Cheat sheet has been updated. The explanations in the guide have not. The gameplay info is still fairly relevant.

Champions who are capable of being useful to their teams with their skill set and few items take up the role of the support. They let the carry get all the minions and offer their team vision by spending most of their gold on Sight Wards. They are usually a little under leveled since they leave lane to place Sight Wards while their carry farms. In team fights, they contribute with items like Locket of the Iron Solari and help protect their carry.

In this guide, I will discuss one support: Lulu. Lulu has tons of utility which allows her to poke and help peel enemies off her carry. She has particularly high synergy with other AD carries who can poke early game. In team comps, she has high synergy with strong initiators and disruptors, especially those who have displacement abilities. She's also fairly mobile and good at disengaging. Overall Lulu is pretty fun to play and it feels rewarding to ult your tank into a winning team fight or "accidentally" kill steal with the tip of your Glitterlance.

This guide is specifically about building and playing Lulu. The generic support info (warding spots, respawn timers, thoughts on Sightstone) has been split off into its own supplementary guide designed to compliment this guide and my other support guides. It became tedious to update multiple guides.

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Flash works on Lulu as it does 90% of all other champions in the game. It gives her a gap closer and a way to go over terrain. Exhaust is strong in team fights to reduce damage from assassins. However, it can be Cleansed. Typically, weaker early game carries (e.g. Vayne) will take Cleanse. Heal is much better now that it heals everyone equally. It team fights, it's good versus AoE damage and you can even use it while crowd controlled. In lane, it's good versus burst damage, but weak versus strong carries who typically take Ignite or who have innate healing debuffs (e.g. Miss Fortune). No verdict on Clairvoyance yet. Its usefulness will depend on how the jungle plays out in season 3.

greater mark of hybrid penetration

As with all supports, Greater Quintessence of Gold gives you some income to buy items since you aren't farming. For offensive marks, use Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration since Lulu's harass damage is a mixture of physical and magic. This will make your magic damage in team fights weaker, but you should be more concerned about protecting your carry anyway. Mathematical analysis can be found here. Greater Mark of Attack Damage are also viable because Lulu does a lot of autoattack harass. Greater Mark of Armor is a more defensive option. For seals and glyphs, rune defensively since Lulu has low base defenses. Greater Seal of Armor reduces damage from the enemy AD carry, and Greater Glyph of Magic Resist is useful when laning versus champions who do magic damage. Flat is stronger than scaling at level 1 (when laners with magic damage will try to poke you a lot) and level 6 (when people get their ultimates). If you don't need the magic resist, you can use flat or scaling mana regen blues - your choice - instead to help with your mana before you get Philosopher's Stone or Chalice of Harmony.

For masteries, run 0/13/17. The utility tree grants basic bonuses like Meditation and Mastermind , but it also gives more support-centric bonuses like Greed , Pickpocket , Explorer , and Biscuiteer . Artificer can also be powerful on supports since they usually build a few active items. In defense, you get more base HP and defense stats. Having both Unyielding and Block is useful for harassing too, as it will reduce the amount of harass damage you take back when you trade damage with the enemy laners. Summoner's Wrath is optional. It's really either it or Pickpocket , but if the enemy AD carry is one who takes Cleanse, Summoner's Wrath won't be as useful early game.

philosopher's stone

Start off the game with a Faerie Charm, Sight Wards, and a mixture of potions. In more organized play or versus stealth champs, you can also buy a Vision Ward instead of a Faerie Charm. During early game, buy a Philosopher's Stone for the mana regen so you can poke/harass with your skills more often, Sightstone for the ward generation and flat HP (you're squishy), and Boots to defend against ganks and skill shots. Optionally, you can also buy Chalice of Harmony, especially if the enemy laners do a lot of magic damage, or Kage's Lucky Pick if you'd like to build anything it upgrades into, or Kindlegem which turns into 2 core items. (Further reading: GP10? / Sightstone)

Next, build your core items. Ruby Sightstone is just the upgraded Sightstone. Shurelya's Battlesong which has useful support stats and a powerful active for initiating, chasing, escaping, countering kiting, and helping out carries without mobility. Locket of the Iron Solari is a very cost effective defensive item that's cheaper than Aegis of the Legion, gives cooldown, and has a useful active for team fights. For boots, Ionian Boots of Lucidity with Enchantment: Captain are fine in solo queue just for the stats and additional mobility. In a more organized team comp, Mobility Boots with Enchantment: Alacrity compliments how Lulu is incredibly good at being slippery and disengaging by throwing a Glitterlance behind her. But 9/10 times, you will probably end up getting Enchantment: Homeguard. The regen and speed buff save you time, and time = money.

zeke's herald

After the core items, we start moving into picking 5th/6th items which are more situational or preferential. Versus crowd control, Mikael's Blessing is a very powerful item to have for the active, though it has a ridiculously long cooldown. Having maxed Artificer helps. If you have a lot of AD champs on your team, buy Zeke's Herald. Morellonomicon's heal reduction passive is very easy to apply with Lulu. You can buy it versus teams with annoying healers or built-in sustain. For more tankiness, you should build Aegis of the Legion. If the enemy team has a lot of AP, upgrade Aegis of the Legion into Runic Bulwark too. You can still buy it even if your jungler or top lane gets it since the aura stacks twice for both aura holders. Twin Shadows is an all around useful item - lower price tag, good stats, can be used to scout or initiate, and it also guarantees that someone will get slowed, but it doesn't fill a particular niche like the others do.

sight ward

Lastly, consumables. Use Sight Wards in addition to your Ruby Sightstone when you need to heavily ward up an area such as Baron. Vision Wards are powerful early game versus stealth characters and to clear enemy wards, but buying too many Vision Wards can set you behind. Later, you can buy an Oracle's Elixir before going after objectives to clear out enemy vision. And when you know you're going to group up and try for an objective, there's always Elixir of Brilliance and Elixir of Fortitude to boost your stats.

The main purpose of this section is to cover technical info that would be hard to address elsewhere. For examples of usage, check out the other sections below.

P

Lulu's passive is Pix, her faerie that accompanies her around. When she autoattacks, Pix will also attack and do additional magic damage. The hits can be blocked by other units if they get in the way, and Pix won't damage towers. You can attach Pix to allies using Help, Pix!, and he will attack whenever your ally attacks. He'll come back to Lulu after the ally or enemy with Pix moves 2000 units away from Lulu or after Help, Pix! wears off. As a note, Pix's damage counts as being damage done by whoever he's attached to, so no, you can't use Pix to kill steal.

Q

Both Lulu and Pix shoot out a thin, linear AoE magic bolt. The targeting is based on how you move your mouse. Basically, the two bolts will try to aim for where your mouse cursor is, and the bolts will change direction based on how you move your mouse around. Even if you hit a target with both magic bolts from Lulu and Pix, the target will only be damaged once. The slow can affect the target both times though. The slow will be applied when they're hit by the first bolt, then it'll be re-applied when they're hit by the second bolt.

W

Whimsy is one of Lulu's two skills that has different effects on allies and enemies. For allies, it's a buff. On enemies, it's a polymorph. The polymorph can be used to lock an enemy down, prevent them from using a skill you know they're going to use, or interrupt them while they channel abilities. For a list of channeled abilities you could stop with Whimsy, check the LoLWiki. Dash skills where the champion physically moves on the map can also be interrupted with Whimsy. They don't have a casting time, but the animation can be interrupted.

E

Help, Pix! is Lulu's other ability that yields different results on enemies and allies. You can use it on enemy minions, not just champions. It moves Pix to whoever you cast it on which also changes his Glitterlance range. Comboing them together can give Glitterlance a range of 1500+. On an ally, Pix will stay with them for six seconds, even after the shield wears off. On an enemy, Pix will stay around the enemy for six seconds, revealing their location with the eyes icon above their head.

R

Wild Growth is a great initiation or counter-initiation skill. The flat health also works against bursty damage and it doesn't get reduced by Ignite. The knockup plus the seven second long slowing aura helps keep enemies in place when initiating, or slows enemies from pursuing when counter-initiating. It synergizes with other AoE displacement skills. The knockup also acts as an interrupt like Whimsy and you can use it to interrupt the same things.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Take a point of Glitterlance at level one. The sound effect can be used to check bushes. The AoE also makes it useful for helping the jungler or doing double golems. Take Help, Pix! at level 2 for the utility, then skill Whimsy at level 3 or 4. Your first priority is to level Wild Growth. Your second priority is to max Glitterlance for poking. The increased slow duration also makes it good for fending off ganks. In a 2v1, the AoE damage helps you push the minions faster. After Glitterlance, max Whimsy. The combination of its reduced cooldown and increased duration per level makes it better for small engagements and mid game team fights. Max Help, Pix! last. It has the same cooldown and utility at all levels. If you're being poked very hard, your AD carry just plain sucks, or you're having a hard time trading damage with the enemy AD carry, you can level Help, Pix! first instead. If you suck at timing Whimsy, you could max it 2nd instead too.

During the early game lane phase, Lulu's job is to ward around bottom lane and poke enemy laners while her carry farms. There are certain carries she does well with, others she does not so well with. Even though you might lack particular synergy with your carry, you might have synergy elsewhere on your team with other members, especially initiators. For more about general support gameplay, check out the supplementary guide.

(Synergy) Lulu's good at poking and crowd control but she has no sustain. She isn't the best support for carries who only want to farm. She excels with other carries who can also poke and harass early game like Ezreal. Because of Glitterlance's AoE, she also does well alongside champions who can push and clear waves easily like Caitlyn.

(Strengths) In lane, Lulu can stop aggressive champions like Leona or Alistar in their tracks and Whimsy before either is able to land their combo. The vision on Help, Pix! also makes Lulu good against champions that can stealth. In example, having vision is very helpful against Vayne because of Final Hour's stealth component.



(Weaknesses) Lulu is not incredibly tanky. If she gets caught, she can get bursted by supports like Leona and her accompanying carry. Blitzcrank can be tough to lane against since his Rocket Grab range is the same as Lulu's Glitterlance. Soraka is incredibly annoying to lane against because her Consecration will reduce poke damage, and her heal allows her to heal away what damage you do. Sivir is also very annoying because of her Spell Shield. Your best bet is to break her shield with Help, Pix!. Pix will still attach to Sivir, but not grant vision. This way, you'll at least be able to slow her. Alternatively, because Glitterlance fires off two bolts, the first bolt will pop Spell Shield and the second will slow/damage her, then you can place Help, Pix! on her afterwards and still gain vision.





(Receiving Ganks) Lulu's skill set is great for helping setup ganks. She can even try to bait enemies with Wild Growth's added health. However, if the enemy laners are much stronger, trying to bait them can also be suicide. Remember to use Exhaust on a target to slow them and help autoattack whoever the gank target is. Your damage with Pix, Faerie Companion will add up. You should also use Help, Pix! on enemies before they run into bushes so you can keep track of them and get off an easy Glitterlance.

(Getting Ganked) Sometimes, you will be able to tell you're getting ganked based on how the enemies act. Taric randomly Flashing and stunning your carry is usually pretty telling that a gank is going down. Wild Growth can help slow attackers, as can Glitterlance. Wild Growth should also be used on whoever is the focus of the gank. Whimsy also helps. When an enemy like Alistar is running toward you and you just know he wants to Pulverize and Headbutt you, use Whimsy before he manages to get off his combo. Alternatively, you could use the speed buff to get away.




Lulu has two forms of harass: Her long ranged poke spell Glitterlance and her autoattacks with Pix, Faerie Companion. Because Lulu has a low mana pool, early on your main form of harass will be autoattacks and damage with your passive. Eventually, you can combo both your autoattacks and skills together by slowing first with Glitterlance then getting off a few autoattacks for additional damage. Autoattacking will also grant you Pickpocket gold.




(Q+E on Champs) Because of how thin Glitterlance's AoE is, it can be tricky to aim. Luckily, it has an interaction with Lulu's other skill, Help, Pix!. By attaching Pix to someone else, you can change where Pix fires off Glitterlance from. You can use this to harass from even further away by first attaching Help, Pix! to a target then aiming Glitterlance in the direction they're walking. Since Pix is attached to them, it's harder for an enemy to dodge Glitterlance.



(Q+E on Minions) If a champion is hiding behind their minion wave, you can still harass them by casting Help, Pix! on a minion then aiming Glitterlance toward the champion. The downside to this is that you might push the lane with Glitterlance's AoE damage if you do it too much. When you really need to slow someone for a gank, spend the extra mana to cast Help, Pix! on a minion or an enemy champion, combo the skills together, and you'll have a better chance of landing the slow.



(Remember, it's AoE) Since you're maxing Glitterlance first and it's an AoE spell, it's more optimal to hit both the enemy AD carry and enemy support with Glitterlance and harass both at the same time. And, since Pix is already attached to an enemy, if you manage to get off a couple autoattacks after, there's a smaller chance that Pix's autoattack damage will be blocked by minions.



(Mana Management) As mentioned before, Lulu has a low base mana pool. You might feel like you have mana problems from using Glitterlance. The simple solution is to not use it 100% of the time. Look for openings to use it rather than constantly trying to aim it in bushes or at people. Remember that you can autoattack harass too. Your mana regen gets better once you pick up a Philosopher's Stone or Chalice of Harmony. By the time you get to mid/late game, Lulu's mana issues more or less disappear.



(Whimsy) Another way to harass is with Whimsy. This is less optimal because of the longer cooldown and higher mana cost, but you can do it occasionally. Using Whimsy on an enemy champion when they go in for a last hit can deny them the last hit. Additionally, when you are pushed to the enemy's tower, you can use Whimsy to continue harassing enemy laners. Here, Lulu harasses Jarvan IV under the tower by using Whimsy on him. Whimsy doesn't draw tower aggro, so Lulu can prevent him from last hitting under the tower for 1-2 seconds. Trying this versus support Blitzcrank can of course be pretty dangerous.

(Help, Pix) When enemy laners damage you back, you can self-cast Help, Pix! to soak damage.

(Engagements) Sometimes your harassment turns into an all out 2v2 engagement. A large part of harassing is also being able to read what's going on, and knowing your enemies. Always try to be aware and know how to pick your fights. If your carry is low health, forcing them to get into a fight could mean getting them killed. On the other hand, if you know the enemy carry or support doesn't have Flash, it could very well be a free kill.

When you engage, pick your focus target wisely. Like if the enemy support is Taric and he blows all of his cooldowns to stun and damage your carry, then he's done until his cooldowns come back up, and meanwhile, his carry could very well be wailing away on your carry. Unless Taric has literally 2 HP left, your time would be better spent using Whimsy on his carry, not him.


Team fighting can be chalked up as "using a bunch of your skills." Since two of Lulu's skills can be used on an ally or enemy, you'll need to make some quick decisions during fights about what's more beneficial.



(Team Synergy) Wild Growth allows Lulu to have high synergy with other champions that have AoE displacement abilities - Unstoppable Force, Moonfall, Pulverize, Dragon's Descent, Command: Shockwave. There's also general synergy between her and other champions with AoE skills. Just having the knockup and slow is a huge benefit for skills like Soul Shackles and Absolute Zero.

(Initiation) Some fights will start with your team initiating on the enemy team. Lulu can help her team engage by popping Shurelya's Battlesong to catch the enemy team, and using Wild Growth on her main tank/initiator (usually a jungler or a top laner) when enemies are around them. Having Help, Pix! on one of your frontliners also allows you to Glitterlance from far away and slow down an enemy champion so your frontliner can catch up to them. Some team fights might start with your team being initiated on. This is obviously less favorable, but you can recover from this. Wild Growth the person on your team being focused. If an enemy assassin jumps on your carry, Exhaust the assassin to reduce their damage or Glitterlance to stop their pursuit.

(Interrupts) A large part of Lulu's team fighting presence is her ability to disrupt with Whimsy. It can be used to prevent initiation or buy your carry some time to get away from an assassin. One of its strongest uses is interrupting channeled skills. ( Wild Growth's knockup will also interrupt channels, but on a much longer cooldown.) Try to have a sense of priority for your Whimsy. E.g. if there's a fed Katarina, wait for her to start using Death Lotus before you Whimsy her to stop her channel. You'll greatly reduce her damage and possibly prevent her from getting resets on her abilities.

(Fighting) Since your AD carry is a glass DPS cannon, they will be trying to pick off whoever they can. By the team fighting phase, they will likely have more attack speed. You can put Help, Pix! on your carry so they can do more damage and soak damage. You should also help your damage dealers out by autoattacking enemies near you. You can do some additional damage with Glitterlance, but remember to watch your mana. If you aren't using Whimsy for its crowd control, you should definitely use it on your AP carry. If your AD carry is good at kiting, it could be used to help them instead. The combo of AP and movespeed also makes it hilarious on Singed.

(Disengage) With her skills, Lulu can be a strong kiter. Combined with Mobility Boots and Enchantment: Alacrity, you are incredibly hard to catch. When running away, simply self-cast Whimsy for the movespeed and speed, and send a Glitterlance behind you toward pursuers. Because of this, Lulu can also be seen as a strong support for an organized team comp interested in poking then getting out, avoiding the big traditional team fight all together.

That concludes the guide. Thanks to my friends and guinea pigs for their assistance in taking screenshots and such. If you haven't, be sure to check out the supplementary guide which touches on subjects like objective respawns, general gameplay and warding. Or if you'd like to check out my other guides, I also have guides for Sona, Nami, Zyra, Miss Fortune and Ashe.