaust)

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Skill Sequence Late Game

>> >> >>

This should be used late game against a group of enemies such as a 5v5. Since Leona is the tank she should be the first in. So use Solar Flare when you get the opportunity to Slow/Stun the group of enemies. Get yourself in there with Zenith Blade and quickly apply Eclipse to keep yourself out of damage. Use Shield of Daybreak on the one that is hurting you/ a team member the most.

Flash is the best Summoner Skill in LOL, take it every time.
This slows down opponents and allows for the ADC to take the kill. It also reduces enemies attack damage.

Want To Be Moaned At?

Nothing wrong with Ignite, but a lot of people don't like a Support with it because they think they are just going to Kill Steal (Which sometimes can be the case).

The original version of this guide said to use Ancient Coin over Relic Shield, which at the start of Pre-Season S4, was a good idea because low ELO ADC's did not know to let you kill minions, and could even complain at the support for minion stealing which is not the case.

Ok so for the Maths behind the changes.

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The following sums are assuming that minions first spawn 1:30 into the game, every 30 seconds thereafter and every 1:30 there will be a Siege Minion accompanying the 6 normal minions.

Siege Minion is worth 40+1 Gold for every 3 minutes of time elapsed
Melee Minion is worth 20+0.5 Gold for every 3 minutes of time elapsed
Caster Minion is worth 15+0.5 Gold for every 3 minutes of time elapsed *Not used in sums*

This also only counts Tier 1 of the gold income items without upgrading

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After 20 Minutes

Relic Shield 12x Siege Minions : 485 Gold 25x Melee Minions : 506 Gold Total Income: 991 Gold

Ancient Coin 12x Siege Minions : 24 Gold 216x Melee Minions : 432 Gold Total Income: 456 Gold

Relic Shield = 110% More gold than Ancient Coin.

That's WITHOUT counting the extra gold that the ADC receives!

So as long as my maths are correct, (if not then its only going to be a small amount of gold out) the Relic Shield is actually a much better choice for Leona. Just make sure that when attacking the minions, you aim for the Melee Minion and not the Caster Minion as the Melee always gives 5 extra Gold.

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Bottom Lane Synergy

So, if you have an ADC that you know and trust. You could do one of the following technique's.

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Technique 1

ADC

Leona face of the mountain

The proper way to do this is to let the ADC kill most of the minions, but tell him/her to leave 4 of the minions for Leona to kill. This way your both getting bonus gold, and the ADC is also getting a steady tick of gold. And if the ADC chooses they can also upgrade Nomad's Medallion to Talisman of ascension if they feel the need for the Active effect. Credit goes to Aerthan for this idea.

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Technique 2

ADC Targon's Brace

Leona face of the mountain

Ok this is for the very ADVANCED people out there. The best way to do this is to get Leona to go in with an Eclipse on the minions, to lower the health of the whole wave of minions. Then Leona kills 4, and the ADC kills the rest. This is a technique that will not work on Solo Q without a very communicative ADC so i do reccomend this only with people on your friends list.
This means that you both get quite a lot of bonus gold and is probably the best way to make money in the game this patch.

**NOTE** Don't Forget the Cooldown on Face of the Mountain! Your ADC won't be happy!

To sum up.

I hope this guide has helped you to become a better Leona, and maybe even a better person :)
Please comment and tell me what you like, and I suppose you can tell me what you don't like too.

And as stated a few times in this guide. This guide is supposed to look different and slightly abnormal for a support, but the mix of Thornmail and Sunfire Aegis has been so helpful in my own games on Leona since patch 3.14 I just thought that I should share it. Thank you very much for reading, and please if you do not like it. Play nice, tell me why and not just rude comments.

Regards
BlessingOfChaos (EUW)