Tank Supports are very underrated in the current meta. Which is why, Leona can be a surprise pick that can catch your opponents off guard. Here’s everything you need to know to get you started playing the Radiant Dawn.

Leona is a Tank that specializes in initiation and engaging enemies. Her kit is full of crowd control that allows her to play aggressively and favors all in situations. She can easily exert a lot of kill pressure early on even without her ultimate. She has excellent roaming potential and can help other lanes secure leads just by her mere presence. On top of all of these, she’s very easy to pick up and play.

Abilities

Leona’s kit is mostly focused on crowd control and peeling for her team.

Passive – Sunlight

Damaging spells afflict enemies with Sunlight for 1.5 seconds. When allied Champions deal damage to those targets, they consume the Sunlight to deal additional magic damage.

Sunlight is the perfect passive for a champion like Leona. This lets her allied champions deal more damage to their targets if Leona hits them with her other abilities.

Q – Shield of Daybreak

Next basic attack deals bonus magic damage and stuns for 1 second.

Shield of Daybreak is your primary trading spell. You’ll use this mostly to set up targets for your team to focus on during fights.

W – Eclipse

Grants bonus Armor, Magic Resist, and flat damage reduction for 3 seconds. When the effect ends, nearby enemies struck take magic damage and Leona retains her bonus Armor and Magic Resist for 3 seconds.

Eclipse is a buff to Leona’s tank stats. It lets her be more durable, allowing her to soak more hits while also dealing damage to enemies around her. 

E – Zenith Blade

Strikes all enemies in a line dealing magic damage. The last enemy Champion stuck will be rooted for 0.5 seconds and Leona will dash to them.

Zenith Blade is your primary initiation tool as it helps you stick to your target better. It lets you dash to a target and roots them for half a second, allowing you to follow up with your other forms of crowd control. 

R – Solar Flare

Calls down a radiant beam of solar energy dealing magic damage and slowing enemies by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the flare are stunned instead of slowed.

Leona’s ultimate is great for team fights. It’s an absolute game changer that can win the fight or at least turn the tides in your favor when used correctly. 

Runes and Item Builds

Like any typical Tank Support, your build path on Leona should be focused on increasing her survivability and durability.

Starting Items

For your starting items, go with Relic Shield. This gives you everything you need to start the game. It helps you sustain yourself as well as your Bot Lane partner. Later on, this item will turn into Targon’s Buckler which can hold ward charges that you can place anywhere on the map. 

Mythic Items

For your Mythic item, you really only have two choices: Locket of the Iron Solari or Sunfire Aegis. Locket of the Iron Solari is the better option as it gives you all the stats you need plus an active shield that also affects your allies. If you need to be more tanky, you can go for Sunfire Aegis. Otherwise, stick with Locket of the Iron Solari.

Full Build

After purchasing your Mythic item, upgrade into tier 2 boots. The standard for tanks is Plated Steelcaps but you can swap it out for Mercury’s Treads if you feel like you need it. Zeke’s Convergence is the next item you’ll need to buff up your stats and to sync better with your Bot Lane partner. Next, go for Thornmail for the health, armor, and return damage. After, you’ll need Knight’s Vow so that you can take a bit of damage for your lane partner. Top off your build with Redemption so that you get more resistances and an active AoE heal.

Runes

For your runes, go with the Resolve tree and take Aftershock as your keystone. This is perfect when you engage with your abilities since it gives you bonus resistances and an AoE blast that damages enemies around you. Next, take Font of Life to help your team deal damage to targets you focus on, Bone Plating for more durability, and Unflinching to help you stick to your targets better. For secondaries, take Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight from the Inspiration tree. Biscuit Delivery gives you biscuits that help you sustain while Cosmic Insight reduces the cooldown of your summoner spells and items. For rune shards, take Ability Haste and double Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Leona is at her best when she goes in first. With Font of Life and Sunlight, your teammates can deal massive damage on whoever you focus on.
2. Leona is countered by Pyke, Xerath, Swain, Senna, and Bard. If you’re matched up against these champions, try to play it safe instead of being aggressive.
3. For your summoner spells, go with Flash and Exhaust. If you plan on playing aggressively, you can swap Exhaust for Ignite to help you secure early leads.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Leona 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!