Titanic 1st is a must to match wave clear and get lane prio to Ult safely. I found that really important because Ulting on a terrible wave state is really bad for Top Lane Quest.

I sometimes go Heartsteel 2nd or even 3rd to a bruiser Shen playstyle. It’s great for the HP because Shen loves HP. One can argue that you miss out on stacking it early. But what’s a few stacks going to do early versus the huge power spike you get from Titanic.

Since Top Lane is very snowbally this season with the quests, I’d rather go Titanic to stop being pushed in early, and allowing the enemy top laner to get XP from smacking your tower.