Gwen LoL: Tips and Tricks, Abilities, Runes, and Counters Guide

Gwen LoL Champion Space Groove Skin
Gwen is the second League of Legends Champion to release in 2021. Here are the best tips tricks, builds and counter information you need before heading in game. Image via Riot Games.

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Gwen is League of Legends second Champion, released in 2021. Riot Games designed Gwen in line to be an AP Figher in the top lane, with melee attacks, dashes, and some ranged poke if things go well. Like many fighters, Gwen can be hit or miss, either hard carrying or being just okay. As a result, getting whatever advantages you can from Gwen is very important to really feel her power. Here are our Gwen LoL guide for her abilities, runes, and general tips and tricks for mastering her.

Gwen LoL Abilities

Gwen has quite a versatile kit, mixing poke, dashes, and huge melee burst to achieve success in various outcomes.

 

PASSIVE – A THOUSAND CUTS.

Gwen’s attacks deal bonus magic damage based on the target’s health. She heals for a portion of the damage dealt to champions by this effect.

Q – SNIP SNIP!

Gwen snips her scissors in a cone up to 6 times dealing magic damage. Gwen deals true damage to units in the center and applies her passive to them on each snip.

W – HALLOWED MIST

Gwen summons mist that protects her from enemies outside of it. She can only be targeted by enemies who enter the mist.

E – SKIP ‘N SLASH

Gwen dashes a short distance then gains attack speed, attack range, and on-hit magic damage for a few seconds. If she hits an enemy during that time, this Ability’s cooldown is partially refunded.

R – NEEDLEWORK

Gwen hurls a needle that slows enemies hit, deals magic damage, and applies A Thousand Cuts to champions hit. This ability can be cast up to two more times, with each cast throwing additional needles and dealing more damage. Gwen must hit an enemy between each cast to unlock the next one.

 

The biggest tip to give you for Gwen LoL’s abilities is to start with her E, regardless of position. The dash is very important for trading, duking, or dashing into favourable trade windows. Also, Skip’n Slash gives you increased attack speed, with cooldown reduction if you successfully hit enemies.

From there, it is very important to max out your Q, Snip Snip! The ability is your most consistent damage tool, ass it applies the passive for your sustain and bonus damage while dealing true damage on well-aimed presses. 

The other important aspect is to use your W sparingly. Whether it is in lane or team fights, her W is a tool that stops her from getting stunned. It is essential as Gwen is an on-hit AP fighter, meaning her damage mainly comes from hitting targets outside of her abilities. Besides, her E needs to get her in range to target people to get the CDR refund. Failing to connect is a big downfall of Gwen, so use the Hallowed Mists’s CC prevention wisely. Alternatively, use it to save yourself from getting ganked or locked down, as losing lane pressure is a bad thing.

Gwen LoL Runes

Gwen LoL Runes
The following Rune setup is the most ideal for Gwen.

 

As you can tell from her kit, she heavily relies on doing damage, applying her damage primarily through her auto attacks. Like most Fighters, Gwen needs to say in combat to fulfil her kit’s true potential. Therefore, she naturally benefits from the Precision tree, in particular, Conqueror, Triumph, Legend Alacrity, and the final slot based on composition. If there are plenty of enemy tanks allows, then Cut Down is good. Alternatively, if there is lots of damage, then Last Stand or Coup de Grace are fine. This is a fairly staple LoL rune build for Gwen’s role. 

Her second tree naturally benefits from the Domination Tree. Sudden Impact is a freebie given how fundamental Skip’N’Slash is to her kit. The other rune of choice is Revenous Hunter, as Fighters love healing by default. 

The other three runes should have the top one heading for the bonus attack speed. As for the other two rows, it is based only on your matchup and enemy team comp. Perhaps there are three AD threats, one of which is your laner. If so, then double armor is nice etc. These are very important Gwen tips in general for adapting your rune pages the fly, which applies to every draft for any Champion.

Gwen LoL Build

Continuing on with our Gwen tips and tricks, the most important part of any Fighter is getting the build right. Fighters have a core item set, that almost never differentiates across games, although, they have more situational items or priorities.

The two core items for Gwen’s build is Nashor’s Tooth, as it is the AP on-hit item. This is Gwen’s go-to item in the laning phase, even over Mythic Items, as it fits her playstyle too well. After that, you want the Riftmaker because it scales simultaneously as her Conqueror does, favouring extended trades and team fighting situations. When combining her core build, her runes, and her abilities, it is clear the best tip for Gwen’s League of Legends build is to stay in fights as long as reasonably possible.

After that, you have a few choices. Getting Zhonya’s is a decent item for surviving, especially against multiple AD threats. Cosmic Drive is a brilliant item for getting Gwen even more Ability Haste to keep her E off cooldown as much as possible. Then if you’re super ahead, an early Rabadons is fine. If the enemy team has healing, then going Morellonomicon is crucial. There is a fair amount to think about for her build in the mid-game. By playing well and building the right items for the situation, you can make Gwen broken and feeling OP.

Gwen Counters

While we have covered what Gwen does, her synergies and best tips and tricks, it’s time for her weaknesses. Gwen LoL is a Fighter, capable of preventing CC, getting in the face, and placing consistent pressure. What this means is there is a ramp time before coming online for her damage. 

Naturally, Gwen has a few unfavourable counters. The first one is poke. Gwen can’t get on top of opponents if her enemies chip away at her health bar at range. By the time she gets up to begin trading, her health may be low while still needing time to get her Riftmaker, passive stacks and conqueror up. It could be a disaster for her. 

The next Gwen counter is burst trades. Many Top Lane Champions have fairly decent burst or pressure, like Riven, Camille, Darius, Renekton, Riven, and Fiora. These picks are the Champions that match what Gwen does, but better in the early game. Therefore, these are some strong Gwen counters.

Gwen's Lanes and Roles

While Riot Games designed Gwen to be a Top Laner, many pro builds have her in the Jungle. She seems to benefit from the lack of Gwen counters in the Jungle and can reasonably fight many Junglers outside of their burst abilities. It skips the hassle of playing the lane correctly, especially when her early game feels weak against many of the highest-ranking Top Laners in our Top Tier List. Whether or not we come to the same Gwen review in the coming weeks is uncertain. She could be like Rell feeling lacklustre in the first week to meta defining the next.

Her E makes her a frailty decent ganker if Gwen paths to the lane, avoiding detection for as long as possible. Due to her anti CC ability, it means it becomes hard to actually stop a Gwen gank once when she nears her prey. Gwen Jungle is something to keep in mind if the pick is failing elsewhere on the map or a Jungle player wants to try something new.

Other people have been rolling Gwen in the mid lane too. However, Gwen mid seems to be the weakest version of all the Gwen positions. Gwen can’t really dive the control mages or handle the assassin early pressure all too well. As a result, she tends to lose lane, and that’s not where you want to be as a Fighter.

That is all our Gwen LoL tips and tricks in this guide. We hope you have learned a thing or two about how fighters work in the League of Legends laning phase, the mid-game, and builds. We hope you use these ideas and concepts when you get your hands on Gwen, building her to be the best AP Figher on the Rift.