Syndra General Guide by ladyvalmar

Introduction

Syndra is a very good support mage for 1v1, team fights and bots.

I do not recommend her for Dominion! She is squishy as mages tend to be but what she lacks in health and protection she makes up for in disabling and punishing her opponents.

This guide is intended for those AP support/AP interested in mastering this champion. This is intended for bots either top or bot lane. Though I have used this somewhat for pvp with some success. The intention of this build is to start off as support and then late game you may begin with some assisted ganking or individual against certain bots. Many people complain she's complicated or claim she's not worth the investment but I completely disagree. Not only is she a sexy, sovereign of the dark but she can be quite formidable once you learn how to play her.

Updates

02/07/2013 - Realized I didn't finish the runes. So I finished the runes updates. Also I recognize didn't explain one of the masteries as I chose ghost and flash instead of ignite and flash. I plan to include information on those soon. Recovering from a tooth surgery so tomorrow probably.

Pros/Cons

Pros:

Syndra is great at 1v1, some pvp and Summoner's Rift and Treeline. She is good at supporting ganking, supporting regular killings, some solo ganking and a helpful caster.

---

Cons:

She is squishy. Difficult to use her spheres if you got a laggy connection, a bad mouse or just don't know how to aim and is slow somewhat. She can also tend to miss with scatter the weak if your lagging or have a bad mouse.

Runes & Masteries

To be honest I feel its pretty self explanatory as is. She is AP and pretty much all of this is helping in that arena. If you want to tweak feel free to do so only your own mastery and rune pages but remember this was taken from my experiences playing her. And she is my main so I play her a lot.

Spells

Transcendent: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/ability/transcendent-524

---

Dark Sphere:

Link: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/ability/dark-sphere-525

At first it seems useless during early laning but place this sucker in the middle of minions a few times and you kill them faster and get more gold quicker. Also enemies tend to not like having Dark Sphere's put on them. If its a pvp player unless they are very aggressive they usually back off!

---

Force of Will:

Link: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/ability/force-of-will-526

Honestly, I don't find this ability as useful as Scatter. Force of Will does not really stun. It takes a chunk of health out of the enemy champion but if your being pursued it doesn't do you much good. Use this after using your ultimate or to pick up:

Zyra's plants, Malzahar's voidlings, Annie's bear Tibbers, Heimerdinger's turrets, elise's spiderlings or monsters and even minions to move out of your way or to get them off your back.

---

Scatter the Weak:

Link: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/ability/scatter-the-weak-527

My ultimate ganking ability. You can even use this if you dont have a Dark Sphere handy to push minions and enemy champions away from you as you flash.

What I like to do when I gank is if I'm doing support I make sure I got my team mate with me. I set a Dark Sphere down and use scatter the weak to stun the enemy champion.

Next I use Force of Will on them and use my ultimate. Usually by this point my team mate has killed the champion. Usually I use this ability when I'm airing on the side of caution.


Another option is I put down an orb and I cast force of will to take a chunk out of a champion I'm pursuing then use my ultimate and use scatter the weak to stun them while I finish them off with basic attacks, Ignite if I have it or wait for a team mate whose is just out of reach of the enemy champion.

Usually I use this method when I'm sure I am full health and against a champion who I know well enough to carefully avoid dying by. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS pattern against:

Nocturne , Fiddlesticks , Caitlyn , Malazhar malazhar, Mundo . Champions like that.


The only disappointing factor in this is you gotta know how to "aim" ;) And its range is not the best so don't over commit or underestimate your enemy. Remember Syndra is still squishy! So feel free to join in ganking or sometimes gank solo but be careful either way!

---

Ultimate:

Link: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/ability/unleashed-power-528

I use in combination with my other abilities. It serves no purpose to cast this on a enemy champion with full health and no disables whatsoever! Also this works in great combination with any of Syndra's other abilities.

Also sometimes instead of getting ghost I will get ignite as that helps in finishing off champions. This depends on if the enemy team has a lot of disables. If it does then I just get ghost and flash.

Skill Sequence

A lot of builds insist on Force of Will. I say no thanks! You can decide to max out Force of Will instead of scatter the weak but due to the stunning ability of Scatter the Weak I want it maxed out along with Dark Sphere first.

Start off with 1 point in Dark Sphere.

Then put 1 point in Scatter the Weak.

And then 1 point in Force of Will.

Continue from there putting a point every other one in Dark Sphere. Max Scatter the Weak first once you get your first point in your Ultimate.

When you get your ultimate remember whenever it shows up to put a point in it.

Last after Dark Sphere and Scatter the weak are maxed then max out Force of Will.

Items

START:

I recommend looking at who your playing against and purchasing accordingly. I usually go with Flask start and two health pots and a mana pot. Later on I sell the flask[/b] as it becomes no longer useful.

Sometimes if I'm going up against:
etc

I will go with Boots first and usually health then mana pots.

---

Early Game:

I will buy boots if I didn't get them yet and I will usually buy Chalice of Harmony. Again this depends on who your going up against. If its easy lanes you really only need the Tear instead. I also once purchasing either Chalice or Tear I will pick up my sorcerer boots and if I can the alacrity enchantment. Syndra needs all the speed she can get.

---

Next:

Push to kill as much minions as possible so that you can either get Athene's Unholy grail or Archangels staff. Now your ready to start ganking/assisting ganking/assisting in kills.

The next thing you want to push for is Giant's Belt. It always sucks getting it because of the cost but the extra health is worth it for Syndra. Then work towards Rylai's. The AP helps her abilities and slowing down the enemy is also a huge investment in ganking.

After that you can purchase catalyst and work towards Banshee's Veil. You can also choose instead to get Guardian Angel. This totally depends on who you are up against. If you dealing with:

Caitlyn or Nocturne its worth it to get Banshee's.

But if your going against: Zilnean zilnean, Sona , Warwick , Rhyze rhyze, Lux , Nidalee

Then Guardian Angel is a good pick in case you die. But whatever you do I don't recommend getting both of these. Just one is sufficient.

---

Mentionable:

Last but certainly not least you have the choice of Mejai's, Abyssal or Lich Bane. Mejai's is good if your ganking and killing easily and you want more AP to boost your spells. Abyssal is good if you need more AP to boost you but also want some protection from Nocturne/Annie/Sona etc.

And of course there is always Rabadon's/Wooglet's Witchcap.

---

Final Word:

I have seen some builds use Manamune, Doran's Ring and Rod of Ages. I have tried these out and found them not to my liking but by all means have fun and experiment if you find you like adding in one of these in place of say Banshee or the last build item though I don't really recommend Doran's ring in any case unless your purchasing it early game.

Jungling/Farming

Syndra is NOT a jungler but hey you can always try it out. I don't know if there are builds on moba that give information on it but feel free to check.


I recommend farming when you are unable to kill enough minions and need gold desperately to get Unholy and/or Archangel staff and Rylai's. Be careful to avoid killing Blue Buff or Red buff. Syndra is too squishy early game and even mid game to solo them. You will need assistance from a team mate for it.

Farming the wolves, golems and those um wraith thingies is the best thing I can recommend. Use your abilities just like you would on a enemy champion and keep a close eye on your health. If you try this too low level you will die.

Summary

Syndra is a greatly underestimated champion whose potential is "limitless" within the hands of a seasoned player who understands how to time using her spheres to their advantage while maintaining a careful distance with enemy champions due to squishyness.