Gwen Baron Lane Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Ignite
How to play
Build your scissors before trading Attack minions to add more snips to your 1st ability, then aim its center at the enemy for the most damage.
Use your mist against outside threats Your 2nd ability creates mist that protects you from enemies outside it. Stay inside while keeping ranged enemies outside.
Stay close in longer fights Use your 3rd ability to dash closer and your ultimate to slow the enemy, then keep attacking without running into several opponents.
Guide author
Royal
Royal has reached Rank 1 in EU and NA, and Legend and Sovereign on the Chinese server. Created by Royal with input from high elo and professional players and the WildRiftGuides Discord community.
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Strengths
- Percent max health damage plus healing makes her the natural counter to tanks and bruisers.
- Hallowed Mist (2nd) blocks all targeting from outside, shutting down ganks, poke, and whole trade patterns.
- Scales into an elite split pusher and duelist who out-sustains most of the lane roster.
Weaknesses
- Mist-dependent: caught with the cloud down, she is a squishy melee champion in the open.
- Ranged poke chips her between cooldowns and fights her from outside the mist.
- Out-dueled early by the lane's hard fighters before her items arrive.
Gwen Baron Lane Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Gwen Baron Lane, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Early health, which is what lets her survive to the levels where her mist and scaling take over.
BOOTS
Magic penetration. Her passive deals max health magic damage that scales with ability power, so this sharpens the part that shreds tanks.
CORE BUILD
Buy first. Skip 'n Slash (3rd) primes Spellblade before the attack Gwen already uses to keep its buff active. The extra on-hit repeats A Thousand Cuts (Passive) for another slice of max-health damage and healing, then repeats Gnaw once Nashor's Tooth is completed second.
Buy second after Dusk and Dawn. Skip 'n Slash (3rd) gives Gwen the range and attack speed to land Gnaw repeatedly while stacking Snip Snip (1st), and Dusk and Dawn applies Gnaw again on its Spellblade attack for stronger sustained duels.
Buy third after Nashor's Tooth. Ramping bonus damage and Omnivamp reward the extended fights where Gwen can keep attacking and landing snips inside Hallowed Mist (2nd).
Buy fourth to multiply Gwen's ability power after the attack-speed and sustain core. Her passive max-health damage scales with AP, strengthening her damage against the frontline.
Buy fifth to cut the magic resistance that answers Gwen's percent-health magic damage. Choose it over Bloodletter's Curse when Gwen is the team's main magic damage source or enemies have heavy magic resistance, since personal penetration matters more than team-wide shred.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
Situationally replace Rabadon's Deathcap when Gwen needs stasis to survive burst after Hallowed Mist (2nd) expires. Buy Seeker's Armguard early for armor and ability power if needed; survival takes priority over the default fourth-item damage spike.
Ultimate haste means more of the ranged snips that let her poke from outside melee range.
Build this when Gwen has another magic-damage carry and enemies are stacking magic resist. Her repeated attacks, Snip Snip! (1st) hits, and Needlework (Ult) casts stack Wicked Decay quickly, while the health and ability haste support extended duels. The shred also increases her ally's magic damage.
Build this when enemies heal through Gwen's sustained damage. Snip Snip (1st) and Needlework (Ult) repeatedly refresh Grievous Wounds during the duel; buy Oblivion Orb early and finish Morellonomicon only when the full stats are worthwhile.
Build this when shields absorb Gwen's sustained damage. Repeated Snip Snip (1st) and Needlework (Ult) hits refresh the reduction throughout the duel inside Hallowed Mist (2nd).
Build this when you are fighting in the middle of the enemy team and need both armor and magic resist. Hallowed Mist (2nd) protects Gwen from outside threats while she activates Twinguard against the enemies fighting inside it.
Build this when the enemy has crowd control ready for the moment she steps out of her mist.
Boot swap against heavy physical damage. Hallowed Mist (2nd) already denies attacks from outside, and the armor protects Gwen against the melee champions allowed inside it.
Boot swap against heavy magic damage and crowd control, though it gives up the penetration her passive wants.
Replace Rabadon's Deathcap when repeated magic damage from enemies inside the mist stops Gwen from completing another snip rotation. Repeated champion magic damage stacks extra Magic Resistance and movement speed, making it a sustained-magic-damage answer.
Replace Rabadon's Deathcap when a crit carry fights Gwen inside the mist and survival matters more than extra AP. Reduces physical critical-strike damage, so prioritize it against fed crit carries rather than purely on-hit damage.
Replace Rabadon's Deathcap when several attack-speed threats stay close enough to hit Gwen through the mist. Armor, mana, and haste come with a nearby enemy attack-speed reduction. Stay close enough for the aura; it does not slow Master Yi's attacks during Highlander (Ult).
RUNES
KEYSTONE
Her mist forces long fights, so she reaches max stacks easily and the healing adds to the damage she grinds out.
PRIMARY
Gwen casts Snip Snip (1st) repeatedly during extended duels, giving Battle Zeal time to build its basic ability damage amplification. Stay in a useful mist position so she can keep fighting long enough to benefit.
Gwen often loses health while fighting at close range. Last Stand adds damage while she is low, helping her fight back as her passive healing and omnivamp sustain the duel.
Farming stacks permanent omnivamp for Gwen's repeated damage. It adds sustain while she works toward Riftmaker and supports the longer fights her attack-speed build wants.
SECONDARY
Gwen's default secondary rune helps recover health after repeated lane poke. It covers damage taken between Hallowed Mist (2nd) casts so she can keep farming toward her core items.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Choose this as Gwen's secondary rune when the lane allows safe farming and the plan centers on side-lane towers. Three turret attacks trigger bonus damage, turning her wave pressure into structure damage.
Take this over Second Wind in lanes where Gwen can safely dash into repeated trades. Skip 'n Slash (3rd) activates bonus true damage on the following champion hit, trading poke recovery for more opening damage.
Choose this as Gwen's secondary rune against heavy crowd control. Its tenacity shortens most disables and grants temporary defenses while immobilized, helping her resume attacking and snipping before Hallowed Mist (2nd) expires.
Take this over Conqueror when the lane is short walk-up trades rather than the long fights her mist usually creates.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Must take. Her mist protects the ground she is standing on, so Flash is how she moves that ground to where the fight is.
Ignite
Take this for early kill pressure in the solo lane, since one kill is usually enough to start snowballing it. The Grievous Wounds also makes it strong into champions with a lot of healing.
SITUATIONAL SPELLS
Teleport
Take this over Ignite into a losing lane. She wants to reach her items, and a free reset keeps her on the wave while she gets there.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 11st Ability
Q - 23rd Ability
E - 32nd Ability
W
Gwen Baron Lane Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Gwen Baron Lane, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is one giant health bar and your damage scales off exactly that, so you snip through his regeneration and out-sustain the sustain tank from start to finish.
Mordekaiser
Realm of Death (Ult) does steal useful stats, but Gwen can still win inside it because Thousand Cuts (Passive) and Snip Snip! (1st) punish Mordekaiser's health while Skip 'n Slash (3rd) avoids Obliterate's (1st) isolated hit. Do not rely on Hallowed Mist (2nd) once he is already beside you; hold the dash for his mace swing and stack Snip Snip! (1st) before the realm begins.
Sion
Sion is an enormous free target: his health pool feeds your passive, his knockup fails against good mist timing, and his shield melts under true damage.
Malphite
All that armor and no magic resist: your snips are percent-health magic damage and your Q (1st) center is true damage, so his armor stacking does nothing. His wide-radius ultimate is his only real threat.
Gwen Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Yone
Yone can enter Hallowed Mist (2nd) with Mortal Steel (1st) or Soul Unbound (3rd), shield Gwen's return damage with Spirit Cleave (2nd), then snap back before she finishes a fully stacked Snip Snip! (1st) or all three Needlework (Ult) casts. Save Skip 'n Slash (3rd) for his third Mortal Steel (1st) cast or Fate Sealed (Ult), and pressure his fixed return point instead of chasing the spirit form.
Tryndamere
Spinning Slash (3rd) keeps Tryndamere in melee where Hallowed Mist (2nd) offers no protection, and Undying Rage (Ult) lets him continue attacking after Gwen's final Snip Snip! (1st) would normally finish the duel. Slow him with Needlework (Ult), save Skip 'n Slash (3rd) to kite the undying window, and re-enter only after the ultimate expires.
Shen
Shen's block stops your flurries when it matters, and his taunt pulls you out of the mist into a trade on his terms. His sustain means your snips never quite finish him, so he freely pressures the map with ult roams.
Wukong
Wukong reaches you whether the mist is up or not: he waits out the cloud, bursts you before your sustain matters, and the clone baits the mist you were saving for his real combo.
Gwen Baron Lane Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Gwen Baron Lane, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.