Introduction to Gwen, The Gunslinger

Gwen

Gwen's Kit

Heroic Perk

Boomstick

After every 1.6 seconds without attacking your next basic attack does 50% more base damage. Attack speed shortens the time needed to reset it.

This passive is very useful for last hitting minions in the early game and for poking at the enemy during fights later on. A common question people ask is "should I wait for her passive during fights?". The answer is no, keep hitting them because it's better to get started on Breaking Point stacks. The only time you should wait for Boomstick is in situations like at the end of Gwen's spotlight (skip to 3:25) where she is able to poke Baron and Glaive with her buckshot after using boomstick to quickly stop the enemy from advancing before they even had the chance to strike back.

(A)

Buckshot Bonanza

An easy ability to land, Buckshot Bonanza is a cone shaped area of effect ability that shoots in the target direction, much like a shotgun. With a very far reach, buckshot slows and provides vision on anyone hit by it for 2 seconds.

As part of their mechanics, lane minions attack enemies who hit you when they're within range. Using this mechanic to your advantage is one way we can get more out of buckshot. By using this ability on the enemy laner when minions are out of reach, you can pull them closer to you and at the same time get some poke damage while staying safe from the danger of what may be waiting for you in the bushes. Speaking of bushes, it's always very risky walking into them because camping a bush and ambushing the enemy is a common strategy... luckily Buckshot Bonanza provides vision so use it to check bushes when you aren't sure it's safe so you don't take unnecessary risks by face checking the bush. Buckshot has a powerful slow, use this secure kills before an attack, to catch up to an enemy out of Gwen's short basic attack range, or to slow enemies that are chasing you to ensure your getaway.[/color]

(B)

Skedaddle

Skedaddle gives Gwen a speed boost and removes all negative effects when activated, it's like having a 2nd pair of boots that can be used at any time. It also gives you a permanent speed boost of 0.8 when learned but it goes away for 4 seconds when an enemy hero attacks you.

This ability which really separates Gwen from other heroes because she's able to stay mobile in dangerous situations. Positioning is crucial as a laner/carry, you want to stay within range of your target but also out of the enemy team's range too. You'll find accomplishing this can be tricky sometimes because of Gwen's very short basic attack range, that's why it's important to know when to use skedaddle because to stay safe you have to avoid those huge abilities like Ardan's Gauntlet and Koshka's Yummy Catnip Frenzy and just walk away from them like they never happened. When timed right, you can get out of any sticky situation with skedaddle. I think it's important to say that skedaddle has a long cooldown, so deciding when to use it as almost as important as remembering to use it at all. Just because there's a negative effect on you doesn't mean you should immediately use skedaddle, remember that there are 3 enemies so that's 3 potential risks and you can only block 1.

(C)

Aces high

A skillshot that damages anything it passes through, goes over obstacles, and only stops to stun enemy heroes.

This is the hardest ability to use in Gwen's kit because it's got an odd hitbox/visual, so sometimes even when it looks like it will land for sure, it doesn't. It's best to use this on slowed enemies maybe or ones who are coming toward you so they walk into it for you. Getting good with this one will take a lot of practice, if you're a Krul player you should do well since his ultimate is very similar.

In high tier play, aces high is often used to engage the enemy damage dealers, save your teammates by stunning the enemy before they die, or stun lock someone (when your team combines abilities to lock down a target for a long time) For example Gwen's Aces High + Catherine's Merciless Pursuit + Skye's Death From Above used on a single target in a timed succession.

Item Buying, WP Gwen

Final Build

BP is the most important item for this build. The stacks you get from it's passive will increase your damage to an unmatched level and usually the outcome of every fight is heavily effected by who can build Breaking Point stacks first. We buy this immediately because it gives decent attack speed, weapon damage and the stacks just really help to put you in a position of power during conflicts.

The 2nd item built, Tyrant's Monocle is effective because it makes critical hits much more likely, while also giving us a good amount of weapon damage. Combined with BP (Breaking Point) we'll be doing great damage once stacks get going. In the typical final build for this path, we also buy a 2nd tyrants as one of our last items instead of a 2nd sorrowblade because having 2 gives us very consistent critical hits.

A huge part of our damage source, having Sorrowblade makes every attack more impactful and whether you want 2 sorrowblades or 2 tyrants is up to you. As I said before, having 2 tyrants gives us very consistent critical hits. However, having 2 sorrowblades makes every critical hit deal a lot more damage, they just wont occur as often but hey if you're feeling lucky then go for it. I've won games with both ways but I'd recommend 2 tyrants.

Gwen struggles with energy and she's got high cooldowns. This is a major issue for WP Gwen and Halcyon Chargers offers the solution. Providing the much needed stats we need to stay in the fight longer, these boots are the better choice over . Yes, journey boots offer more speed and has a much lower cooldown than other boots but with Gwen we already have a lot of speed and another source of boost with Skedaddle.

Really something that I'm seeing more of lately on damage dealers instead of the standard defense items. Personally, I love buying Crucible over the standard defense because it works just as well and I'm also able to look out for my teammates at the same time with the team-wide reflex block The only downsides to buying this instead is that your enemies may be able to build breaking point stacks faster versus buying a metal jacket and the reflex block cooldown is 10 seconds longer than aegis.

Other Items, Alernatives

Pretty much the same item here just for different damage types, the only difference is that Aegis has Reflex Block. Many players like to build both Metal Jacket and aegis to be safe against tough opponents. I'd recommend doing this if your positioning isn't the best or maybe you're just get focused a lot by strong opponents. Having 4 damage items is nice, but sometimes 2x defense items is necessary.


This item can be bought as one of our first choices because it gives +5 weapon power but more importantly a source of sustain. Book of eulogies makes it possible to recover from damage taken and stay in the lane for longer. This is good for your CS or last hit count because you won't have to leave the lane if you don't want to. Selling this item after it becomes useless when leaving the early game can be situational. Read the next item section to learn more.


When exiting the early game, you need to decide whether or not to sell book of eulogies and move onto Barbed Needle for poisoned shiv. If there is an opponent who has Eve of Harvest or serpent's mask or any other good source of sustain, it may be a good choice to build poisoned shiv to match their endurance. Enemies that are constantly surviving fights or that are tough to take down can beat you just from surviving longer than you. If this is the case, buying shiv as your 4th item can also be a good option instead of buying more defense to survive longer. It isn't a bad item overall and it's affordable. Some people may disagree with this but in my experience, having the sustain you gain from this can work just as well as anything else.


Buying infusions before your build is finished is a legit strategy. I personally wait until I have 5 items at least to buy one or if my team needs the extra damage to defend our turrets from an advancing enemy team with the help of a kraken. If you feel that infusing early will get your team a turret or two and a lead, then go for it but keep in mind this is a risky investment. It's possible to infuse and gain nothing from it... that 500 gold could have gone to your main build so be smart when taking the risk and make sure you gain something from it.

CP Walkthrough

(A)

Buckshot Bonanza

Lane minions attack enemies who hit you when they're within range. Using this mechanic to your advantage is one way we can get more out of buckshot. By using this ability on the enemy laner when minions are out of reach, you can pull them closer to you and at the same time get some poke damage while staying safe from the danger of what may be waiting for you in the bushes. Speaking of bushes, don't take any unnecessary risks by face checking the grass/bush, use Buckshot Bonanza to make sure it's safe to go in. Since we have an energy battery to start with as CP Gwen, we can use this ability more often... always pay attention to your energy bar- you never want to be drained. In combat, this ability will be your main source of damage so spam it in fights and land it on as many enemies as possible to get the full damage potential. I should say, take advantage of it's range and use it from the very edges of the fight to stay safe, remember your basic attacks as CP gwen are very weak compared to WP so keep your distance and always try to keep enemies away with buckshot- if you use this right, you'll find that sometimes the enemy won't have enough health to fight your team by the time they decide to engage. Play passively and look for opportunities to poke at the enemy, because this build is VERY much reliant on bursting.[/color]

(B)

Skedaddle

Positioning is crucial as a laner/carry, you want to stay within range of your target but also out of the enemy team's range too. It's important to know when to use skedaddle because to stay safe you have to avoid those huge abilities like Ardan's Gauntlet and Koshka's Yummy Catnip Frenzy and just walk away almost like they never happened. Compared to WP gwen who can only use skedaddle once or twice in a fight, CP Gwen will be able to use this more often =) but try not to use it as a simple speed boost because you want to remove negative effects with it primarily.

(C)

Aces high

Sometimes even when it looks like it will land for sure, it doesn't. It's best to use this on slowed enemies or ones who are coming toward you so they walk into it for you. Getting good with this takes time.
Once you've gotten good with this, Aces high can be used to engage the enemy before you close the distance between your teams, save your teammates by stunning the enemy before they die, or stun lock someone (when your team combines abilities to lock down a target for a long time) For example Gwen's Aces High + Catherine's Merciless Pursuit + Skye's Death From Above used on a single target in a timed succession.

CP Final Build- Items Explained

First item, this will make farming and clearing minion waves faster. Consistent damage, Alternating Current also good for combining the extra cp damage on every other basic attack with gwens passive Boomstick


This is our second cp item. Aftershock's main purpose is to make us more bursty and give us the much needed energy stats- cooldown reduction and energy regen.


3rd cp item here... Broken Myth or 'BM' gives us the shield penetration that we desperately need to effectively poke and raises our damage based on how long the fight goes on, which fits our passive and pokey playstyle here just fine.


Shatterglass Providing 150 crystal power, this expensive 4th cp item will make your abilities hit harder. We buy it last in this build because it only provides 1 stat pretty much and while more damage is always good, other stats are also important.


Aegis and Metal Jacket are interchangeable here because of skedaddle but I would recommend getting Aegis, or even Slumbering Husk in certain situations like against CP SAW or CP Ringo. Only buy 1 defense item because in most cases 3 damage items won't be enough to carry your weight if the enemy builds any shield. 2x defense shouldn't be needed anyway because the goal is to poke and never get close.


Halcyon Chargers are perfect for this build because they provide cooldown and energy. Don't build any other boots or you'll find this build hard to make work.