The Hallowed Seamstress will provide players with another split pushing, duelist threat.
The latest addition to the League of Legends champion lineup, Gwen, was introduced with a very flexible kit bound to shakeup the current meta. Displayed in her abilities introduction video in the toplane, Gwen is clearly meant to be a solo laner and fits within the pre-existing duelist archetype. A mechanically demanding champion with an interesting passive and abilities to boot, here is how to master Gwen.
Gwen’s laning phase – Trade early and often
Similar to duelists such as Irelia, Fiora, or Camille, Gwen should spend the early parts of the laning phase looking for winning trades. Your Q (Snip Snip!) and E (Skip ‘n Slash) will be your primary tools for poking and forcing you opponents off the wave. Try to maximize your snip stacks before diving in to get the most amount of damage possible off to take your opponent by surprise and turn a winning trade into a potential solo kill.
Your passive (1,000 Cuts) provides a great amount of sustainability in lane that should give you more confidence to trade. Since basic attacks and abilities deal bonus damage and provide healing based on said damage, this character’s kit really rewards consistent fighting (even if you don’t win 100% of your trades).
In the team fight – Protect and dive
As a duelist, Gwen thrives in the 1v1 however in a true 5v5 teamfight, Gwen could occupy an equally useful space. Gwen’s W (Hallowed Mist), provides a soft invunlerability for up to 5 seconds that makes all allies that are encompassed within it. This is certainly useful in avoiding CC, ranged attacks, or sudden burst damage. This ability is incredibly immobile however, as while it will follow your first attempt to leave the relatively small area, a second move will cause the area to disspate entirely.
Aside from this, Gwen’s abilities and ultimate (Needlework) allow Gwen to easily access an enemy team’s backline and deal massive damage to carries. With teleport, Gwen can also be added to the list of viable split pushers, with enough peel and 1v1 ability to go into a sidelane, quickly take towers and make an escape.
Runes – For solo lanes and the jungle
Though previously stated that Gwen has a clear affinity for solo lanes, her flexible abilities and jungle clear potential from Q stack could make her a potentially viable jungle pick. If taking Gwen into the jungle, Electrocute or Dark Harvest would be your best bet as both substaintally help your gank ability.
If opting for a solo lane, your two options should be between Conqueror and Press the Attack. Conqueror synergizes far better with Gwen’s abilities, passive, and playstyle than most other runes as will add yet another benefit to constant trading. Press the Attack is a more traditionally used rune for duelists and would help significantly in the laning phase given it’s single target bonus damage.
Itemization
Rift Maker as your first legendary should be the immediate priority as most of your damage will be magic, and the passive of ading 8 additional ability power will turn you into a late game threat. From here, Mercury Treads and Nashor’s Tooth should follow. Nashor’s Tooth will once again enable you to deal greater magic damage but also the inherent cool down reduction will allow you to pose a constant re-engage or chase threat. Zhonya’s Hourglass would be a situationally excellent item to consider, as if you are acting as your team’s primary diver.
Also read:
- League of Legends: How to play Ornn
- 5 Champions that once completely broke the League of Legends meta
- Jungle Pathing in LoL – Why planning your route is so important
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Image credit: Riot Games
