Hello people of LoL! I give you a Shen guide. I wrote up this guide because other guides out there did not capture what felt is the essence of Shen. If I were to describe Shen in three words it would be these: zone, protect, push. The revamped Shen's laning phase is top notch, as he can last hit efficiently while continuously harassing opponents. He can protect carries not only with his well-known ult, but also with a group taunt and potentially high damage to draw attention to himself. And lastly, his split pushing ability is second to none, something I feel is not enhanced enough in typical Shen builds.

Well let's get started shall we?

Runes and Masteries are a more personal choice as opposed to items and skill order. I suggest these runes because they work out best for me.


Greater Mark of Magic Penetration I choose these marks because they amplify Shens early game damage. His Vorpal Blade and his Ki strike both do magic damage. This combo allows you zone pretty hard. I will elaborate on this later.

Greater Seal of Defense I feel defense per level wins out against flat defense because Shen should be stacking health early, which compensates for it. The defense per level makes for a very tanky Shen late game.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Same reason as the defense per level seals.

Greater Quintessence of Vitality Shen is built around health. The more you have, the merrier he is, and of course the more damage he does :D

Defensive Tree

Resistance and Hardiness give basic defenses that help early game.
Durability gives you decent health late game.
Veteran's Scars gives you decent health early game.
Indomitable damage reduction is nice, but its mostly filler for...
Siege Commander One of Shen's jobs is to push, and every little help in that area counts.
Initiator I like movement speed. How about you?
Honor Guard Now here's some real damage reduction.
Juggernaut The ultimate tank mastery- a little bit of tenacity and health go a long way.

Offensive Tree

Mental Force Mostly filler for this level, you could take a couple points in Butcher instead if you wished.
Sorcery Filler and some cooldown reduction. I'm ok with this.
Arcane Knowledge more spell penetration that is good late game.

Utility Tree

Since you should be taking 21 in defense, you are split between offensive 9 or utility 9. Personally, I don't see anything in utility that is as useful to Shen as there is in the offensive tree.

Ah, the items. This is the interesting part. I challenge you to both read my block of text and read it with an open mind. I'll start out by saying building Atmog's or an ap tank wastes his potential:

Atmog's splits the damage as ad and ap. If you take armor pen reds, then your early game suffers. If you take magic pen marks, you're late game suffers. If you take hybrid marks, then BOTH suffer. In all three cases, you are sacrificing attack speed for either Defense or power in your item build. Ap tanks are a little simpler to counter. you just can't get enough ap to be worth a damn. That and you wont have decent attack speed.

Now why am I stressing attack speed? You may not realize it, but early-mid game attack speed wins vs damage in taking down towers. And alas we get his core build:




This core allows for Shen to do his three primary functions. Early health gives him the damage to harass hard. Mid-game attack speed allows him to split push hard and contribute in team fights.

Late game items are dependent on the game's situation. However, 9 times out of 10 I go Force of Nature and Randuin's Omen to round off my resistances. Not every game is this simple, and sometimes you have to deal with the failure of a fed team. Here are some suggestions:

An alternative to round your resistances Guardian Angel and Aegis of the Legion. You are going to see Guardian angel and Aegis of the Legion a lot in these "suggested last two items" sections. Both give decent resistances for both ad and ap, allowing you to the coveted attack speed for pushing while getting a specialized second item for the defense needed.

Oh that AD Carry is so FED

Guardian Angel and Thornmail
Guardian Angel and Sunfire Aegis
Guardian Angel and Randuin's Omen
Aegis of the Legion and Thornmail
Aegis of the Legion and Sunfire Aegis
Aegis of the Legion and Randuin's Omen

Oh that AP Carry is so FED

Guardian Angel and Banshee's Veil
Guardian Angel and Quicksilver Sash
Guardian Angel and Force of Nature
Aegis of the Legion and Banshee's Veil
Aegis of the Legion and Quicksilver Sash
Aegis of the Legion and Force of Nature

Oh hey I'M REALLY FED!

Madred's Bloodrazor
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Abyssal Mask

Emphasis on REALLY FED, don't forget that you are a tank!

Ideal Spells

and are the two summoner spell I go with 99% of the time. I take teleport because as a solo top it is good to be able to back without skipping a beat. Late game, you can save a tower or back door with teleport. I feel at least one person on any team should have teleport. I take heal because 1) So you gotta save a carry and he is half health? no problem! Ult + heal can turn around a teamfight significantly 2) It is a great bait spell at top because almost no one takes it at top lane. 3) Shen doesn't need an escape. He has a dash and it is sufficient.

Other Viable Spells

Great spell for dodging getting caught or initiating.

Spell is nice to shut down an AD carry or offtank.

I wouldn't suggest other spell besides these 4.

Here is where Shen really shines. He is hard to counter because of his High sustain/High harass combination. Many people cry OP! because of this, however it can be dealt with effectively. You may be playing a strong character, but that does not mean you can play him in a stupid fashion.

Levels 1-2: Farm. No harassing yet. Shen gets pwnt during these early levels. *cry*

Levels 3-end of laning phase: ZONE. zone zone zone zone zone zone. Did i mention zone? When you hit 4, you really do some dps. The 4 hit combo of Vorpal Blade > Shadow Dash > Ki Strike > Vorpal Blade can do a LOT of damage. Play it smart though. Use that after a sustain or shield skill to put them in their place. Deny the siege minion by forcing them to attack you. Did they ward? Your Jungler's got CC? Fine. Hold them in place for that Udyr or Skarner to stun/suppress so you can finish the job.

Mid-game: You are doing either one of two things - pushing or protecting. Its a simple matter of if your top lane is present or not. If he is? farm. If he isn't push. Oh, but anti, what about the 4 vs 5 teamfight that's just about to start?! I'm gonna miss out on the killing! Don't worry my dear! Shen has an ult for a reason.

Late game you should be cautious when trying to split push. Generously ward. That will save your life. Other than that its the same as mid-game.

A note on pushing. Always emphasize bottom lane first. When bottom lane is pushed to the inhibitor, you can double threat a final push and baron. Your opponents will have to either guard one, or they will split up. Counter accordingly.

and / /

Thanks jhoijhoi for her excellent tutorial. I Would have been lost without it.

Thanks to Hyfe and Dufftime that opened the door to learning the subtleties of the game.

Enjoy, comment, and rate. Always open to suggestions.