Honor of Kings Sima Yi: Build, Synergy, Counter (Pro Guides)

Sima Yi in “Honor of Kings” excels as a Burst Assassin with unmatched battlefield control and strategic depth. Building his equipment focuses on amplifying magic damage, enhancing crowd control effectiveness, and improving survivability. In team fights, his ability to manipulate engagements provides tactical advantages. An ideal set boosts his spell impact, reduces cooldowns for frequent ability use, and increases defense. Mastery of Sima Yi’s strategic play is crucial for dominating engagements and leading to victory.

Sima Yi Hero Profile, Position and Lane Intro

HERO TIER	A
CLASS	Assassin
SUB CLASS	Burst Assassin/Powerful mage
STRENGHT	Dash
STAGES	Early Game
LANE	Jungling
FIGHT POSITION	Backline
AZURE/CRIMSON GOLEM	Not Dependent
PRICE	688 Tokens or 13888 Gold

Sima Yi Pro Build

Items/Equipment

• Runeblade
• Boots of the Arcane
• Insatiable Tome
• Staves of Sorcery
• Savant Wrath
• Void Staff

Arcana

• Omen 9x
• Nightmare 1x
• Hunt 10x
• Mind’s Eye 10x

Common Skills

• Smith

Recommended Combo Sequence

Skill 3 for the charge, Skill 2 to restrict enemy movements, Desolate Domain Basic Attack Intersperse with enhanced basic attacks for output.

Sima Yi Skills and Abilities

Quiet Whispers (Passive): Sima Yi gains vision of casters within 2000 range and recovers 5 energy points. Sima Yi starts with 80 energy (increasing by 3 points per level), with kills or assists raising the energy cap by 10 points, up to a maximum of 200 points. Killing wild monsters or heroes recovers 10 energy points. Casting a skill activates Phantom Fang: increasing movement speed by 30 and switching to scythe basic attacks for 4 seconds. Each scythe hit deals 250(+40% AP) magic damage, with the first attack after summoning the scythe teleporting behind the target to deal 400(+65% AP) magic damage.
Cooldown: 0s Cost: 0
Tips: In the early to mid-game, Sima Yi needs to manage energy distribution carefully and participate in fights to stack his energy cap.

Shadow Stings (Skill 01): Sima Yi becomes immune to control effects, releasing and controlling a spirit with very fast movement speed for 2 seconds. The spirit deals 100/120/140/160/180/200(+20% AP) magic damage when passing through enemies, with additional damage to minions and monsters. After releasing a basic attack or at the end of the effect, Sima Yi moves to the spirit’s location, dealing 100(+20% AP) magic damage and reducing enemies’ movement speed by 50% for 1 second.
Cooldown: 9s Cost: 40
Tips: The spirit moves very quickly, and using a basic attack immediately ends the spirit state.

Barren Lands (Skill 02): Sima Yi unleashes spirit force to suppress the surrounding area, dealing 300/340/380/420/460/500(+30% AP) magic damage and silencing for 1 second. If Sima Yi remains in the suppressed area for 2 seconds, he gains 25/30/35/40/45/50 energy points. Passive: Sima Yi converts 50% of magic damage received into health over 2 seconds.
Cooldown: 6s Cost: 40
Tips: The passive does not directly reduce damage; be careful not to overestimate your durability.

Death’s Descends (Ultimate) Sima Yi steps back to charge briefly before dashing to a specified location, dealing 700/875/1050(+100% AP) magic damage. Enemies touched by the dash path receive 50% damage.
Cooldown: 35/30/25s Cost: 40
Tips: The ultimate has a delay; prediction is needed.

Sima Yi Best Partner

• Xiang Yu has excellent initiation ability and can reduce enemy output with his skills, creating opportunities for Sima Yi to enter the battlefield and deal damage.
• Gan Jiang’s long-range poke allows Sima Yi to choose to dive in and start team fights after hitting a significant number of flying swords.

Sima Yi Counter and Tips

• Miyamoto Musashi can easily cross over the matrix space and engage Sima Yi in close combat.
• Hard control counters assassins’ dives, making it difficult for Sima Yi to enter the battlefield and deal damage.
• In the early game, Sima Yi lacks energy; forcing him out of the silence area prevents energy recovery.
• Sima Yi’s second skill passive converts some of the received magic damage into healing, not directly reducing damage.

Gameplay Tips

• Utilize skills to silence enemies.
• Use skills to enhance basic attacks.
• Actively participate in fights; Sima Yi increases his energy cap through kills or assists, reaching the maximum limit sooner. The ultimate has a delay; anticipate enemy movement.

Team Fight Strategy

Sima Yi’s long-range assault capabilities naturally allow easy access to the enemy backline. However, as an assassin, he is not suited to initiate team fights. Instead, wait for opportunities to threaten the enemy backline while waiting for your tanks and fighters to initiate.