Lee Sin Build Guide by ProwningJagz
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Assassin
AD offtank
Assassin Lee vs. Harrassers
Alternative start
Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Lore/Champion Spotlight
As a young teen, Lee Sin was intent on becoming a summoner. His will and dedication were unmatched by any of his peers, and his skill drew the attention of Reginald Ashram, the League's High Councilor at the time. While studying at the Arcanum Majoris, Lee Sin became frustrated with instruction paced for the other students. He spent his free time researching the nuances of summoning in hopes of graduating sooner. He made amazing advances in his arcane studies, surpassing all other students. By all indications, he would have become one of the League's greatest summoners were it not for one terrible mistake. Too impatient, he attempted to test his ability by summoning a beast from the Plague Jungles. What he summoned instead was a young boy, but not in one piece. He barely had time to look the boy in what was once his face before the jumbled human mass fell lifeless to the floor. A League investigation later revealed that the boy's entire village was obliterated by feedback from the ritual.
Lee Sin's talents were so promising that the League was willing to overlook the incident, but he could never forgive himself. He left the Institute and journeyed to the Shojin Monastery for eternal repentance, swearing never to practice magic again. Years later, hoping to atone for his crime with martyrdom, he set himself ablaze as a protest of the Noxian occupation of Ionia. He remained alive in this state, enduring searing agony for weeks. His actions paved the way for a League match wherein Ionia prevailed, but by the time he was doused, his eyes had been burned completely from their sockets. Hailed as a savior, he was reborn, and his will to act invigorated. He joined the League of Legends to continue his atonement with sweat and blood, a true monk's only possessions.
''The actions of one may sunder the world, but the efforts of many may rebuild it.''
-- Lee Sin
Introduction
About myself!
Hello everybody, my name is ProwningJagz (lolking link) and I play at EU West. Currently in Silver Division 2, I am certainly not a high elo author, nor do I have the ambition to become one. Also I want to apologize for the bad english I may have used.
Why Lee Sin?
I just wanted to share my thoughts at my favorite champion: Lee Sin. I play him mostly as a top laner, because I think that's where he shines the most. He has an very strong early game, that you have to abuse 90 % of the games. In my opinion he is one of the most exciting champions to play because of his extreme mobility his skillset offers.
Hope you enjoy it!
PS: Please give me construcive criticism, since this is my first build on MOBAfire.
I WILL BE FOCUSING ON ASSASSIN LEE SIN IN THIS GUIDE
Pros / Cons for Lee Sin solo top
| Pros
+ Get's more chance to snowball, since he can farm more, and prolly get some kills off. + Amazing ultimate to peel off your enemies! + Great combo's that can help your jungler to gank. + More gold-efficient items, since you have to use money for  Wriggle's Lantern or  Locket of the Iron Solari if you decide to jungle.+ Ward-hopping FTW! + HE IS BLIND! |
k.kkkkk
kkk.kkkkk kkkkk    kkk.kkkkk |
Cons
- Needs some practice - Pretty one-sided build - Can be hard CC-ed in teamfight's - Can be kited, but that's why we have BoTRK! - Champs who can poke like  Jayce could be a problem for beginning Lee Sins.- HE IS BLIND! |
Masteries
| Masteries | |||||||||||||||||
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1/5
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4/5
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2/1
|
4/1
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3/1
|
1/1
|
2/5
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3/
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1/
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4/1
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3/1
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1/5
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1/1
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Offensive tree
-
Summoner's Wrath
for the bonus AD it gives while your 
Ignite is on cooldown. -
Fury
is very good for helping you to lasthit, aswell for duelling for a longer time, where AD offtank (with maxing Safeguard) really shines. As an assassin you do not want to go 1vs1 against champions that naturally outsustain you. i.e.:
Warwick. So you can switch
Fury
for
Sorcery
, but I should test this more. -
Butcher
, again for last hitting. -
Deadliness
, just for the extra AD. It actually scales quite well into late game. -
Havoc
! Extra percentage damage on an assassin? Yes please! -
Weapon Expertise
, I know, 
Lee Sin does not have any weapons except his mind and fists, but still the armor penetration is just so good. -
Brute Force
Flat AD is always welcome when you have an early game beast like Lee. -
Sunder
, more armor pen? This is getting so good! -
Executioner
finishes this mastery tree. It works so good together with Lee's Q: 
Resonating Strike (more in abilities section). Just amazing for finishing your enemies!
Defensive tree
-
Durability
gives flat HP. 108 HP at level 18 can't be underestimated, if you know that 
Ruby Crystal gives you 180 HP, for 475g, that's actually 108HP that you get for free, while you should buy it for about 250 gold! -
Hardiness
always helps when you want some early game resistance in a top lane. -
Resistance
, some frequent junglers like 
Xin Zhao, or 
Hecarim, deal quite some magic damage and will mostly upgrade that ability (
Spirit of Dread). You can see that the magic resist will help you against this kind of junglers, or against top laners with magic damage like Kennen. You may put the points of
Hardiness
in
Resistance
if you know you are facing an AP champion like 
Vladimir. -
Veteran's Scars
, again some flat HP, this time from the start! Same explanation as
Durability
.
Runes
| Runes | |||||||||||||||
Greater Mark of Attack Damage 9 |
Greater Seal of Armor 9 |
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist 9 |
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage 3 |
||||||||||||
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage for maximizing your early game power.9
Greater Mark of Attack Damage, again for maximizing and abusing your early game power and AD ratios.9
Greater Seal of Armor for giving you the needed armor in the laning phase. Works in about all games, especially with the double bruiser meta that is going on. i.e.: 
Kha'Zix mid lane, 
Garen top, and prolly a AD based jungler, like Xin Zhao.9
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for providing the late game MR, since every team has some sort of magic damage. Mostly you won't fight against champions with a lot of magic damage, but more AD-based champions like 
Renekton.If you are laning against AP champions like
Kennen, you can take flat blues.
Summoner Spells
Standard Summoner Spells
| SPACESPACE |
|
SPACESPACE |
Flash to come behind an enemy and use Dragon's Rage to kick them to your team. - Ignite is great to finish off your enemy, to reduce the heals they receive, i.e.:  Bloodlust from  Tryndamere.- This spell helps you chasing, duelling, and saving your teammates! Exhaust is also a very viable pick if you know you are laning against an attack speed based champion like Xin Zhao or  Fiora. |
Other viable choices
| SPACESPACE |
|
SPACESPACE |
Teleport is viable, but falls off late game when you use it on Lee. You can't pressure the map as hard as Singed or Nasus could. I wouldn't recommend this, but when you are creative, it's a very viable choice. - Ghost has the same utility as Flash, but it's better for longer use, while Flash is instant.This is personal preference though! |
Abilities/Abilities Usage
Ability Explanation
- FLURRY: Flurry is an passive that gives you energy back for every basic attack after you used an ability. It also gives you a chunk of attack speed! Flurry is extremely important while jungling Lee Sin, but the use of this passive can't be underestimated in lane too. While duelling an opponent, what you should come across a lot of times (because this is a big strength of Lee!), make sure you use two basic attacks after every ability. Sequences/combo's in the section below!
- SONIC WAVE/RESONATING STRIKE (Q): This ability makes you shoot a 'projectile' and when it lands, you can activate it to jump towards your target! Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike is what Lee Sin is famous for. Most of you will prolly say this is his bread and butter ability. Well, I dont agree! Even though this is the ability that makes Lee Sin what he is, it isn't his best ability. I consider Sonic Wave as his mobility, and finishing move, but the true damage lies into Tempest!
- SAFEGUARD/IRON WILL (W): Safeguard allows you to quickly jump to an allied unit. Iron Will gives you some nice defensive stats, which are great for duelling. Of course this is another mobility ability (hey, this rimes!). I like this one more then his Q, just because it's way more reliant. You can do some sick escapes and ward-hopping with Safeguard, and that is what the most fun part of Lee Sin is in my opinion.
- TEMPEST/CRIPPLE (E): Tempest makes Lee smash the ground, doing some sick MAGIC DAMAGE, and revealing nearby opponents. The second activate can be used to cripple the enemies hit by Tempest, what slows them and gives them a attack speed debuff. Now, this is my favorite ability of Lee! This does good standard damage, plus it's magic damage. The magic damage is the most important part, because most top laners, i.e.:
Shen, have a bunch of armor runes, or maybe 
Cloth Armor to begin with. Since they don't have a lot of magic resist, tempest will hit a lot harder then for example Sonic Wave. This ability is great against top lane 
Akali/
Wukong, because of the stealth reveal.
- DRAGON'S RAGE (R): Dragon's rage kicks our enemies away, and if they collide with any other enemy units, they are also knocked back! One of the most fun abilities in the game (
Karthus'
Requiem is more fun)! Anyway; if you are well fed/farmed, you can really stomp people with this ult. It has a huge AD ratio on it, and a cool knockback. But, also this ability get's weaker in the late game phase. At that time just use it to peel off enemies from your ADC. Another good moment to use it is when they line up and you can gather a cool chain reaction!
Skill upgrade order
Dragon's Rage > Tempest > Safeguard > Sonic WaveWhy upgrade Tempest over Sonic Wave?
Shen, have a bunch of armor runes, or maybe Cloth Armor to begin with. Since they dont have a lot of magic resist, tempest will hit a lot harder then for example Sonic Wave. Also Tempest is a lot more reliant then Sonic Wave since this is a skillshot.Simple as that, really!
But still, this are just personal thoughts and preferences, you can max
Sonic Wave and still use this build!How to use your skills
Lane
In lane you can use your
Tempest for harrass. If you max this first, it will deal a lot of damage to your opponent. If you want to follow up, get close, use the attack speed of Flurry, followed by a Sonic Wave, two basic attacks, and Resonating Strike.If your opponent decides to counter-harrass, use
Safeguard to an allied caster minion for a quick escape. When he still follows, activate 
Iron Will for the defensive stats. If he follows you too deep, punish him and go for a counterattack. Mostly you can outsustain him, especially when he is surrounded by your allied caster minions. Don't underestimate the value of a tactical withdraw!Main harrass combo/ lane combo
AA= autoattack
-> AA -> AA -> 
-> AA -> AA -> -> AA -> AA -> -> withdraw with Safeguard!Maybe you can secure the kill after this combo, if you think you can make it, put on
Safeguard, AA, AA, Iron Will, AA, AA and use Ignite to finsh them off!Finishing your enemy with a lethal combo!
When you did your combo about two times, they will be low enough to go for the kill. The most reliable combo for this purpose is :
-> AA -> AA -> -> AA -> AA -> -> AA -> AA -> -> !Example!:
Teamfights
Early-mid game teamfights
When playing assassin
Lee Sin, your main role is to assassinate their squishy, high dps targets, like ADC's (
Vayne,
Graves,
Ezreal) or their squishy AP casters (
Fizz,
Katarina,
Twisted Fate). To achieve this goal, try to position yourself in a way where you can Sonic Wave to the carries to just do your classic lane combo!When you have the opportunity (carrying a sight ward),
Safeguard to the middle of the fight, Tempest/ Cripple the most of their team and proceed to their carries. When you get a clear shot at close distance at their carries, just use your super lethal combo (Q-R-Q).Late game
In late game teamfight there are two ways to succeed.
- Catch their carries and kick them to your team, while using Cripple on their whole team.
- Peel off their divers from your ADC! Stick with your ADC and Safeguard him all the time. When an enemy diver like Kha'Zix tries to focus your ADC, Cripple them, or in case of emergency, use Dragon's Rage!
Escaping/ward-hopping
Everyone has ever saw a
Lee Sin simply jump over a wall, while you can't follow. This is how they do it.Make sure to always carry at least one sight ward, as it greatly enlarges your chance of escaping while being ganked, stealing big objectives, diving turrets,...
To ward-hop, simply place a sight ward before you, and quickly
Safeguard to the ward. You can also to this with allied units, like 
Teemo's 
Noxious Trap!Here is an example methode you can use, after being ganked, or being trapped in the baron's or dragons pit:
Always remember the jungle is your territory, and you can escape a lot of tricky situations with your Q and W.
Items
In this section, I will suggest items for assassin Lee Sin, aswell for offtank Lee Sin.
Offensive items
| SPACESPACE |
|
SPACESPACE |
Lee Sin. - Frozen Mallet gives some good health, AD, and a good chasing potential. This item is very strong on AD offtank Lee Sin. - Infinty Edge? Are you building critical chance? Then NO. - I love LW! The awesome Armor penetration is just awesome for shredding through armor. Also the 40 extra AD can't be underestimated. This is also quite gold-efficient. A late game must. - Maw of Malmortius is a very good item against AP based teams like  Fiddlesticks jungle;  Elise top; and  Brand mid. You will just receive almost no damage from them! Also this has awesome passives!-Mercurial scimitar is another great item when you face AP champions. The difference is this is for heavy CC magic damage like  Crowstorm +
 fear
from Fiddlesticks.-Ravenous Hydra is an item I still have to try out on Lee Sin. Update coming soon!-Black Cleaver! Though it got nerfed, it is still one of the most bought items in LoL. This item gives everything you need: Cdr, Arp, AD, a bit of HP. It's always smart to build an early  The Brutalizer for stomping your lane.-BLOODTHIRSTER! This is THE core item for every assassin and maybe even for offtanks. It just gives 100AD when fully stacked + a lot of lifesteal. Just Core. -Trinity Force is another item I consider as core, because of the variety of stats this item gives. The passive from Sheen combines very well with Flurry. Don't buy Frozen Mallet and Trinity Force at the same time.-Youmuu's. Hmm, hard one. You don't encounter a lot of Ghostblades. In my opinion, The Black Cleaver is just the better version of this. Only here you have a good chasing active, for champions with a high attackspeed based build like  Master Yi.- Zephyr is quite new to me. It seems good, but I will investigate this further. Update coming soon! |
Defensive items
| SPACESPACE |
|
SPACESPACE |
-Atma's synergizes extremely well with a HP based build, like my offtank build. The armor is always nice for someone who needs to kick ADC's. -Banshee's Veil is good, but I would only take it if you can't dodge  Rocket Grab from  Blitzcrank, or  Event Horizon from  Veigar.-Guardian Angel is an item some people consider as a must. While I go for more damage, this people want more durability. If their champions have burst like  Annie, get this.- I think Locket has the same problem as Aegis. You should take it aswell when nobody takes it. -Randuin is prolly the best Armor item in LoL. The active synergizes well with ur Q. Try to hit their ADC with this and the battle has already turned into your favor. I almost always take this nowadays, since double bruiser is the meta. -Ruby sightstone is just included for the ward-hopping. It lets you escape a lot of times or lets you make plays with ward-hop + ult. I don't think it's worth the money though. -Runic Bulwark: see Aegis of the Legion.-Sunfire cape is my favorite defensive item. I get this always, also on assassin Lee Sin. It gives nice damage while u jump in with thr passive, + HP and armor. Every dps needs his survivability, well, this is mine.-Warmog's is very viable, because, you know, League of Warmog's! The HP-stacking meta is insane and this is it's primary item. I don't like the item a lot, because with BoTRK, an ADC can just shred you. I buy it to scare of the enemy, but really it's not that big of a deal when 2 enemies have BoTRK. |
Summary
This was my guide to Lee Sin, the Blind Monk!
Hope you enjoyed it and have a nice day!
Special Thanks:
- Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find at here!
-xNiielz , the best 
Heimerdinger EU WEST!
-schytpot , the most annoying 
Thresh EU WEST! ;)
-webflodo , the fastest Master Yi in the world!
-LiquicityJens , the biggest 
Tristana in the world!
U can always upload your scores with Lee Sin, I will display them under 'Pictures'.
Leave it a vote, comment, maybe add it to your favorites!
Thank you!
Update log
25th of April, 2013: changed 'i.e. 
Dominus from Renekton.' to 'i.e.: Bloodlust from Tryndamere.' under the summoner spell section.Thanks to DKittenfor pointing this out!
25th of April, 2013: changed all the "u's" into "you".Thanks to DKittenfor pointing this out!
25th of April, 2013: worked on some formatting, tried to use some Lee Sin line dividers. Let me know what you think of it.
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