There’s three common ways to build Sion in the current patch: utility, AP, and DPS. I find utility to be the most effective so I’ll touch on that first. I realize AP Sion is the flavor of the month right now (for good reason), but honestly the shield is probably getting a nerf so I don’t want to spend too much time going in depth about it this point. DPS Sion is really probably the least effective of the three so I’ll touch on that last.
Utility Sion
Summoner Spells
Teleport
Exhaust
Runebook (+29 Magic Resist at Lvl 18, +11% Dodge)
9 Marks of Shielding
9 Glyphs of Shielding
9 Seals of Evasion
3 Quints of Evasion
Offensive Tree Masteries (1 Total)
1 Cripple
Defensive Tree Masteries (21 Total)
3 Resistance
3 Hardiness
4 Evasion
2 Defensive Mastery
1 Nimbleness
3 Harden Skin
4 Veteran’s Scars
1 Tenacity
Utility Tree Masteries (8 Total)
1 Spatial Accuracy
3 Perseverance
4 Expanded Mind
Skill Build
Q, E, E, Q, E, R, E, Q, E, Q, R, Q, W, W, W, R, W, W
Early Game (0-10 minutes)
Items: Doran’s Shield, 1 Health Potion
You’re gonna have a lot of HP to start (821) but not a lot of mana (210) so you need to be really smart with your stun (costs 120 mana at all levels) during the early game. Use your E skill to last hit and work up your HP as this is really the only phase of the game where you will have time to farm. With your E skill there is no reason really to ever miss a single last hit outside of enemy hero harassment, although your Doran’s Shield and Health Potion can mitigate that to some degree. Your stun and exhaust can set up early game kills and ganks so lookout for those opportunities, but really your goal in the first 10 minutes is to farm at least 2,000 gold for Aegis so try to avoid roaming too much.
Mid Game (10-20 minutes)
Items: Ninja Tabi / Mercury’s Treads, Aegis of the Legion, Glacial Shroud
For boots get Ninja Tabi against melee heavy teams or Mercury’s Treads against magic dmg / stun / snare teams (you’re gonna be getting Mercury’s Treads 75% of the time). The aura from Aegis is one of the most rigged in the game for its cost, but you have to be with teammates to realize its effectiveness. Start roaming and ganking with teammates and leave farming with E at lowest priority. Getting Glacial Shroud is one of the keys to this build as with it you should be able to spam stun non-stop with low cooldown (6-7 seconds) and have no worries about mana.
With these items it’s crucial that you play super aggressive at all times. Always lead ganks and team fights in front and spam stun non-stop. When killing towers try to stand to the side or even behind it and time your stun when the tower has 1-2 hits left. You’d be surprised how many people make the mistake of hanging around a dead tower and your stun can set up a cheap kill. Your goal in every fight is to pull as much aggro as possible and to keep the enemy carry stunned. Run through everything and try to eat up as much nuke / stun / snare as possible while stunning their carry. Don’t be afraid to take hits or get to low HP because HP is useless unless you are using it. Your ult is really not that important because realistically no one is ever going to let you hit any hero more than 2-3 times. Have it on in team fights and always be hitting someone (doesn’t matter who) while not stunning to help everyone’s HP, but the benefit is gonna be minimal.
Late Game (20-30 minutes)
Items: Sheen into Trinity Force, Banshee’s Veil
Same idea from mid game applies here. Stay aggressive and keep the carries down in group fights. In any real game you probably won’t make it to Trinity Force, but if you make it there chances are you’re having a tough game so make a Banshee’s Veil for survivability.
Utility Sion
Summoner Spells
Teleport
Exhaust
Runebook (+29 Magic Resist at Lvl 18, +11% Dodge)
9 Marks of Shielding
9 Glyphs of Shielding
9 Seals of Evasion
3 Quints of Evasion
Offensive Tree Masteries (1 Total)
1 Cripple
Defensive Tree Masteries (21 Total)
3 Resistance
3 Hardiness
4 Evasion
2 Defensive Mastery
1 Nimbleness
3 Harden Skin
4 Veteran’s Scars
1 Tenacity
Utility Tree Masteries (8 Total)
1 Spatial Accuracy
3 Perseverance
4 Expanded Mind
Skill Build
Q, E, E, Q, E, R, E, Q, E, Q, R, Q, W, W, W, R, W, W
Early Game (0-10 minutes)
Items: Doran’s Shield, 1 Health Potion
You’re gonna have a lot of HP to start (821) but not a lot of mana (210) so you need to be really smart with your stun (costs 120 mana at all levels) during the early game. Use your E skill to last hit and work up your HP as this is really the only phase of the game where you will have time to farm. With your E skill there is no reason really to ever miss a single last hit outside of enemy hero harassment, although your Doran’s Shield and Health Potion can mitigate that to some degree. Your stun and exhaust can set up early game kills and ganks so lookout for those opportunities, but really your goal in the first 10 minutes is to farm at least 2,000 gold for Aegis so try to avoid roaming too much.
Mid Game (10-20 minutes)
Items: Ninja Tabi / Mercury’s Treads, Aegis of the Legion, Glacial Shroud
For boots get Ninja Tabi against melee heavy teams or Mercury’s Treads against magic dmg / stun / snare teams (you’re gonna be getting Mercury’s Treads 75% of the time). The aura from Aegis is one of the most rigged in the game for its cost, but you have to be with teammates to realize its effectiveness. Start roaming and ganking with teammates and leave farming with E at lowest priority. Getting Glacial Shroud is one of the keys to this build as with it you should be able to spam stun non-stop with low cooldown (6-7 seconds) and have no worries about mana.
With these items it’s crucial that you play super aggressive at all times. Always lead ganks and team fights in front and spam stun non-stop. When killing towers try to stand to the side or even behind it and time your stun when the tower has 1-2 hits left. You’d be surprised how many people make the mistake of hanging around a dead tower and your stun can set up a cheap kill. Your goal in every fight is to pull as much aggro as possible and to keep the enemy carry stunned. Run through everything and try to eat up as much nuke / stun / snare as possible while stunning their carry. Don’t be afraid to take hits or get to low HP because HP is useless unless you are using it. Your ult is really not that important because realistically no one is ever going to let you hit any hero more than 2-3 times. Have it on in team fights and always be hitting someone (doesn’t matter who) while not stunning to help everyone’s HP, but the benefit is gonna be minimal.
Late Game (20-30 minutes)
Items: Sheen into Trinity Force, Banshee’s Veil
Same idea from mid game applies here. Stay aggressive and keep the carries down in group fights. In any real game you probably won’t make it to Trinity Force, but if you make it there chances are you’re having a tough game so make a Banshee’s Veil for survivability.
