Lee Sin is one of those champions that takes a little more practice to play effectively, but is extremely rewarding and fun when mastered. As you can see from the item builds I provided, he is very versatile. There is not just "one correct way" to build Lee Sin in order to be successful playing as him.

His skills give him both amazing survivability and great damage output (burst and sustained if played correctly).

Though I play Lee Sin both as a solo laner and a jungler, this guide will focus on the jungling aspect to him.




[WARNING: VERY THOROUGH GUIDE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK]

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• Jungle Routes have been updated in the "Jungling" section since the jungle remake 12/1
• UPDATED JUNGLE ROUTES AGAIN, INCLUDING THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF STARTING ITEMS/PATH 12/7
• Added new replay "Lee Sin camp bot solo baron" 12/7

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The masteries were changed in the patch of 11/15/11. So what does this mean for junglers?

In my opinion, jungling has received a slight buff. Whether you want to go all into the offensive tree, or all into the defensive tree, your effectiveness as a jungler probably increased.

For Lee Sin, I go into the offensive tree as I did before the patch. Each tier of the offensive tree is better than the next, and even improves his late game. They just seem to make a lot more sense.

For example:
+3 AD is amazing for Lee since he scales so well.
+4 dmg to minions
+6% attack speed
Havoc + 1.5% damage output overall
3% lifesteal
Armor penetration (+6 and 10%)
EXECUTIONER WILL BE F*CKING OP ON LEE SIN. There is SO much synergy with his . You can basically take out any squishy at 40% hp (almost guaranteed).


The 9 in the defensive tree allows you to clear the jungle at a great pace and makes it literally impossible to fail. You should never be low in your jungle again.
The flat resistances you get are great ofc, but the bigger picture is the bladed armor. Taking less damage from creeps and having that mini thornmail effect makes jungling so much easier. Despite the recent jungle changes, your jungling is still really fast and incredibly healthy, as I will demonstrate in videos later in this guide.

You can pretty much use whatever combination of runes you prefer for Lee Sin. 25 armor pen, 13 armor, 13 mr, works really well, and you can even just go all out AD.

For my runes, I go 12 armor penetration, 13 armor yellows , 13 flat magic resist (blues optional), and 8.6 AD.

Along with your masteries, you start with 18 armor penetration, so you'll have more than enough to deal true damage to golems as well as to squishy mid and bot laners(camp that gives easiest exp). I take the extra AD over some armor pen because you have multiple skills that scale off of AD. So not only will your jungling be more efficient, but your early ganks will hurt a lot more.

Flat armor seals are self-explanatory.

I get smite for obvious reasons. NEVER jungle without smite.

Flash is just amazing on Lee Sin.

Using flash offensively:
1. Flash into range, and shoot
2. Flash onto target if surrounded by obstacles (ie, minions) to
3. To gank/pick a target off: flash behind target and their ass to your team

Using flash defensively (for escapes):
1. Flash over ledges
2. Dodge skillshots (ie, Ashe arrows, etc)
3. Flash into range of your minions, teammates, wards so you can to them

These are only a few examples to what you can do with flash.

After Lee Sin uses an ability, his next 2 basic attacks gain 50% Attack Speed and return 10 energy each.


AMAZING passive. It makes Lee Sin's damage output that much scarier and is a reason why he is such a strong 1v1er and jungler.





Sonic Wave: Lee Sin projects a discordant wave of sound to locate his enemies, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.9 per bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to the first enemy it encounters. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike for the next 3 seconds.

Resonating Strike: Lee Sin dashes to the enemy hit by Sonic Wave, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.9 per bonus Attack Damage) physical damage plus 10% of their missing health.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds


In my opinion, this is the best finisher in the game. A lot of people don't know how strong this ability really is. If the enemy is around 30% or below, it is almost a guaranteed kill(depending on the target of course). Look at this... Sonic Wave has a +90% bonus attack damage ratio on it. Okay great, BUT Resonating Strike ALSO has a +90% bonus ad ratio as well! That means the total for the skill is 180% bonus ad ratio! That is just INSANE dmg output throughout the entire game, and explains why I use flat ad quints.





Safeguard: Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both from 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 (+80% per Ability Power) damage. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.

Iron Will: Lee Sin's intense training allows him to thrive in battle. For 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains5/10/15/20/25 lifesteal, spell vamp, and armor.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 8 seconds


This skill is the reason why Lee Sin is so damn hard to kill. He can just dive into your turret range, kill you, and safeguard back out. If he has a ward on him, he can place it over ledges, into bushes, anywhere, and safeguard to it to help him escape (juke). Safeguard is also great for saving teammates! There have been so many instances where I've saved a teammate by taking a Caitlyn ult for them, or shielding them from a turret shot, Vlad ult, you name it. Use your imagination because the list goes on.

Iron will allows Lee Sin to stay in fights longer than other champions can. If you don't feel like recalling back to heal or shop, you can simply go to the nearest creeps (when safe to do so), and turn on Iron Will to leech your life back. In conjunction with wriggle's lantern, bloodthirster, or hextech gunblade, you can easily leech most/all of your life back with only a few autoattacks. The spellvamp also works for smite or wriggle's procs. Also, you will spellvamp so much life back with the damage that you'll be dealing with your skills, too.




Tempest: Lee Sin smashes the ground sending out a shockwave that deals 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+0.6 per bonus Attack Damage) magic damage and reveals enemy units hit. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast cripple for the next 3 seconds.

Cripple: Lee Sin cripples nearby enemies revealed by Tempest, reducing their Movement and Attack Speed by 30 / 37.5 / 45 / 52.5 / 60 % for 4 seconds. Movement and Attack Speed recover gradually over the duration.

Cost 50/30 energy

Cooldown 10 seconds

Range 450


This ability allows you to farm, take minimal dmg from the jungle, prevent an enemy from running away, save an ally from an enemy with a hard-on for them, or secure skills. I won't ramble on for this skill like I did for the others.





Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick launching his target back, dealing 200 / 400 / 600 (+2.0 per bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to the target and any enemies they collide with. Enemies the target collides with are knocked into the air for a short duration.

Cost 0 energy

Cooldown 90 / 75 / 60 seconds


My favorite ultimate in the game by far. You can easily turn a teamfight into your favor with one good kick. If you're able to hit even 2 people with it, job well done. 3 or more? You're God.
+200% bonus attack damage... simply ridiculous. To finish an enemy, just Q, R, then Q them again. He can easily drop an enemy from half life with this combo. I'm not going to lecture about how else to use this ultimate. Like I said, use your imagination.


Note: Be sure to throw in autoattacks between your skills to both utilize the attack speed given, AND to get your energy back.

Stable/Sustained Route
Skill Order:

Start:

1) Wolves
2) Wraiths
3) Red Buff (smite Red)
4) Golems
5) Wraiths
6) Wolves
7) Blue buff
8) Wraiths
9) Golems, ETC.
*Feel free to gank any time between the steps if you see any opportunity to do so. You want to utilize that red buff as much as possible. If a lane is overextended, do not hesitate to gank it even if you don't get a kill. Just be sure to apply pressure to show that jungle presence.






Gank Bot Early
Skill Order:

Start: , , OR

Route #1 - Blue Team (Route can also be used to gank top lane when on purple team)
1) Golems (have teammates leash)
2) Wraiths
3) Red
4) Golems (you should now be level 3)
5) Gank!
*If counterjungling, you want to get out of there fast, in which case I would go Wraiths>Red>Golems>Gank.




Route #2 - Purple Team
1) A. Wolves B. Smite enemy Big Wraith
2) Go back and take your Blue Golem
3) Gank bottom lane through river ward, or through bottom bush



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Since the mastery and jungle changes, my favorite route would have to be the Stable/Sustained Route. With the along with your masteries, you are literally full HP all jungle long.

So for the "Gank bot" route, you may be wondering, "Which items should I start with?" So let's analyze our options:

1)

• Cost-efficient
• Lee Sin can literally jungle forever with it

Depending on how much gold you've saved up, you will either get , , or ideally, .
You do NOT want to just get a Wriggle's without boots. Mobility is KEY to any jungler, especially Lee Sin who can apply crazy amounts of pressure throughout the entire game.


2)

• Extreme durability
• Allows you to get faster
• Can gank often and not be afraid to

As with the Vampiric Scepter, you want to get as soon as possible (ALWAYS). Build your as soon as possible into .


3)

• High mobility
• Really strong counterjungling item
• Allows you to pressure lanes more effectively

Similarly to starting with Cloth Armor, you want to rush starting with .


No matter what item you start out with, do not forget to buy ! As soon as you've gotten your Wriggle's Lantern, or Madred's Razors even, you want to have you or your support buy and clear dragon. If the front of dragon is clear, then you can Q in from behind to avoid any river/tribush wards (if on Blue Team), or have one of your teammates come help you with it. With Wriggle's, you can easily solo dragon though (pray that you get enough procs to make it quicker/healthier).

I start off with a point into to clear wraiths fast. Afterwards, once I level up from killing big wolf, I get one point into to help sustain my hp at a healthy level in the jungle. I max out first because it is your main source of burst damage. Afterwards, I max for all the points I mentioned in the "Skills" section above. I just feel that it is way more important than . I max last because I just put one point into it for the slow that it provides.

To sum it all up... > > >

After you've gotten your and , you want to build some damage. If your team is not doing very well and you don't have enough for , are a cheap source of dmg and survivability. is also a good source of damage + surivability. However, it loses effectiveness as the game drags on, so your choice whether you want it or not.

*If the other team has little or no cc at all, getting after is still really strong without any other dmg items*

EDIT: I have been getting a lot on Lee Sin recently and love it. Good alternative to . Sure the bonus movement speed only applies to when you're out of combat, but once you're in combat, people shouldn't be able to run away from you unless they blow their summoner spells. Plus, that extra movement speed may just be enough to help you get to teamfights faster, save an ally, catch up to enemies. Trust me, it works.

If your team is doing really well and you're fed, you can get a or even a if you're that rich (which actually happens very often in a lot of my games). If you are even more baller and hold 3.6k+, Since the gunblade nerf, the 40 AD received from it hit Lee Sin too hard. Now that it's been nerfed to shit for AD champs, if I want extra dmg for a glass cannon build, I will almost always get or . is a great item to rush if you had an amazing early game that'll just keep snowballing. is pricier, but safer. Plus, along with the attack speed you'll get from your passive, you'll be knocking out crits pretty often.


If you're still getting fed out of your mind, would be the next logical choice. The only stat you DON'T need is the mana (no shit!). If you feel like you need more life, get as your first piece. Otherwise, I'd grab a then a because it shoots your damage output way up! Then pick up as your last item to finish.



Situational:
As I mentioned earlier, Lee Sin is an extremely versatile champion. If you need to be more beefy, the combination is always a good choice. If you feel like being a little more annoying, the slow/dmg from is a nice alternative.
I've also gotten a few times on Lee Sin before and I have no complaints. If you're looking for a cheaper option to make you beefier, grab one of them! It helps you AND your team = <3

NOTE: In this current meta, your lanes usually consist of squishy champions (well mid and bot lane at least are). If you're doing well, you could just go for or if you know that your team will need that tanky presence. Just follow it with a and you're golden.



In the clip below, you'll see the OP OLD gunblade in action. Keep in mind I was pretty fed this game, but it's a ranked game 2000 elo from season 1 nonetheless.

For teamfights, you want to your squishy teammates when they're being targeted, or even tanks when they're getting low. Whether you're built more as a glass cannon, or took the tanky route, you need to peel enemies off of teammates when they are being pursued. This is where your comes in.

Any time you see an enemy who is out of position, to them if possible and safe to do so. Then them to allow your team to catch up and take them out, making it a 5v4.

Save your for times when the enemy is clustered together. If your team is retreating with the enemy team chasing close behind, the closest one to hit as many enemies as possible. With the damage that you'll be dishing it, it is likely that that kick could turn the teamfight into your favor.

Don't forget to utilize your passive! In longer teamfights, you want to space out your skills still, otherwise you'll run out of energy in no time and not be as effective for the rest of the fight.

SUMMARY:
: to catch enemies out of position, to chase, to finish, to just deal heavy damage on a single target
: to protect, to escape, to bait
: to peel, to slow dps champions and reduce their dmg output, to secure kills
: to cc multiple targets (especially the carry), to flee, to secure kill, to isolate a target (though I do not recommend using it on just ONE enemy if you can help it), to look cool



This following video will demonstrate the various uses of Lee Sin's ultimates and how it should be done.

(also found in other guide)

Upon request, I am now adding this section on "counter jungling".

Statement #1: Lee Sin is a strong jungler who can counterjungle.
TRUE, all junglers are able to counter jungle. Common sense.

Statement #2: Lee Sin is able to resist being counterjungled.
TRUE
Reasons:
1) He stays healthy throughout jungling due to no matter which route you take.
2) His heavy single-target damage output with the combination of his skills/passive will most likely overwhelm enemy jungler if he encounters him.

Lee Sin is a very healthy jungler, meaning that he will be able to clear it while maintaining a good amount of hp.
When counterjungling as Lee Sin, do it as you would with another champion like or for example. If you know the enemy jungler is starting at blue, why not take his small golems and wraiths, and then proceed to your own jungle? There isn't a specific counterjungling path exclusive to Lee Sin, but start with . ( This item start is much more safer than . Since Lee Sin isn't very reliant on potions, you will have them for reassurance in case you encounter the enemy jungler, or somehow fail at one of the camps.

Ballsy route - Starting at enemy small golems: Start with at level 1, and start attacking when they spawn. When one golem is low enough, make sure you activate your Iron Will so that you get the spellvamp from the smite kill. After both golems are dead, you will be level 2, so add to . Place your ward at his red buff. Then take his wraiths with E, autoattack the big wraith twice, E again, and autoattack the rest of the wraiths.

Wuss route - Starting at enemy wraiths: In this route, starting with is fine. Kill them as you would when performing my jungle route. Start with at level 1. Smite big wraith immediately when it spawns. Finish the others with E and autoattacks. Continue your route by going back to your wolves->wraiths->golems, etc. Recall, buy cloth armor, and go blue->wolves->wraiths->golems->red, TADA!


Lee Sin is a really strong counterjungler because all of his skills help out his jungle! If you see the enemy working on a camp, say wraiths, you an try to steal one with from a safe distance. If you successfully steal a minion, he does not get any of that exp. If you invade him and happen to encounter him, be agressive. to slow him, autoattack twice, autoattack, . After this combo, they should be pretty beaten up. This may force them to recall, giving you a slight edge over them. However, pay attention to whether the enemy champions in the other lanes are coming to get you or not.

Of course there are different techniques for counterjungling, but if you wanted more info, theoddone's Nunu guide is a pretty good place to start.


*NOTE: Counterjungling is not limited to just early game. You should counterjungle throughout the entire game whenever safe to do so. Just make sure that you or your teammates ward his jungle up. If you see the enemy jungler nowhere near you and/or have their jungle warded, feel free to just roam into his jungle and take whatever camps are up. If you are in the area and know you can beat him, don't be afraid to be the bully and invade to maybe pick up a kill.
Not sure if taking dragon is considered counterjungling, but if you see him ganking a lane, say top, and there are at least two enemies there, that should be a free dragon for you. Call your team over ASAP and take it! Same applies to killing Baron if your team is strong enough and near the area. Lee Sin can Baron quickly with his attack speed, and wriggles in addition to his . Your is especially strong as Baron gets lower, so take advantage of that for a quick baron.

If you've been with me reading through this mess of a guide, then thank you so much. I really appreciate it since I put a lot of effort into it, being my first guide and all. Anyways, feel free to leave any questions or comments below.

By the way, my livestream can be found at http: www.twitch.tv/ezsychosid so make sure to subscribe to that if you want to know whenever I'm going to be streaming!

Youtube channel for all kinds of clips is: www.youtube.com/bennyhungry (subscribe!)

I have removed the previous replays so that all the replays that I upload now will be after the jungle remake.

Lee Sin gank bot route 9-1-8
http://www.leaguereplays.com/replays/match/21789/
This game is ganking bot early with red buff. I continuously gank bot lane throughout the game because our Soraka (puregoldenboy) constantly kept me informed about whether they had any wards in their lane or not, which made for easy ganks/dragon control.

Lee Sin camp bot solo baron 10-1-10
http://www.leaguereplays.com/replays/match/33511/
This replay demonstrates a new way to adjust to the new jungle. Note in the game that I literally NEVER go to my blue golem/wolves side of the map. I constantly keep pressure on the middle and bottom lanes to assert dragon control, and only take wraiths and golems when they respawn. Wolves are not worth anything after the jungle remake, and this new route I've done in this replay shows how I still keep up with the laning levels despite not clearing wolves as well.
I solo'd Baron Nashor near the end of the video since the game was pretty much over halfway in. Ignore the second wriggles... I just bought it for lulz.