Whenever I play Leona, I seem to fall behind very slightly at the beginning which ends up being catastrophic with her as being behind on Leona feels like a Death Knell.
Anyone have any tips for playing her? I love her Project Skin but can't seem to get the hang of it. If I don't make a few good plays early, it seems I fall behind and become too squishy to do my job (thanks to low income)
jaymc11302 votesFirst tip, rush bamis cinder. Not SS. The combat power from bamis is huge in bot lane trades before laning phase ends, get your sight stone after. Me, personally, I just go straight up combat stats until lane phase ends and I really need the wards. Bamis rush > Sheen > Sunfire. At that point the lack of vision may start to hamper us so I'll swap my purchase priorities and pick it up on that front. The combination of Sunfire and Tri Force is ridiculously strong on her. I'm easily able to solo carries, and NO support really wants to try to go toe to toe. Stack defense after that, armor, MR, hp. If you are pretty far ahead you can go for hourglass and abysal combo for some REAL oomph to those trades, but more often than not I find myself picking up a Zz'rot and an aegis piece.
Be AGGRESSIVE early in lane with leo. The level 2 power spike is huge. If you can cheese em then, its usually a kill in one trade, definitely a kill on the second combo opportunity. The level 3 spike is nothing to sneeze at either, that shield really lets her trade at an advantage. Once you hit 6 and are fairly certain of where the enemy jg is its time to go for the massive all in and try for the double kill. Only things like Morgana or Tahm make this really difficult.
In the mid game stages you want to be wandering around and anticipating where the next fight will be. Be there, be ready, and start stun locking people when you see an opportunity to take the aggression to the enemy team. In a truly big team fight focus on peeling for the carries or stunning a priority target. Save the ult for peel almost always, unless you KNOW you guys can win the fight by using it aggressively. Don't get so tunneled that you forget to protect your adc and mid laner.
Late game just go ham. Its hard to mess up with leo late, shes got so much cc on short cds, that you can almost throw stuff out willy nilly and not screw up. Just be sure you prioritize the RIGHT targets when you do this. Don't let the Yi stay untouched while you lock down the the braum.
ADepressedLeona1 votesI feel like you NEED to rush SS on Leona (especially on Leona) One successful enemy gank can absolutely ruin you.
Azure Hamster2 votesThe most important thing with Leona is knowing when to engage and when not to. Since you have no escape, you're committed once you E.
In teamfights, make sure you're ccing the most dangerous enemy.
Build tanky. Look at the popular and winning builds here: http://champion.gg/champion/Leona
On the mechanics side, learning to chain your cc properly helps. Hit the target with R, and wait until the stun is almost gone, then time your E to land right when it's over. Follow up with Q. They're stunned a long time when you chain this properly.
Learn to cc people when your ADC is in range to assist. I main Cait, and if I see Leona land some cc, I drop in a trap for the extra headshot.
Chamuel852 votesty!
Bodhizapha2 votes[{quoted}](name=Azure Hamster,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=s4ul86Zn,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2016-07-29T20:40:05.500+0000)
The most important thing with Leona is knowing when to engage and when not to. Since you have no escape, you're committed once you E.
In teamfights, make sure you're ccing the most dangerous enemy.
Build tanky. Look at the popular and winning builds here: http://champion.gg/champion/Leona
On the mechanics side, learning to chain your cc properly helps. Hit the target with R, and wait until the stun is almost gone, then time your E to land right when it's over. Follow up with Q. They're stunned a long time when you chain this properly.
Learn to cc people when your ADC is in range to assist. I main Cait, and if I see Leona land some cc, I drop in a trap for the extra headshot.
This^ I could not have said it better...with leona you are all in or nothing. Stay close to your adc, and go in when you know they can back you up....the biggest issue with leona is going all in when you will be caught out alone. also use W then E then Q....soon as you Q use the ult if your are lvl 6 they will be stun locked and dead. Gl
Kempachi Taichou2 votesMake sure that you are playing with a compatible ADC and JG.
Then......
Engage engage engage the enemy... Picking up early kills and assists is necessary so you can afford the items needed to soak up damage from champions that are 2-3 levels and 2 full items ahead of you.
Linna Excel1 votesLeona's big problem overall is she has to win the game early. She's screwed if the game goes past 30 minutes.
jaymc11302 votes[{quoted}](name=Linna Excel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=s4ul86Zn,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-07-29T20:22:26.760+0000)
Leona's big problem overall is she has to win the game early. She's screwed if the game goes past 30 minutes.
Not at all true, but, same for any champion, faster games usually mean greater success because you were ahead and applied that advantage.
Chamuel851 votesHow not? She's a tank... on low income... most of the starting needs to be spent on almost non tank stats. 800g for 150hp? That combined with she's down 2 tank items end game (pinks and ruby... tho ruby is KIND of a tank item. 1600g for 500 hp isn't very good hto)
jaymc11301 votesHow not? She's a tank... on low income... most of the starting needs to be spent on almost non tank stats. 800g for 150hp? That combined with she's down 2 tank items end game (pinks and ruby... tho ruby is KIND of a tank item. 1600g for 500 hp isn't very good hto)
On leo, if you have a SS, its always best to upgrade it into an eye for slot efficiency. Locket is a better shield item than Face, and provides it for a whole team, and as you state she will need combat stats to remain effective.
Chamuel851 votesty!
ADepressedLeona1 votes1: Sometimes patience is key
Going hard isn't always the answer, sometimes it's best to let your ADC farm it out against some lane match ups (Janna, Ali, Braum to name a few) Against those types of supports, you have to be careful when picking your fights because they can make hard engage very difficult. Against Braum and Ali, for example, I like to counter engage (Just don't stand to close to your ADC against Ali because he can pulverize you both)
Now, that being said...
2: When you have an advantage, press it. Hard.
Leona excels at snowballing a lane. With even the tiniest advantage, you can turn bot lane into a buffet for your ADC. She has enough CC to make bot lane a nightmare for her enemies if they do not respect it.
3: This should go without saying but.. VISION
I find that vision is double important on Leona because nothing can screw you over harder than going for an all in just have the enemy top/jungle/mid come out and ruin your day. Leona has no outs once she's in, so you always want to make sure you're not out manned in fights.
4: CDR IS YOUR FRIEND
Stack that shit, and stack it hard. At 40% your Q is on a 3 second CD, which is extremely powerful late game, as you can literally just stick to someone and near perma stun them with your Q
5: Sometimes it's better to sit back and peel threats than hard engage all the time.
Leona isn't the best peel support, that much is true. But she can still stop people in their tracks with her Q and ult, and sometimes (depending on the team comp of course) it's better to stick with your ADC and focus on stunning anything that threatens them and let the rest of your team do the engaging.
Chamuel851 votesty!