Gwen is one of the most overpowering champions in League of Legends. Her strong kit that includes incredible sustain and massive DPS make her a force to be reckoned with. Here’s everything you need to know to get you started playing the Hallowed Seamstress.

Most new champions are pretty overpowered once they are released into the game and Gwen is no exception. Until now, she remains a very strong pick thanks to being virtually unkillable in the right circumstances. Add to that her ability to deal True Damage and you have a champion that can absolutely decimate the enemy team on her own. She has very low cooldowns, great wave clear, and she excels in scaling come the late game. It’s safe to say that Gwen is a champion worth sinking your time into.

Abilities

Gwen’s kit is all about dealing sustained melee magic damage.

Passive – Thousand Cuts

Gwen’s basic attacks and damaging abilities deal [1% (+0.8% per 100) target’s max] bonus on-hit magic damage. Basic attacks against champions will heal her for 60% of the damage dealt. Deals bonus damage against minions under 40% health, and is capped at 10 (+25%) bonus magic damage against monsters.

Thousand Cuts is the source of your sustain and true damage against champions. It’s the most important ability in your kit as you’ll be relying on it to maximize your damage output. The healing from this ability is also amazing and makes Gwen incredibly hard to duel.

Q – Snip Snip!

Passive: Gwen gains a stack of Snippy when she hits an enemy with an attack for 6 seconds, up to 4.

Active: Gwen rapidly snips her scissors between two and six times, dealing magic damage in a cone. At a minimum, Gwen will snip twice, adding one snip per stack of Snippy. Enemies in the center of each snip take true damage, as well as the bonus magic damage from Thousand Cuts.

Snip Snip! Is your bread and butter. You’ll be using this ability in most of your combos. When fully stacked, this ability deals massive damage.

W – Hallowed Mist

Gwen spins up the Hallowed Mist to surround her for five seconds, gaining 20 (+5%) bonus Armor and Magic Resist when in it. Enemies outside the Mist cannot target Gwen or hit her with any abilities. The mist will move to follow Gwen the first time she tries to leave it, but will dissipate the next time.

This is part of the reason why Gwen is very difficult to duel in a melee matchup. Hallowed Mist gives her a small AoE where she gains bonus armor and magic resist while also being immune to abilities from enemies outside the mist. In short, they have to come up to you up close in order to hit you with their abilities including crowd control.

E – Skip ‘n Slash

Gwen dashes a short distance and empowers her attacks with 100 bonus range, increased attack speed and on-hit magic damage for four seconds. Attacking an enemy during this time refunds 60% of this ability’s cooldown.

Skip ‘n Slash is your main mobility spell. It helps you move faster and reposition quickly in tight situations while giving you bonus damage on your basic attacks.

R – Needlework

Gwen can cast Needlework up to three times, but needs to hit an enemy within 8 seconds to unlock each subsequent cast. Each cast fires needles in a line that deal magic damage, slow enemies (reduced at subsequent casts), and apply Gwen’s Thousand Cuts’ bonus magic damage. The first cast will fire one needle, the second will fire three, and the final cast will fire five, for a total of nine needles and nine applications of Thousand Cuts to enemies hit.

Needlework is a great ultimate that also applies Thousand Cuts making it a great source of true damage. You use this to weave in and out of your combos slipping in some basic attacks to make the most out of your damage potential.

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to items, all you need to do is increase Gwen’s Ability Power, sustain, and survivability.

Starting Items

For your starting items, you have two choices. For the most part, you’ll be going with Doran’s Ring for the mana regen and ability power it provides. That’s enough to get you through the laning phase. However, if you’re against a champion that likes to play aggressively like say, Irelia or Fiora, you’ll be better off with Corrupting Potion as your starting item. This will help you sustain early on and lets you keep up with aggressive melee champions when they try to trade or duel you.

Mythic Item

For your Mythic item, the best overall choice is Riftmaker. It gives you all the stats you need plus it boosts your already impressive sustain thanks to the Omnivamp it gives. The only other alternative that would fit Gwen’s playstyle is Crown of the Shattered Queen. This item is great mostly because of the safeguard passive it provides which negates a bit of damage whenever you duel with an enemy. It’s great when you’re your team’s only frontliner and you need to dive the enemy team’s backline to initiate fights.

Full Build

After purchasing your desired Mythic, upgrade into tier 2 boots. The standard for most Top Laners is Plated Steelcaps but you can switch it for Mercury’s Treads if you feel like you’ll need it. Next, go for Nashor’s Tooth for the on hit damage, ability power, and attack speed. Then you’ll need Cosmic Drive to help you kite around your opponents and to increase your overall mobility. At this point, you’ll need Zhonya’s Hourglass for all the stats it gives and the stasis active which can be handy in a lot of close call situations. Finish off your build with a Morellonomicon which imbues your basic attacks with Grievous wounds.

Runes

For your runes, go with the Precision tree and take Conqueror as your keystone. This will massively increase both your sustain and damage in extended fights. Next, take Triumph for the bonus sustain, Legend: Alacrity to increase your attack speed, and Last Stand to help you deal more damage when you are low on health. For secondaries, take Bone Plating and Unflinching from the Resolve tree. Bone Plating will give you bonus resistances and Unflinching will help you stick to your targets better. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. When playing as Gwen, you should always be attacking your enemies. Not only does she deal bonus damage when doing so, her attacks empower or reset many of her abilities.
2. Gwen is countered by Mordekaiser, Aatrox, Akali, Illaoi, and Tryndamere. If you’re matched up against these champions, try to play it safe instead of being aggressive.
3. For summoner spells, always take Flash and Teleport. Flash is the go to utility spell that gives you another form of escape while Teleport allows you to have a better global presence around the map.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Gwen in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!