[2.3] Leona Guide - Leona, Tank Guide for v2.3 (Support/Roam Type)
Leona, Tank Guide for v2.3 (Support/Roam Type)
Pros
- A lot of Crowd Control, specifically Stuns
- Very Tanky
- Good at Engaging or Initiating a Fight
- Good Harrass (Peeling to be precise)
- Low Ability Cooldown
Cons
- No Mobility or Escape
- Needs follow ups after engaging
- Easy to Harrass
- Rely too much on her Ability to be Effective
Leona Build
Best Build Guide for Leona
Item Build Description
Additional information on the items
(Starting Item)
1a.
Cloth Armor
- buy this first as default since your starting build is
Zeke's Convergence
. Good early physical defense against Autos and AD abilities. Or...
1b.
Null-Magic Mantle
- as an alternative if against a Support Mage spammer (like
Seraphine
,
Sona
, [Jannna],
Lux
, etc.) for extra magic resist in early laning.
(Core Items)
1.
Zeke's Convergence
- is an item that possess offensive and defensive buffs not only for yourself but also for your ADR, or your highest DPS on your team. Since,
Leona
is an engager, using her Ultimate will buff her allied ADR with bonus magic damage on their autos while burning them with your pressence. Suited for her as a tank initiator.
2.
Boots of Speed
- you need this, bruh...
2a.
Boots of Swiftness
- buy this if you want to roam and gank mid lane.
2b.
Plated Steelcaps
- buy this if you feel vulnerable or needed more defense against heavy AD champions.
2c.
Mercury's Treads
- alternative upgrade against heavy AP champions. Unless you want to lessen the crowd control (e.g. stun, slow, etc.) from yourself if enemies have multiple CCs in their disposal.
3a.
Gargoyle Enchant
- best and default upgrade for your boots. Activating it will give you extra HP and Damage Reduction against all attacks for a short period which is good for her since she will enter the fight first. To add more to that, it will increase even more of extra HP depending on how many enemy champions around you! It fits perfectly for
Leona
.
3b. [Locket Enchant] - good alternative if your ADR or your team can easily die before you. With extra Shield, you can support your ADR to the fullest.
3c.
Redeeming Enchant
- good area damage and heal for your team. You can also combine this with your combo since you will stun lock them until the heal/damage activates.
(Situational Items)
1.
Iceborn Gauntlet
- good item with enough armor, mana, ability haste, slow and damage. Easy damage and slow for enemies which increases its radius depending on your armor value.
2.
Thornmail
- return damage is good for
Leona
since she will always likely being focus on whenever initiating a fight. Not to mention the Grevious Wound effect which reduces the enemy's healing, regeneration or lifesteal effect on themselves.
3.
Abyssal Mask
- item that gives magic resist and mana sustain. Magic resist is a must for Leona and so is Mana.
4.
Warmog's Armor
- gives huge amount of Max HP which you need for survivability. Not to mention on its own regeneration effect when out of combat, best when to stay and roam around the map without recalling.
5.
Guardian Angel
- with extra life, you can support your team even after you die first in a team fight. Or maybe, you will likely be ignored by the enemy team because they can't kill you fast enough and when you died, dealing with you again is a pain in the ass. Good for burning the enemies' ability and let your team do the work for you.
(Special Mention)
1.
Randuin's Omen
- only build this if the enemies have heavy Critical Damage on their autos. Otherwise, go for
Thornmail
.
2.
Spirit Visage
- now you can decide if you want either
Abyssal Mask
or
Spirit Visage
since you need at least one magic resist in your inventory. Either way, this item is great against heavy AP casters. Rush build this if enemy have at least 3 heavy AP champions in their team.
3.
Protector's Vow
- if you want to be a support for your ADR, build this. It will help your ADR survive from attacks with it's build-in shield. Building this along with [Locket Enchant], you and your ADR will last the fight against your enemies.
4.
Force of Nature
- if you want to be a roamer then build this. This gives not only magic resist but also more movement speed for you to catch up to the enemies. Good item nonetheless.
5.
Winter's Approach
>
Fimbulwinter
- if you are struggling in managing her mana, this item is for you. The downside of this item is not providing any Armor or Magic Resist, only mana even though its an armor, but it gives a shield whenever you stun an enemy. If you build this item first, make sure your next item provides armor and magic resist. Consider that.
(Offensive Leona Build)
1.
Sunfire Aegis
- burn the sh*t out of your enemy. It also, gives extra Max HP but no armor though.
2.
Boots of Swiftness
/
Plated Steelcaps
- either one of this, you will likely roam around the map to find some solo kills.
3.
Thornmail
- if enemy fights back, it will make an easy damage for them.
4.
Spirit Visage
- against heavy AP and additional regenaration for yourself to sustain and stay around the map, roaming around.
5.
Sterak's Gage
- deal more damage from your autos, gives extra shield for survivability and extra Max HP.
6.
Warmog's Armor
- huge amount of extra Max HP. Also gives you regeneration which goes well with Sipirt Visage.
2a. [Glory Enchant] - apply a slow on enemies upon catching up with them. Also, gives huge movement speed.
2b.
Gargoyle Enchant
- another extra HP if your huge amount of health is not enough.
2c. [Stasis Enchant] - if you're being peeled quite often then build this. Then change it afterwards.
Note: You will notice that, most of the item only gives you Max HP while few of it gives raw 40 armor and 45 magic resist. The reason behind this is your going to roam around the map and find some enemies to kill. With this build, you are not a support instead you are the next jungler version 2 for your team. Leave your ADR if your confident enough and go around the map and makes some gold for yourself.
(Alternatives Items from Offensive Leona Build)
1.
Dead Man's Plate
- change Thornmail into this for more movement speed and roaming potential, and extra damage, too.
2.
Force of Nature
- change Spirit Visage into this for another movement speed boost. Good for chasing and stacking Magic Resist.
3.
Guardian Angel
- change your Warmog's Armor into this for extra AD for your auto. With extra life, you can chase, gank and kill again.
Leona Runes
Best Runes for Leona
(Main Rune for Overall Situation)
Aftershock
- is your main rune for defense and offense when engaging. The effect of this rune is like your 2nd Ability which means more defense for you and the damage to the enemies around you afterwards.
Weakness
- since she has so many stuns, additional 5% damage is good for more damage even though your a tank.
Adaptive Carapace
- is good if your HP is below 50% this gives you additional defenses. Even in low health, you can still fight against them or flee and still can survive the aftermath.
Pack Hunter
- she is good at initiating a fight and can pretty much set your ADR or ypur team to your target. With this rune, if you manage to kill the target, you both gain gold. Good for kills and assist in teamfight especially for a support who rely on assists.
(Alternative Rune to Consider)
Bone Plating
- if happens your being peeled early, this rune will help you sustain their damage so you can at least survive from their harrass. Also, good for enduring some damage along with your 2nd Ability and Aftershock rune so that you can maintain your health whenever in teamfights.
Loyalty
- only use this if you want to be a completely support where you always stick to your ADR throughout the game to maake sure the bonus defenses still applies even you engage.
Manaflow Band
- alternative rune if your struggling on managing your mana. Extending your mana pool will give you more ability spamming.
Sweet Tooth
- pick this rune if you want more additional 60 gold by either stepping on it or being near while your ADR do the stepping. Since your going to roam around the map, try to pick some fruits along your way. It will keep you healthy and gives you free gold.
Skill Order
How to distribute skill points
Summoner Spells
When to take which summoners
Combos
Learn how to maximize the champions potential
(Quick Sweep)
This combo is your main harrass after you engage. It will quickly follow up the stun from your 3rd Ability or Ultimate with this.
Note: Your 1st Ability is an Auto Attack Reset meaning it will instantly Auto Attack Leona before/after using it.
Tip: It can pretty much remove the enemy ward upon placing near you before disappearing with this combo. Practice this so you will have no problem auto attack reset, it also works on other champions who have these effect, too (e.g. Camile's 1st Ability or Fiora's 3rd Ability for example).
(Initiation/Gank Combo)
This combo is your main engage whenever you are initiating a fight or ganking. It will stun lock your target to its position especially using your ultimate. Do not forget to apply Ignite to your taget, too.
Tip: If you know or already lock your 3rd Ability on the enemy, quickly press your 2nd Ability so you already on cast your defenses when going towards to you target and explode very early afterwards.
(All-In Combo)
If you happens to hit your ultimate and stun the target, you can pretty much all in and do the main combo.
Tip: You can add Gargoyle Enchant anywhere in your combo since your the first one coming to them and attacked. With a resistance of a steel, you can burn their abilities or maybe wasting their ultimate to you and when gour teammate follows up, they don't have any abilities to fight against. Or Redeeming Enchnat will work, too...
Leona Matchups & Counters
Detailed information on how to play matchups and counters
She excel at healing and killing herself so either focus on her to cancel her healing skills or harrass her ADR and disengage so that she will burn her HP in no time.
Conclusion
Leona is a very good champion and balance in any elo there is. Her kit are literal build for engage and kills not only she's very tanky but also good on locking down her opponents. The build set up can be vary on enemies' champion. She is very flexible against them and works pretty much to it. With the help of your team, any teamfights can be won and always on your favor.
Good Leona players will always watch her map, predict on where the enemy is, roam and hunt any free kills and gank like a jungler would do.
Bad Leona players will go in with or without her teammate to follow up, spam her abilities unnecessarily, and run first in a middle of the fight.
These are the common traits when using her and basically a typical player who will likely go do his thing and doesn't care about his teammate. With that said, I almost cover her overall best feature, her strengths and weaknesses, and her typical/stiuational builds. Hopefully this guide will help you throughout your journey as a support tank Leona and who wants to main her! That's all for today, thank you for reading my guide!!!
Rocketmania, signing out, Peace~~~
Write a guide!
