This guide will go on an indefinite hiatus, starting today (Febuary 8th, 2025). I also deleted League from my PC and don't have the intention of reinstalling it again for the foreseeable future. Reasons for this decision include:

- I have many different hobbies/interests (especially for gaming) that take priority over League, mainly Speedrunning and some other minor ones. Considering this, as well as me having a private life, I just don't have any time that I can invest into League, which is why I haven't played this game actively for like half a year and only kept up with patch notes (except for times where I was testing runes/items in practice tool/bot games).

- Shen isn't fun anymore. For a long time, I thought it was just Shen being a bad champion and forcing him to be something that he isn't. While that was the case for quite a few patches, this isn't the case anymore. Shen isn't super broken right now, but he is still very strong in the majority of roles and somebody who understands and masters him can get wonderful results. That person is not me. I realised that Shen himself just isn't fun for me anymore. The way that I played not only League, but also some other MOBAs, differs from Shen's optimal playstyle by a lot, leading to me having inconsistent results and losing motivation to play Shen and even League altogether. After they released Ambessa, I knew that they gave me the perfect alternative to Shen and I would usually play Ambessa over Shen every time if possible. She feels way more natural for me and I had quite a lot of fun playing her. However, that doesn't matter at all because of the last point, which is...

- League isn't fun anymore. This is something that I realized nearly an entire year ago, but I kept playing and updating my guide because I wanted to help people with my knowledge, especially because the top-level Shens (mainly xPetu, Shending and IMainTopLane) were quite inactive for a super long time and I personally thought that most other Shen guides were either too basic or flat out bad (which obviously sounds weird coming from a gold/plat player, but that's just my opinion). That's why I created this guide in the first place. Playing the game itself was already super unfun for about a year, maybe even longer, which is why I already quit a long time ago. The only things that were (and still kinda are) fun to me are developing rune and item builds and optimizing every role for Shen as much as possible. However, not only have I lost my motivation for League more or less completely, but most of the other Shen players are also active again and my own guide just took many of their ideas instead of having its original flavor. There is no reason to look at an inactive gold player's Shen guide when xPetus mobafire guide and Shending's video guide literally exist. In addition to this, I also don't like the community. This is probably the coldest take of all time, but it's still just true. A team-based game together with a super toxic community just destroyed my mental from time to time, as well as my passion for the game itself. Additionally, Riot started making weird decisions again, which get criticized by everybody, including me. Going into detail right here would be overkill, but this isn't a company that I would like to support in the near future, wether through playing their games or buying their stuff.



This does not mean that my entire guide is or was useless tho. There were definitely quite a few people that found my guide helpful. This is also apparent by the overly positive rating, with it being the only guide next to xPetu's to have a 10 rating. I just want to thank everybody for helping me achieve this. I'm glad that my efforts weren't completely useless and may have helped somebody out there.

This guide will probably be accurate for quite some time until Riot changes the entire game again and removes half of the items/runes. Other sections such as "Tips & Tricks" and "All Shen Roles" (including all of the individual role guides below that) should also be accurate no matter the current patch or meta since Shen's playstyle shouldn't change at all for multiple years or decades, unless Riot decides to completely rework Shen, which I highly doubt.

But yeah, that's it for me. I hope that somebody out there got some value out of my guide and became a better Shen player. If you want to follow me and my other projects (mainly speedrunning), then you can check out my socials very far down in the guide or on my profile. This may be the last time that I opened this website.

Goodbye. And thank you.

Introduction x Who am I? x Who is Shen? x Shen Ability Rundown Practice x Top/Mid Lane x Jungle x Support

Theory x Runes x Items x Tips & Tricks Extras x Conclusion x Special Thanks x Patch Updates

Hey! My name is Smudey and I am a Shen Main from Germany who just loves this champion way too much. I've played a little bit in 2017 and 2020, but actually started playing seriously in 2021, around the time Akshan released. However, I've started playing Shen in Season 12, right about the time when his Q got nerfed lol. I just happened to pull Surgeon Shen and was like "let's just try this champion", and the rest is history. I've peaked Gold I, but didn't continue grinding as I was not happy with Shen's state at that time. However, I believe that with all the new changes, I can climb higher than before! I'm neither the greatest Shen player of all time, nor do I invest enough time in playing the game to pursue such status since I am also involved in many other games, but I still believe that my knowledge of Shen and the game as a whole can help many of y'all out there to at least have some sort of direction when learning Shen and I hope that you'll join me in this journey to embrace the equilibrium!

Shen has been classified as a Warden, which is a sub-category of tanks. His focus lies on being a big meatshield that peels for his teammates and protects them at all costs. However, unlike other tanks, Shen is at his strongest in the early game, meaning his laning phase is very strong and consistent with little to no losing matchups. With his early-mid game power and his global ultimate, he can control the entire map like no other champion. Shen’s abilities are very straightforward, making him somewhat easy to pick up, but he needs a lot of time and practice to master him to his fullest. He not only has very in-depth tech with his spirit blade, he also requires a good understanding of macro through his global ultimate, giving him a high skill ceiling and making him super fun since you can always learn new stuff from playing Shen. He is also very versatile, being able to build and play like a peeling supportive tank, an engaging frontliner or perhaps even a team carrying bruiser! He can successfully be played in a variety of playstyles (which is the reason why I want to make him work in nearly all roles to make full use of his versatility) so you can identify your own Shen in your own playstyle. If you want to a champion, that: • Has a strong laning phase • Can impact the entire map early on • Is easy to learn, but hard to master • Has satisfying blade mechanics • Rewards your macro and decision making • Can be played in a variety of ways Then Shen is the right champion for you. Start your journey now to embrace the equilibrium and achieve true balance. Shen is currently very strong, but not a lot of people play him, so if there is any time to start playing Shen, then it’s right now!

Ki Barrier Self-shield upon casting an ability. After casting an ability, Shen gains a shield for 2.5 seconds as soon as the ability's effect is finished. Successfully affecting another champion with an ability (dragging Q through an enemy, protecting an ally with your W, hitting an enemy champion with your E or successfully finishing your R teleport) will reduce your passive cooldown depending on your level. Twilight Assault Reposition your blade to your location, empowering your AAs. Shen calls his Spirit Blade to his current position and empowers his next 3 auto attacks upon blade arrival, granting your AAs extra max health magic damage and more range. Dragging your blade through an opponent increases your AA damage, your attack speed and slows the opponent if they walk away from you. We devide non-dragthrough and dragthrough Qs into normal Qs and Empowered Qs. Spirit's Refuge Shield around your blade that blocks auto attacks. Shen's Spirit Blade creates a protective area that blocks auto attacks as well as some auto attack based abilities (Udyr stun, Leona Stun etc.). Casting the ability without you or an ally standing inside it makes your blade wait for 2 seconds before activating the shield or until you or an ally walk into the area. This ability has a very long cooldown, but can turn the tides of many teamfights, skirmishes and even some trades in the laning phase if used at the perfect time. Shadow Dash Taunting and damaging Dash + Energy recovery. Passively, Shen gains energy by damaging any attackable unit with his Q or E. When activated, Shen dashes, depending on cursor location, taunting enemies hit in the way for 1.5 seconds and dealing physical damage. Can be used to engage a fight or disengage even through some walls. This is Shen's only form of mobility so use it wisely. Stand United Global Teleport and Shield for an ally. Casting Stand United on an enemy instantly gives them a shield based on your bonus HP, your AP and your allies current health (max value at 40% or below) and lasting for 5 seconds (assuming you don't die). After channeling for 3 seconds, teleport to you ally. This is Shen's most important ability since it can be casted from anywhere and can save teammates at any time, turning around a lot of teamfights and skirmishes or can be used as an engage tool if you ult an ally with decent engage (Malphite Ult, Hecarim's existance etc.). Using it correctly will come with a lot of time and practice.

This Grasp page is the strongest page for Shen and gives him everything he wants. The Domination tree has always been seen as the best secondary tree, but the new runes that have been added to the Precision tree are a good alternative if you play against hard matchups or if you are a newer Shen player who is starting out. The Precision tree lets you get away with more mistakes, while the Domination tree awards you for being good at the game and playing Shen properly. Once you feel comfortable with Shen as a champion, you should ALWAYS go Domination secondary vs melee matchups, while Precision is always better against poke matchups.

Grasp of the Undying is the best keystone for Shen and has been for a long time. It not only gives you plenty of sustain and scaling health over time (which Shen definitely needs as a tank with HP scaling), it also grants you damage in form of a single burst auto attack proc, which synergizes perfectly with Shen's trading pattern early on. Would definitely recommend taking this keystone into every melee matchup since it allows you to dominate most of them early on.

Shield Bash is usually the best out of the 3 because Shen uses a lot of shields so you can proc shield bash at least once in every single trade you take, especially since Shield Bash gives you one empowered Auto Attack, just like Grasp so this strenghthens Shen's trading pattern even more. Additionally, Shield Bash also gives you resistances, which aren't anything substantial, but can help you in some close early trades to give you the edge over your opponent. Another, new potential rune for Top Lane is Demolish. Against easy or even matchups, you could consider taking this rune since it allows you to damage towers by quite a lot when pushing the wave into the enemy tower, giving Shen some much needed tower damage. The gold lead that you can get through this rune could potentially outvalue Shield Bash's stats, making it a great choice for Shen players with an aggressive, bruiser-like playstyle. If you would rather play tank or support tho, take Shield Bash instead.

Second Wind gives you a lot of sustain in the laning phase through a heal over time after taking damage, which is not only great against ranged matchups where you will heal their poke, it can also be great in melee matchups due to your burst-heavy trading pattern, which lets you disengage really fast after a trade and heal back up if you took damage. It also synergizes extremely well with Doran's Shield, which you will take every game. If you really want to, you can take Boneplating against All-In champs that can't proc bone plating very easily from afar (Wukong, Jax, Sett etc.) or Conditioning if you want to gain resistances in the mid game, but Second Wind is my personal favourite rune and I recommend taking it every single game.

After many meta changes and rune reworks, I am confident in taking Overgrowth every single game since it's the best for Top/Mid lane at the moment. Titanic Hydra got its active back and is now considered a core item. Titanic's damage as well as 3 of Shen's abilities (P, E, R) scale with health, which means that overgrowth not only enhances your tankiness, but also your damage and gives you a lot more agency in the mid-late game. Revitalize's effects are just too lackluster when going for a full tank or carry bruiser playstyle and it's only worth taking when you have have an enchanter on your team or if you build a lot of healing/shielding items like Sundered Sky, Unending Despair, Spirit Visage and Eclipse. Unflinching got a weird rework and kinda sucks. If you don't want to think about it, go Overgrowth every game when playing Top or Mid Lane.

With Cheap Shot, you will do true damage on your targets in usually every single trade because you can proc it with your E and your Q drag-through since it slows your enemy and counts as "impaired movement". Makes your early game a tad bit deadlier. However, the changes that were done to Sudden Impact made the rune more viable for Shen against squishy opponents, while Cheap Shot remains better in longer fights. If you are unsure, then always take Cheap Shot.

After the removal of Ingenious Hunter, Ultimate Hunter is the only viable option in Top Lane because of how much CDR it gives for your Ultimate. Since this is usually the only reliable way to save your teammates from afar, having it on a lower cooldown is usually better. Relentless Hunter might be viable for Mid Lane, but also got nerfed so it probably isn't that great anymore.

Shen has always struggled with ranged matchups that poke him out of lane or hard matchups that take a majority of his HP for a single mistake, but the addition of Absorb Life has made him a lot less vulnerable to these matchups. This rune heals you if you kill minions, meaning that you can basically heal up by CSing under tower, while also blocking part of the poke damage with your Ki Barrier and Spirit's Refuge. Back then we were forced to either take the normal Grasp page and bleed over time or take Fleet, which isn't that great of a rune for Shen, but now we have a lot more options against not only poke, but also generally hard matchups or if you are a newer Shen player and want to play it safe. This way you can get away with a lot more mistakes and don't get bullied for a single missplay in lane. This rune also makes Shen Mid a lot more reliable (or even his strongest role in general) because you are a bit stronger against all of these poke champions, while being strong against assassins with Grasp. Great rune for Shen.

Shen now has 2 options for the Legend runes: Alacrity and Haste, which also change your rune shard options. If you take Legend: Alacrity, you want to take Ability Haste, but if you take Legend: Haste, you want to take Attack Speed instead. You do this to balance out your attack speed and ability haste, since your auto attacks have to work in tandem with your Twilight Assault (Q) cooldown. The problem with Haste is that it only gives you BASIC AH, meaning that you won't lower your Stand United (R) cooldown, which is why you want to take AH shard to somewhat make up for the loss of Ultimate Hunter. It might still be viable to go both Haste + AH, but is usually a greedy approach since it will be harder to CS and longer fights can be difficult if you don't manage your abilities correctly since your auto attacks will be close to useless without your Twilight Assault. Only take Legend: Haste with AS or AH if you want to play greedy and for yourself. Otherwise, if you want a safer, more consistent and team friendly approach, take Alacrity + AH.

For the first row, if you take Domination secondary, it's mostly preference between all of them. However, if you take Precision secondary, you want to take Attack Speed if you have taken Legend: Haste or take Ability Haste if you have taken Legend: Alacrity. Haste + AH is also viable, but super greedy and harder to use. For the second row, either take Adaptive Force for more trading power and better CSing or scaling health for more tankiness, choice is yours. In the third row, you can decide between Flat Health or Scaling Health. Flat Health is good for early fights and winning lane. Scaling Health is also generally good for Shen's scaling and is a must-have against losing matchups where you can't go for any fights and the flat health wouldn't have nearly as much value (it also outscales flat health at lvl 7 onwards).

Your Jungle Runes are a lot more variable because you can for example opt into taking Aftershock for a more supportive playstyle or Hail of Blades for more upfront burst in skirmishes, but I figured that Precision with Domination OR Resolve is the most consistent choice for me.

PTA got nerfed and Lethal Tempo got removed which is why they aren't viable anymore. However, xPetu has proven that Fleet Footwork is indeed a good choice because it provides insane healing and the movement speed can be crucial in certain fights or when chasing/fleeing. I personally dislike the Precision tree in general, but if you REALLY want to use it, then only take this rune.

Triumph is the obvious best choice for me. It heals you and gives you extra gold for takedowns and can definitely save your life in close call situations (nice synergy with Last Stand). Absorb Life is unnecessary in the jungle and you don't need extra energy from PoM, assuming you use your abilities correctly and don't throw them around mindlessly without hitting anyone.

After the removal of Legend: Tenacity, they have introduced Haste, which is by far the best choice. Alacrity was only viable because in certain games, tenacity was just useless and bloodline is always bad, but now that Haste exists, there is no reason to go anything else. Ability Haste is by far the best stat of the the 3 so it's just a no-brainer.

With the PTA nerf and removal of Lethal Tempo, as well as Fleet being the best choice now, it seems like Coup de Grace is the best option for Shen. While Last Stand has better numbers, it is way harder to proc and therefore does less damage on average, especially because Fleet + Jungle Items heal you quite a lot so you never get to be low health. Cut Down got changed and you still shouldn't take it.

With Cheap Shot, you will do true damage on your targets in usually every single trade because you can proc it with your E and your Q drag-through since it slows your enemy and counts as "impaired movement". Makes your early game a tad bit deadlier. However, the changes that were done to Sudden Impact made the rune more viable for Shen against squishy opponents, while Cheap Shot remains better in longer fights. If you are unsure, then always take Cheap Shot (However, Sudden Impact is better in the Jungle than Top or Mid lane so it might be something that you could consider).

After the removal of Ingenious Hunter, Ultimate Hunter and Relentless Hunter are the best choices for Jungle now. Ultimate give you ult CDR, while Relentless give you movement speed, which is probably better in the jungle. However, since the rune got nerfed recently, both runes are equally strong.

For Shen Jungle, you usually decide between Shield Bash and Conditioning, with the ladder giving you more mid-late game tankiness. However, I believe that the early power and synergy that Shield Bash provides plays a lot better into Shen's early game heavy playstyle and is therefore my personal recommendation.

Overgrowth enhances your scaling, your tankiness and your overall damage when you buy Titanic Hydra. Definitely my recommended choice for Jungle. Revitalize can be better in the early game, but in its current state, it will always be worse unless you go for a LOT of healing items AND have an enchanter on your team. Just go Overgrowth if you don't want to think about it too much.

The first row is between Ability Haste, which lets you use your Q a lot more, and Attack Speed, which lets you auto-attack a lot more (mostly personal preference). For the second and third row, you should always take either scaling and flat health or 2 scaling health, choice is yours.

The Resolve + Domination tree is in my opinion the stongest, but if this ever changes in the future or you want to play something different, I can recommend the Inspiration tree to you.

You should usually always take Aftershock, since you want to taunt your enemies a lot and aftershock compliments that playstyle greatly by making you tankier after imobilizing a target and deal damage afterwards. But if you play against an enemy with very long range that you probably can't taunt into (like Caitlyn + Morgana), then feel free to take Guardian to peel for your ADC because you won't be taunting into the enemy anyways unless you get a gank and you have to taunt-flash to reach your enemy. If not, ALWAYS take Aftershock.

Font of Life is criminally underrated and underutilized. It heals your teammates for attacking a target that you have taunted or slowed with Q, meaning that by playing aggressively with your taunts early, you give your ADC a lot more sustain and by that win more trades and all-ins. This can also be very useful later in the game because FoL scales with your max HP so it synergizes very well with Overgrowth. Shield Bash however is a lot better when taking Guardian since you won't be able to utilize Font of Life against high-ranged comps. This also gives you additional bonuses for your Guardian shield.

Second Wind gives you a lot of sustain in the laning phase through a heal over time after taking damage. As expected, it is also a great option in the Support role because you will most likely face ranged enemies in the bot lane, except if they play something like Yasuo, Samira or Nilah and an all-in support like Leona, Nautilus or Blitzcrank. In those matchups, you could consider going Bone Plating, but Second Wind is just so much better in my opinion, but feel free to decide based on matchup. If you take Resolve as a secondary rune page, don't take any of these runes. The others give you more value in my opinion.

All of those 3 are great options in the Support role so pick based on the situation at hand. If the enemy team has a lot of hard CC, consider taking Unflinching so you won't get bursted for tanking CC for your mates. If that's not the case, you can take either Overgrowth because it will make you a lot more tanky since you won't be buying that many health-based items anyways and it also increases your effectiveness of you Font of Life heal. You can also take Revitalize, since it not only increases your Ult/Passive shields already in the early game where it's the most important, it also increases your Guardian shield, your Font of Life healing and healing items like Redemption.

Glacial Augment is the only option in the Inspiration tree. You slow your targets after taunting them, granting you extra slow to your CC for the ultimate utility tech. However, it sacrifices your own tankiness after taunting from Aftershock with more tankiness for you ADC, but since they will be attacking you because of your taunt anyway, it's a bit weaker than Aftershock in my opinion. You could, however, take it over Guardian, not necessarily because of Glacial Augment, but because the Inspiration tree helps you to catch up to certain high-ranged opponents, but it's kind of held back by being a lot harder to use so I would recommend Glacial Augment with the Inspiration tree for more experienced Support players.

Hextech Flashtraption gives you an extra gap close tool to catch up to opponents much easier. This lets you be more loose with your Flashes and go for more Flash + Taunt plays. A bit hard to use at first, but definitely worth in the long run. However, the new Cash Back rune is a good alternative if you don't like Hexflash. It gives you part of your gold back after every legendary item purchase, which is great for a low-income supporter like Shen.

Honestly, they all kinda suck. The best one is probably Biscuit Delivery because of the sustain it provides, which can be insanely good against poke, which you will usually face in bot lane. If you take Inspiration tree as a secondary, don't take any of these.

Cosmic Insight not only gives you Summoner Spell Haste for more flashes, it also gives you Item Haste for Items like Locket, Redemption etc. and is the easier option out of those 2. The other one, being Approach Velocity lets you catch up to oponents faster via a speed boost from impairing an enemy, but is limited by either having an ADC that can impair any movement of the enemy (Jhin W, Twitch W etc.) or you being required to place your blade towards your enemies beforehand and pulling it to you, slowing the enemy and giving you movement speed. Very specific and hard to use rune, but definitely more worth if used correctly. Jack of all Trades might be viable but hasn't been tested enough yet.

With Cheap Shot, you will do true damage on your targets in usually every single trade because you can proc it with your E and your Q drag-through since it slows your enemy and counts as "impaired movement". Makes your early game a tad bit deadlier. However, the changes that were done to Sudden Impact made the rune more viable for Shen against squishy opponents, while Cheap Shot remains better in longer fights. If you are unsure, then always take Cheap Shot (However, Sudden Impact is better in the Support than in Top or Mid lane so it might be something that you could consider).

Ultimate Hunter is the biggest reason why we take Domination secondary. Your Ultimate Ability has such a long cooldown and because you can easily get stacks by ulting to your team and helping them, you will decrease a lot from your ultimate, which is your most important ability and can turn the tides of many teamfights. No reason to go anything else in my opinion.

For the first row, always take Ability Haste since Shen has long cooldowns and will use his taunt a lot. For the second row, take movement speed when playing Aftershock for better engages or scaling health when playing Guardian for a bigger shield and more tankiness overall. For the third row, take flat HP if the opponents DON'T have a lot of CC and take Tenacity + Slow Resist if they DO have a lot of CC.

Shen's itemization is very versatile. Being able to build tank items, support items, AD and AP Damage items is something that only a few other champions can do. This section will cover the best and most consistent item choices to win more games, but if you want to know about some off-meta item builds, look at the "Fun Off-Meta Builds" section at the top of my guide for more frequent updates in that department.

Doran's Shield (Best Starter) This is the best starting item for Shen by far. Doran's Shield gives you plenty of HP and sustain, making your laning phase a lot stronger. Since you usually go for short trades, you can heal up after a trade if you take damage. Additionally, ranged matchups become a tad bit more bearable with the extra sustain. I'd recommend taking this one every single game when playing Top/Mid Lane.

Ruby Crystal (Greedy Starter) Ruby Crystal with 2 Health Potion is a greedier starting item option. It has a bit more HP and allows you to get certain (HP based) item spikes faster, but at the cost of your sustain. This starter is currently not viable and gets outclassed by Doran's Shield, but it is an option that could be viable in the future.

Doran's Blade (SUPER Greedy Starter) If Ruby Crystal isn't greedy enough for you, you can take Doran's Blade + 1 pot and beat the hell out of your opponent during trades. This strat can definitely work against easier or even matchups. Keep in mind that one tiny mistake will put you SUPER behind and you'll probably be useless for the rest of the game, so keep this in mind and only take this if you are nearly 100% certain that you can win lane that way.

Mosstomper Seedling (Jungle Starter) All Jungle items are viable, but I believe that this item fits the best into Shen's identity as a champion. It also has great synergy with Shield Bash.

Bloodsong (Offensive Support Starter) This Support item is best against low-ranged and/or all-in champions. It incentivizes you to play aggressive early to make use of the additional damage and gain a lead that way.

Celestial Opposition (Defensive Support Starter) If you took Guardian as your keystone and play against a matchup that doesn't allow you to taunt into them, then go this item. You can block a lot of damage with it.

Solstice Sleigh (Hybrid Support Starter) If you can't decide between offensive and defensive, then take this item. It's heal and movement speed after impairing an enemy can be used offensively to chase them down or defensively by using the heal and movement speed to run away. However, this item will always be worse in offensive power compared to Bloodsong, as well as worse in defensive power compared to Celestial Opposition.

Tiamat (Waveclear) If you want to rush Titanic Hydra, then Tiamat should usually be bought as soon as possible because Shen NEEDS a waveclear item to be a proper champion. It is not the greatest item in terms of stats + it makes it a lot more difficult to freeze a wave, but it is definitely the best early waveclear option. Being able to PROXY as Shen is only possible with this item and makes laning against tougher matchups a lot more pleasant. IMPORTANT: You NEED to have 1200g before your first base because buying long swords is not optimal. If you are forced to recall or die early, then buy Ruby Crystal because HP is a better early game stat for Shen than AD. If you are rushing Titanic Hydra, DON'T buy any extra items like Bramble Vest or Warden's Mail. This would delay your power spike by way too much.

Bami's Cinder (Waveclear) Bami's Cinder is the other waveclear option for Shen. Stat-wise, it is a lot better than Tiamat, giving you HP instead of AD. However, the waveclear part of the item, while being easier to handle, is a lot worse than Tiamat and only helps your pushing power by a slight bit. This item builds into Sunfire Aegis or Hollow Radiance, meaning that you can choose between Armor and Magic Resist depending on the matchup (which is usually true, but since Sunfire Aegis is such a bad item right now, it is better to just hold Bami's Cinder for a while and build another Armor item instead). However, it does not build into Titanic Hydra, which means that you have to delay your power spike a lot by building it after Bami's or as a second item. If you want early game tankiness, dislike Titanic Hydra or fall behind early, then Bami's is the better choice.

Boots (Movement Speed) Boots can be good when you are low on gold after dying/recalling or if you want to get to lane faster. They are also good in matchups where you need to dodge important skillshots (like Illaoi's Test of Spirit (E) for example). If you plan on rushing Titanic Hydra, don't upgrade your boots until you have your first item, but if not, you can upgrade them whenever you want.

Bramble Vest (vs healing) Bramble vest can be helpful against champions like Fiora, Warwick etc. that rely on their healing abilities to be strong. However, in order to proc the grievous wounds, you need the opponent to auto attack, which can be hard against a Vladimir for example, where you have to taunt them for the effect to work. If you are fighting against healing mages ( Vladimir, Sylas), Ignite might be the better choice. If your lane opponent is the only one with healing, it might not be worth building.

Warden's Mail (vs auto-attackers) Warden's Mail can be good against champions like Tryndamere, Jax, Vayne and other champions that purely rely on auto attacks for their damage. It also scales with with your max HP so Overgrowth will gain even more value. Combining this with Plated Steelcaps against auto-attack based team comps and you'll be indestructable. It builds into Randuin's Omen, which is very good vs crits champs, and Frozen Heart, which is insane against On-hit/DPS (even with the wasted mana). The only problem is that it delays your item spike by quite a bit, but it can be SUPER good if they have multiple champs like these. If your lane opponent is the only auto-attack based champion, then it might not be worth building this item.

Spectre's Cowl (vs heavy AP) This item can be super helpful against hard AP matchups in lane (namely Mordekaiser, Gwen, Teemo and some others). Can even be built before Titanic Hydra to ensure that you don't fall too behind. This item also builds into both Hollow Radiance and Kaenic Rookern.

Dark Seal (A LOT of AP when ahead) A rare tech where you buy Dark Seal and hope that you can get stacks. This item is the best choice when you want to change your Adaptive Force form AD to AP (which can be good with some runes). AP mostly increases your ult, but also gives you a bit of bonus damage for your Q, but your auto-attacks themselves will be a lot weaker. Only build this if you know what you are doing. If you are a beginner, don't touch that.

Ionian Boots (Ability Haste) Ionian Boots are the best in my humble opinion. Shen has VERY long cooldowns, but these boots allow you to have your abilities a lot more often in longer fights and greatly enhance your Q-Uptime (a concept that I'll explain further below). Since it also gives you Summoner Spell Haste, you can go for more Flash plays with your Shadow Dash (E), more All-Ins with Ignite and many more. Lastly, it is also 150g cheaper, which means that you can be more flexible with your recalls early on. The only downside is the lack of defensive stats that are usually provided by Plated Steelcaps and Mercury's Treads, but I believe that to be a worthy trade-off. You can never go wrong with these boots.

Plated Steelcaps (vs AD and Auto-Atackers) Plated Steelcaps should be built against 4+ AD champs that are also auto-attack based. If not, these boots would lose most of their value. They work very well with Warden's Mail for an indestructable anti-auto-attack build together with your Spirit's Refuge (W).

Mercury's Treads (vs AP and Crowd Control) These boots are, similar to Plated Steelcaps, best against 4+ AP and a lot of CC. Without enemy CC, these boots would be wasted gold. These boots could go very well with Wit's End, which together gives you so much Tenacity that you are basically immune and can often tank potent CC skillshots (like Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow (R)).

Boots of Swiftness (vs slows) Rare tech against champions that utilize a lot of slows (such as Nasus, Olaf and Ashe). They are also very cheap and give you the highest amount of permanent movement speed, making it easier for you to engage if your team is lacking in that department.

Iceborn Gauntlet (Slow Utility) Iceborn Gauntlet is one of the best Armor items for Shen. It utilizes Sheen, which synergizes perfectly with Shen's Twilight Assault (Q), and turns it into a slow field. This is great against high movement speed and high-ranged opponents that won't be able to run away from you, letting you beat them up in the process. The Sheen effect also allows you to take towers a bit faster with its additional damage. Lastly, you can not only use it offensively in teamfights to potentially catch and slow their backline, but also use it defensively by setting up the slow field to run from danger (you can also attack minions, jungle camps etc. to create the slow field). Very good item.

Sunfire Aegis (Damage over time and waveclear) If you built Bami's Cinder as your waveclear item and your matchup is AD based, build this item. It gives you a lot of damage in longer fights, but lacks any sort of utility for you and your team. I wouldn't recommend building this item at all right now since it is feels very underwhelming to me, but some high-level Shen players have started building this item so you can still give it a try. I would personally buy Bami's Cinder for waveclear and go for another armor item instead.

Thornmail (vs healing and auto-attacks) If you have built Bramble Vest, you can upgrade it to this item. While the healing reduction doesn't really get stronger, the item itself does a lot of damage against auto-attackers based on your armor. Combining this with other Armor items against a 4+ AD team will give this item a LOT of value, but other than that, it's kinda meh when it comes to reducing healing. Don't build it if they only have 1 or 2 healing champs and ESPECIALLY not if they aren't even auto-attack based (the effect will only proc on auto-attacks). I rarely build this item right now since it doesn't feel that good.

Randuin's Omen (vs Crits) This item can be upgraded from Warden's Mail, but it NO LONGER has the "Rock Solid" passive. It still counters crit champions though ( Tryndamere, Gangplank, Yone, Yasuo etc). Not only do crits deal little damage to you, but you also gain an active that slows the enemy within a certain radius, which can be very beneficial against crit-based ADCs (even better after the buffs). Don't fall into the trap of building this into On-Hit damage ( Vayne, Master Yi, etc.) or you will greatly decrease the value of the item.

Frozen Heart (Attack Speed Slow) Frozen Heart should only be built into AD heavy comps where any of the armor items above don't have much value. The mana will get lost from Shen not utilizing it, but in some games it is probably necessary. This item also has insane synergy with Unending Despair because the passive from Frozen Heart will actually proc the heal from Unending Despair, making it a strong combo against On-Hit/DPS champions like Bel'Veth, Master Yi, Viego and ADCs that build items like Blade of the Ruined King and Guinsoo's Rageblade.

Unending Despair (Healing over time) An offensive Armor item that gives you a lot of value in longer fights due to its sustain every few seconds. This item also has incredible synergy with Frozen Heart, which has already been mentioned above.

Dead Man's Plate (Ramping Movement Speed) Very fun armor item that gives you movement speed for better rotations, engages and potential one-auto-bursts. Recent community effords have made this item look OP as well as an option if your team lacks any sort of engage.

Kaenic Rookern (MR Shield) A super strong Magic Resist Item with 80 base MR + a giant shield that scales with max HP and therefore has great synergy with Overgrowth and Shield Bash. It is especially good vs MR poke and/or burst since they'll just attack the shield, which you can easily recharge by disengaging. However, this item gets outshadowed in longer fights by Force of Nature.

Hollow Radiance (Damage over time and waveclear) This item is the MR equivalent of Sunfire Aegis and should usually be built if you rushed Bami's Cinder. It trades a bit of its damage over time with better waveclear, letting you LITERALLY one-shot a canon wave with this item and Titanic Hydra.

Abyssal Mask (MR + Flat Magic Pen) This item gains the most value when both teams have AP damage. The MR from the item and its passive will tank you from their AP damage while you amplify your teammate's AP damage by reducing the enemy's magic resist. Very good item given the right circumstances.

Force of Nature (MR in longer fights and movement speed) This item has 25 less base MR than Kaenic Rookern, but makes up for it by giving you 70 additional MR when stacking its passive over 7 seconds or even less when you get CC'ed a lot, making it 125 MR in total! Therefore, you should buy this item against MR heavy teams in longer fights and/or if the enemy uses AP DoT damage ( Teemo, Lillia, Cassiopeia or Singed for example). If those conditions are not met, you should instead buy Kaenic Rookern.

Spirit Visage (Heal and Shield amp) This item sounds good on paper, but is reliant on you having additional sources of healing such as an enchanter ( Soraka, Lulu, etc.) or Ocean Dragon. The low MR on this item makes you kind of squishy compared to other MR items. Only build this when the perfect circumstances are given.

Quicksilver Sash (Cleanse) Super niche item vs Malzahar's Nether Grasp (R), Nocturne's Paranoia (R) and maybe Warwick's Infinite Duress (R). Only builds into Mercurial Scimitar, which is a very unoptimal item for Shen. Sell it in the late game because in that stage of the game, these champs usually focus your carries instead of yourself, diminishing the item's value entirely. (IMPORTANT: THIS ITEM NO LONGER WORKS ON Mordekaiser's Realm of Death)

Heartsteel (Infinite HP Scaling) This item is extremely good against 4+ melee comps and even against ranged champs in low-mid elos since you can get Heartsteel procs very easily (people don't know how to deal with it properly), making you very strong in the mid-late game. Either rushing it or buying it after Bami's Cinder is my personal recommendation if you don't want to think about itemization too much. However, once you reach higher elo, people will play around your Heartsteel a lot better, meaning that you can't reliably proc it and still end up being weak later on. If you are even or behind early, it will take a lot longer to even buy the item and get procs in the first place since the item is super expensive, meaning that you can't really impact the game since you are busy farming for the item, which will lead to you winning the game without doing anything or losing because you didn't do anything. While this item seems bad in theory, it is still being built by multiple high-elo Shen players since this item seems to still work out somehow. If you want infinite health scaling, build Heartsteel.

Jak'Sho, The Protean (Resistances over time) This item is extremely good in longer fights and scales with your resistances, making you super strong in the late game if you build it as a 4th item or later. However, if the enemy uses a lot of true damage or executes, it might be better to invest into more HP.

Locket of the Iron Solari (Shield vs burst) This item, similar to Jak'Sho, The Protean, gives you both armor and magic resist. But this item is better against burst because of its active shield that applies on you and nearby allies. It is also a LOT cheaper than Jak'Sho, The Protean so if you fight against a lot of assassins and burst mages, consider buying this item (commonly built as a first item when playing support).

Warmog's Armor (Infinite HP regeneration) This item has a LOT of HP and the healing it provides is very good for splitpushing, against poke and fights where you go in-and-out. However, it loses HARD to maxHP damage so watch out when buying this item.

Sterak's Gage (Anti-Burst) If teamfights are rather short and burst-heavy, then consider buying this item in the late game. The shield scales with bonus HP, meaning that it synergizes with Overgrowth, as well as Shield Bash due to the shield size (very similar to Kaenic Rookern). You also gain tenacity, which is great against CC chains, as well as some extra AD for more combat power. Very underrated item.

Titanic Hydra (Damage and Waveclear) This is THE BEST Shen item in the entire game in my opinion and also my favourite. This item gives Shen a lot of dueling power, letting him fight enemies that he usually shouldn't. The waveclear is INSANE, letting you nearly one-shot waves as Shen, especially through its active! Let's talk about the active real quick. The cleave is HUGE and therefore allows you to clear waves and camps super fast + it does good AOE damage in teamfights. The best thing about it is the auto-attack reset. You can use the active to go for a super quick burst that can potentially 100-0 squshies and tanks alike while also being skill expressive. I could ramble about Titanic Hydra all day, but all you gotta know is that this item has saved Shen and is literally the reason why I gained the motivation to finish this guide. Do yourself a big favor and buy this item 1st or 2nd every single game. It is a mandatory item for Shen.

Wit's End (Offensive item with defensive stats) Wit's End is the best damage MR item out there. It synergizes perfectly with Titanic Hydra because of the high attack speed paired with hydra's on-hit damage + it also gives you Tenacity, which synergizes greatly with Mercury's Treads. Build it if you want to carry.

Hullbreaker (Splitpushing) This might seem like a joke at first, but Hullbreaker is actually kinda nice for Shen. He has always struggled with side laning due to many broken Top Lane champs that can easily kill you in a 1v1, as well as Shen's lackluster tower damage. This item removes all of these problems to an extend, giving you a lot more agency in the sidelane with its stats. Since the range limit has been removed, Shen can now use Stand United (R) without losing all of these stats and can even siege towers together with his team a lot better. Very underrated item.

Riftmaker (Damage and omnivamp over time) I LOVE building this item as one of my last items if I encounter a lot of tanks/bruisers or if the fights are generally long. The item's effects really start hitting when fights go longer than a few seconds. Not only are you basically unkillable with the Omnivamp, but the HP to AP conversion makes your Qs hit a LOT harder, as well as make your Stand United ginormous, especially later on when you have bought a lot of items that contain HP. Really underrated item, but also very situational.

Sundered Sky (Crit Damage with Heal) This item is basically Divine Sunderer, giving you a LOT of combat power as well as sustain, making it good in short and long trades equally. However, you are going to be VERY squishy and you will not be able to utilize this item's full potential if the enemy just statchecks you. Only build this (as a 2nd item AFTER Titanic Hydra, NOT before) if you got ahead early and want to carry the game by yourself.

Edge of Night (Spellshield) "Wait... WHAT IS A LETHALITY ITEM DOING HERE???", I hear you ask. Well, for those of you unaware, Nocturne is seen as a direct Shen counter because his Paranoia (R) blocks our Stand United with its nearsight effect, making us unable to save our teammates from him. However, as it turns out, the spellshield that this item provides actually BLOCKS Nocturns Ultimate, meaning that we can save our teammates as long as the Spellshield is active. The stats are also... ok. It gives us HP, which is nice, AD, which is alright, and Lethality, which sucks lol. Credit goes to GannicusTTV, who (probably) found this interaction and showcased it in his build guide.

Banshee's Veil (MR, AP and Spellshield) I have expanded the Spellshield idea from Edge of Night and probably made it better. This item's Spellshield has the same uses as before so read the column further above if you want to know more (since that was the first one). The only difference are the stats. Instead of giving mediocre damage stats and a bit of HP, you instead get 50 MR (which isn't even that bad) and a whopping 120 AP for big Q damage and a HUGE Ultimate shield. The only big problem is the heavy price of 3100g. Very niche, but fun item that can be built if you value both damage and tankiness, as well as play against an AP-heavy comp + a Nocturne to block his Paranoia.

(Disclaimer: These items are not limited to the support role and can theoretically be built in every lane)

Redemption (AOE Heal) Build this item in longer team fights to get the most value out of the heal.

Knight's Vow (Protect Ally) This item is similar to Anathema's Chains, but instead of debuffing an enemy, you buff an ally by marking him as "worthy" (usually your ADC or a fed ally). Damage that your worthy ally recieves will partially be dealt to you, while the damage that your worthy ally deals will heal you for a small portion. A super solid item when playing support.

Moonstone Renewer (Heal and Shield amplifier) You can get the most value out of this item by building it 3rd after Redemption and Locket of the Iron Solari. This item greatly amplifies your heals and shields by either sharing a single target heal with another teammate to make it a double heal, or by giving one single ally a SUPER heal/shield if no other ally is around. These 3 items turn Shen into a healing and shielding monster, but you will lose ALL of your combat power, which forces you to ONLY heal and shield your allies. Can theoretically work in every role.

Trailblazer (Movement Speed and Engage) This item is Dead Man's Plate, but as a support item. The trail actually serves a purpose and boosts your allys' movement speed, meaning that you can engage as a team! Build this item if your team lacks engage (and if the enemy has AD of course since it gives armor).

Mikael's Blessing (Cleanse) With this item, you can clease and heal a teammate of yours. Take this item against (near) undodgable CC like Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Twisted Fate's Pick A Card, etc.

Zeke's Convergence (Offensive Ultimates) This item got a tiny rework and lost its Mana in exchange for better stats, which means that Shen can finally use it! Zeke's creates a damaging and slowing aura around you when you are using Stand United, which makes it great with champs that have great engage such as Hecarim and many more (examples are in the Top/Mid lane synergies section). This item has great potential for all Shen roles.

Vigilant Wardstone (A lot of vision) This item can store multiple control wards. Good last item if you need a lot of vision (best in high-elo).