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So, I've been playing Leona lately...

FantasySniper··20 votes·3,887 views

... in the jungle.

Edit: UPDATED AGAIN AGAIN

Runes; AS Marks, Armor Seals, MR Glyphs, and AS Quints. Masteries: 9 / 21 / 0 (Still trying out 0 / 16 / 14, but first impressions are that it is simply weaker with the below build) Items: Core; item 3718 item 3091 item 3025 Boots; item 3117 item 3111 item 3047 Offensive; item 3156 item 3001 item 3068 Defensive; item 3082 item 3190 item 3800

With the core, you get damage and tankiness all in one go. Devourer let's you farm and fight. Wit's End multiplies Devourer and gives MR. Iceborn Gauntlet gives literally every stat you could want and a passive that makes clearing faster and CC-ing better. Of the boots, I tend to just go with the flow. No matter what you're picking up from the offensive group, you're just getting a lot more damage while still acquiring survivability. Within the defensive group, these are reactionary buys for surviving against certain targets.

Start off with [Q], have a hard, smiteless leash on Red/Blu (whichever is nearest to bot). Level [W] next. Don't forget to say "ty" for the (hopefully adequate) leash. Proceed immediately to Gromp and use your potions. Smite Gromp at the start, after you kill it, take your next buff. You should have little over 1/3rd health left, but this is plenty to gank with. Take a Scuttler if you need even more health. After your first back, you should have enough gold for Sabre, boots, and pots. Gank whenever you can, your focus is getting gold for Devourer. Farm, gank whenever an opportunity presents itself, and don't forget about Dragon. Or the Scuttlers. Don't be afraid to buy pots afterwards, if a gank goes bad or you fall behind in level, you're going to need them.

Micro-Farming Tips: [Q] is an AA-reset. Use your stun just before the largest creep attacks so it doesn't connect. Use [W] just before being hit by the large creep to maximize the time with your armour. Don't use [E] while farming. It just wastes mana and time. Attack the big creep every other time early on, to optimize the DoT from the Jungler passive and Red. Focus on stunning the big creep with Heavy Hands. Don't overlap it with [Q]'s stun. Smite Gromp just before it attacks you to maximize time using the Toadstool Armour.

The only problems I've discovered thus far is that they need to prevent you both ganking and farming to make you less of a threat. Later on, slippery champs will pose the most threat to you, since it's harder to lock them down. Whatever you do, don't waste your ultimate trying to start a CC-combo. Between End and Gauntlet, pick up whichever resistance you need first, both build paths provide you damage anyways. You're so tanky that you have what feels like all the time in the world to hack away at your target with a damage steroid that scales as you farm. I've gotten double kills like nothing with this setup, and they can't do a thing about it once they're caught.

Author's Notes: I'd consider a good leash to be when they leave it at ≈200 health. I've thought about Nashor's Tooth and Rod of Ages, but I haven't tried them yet, nor do I think I ever will. I chose Sabre because of the wonderful fighting capability it provides. You don't really need the sustain from Trailblazer, nor the CC from Stalker. Yes, I tried Thresh, too. He isn't tanky enough to survive, and overall feels weak during the early game. It's also hard to collect souls while you're in the jungle. Maybe I just didn't kite the monsters nor leeched off of lanes enough, but that's my first impression.

Thank you for reading.

33 Comments

ChexMex6 votes

I love original guides , +1 OP

Kynami6 votes

Honestly you'd do well to have Righteous Glory in there after your jungle item and boots. Touch of extra sustain when leveling, decent health item to complement your inherent resists from W and any resist items you buy... and the power to just hit it when going in for the gank for a big 60% MS boost for you and potentially your nearby laner(s) allowing for a speedy catch.

And since said active only has a 60s cooldown, by the time you've gone back into jungle and done two more camps and are looking at the map for another gank opportunity its typically back up already.

FantasySniper1 votes

Willing to try, but Catalyst itself is something that's hard to pick up early enough, and putting off your other items can present a risk.

Dat synergy tho. Totally a great item if you can get it.

NorthernDruid1 votes

I figure you'd build item 3801 early if going for item 3800 because it's only 600g

FantasySniper1 votes

True. Doesn't make it easier to pick up Catalyst, though.

NorthernDruid1 votes

400g component parts, 400g combine cost.

It's easier than the Gian'ts belt for Sunfire Cape, which is a flat 1000g without any components.

rather costy in total, sure, but so are many items (it's on par with Sheen by the way, which is also 1200g in total with about 400g components)

On a totally unrelated note, now i wanna shove the relic shield line in there for collecting tax from the laners (and sustaining them a bit after the gank).

I mean, seriously, how to get people to be cool with you taxing the melee/cannon minions of a wave, let them in on the gold and get some light healing from it. :p

probably not a good idea though.

FantasySniper1 votes

Considering that it doesn't have any Gp5, you'd never get enough gold back to make that investment worthwhile, especially since you probably aren't upgrading it. Good idea, though.

NorthernDruid1 votes

item 3401 Face of the Mountain is 91.3% gold efficient without the passive and active effects. (source: lolwiki)

So with the right teamcomp (and a team that understands the passive (that's the real hard part i'd think)) It could be worth it, getting it instead of item 3800 if you don't need the initiation/slow effects, but could use some extra CDR.

So it depends on how much use you get out of spoils, how fast you manage to upgrade it, and how viable the shield really is.

I wouldn't choose it over something like item 3190 or item 3068. But it was a really fun idea to have. ^.^

At 2200 gold it's relatively cheap aswell (and will effectively cost less than that if you get some use out of the passive, well, not if you were gonna tax anyway, but it's still more gold for your team).

MattAkhavan4 votes

when i jungle leona i take the same runes but i use different masteries, 0/16/14 and i build tanky as her ap scaling is pretty bad. your build looks potent though i wanna try it out.

cshakes1 votes

One of my friends occasionally plays her toplane as an AD bruiser. item 3074 item 3078 + tank. Start Q and win all the lvl 1 trades

FantasySniper1 votes

To be honest, I picked up the masteries I have just because I already had them. When I looked up what others were trying for Leona jungle (Tho, there were literally only 3 results, and their contents were questionable), 0/16/14 did come up.

I think it's worth a try.

MattAkhavan1 votes

it's really easy to jungle with 0/16/14 you can clear the whole jungle i think first clear with it.

NorthernDruid1 votes

which specific 0/16/14 masteries would these be? some are obvious to me, particularily the utility ones but some of the defence stuff isn't qute that obvious.

I'd love to try out Leona jungle (if it's doable without specific runes

MattAkhavan1 votes

runes are really up to you, doesn't matter much. i think ad/as/armor will get you through the jungle fastest and with most health but i am not sure. I run a ton of health and armor/scaling mr since i always tank.

16 points in defensive.

  • you want tough skin and bladed armor
  • block and unyielding
  • hardiness and reinforced armor
  • both heal masteries
  • either regen or bonus armor, i do bonus armor because you get a ton of bonus armor when you W.

14 points in utility

  • you want alchemist
  • spell vamp/ life steal one
  • 40 extra gold one
  • and personally i like the buff duration one.
  • i also take biscuit
  • the rest is up to you
NorthernDruid1 votes

Thanks, i'm looking soo much forward to try jungling with her now! :D

Raptor67892 votes

Pretty sure her Q gives her a double AA reset if you auto, Q, then input an attack command immediately after your Q animation.

Tauros1131 votes

This. Starting q level 1 might actually get you a faster clear, but I don't remember (especially with new jungle). Auto, cancel it with the q attack, right click to cancel the q for a double AA reset.

IGotScuttleCrabs1 votes

Wits End is interesting but otherwise i like it. Leona jungle is really fun and viable

SpecterVonBaren1 votes

"Powerfarm throughout the rest of the game", why are you powerfarming as leona jungle?

ImHerVoice1 votes

you want a jungler thats CC tank? just play nautalis dude. lol

His passive doesnt require cooldowns to use. I don't even own nautalis cause I find CC tanks more boring than a fed assassin vs a team with zero GA's

Bouffon dAnglais1 votes

Did not see that one coming. xD

Cathaidan1 votes

I've played Leona Jungle a few times. Although, I'm not sure about devourer on her. She's far more potent as a ganking jungler than as a farming jungler. Her CC means you can pretty much pick a lane and get it fed at will.

fdissht1 votes

Honestly I'd go item 3713 or item 3706 , I've jungled leona every now and then before the jungle change and I've always built her tank. I wouldn't bother with the item 3091 or item 3156 because if I get fed enough to get an early item 3025 that's all the dmg I'll need. It's because leona has no damage, nothing scaling off of AD nor any AS steroid. So, imo, it's better to make her the team tank instead of a ad/tank or bruiser. Her passive and lockdown ability makes her a great at getting kills for her teammates, so in effect, getting your teammates fed.

Normally for summoners I go summoner 6 > summoner 11 , I lose out on flashing over walls and such but summoner 6 is better for catching up and running away. If enemy knows I'm coming to gank my combo would be summoner 6 > R > E > Q > item 3025 (passive)> and if they STILL somehow manage to get away item 3706 >summoner 11 .

FantasySniper1 votes

I've tried both of those jungle items: Trailblazer feels useless since it doesn't provide fighting utilities and you're already tanky enough to survive the jungle and gank before you have to back to spend gold. Stalker is redundant with how much CC you already have.

When you're building Devourer, Wit's End steals their MR and provides even more scaling for your on-hit damage. It takes about 3, maybe 4 seconds to build up the MR. Maw scales with the AS you're building and provides even more tankiness. Her AA reset and stickiness in general technically counts as an AD steroid, it's the only reason AD Leona ever was/is a thing.

Ghost can be redundant with how sticky you are and you already have a gap closer and a half. Using Flash means you can enter the fray without warning them or giving yourself away, especially since Flash cancels [E]'s animation. (I'm not wrong, right?)

fdissht1 votes

Well it depends, if you're just playing around having fun but semi-trying your build is perfectly fine.

If you're tryhard 24/7 (like me) I try to maximize my champions strong points. Like I said she has no AD modifier or AS steroid so you're making up for it by going item 3091 and item 3156 . In a game that you're already winning that may not be a problem, but in a tough toe to toe or back and forth battle it's usually best to do whats most beneficial for your team. Leona is a great tank, she soaks up tons of damage and throws out a ton of CC. Her damage output however, is completely item reliant meaning anybody can be equally, or stronger than her had they the exact same items. You might as well go jungle xin/jax/wu/shyv etc they are tanky and benefit greatly from most of the items mentioned above.

If AD leona was a thing, then get blood thirster instead of wits, higher attack dmg is better because AA reset doesn't benefit too much from AS compared to raw dmg.

Imagine mobi boots leona with ghost...they're not getting away, in terms of getting to point A>B from one end of a lane to another, ghost is much faster than flash. That's the point, even if the enemy sees you and knows you're coming, with ghost, they arn't gonna get away unless they saw you coming down river (inwhich case flash wouldn't have helped either). Also ghost has a shorter CD so thats another bonus, they can flash away from you if they want but you're still gonna catch up AND have ghost up before they have their flash up again.

Then again this could be me being overly serious about all this because while I believe my opinion, in the end it's whether YOU had fun or not

NorthernDruid1 votes

I'd rather build Essence Reaver that Bloodthirster, because I doubt Leona will benefit that much from the (10% greater) lifesteal+overheal shield, whereas the 10% CDR (and very minorly the mana sustain) could actually be kinda useful on her.

Depends on how often you get the shield stacked i guess

(not that i've actally tried anything like that with Leona)

Fluppets1 votes

Ive tried her a few times as well and obviously there isnt a perfect build for her, but I am trying things slightly differently.

Rather than trying to fill in her weaknesses I just try to maximise her strengths. Leona is Burst damage, tanky and she has virtually no scaling, but relatively high base damage. So I am not looking for AP, because I have bad ratios/high base damage, I dont much care for AD, but I do want to do some damage that synergises with my Burst pattern.

Im not going to spend time in the jungle so I wont be stacking a devourer, Im going to be ganking ALOT, so I want to maximise effectiveness in this area, rather than compensate in a weaker area (farming/sustain).

first back: item 3706 + item 3117 + item 3057 Core item 3078 or item 3025 >> item 3068 >> item 3709 Situational Tanky: item 3190 item 3102 item 3143 item 3075 item 3110

21/9/0 + AS/CDR/hybrid pen/armor Runes for better clears and a higher impact on my early ganks, Leona can do a suprising amount of damage in the early phase of the game with her base damage and weaving Sheen procs. I rely on W for tankyness in the early game and build tanky after first damage item.

I max W > Q > E

Still testing obviously, so what Im going to try is item 3074. She has some sustain problems, this might help, however I dont feel like building two Damage items and I dont see me dropping Sheen... Ill see how it goes.

I dont see wit's end working out, she has no AS synergy and you wont be farming the jungle to stack devourer, her kit screams gank. In fact Id always go for a lvl 2 cheese, even if its just with Q stun.

FantasySniper1 votes

Building Devourer+Wit's End is for covering the weakness she has in clear speed and solo fighting capability. Yes, it's gimmicky, but it works because you are still building tanky while always stacking damage, too. Should you be unable to gank, you can always just farm, and you're able to easily recover from being behind because of that. It gives you kill potential while your CC is still supporting your team. Lock down someone with your CC and a Challenging Smite, you'll either kill people quickly or at least keep them in place for your team to finish off. I recommend building more for damage if you're using 21 in offense, and a Ravenous Hydra does that pretty well. Maybe replace Sunfire Cape, and be sure to build a Randuin's after that.

Fluppets2 votes

Yeah, but its sorta like Rammus rushing mobi boots + homeguard to gank relentlessly because his ganks were just such a guaranteed succes. The trick is not to start with E, just walk upto them and wait for their gap-closer/flash and then E.

FantasySniper1 votes

It's pretty funny to see them blow their escapes while I'm still cutting off their escape route :P

Myrodriann1 votes

Just tried this build out for myself. Its a good idea but I personally didn't succeed with it. I won my 1 hour long game with it, but it was just meh. The start is sooo slow and tricky, you have to be precise. The attack speed wasn't exactly a good idea. I had pretty decent burst though. Flat AP building does waaay more damage than this. But it was pretty fun, I'll give you that

Raemnant1 votes

Would you think is is better than Shen jungle? Hes what I play jungle wise, and he has very nice sustain with his Q and W, and once he builds his item 3068 , his clear time goes up pretty well. Most of the time you dont really build damage on Shen jungle, past his item 3057 item of your choice though. His is a more "Hard gank with taunt when you can, but most of the time you farm and do ult baits"

FantasySniper1 votes

Comparably, Leona locks them down better and potentially has the better late-game. Shen will have the better reaction time and map pressure, though, and his counter-ganking will be insane.

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