Hello Mobafire and fellow League of Legends summoners. I've played Shyvana almost religiously since her release and have experimented with a variety of different builds to try and work out which one is the best for this specific Champion. It took a good while to figure out an "ideal" build for this character, as generic standard builds don't seem to give Shyvana that edge that makes her stand head and shoulders above the rest. This build is set to start Shyvana off on the roads to being a laner, either solo or duo. Whilst she can jungle, it's important to remember that in the upcoming patch, jungling will be made much easier, and therefore I'm sticking to building heavy hitting laning builds such as this one.

This build was stumbled upon whilst exploring the many potential combinations that came into play during the course of gaming with her. Please note, the last 2 items are guildline builds, and should be swapped out if you are experiencing specific champion issues, this will be addressed later on in the build!

I play Shyvana as an offensive hard hitting laner, with a heavy focus on skills and making use of her passive. This is the goal with this build. If you have any questions, feel free to find me on EU West and talk to me about them (Silent Stigmata), or leave a comment somewhere. Please read the whole build before commenting, giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down vote.

Pros:

Makes use of her passive constantly
Hits fairly hard with nice crits
Can last a long time against tanks
Can easily deal with "squishy" champions
Early level will have early scouting advantage


Cons:

Thornmail will nullify your lifesteal and create problems
Falls down when not auto attacking (even creeps)
Must play aggressively and commit to attacks once you've started

The runes are heavily focused around attack speed, of this you can see. I use these runes to have a good use of my passive early game with the attack speed, and a few nasty crit chances throughout the course of the game. The runes are aimed at providing me with enough damaging power at early levels without compromising on the passive, and that will stack well with the item build stated above.

Because the runes are primarily built for attack speed, this allows you a free slot for another item, rather than focusing on yet another attack speed item. Allowing for a more flexable gameplay style.

For masteries I take heavy offensive masteries to compliment the heavy aggressive side of this Champion, with a couple of points in the first run of the defensive tree, to give me a tiny bit more "stay in lane" power. Because Shyvanas W key also increases her speed, she is sure to get to the enemies brush before the enemy does, allowing her to lay in wait for an unsuspecting victim to strike the first blow.

These masteries give her the tools to push for the fabled first blood, and builds her up to becoming a power house later on in game. I've designed these masteries tailor made to fit Shyvana, giving her the best of both worlds, and once again to aid with the use of her passive.

Here's the interesting part, talking about the items. I've had enemy champions mock this build, saying it was a fail build, only to have them crying and raging after a few minutes of combat.

DO NOT underestimate this build!

I start with boots and 3 health potions, this once again allows me to get to the enemy brush and prepare for a first blood quickly and swiftly, with some degree of success. It works well with your W key spammed as well. The 3 health potions give me enough stay in lane power to rush up my next item and a half. Whilst the boots will not be as offensively punishing as, say, a Dorans Blade, it allows effective use of her dodging skill shots and allows a heavy and quick push from the get go, which will compliment the aggressiveness of her gameplay style...

Once I have enough gold, return and buy Berserker greaves and, if possible, a Vampiric Scepter. This will seriously aid you with staying in lane power, and make a better use of your passive. Once you can, immediately return and rush a Starks Fervor, this will aid you AND your lane partner. By this point, your attack speed should be making good use of your passive...

Now you have a decent offense, build a Wit's End, as this not only gives your Magic Resist, but it gives you attack speed also, a good compliment for your offense whilst providing you with a little defense, then rush a Warmogs Armour. The Warmogs Armour is designed to make you a more formidable challenge and gives you a lot more toe to toe power against some of the melee bruisers and tanks that you come across in gameplay. By this point, also, you should have all the attack speed you require to make effective use of your passive...

As I said, the last 2 items really are able to be swapped out, however as a general guide I take Infinity Edge and Thornmail. Infinity Edge gives me a bit more "UMPF" behind each strike, allowing HP to be chomped through. And Thornmail compliments well with Wit's End and Warmogs Armour.

I mentioned at the start of this build that certain items can be swapped out if the situation suits. If any of these scenarios fit, then feel free to swap them out:

"Jax is proving a problem!" - Swap out Wit's End of Sword of the Divine.
"I'm being focused all the time! (by melee)" - Swap out Infinity Edge for Sunfire Cloak
"I'm being focused all the time! (by mages)" - Swap out Thornmail for Force of Nature, and buy 5th.
"I keep being stunned and nuked!" - Swap out Berserker Greaves for Mercury Treads.

Let's first look at the skills and then elaborate on them and why they are useful in which order...

Passive: Fury of the Dragon Born.
This passive does many nice things based from your auto attack. Your Twin Bite ability has reduced cooldown for every attack you do. Your Burnout duration is extended to a maximum duration of 6 seconds. Your Flame Breath deals extra damage to marked targets (almost like a tick damage over time effect). More importantly, it generates additional fury whilst in or out of Dragon form, meaning you can use it more often and for longer.

Twin Bite.
Twin bite is your "Q" ability. Your next attack hits twice and it triggers on hit effects, this includes from the passive and from any items you have. This is a core part of your damaging role, however I do not max it first? Why? Because everyone notices when the big chunks of health gets beaten off them, rarely will people notice the slow tick damage (in this case, burnout). I noticed this after several friendly and violent encounters with Singed. This is why I take one point in this at level 2 and max it second.

Burnout.
Burnout is your "W" ability. You get an area of effect fire swirling around your character, which does damage to all enemies within the radius of such. It also increases your speed. This is a great ability to use offensively for chasing down the kill, or for getting out of sticky situations. Because this ability also damages all enemies surrounding her in the radius of the spell, it makes for great and easy farming. This is why I take this at level 1, and max it first.

Flame Breath.
Flame Breath is your "E" ability. You send out a skillshot that hits the first target it comes into contact with dealing damage and marking a target. Any damage done to this target deals additional damage. I primarily use this as a harrass tool rather than a "be all and end all" in my arsenal. I also try and use this on fleeing enemies right before I use Burnout to catch up to them. It can be useful, however with this build, it takes a back seat. I take one point in this at level 4, and max it last.

Ultimate: Dragons Descent.
As a passive you have increased magic resistance and armour. As an active you turn into a dragon after sending out a skillshot in a direction, which lunges you towards the target location, knocking any and all enemies back in that path. This also doubles the passive bonus and grants your other abilities additional effects.

Twin Bite: Now attacks the nearest enemies in a cone infront of you rather than a single target.
Burnout: Leaves a trail of fire behind Shyvana. Any enemies in this trail take damage.
Flame Breath: Fires out in a cone, affecting all targets within that cone.

This is a general empowerment on this character, and as with all ultimates, it should be taken as soon as you can. It's important to remember that the ultimate can be used both offensively to chase down a target, and defensively to jump over walls or get that little extra distance away. DO NOT hesitate to use it, with this build you will be in Dragons Descent for a long time, and have it pop up again before you know it.

I take Exhaust and Ghost for the soul reason of weakning the enemy team, and giving you additional speed. With these two, it is possible to catch an ultimate Master Yi. Ghost also compliments well with your W key.

Exhaust and Ignite also work well as a combination, however I prefer to have my own fall back spells.

"There's no I in team, but there is a U in..."

Shyvana works well with this build in team fights, as an off tank and a pure damage dealer. This build also allows you to tower dive at mid and late levels, to set your team up for an ace.

Because Shyvana doesn't have any real stuns or snares, Exhaust comes into play for such moments. Shyvana can initiate very quickly, especially when her ultimate is up, so be sure to tell your team with a ping what your target is, and be sure they will charge when you do.

Because of your speed, you can lane bounce when needed without missing out on too much experience. If you see middle is being pushed and ripe for a gank, go for it.

This build works very well for my own personal game play style, and I find it compliments most team compositions. Because of the type of champion Shyvana is, she can be very flexable and fill many roles. It's important to remember this when playing her.

As good a build can be, you do need a certain mentality to play with this build. Agression is core and key.

Using this build will grant you the maximum effectiveness of your passive, and allows you to do Twin Bite quicker, Burnout for longer, maximise the damage on Flame Breath, and of course, get Dragons Descent quickly, and stay in it longer.

Any questions please add a comment, and rate, or talk to me in League of Legends @ Silent Stigmata.

Thank you for your time, and good fighting summoners!