Lee Sin Build Guide by eltai

Introduction

This guide is still in progress as it was recently started. Many thing missing. Wanted to publish early to help my friend that just started playing lee. This is the first time I ever write a guide on anything so point out any mistakes and errors that I made.

Changelog

22/1/2013 - Started the guide
3/1/2013 - Guide published
4/1/2013 - Added items section

Spells

Always Flash
For aggresive playstyle Ignite
For passive playstyle and bot lane ganks Teleport

Masteries

9-21-0 for offtank
21-9-0 for assassin

Runes

3x Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage
9x Greater Mark of Attack Damage(for easier last hitting)/9x Greater Mark of Armor Penetration(for higher damage to champions)
9x Greater Seal of Armor
9x Greater Glyph of Magic Resist(against AP lane)/9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

Items

sight ward - Always have some of them on you, they are your best friend.

Boots of Speed - You always need them at some point but since they have been nerfed there is no need to rush them first anymore.

Ninja Tabi - If you are against a heavy AA champion those are obviously the best choice, but if you are laning against someone not reliant on auto attacks don't upgrade them early.

Mercury's Treads - Great against a CC heavy team or AP lane but unless you are laning against vs AP assassin there is no need to rush them.

Boots of Mobility - If there is nothing for you to do in lane and you want to roam helping others pick them up, selling them late game.

Enchantment: Furor - Great upgrade for sticking to your target but don't rush them.

Enchantment: Homeguard - If enemy is pushing you to inner turrets this is an amazing upgrade.

Doran's Blade - Gives you all stats you need for early game making trades much easier.

Doran's Shield - Also a good item vs AA champions like udyr or jayce, the hp boost can also help you against olaf.

The Brutalizer - Beast item early game that leaves enemy squishies defenseless, sit on it for a while then upgrade to brutalizer if against AP lane.

The Bloodthirster - One of the most common items on Top Lee, it gives you godly sustain and huge AD boost. Be sure to build it as soon as possible.

Last Whisper - Great vs tank teams but if your team doesn't need more damage leave building it for later.

The Black Cleaver - Better pickup than Last Whisper if against a squishy team as it also grants you higher AD, flat arpen and cdr. Both Q and R apply it's passive effect.

Warmog's Armor - God tier item in s3 even after the recent cost nerf, it gives you massive HP bonus and hp/5 regen. Build it against mixed damage teams and rush against Olaf.

Randuin's Omen - Great item against attack speed champions with a chase/peel active effect.

Mercurial Scimitar - Great item but very expensive so if enemy team doesn't have much CC you can build Maw of Malmortius for much cheaper.

Sunfire Cape - Generally a worse pick up unless your team has no magic damage and you need to make up for it.

Guardian Angel - Not so great after s3 changes but still good hybrid defense item. Build if you are the main source of damage.

Locket of the Iron Solari - Much more common item this season as the stats got upgraded greatly, but generally not as useful in a solo lane.

Ravenous Hydra - Fun item, very useful for split pushing but you wont usually be able to use its full potential.

Runic Bulwark - If your jungler/support didn't buy it be sure to get it late game, it gives you great teamfight advantage.

Maw of Malmortius - Good instead of Mercurial Scimitar if enemy has no cc or a Karthus

Infinity Edge - Can replace a tank item if you really need damage but The Bloodthirster is generally better.

Atma's Impaler - Completely forgotten after a not so big nerf, and I don't see it being better than other tank items now, very situational pick.

Blade of the Ruined King - If enemy team is stacking on Warmog's Armor (which they probably will) it can deal really nice damage but The Bloodthirster outshines it once enemies hp drops below 1,6k as it only deals % of current health. Buy it against hp champions like Dr. Mundo or Olaf.

Sword of the Occult - If your enemy is worse than bots, sure why not.

Frozen Mallet - Only when your team is desperate for any form of CC.

Wriggle's Lantern - Good against hard AD lanes like Renekton. The free ward is really nice but you have to sell it for something better late game.

Trinity Force - Good for burst damage but it's too expensive and gives totally useless stats as mana.

Ruby Sightstone - If you are in lower elo and have to do all the warding for your team, pick it up if you expect the game to drag long.

Zephyr - If the game drags on to the point that you have full items and still gold to spend, sell your boots and buy this.

Skill Sequence

Sonic Wave QWEQQRQEQEREEWWRWW ( RQEW )Against squishy/mobile enemies ( Jayce/ Vladimir)
Tempest EQWEEREQEQRQQWWRWW ( REQW )Against Attack Speed reliant champions ( Udyr/ Jax)
Safeguard QWEWWRWQWQRQQEEREE ( RWQE )In passive/hard lanes ( Yorick/ Olaf)

Pros/Cons

Pros

Very mobile
Energy based
Skill dependant
Strong versus many lanes
Can play many lanes and roles
Easy to farm with
Built in Lifesteal and Attack Speed steroid
Built in Slow and Attack Speed debuff
Can peel as well as engage and assassinate

Cons

Falls off late game
Requires tactical skill in choosing the right combo for the situation and utilising his passive which may be troublesome for begginers
Can be shut down early

Lane matchups

Champion-Difficulity-Skill Order-Start-Notes

1 Being easy to play blindfolded 10 not being able to win at all

Akali- 2 - RQEW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Easy matchup, you outdamage, outsustain and counter her W mechanic. Go aggressive before 6 as she won't be able to trade the damage back at all.

Cho'Gath- 6 - RWQE - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- A good Cho'Gath will silence you before knocking you up so escaping his Q won't be as easy as it may look like. Be careful of his burst at lvl 6.

Darius- 7 - RWQE - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Even matchup, avoid long trades and ask your jungler for a gank so you can shut down his early snowball that he relies on.

Fiora- 3 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Easy matchup, your E will stop most of her damage. You can manipulate her position during her ultimate as she will end up next to you after it ends.

Gangplank- 4 - RQEW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- You can shield and sustain his Parrrley poke and he won't be able to win trades with you.

Garen- 7 - RQWE - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Hard matchup, Garen became really strong with S3 patch and is really hard to kill. Try to avoid his Judgment and Decisive Strike and poke him with Q to stop his passive.

Irelia- 6 - RWEQ - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Skill matchup, you can outsustain her early because of her limited mana resource. Try to avoid fighting when she uses her true damage, wait it out and then you should be able to win a trade.

Jarvan IV- 5 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Lee can escape his ultimate with 3 of his skills but his passive Martial Cadence can really hurt. Dodge his knockup and always keep a ward on yourself post-6 ready to escape his Cataclysm

Jax- 4 - REQW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- You can outplay him easily in lane but you need to ensure you shut him down completely as he becomes a late-game powerhouse. Try peeling him off from your carries with Dragon's Rage and Cripple

Jayce- 5 - RQEW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- You will get poked a lot but your kit will enable you to stick to him. Wait for him to push then W to minion and Cripple him, he will most likely use Thundering Blow to get away from you and get back in range but you still have your Q to keep up with him.

Kayle- 6 - RQEW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Play passive until Righteous Fury ends then go all out on her.

Kennen- 5 - RQEW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- A forgotten top laner that received no attention in s3. Buy Mercury's Treads asap and kick him out of your team when he ults.

Kha'Zix- 7 - RWQE - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- You can totally negate his bonus damage from his ult by not allowing him to get out of vision. Always stay near your minions to avoid isolation bonus

Malphite- 6 - RWQE - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Passive lane as you won't likely be able to kill each other because of how tanky malphite is. Don't trade while hit with Ground Slam and poke him with Resonating Strike to stop Granite Shield from recharging.

Nasus- 4 - RQEW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- All you have to do in this lane is to not let him farm his Siphoning Strike and he should't pose a threat to your team. Zone him as much as you can and avoid pushing him under his tower.

Olaf- 7 - RWQE - 9x Health Potion 2x sight ward
- One of the hardest matchups for lee sin, get 2x[doran's blade]] and Warmog's Armor if he's maxing Reckless Swing. Level up your Safeguard so you can negate his E damage while it still costs him hp.

Pantheon- 6 - RWQE - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- After your W got nerfed it became a much more troublesome lane although you can still outsustain him. Be sure to follow him any time he leaves lane post-6 and kick him out of his ult if he tries to jump.

Renekton- 9 - RWQE - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- I consider Renekton the hardest possible matchup for Lee after his W got nerfed and no longer grants armor to survive his burst. There is nothing you can do to stop his damage. He will break your shield with ease, outdamage you, ignore your AS debuff and still be able to sustain himself. His early game is monstrous but if you manage not to die you can be of more use to your team than he will.

Rengar- 4 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Heavily nerfed rengar is not a problem for Lee as you should win all trades after level 3. Stay away from bushes and get vision on him so he wont escape with his ultimate Thrill of the Hunt

Riven- 7 - RWEQ - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Hard matchup in which you will need early armor. Avoid fighting her early and try to bait out her ultimate and then escape. Don't let her roam as she can kill your midlaner easily with any help of cc.

Rumble- 7 - RQWE - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Avoid his Flamespitter and as soon as it goes on cooldown go offensive on him. Avoid long trades as he has a lot of sustained damage.

Shen- 5 - REWQ - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Try denying Shen as much as possible as you probably won't be able to kill him because of how tanky he is. Try to not let him Stand United to his teammates by saving your ultimate just to stop his.

Singed- 6 - RQEW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Abuse his weak early game and don't let him farm. Use your ultimate to peel him off your teammates. Don't chase.

Talon- 2 - RQEW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- His Rake is easy to avoid and you should not have any trouble trading with him even if he hits it. You can reveale him in his ultimate but remember it has fairly low cooldown.

Teemo- 6 - RQEW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Buy pink wards to destroy him mushrooms and allow your jungler to gank as he's fairly susceptible to ganks with any cc. He won't be able to trade with you at any point of the game so be sure to get in his face.

Tryndamere- 2 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- His damage is 90% his autoattack and your E maxed will work on him as AoE Exhaust. Shut him down early to make him as useless as he can be.

Udyr- 8 - REWQ - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Very hard but rare matchup top. He can sustain better than you and his Tiger Stance will really hurt. Ask your jungler for ganks.

Vi- 4 - REQW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Her shield is decently strong but has early cooldown of 18 seconds which makes her vulnerable in that time. Her Vault Breaker is easy to dodge and after it she lacks any gap closers. Avoid long trades and you should be able to win lane easily.

Vladimir- 5 - RQWE - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Go very aggressive early and you should be able to get him easily. If he uses his Transfusion on a minion punish him going all in .

Volibear- 4 - REQW - Boots of Speed 4x Health Potion
- Avoid long trades and don't be baited by his passive. Peel him with your kit so he won't be able to flip your carries with Rolling Thunder

Wukong- 3 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Easy matchup as your kit counters his perfectly. Reveal him anytime with your E and peel his Cyclone with your ultimate and you should have easy time against him.

Xin Zhao- 6 - REQW - Cloth Armor 5x Health Potion
- Xin has a really hard time against AS slows and that is your only advantage. In teamfights be sure to get him off your carries as he can stick to someone for really long time.

Yorick- 7 - RWEQ - 9x Health Potion 2x sight ward
- If you are having a really hard time against him you can buy a Wriggle's Lantern. Ask your jungler for help as his ghouls tent to push the lane and he has no escape mechanism.

Farming and Turrets

Don't be afraid to use all your skills for farming as you have unlimited resources but be wary not to burn all your cooldowns when enemy is near to avoid losing trades.

You can double cast W on yourself to lifesteal off the minions.

You can push faster by shielding a minion and utilising your passive to help you destroy turrets.

Tips and things to keep in mind