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Recommended Items
Spells:
Teleport
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Ki Barrier (PASSIVE)
Shen Passive Ability
Introduction



To reduce unnecessary comments, I would like to point out that AD Shen is incredibly viable and will generally have higher max HP, allowing him to receive many benefits with


That said, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the guide.
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Ki Strike This passive benefits primarily from stacking attack speed as well as health. It allows ![]() |
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Vorpal Blade This ability gives ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Feint This is another bread-and-butter AP ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Shadow Dash This is one of the primary reason's that ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Stand United This ability is likely the primary reason that I love stacking AP on ![]() |
A pretty standard setup for defensive masteries. An alternative to









Runes




Relatively standard seals/glyph's/quints for almost any champion setup--gives you increased move speed, armor for the lane phase, and scaling magic resist to get the most MR you can in the lategame when you will be primarily dealing with AP champions.
The only potential sub-standard rune choice is the




The primary alternative choices would be:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration:
Obviously allows your spells to do more damage--as the primary focus of this build isn't to do insane amounts of damage, I find that the sacrificed utility to pick up this rune makes it not really worth it.
- greater mark of hybrid penetration:
Essentially the same as the magic penetration, but is more useful if you are building an AD-heavier build. Either way, it's a great rune to pick up, as it IS useful for a lot of champions especially since it doesn't have much lower magic penetration than the standard magic penetration glyphs.
Greater Mark of Attack Damage
Pretty good for increasing clear speed in the earlier game, and makes last hitting minions if you are laning a great deal easier. Doesn't give you a great deal of benefit in the long run, but it is an 'okay' pick.
There are obviously a great deal of summoner spells to choose from, but I generally pick from a small pool for
Shen.
My Favorite Picks/Recommended Picks:
Other Viable Picks:

My Favorite Picks/Recommended Picks:
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Teleport Gives ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Flash My preferred 'second spell' as ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Barrier Barrier gives you a second shield ability that can help save your life and even allow you to maintain a fight while on low health (a ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Other Viable Picks:
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Ghost Good for chasing down enemies/forcing engagements or escaping. I generally prefer ![]() ![]() Random benefit over ![]() |
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Exhaust If anything, ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Smite Obviously if you are jungling, take smite. If you don't good players will steal your buffs all day long--running without it is just a surefire way to make your life more difficult. |
Core Early Game Items:
Core Mid Game Items:
Late Game Items:
Alternative Items:
(I'll add more alternate items later on)
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![]() A lot of times I'll build this item to sell in the lategame--for AP ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Core Mid Game Items:
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![]() Gives CDR, attack speed, tenacity, and a little AD to make clearing a bit easier while also making you more viable in dueling. On top of that, it has one of the greatest move speed buffs in the game, which combined with your ![]() |
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![]() One again, grants cooldown reduction, bringing you up to a total of 30% for your full build, allowing you to get a lot more ability uses in during engagements. On top of this, it gives you a bit of health and MR to add onto tankiness, and increases healing effects on yourself, which will likely primarily be observed through your ![]() |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Late Game Items:
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![]() A tanky-champion staple in season 3. Obvious benefits are the increased max health as well as the passive regen, which are both great things to have. If you find it necessary, you can build this earlier on, but I generally find that my early items give me the tankiness I need to get by in the early game-- ![]() |
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![]() Another great health stacking item that also gives you a huge armor buff. Around this time I will usually sell my ![]() |
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Alternative Items:
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![]() The alternative should you choose not to build ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Used instead of ![]() |
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![]() Generally a good tank item. Gives your team a little extra durability from the passive and overall grants you a decent amount of health regen (amplified by ![]() |
(I'll add more alternate items later on)
Basic Gameplay in Lane:
Generally, Shen's gameplay is pretty straightforward in the top lane--adapt to your lane by building items in an order that gives you the greatest benefit against your opponent (if they stack AD, build armor, if they stack AP, build MR, also just build health as a general thing).
Shen can generally take some abuse, so don't be afraid to trade blows with your lane opponent--testing their capabilities by poking here and there will generally help you to gauge your own limits. Keep an eye out for help needed in the other lanes, as a swift
Stand United will often change the tide of battle in your team's favor. Due to the possibility of ulting in to help another lane, I like keeping my lane pushed back a decent amount so as to not risk a turret should I leave to help an ally.
Basic Teamfighting Tips:
Generally you will be the champion given the task of creating an engagement with the enemy team. A flash->taunt at an opportune time can help to accomplish this. At this point in the fight, your job should be to try to keep a
Vorpal Blade passive on whatever enemy your ADC is targeting to give them more healing during the fight, and also should be to peel targets off of your carries via taunts or slows from
Vorpal Blade or
Randuin's Omen. In extreme cases, you can even cast
Stand United on a carry to save them in near-death situations.
That explains the essentials of playing AP
Shen, though I may go into further detail should this guide attract a decent amount of attention. Thanks for reading!
Generally, Shen's gameplay is pretty straightforward in the top lane--adapt to your lane by building items in an order that gives you the greatest benefit against your opponent (if they stack AD, build armor, if they stack AP, build MR, also just build health as a general thing).


Basic Teamfighting Tips:
Generally you will be the champion given the task of creating an engagement with the enemy team. A flash->taunt at an opportune time can help to accomplish this. At this point in the fight, your job should be to try to keep a




That explains the essentials of playing AP

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