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With Gwen, League of Legends' newest champion, going live on the servers, fans will finally get their hands on the "Peppy Skirmisher" to snip around in Summoner's Rift.
"The Hallowed Seamstress" is the second champion released in season 11, after Viego. Riot Games revealed the first look of Gwen two weeks earlier through an exclusive trailer titled "Made with Love." The ability kit was officially released a few days before the reveal of patch notes 11.8.
Gwen is primarily designated as a viable top laner in League of Legends. But according to Ryan "Reav3" Mireles, the lead producer of League of Legends' championship team, she will have enough versatility to flex in other lanes as well.
Gwen's playstyle is similar to any other potent top laner in League of Legends. Like Irelia, she can flawlessly combine her abilities and passive to deal lethal damage to opponents. On the other hand, Gwen is also capable of attaining blistering pace during skirmishes like Fiora.
Fans are certain about the overpowering nature of this new AP bruiser considering her ability kit. The following is a complete guide for Gwen in League of Legends.
Abilities, Runes, and Build Items of Gwen in League of Legends
Ability breakdown
Passive - A Thousand Cuts
Gwen's basic attacks deal an additional Max Health magic damage (1% + 0.008% AP) on hit. She also recovers health equivalent to 70% of the damage that the ability deals to her opponents.
Maximum damage to monsters is 10+25% AP. The ability deals 8-30 bonus damage to minions below 40% health.
Q - Snip Snip!
Gwain's Q is a limited-ranged skill shot that deals true damage to enemies falling in the center of her snipping scissors. She gains 1 stack while hitting an opponent with any of her attacks (max 4, lasts for 6 seconds). Thus, a player can get the best out of her Q once Gwen snips her pair of scissors four times.
Snip Snip! consumes stacks. Gwen snips once for [8/10.75/13.5/16.25/19 +5% AP] magic damage, snips again for each ammo consumed, and snips for a final time for [40/53.75/67.5/81.25/95 +25% AP] magic damage. Flash spell perfectly synergizes with Gwen's Q since this ability has a cast time.
Apart from dealing true damage, Q also activates her passive - A Thousand Cuts, dealing bonus magic damage. The center of each strike deals true damage instead and applies Gwen's passive to hit enemies. The max damage dealt is 80, plus [600% +4.8% AP]% percent health.
W - Hallowed Mist
Gwen's W resembles Xin Zhao’ R - Crescent Guard. With Hallowed Mist, Gwen encloses herself within a magical mist for 5 seconds, gaining bonus resistance and armor when inside it. She becomes untargetable inside the mist, nullifying enemy attacks for a short duration.
The mist follows Gwen the first time she tries to escape it but dissipates prematurely the next time. While inside the Mist, Gwen gains [20 + 5% AP] Armor, along with Magic Resistance.
Gwen's ability is also used to avoid ranged burst attacks and cc from the enemy champions, as she becomes invisible for a short period. But, a player must remember that the untargetibility works only against enemy champions and monsters, but not turrets.
E - Skip ’n Slash
The E ability, Skip ‘n Slash, allows Gwen to dash a limited distance and empowers her attacks with increased range, speed, and on-hit magic damage for 4 seconds. The empowered attacks gain 40/50/60/70/80% Attack Speed, [10 +8% AP] on hit magic damage and 100 range.
Attacking an enemy during her empowered state refunds Skip ‘n Slash’s cooldown by 50 percent. This ability works effectively during an extended escape situation while covering a long distance.
R - Needlework
Gwen can cast her Needlework ability up to three times in one go. But to activate the successive cast, she should hit an enemy within 8 seconds of the first shot.
With the first R cast, Gwen deals [30/55/80 +8% AP] magic damage to the targeted enemy. It slows down by 40/50/60% for 1.5 seconds and applies passive - A Thousand Cuts.
For the second and the third casts, Gwen launches 3 and 5 needles successively to deal maximum damage of [9x Base Damage]. Additionally, it deals [9% +0.072% AP]% max health damage from her passive. Successive needles hitting the same unit slow down by 15/20/25%. Thus, League of Legends' Hallowed Seamstress must remain in combat to make the best use of her ultimate ability.
Rune Options
Gwen can avail ornamentation from a huge variety of rune options considering her highly versatile ability kit. "Conqueror" is the perfect keystone for her while she pushes the top lane. It helps during her simultaneous Q-E trades in random skirmishes.
"Press the Attack" allows Gwen to maintain an effective dueling presence while playing in the mid-lane. The keystone also provides nearby allies with a damage boost on Gwen's locked-in target.
While clearing the Summoner's jungle, "Dark Harvest'' is a good pick for her, and Electrocute helps to boost damage during occasional ganks. Here's a standard, primary rune guide for AP Gwen,
Standard Build Item Choices
Gwen is a highly potent champion with strong Ability Power, and since she primarily deals magic damage, mythics like Riftmaker and Night Harvester fit her the best. Riftmaker helps her in gaining Omnivamp sustain during extended teamfights, whereas Night Harvester provides her with bonus damage and movement speed during solo duels.
Hextech and Luden's Tempest fit well with Gwen's kit to provide her with bonus movement speeds and additional mana to stay in the battle rift longer. There are a few legendary items too that help her with additional benefits while lane pushing, jungle clearing, or skirmishing. Here's a standard build items list for AP Gwen,
- Riftmaker
- Night Harvester
- Hextech Rocketbelt
- Luden’s Tempest
- Nashor's Tooth
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Lich Bane
How to flex Gwen in multiple League of Legends roles
Early game laning
Lanes, especially the top, are likely to be Gwen's favorite sections in the Summoners Rift. League of Legends' Hallowed Seamstress gets a good advantage in the lanes thanks to her thunderous pace. While an opponent tries running away due to a health disadvantage, Gwen can easily catch up with the escape with her E combined with auto.
Against ranged opponents in lanes, W is the best ability for Gwen to counter. While she is inside the Hallowed mist, the opponents' ranged attacks get nullified, providing Gwen with the obvious upper hand.
Early game jungling
Gwen can be effectively used in clearing the jungle because of her Q's tremendous AoE ability. She can flawlessly clear multiple jungle camps at once.
To avoid enemy junglers invading in the early game, players should practice kiting between their autos. Allowing the jungle monsters to move between their basic attacks saves extra health.
Mid lane and late-game navigation
The late game, which is the post-laning phase, is dependent on the in-game situation, along with Gwen's built items and runes. Continuous split pushing and luring the opponent is vital in the mid lane.
Just like in the jungle, effective use of W can be a game-changer for Gwen. Also, in late-game teamfights, players should learn to use Gwen's E with utmost perfection to produce the best possible results.
