Ever since her release, Senna has been one of the most influential bot lane picks in League of Legends. No matter whether she’s in a support or ADC role, Senna is able to dominate the laning phase and carry her team.
But AP Senna is also a very fun build that works super well.
AP Senna is a scaling off-meta build that offers different strengths than AD Senna.
With ability power items, Senna has good damage, a bit more healing, and a lot more movement speed during her E – Curse of the Black Mist.
And if you’ve never tried out AP Senna, this post will give you all the necessary info for you to do so.
From the runes and items to the helpful details about Senna’s damage and ability ratios.
So without further ado, let’s learn how to play this awesome AP Senna build!
Is Senna AP or AD in LoL?
Senna is an AD marksman/support champion in League of Legends. All of Senna’s damage is physical even though she has both AD and AP ratios on her abilities.
For example, Senna’s R – Dawning Shadow has base physical damage that scales with ranks, plus 100% AD ratio, and 70% AP ratio.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t build Senna AP. It simply means that even though you’re building ability power items, the damage will still be categorized as physical.
In other words, Senna’s abilities don’t benefit from effects like magic penetration. But if you buy bonus armor penetration item even with an AP build, you’ll still benefit from it!
Moreover, Senna has AP scalings on her Q and E as well. This makes it so her Q heals more with AP items and her E gives more movement speed to Senna and her allies.
But Senna’s passive and W remain AD-only abilities. As a marksman, she can build the recommended AD items to increase their damage and be overall better equipped for carrying.
However, AP Senna can surprise you in terms of damage and utility, so I recommend you try her out!
Read Also: Top 15 Best Off-Meta Supports
How Does AP Senna Work?
One of the first things that players ask about playing Senna AP is which role they should go for. And the answer is whichever you want!
Seriously, AP Senna is a fun playstyle that can either be played as an off-meta mid lane build or an ADC/support, depending on what you prefer.
But since this build doesn’t have explosive damage and it’s more focused on dealing consistent damage and providing utility, I’d recommend you play AP Senna in bot either as a carry or as a support.
Second, one thing you must realize is that AP Senna still uses her auto-attacks to deal most of her damage. And even though she has AP ratios, the AP build is all about on-hit magic effects.
For example, if you scroll down below you’ll see that the core items are Nashor’s Tooth, Manamune, and Lich Bane. Liandry’s Anguish increases your overall damage, but these 3 items are what make this whole build viable.
But once you try out AP Senna, you’ll quickly realize how unique and powerful the playstyle is. It’s very different from playing AD Senna and your enemies won’t know what to do against you.
There are tons of different AP items that can give you advantages in certain situations, so definitely give AP Senna a shot. And if you want to see how AP Senna works in-game, I recommend checking this YouTube video.
Here are the runes and items you’re going to need!
Read Also: AP Kai’Sa Build Guide
AP Senna Build – Runes (Explained)
- Summon Aery
- Manaflow Band
- Transcendence
- Scorch
- Cheap Shot
- Ultimate Hunter
Summon Aery
Summon Aery is the perfect keystone for support AP Senna. It’s a very convenient rune to have, especially for the early game.
What Aery does is that it helps you do more poke damage to your enemies and more healing to your allies. It has a fairly short cooldown even at the start of the game, so you can get a lot of value out of it.
Aery also shields your teammate when you use Senna’s heal, so you have no reason not to take it.
Manaflow Band
Manaflow Band is the best rune for mana management in League of Legends. And it has two effects.
First, Manaflow Band increases your maximum mana when you damage an enemy champion with an ability.
And once this effect is fully stacked (250 bonus maximum mana), Manaflow Band gives you 1% missing mana regeneration for the rest of the game.
It’s super useful for Senna since you need to spam your spells, so definitely pick it up.
Transcendence
Transcendence is a great rune for getting more ability haste for free.
Basically, this rune gives you 10 bonus ability haste by level 8. And after level 11, it helps you reset your basic abilities faster (Q, W, E).
It’s very useful for team fights and you should always have it.
Scorch
Scorch is an early game rune that further increases your poke damage.
It allows you to burn your enemies when you damage them with an ability, so it’s also a good way to secure champion takedowns.
Read Also: AP Machine-Gun Lulu Build Guide
Cheap Shot
From the Domination tree, Cheap Shot is the first secondary rune you need to pick up.
Cheap Shot allows you to deal bonus true damage to enemies that are already in crowd control. This can either be s slow, stun, snare, or something else.
Senna’s has a root effect on her W, so that’s how she can activate Cheap Shot for more damage.
Ultimate Hunter
Ultimate Hunter is a very simple rune and it’s here for one reason only – to lower the cooldown of your ultimate – Dawning Shadow.
To stack this rune, you’ll need to slay all 5 of your enemies or at least collect an assist. This will make Senna’s R a 30-second cooldown ability, so it’s a pretty good deal.
Senna’s global ultimate is a very useful spell and you want it available as much as possible.
Read Also: Full AP Lucian Build Guide
AP Senna Build – Items (Explained)
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
- Liandry’s Anguish
- Nashor’s Tooth
- Manamune / Muramana
- Lich Bane
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Senna has many different options when it comes to boots. However, the cheapest and the most valuable boots for the early and mid game for AP Senna are Ionian Boots of Lucidity.
These boots give you 20 ability haste for only 950 gold. So, I recommend them in 99% of the matches.
But if you feel like you need more attack speed, Berserker’s Greaves can be a good option too.
Liandry’s Anguish
Liandry’s Anguish is the mythic item that works the best with AP Senna. You want to build it as a first item because the burn effect of Liandry’s is a very valuable addition to your damage.
This item will help you deal more damage to all enemies by burning them for additional magic damage. This damage scales with the target’s maximum HP, so it’s always relevant.
Liandry’s Anguish also grants bonus AP, mana, and ability haste, so you can’t go wrong here.
And despite the fact that Senna’s abilities are all physical, they still apply Liandry’s effect.
Read Also: AP Miss Fortune Build Guide
Nashor’s Tooth
Nashor’s Tooth is a core item in Senna’s AP build. And the reason for it is that Nashor’s tooth increases her attack speed and adds bonus on-hit magic damage.
In other words, Nashor’s tooth allows Senna to do more damage with her auto-attacks. It also synergizes with the other items in the build.
I already explained how on-hit is for AP Senna, so trust me and buy this item as early as possible.
Manamune / Muramana
Manamune is another core item you’ll need to build on AP Senna
Because Manamune is an AD item, it also increases Senna’s overall damage. It also adds a ton of maximum mana to her stats as well as bonus attack damage.
Don’t forget to buy Tear of the Goddes first so you can start stacking the item as early as possible.
Read Also: Full AP Leona Build Guide
Lich Bane
Lich Bane is the third on-hit item you’ll need to get on AP Senna.
Basically, Lich Bane enhances your auto-attack to deal bonus magic damage after you use an ability. It has a short cooldown, but it allows you to hit your target way harder, especially if you have a lot of AP.
Rabadon’s Deathcap
And Rabadon’s Deathcap is the perfect item to complete the AP Senna build.
As I already explained, Senna doesn’t benefit from magic penetration. Instead, you need as much raw AP as possible.
Rabadon’s Deathcap gives you 120 bonus ability power and increases all of your AP by 35%. It’s a huge damage booster for the late game, so definitely get it!
Read Also: Full AP Janna Build Guide
Situational and Optional Items for AP Senna
Some games will require different items from you. Luckily, Senna has a few different items to choose from.
First of all, if you don’t like the slower gameplay that Liandry’s Anguish offers, you can always switch to Night Harvester. This mythic item hits harder and offers a better burst.
For defensive items, both Zhonya’s Hourglass and Banshee’s Veil can be great, depending on who you need to counter.
Zhonya’s is typically good against AD assassins while Banshee’s Veil works well against burst mages.
And that’s about it!
Conclusion
Playing this AP build on Senna after many games on this champion feel very refreshing. Personally, I love playing AP Senna as a support because of how annoying it is for the enemy team to stop me.
But, you can also try her in mid or bot.
I hope my guide helped you understand how AP Senna works. And if this is your first time trying this build, just copy the runes and items above and I promise that you’ll see good results.
If not, you can try some of these traditional and fun supports in League of Legends.
Bye!
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