Syndra reminds me of Zyra and Orianna. They all are dependant on their seeds/balls which they place on the ground but they all still have their own logic for playing. Orianna is my most played champ so far and somehow I was instantly atracted to the playing styles of Zyra and especially Syndra.

This guide shows how I like to play Syndra. This way gives you enough mana for the early game, mana regen and ability power for mid game and sustain in shape of Rylai's and Hourglass. Item order isn't always this and it's very dependant on your opponent. Sometimes getting hp earlier might be good, sometimes hourglass is more useful first.

Syndra is a mid champion that can be hard to play. If you want a challenge you will like her but there are champs that offer results with much easier gameplay.


Syndra on LoL wiki

+ Interesting gameplay
+ Skills with lots of possibilities
+ Stealing jungle creeps
+ Lots of AOE
+ Long range
+ Stun and slow
+ Good at farming



- No escape mechanism
- Squishy
- Many skillshots (not necessarily bad)
- Dependant on combos (also not so bad.. it's part of the fun)

W

1. I start often with Force of Will. If you plan invading or think someone might invade you, don't start with this skill. I max Force of Will first, because it provides you not only good damage, but also long range and slow. Long range helps you fight against tough opponents who want to burst you down by jumping on you or stunning you.


When you use Force of Will as your main damaging skill it's easier for you to manage your mana at the beginning. This skill also has more base damage and scales better with your AP compared to the Dark Sphere.


Q

2. I max Dark Sphere second for more damage. It has shorter range and harassing with this skill alone might put you in unnecessary danger. Always use it as a part of your combos.


E

3. Max Scatter the Weak last, as it doesnt play a part in damaging foes as much as it does in stunning and pushing back the enemies who try to get too close with you. Leveling this skill will increase the range of the push so you will be able to stun from further away.


R
And ofcourse, take your ulti Unleashed Power whenever possible.

Early game you use Force of Will to harass your opponent and farming creeps. Crab creeps that have less than half health and bombard your enemy with them. That way you can secure the money in that creep and harass your foe at the same time. You can also crab stuff like Heimerdinger's turrets, Teemo's mushrooms and monsters in the jungle. You can for example snatch enemy blue from the other side of the bush if you have a ward with you. Good way to make enemy jungler pissed! If you throw a red buff minion on an enemy, it will apply the red debuff on him/her.Force of Will can hold minions or balls for 5 seconds.



When you place the Spheres, always have a meaning to it. Don't just bomb them mindlessly like Karthus' or Cassiopeia's skill. Use spheres when you plan to stun your enemy with scatter the weak or if you are planning to use your ulti. Also put a sphere on the ground if you know an enemy if coming but you got nothing to throw with your Force of Will. You can't scout with your spheres like you could with Orianna's ball.

The sphere stays on the ground for 6 seconds. You may grab it with Force of Will to keep it with you longer. You can hold the sphere for 5 secs and when you throw it, it gains another 6 seconds of time on the ground.



Use Scatter the Weak in these situations:


1. Some angry melee baba just jumped on your face and you gotta escape.

2. You fight one on one. You use scatter to stun your enemy at the start of the fight and throw the rest of your skills on him/her.

3. Teamfight. Use your ulti on someone at the front of their force and then use scatter. You have a chance to stun multiple enemies and have time for your team to massacre one or 2 of them.


Overall you will need careful positioning. You always gotta have a ball on the ground if you wanna stun and you always gotta have something to throw at your enemies. Remember that your ulti does more damage if you have balls on the ground. There is no order of skills that fits every situation and you gotta learn to think creative.



A very good and analytic video on how the skills work: Play Video

Start with Meki Pendant and bottles, as you will need the pendant to build your Fiendish Codex. Codex provides you mana regen, CDR and ability power, all of which you terribly need.



After shoes Chalice is a good option, 'cose if you don't have blue your manouvers might eat your mana pretty quickly. You will also get a bit of magic resist which is just useful for a mid champ. If you are getting pressured hard, get this for more mana regen and resist.






THE ITEMS THAT CHANGE ORDER:


Needlessly Large Rod I would buy because it gives you a lot of ap and a step closer to Hourglass. Hourglass can be useful, as in teamfights you will sometimes be with all your skills on cooldown, you have no escape mechanism (except flash) and everyone knows you are squishy. Hourglass might help you if you get concentrated a lot.


If you are doing well and don't get concentrated all the time, you can also advance to Rabadon's Deathcap from Needlessly Large Rod.


Rylai's Scepter is a good choice if you feel you need more hp. I personally don't like to get Rod of Ages for Syndra.


Athene's Unholy Grail builds up from the codex and chalice that you already have. It gives you 90 AP and gives you more space in your inventory. You have to get this at some point.

This part of the guide will most likely be changing and a kind of a shapesifting thing. I aim to make this have more information in the future and maybe more pictures about different situations.

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Smartcast

You gotta be really fast with your combos and using smart cast will make it much faster. Learn to use it.

-> shift + skill = your skill will be cast on the spot where your arrow is pointing at the moment.


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Laning phase


Take either Force of Will first and Dark Sphere second or wise versa. The adventage on Force of Will is the damage, long range and slow. Slow will help your jungler to make succesful early ganks at lv2 or so.

Don't push away from your turret until you have Scatter the Weak. It is your only life saver along with flash.

When you have your 3 skills you can build combos. Without ulti you can't expect to burst your opponent down from full hp though. When you get your ulti Unleashed Power you might be able to blow your enemy up. I suggest some harassing first though.

Against opponents who aim to stun and burst you, you will need to stun first.

Put a sphere on the ground, wait a small moment for sphere cooldown to go off, use scatter and stun your target. Pop another sphere on him, use your ulti, ignite and throw something on him as a finisher. Throw has a long range so even if they flash away you might reach them.

Q + wait + E + Q + R + ignite + W to pick + W to throw



When you are laning, buy also wards. Syndra needs wards 'cose you gotta be able to escape in time and the wards will also help your jungler. Place wards in both sides the mid lane so you know if enemy tries to enter your jungle or come gank you. Good places for wards are the bushes right next to your lane, 'cose you might be able to kill your unlucky ganker to the bush with your full combo.

If you buy an item and have some spare money to get a ward, dont cry over it, just buy the damn thing.



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Teamfights

In team fights your mission is to burst down their damage dealers, stun as many enemies as possible and slow anyone trying to escape or chase your buddies. You can use your stun or pushback as an interrupt as well. Don't head in first, but you may start the fight by throwing a good slow or stun on your enemy so that your melee power can jump on them.

When turrets start to blow up, people will start to wander around in groups. If you get locked in a staring contest where both teams can see each other but don't attack, you will harass them. Use Force of Will to do damage to them and slow the ones who come apart from their team.

Your Scatter the Weak shouldn't be wasted, so don't just spam it whenever it's up. You can make a good stun with just one ball, if you manage to shoot it through many enemies at once or on someone who is separated from others. It's easy to miss though, and you might want to save it for the moment when you use your ulti.

When teams clash, pick a squishy dps as your target. Try to be prepared by having a sphere ready to throw with your Force of Will. Throw the sphere, pop a new sphere on them, ulti and scatter the weak for multiple stun. Don't save your ulti as a finisher, you gotta use it when the fight is on it's most critical!

Q + wait + W to pick + W to throw + Q + R + E (+ ignite)

When you throw your ulti, you gotta go closer and it might put you in danger. After ulti you often use scatter so you will push annoying people of your face and stun some at the same time. If they still try to get you after that, having Hourglass might save your butt.

I hope this helps new Syndra players and gives an optional way to build her. Leave a comment and help me make this guide better. Thanks! :)