Posting it here on the US forums as well, as the EU doesn't seem to know, or care...

So, I'm a Shen-player.
Played him for a long time on the US, then came to the EU a few months afer it was launched. Got shen, busy leveling the account to max runes.. I am close to hit lvl 20 and buy them. But since the release of energy runes a few patches ago, im a bit confused by all the options available.
If there's some out there with the knowledge to help me out, it'd be awesome .

The options available:
Straigh HP
HP/lvl
MR
MR/lvl
Dodge?
Arm pen
Magic pen
Straight Energy
Energy/lvl
Straight Energy regen
Energy regen/lvl
Cooldown redux
CDredux/lvl

Energy:
From what I've seen on the Runes themselves, straight energyrunes are kind of a waste. Above that, having enerycap higher doesnt mean anything if you're empty and its filled with the same speed as usual. So, energyregen > energycap.
Energy regen is only available in seals, the straight ones have about half the amount the per level ones on max level, so either can be about as good, depending on the early and late game. Quints have one available too, just straight energy regen

CD-redux is only worth taking imo if you're taking the energy regen... just to make sure you actually are able to use all the energy.

Penetration:
Then there's the discussion between armor penetration and magic penetration. Im not sure which one to pick, if any to pick. Shen uses quite a lot of standard attacks, but his q-skill, which is used quite often as well is magic, along with his Ki strike.
On top of that, i tend to get thornmail and sunfire cape in games. I havent read anything about it yet, so might as well ask here, but i assume magic penetration does affect these items as well? if it does, magic penetration, if getting penetration at all, is the best option.

Dodge is a doubtfull thing here, masterywise you will have to take at least a few points on dodge to prevent some points to be spent on useless things. Might as well make most use of it and get nimbleness as well while you're at it. Altho, while wearing thornmail, you may actually not want to dodge attacks? it's a thing to think about surely...

MR/lvl > MR, i've seen that. As well as it's only best spent in glyphs, imo. most result out of the least usable section for shen (except for circumstantial CD-redux).

Then there's HP. (i didnt note hp regen, as a) its commonly viewed as a lame stat to get, and b) for shen, mor hp = more dmg from his Ki-strike)
Basicly, from what i've seen, quints are best as flat HP, the others are better as HP/lvl.


The builds I tend to use:
skills: q-e-q-e-e-r-e-w-e-q-r-q-q-w-w-r-w-w
items:
physical heavy teams: Boots -> turtlearmor thingie, -> mercs -> SFC -> Thornmail -> Force of Nature -> Guardian Angel -> Omen
magic heavy teams: Boots -> Turtlearmorthingie -> Mercs -> Spirit Visage -> Force of Nature -> Banshee's Veil -> ANything, depending on their teamcomposition, from thornmail + SFC, to omen, mallet, etc.

I'm thinking about 3 different runebuilds, comment on them as you please, or add your own concept.

1) Quints: flat HP, Glyphs: Cd-redux/lvl, Seals: Energy Regen/lvl, Marks: Magic Pene
2) Quints: flat HP, Glyphs: MR/lvl, Seals: Dodge Marks: Armor Pene
3) Quints: flat HP, Glyphs: MR/lvl, Seals: HP/lvl, Marks: HP/lvl

a 4th i just came up with, maybe worth trying?

4) Quints: Movementspeed, Glyphs: MR/lvl Seals: Dodge, Marks: HP/lvl

Then again, perhaps a mixture of things could work?
ex: Quints: Flat HP, Glyphs: CD-redux till about 5%, rest MR/lvl, Seals: Energy Regen/lvl till 5 regen per 5 sec @ max lvl, rest dodge?, Marks: any mixture from Magic pene (till about 5%), Armor pene (till about 5-10%) and/or HP/lvl (till 50 hp @ max lvl).

Thanks in advance, anyhow

While I have no experience with Shen, I tend to get straight Armor seals on my tanks, because without it you can be squishy early game if you take into consideration your enemies having straight armor pen. However, considering your energy needs, the energy regen might be better in the long run.

For Glyphs, I would take the MR/level or even straight MR over CDR, as CDR can be gotten more easily as a bonus from items (especially armor items). This also might free you to balance your build more if there is a good mix of physical/magic enemies (since MR is generally harder to get than armor).

Personally, I don't see any reason for the magic penetration unless your'e gonna add other magic pen items. Most people tend to get some kind of magic resistance via items, whether it's intentional like Merc Treads, or just an added bonus like Lich Bane, and then the MPen won't be as beneficial. Again, on my tanks, for Marks I usually go straight Magic Resist, as it puts less pressure on getting MR items in the early game (also it's the only thing I have right now besides APen and MPen).

For Quints, I'm gonna go with the flow and say flat HP is the best. Makes the beginning lane phase that much easier.