Lee Sin, the Blind Monk Review

After much anticipation and much trolling by Riot Games, Lee Sin, the Blind Monk is now officially the newest edition to the League of Legends champion roster. This makes the grand total number of champions 73. Lee Sin is labeled as a melee assassin according to Riot Games. Now I will have to say that on release day Lee Sin as a jungler could be seen fit to be an assassin to some degree but not anywhere near that of Nocturne, the Eternal Nightmare their previous released champion. After a hotfix that was deployed recently that buffed his attack damage ratios, I will say Lee Sin, now deserves the title of a melee physcial damage dealing assassin. Lee Sin is capable of jungling and is a pretty decent laner as well.
He is another champion that uses one of Riot’s newer ability resevoir pools, energy to use his abilities. Now as for his abilities they are as follows. His Q is Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike, this ability initially costs 60 energy and then you can activate it again for another effect for another 40 energy. This 60/40 energy cost ratio applies to his two other abilities as well. Sonic Wave is a skill shot ability that shoots a sound wave and when it hits an enemy puts a mark on them that allows them to be seen even in brush. Upon activating the second ability of Q, Resonating Strike, Lee Sin dashes to the marked enemy and kicks them for a flat amount of damage plus 1.0 bonus attack damage and 10% of their missing health. So the more damaged your opponent is the more damage this ability will do, so think of it as a finisher type ability. His second ability or W is Safeguard/Iron Will. Safeguard allows you to target an ally and dash to them putting a shield on both of you, which is great when used in unison with your Q ability. Great for harassing the enemy to deal damage but also to take minimal damage. Also Safeguard can be used not only on your allies but on your fellow ally minions. Upon triggering the second effect Iron Will, Lee Sin gains armor, spell vamp, and life steal for five seconds. This ability is great for allowing Lee Sin to tank a bit as a melee hero and sustain both in the jungle and in the lane. Lee Sin’s, E ability is Tempest/Cripple. Tempest is an AOE damaging ability that marks those enemies nearby similar to his Q ability so it acts like a sight ward for few seconds. Within the next three seconds of marking those enemies and triggering the other half of this ability, Cripple, Lee Sin can slow the enemies’ movement and attack speed for four seconds. Cripple’s effect only last for four seconds, but as time runs out it gradually wears off its effects. Lee Sin’s ultimate is called Dragon’s Rage and has a small radius for its use similar to that of his E ability. However, when used Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick that would make Chuck Norris proud and deals damage to that enemy knocking them back. The champions that the knocked champion goes through are knocked up from the strength of his kick. This ability is great for finishing people off or for a good CC or escape tactic. His passive is Flurry, upon use of each ability his next two attacks gain 50% attack speed and refund 10 energy per attack. After the hotfix this is now 15 energy per hit, so if timed properly between use of each ability and the secondary effect of each Lee Sin can have some devastating attack speed and sustainability with his energy pool not running out.
Lee Sin, may be a squishy melee champion when built DPS but he can definitely bring the pain if you build him similar to a Master Yi with BF Sword items. He has great synergy with lifesteal items when paired with his W ability as well as attack speed items due to his passive. Just be sure that if you build him somewhat tanky that you are aware that you won’t be dealing out quite as much damage due to the trade off for survivability. Same for if you build him DPS know your limits and be careful out on the fields of justice for you are fragile as they come for the damage output you can bring to the teamfights. Jungling as Lee Sin is overall pretty good, you are able to gank somewhat early and don’t really need to grab blue buff to help in your jungling because he is an energy user. He is a hard to master and learn champion, so if you pick him up and wish to be dominating with him out of the gates don’t be disappointed if you get stomped. Overall, Lee Sin is a fun new champion that everyone has been anticipating and hoping to be released from the depths of the League of Legends beta archives. Like everyone else they are relieved and happy that he is now a part of the League of Legends champion roster.
Stop by next time for my review of Brand, the Burning Vengeance when he is released next Tuesday. Also I will be writing up a guide for Lee Sin and how I personally as a League of Legends player play him in the lane and how one can also jungle with him. So stay tuned for more updates on League of Legends. Also don’t forget to comment and critique all are welcome here.