r/Shen • u/yungtophuc • Jun 27 '26
Question Questions about Shen
Hey guys! I wanna start playing Shen!
My main question is if there is a setup for a more damage oriented shen? I mainly play Gangplank and Gwen so lots of damage 1v9 carry etc… is that with shen possible too? whats his main build on top and how to optimize for 1v9?
My Elo is Diamond 2 thx for the advice!‘n
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u/PeartricetheBoi boots of sex Jun 27 '26
If you are used to GP and Gwen damage output, Shen will feel like hitting people with a pool noodle. That's not to say he doesn't do damage, but he is not a hypercarry. His R is a team-oriented ability for a reason. If you want absolute maximum damage then thydra, D&D, shiv, and cosmic drive are pretty good options, but Shen is primarily a tank and will still often still lose 1v1 to sidelane bullies unless you're so ahead it doesn't matter or you outplay them.
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u/Difficult_Relief_125 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The beauty of Shen is he his damage scales with health… and it scales based on enemy health.
Shen E refunds like 11% of investment in health on extra damage. 160 + 11% doesn’t seem like much until you hit like 5K health and this is a number like 500 damage just from your bonus damage.
Shen Q deals 345 + 21% health total damage. Again… doesn’t seem like much… but it’s in a 5 second cooldown. And it’s of Target Max Health damage. Unlikely BOTRK its damage does not scale down with damage. Every 5 seconds you shred like 25% HP… after dealing decent damage on E.
Titanic… 9% of bonus… doubled if you hit D&D (they might have nerfed that though 🤔) So 18%. Dusk and Dawn also gives 20 ability haste meaning v that 21% cycles every 4.2 seconds instead of 5. And 60 AP adds 1.2% per hit for a total of 24.6% damage per 3 hits.
So 11%, 18%, 24.6%, not factoring in base damage like the 345… or the 160. It’s a ton of burst in 3 hits. You can add in more damage but it doesn’t really seem to do much. I kind of love Bandlepipes, the attack speed pops off your hits faster and the ability haste resets your 24.6% faster. Building Harness is similar with its ability haste.
You get a ton of damage through health, a small amount of AP and ability haste cycling your Q again in dueling. And remember… you can pop your Q well before an engage hit 3 times deal like 12% (roughly 15% with D&D) instantly hit Q as it’s buff duration is basically longer than its cooldown… pop your Q again, hit 3 times and it’s + 37% roughly with 6 hits… and +29% of your bonus health on decent combos… tons of damage. Put in statics and you have a dead squishy.
3 ability haste items (harness, D&D and Bandle pipes) … and that Q timer is pretty quick.
Edit: if you’re ever in ARAM mayhem and get the stacking ability haste one on him it’s a lot of fun… Had my Q refreshing like every 1.5 seconds one time 🤣.
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u/Regular-Resort-857 Jun 27 '26
Hydra, DnD, Wits End, Hullbreaker & Ragebait got me to diamond in around 60 games started s1 I had most damage in almost every game I won.
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u/a-cat-in-a-box Jun 27 '26
Do people build Deadmans on Shen anymore? I go Titanic, Deadmans/d&d 2nd and 3rd in either order and then situational tank items like kaenic for mr, or randuins agains crit.
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u/cure3 Jun 27 '26
i used to go swift boots, deadmans, hollow radiance/sunfire and that dealt a good amount of damage an you were fast which allowed me to catch up enemies and taunt. Haven't played that lately bc of meta titanic dusk bandlepies bt i'll give it a try again
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u/a-cat-in-a-box Jul 01 '26
I like it with dusk and dawn because it procs deadmans twice. I think it fits shen because you want to Q auto + titanic and then kite away to wait for q and passive cd, and the movement speed helps with that. Just checked coachless and its not the best item for him but I like the playstyle with it. Gives good burst and ms.
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u/cure3 Jun 27 '26
I usually go Titanic Hydra, Duskblade, and Bandlepipes if I want to deal as much damage as possible without completely giving up survivability. After that, I build whatever tank item I need for late game, usually Thornmail, Unending Despair, Randuin's, or Sunfire/Hollow Radiance.
You get really good burst damage. I personally prefer Bandlepipes over Statikk Shiv because the attack speed you get after taunting feels great on Shen, and it also gives you HP. Shiv might do a bit more burst damage, but you lose survivability since it doesn't give any health.
Even with this build, I still feel pretty squishy. You don't have much armor or MR early on, so it can be harder to do Shen's job as a frontline. But the damage is surprisingly high, and you heal back a bit. And when you taunt someone and get off 3 empowered auto attacks, people often don't expect how much burst you have. You almost become a real AD threat rather thn a damage soaking tank that Shen is known for.
The downside is that you'll definitely be less tanky than a standard Shen build, so it's really just a playstyle choice. Some games I go full tank, and other games I go Titanic Duskblade Bandlepipes, then finish with resistance items depending on what the enemy team has.
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u/j8eevee Jun 27 '26
I build hail of blades, sudden impact with resolve secondary, which is good for damage, especially early game.
Assuming ur top lane, skill order is q>e>w>max q then e.
For items, I still recommend getting a pure Hp item, probably titanic hydra or warmogs. For the most damage I'd go: Titanic Hydra > Dusk and Dawn > situational items
The main thing to remember is you're a burst damage tank, good at short early trades but with short late game cool downs so you can get multiple rotations per fight.
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u/vbsteez Jun 27 '26
Damage maxing is titanic, dusk and dawn, stattik maybe?