This guide is about Pantheon, the Straight Up Hardass. Not only is Pantheon one of the most badass champions in the league, he is one of the best solo top champs and hands down one of the most fun melee DPS characters to play.

In this guide I'll just give you a quick rundown on how I play him as a solo top champion and with a build I have good success with. Keep in mind that I am a 800 ELO player so take this guide with a grain of salt, although if you find it helpful then I have done my job and I hope you find success with anything you might take away from what I have to say. :)

This is off the top of my head, but for runes I'm pretty sure I run armor pen marks, flat armor seals, and mr/level seals. I also have two armor pen quints and one lifesteal quint just for fun. I don't think it really matters all that much in this department so just stick with whatever standard runes you run for your melee DPS/solo top champs.

21/0/9.

A full offensive mastery is a must for a champ like Pantheon who is always in the heat of battle. The other 9 points you can spend as you please but I like to put a little in defense with a point in evasion and a point in tough skin for more versatility.

I usually start with boots and three pots which is pretty standard for a lot of champs. I suppose you could start with a long sword and a pot if you feel like being more offensive, although most of the time boots + 3 pots will give you the sustainability you need in a solo top lane.

From there I build into berserker's greaves and a brutalizer, which is the perfect item for Pantheon. Attack damage, CDR and extra armor penetration is the perfect package of mass destruction for Pantheon. From there build a Yomuu's.

Next big purchase is the Best Friend Sword. From there you want to build your Bloodthirster. If you're moderately fed by this point you shouldn't be worried about losing stacks on this item, and if you die now you only lose half of your stacks anyway which is awesome.

After BT you want to get Frozen Mallet. It's just a great item for Pantheon and makes him even more durable, while providing an attack boost.

Build Atma's Impaler next, which procs with all the extra health from FM. This is your complete build. It is an expensive core build but you should be able to survive almost anything now and still be able to dish out tons of damage.

I left the last item slot open for whatever you may want to get. If you're getting bursted down by casters a lot you could get a Maw or Malmortius. If you need some extra armor Randuin's Omen is never a bad choice. The last item is really up to you. Trinity Force of Infinity Edge are other possible options.

Max spear shot first as it's your main harassing tool/damage dealer.

Max heatseeker strike second.

Max aegis of zeonia last.

Of course max your ultimate when you can.


HOW TO USE YOUR COMBO:
Use your spear shot to harass/bring down the enemy's health. When they are near 30% health or less, use aegis of zeonia to get in close and stun them and follow up with a heatseeker strike. By this point if they aren't dead already, you can activate Yomuu's Ghostblade and autoattack them to death. If they're still alive, chances are your spear shot is off cooldown so fire another one of those spears which does guaranteed crit damage when your opponent is under 15% health. :)

Flash and Ignite. Hardly any exceptions. Teleport if you want the mobility or Exhaust if you prefer to overwhelm your opponents. The healing reduction on Ignite makes it a higher priority choice for me.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief guide. The main thing I want you to get out of it is the item build, which is pretty unassuming on paper but when used in the right hands can wreck your opponents. Good luck and leave me any comments or questions.

~ Phryer