UPDATED AFTER NEW PATCH, NEW MASTERIES ARE ADDED. 16.11.2011

Hello there,

I've been playing Sion as an AP carry for some decent time and decided to share my knowledge and experiences with the other players. So here you are reading my guide, thanks for spending time and i hope u enjoy reading it and sharing your opinions about my guide. :)

First of all this guide is based on Solo Queue, as well as u can use it in Normal Games also. AP Sion is one of the best and strongest carries in this game (in my opinion) and you can carry your self with him around 1600+ ELO easily if you know the basics of the game and Sion, and if you know how to play a bit.

Sion has a really good lane pushing, last hitting (with his "E" skill) and lane sustain. After some time in game you will see that it is really easy to farm with Sion and once u get your Boots of Mobility, you will be like ganking all the lanes.

For runes im using 9 M-Pen Marks, 9 Flat Mana Regen Seals, 9 AP/Level Glyphs and 3 AP Quints.

M-Pen Mark:

M-Pen marks are quite good for early game, you can burst some good damage on your enemies with your Q and W combo and maybe even get a kill.



Greater Seal Of Replenishment

Flat Mana Reg Seal:

With flat mana regen seals combined with a "Doran's Ring" and your masteries, you will hardly run out of mana whole game. They are good for both early and late game and there's no better rune option for seals on AP Sion other than these.

AP/Level Glyphs:

Not much for these to say, obviously you'll need them in early game and gonna be useful for your late game also.

AP Quints:

Some more extra AP at start up. Combined with your "Doran's Ring" it is gonna be easy for you to push your lane and clear all the minion's after you get used to the shield usage.

In this one i used Armor seals and MR glyphs, can be used if you want to be more tanky. Good for solo top, but you will be lacking mana.


In this one i used HP per level seals, MP per level glyphs and Movement Speed quints. Can be used if you want to support bot lane. Still not sure if it's a good choice, but i'll look into it again later.

START UP ITEMS:

OR

I choose Boots + 3 Pots in all lanes i start. Gives you some extra MS for chasing enemies in lane for a FB maybe and makes life easier at last-hitting. Pots will provide you lane sustain for a long time. If you are good at last-hitting, with this start up u can get 2x "Doran's Ring" + "Boots of Mobility" at your first re-call to base. This start up is better for a solo top for good sustain in the lane.

You can also start with Ring in bot lane or mid lane, it gives good stats. Nice amount of HP,AP and some more mana regen is handy for these lanes. And it'll be easier for you to harrass your enemies and kill minion waves.

FIRST BACK(S):

Doran's Ring is a great boost to your stuns but for Sion gives you more survivability combined with your shield. Extra HP and AP will help you farm your lane really easy. With 2x Doran's Ring (assuming you are using the Runes and Masteries provided) you must be able to get the range minions with your shield after you hit them each for once. Combined with your Mobility Boots you can go gank any lane after level 4-5. Push your lane to your enemies turret using your shield, go gank and turn back to your lane before the enemy minions get to your turret.

EARLY GAME:

Not much to say, just rush finishing your Rabadon's Deathcap as fast as you can. You can get the belt for Rylai's Crystal Scepter it'll provide you some huge HP boost with your Enrage at this moments of the game, but get those 2 pieces of Rabadon's Deathcap before you get the Giant's Belt You'll clear minion waves with just 1 shield with that amount of AP. You'll understand it better when you try.

MID GAME:

No matter what, u should have your Rabadon's Deathcap finished in the mid-game. You will be like dominating the game with it in this stage of the game. Probably you can get many kills on squishy enemy champs with your Cryptic Gaze+ Death's Caress combo. Try to get Fiendish Codex also and if you can make it to Morello's Evil Tome you will be like unbeatable in 1v1 and a huge nuker in teamfights. No mana problems + %20 CDR is quite pretty in this stage. With Rylai's Crystal Scepter you will really good HP (around 2.5-3k) at this stage of the game if you farmed enough with your Enrage skill. And the scepter will also help you slowing down the enemies, which you'll need chasing them down.

LATE GAME:

Get Void Staff if the enemy team has some MR stacked. Abyssal Mask is useful if the enemy team has some AP nuker, gives you decent MR and AP. The CDR on the Tome will also let you burst more damage on your enemies.

Defensive Items Against AD:

Zhonya's Hourglass is good at team-fights in tight areas where all enemy team is together. For example at Baron fights. Open your shield, flash in the middle of the enemy team. Stun their AD or AP carry as soon as you are flashed then use your Zhonya's Hourglass. If you did everything right, u just did a HUGE amount of damage to the enemy team, stunned their carry and they can't even attack you. Now it's time for your team to engage and sweep the dust.

Defensive Items Against AP:

Not much to say, just try to stack a decent amount of MR and grab some extra AP meanwhile with your Abyssal Mask. Quicksilver Sash is good if you are against heavy cc team and gives some portion of MR. You'll also get some decent MR with Guardian Angel and a second chance to finish-off some enemies. :)

This is my core item build. You will have good portion of AP, HP, Armor, CDR, M-Pen. Real beast in my opinion. Can change Mobility Boots with Mercury's Treads if you are facing too much CCs.


You want to kill everything that moves? You want to burst tons of damage in couple seconds. Than this is what you need. With this build you will have loads of AP, but you will lack MR, Armor, HP and you will be the first person being focused and shut down in all teamfights.


If you are facing too many CCs Quicksilver Sash and Mercury's Treads are great choices. You can still do decent damage with the AP you have combined with the burst of Deathfire Grasp. Also the pieces like Kage's Lucky Pick and Catalyst the Protector will help you with farming and lane sustain pretty well. Good choice for a solo top.

FEEL NO PAIN: Your passive skill. Ignores 30/40/50 damage with %40 chance. Good against bruisers.


CRYPTIC GAZE: One of your two burst skills, and your stun. This skill does quite high damage to your enemy combined with a decent AP. A good combo of your Death's Caress] and [[Cyrptic Gaze will do tons of damage.


DEATH'S CARESS: This is your main ability in this game as an AP Sion. Max it no matter what, it's not only giving you good burst damage but with the shield it gives you more survivability also. You can manually explode it after 4 seconds or it explodes in 10 seconds. Try not to get hit too much by enemy champs when it's active, because it's your best burst damage in the game so better not waste it. Like i said in the first skill's explanation, a good combo of Death's Caress and Cryptic Gaze = tons of damage in a single second. If u can use it between whole enemy team with your flash, you do around 2500-3000 damage in 1 second (assuming you have around 400-500 AP). There's no other skill like this in the game so far. IT'S SICK !


ENRAGE: Grab this skill at 4 level, activate it and try to farm good. Make last-hits mostly in your lane, avoid auto-attacks since it costs you HP. With this skill you'll have huge amount of HP if you farmed good enough. I sometimes have more HP than the tanks in the game. Also it gives you some extra damage, helps alot with last-hitting. And remember "KEEP THIS SKILL ACTIVATED ALL THE TIME".


CANNIBALISM: Totally useless for AP Sion. I never grab this skill unless i have nothing else to level up. It's only for AD Sion. Well you may grab it only at a position like if you level up before a big team-fight and if you think that you and your team will need some life-steal over this skill. Otherwise don't grab it.

Sion as an AP carry is really strong. Try this guide, and combine it with your game-style. These may not be the best items/strategies, but i'm doing quite good with them. Share your opinions here with me and let me know if i'm missing points or how i can improve this guide. Thanks alot if you spared your time and read this :) Leave your comments after you read.

Cheers, bajakomza.


note: I'm still working on this guide, it's not finished. Still missing too much. Just wanted to publish it and share my ideas with other players. And ofc get some feedback meanwhile.

I'm adding couple gameplay videos from "The Rain Man" (2100~ ELO). He is a member of Team Solomid. I started playing Sion after i watch him playing on stream. He's the best Sion and Teemo player i've seen so far. You can also watch the other streamers here.
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• first edit, 09.11.2011: moved QSS to "Against AP items", thanks to BlackStaff Nexen :)
  
• second edit, 09.11.2011: removed Lich Bane from items and added Rylai's Crystal Scepter, thanks to BlackStaff Nexen for the explanation. :)
  
• third edit, 09.11.2011: added alternative runes and item builds, thanks to sn0wwarrior :)
  
• fourth edit, 09.11.2011: added Doran's Ring for an alternative start up, added DFG to alternative item builds and made some explanation over it, thanks to Khazem :)
  
• fifth edit, 09.11.2011: added a high quality gameplay video that explains most of the things :)