Hello League of Legends community! My name is Clemroc, and I have been playing League since summer 2010. I began playing ranked games seriously in season 2, and finished Season 3 ranked as Plat 1. The climb has been difficult, but I managed to get here thanks to the mighty Artisan of War: Pantheon! With the recent Season 4 changes, Pantheon went from being a viable jungler to an extremely powerful one, thanks to the changes to its Aegis of Zeonia now being able to target minions and monsters. A jungle section might be added to the guide later on. I would like to share my strategies with you, so that you too may revel in the art of winning toplane! Disclaimer: This is my playstyle. If you do not feel like this is how Pantheon should be played, feel free to look at the other Pantheon guides :) WARNING: When playing Mantheon, you will probably get camped early game more often than not. This is the curse of playing a strong, manly champion! SPECIAL THANKS: I am bad at coding, and hence would like to thank jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here. Make sure to check out his/her other guides too, as they are very helpful!

Pantheon is one of the most iconic characters of League of Legends, inspired by the fearsome Spartans depicted in the movie 300.

Throughout Season3, I have played more than 300 games as Pantheon top, and I noticed that there are a few common mis-conceptions that I would like to clarify.

• People say Pantheon falls off lategame, which is true...he falls off on top of the enemies' heads!
  
• Pantheon is NOT a hypercarry. DON'T build him full damage like Tryndamere, because it might work a few times, but that is not Pantheon's job.
  
• The reason Pantheon is strong early game is so that you dominate your lane pre-level 6, push it, and gank the other lanes to make your carries fed!
  
• Pantheon's job in endgame is to engage, burst an enemy carry, and most importantly, peel for your carries! Whoever tries to go for your carries will be met with a stun and lots of spears, while your carries kill the opposing team.

Pantheon's main strength lies in his ability to ADAPT!.
You don't necessarily need to get Black Cleaver, contrary to popular belief. Pantheon can level up his skills, and buy his items, according to the enemy team's composition and to your team's needs. Thanks to this, it becomes difficult to counter the Artisan of War!

Pros + Very powerful early game + Fun to play + Strong endgame + Can adapt to almost anything + Few "hard-counters" + See the surprise on the enemy's face when you kill them lategame! As most of you already know, Pantheon is an early game power-house. With his strong poke and fighting abilities, Pantheon wins almost all 1v1 pre-level 6. What most of you don't know, is that Pantheon can remain incredibly strong even in lategame when played correctly!

Cons - Squishy early game - Has a hard time coming back if he falls behind - Has no legendary skin (yet)! - Hard to play well - Teammates can under-estimate you - Has a few difficult matchups Despite his strenghts, Pantheon, like all other champions, has a few weaknesses. In order to play him well, you must know very well his kit, as well as the opposing team's abilities. Additionally, you must also know very well how to itemize.

Here you will find the masteries, runes and summoner spells that I use, along with some explanations. Feel free to use them, but keep in mind that runes and masteries are intended to fulfill each player's needs, and hence you are free to tailor them to your needs!

Aegis Protection(Passive):

One of the strongest passives in the game. Blocks the next auto-attack. This will block tower shots and enemy auto-attacks, as well as big minion's attack. Gets refreshed when you Aegis of Zeonia stun someone!

Spear Shot (Q):

Your main source of damage. Thanks to Heartseeker Strike and Executioner , you will HURT! You will be using this on the enemy champion every 3 seconds. I hope you got the quick-cast keybind ready!

Aegis of Zeonia (W):

Stuns an enemy and refreshes Aegis Protection. When used well, you can block 2 tower-shots while tower-diving the enemy. Also makes a HUGE difference against auto-attack champions ( Jax, Fiora and Tryndamere). With the latest patch, you can now use Aegis of Zeonia on mobs, which can help close the gap to through a last spear, or be used in a defensive way to escape! Detailed explanations here.

Heartseeker Strike (E):

A cone-shaped AoE damage spell that channels for 3 seconds. Very expensive mana-wise in the early game. However, comes with an amazing passive: 100% when enemy under 15% hp! You don't have an excuse to miss last-hits anymore!

Grand Skyfall (R):

No, not the latest James Bond movie. A utility ultimate that makes you leap into the skies and land at your target location. Although you won't use it much in combat, it will allow you to make plays and save your botlane (who's probably feeding already! Can also be used to run away from danger if needed. Can be interupted.

Here is the typical leveling sequence for Pantheon. Depending on who you're laning against and how well you're doing, your sequence might change! You will GENERALLY want to max Q first!

The 2 viable options for the first three levels, you could go:
Q> E> Q = More poke, and E guarantees last-hits (and 100% crit on spear if target below 15%)
Q> W> E = Safer, allows you to stun the enemy to poke him or if you need to run away from a gank.

So the game just started, and you're ready to go to kick a** and take names!
Regardless of which side of the map you're on, Panth should always watch your jungler's top-side buff (red-buff for Purple team, blue-buff for Blue team). At the 1:55 mark, start going toward your lane.

> Make sure you drop a Stealth Ward in river...You're Mantheon, you WILL get ganked/camped!
> Make sure you don't miss any last-hit!
> Kill minions slightly faster than your enemy in order to have level advantage.

Against strong enemies (such as Riven, Nasus or Tryndamere), you might want to pop Ignite as early as level 1. Ignite along with multiple Spear Shot will force your enemy to back off, allowing you to get 1-2 levels ahead and dominate lane! Ideally, you will have enough potions and wards to last until level 6!


Now that you're level 6, you probably just killed your opponent once more. Push the lane, recall, and go shop. What you buy will depend on who your enemies are, but you MUST buy at at least one Mana Potion and one Stealth Ward.

Look at your map! Are any of your friendly lanes pushed to their tower? If so, use your ORBITAL MANDROP and gank. If possible, let your carries have the kills: you're already winning your lane!
After the (hopefully succesful gank), recall once more, heal and go to your lane.

From now on:
> Try to keep dominating your lane.
> Keep warding. If the jungler camps your lane, that means the rest of your team is SAFE!
> Whenever your ult is up, look at your map. If you see an opportunity to gank or take an objective, push your lane, and fly away!

As the game progresses towards mid and late-game, there will be more and more teamfights.
In such case, there are 3 scenarios for Pantheon:

1) You're already with your teammates.
2) You're not with your teammates, who are grouped up together somewhere else.
3) You're splitpushing.

Pantheon's ult can be used in multiple ways, as has been explained in the section before. This section will explain and gives tips on the different ways to use Grand Skyfall to its full potential. Eventually, I will add some videos to give examples.

Grand Skyfall is one of the hardest ults to use in the game, because you need to be able to predict the movement/actions of both your allies and enemies!

• Use it to escape from a gank!
• Use it to go back to lane and/or protect a tower.
• Use it to split-push.
• Use it to steal a baron/dragon buff.
• Use it to gank one of your lanes.
• Use it to pick up a kill after a fight/while the enemy recalls.
• Use it to gank the enemy jungler (especially if you previously Stealth Ward his buffs)!
  
  And of course, you can use it to engage or start a teamfight!

Protecting a Tower

Contesting Dragon

Cutting enemy's escape route

Ganking a lane

Notice how, before I ult, I tell my intentions to my team and, more importantly, ping where I'm going to land!

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TIP: After Pantheon has lept into the air, but before landing with Grand Skyfall, you can keep mashing W to Aegis of Zeonia-stun an enemy WHILE LANDING! This guarantees that the enemy will be stunned and take the damage from your ult's shockwave, as well as refreshing your passive.

So far I've mentioned Pantheon's Aegis of Zeonia and his Aegis Protection quite a few times. These active and passive skills are indeed what make Pantheon the Artisan of War.
Thanks to Heartseeker Strike passive and the Executioner mastery, enemies with low-hp will be easy-kills, even when under the protection of their towers!

Here is the breakdown on how to towerdive safely by effectively blocking 2 tower-shots:
1. The enemy has low hp and is last-hitting next to his tower. Heck, maybe you're even zoning him! Good job!
2. Use your spears on the enemy and/or last-hit minions to get to 3 stacks on your passive.
3. Once your minions get tower agro, get in melee range with the enemy without using Aegis of Zeonia.
4. Hit the enemy with a spell or skill - you just got your 4th stack of Aegis Protection, and you also got tower agro.
5. As soon as the tower's shot is blocked by your passive, use Aegis of Zeonia on the enemy (or a nearby enemy minion). Your passive is refreshed.
6. Keep bashing at the enemy, or walk away if he's already dead. Your passive will block the second tower shot.

With time and practice, you will be able to perform this methodically, without even thinking about it. Towerdiving enemies to get kills during laning-phase will just be part of your routine!

**WARNING**
Before using this technique, you must:

• Be able to estimate whether your damage will be enough to kill the enemy.
• Be aware of your surroundings (in other words, make sure you don't get ganked).
• Know the enemy's skills and cooldowns. If he has Flash or a stun ready, you might die!
• Know how much damage you can withstand.

I always start with 4x Health Potion, 5x Mana Potion and 2x Stealth Ward. With the new Season 4 changes, we have trinkets! Since I already start with wards, I get Greater Lens.

Mana Potion allows you to keep popping Spear Shot every time it's up.
Health Potion allows you to heal up the trades with enemy champ.
Stealth Ward keep you safe from enemy ganks.
Greater Lens removes your enemy's ward, allowing your jungler to gank.

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As I mentioned in the introduction, Pantheon's strength lies in his ability to adapt to the enemy team. Here are a choice of items organized against what you might be up against!

Choice of boots

Against tanks (or heavy armor)

Against auto-attack champions

Defensive Items

Offenso-defensive Items

So here it is folks, the first version of my guide for Pantheon: the Artisan of War.
I hope this will prove to be helpful in your quest to top-lane domination.

I have played 300+ ranked games with Pantheon in Season 3, going all the way from Silver 1 to Plat 1, and I still enjoy playing him as much as the first time. Despite all the criticism Pantheon-players get, this champion is more than just "viable", it's a top-lane power-house that can definitely turn the tide in ranked play!

WARNING: When playing Mantheon, you will probably get camped early game more often than not. This is the curse of playing a strong, manly champion!

All comments and constructive criticism will be well-received and appreciated :)



December 8th, 2013: Published
December 13th, 2013: Updated to reflect the changes to Aegis of Zeonia.
December 13th, 2013: Added video for Pantheon ult: contesting dragon.
December 14th, 2013: Added video for Pantheon ult: cutting enemy escape route.
April 16th, 2014: Added videos for Pantheon ult: protecting tower and ganking lane.



> Once more, I would like to thank jhoijhoi for the template (which you can find here) The guides really helped me understand a lot about guide-coding!

> I would also like to thank the League of Legends and Mobafire community for all the help and information that is available!

> Thank Riot for their great game, League of Legends, and for listening to the community when making updates.

> Special thanks to Shurelia, who apparently is the person who created Pantheon!

> Thanks Vays, who shared his love and strategies for Pantheon with me!