League of Legends Swarm Leona guide

Swarm has hit live servers, and it's a brand -new PvE take on League of Legends. That's why we're here to help you play Leona to her absolute peak.

Leona is one of the earliest characters you can unlock in Swarm. All you need to do is level up Scorching Arrows to level 2 in a game of Swarm. She's an AoE-focused tank who specializes in clearing lots of space for her squishier allies to do damage while she gets increased resistances and tank stats. We're going to break down how to optimize Leona for even the hardest modes.

Leona's abilities are as follows:

Passive: Leona gains bonus Area Size that scales with the 3 defensive stats: Max Health, Health Regen, and Armor. This is what lets her be such an effective tank in Swarm. Every time she becomes more durable, she helps buy a larger bubble of space for her team.

E: Leona triples her Armor and gains a shield for 40% of her Max Health for 3 seconds. Afterwards, the shield explodes and deals damage to nearby enemies. As long as Leona has any amount of shield, she'll burn nearby enemies for damage as well. This is great for when you want to push a path in the swarm by running your face into the enemies to clear a path for your team.

Ultimate: Leona stuns all enemies in a large area, dealing damage to them. After the stun, the area continues to burn for additional damage.

Because Leona's passive and active abilities all synergize with Area Size and the 3 defensive stats. Here are Leona's best weapons are AoEs and weapons that evolve off of these defensive stats.

S Tier (AoEs that scale with Passives Leona wants): Radiant Field, Ani-Mines, Searing Shortbow, Iceblast Armor

A Tier: Statikk Sword, Cyclonic Slicers, Gatling Bunny-Guns, Vortex Gloves

B Tier: Paw Print Poisoner, T.I.B.B.E.R.S, Final City Transit

The rest of the weapons, especially the critical strike and projectile weapons, are less effective on Leona at the highest levels, but are still usable.

Leona's passive means she's best when absolutely stacked to the ceiling with defensive stats and Area Size. Here are Leona's best passive options separated into tiers.

S Tier: Max Health, Health Regen, Armor, Area Size

A Tier: Movement Speed, Ability Haste, Duration

B Tier: Critical Chance, Projectile Count, Damage

Durability, durability, durability. Anything that gives you larger AoEs or any sort of defensive boost feeds back into Leona's loop of focusing solely on durability and area damage.

Leona's job is pretty simple: clear space for the team. Between her extreme Armor, high health, and incentive to take AoEs and defensive stats, she's perfectly positioned to brute force some of Swarm's hardest moments. She's often the one leading the charge into the enemy when things get sketchy.

Her E is on a surprisingly low cooldown, and should be used often early just step into enemies without taking any damage. When you begin to get surrounded, Leona can often pop her E and charge into the weakest side of enemies. This will help carve a path for the rest of Anima Squad.

Leona's R is one of the best emergency buttons in the game. Use it to establish an enormous safe zone for your team. Or, alternatively, peel a huge group of enemies by throwing it to one side of your team. Leona wants to be around her squishy teammates, so pair up with a Seraphine, Yasuo, Aurora, or Xayah to optimize her durability.

That's all you need to know to get started on Leona in Swarm. Good luck on the Beachhead against Aatrox!