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Items
Ability Order
Transcendent (PASSIVE)
Syndra Passive Ability
Introduction
At time of writing

This is an in depth guide which I believe is essential for a champion like

Happy Syndra free week everyone! This guide will help you rise above all of the noob Syndra's you will see!
Edit: Syndra has been buffed!
The Damage and AP scaling on her

Range of her

Usability and Speed of the sphere fired by

And finaly the AP scaling on her ultimate

I never felt she needed these buffs, but I am not going to complain that my favourite champion has just been made stronger!
Standby whilst I edit this guide to incorporate these changes
Edit: Second highest rated guide for Syndra on Mobafire, woah! Keep the votes coming guys your feedback is amazing!

Pros
- Great Sustained damage
- High harass potential
- Ability to stun/cc an entire enemy team
- Strong ability to farm
- High burst potential with ultimate
- Immense power is fun!
- Dat Splash art!

Cons
- Somewhat squishy (then again which ap mids arent? That was a rhetorical question!!)
- Low burst potential without your ultimate

- Takes practice to get used to abilities, requires A LOT of skill
- High mana costs
- AP ratio on

- Justicar skin looks silly! (the light orbs don't work for me!)





















The sphere appears on a short delay so try to aim it dead on your opponents or wait until they are walled in by minions or just about to last hit before leading with it. If you don't chose to lead with it you can use


You can use this to farm minions but you will go out of mana fast if you spam it early on (without a chalice of harmony). Try to save it for harass or getting multiple last hits if you want to push the lane.
Despite its low AP scaling this ability is your most reliable source of damage and since higher ranks give it a lower cooldown maxing this by level 9 is essential.

Also note that as a sphere is about to expire it will change to gain a teal ring before disappearing as shown below:




-Baron Nashor
-The Dragon
-Enemy turrets (that would be just too broken!)
The slow is fantastic as it makes it easier to land the rest of your combo, ie more


Finally note that if you throw the Blue golem at someone with this ability the ability loses a second from its cooldown and refunds 10 mana.
Throwing the red lizard will apply the Red lizards slow and burn debuff to the target.
The slow on this ability is great but the damage it does is good as well, as our next most reliable damage tool you will want to max this by level 9.





Syndra will fire out a short range cone infront of her knocking all enemy champions, minions and most importantly,

Please note that at time of writing this ability can be a bit erattic, if you throw back a sphere already on top of an enemy champion it somtimes won't hit them, to avoid this be sure to use a sphere just infront of your opponent. The closer the sphere is to you when you cast

More Useful for specific situations and a rather unreliable source of damage this ability should be maxed last.




Note: You won't actually be level 9 when you get the larger cone, you will be level 18, the above Picture is just to show you what it looks like!


This ability fires all of the Spheres you have out on the battlefield + another three (in case you were wondering what those spheres orbiting Syndra were for) to bombard and deal extreme single target damage to an unfortunate victim. The damage is increased for each additional sphere you fire. Realistically with this build you are likely to have n more than 2


This is an amazing abilty and gives you incredible potential, so as with all ultimates take a point at 6, 11 and 16
Its C-C-C-Combo time! To play
Syndra succesfully you MUST make effective use of ability combos. Rather than spamming your abilities randomly it is much more effecient to chain your abilities together. Unlike other champions such as
Viktor,
Syndra has combos which involve more than casting every move at your disposal onto the enemy!
The best thing about this combo is it usable from level two, although without a chalice it will be difficult to keep using it. It is great throughout the game for wearing down a lane opponent.
To start pick up an enemy minion with
Force of Will Then throw it onto your lane opponent when they likely won't be able to dodge it. Once they are slowed you are garunteed to be able to land a follow up
Dark Sphere on them!
Later in the game this combo can be used on a minion wave for fast farm; pick up a melee minion and drop it on to the caster minions before landing the sphere and the gold will pour in!
'The Stun Surprise' combo
This combo is simple enough but requires a bit of aiming (and practice!). You create a
Dark Sphere infront of yourself and then use
Scatter the Weak to fire it towards an enemy champion. If time is not pressing you could even then create a second sphere before using
Scatter the Weak to increase your chance of hitting. THe impact will knock back and stun anybody it hits. Now unless you are using this to escape then by itself this combo is not particularly useful. However this is one of the longest range stuns in the game and is perfect for initiating on your lane opponent before your jungler comes into gank or before using a combo of your own. Also this can be used when chasing an enemy since the stun will allow your whole team to catch up, also bear in mind the sphere can be fired through walls for an even greater surprise!
This combo can be performed from level 4, although it is best to wait for a
Chalice of Harmony or blue buff before performing this because it costs a lot of mana!
Start be creating a sphere infront of you, it doesn't even need to hit anything! Then, fire it into your unsuspecting foe with
Scatter the Weak Once they are stunned you can then slam dunk the first sphere right onto their face with
Force of Will before then adding another
Dark Sphere on them. This is very high damage and will likely strip away a large part of the enemies health. At later ranks you can add
Unleashed Power and
Ignite onto the end of this if you want to pick up an easy kill!
Even late game this remains your best way of killing a single target.
This is the best combo at your disposal in team fights, start by casting a
Dark Sphere into the enemy team wherever you feel it will do most damage (it really doesn't matter!) Follow up with
Unleashed Power on a high priority squishy target such as the enemy carry,
Ashe and friends beware! With Spheres now littering the field the follow up
Scatter the Weak Will deal heavy damage and stun the whole enemy team. After this formidable combo you can drop further
Dark Spheres and use
Force of Will on the enemy team at your leisure!
'The Seven Sided Sphere' Combo
This it it, the wombo combo, the combo which casues absolutely mahussive damage and will leave you expecting the target of it to spin off screaming into the air before crashing against the front of the screen and sliding down it! Note that in order to even attempt this you will need a lot of setup time as well as AT LEAST 30% cooldown reduction, attainable in this guide through
Athene's Unholy Grail
Deathfire Grasp and Blue Buff. To start with cast
Dark Sphere twice as fast as you can. Then use
Force of Will on the first Sphere but DO NOT throw it anywhere. Then Cast
Dark Sphere twice more. By this point the second sphere you cast will be just about to time out so use
Unleashed Power to bombard a target with a total of seven spheres. At max rank of
Unleashed Power this will deal 1260 + (1.4 x your ability power) you read that correctly, this combo will kill some squishy target from full health in a single use! However this combo requires a lot of concentration, time and your opponents standing within range at the end of it (if they realise what you are trying they will likely blow
Flash to escape!) Consequentely this combo is more for fun than anything else, 'the sphereflinger' is much more reliable!
***Disclaimer*** Sgt.Invinicble is not responsible to any harm you may come to, or any psycological harm received from the enemy team cursing you. Perform these devastating moves at your own risk. In reference to the last combo I have never even heard of the monk class in Diablo III so am therefore not liable to be sued for plagarism.



'The Aptly named Early Harass' combo


The best thing about this combo is it usable from level two, although without a chalice it will be difficult to keep using it. It is great throughout the game for wearing down a lane opponent.
To start pick up an enemy minion with


Later in the game this combo can be used on a minion wave for fast farm; pick up a melee minion and drop it on to the caster minions before landing the sphere and the gold will pour in!
'The Stun Surprise' combo


This combo is simple enough but requires a bit of aiming (and practice!). You create a



'The Sphereflinger' combo






This combo can be performed from level 4, although it is best to wait for a

Start be creating a sphere infront of you, it doesn't even need to hit anything! Then, fire it into your unsuspecting foe with





Even late game this remains your best way of killing a single target.
'The Teamkiller' combo



This is the best combo at your disposal in team fights, start by casting a






'The Seven Sided Sphere' Combo






This it it, the wombo combo, the combo which casues absolutely mahussive damage and will leave you expecting the target of it to spin off screaming into the air before crashing against the front of the screen and sliding down it! Note that in order to even attempt this you will need a lot of setup time as well as AT LEAST 30% cooldown reduction, attainable in this guide through








***Disclaimer*** Sgt.Invinicble is not responsible to any harm you may come to, or any psycological harm received from the enemy team cursing you. Perform these devastating moves at your own risk. In reference to the last combo I have never even heard of the monk class in Diablo III so am therefore not liable to be sued for plagarism.
Although learning to use
Syndra's combos effectively gives you a huge advantage. Here are some more general tips on how to play her successfully.
The Slippery Sovereign
- Remember that none of Syndra's abilities cause her to stop while casting them, this means that while being chased you can use
Scatter the Weak and
Force of Will on spheres or minions to slow your chaser without even having to stop!
Sight ward Warding for fun! (and profit) Sight ward
- Although not mentioned in the item build, as with any Midlaning champion, it is critical that on
Syndra you buy a sight ward or two on each trip back to your base. Placing sight wards in the brush either side of your lane gives you advance notice of the enemy Jungler, or indeed of anyone else trying to surprise you and gank you. Having wards down allows you to be more aggressive, push your opponent out of lane and push the lane to increase your own minion farm without worrying about any nasty surprises.
Mana and you: How to stay useful not helpless
- Although the
Chalice of Harmony you will get early on goes a way to helping you solve any mana issues you may have, it is no blue buff! (Although the
Athene's Unholy Grail you may get later on is!) This means you must be careful with your mana, using your abilities to pick up minion farm which you would be able to get with your auto-attack is a waste! Once out of mana you have only your precious
Flash as an escape mechanism. Where possible asking your jungler for blue buff is another great way around this problem, although play carefully while you have this buff because giving it to your opponent through dying is never a good idea!
The Farming Terror
- Although early game as
Syndra your priority should be to farm minions (you typically want at least 100cs by the 15 minute mark) Keep an eye open for opportunities to gank other lanes. With the crowd control and damage allowed by your abilities (particularly 'the Sphereflinger' combo) you have great potential to gank other lanes. Later on with your allies coordination it is possible even to rapidly kill an opponent on their own tower! One final note here is to try and push your lane back to the enemy tower before ganking. You feel very dumb if you come back from a successful gank only to find that you have lost your own tower while away!
SgtInvincible's effective Invincibility
- Late game as
Syndra you must play it safe. Like most other AP carries you are not only a high priority target, but also very squishy. Beyond the 30 minute mark you check brushes by walking into them at your own peril! Once your team groups up you should always stay at the back using your superior range to attack in teamfights, only when moping up kills or performing the
Scatter the Weak part of 'The Teamkiller' combo should you be anywhere near the fight!
The Dark Mortar
- Similarly when in lane you want to use your superior range to Harass your lane opponent, with a few exceptions (such as
Ziggs and
Xerath) your long range harass will be much better than your enemy's.



- Remember that none of Syndra's abilities cause her to stop while casting them, this means that while being chased you can use


Sight ward Warding for fun! (and profit) Sight ward
- Although not mentioned in the item build, as with any Midlaning champion, it is critical that on



- Although the





- Although early game as



- Late game as




- Similarly when in lane you want to use your superior range to Harass your lane opponent, with a few exceptions (such as


First Items
As with many other Ap carries (you may be noticing a common theme here) I like to start with




This I find to be the strongest start on Syndra
Against an easier lane opponent or one in which ability to dodge skill shots is not so important, against say





Both the boots and the pendant build into your early core items making them strong starts. Whereas the ring will make you the most potent by itself (although it tails off into mid game more).












Core Build













Unlike the















Mid- Late game build










Finishing touches





Once you Reach the Late game (once you more or less have the Items above) you can consider adding these items to your build. Saying a tearful farewell to your faithful haunted guise you can pick up any two of the following five items.











As you can no doubt see I take fairly standard AP carry runes and Masteries on
Syndra
Marks
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration I find to be the strongest choice for almost any AP based champion. Why you may ask? Well of all marks availible to you these toys are going to allow you to deal the most damage late game. Taking ability power instead just will not scale as well. This has an even greater synergy on
Syndra since the ap ratio on her
Dark Sphere is so low you will get a greater damage increase by taking magic pen, since only half of the AP you build is going to help you anyway!
Seals
Greater Seal of Replenishment As You may have astutely noticed in the pros and cons section above Syndra struggles somwhat in the mana department. Even at high ranks her
Dark Sphere doesn't do that much damage, particularly when compared with many of the other AP mids you may be facing. Thus getting as much mana regen as you can on
Syndra early game without compromising her damage output is vital. Also as an aside all other yellows are terrible, so these are default anyway!
Glyphs
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist These are your primary source of defence early game, since (aside from
Talon) you won't be encountering much physical damage in mid lane (unless your lane opponent would prefer autoattacking you to last hitting) magic defence is all you will need, these work wonderfully on any mid charachter and on
Syndra they will help you win early trades and perhaps even serve to counteract any Great Mark of Insight your opponent may have (I swear all runes do is cancel each other out!).
Quintessences
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power Again standard fare on any caster build (are you noticing a trend here!) These give you a nice boost to your ability power which despite you lackluster ratios is still a good thing. If you spam your abilities onto your opponents face enough it will all add up.
Besides if you don't take these and your opponent escapes on less than 20 hp after eating your full spell combo would you be able to live with yourself?
Also as a note you can quite obviously buy the tier one and two versions of these if you aren't quite level 20 yet! Also I prefer flat as opposed to per level since being strong early game allows you to snowball more and be better late game as well!
**Disclaimer** Other Runes are availible
Again I have gone for a pretty standard caster setup for
Syndra Points of note here are I have built full offense on the Offense Tree (surprise surprise) taking almost every damage increase possible. The one main offensive ability I did not max was
Havoc
the reason being that each individual point will usualy grant you just a single extra point of damage, if even that, even with three points in the skill you will be raising 200 damage from one of your abilities to 203, thats right you get a single point of damage for each mastery point spent!
In the Utility tree I would regard all mana related masteries as essentials (in order to fix your somwhat faulty mana base early game). Also grabbing the increased buff duration is a must because if your jungler is audacious enough to offer you blue buff you will want it for as long as possible!
Whether you dump a single extra point in
Improved Recall
or
Swiftness
is entirely up to you. You could want to look at that awesome recall animation for longer, in which case
Swiftness
is for you, alternatly you could enjoy watching Syndra float across the screen in a somwhat arbitrary display of power in which case take
Improved Recall
rather than increased movement speed to allow you to watch her for longer!
Recomended:
Flash With no escape mechanics as such
Flash is going to save you on many occasions where other spells simply will not, also it has fantastic aggressive uses allowing you to surprise a low hp opponent or catch up with one of the enemy team whom (assuming you follow this guide to the letter) will likely be running from you. A quick note of usage is where possible try to use it to flash over walls or other such obstacles where possible, you feel an idiot when you flash away only for
Nautilus to go trolll lol lol and
Dredge Line you back in!
Ignite A must have if you want your lane opponent to take a one way train back to the summoner platform (that is 'die' for the uninitiated). Adding this to the end of a spell combo makes it just that much more potent and may allow you to secure some lovely kills. Also good against champions such as
Swain,
Volibear and
Dr. Mundo later in the game if you want to stop their bonkers health regen.
Also worth considering
Clarity You have mana problems, clarity helps you get mana, nuff said (although I think it better to play more conservatively with your mana and take the two above)
Heal No one likes dying,
Heal doesn't either, making this summoner spell your friend. However in most cases simply flashing away will prove more effective.
Ghost is like
Flash (which is good) only worse (which is bad)
Exhaust I see this summoner spell as an alternative to
Ignite in that it helps you secure kills. Use this at thestart of a combo if you miss with
Force of Will or if you crowd control is on cooldown and you want to keep a target around to finish them off with a
Dark Sphere. However I think that
Ignite is a more assured and easier way to secure kills, so I take it over this spell.
Bad/Troll summoner spells
Smite Being sure of one more cs every 90 seconds is a powerful thing!
Revive and
Surge Don't like the look of your team in champion select? Want somone else to leave so you can start a new game without a 5 minute leaver penalty? Well then load these two up on Syndra and watch as someone on your team leaves saving you time and effort!
Teleport Find the twenty second float back to mid lane harrowing? Want to use a 5 minte cooldown spell to get somwhere on the map which you could get to really fast because your in mid lane anyway? Well then teleport is for you.
Clairvoyance All those sight wards weighing you down as you try to hover imperiously around the battlefield? Well then why have vision over an area for three minutes when you can have it for 4 seconds! The enemy won't suspect a thing.
Promote Want to roam and gank other lanes? Find that you have too little mana to push the enemy minion wave back? Then promote a minion and let him do the work for you! Auto-attack ganks op!

Runes
Marks



Seals
Greater Seal of Replenishment As You may have astutely noticed in the pros and cons section above Syndra struggles somwhat in the mana department. Even at high ranks her


Glyphs



Quintessences

Besides if you don't take these and your opponent escapes on less than 20 hp after eating your full spell combo would you be able to live with yourself?
Also as a note you can quite obviously buy the tier one and two versions of these if you aren't quite level 20 yet! Also I prefer flat as opposed to per level since being strong early game allows you to snowball more and be better late game as well!
**Disclaimer** Other Runes are availible












Masteries
Again I have gone for a pretty standard caster setup for


In the Utility tree I would regard all mana related masteries as essentials (in order to fix your somwhat faulty mana base early game). Also grabbing the increased buff duration is a must because if your jungler is audacious enough to offer you blue buff you will want it for as long as possible!
Whether you dump a single extra point in
















Other such Phenomena (a.k.a Summoner spells)
Recomended:










Also worth considering










Bad/Troll summoner spells






Alas I will have to leave you soon dear reader but below here are some closing tips
-
Syndra is possibly the worst performing champion in the game right now, by quite a margin, however do not let this put you off. In the hands of somone who knows what they are doing (ie someone who has read my guide!!) she is very powerful and whereas by themselves her burst, sustained damage and crowd control may not match up to other AP carries, her whole kit if used well can trump all of them.
- Practice Practice Practice!
Syndra is not an easy champion to play and should not be the first AP mid you play, strating off with an easier to play champion such as
Veigar or
Viktor then seeing learning
Syndra as your ultimate goal is the way to go!
-To start with play a few games against bots or custom games with friends to get used to the combos I have described, they certainly aren't the only viable combos out there but they are a good set to have at your disposal, during these games try to learn how all of her abilities work and get used to aiming them,
Scatter the Weak can be particularly tricky to aim!
I thank you for reading your way through this guide, again I must state this is the first guide I (the esteemed Sgt.Invincible) have made for Mobafire and any feedback is fantastic, especially the positive kind!!!
If you are interested in playing with /chatting to me about anything lol then just look for SgtInvincible on the EU West server.
Until then farewell!
-

- Practice Practice Practice!




-To start with play a few games against bots or custom games with friends to get used to the combos I have described, they certainly aren't the only viable combos out there but they are a good set to have at your disposal, during these games try to learn how all of her abilities work and get used to aiming them,

I thank you for reading your way through this guide, again I must state this is the first guide I (the esteemed Sgt.Invincible) have made for Mobafire and any feedback is fantastic, especially the positive kind!!!
If you are interested in playing with /chatting to me about anything lol then just look for SgtInvincible on the EU West server.
Until then farewell!
(NOTE: THis section is a work in progress)
Below are some victories achieved using this build:



I would like to Thank:
Rfent for his checking of my guide and feedback before I published it
B3ATON4 for his use in game and reflections on my build
JhoiJhoi for her excellent guide which allowed me (who is normally computer illiterate!) to produce this guide.
Bittersweet for reminding me that I had forgotten to add
Exhaust to the summoner spell section!
All contributors and voters for your excellent feedback which is allowing me to improve this guide further
Below are some victories achieved using this build:



I would like to Thank:
Rfent for his checking of my guide and feedback before I published it
B3ATON4 for his use in game and reflections on my build
JhoiJhoi for her excellent guide which allowed me (who is normally computer illiterate!) to produce this guide.
Bittersweet for reminding me that I had forgotten to add

All contributors and voters for your excellent feedback which is allowing me to improve this guide further
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