Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page
x
x

Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment.
You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment
I liked this Guide

I didn't like this Guide




Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Choose Champion Build:
Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Exhaust
Items
Ability Order
Sunlight (PASSIVE)
Leona Passive Ability
Introduction

UPDATE: Season 3
Season 3! So many changes! The current gameplay for Leona has totally changed with heaps more items to customise. Leona still shines best as a Support Tank/Full Tank. Items with auras are still the way to go over damage items also.
Season 2 (Outdated)
With the release of Season 2 Masteries, I feel Leona will shine greater as a Full Tank. The Offensive Tank is still a strong build, but I have moved away from Build 3 completely. I will leave the page up for ideas for people to play around with my version of the Offensive Tank.
If you are playing a game and your entire team consists of squishy carries, your team has bad communication or your team is losing teamfights in general, you will need to build Full Tank to absorb all the damage and protect your team.
If your team consists of a few tanky champions, the Offensive Tank is still viable. I still feel the Full Tank will assist your team more efficiently.
Remember communication is key, get a feel for the match before you commit to a build (Because the core build for both Full Tank and Offensive Tank are the same). Also don't be afraid to sell items and go from Offensive Tank to Full Tank if needed.
Full Tank:

These runes are your bread and butter of bottom lane. Since you are trading/poking your enemies, these will keep the damage to a minimal.


Extra early game tankiness, since the majority of damage is from pokes and harrassment (Which are healed by your



Early game you really shine with


If you are confident with Leona, running 3 x


A safer route (What I generally prefer personally) is to run 3 x


Off Tank:
Keep in mind that running an Off Tank just isn't as effective anymore in Season 3 with the new items. I'll keep this section here for ideas for customising builds.

These runes will go quite nicely with your 8% Magic Penetration from




Extra early game tankiness, since the majority of damage is from pokes and harrassment (Which are healed by your


Early game you really shine with


These will synergize well with your

Remember you are gaining a bit of movespeed from your



Other Runes
By all means this is just my recommendation and personal experience. You could even go as far as replacing the armour penetration marks and go for more armour/magic resists. At the end of the day, go with what works for you and your play style.
I have tested out the



To counter the lower armour rating, you might even want to run defensive marks.
TO BE UPDATED FROM SEASON 2
9 Offense / 21 Defence
SPACEPros
- High sustain.
- Early tank capabilities and scales well entire game.
- 12.1% Cooldown reduction at level 18 from just masteries.
SPACECons
- Lower movespeed if less than 70% HP.
Best used for either full tank or offensive tank. This maximises cooldown reduction and defensive capabilities.
1 Offensive / 21 Defence / 8 Utility
SPACEPros
- High sustain.
- Fastest movespeed masteries.
- Revive faster if you die.
SPACECons
- Lower cooldown reduction (8.1%) at level 18.
- Less damage from all skills.
Another viable setup. Sacrifices some damage and cooldown reduction for increased movespeed and revive time.
At the end of the day, whether you choose to play off tank or full tank both Mastery Trees in my opinion will provide Leona with everything she requires. Just be mindful to have the rune pages setup properly.
Recommended:
I generally use



A fantastic spell to have on Leona, this can be used to initiate team fights or escape. I prefer this spell over



Provides movement speed, which can be used to initiate or escape. Stacks quite well with your






I got killed by a tank?! This is the reaction you will get if used right. Early game combo +



Great to disable the other team's most dangerous player. Again being in the middle of the enemy ranks allows you to easily


A great spell to have if no one on your team is using it. Allows you to defend towers, since you're able to hold yourself against 2 enemies with all your CC. Can also be used to help team mates gank (teleporting to wards), or when you are solo laning allow you to get back into battle without much downtime.
Viable:

If the enemy team has plenty of CC this spell might be useful (Although you are supposed to tank all their CC). Generally you have no idea what you're up against so this is a blind pick. Still a useful spell as it can be used to save yourself and in most cases allows you to protect your allies.

While laning you shouldn't be using your abilities left, right and centre. By the time you return to town you will have a Philosopher Stone to regen both HP and Mana. I suppose if you're laning with a support class you can provide yourself and your ally mana to lane longer.

Not a bad spell if you want to be able to protect your allies (Or tower dive/ heal bait). Usefulness does drop end game though.

Is actually great on Leona, you're pretty much playing a Support Role until you start transitioning into a tank. Never underestimate this skill as it can be used to let your jungler escape or secure a kill. Having said that, probably more suitable on your Support if you have one.
Skills:
Leona's skills aren't the hardest to learn, but will take some getting used to. Practice is also required (as with most champions) to be useful to your team.

Affected by allies' Magic Penetration

SPACE

Cost: 45/50/55/60/65 Mana
Range: 100



SPACE

Magic Damage: 60/110/160/210/260 (+0.4)
Cost: 60/60/60/60/60 Mana
Range: 450



SPACE

Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
Range: 700

SPACE

Cost: 100/150/200 Mana
Range: 1200

Skill Sequence:
I like to max




Zenith Blade VS Shield of Daybreak






You could level them side by side as well, as long as

Skill Usage:
Initiates:
Before you decide to initiate always start with



Feints:
Most people will back off as soon as you activate

Saving/Protecting Allies:
If you or your ally have underestimated damage and the enemy champion decides to counter attack and chase, your priority is to make sure you protect your ally, allowing them to escape back into tower range. Never abandon an ally unless you have absolutely no chance to save them (ie Ganks). Your

Your Ultimate:
Do not start off with this unless you have communicated with your team mates (and that they jump in instantly when you have used it). The damage from

A great defensive way to use this is, if you are losing your tower (Because it's unguarded etc) is to walk from behind the tower and firing it directly onto enemy champions (You are out of their vision range for most of the part). Most of the time they are so focused on the tower and because your range is quite large will not see it coming. Many times I have come from behind my tower, fired my Ultimate which causes them to be stunned,



Things to remember:
Latency:
Get used to where you need to shoot


Baits:
Don't fall for enemies who are baiting your Ultimate(You shouldn't be starting with it anyway). Even if you feel you are going to hit, don't. Wait until the fight is engaged (initiate when it is safe to do so), and then use it. You would rather 3 players hit by it than just 1.
Save Skills:
Don't go spamming



If you're the type of person to panic during a fight and blow all your skills, ultimate and actives... take a deep breath and approach the situation calmly. You don't win battles by wasting all your CC's in the first 3 seconds of your team fight. Learn who you need to use them on, and use them wisely.
TO BE UPDATED FROM SEASON 2
There are plenty of ways you can build Leona. I generally like to build up to her core and then branching off to either Full Tank or Off Tank depending on how your team is setup, how well your team is doing etc.
Core Build:
These 3 items are the absolute core of her build and should be built first up. In my opinion these three items allow her to lane extremely well, tank and support her laning partner. I will explain why I have chosen these down below.
Start with a


If you are wanting to play a safe lane start with 3 x Sight Wards, 2 x


Once you hit 1540 gold during early laning phase you should be able to head back to town and build up to a Philosopher's Stone,




The reason why you would aim for these items is health / mana regeneration, extra HP for early game tanking as well as mobility. They also build up to your main items further into the game.
ALWAYS return to lane with at least a Sight Ward. Two if you can afford it. If you're left with a choice of a completed item and no Sight Wards... choose the lower item and two Sight Wards instead.
Which item should I build first?



Personally I like to build a

The next item I like to build is the

Lastly moving onto the


If you're building full tank, you might want to skip over the





Another good option is to build the




On a tank you might want more tenacity... which might just be enough to save an ally during a team fight. CDR is also important but you decide whether you want more magic resistace + tenacity or more CDR (Which can be gotten down the track with


If you're using the defence and utility tree, you might be able to grab a


Remember with the



Let me explain a few things about which item you take.







Personally I will build








A few things you can get the enemy to do is to hit you if your team is fleeing a losing battle.


Personally I prefer to go with




Finishing Off The Build:
More Health? More Damage? More Armour? More Resistances?
This is where some creative thinking comes into play. How well are you doing? How good is your team performing? How squishy / durable is your team? How many AD / AP on the enemy team? All these should be considerations on how you finish off Leona's build.
All the items below can be considered in the build, since you are pretty well rounded now.
Life:














Armour:


This is going way overboard with armour if you already have a








Magic Resistance:






Offense:
Most of the better offensive items are already listed above. They include





Zeke's Herald 250HP, 15% CDR and an aura that provides 20% Attack Speed and 12% Life Steal. A decent item if your team is more AD than AP. I wouldn't get this item unless you have 3 AD champions on your team.
Combo Suggestions:




Attack Damage Carries will do almost no damage


Ability Power Carries will do almost no damage




Enemies will have a hard time escaping
Item Summary:
All the items listed above will all be situational. Build Leona how you feel fit, remembering to take into account of how the game is going. The last 2 items must complement your build, assist your team mates and cause as much trouble to the other team as possible.
Creep Farming:
Leona's ability to farm is weak compared to most champions. Her ability to creep kill only starts to pick up mid game where her

Early Game:
Focus on last hitting (If in a duo lane, only on the creeps your ally misses), and pushing enemies away to allow your laning partner to last hit without being harrassed.


Mid Game:
Level 10 onwards is where you should start picking up creep waves a lot better with

End Game:
The only farming you will be doing is clearing tower waves or pushing.


Farming Summary:
Even though Leona's ability to kill creeps is low at the start, during mid to end game it is not uncommon for her to catch up as she wipes through waves with her abilities. Remember, farm sensibly and protect team mates.
I don't claim to be the best player, but at the same time I don't feel I am the worst Leona player. We all have our good days and bad days. Here are a few screenshots of how I went while testing out builds.
If this guide has helped you and you would like to be included in this little Hall of Fame, please send me a PM. I'll gladly post up your screenshots!







If this guide has helped you and you would like to be included in this little Hall of Fame, please send me a PM. I'll gladly post up your screenshots!
I will constantly add more and more details on skills, items and play styles as the days/weeks/months go by to help out as much as I can as Leona will change with future patches. By all means, constructive feedback will be highly appreciated but down right trolling and flaming for no cause will be ignored. I hope this has helped out with your Leona play style, whether you have played her since day one or just started! Good luck...!
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.