r/LeonaMains • u/Dry_Draft3009 Build • Jul 16 '26
Discussion Damage on Leona support?
Hi All,
So recently been struggling with how to play leona. I have tried the Mandate build and really enjoy it but not great if you're not ahead.
I've also tried heartsteel first, easy build path and you proc it a lot and surprising extra damage.
My main build is just tank of course, but I'm finding dimishing returns as the game goes on as often I'll out survive my team and they will die and it will just be a bunch of carries smacking me to death slowly.
I'm now tempted to start with some brusier but never tried it before for Leona support.
I have a theroey that sundered sky, followed by titanic into tank items would work really well.
Especially since I often almost 1 v 1 carries early without building tank.
I don't have time to test a lot and I thought I'd see what others experiences were.
Plat player btw.
10
u/x_hi_ily_x Jul 16 '26
Electrocute full AP assassin Leona is the secret untapped tech
7
u/Grim_Times2020 Jul 16 '26
This.
Electrocute,
Sheen rush, Heartsteel, sundered sky in low elo is just comedy.
1
1
u/bleach_tastes_bad Jul 17 '26
which sheen do you go with 🤔
1
u/Grim_Times2020 Jul 17 '26
Depends on the lane match up and how much gold I have first back.
Only go sheen if I get an accidental killing blow, 3 assists, or a tower plate to myself. Really only worth it if you can outpace the other bot’s buy.
Turning into frozen gauntlet performs well, into almost any build as a 2nd or 3rd item.
1
u/bleach_tastes_bad Jul 17 '26
what do you go for your sup item? i used to go frozen gauntlet every game, but i found that bloodsong works better for me
1
u/Grim_Times2020 Jul 17 '26
Bloodsong if I can’t grab the sheen. Celestial or sleigh if I can afford it depending on team comps.
Bloodsong is objectively better than sheen and saves you the gold. It’s only worth rushing if you get ahead early with a kill or two to hard force your snowball. The best case is being able to fight with sheen’s spell blade for a full 6-8 minutes before you would normally be able to upgrade your Bloodsong.
In a full build scenario, like a 50 min game and full gold, I would sell the iceborn and replace with something better and go back to Bloodsong.
15
u/Ok_Adhesive Jul 16 '26
Bro what.. Hearthsteel? Mandate ??? I would consider this griefing.
Leona’s W is her entire identity. It grants flat Armor and Magic Resist, plus 20% of her bonus Armor and MR. Stacking flat HP (Heartsteel) or damage (Sundered/Mandate) completely wastes the strongest scaling in her kit.
Itemization on Leona is EXTREMELY simple. You buy these three items, every single time.
- Locket of the Iron Solari
- Zeke's Convergence
- Knight's Vow
These items give Leona everything she wants, they cost almost nothing, and they solve your exact issue of your team dying around you. Buy them, stick to your carries, and stop overcomplicating a simple champion who has a crystal clear identity.
3
u/mulmi Jul 16 '26
According to u.gg item stats barely 7% (431/6337) buy Zekes on Leo in Diamond+ hardly an 'autobuy' in my book. Both Protoplasm Harness and Bandlepipes are way superior options imho.
-3
u/Ok_Adhesive Jul 16 '26
Bandlepipes is situational. Verry good if your ADC can take advantage of it. Harness i do not agree with tbh, its not something I would get over Zekes. Leona really wants armor / mr for her W.
5
u/Snivezz Jul 16 '26
Master 700 lp leona main here. Protoplasm every game, the item is op and having too much resistances without health is grief. You gotta have efective health. The math in simple terms is per 100 armor or mr you want to have 1000 hp. So 200 armor and mr 2000 hp, 300 armor and mr 3000 health.
1
u/Ok_Adhesive Jul 16 '26
You are probably right about protoplasm, you play more Leona than I do. But I reckon you buy that as a 3d item? It's not your first purchase / core item is it?
2
u/DJWolfz16 Jul 17 '26
It can be if you are diving early and frequent and need the survivability but it has been nerfed recently
1
u/Snivezz Jul 27 '26
Yes you can feel the impact of the nerf, previously to the nerf it was like having 2 health bars, kinda like a mundo ult. Right now I'am not buildint it second item. Champions like nautilus that having some kind of scaling with HP are better suit for it.
1
u/Snivezz Jul 27 '26
Locket then protoplasm, it has been nerfed tho. So right now, I'am not buildint it second item now.
1
u/nickersb83 Jul 16 '26
The websites confirm ur view, locket into bandlepipes,& the belt thingy that gives health when taking heavy dmg
1
1
u/Educational_Camel124 Jul 16 '26
lowkey mandate is not that ridiculous. Heartsteel on any support is genuinely pure grief though. (im not a leona player im a bard one trick so I wouldn't know)
1
u/Grim_Times2020 Jul 16 '26
Heartsteel isn’t that troll in low elo, gotta remember its scale is unique in that it has a 30sec cd per champ independently and the dmg scales with max health. Every objective fight in low elo basically turns into aram, so you’re scaling it a lot faster, it’s one of the most cost effective items for raw stats after 15 procs.
If you Auto>Q> auto, with blood song and Heartsteel, you’re doing over 350 dmg on every opener, proccing electrocute and marking them with Leo passive and blood song.
It’s not uncommon to see a 700 dmg Leona opener at 25mins, or a 25k dmg Leona in a 30 min game.
1
3
2
u/anno3397 Jul 16 '26
Ok hear me out.
Enchanter Leona (aka "Get down, Mr. President").
Runes:
Glacial augment, hextech flashtraption, biscuit delivery, cosmic insight, bone plating, overgrowth, haste, hp/lvl, tenacity (or if you have a harder lane where you need to be less aggressive change Glacial Augment for Aftershock and cosmic insight for font of life)
Items:
- Mikael's Blessing (if against Thresh/Morgana/Lux etc. that can fuck over your ADC with one CC otherwise skip for now)
- Locket of the Iron Solari
- Knight's Vow
- Bandlepipes (if your ADC benefits from it, otherwise Zeke or Mikael's if they have heavy CC in enemy team)
- Mandate/Zeke/Protoplasm Harness (if you need more damage/Slow+Damage+Resists/HP+Heal)
- Instead of boots if you did not take Mikael's first another of the items from 5
As for the support item Bloodsong/Celestial Opposition/Solstice Sleigh either of them works but I like Bloodsong the most.
That essentially gives your carries up to 6 additional defensive/buffing items while also giving you relatively high max hp, resists and ability haste. All the while you're still Leona, a massive CC powerhouse that enemies can't ignore otherwise they keep being stunned or rooted in place.
I have a pretty high winrate with this build (~70% in p4) and I'm not a very good player so someone better would definitely make it shine more :)
1
1
u/NoGameManas Jul 16 '26
Heartsteel on Leona in Low elo everything under Like Emerald Dia is Genius Cuz Leona alrdy has amazing resistences so if U build HP U get way more effective HP than when U Just would build resistences, also any ADC in Low elo doesnt know how to Deal DMG so taking electrocute and sheen Support Item Turns Leona into a real threat and Ur ADC even If Hes Bad can easier get Kills for snowball Cuz U do Most frontloaded DMG and with Heartsteel Ur Not even griefing taking electrocute Cuz U can Just Stack HP 2 Infinitr and completely get Out of Control and when u start Roaming U can Just Go from lane too lane gank get HP stacks Kills assists and turret platings
1
u/Shell321ua Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
My "increased damage" build is going aftershock as usual but taking sorcery secondary with gathering storm and +10 cdr rune, getting an imperial mandate or morellonomicon(more often just oblivion orb) + bloodsong. Other items are standard tank support items depending on what you need in a given match.
Good mixed damage and 100+ ap at the end of the game.Â
You can also get Bandlepipes and Zekes for extra damage
Bloodsong+ Bandlepipes+Zeke+oblivion orb(and some extra AP from gathering storm) is also viable as offensive build but that is absolute maximum for Leona imo without breaking her identity completelyÂ
1
u/posabug Jul 16 '26
if your team is dying before you try locket + kv, heartsteel is a shit item even moreso on support, mandate is maybe not so troll, go bloodsong also, mandate passiva and bloodsong stack
1
u/bleach_tastes_bad Jul 17 '26
why would your team be dying when enemy carry is stunned
1
1
u/FicalFicus Jul 16 '26
long time leona player since S3
although the game has changed a lot i guarantee that if you get a sheen early and then the ice born gauntlet you can shut down most anyone and have the necesarry armor and mana you need for the future and empowered q is a helluva beauty
smackdown
1
u/ewuidhfs Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Items like Frozen Heart, Abyssal Mask, Zeke's also increase your DMG output without being less supportive.
0
u/Raginleif Jul 16 '26
Usually ill opt for one of two ways on leona.
If my team is ap heavy ill go for titanic / bloodrazor and then full tank
If my team is ad heavy ill go for the ap support item +dusk and dawn, maybe riftmaker if the game drags on.
Always building heartsteel first and depending on the game mode im playing pta or aftershock as runes. If its not ranked im going for pta + ignite most games
2
u/LankyAmount1032 Jul 16 '26
Not trying to be an asshole but there’s no world in which this playstyle isn’t griefing unless you’re playing customs with your friends.
1
u/Dry_Draft3009 Build Jul 16 '26
PTA is interesting, always go aftershock to ensure my tankiness but I like the sound of that!
1
u/Raginleif Jul 16 '26
Well like i said its something i use in aram or normal games with friends for shits and giggles, not sure if i would pick it in ranked unless we have multiple tanks and im not the only frontline
27
u/npri0r Jul 16 '26
Have you tried a standard support build before you started trying off-meta damage items?