Awesomenauts Leon Guide

Awesomenauts Leon Guide by rkscroyjr

Hey there guys. I don’t know if any of this is useful but I hope someone thinks it is. Before I get right into it, I want to say this: I have been playing this game since it came out and I have been playing Leon almost exclusively. I think he is a VERY strong character but he does have his weaknesses. He needs a bit of tweaking but as he is now he is totally playable and competitively balanced (in my eyes.)

Why I chose Leon: I just think he is a lot of fun. In most games I play I prefer to either be fast or be the support. What I really like about him is that both of things are true in this game. After playing online this long I find that one of the problems I think some people are having is that they are trying to shoehorn their character to be exactly one type of thing. This game is about balance with a degree of specialization. You need to be able to excel at a certain thing while at least TRYING to have a fighting chance in most others. Leon gave me those options in the areas I was looking for which are: consistent damage, speed, pressure, zone.

Forward: I am not going to pretend that this is the end all and be all of guides to Leon. I wanted to come forward with what I have learned and hope it helps other Leon’s and maybe tone down the Leon “OP” hate. This is exactly one type of build that I personally find both fun and effective. Enjoy.

Early early game: There is something I think every player needs to start doing and that is exploit certain areas of maps, usually the neutral creep zone. When I first started this game I was far too aggressive and always wanted to earn more and more money. Then, I decided to try to play this game as a game of attrition which I think lends itself to Leon a bit better. Every time you gain something, the opponents don’t have it. I know this sounds simple but it applies to EVERYTHING. playing fighting games competitively has taught me that even just walking forward is zone the other player is losing. Always be mindful of what you have only because the other guy doesn’t have it. Take those things. This applies mostly to neutral creeps because it money they don’t have.
As a side note, the solar placement on the way down into the map: learn it. It’s something you can not take away from the other players so you may as well try to have more of it than them.

Early game: I start every game the same. I buy faster speed, piggy bank, and tongue. and here’s why.

Increased Movement Speed: If you are playing Leon, and you are slow as *, then you are doing it wrong. You are an assassin. You NEED to be able to move around the map quickly. In fact, Speed is the first thing I buy for every character. I CAN NOT stand not being able to get to places quickly. This is just too useful for every situation.

Piggy Bank: Free money, what?

Tongue: This move is just dumb. This is one of the best moves in the game in my opinion. It does a decent amount of damage but the real beauty is the zone of control you have. If you have the max tongue, then EVERYONE AROUND YOU has to keep an eye on your position and try to bait and or dodge your tongue. It is good for jungling, it’s good for offense, it’s good for defense, it’s good all the time. THIS is what makes Leon scary.

Alright, so, you’ve bought those 3 upgrades. The very first I ALWAYS do is get to the jungle as soon as I can and kill everything. I don’t need health but I want money. Money I have is money they don’t. I have found that if you get there fast enough and kill all the creeps, you almost always have enough to port back to the shop to get invisibility. To be fair, I think getting the fully maxed tongue would do you more good but I think invis is just too good for many situations so I get it next.

So, the game has just begun, you have Speed, Piggy bank, Tongue and Invisibility. Now this is where I play super defensive. You barely do enough damage to kill the neutral creeps in a timely manner. Unless someone does something really dumb, you aren’t going to be killing any players yet. because of that, everything you should be doing is establishing a zone of control. Tongue helps with that and is GREAT on killing enemy bots. Pester the plays but don’t commit to a kill unless it is guaranteed. Also, don’t go one for one. You will have gained nothing.

DO NOT ATTACK TURRETS. This early in the game, if you have the Voltair/Clunk combo then you might be able to take an early turret but in almost every case, DO NOT ATTACK TURRETS PERIOD. Time spent attacking turrets is time better spent earning money elsewhere. Killing the creeps or just annoying the enemy. if you can annoy the enemy, they aren’t getting gold. If they aren’t getting gold, you are. So much is to earned from just annoying the enemy.

The next thing you want to buy is a fully upgraded tongue range. If you are doing really well you can wait out to the 260 but most of the time you will have to take it at 130 chunks to be safe. The fully upgraded tongue range makes you deadly. You still can not win a fight in almost every case, but you sure as hell annoy the enemy, and that is money. Pulling them into bad spots and even making a kill here and there. Don’t over commit to them as you still do * for damage. This stage in the game is still attacking bots and establishing board control.

Mid-Game: The very next thing you buy is backstab. It simply does too much damage to pass up. If they run, they die. That is what you are saying from this point on in the game. it also makes it easier to ambush. This tool, right now, still really only helps killing creeps but if you can get a kill, then go for it. It is still easy and dangerous to over commit as you are not a PKer. You have the tools to set up a very strong and scary zone of control that will murder anyone that makes a bad decision.

A few notes here. At this point you ought to be able to see what the other players are speccing out for. In general I like to buy one upgrade of health. It gives me a good buffer. The only time I make sure I buy more than that is when there are one hitters out there like a Clunk exploder or Froggy. Because to hell with Froggy.

The next things you will be buying is Attack Damage Up and Attack Speed Up. This is a judgment call on which to go for first. More damage is really a necessity because you do so little. Even the backstab is kind of weak; however, I have played games where the other team has left themselves squishy and you do ENOUGH damage but need to get it out faster. In that case buy the Atk Speed. But most of the time I alternate between the damage and speed starting with damage because there are 3 of those. OCD like them to cap out nicely.

Late Game: You are designed to kill players. That is what you do now. Taking out turrets only when the team is committed. The whole game you have been trying to establish control but you have been doing it buy mostly killing creeps and pestering the other players. Now is the time you can really, REALLY go on the offensive. If they take a turret, make them pay for it. Someone’s back is always open and you will be there to exploit it. make them work for EVERY step they take. This is when, if you have playing right, they are scared of you because they don’t know when or where you will pop up. Use that.

And that’s it. If this is well received then I will post specific strategies and my thought on the upgrades and how I function in specific situations. I just wanted to contribute to the community.

Thank you
Croy

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