Yi Sun-shin

Yi Sun-shin possesses significant strengths that make him a formidable force on the battlefield. His offensePhysical score of 90 highlights his exceptional physical damage output, primarily through enhanced basic attacks and powerful skill scaling. This allows him to burst down squishy targets and contribute heavily to teamfights. Furthermore, his ultimate ability, Mountain Shocker, provides unparalleled global map presence, enabling him to assist allies across the map, reveal enemy positions, and secure kills or objectives from a distance. His Traceless skill also grants him a crucial dash for mobility and a brief immunity to control effects, offering both escape potential and engagement tools. The innate movement speed buff from his passive, Heavenly Vow, further enhances his ability to chase down fleeing enemies or reposition quickly.

However, Yi Sun-shin also comes with notable weaknesses. His durability score of 40 indicates that he is relatively squishy and vulnerable to burst damage and crowd control. Positioning is paramount for his survival, as he cannot withstand sustained focus fire. Additionally, his difficulty score of 70 reflects a high skill ceiling, requiring players to master his weapon mastery mechanics, precise skill shot aiming, and strategic ultimate timing. Mismanaging his cooldowns or failing to land crucial abilities can severely limit his impact. His ultimate also has a long cooldown and high mana cost, demanding careful consideration before use. Players must learn to effectively manage his resources and adapt to different combat scenarios to truly excel with Yi Sun-shin.

Yi Sun-shin's unique playstyle revolves around his diverse skill set, demanding precise execution. His Heavenly Vow passive is central to his damage and mobility. It allows him to switch between a longbow (ranged) and glaive (melee) based on distance. After each weapon swap, his next two attacks are enhanced, dealing 70%-100% Crit Damage and 55%-70% Crit Damage respectively. These also grant 20% Movement Speed for 1s and reduce Traceless's cooldown by 1s, encouraging frequent weapon swapping. A Turtle Ship spawns at the allied Base every 180s or upon respawn, which Yi Sun-shin can board to gain 60% Movement Speed and enhance Traceless into a stunning skillshot. Prioritize glaive attacks for higher damage when safe.

His first active skill, Traceless, is a vital tool for offense and defense. Yi Sun-shin dashes forward, dealing 150 flat + 40% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) damage, and gains immunity to control effects for 1s. Use this skill as your primary escape or engagement, allowing repositioning or dodging critical crowd control. Its 40% Physical Attack scaling means it benefits moderately from physical attack items.

Blood Floods, his second skill, is his main harassing and burst damage. Tapping the skill makes Yi Sun-shin slash with his glaive, dealing 240 flat + 80% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) damage. Holding it charges a powerful arrow, also dealing 240 flat + 80% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) damage, with its damage scaling up to 200% based on hold time. This damage decays with multiple enemies hit but not below 40%. Both forms benefit significantly from physical attack items due to their 80% Physical Attack scaling. This skill immediately grants Weapon Mastery, excellent for initiating enhanced basic attack sequences. Always aim to fully charge the arrow for maximum single-target damage.

Finally, his ultimate, Mountain Shocker, provides global impact. Passively, it increases Heavenly Vow's enhanced Basic Attack damage by 10% and 5%. Actively, Yi Sun-shin commands a naval fleet to launch 3 waves of cannon shots on all enemy heroes' locations, revealing them and dealing 150 flat + 50% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) damage per wave. The 50% Physical Attack scaling means its damage benefits from your build, but its global utility for finishing off low-health enemies, providing vision, or assisting in teamfights is often more impactful. Due to its long cooldown and high mana cost, use it strategically when allies are engaging or to secure objectives.

The recommended build for Yi Sun-shin focuses on maximizing his physical damage output, critical strike potential, and sustain, complementing his Assassin role.

First, Endless Battle is a core item. Its Unique Passive - Divine Justice, which makes the next Basic Attack after casting a skill deal 60% Physical Attack as extra True Damage, synergizes perfectly with Yi Sun-shin's kit. His frequent skill usage, especially Traceless and Blood Floods, allows him to consistently proc this passive, significantly boosting his burst damage and overall sustained damage through True Damage.

Next, Flame Hunter's Magic Boots provide essential movement speed and jungle clearing capabilities. While the boots offer movement, their Unique Passive - Hunter is crucial for jungling, dealing 25 + True Damage to creeps over 3s, with damage increased by 100% for non-Marksmen heroes. This helps Yi Sun-shin clear jungle camps efficiently, allowing him to gain gold and experience quickly to scale into the mid and late game.

Blade of Despair is a high-damage item that further amplifies Yi Sun-shin's killing potential. Its Unique Passive - Despair increases Physical Attack by 25% for 2s when dealing damage to non-Minion enemies below 50% HP. This passive activates before the damage is dealt, meaning it helps Yi Sun-shin execute low-health targets more effectively, turning trades into kills and securing objectives.

Berserker's Fury is vital for enhancing Yi Sun-shin's critical strike damage, which is already boosted by his Heavenly Vow passive. Its Unique Passive - Doom grants 5% extra Physical Attack for 2s upon critical strikes. This item significantly increases his burst potential, especially when combined with his enhanced basic attacks, allowing him to shred through enemy health bars rapidly.

Malefic Roar addresses the issue of enemy armor stacking. Its Unique Passive - Armor Buster grants 0.125% extra Physical Penetration for each point of the enemy's Physical Defense, capped at 40%. This ensures that Yi Sun-shin's damage remains effective even against tankier opponents who build defensive items, preventing his damage from being mitigated too heavily in the later stages of the game.

Finally, Immortality provides a crucial layer of survivability. Its Unique Passive - Immortal allows Yi Sun-shin to revive 2.5s after death, gaining 16% Max HP and a 220-1200 shield (scaling with level) that lasts 3s. Given Yi Sun-shin's low durability score of 40, this item offers a second chance in critical teamfights, allowing him to re-engage or escape after being focused, making him less susceptible to being instantly shut down.

Mastering Yi Sun-shin's playstyle requires a deep understanding of his high difficulty and leveraging his offensePhysical while mitigating his low durability. Early game, focus on efficient jungle clearing using Flame Hunter's Magic Boots and Blood Floods. Utilize the Weapon Mastery from your passive, Heavenly Vow, by constantly swapping between your longbow and glaive to empower your basic attacks and reduce Traceless's cooldown. Prioritize glaive attacks when safe for higher damage. Always be aware of the Turtle Ship spawning at your base every 180 seconds or upon respawn; collecting it enhances your Traceless into a powerful stunning skillshot and provides a significant movement speed buff, which is excellent for ganks or quick rotations.

During the mid-game, look for opportunities to gank lanes. Use Traceless to engage or escape, and charge Blood Floods fully for maximum burst damage on isolated targets. Your ultimate, Mountain Shocker, is a global threat. Do not use it immediately off cooldown due to its long cooldown and high mana consumption. Instead, save it for crucial moments: to finish off low-health enemies attempting to recall, to provide vision on objectives like Lord or Turtle, or to support allies in distant teamfights. Coordinate with your team if possible, or constantly monitor the minimap in solo queue to identify opportune moments for your ultimate.

In teamfights, Yi Sun-shin's role is to deal massive physical damage and eliminate high-priority targets. Position yourself carefully, as your durability is low. Use Traceless to maneuver, either to dive squishy backline carries or to disengage from dangerous situations. Continuously weave in enhanced basic attacks from Heavenly Vow between your skills to maximize your damage output. The movement speed buff from your passive is excellent for chasing down fleeing enemies or kiting. As the game progresses, items like Blade of Despair and Berserker's Fury will amplify your critical strike and execution potential, while Malefic Roar ensures your damage remains relevant against armored foes. Immortality provides a crucial safety net, allowing you to survive burst and potentially turn the tide of a fight. Always be mindful of your positioning and capitalize on your mobility and burst to dominate the late game.

Understanding Yi Sun-shin's matchups is crucial for maximizing his effectiveness and minimizing his weaknesses.

When playing with allies, Grock or other Tanks are ideal partners. As the official tip states, "Mino or Grock or Tanks in general, they are the ideal partners, Having them being about to take a few hits or 2, will allow you to do more damage to the enemy as they soak up CCs and damage for you." This means that Grock's ability to absorb damage and provide crowd control creates openings for Yi Sun-shin to safely unleash his high physical damage output. Grock's sturdy presence allows Yi Sun-shin, with his lower durability score of 40, to focus on offense without being immediately targeted, making their synergy highly effective in teamfights and skirmishes.

Against certain enemy heroes, Yi Sun-shin can be a strong counter. For instance, he can effectively restrain Estes. The tip explains, "Estes, Thanks to your Global Ult, you’re pretty much guaranteed to apply some debuffs on the enemy, so long as you grab Deadly Blade, You’re pretty much checking Estes or any heroes that are relying on Lifesteal and SpellVamp to carry the game." Yi Sun-shin's global ultimate, Mountain Shocker, allows him to apply damage from anywhere on the map, making it harder for Estes to sustain his team or himself, thus reducing his overall impact.

However, Yi Sun-shin can also be countered by specific heroes. Natalia poses a significant threat to him. The tip warns, "The Silence and her damage could shred you before you can even do anything, honestly speaking though she checks ALMOST EVERYONE with the silence." Natalia's ability to silence Yi Sun-shin prevents him from using his crucial skills, including Traceless for escape or Blood Floods for damage. Given Yi Sun-shin's low durability, being silenced and burst down by Natalia before he can react or use his immunity from Traceless makes him extremely vulnerable. Her stealth and burst damage can quickly eliminate him, highlighting the importance of vision and careful positioning when facing a Natalia.

Imagine a scenario where Yi Sun-shin is ambushing an isolated enemy hero in the jungle. He has just collected the Turtle Ship, enhancing his Traceless skill. Yi Sun-shin initiates by using the enhanced Traceless (Skill 1), dashing forward and stunning the enemy with the skillshot. This immediately triggers his Heavenly Vow passive, granting him a movement speed buff and preparing his next two basic attacks for enhanced damage. He follows up with a glaive basic attack, which benefits from the 70%-100% Crit Damage enhancement. Immediately after, he taps Blood Floods (Skill 2) to deal quick physical damage and gain another Weapon Mastery stack. This allows him to unleash a second enhanced basic attack, dealing 55%-70% Crit Damage, further boosted by the movement speed. If the enemy attempts to flee, Yi Sun-shin can then hold Blood Floods to charge a powerful arrow, aiming to fully charge it for maximum damage (up to 200% scaling) to secure the kill from range. If the enemy manages to escape with very low health, Yi Sun-shin can then cast Mountain Shocker (Ultimate) to finish them off globally, provided they are still within the map and visible. This sequence maximizes his burst damage, mobility, and execution potential, leveraging his passive, enhanced skills, and global ultimate.

To truly master Yi Sun-shin and dominate the Mobile Legends battlefield, focus on these key actionable decisions:

1. Optimize Weapon Mastery: Constantly swap between your longbow and glaive using movement and skill usage to keep Heavenly Vow's enhanced basic attacks active. This maximizes your damage output and ensures frequent cooldown reduction on Traceless, providing crucial mobility and escape potential throughout the game. Prioritize glaive attacks for higher damage when safe.
2. Strategic Ultimate Usage: Reserve Mountain Shocker for high-impact moments, such as finishing off low-health enemies across the map, providing critical vision on objectives, or assisting allies in distant teamfights. Avoid using it immediately off cooldown due to its long cooldown and high mana cost; instead, monitor the minimap and communicate with your team for optimal timing.
3. Prioritize Item Synergies: Build items like Endless Battle early to capitalize on its True Damage passive, which synergizes perfectly with your frequent skill usage and basic attacks. Follow up with Berserker's Fury for critical strike amplification and Blade of Despair for execution power, ensuring your physical damage scales effectively into the late game.
4. Manage Durability and Mobility: Given your low durability, always be mindful of your positioning. Use Traceless defensively to escape dangerous situations or offensively to engage and dodge crowd control. Collect the Turtle Ship whenever available to enhance Traceless and gain a significant movement speed buff, which is vital for ganks, rotations, and overall map presence.