This post is not meant to be a full on guide for Pantheon, just a quick selection of tips that I’ve found useful in my time with the hero. I’ve probably logged about 25 games with him so far and been highly successful for the most part. I think Riot did a great job with champ, definitely the best I’ve seen from any of the newer toons, anyway.

The thing you need to understand, and by understand I mean completely internalize so that it is second nature, is that Pantheon is pretty squishy. Despite having a huge shield and a very cool passive, he can still get his socks rocked if you aren’t paying attention. Think of him like a Master Yi and you should be just fine.

In the early game, I take Spear Shot as my first skill every time unless I’m going for a 3-man or 5-man gank. It’s a great harassing skill, is extremely cheap at any level, and gives you a farming method against ranged champs. From there it’s 1 rank of stun and then maxing Heartseeker. Stay with me.

A lot of people say to max stun first because it lowers the cooldown. It’s a decent idea, but at max rank the CD is still greater than 10 seconds, meaning you’ll probably only get one off before your opponent is in tower range. While Heartseeker has a longer cooldown, it deals double damage to champions and can be devastating at early levels.

I’ll leave you with an idea for getting some early game kills: It’s all about saving your stun for the last minute. You really need to make it count. Start off by running in with a Spear Shot and getting some melee work done. If you have exhaust, blow it early and get some smacks in. Just keep up the melee until your target starts to run. That’s when you pop the stun and Heartseeker away. At that point he should be low enough that Spear Shot takes him to 15% health and you crit for the kill.

Check back soon for a complete Pantheon guide.

If you’ve been anxiously logging in every twenty minutes to check the servers you can stop your wait. Everything’s back up and running with the reported changes in place. As of this writing the store isn’t functioning, so I haven’t been able to pick up Pantheon just yet.

I am looking forward to a lot of the changes, though. As a Gangplank player I was glad to see the change to Parrrley in that it now applies Grog Soaked Wound. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crit someone to a sliver of health just to watch him run off. There is a strange bug in his attack animation wherein every few attacks he points his gun at the target and it clicks as though you’ve tried to fire Parrrley and it didn’t go off.

I will miss that 10% extra crit damage from my runes, though it’s not a terrible nerf. I’m looking forward to giving it a go on Pantheon. I’ve got a feeling that Heartseeker Strike will be a crazy opener most people won’t expect for a few days.

And then there’s Gragas. I’ve not played him yet so I don’t have much to say other than this: he’s HUGE. His skills seem to be balanced just about right for a tank – nice control with just enough damage to overbalance a fight. I’ll have to experiment with some builds later in the day.

As you’ve probably seen, next week’s free hero rotation will include another new champion. Most people agree that it’s going to be Pantheon, so I’ve got a little preview of the Spartan hero for you.

Lore:
Far above the clouds on Mount Gargantuan resides a stalwart tribe of people known as the Stanpar who still revere combat and war as penultimate art forms. They remember the Runewars of Runeterra and know that the League of Legends can only repress the rising tides of violence for so long. Each member of the tribe is bred to be a disciplined and vicious warrior, preferring to battle soldiers of either the Noxian or Demacian armies only when outnumbered at least ten to one. Stanpar warriors are trained not only to be as lethal with their bare hands as the most capable martial artists, but also to fiercely wield the many relic-weapons of the tribe. Such treasures have been handed down from generation to generation, and have harnessed the mystical nature of Runeterra in their very cores. These relic-weapons are among the most dangerous in existence – and it comes as no surprise that they have found their way to the League of Legends in the hands of Pantheon. This stone-faced warrior is a paragon of his people, his very existence an anthem of exultation to the art of combat. Pantheon found it insulting that the people of Valoran would install an organization to replace war, complete with so-called champions, without including the Stanpar. Gathering the blessings of his tribe and armed with the relics of his ancestors, he has descended on the League to show the world a true warrior. He cares not who he fights, cares nothing for the pageantry or prestige of a League champion, but lives only for the austere glory of battle. As long as Pantheon breathes, he thirsts for another foe to vanquish.

Abilities:
Spear Shot: Pantheon hurls his spear at an opponent.

Aegis of Zeonia: Pantheon leaps at an enemy and bashes them with his shield, stunning them in the process. Pantheon also refreshes his Aegis Protection.

Heartseeker Strike: Pantheon unleashes 5 swift strikes to the area in front of him. Pantheon also becomes more aware of his enemy’s vital spots, allowing him to always critically strike enemies below 20% health.

Grand Skyfall: Pantheon composes himself, and them leaps into the air to a target location, striking all enemy units in an area. Enemies closer to the center of the impact take more damage.

Aegis Protection (Passive): After 4 attacks or spellcasts, Pantheon will block the next normal attack made against him that deals over 40 damage.

Riot seems to be taking a new direction with heroes: damage avoidance. We first saw it with Poppy and her damage reducing passive, which, when paired with her crazy ultimate makes her very difficult to kill. Now we have Pantheon, a hero with a passive block and skills that automatically block or refresh his chance to block. It’s going to be a rough week.

Source: LoL Forums