Pros / Cons	Abilities	Runes
Masteries	Summoner Spells	Items	Gameplay	FAQ
	Patch Influences	Changelog	Word Of Thanks

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Pros

+Safe to play +3 AOE-spells +Great scaling +Powerful poke +Good mana-sustain +Awesome dance-spam

Xerath has a huge range, which makes him a very safe champion. At the start of the game, you can bully the enemy out of his lane and in teamfights you can sit behind your teammates and deal massive damage. Xerath can win a fight before it has even started by targeting the enemy carries and taking them to (below) half-health. His passive, Mana Surge, makes sure he doesn't run out of mana. Combine this with AOE abilities and you've got yourself an incredibly powerful poke and waveclear champion.

Cons

+Low mobility +Mediocre early-game +Prone to burst +No reliable hard CC +Abilities hard to land

Even though Xerath has a lot of damage, he has to give in on mobility. He has no gap-closers and is reliant on escaping using his flash when ganked. This low mobility makes him prone towards burst, as he can't dodge the damage. Next to this, he can't stop enemies in their tracks, as the only form of hard CC Xerath has is a skillshot stun. This, and the fact that his abilities are predictable, makes it relatively hard to land your spells. If you want to survive, you've got to act instead of react and predict the enemies' movements.

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Abilities



MANA SURGE

Every 12 seconds, Xerath's next basic attack will restore 30 / 33 / 36 / 42 / 48 / 54 / 63 / 72 / 81 / 90 / 102 / 114 / 126 / 138 / 150 / 165 / 180 / 195 mana.

The amount of mana restored is doubled if the attack target is a champion.

COOLDOWN 12 seconds
COST 0
RANGE 525 (Auto-Attack)

This passive is fantastic, especially in the laning phase. When used properly, you'll never run out of mana, allowing you to keep poking and shoving enemies in without having to go back. However, With great power comes great responsibility, as walking up too far for your proc can very well mean your death.

This is a passive, so you're not allowed to put any points into this ability.

TIPS

• Auto-Attacking an enemy with your passive up, will proc it and grant you double the mana you would have gotten otherwise.
• In teamfights, you shouldn't try and auto-attack enemies, except for when their tank is in your face. You shouldn't even be close enough to, as you're supposed to be way back.

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ARCANOPULSE

Fires a long-range beam of energy, dealing magic damage to all targets hit.

First cast:Xerath charges Arcanopulse, gradually decreasing his Movement Speed by 50% over the next 1.5 seconds, while increasing the spell's range.
Second cast:Xerath fires Arcanopulse, dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+75% Ability Power) magic damage to all enemies in a line. While charging Arcanopulse, Xerath cannot attack or cast other spells. If Xerath does not fire the spell, half the Mana cost is refunded.

COOLDOWN 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
COST 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana
RANGE 750 - 1400
WIDTH 100

This is your main ability. It gives you the absurd amount of range and poke you are known for. Hitting it can be quite difficult, as the enemy can see your casting animation, but once you get used to the enemie's movements, you can shred their healthbar with ease.

This ability has the second maxing-priority, directly after your ultimate Rite of the Arcane, as it allows you to deal the most damage.

TIPS

• Try casting this ability when you are out of sight. This way the enemy can't see your casting-animation, which makes this ability easier to hit.
• Try smartcasting this ablilty. It eases the aiming and allows for smoother poking while last-hitting.
• Using the ability, but not casting it a second time, refunds some mana. This is useful for scaring off the enemy to deny him cs, while not wasting all your mana.
• You are able to flash after you have cast this ability once, which can close the gap between you and your target just enough for you to be able to hit him.
• This ability has a minimum range. So, when being chased, casting this ability two times shortly after one another slows you down minimally, but still alows you to dish out the damage.

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EYE OF DESTRUCTION

Calls down a barrage of arcane energy, slowing and dealing magic damage to all enemies in an area. Targets in the middle receive additional damage and a stronger slow.

Xerath calls down a blast of arcane energy after a 0.5 second delay, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+60% Ability Power) magic damage to all enemies within the target area, slowing them by 25% in a target 200-radius area for 2.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the blast take 90 / 135 / 180 / 225 / 270 (+91% Ability Power) magic damage and are slowed by 60/65/70/75/80%. This slow rapidly decays to 25%.

COOLDOWN 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds
COST 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana
RANGE 1100

This is an amazing ability. It is a circle which deals more damage in the centre of the circle. Next to this, it gives a nice slow and has a huge range. Good for finishing off low-hp creeps and scaring off enemies.

This ability has the third maxing-priority, directly after Arcanopulse, as it has the highest scaling. However, if you feel like you are going to need your Shocking Orb very often, maxing it instead of your Eye of Destruction is an option.

TIPS

• Use this ability to set yourself up. It's easier for you to hit a target with your stun when they are slowed by this ability. Similarly, having enemies stunned makes it easier to land this ability.
• This ability works better when smartcasted. It allows for quicker reaction times and more precise placement.
• This ability gives vision when used. So if you want to know if that LeBlanc is camping in a brush, just use your 'w' on it to find out without dying.

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SHOCKING ORB
Deals magic damage to an enemy and stuns them.

Xerath fires an orb of raw magic. The first enemy hit takes 80/110/140/170/200 (+45% Ability Power) magic damage and is stunned for between 0.5 and 2 seconds. The stun duration increases based on traveled distance.

COOLDOWN 13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11 seconds
COST 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana
RANGE 1050

This is the one spell which can save you from potentially bad situations. It is a skillshot though, so landing it could be difficult. Smartcasting here is a choice of preference, but personally I use it smartcasted for quicker reactions.

This ability has the fourth and last maxing-priority, as all your other abilities give you more scaling and thus late game damage. However, if you feel like you are going to need your Shocking Orb very often, maxing it instead of your Eye of Destruction is a viable option.

TIPS

• Make sure you are using this ability at the right time. You don't have any other hard CC or gap closer (except for your flash), so use it wisely.
• You can use this ability to set yourself up and make hitting your other abilities way easier.
• Combining your Shocking Orb with your Rite of the Arcane, can make sure you land the first two Arcabe Barrages, without the enemy being able to do anything about it.

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RITE OF THE ARCANE

Xerath immobilizes himself and gains three shots of a long-range attack.

Xerath ascends to his true form, becoming rooted in place and gaining 3 / 4 / 5 Arcane Barrages, each with a 0.8 static cooldown. This magic artillery deals 200 / 240 / 280 (+43% Ability Power) magic damage to all enemies hit (maximum 600 / 960 / 1400 base) single target damage. The root ends after 10 seconds, when all shots have been fired or when manually deactivated by issuing a move command. If Xerath does not fire off a single Arcane Barrage, half of the cooldown of Rite of the Arcane is refunded.

COOLDOWN 130 / 115 / 100 seconds
COST 100 mana
RANGE 3520 / 4840 / 6160

This is your ultimate, the ability that gives you kills on enemies without even having to be close to them. Using it on a low-hp target secures the kill for your team (Or steals it, but that doesn't matter cause you're the mid-laner :3). Next to using it on players, it can also be used to steal objectives and buffs.

This ability has your first maxing-priority, as it gives you the biggest powerspikes. As soon as you're allowed to level-up your ult (levels 6, 11 and 16), you should do so.

TIPS

• You should definitely smartcast this ability. You can get a surprise attack and have a higher chance at hitting your first shot.
• A shot gives some vision, so if you barely miss someone, you'll know and get another shot.
• Using your Farsight Alteration befor sniping someone in the fog of war, will give you vision of your enemy, massively increasing the chances of you hitting your ult.
• Always walk away a bit before using this ability to a place where you are safe. If your ultimate gets disrupted by any form of cc, it will go on full cooldown, so make sure to prevent this!
• Your ult doesn't have a casting time, so it can be used immediately after you've stunned someone with your 'e'.

Combo's

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Runes Mid

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• I pick 9x Greater Seal of Health. These can be swapped out for any other form of defensive rune, mostly depending on the enemy. However, if you don't know who you're going to face or don't have enough rune pages to cover every situation, picking health as an all-rounder is recommended. I do advise you to include some defence in your runes, as you don't want to get stomped before you even reach the 20-minute mark.
• 9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration. These marks allow you to deal more damage throughout all stages of the game. There's no other option here. Some like running Greater Mark of Precision and like to AA a lot in the laning-phase, but you spend more time casting spells, so I'm not a huge fan of those.
• The scaling AP glyphs give you more AP in the late game, which allows you to hit harder than with regular AP glyphs. You can switch them up and put some regular AP combined with scaling if you are going for an earlier finish or expect to need the ap in the early to mid-game, however you should always have some of both in your build, not either or.
• I put 2 flat AP quints and 1 scaling AP quint in my build. The same goes here as with the scaling AP glyphs. You can swap these out for scaling AP if you expect a long game, however, this is the most balanced and provides you a lot of damage throughout all stages of the game.

Runes Support

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• The 9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration make sure you deal more damage in the early game, massively boosting your pressence (and as such pressure) in lane. Alternatives aren't advised.
• The Greater Seal of Armor is very useful for when the enemy ADC wants to harass you with his auto-attacks. They will hit you less hard, making you more durable throughout the entire game. You can swap them some out for either health or magic resist seals (depending on the enemy team). However, these are in my opinion the best, considering the fact you will face an AD enemy for the largest part of the game.
• I go for some late-game damage with the Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power. Even though you want to have pressure early game, you don't want to lose it later on. These can be swapped out for mana-regen if you can't control your mana well or expect to get zoned, but this is traded for some much needed late-game damage.
• 9x Greater Quintessence of Ability Power for the AP throughout the game. Gives you a nice damage boost, which might just be enough to secure (..."secure"...) a kill for your team.

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Ferocity Tree

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TIER 1 I take 5 points in Sorcery, which shouldn't be a surprise. The other possible mastery, Fury , gives you attack speed, which is not something we benefit a lot of. TIER 2 The choices I made in this tier are evident as well. I chose a point in Feast , which Helps with farming during the laning-phase. The other 2 masteries don't fit Xerath. We don't Auto Attack a lot, so Fresh Blood isn't useful and, seeing as you're probably the main damage dealer, Expose Weakness shouldn't be picked either. TIER 3 I take 5 points in the Natural Talent mastery. Choosing Vampirism and going full-spellvamp Xerath was a very funny thing to do, the removing of spell-vamp on items leaves this one mastery. The late-game Ability Power is worth much more to us, hence my choice. TIER 4 This mastery-point is probably the most preference-based in this guide. Bounty Hunter shouldn't be picked, as you want to focus the carries and not be limited in any way by doing so. That leaves Double Edged Sword and Battle Trance . I prefer picking the prior one, simply because you'll also deal 3% extra damage to minions, which enhances your waveclear. However, the latter is good as well.

Cunning Tree

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TIER 1 I take 5 points in Savagery , as it is tremendously useful for last-hitting. If you're used to farming with AP champions, you could take Wanderer , however it doesn't benefit you all that much, so I would take the safe route and pick Savagery TIER 2 Secret Stash has always been a mastery which I adored. Especially since health can be a problem for Xerath, the instant 15 health can make a difference. The increased duration helps with getting out of laning-phase as well. Runic Affinity can be good, but not as beneficial as you would like it to be, and Assassin is, as one would expect, for assassins, which you are not even in the slightest. TIER 3 Merciless makes sure you deal extra damage when enemies are low, which is very useful in combination with your ultimate ( Rite of the Arcane), as it gives you the ability to finish an enemy off more effectively. When you are experiencing some mana-issues, taking Meditation can help, though I do not recommend it. TIER 4 This is not as much a matter of which mastery is the strongest, but rather which mastery isn't the weakest. Bandit is a mastery purely designed for supports and Greenfather's Gift is of no use to a mid laner, so Dangerous Game is the obvious choice here. TIER 5 Even though you do benefit from cooldown reduction, taking Intelligence over Precision is not advantageous in my opinion. If you want to dish out as much damage as possible, choosing the small amount of extra CDR will not give you more effective damage than the magic penetration. Thusly I choose Precision. TIER 6 Thunderlord's Decree has been considered 'OP' for a very long time. And to be honest, it still is very strong, though not on all champions anymore. You, as a long range mage, can proc this mastery very easily and make the most out of it. As for the alternatives, Windspeaker's Blessing is useless as you have neither a shield, nor a heal, and you don't benefit from the movement speed Stormraider's Surge provides you with all that much.

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Uncontested

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Flash: This is an uncontested pick. When you get ganked and are in a bad situation, a good flash can save your life and prevent your enemy from snowballing. Or, when the enemy is low and is about to get away, a good flash can secure the kill. It has a long cooldown though, so use it wisely.

Situational

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Heal: Heal can be replaced by other Summoner spells and is based on personal preference and match-up. Heal both heals (ofcourse) and gives you a small burst of movement speed. This is very useful if you are low and the enemy engages to either turn the fight around or escape. Try to avoid using it when the enemy has ignited you, as it will negate a portion of the heal, which is a waste.

Exhaust: Exhaust is a good alternative for heal and is very useful against AD mid-laners such as Yasuo and Zed. You can negate a big portion of their damage, slow their movement speed and attack speed, and thus outrun them. This can save you from a lot of potentially bad situations.

Cleanse: You should pick this summoner spell if the enemy team has a lot of hard CC. For example a Shen support, a Nasus top and a Morgana mid. If you are bad against an Annie, you can pick Cleanse as well, but usually you won't be in range for her, so it's not truely necessary.

Ghost: I personally don't like ghost all that much. It doesn't offer anything other than movement speed, which isn't something useful if you are getting ganked by a champion with hard-CC. However, you can use it to effectively outrun other mages, so I can't see why it's bad on Xerath. That's why I added it to the list. Ghost should only be picked mid if your opponents have little to no CC, though. Otherwise it's useless.

Barrier Barrier can be useful, but it isn't at the top of my list. You can protect yourself by negating a portion of the damage received. This is especially useful against bursty champions. However, it doesn't bring anything but a shield, unlike Heal, and is only useful in the laning phase as, during teamfights, you are way back. It can be useful versus bursty champions such as LeBlanc and Fizz, who can also reach you in the late game, but that is, in my opinion, the only situation where you should pick barrier.

Teleport Teleport gets you close to enemies, which is not what we particularly want. However, it can make for some nice (counter)ganks. Next to this it can give you a quick ride back to lane. I personally don't quite like teleport on Xerath, but when coordinating well with your team or when facing a heavy-poke opponent, Teleport can be a very viable pick.

Don't pick...

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Ignite: You aren't going to be in range to ignite someone, or at least you shouldn't. You poke enemies down and use your ultimate to finish them off. You should never be getting close to your enemy, so don't pick this on Xerath.

Smite: Very simple. You aren't a jungler, so I see no reason why you would even consider picking this.

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Mid Lane

Sorcerer's shoes: These are the standard tier 2 boots for any AP mid-laner. They provide you with extra movementspeed and on top of that some magic penetration, allowing you to deal more damage to your enemies.

Morellonomicon: You benefit heavily from every stat that this item has to offer. You get a fair amount of AP, which pumps up your damage; you get +20% CDR, allowing you to constantly spam your abilities, and multiple sources of mana to keep spamming. The grievous wounds this item brings allows you to kill your enemies easier with your ult as well, as their heals heal for less. This all makes this a fantastic item.

Luden's echo: This is an amazing Item on Xerath. It gives you a lot of AP and some nice movementspeed, plus a passive which works similar to a Statikk Shiv. This item increases your poking threat by a lot. However, unless you've got a sieging team-composition, there are other items which will have more use, such as a Zhonya's vs a Zed for example. Similarly, this item's not all that great if you're not ahead. Luden's Echo is, in general, best when you're confident you can shut the enemie's carries down via poke.

Rabadon's Deathcap: This is pretty much a standard for AP mid-laners, as it is just so great. This item is the very embodyment of the saying "the best defence is offence". It gives a **** load of AP and a passive which adds a percentage of your current AP on top of that. When you get this item, your damage skyrockets and you become very dangerous.

Rod of Ages: This item is a bit of an odd one. It is a relatively defensive choice for caster mages and is progressively better the earlier you buy it. You get a flat amount of AP, Mana and Health, with a time-based stacking passive providing you with even more of these stats. It is a matter of experience, comfort and preference whether or not you should buy this. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad in the slightest. You get to use more abilities, they deal more damage and you get more survivability. However, if you can do without, there are items out there which are better to suit your glass-cannon role. Should you need the room for errors or if you feel more comfortable with it, choosing the Rod of Ages is a good idea.

Void Staff: This is a true mid to lategame item. It gives you some nice extra AP, but is mostly popular for its magic penetration. This allows you to burn through your enemies' magic resist and keep doing a lot of damage, even when they are building tanky stats. As such, you should build this when the enemies are stacking resistances. If they are not, other items which provide raw damage are more useful.

Zhonya's Hourglass: This is, again, a fantastic item on Xerath. It gives you a lot of AP and an active which makes you untargetable for 2.5 seconds. This is extremely useful to evade some of the burst and CC that the enemy focuses on you. This makes the Zhonya's extremely useful to prevent yourself from being caught out and dying.

Situational Items

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Adaptive Helm: This is a relatively tanky item, which honestly doesn't fit Xerath and his playstyle. However, there are a few match-ups in which I sometimes incorporate this in my build, mostly when enemies are getting fed. The Adaptive Helm does best vs champions who either have consistent damage/DOT or very low cooldowns. As such, it works well against champions like Akali, Karthus, Katarina, Malzahar, Syndra and Viktor. However, if the enemy relies on a simple rotation of spells which deal damage on impact, this item will most probably only set you back even further. You benefit from the resistances and cdr, but mainly the passive. It prevents abilities with a wind-up time or a debuff from stomping you and can allow you to survive the laning-phase and reach lategame. Only pick this if you are extremely far behind or are really going to need it to survive. Also, make sure to swap it out in the late-game if you don't need it anymore.

Banshee's Veil: This ia a nice pick versus burst mages and high-CC champions. It gives you a decent amount of MR, as well as a spellshield passive, while still giving you a nice amount of AP. It is a fantastic item if you expect to get dunked by a mage in the early and/or midgame. However, like other resistance items, if you can do without, there are other items which will fit you better.

Hextech GLP-800: This more defensive brother of the Hextech Rocketbelt has never been the popular one of the two. Still, it is a pretty good item if used correctly. Where the protobelt is used for engaging and dodging, the GLP is used to reposition and peel for yourself. This makes it a pretty strong item if you don't have the amount of peel you would like to have. Next to this awesome active, you get some juicy AP, Mana and Health, as well as the unique passive originating from the Catalyst of Aeons component. Overall, it is a fantastic item. It, however, has to suit your playstyle.

Liandry's Torment: You should only build this if you have gotten yourself into a war of tanks. This is because of the passive Liandry's gives you, which burns enemies for 1% of their current(!) health over .5 seconds, to a maximum of 6% over 3 seconds after a hit. Due to the passive and the magic penetration provided, this item is most effective against tanks who are stacking health and/or magic resistance. It makes sure your poke remains effective, even against them. This item still grants you a decent amount of AP, plus a small sum of health to keep you alive, but there are other items more effective if you are not facing (at least 3) tanks.

Mejai's Soulstealer: You should only pick this when you are snowballing incredibly hard. And not, like, 3 kills at 15 minutes, I mean 5 kills at 5 minutes. And even then you have to know what you're doing. You get a lot of AP upon killing an enemy due to the stacking passive. However, dying once results in the loss of half of your stacks, which can completely throw the lead you had built up, which makes this a 'high risk, high reward' item. You have to know the limits of Xerath and the enemy, have to have good positioning and good communication (in order for your team to work around you). Add this all up and only then should you consider building this item.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: Oh boi do I love this item. You get a nice amount of AP and health. Now, this by itself is not something to boast with, as there are multiple items out there which give equal or more stats. However, what makes this such a great choice are the passive and the price. Xerath lacks two main aspects: the ability to engage and disengage (reliably). They both come down to a need for CC, which is provided by the passive of this item. As such, it allows you to peel for yourself and help your team find picks. But what makes this item amazing, is the price. for a mere 2600 gold, you get the same stats (- some magic pen and 5 AP) the 500 gold more expensive Liandry's Torment would give you. Why I do consider this item situational though, is due to the fact that you shouldn't need it if your teammates have enough peel. On the other side, if your team doesn't have enough peel but you still want to play Xerath, this item is a must.

Seraph's Embrace: If you are new to Xerath or experience mana-issues, the Seraph's is probably your way to go. Next to giving you a large powerspike later in the game, it effectively lowers the mana-cost of your abilities by 25% and gives you enough mana to be able to constantly spam abilities. Upon the completion of the stacking, you will have gotten a self-shielding active, 1000 mana, 110 AP (80 Base + 3% x 1000 mana) and 25% reduced ability costs. There are, however, multiple reasons why I don't like this item on xerath. I will discuss these down below. To be short, this item is more effective than other items if the enemies have no engage and you plan to siege with your team.

Item Combinations

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Rod of Ages + Seraph's Embrace: This combination is very much aimed at getting a massive powerspike in the mid to late game. You should build these two items if you have absolutely zero kill-pressure, but neither has the enemy. Examples are versus a Lulu, a Karma or a Heimerdinger. If you do build these, start with boots and potions and get a Catalyst of Aeons on your first back. Your next priority is a Tear of the Goddess, after which you are going to want to complete your Rod of Ages. Finish your boots somewhere around this time as well. During this stacking period you must simply farm. Tell your jungler to focus other lanes (unless if the enemy is extremely overextended) and don't try to fight, with the exception of ulting other lanes. Continue your build like you would normally and build your Archangel's Staff once your tear is almost done stacking. During this time, you should have gotten max stacks on your Rod of Ages as well. At this point in time, you are a spell slinging powerhouse. If you, however, build these and don't play safe enough, you will get killed again and again and again due to a lack of damage, effectively losing you the game.

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Hextech GLP-800 + Rylai's Crystal Scepter: If you are playing draft-pick and end up with Xerath while your team has little to no peel, these items are a must. They both give you health and peeling potential, whilst still granting a decent amount of AP. Afterwards, you are probably going to want to build a Morellonomicon, or you'll not have enough damage. As such, you should start like you normally would. Buy a Doran's Ring and 2 biscuits and work towards a Lost Chapter. Try to fit a pair of boots somewhere in here too. Afterwards, build the 2 main components of both items ( Hextech Revolver and Blasting Wand) and finish wichever item you need most. After having finished the other item and your tier 2 boots as well, you are going to want more damage. Like mentioned before, build the Morellonomicon and the Rabadon's Deathcap as well. The final item is up to you. With these items you will not deal as much damage as you would normally. However, your chance of survival is far greater and, no matter how you look at it, you deal more damage alive than dead. If your team does have peel, though, you should not go this build (either or is fine).

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Void Staff + Liandry's Torment: These two items work wonders against tanks. It is, however, your job to poke the enemy carries. As such, the only time you should build these 2 items in combination with eachother is when the enemy has no carry or when the enemy carries have no possible way of dealing damage (e.g. a Lucian or Heimerdinger who fed hard). If this is the case, the main threats are the tanks. Therefore, being able to deal damage to the tanks is a must. These 2 items both have a way to work aronud Magic Resistance, and the latter of the two is good vs enemies who are stacking health. You will have recognised this situation once you have about 3 items, most probably Sorcerer's Shoes, Morellonomicon and a third item. The Void Staff is more impactful later on, so build the Liandry's Torment first. The 6th item can be anything, but try to focus on damage. Alternatively, if you build these whilst the enemy still has carries that are of use, you won't deal enough damage to be impactful on both the tanks and the carries. If the enemy has both carries and tanks, build the Liandry's Torment and work from there. If the enemy has no exceptional team composition, build the Void Staff in the mid to late game to negate some of the magic resistances.

Support

Sorcerer's Shoes: These are the best upgraded boots option for Xerath in any lane. They allow him to deal more damage by bypassing a portion of the enemy's magic resistance. I personally wouldn't take anything else, but if you want you can try out some alternatives.

Frost Queen's Claim: You should always get this item, no matter the circumstances. It gives you some much needed gold for simply harassing and provides you with an active, giving you some peel which is something your kit lacks a lot of. So this item should pretty much always be build.

Ruby Sightstone: Although you should always buy the Sightstone in the early game, the moment to upgrade it is situational. The upgraded version costs 800 more gold and gives you 350 health and a passive which reduces the cooldown of actives on items by 20%. As a result, you should upgrade to this item when you need the peel from your Frost Queen's Claim and other support items more frequently. The extra health is useful, but if you're looking for more health you should simply buy another item.

Hextech GLP-800: This is the first of the 3 items you can swap. I will go into some combinations of items shortly, but in this section I have chosen 3 items which are all amazing on Xerath. The first being this item. It provides a lot of AP, some mana and health and an active with which you can peel and reposition quite effectively. It can also catch people out, meaning it can be picked as an all-round item. The only drawback is that it doesn't have mana-regen, but if you're able to use your passive effectively, even as a support, you don't really need it. You can build this whenever you want and is useful in any stage of the game. Definitely a go-to item on Xerath.

Mikael's Crucible: This is the second of the 3 items which you should swap out based on the enemy team. Mikael's Blessing cleanses all cc off of a teammate, while making them immune to slows for the next 2 seconds and giving them a large movement speed buff for a short period of time. It can keep your adc in the fight for so much longer, while also providing some nice stats for you in the form of magic resist, mana regen and CDR.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: This is the third of the replaceable items. Rylai's allows you to be more tanky, but next to that it gives you the ability to kite with your spells. It slows enemies with every ability cast. Since Xerath lacks peel, this item works wonders for his protective abilities. There are very few cases in which I don't buy this item, just because it is all-round incredibly efficient.

Item Combinations

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Ruby Sightstone + Frost Queen's Claim: This combination revolves not so much around these two items, but rather the UNIQUE passive on the Ruby Sightstone and its compatibility with active items. This is another build for peeling which works differently from the still effective combination mentioned above ( Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Everfrost) but is extremely useful. What it comes down to is that you buy the upgraded sightstone somewhere in the mid game and solely buy items with actives afterwards. I like to run Sorcerer's Shoes, Frost Queen's Claim, Ruby Sightstone, Everfrost, Zhonya's Hourglass and Redemption but you can swap some items out according to personal preference and the enemies. The downside of this type of build is that you are limited to a small selection of items of which most don't give a lot of AP. So if you want to do more damage, you shouldn't go for this build.

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Rod of Ages + Knight's Vow: There are going to be times where the best way to peel for your carry is to take damage for them. This is especially the case for late game carries such as Jinx, Twitch and Tristana who can take any enemy down if given a few seconds. Instead of spending those seconds running away, by building these two items you allow them to deal damage and as such kill the enemy. If you are going to build these two items, you first have to recognise the situation. Only build these together if you have a late game carry with you. Before recklessly building this, you should work towards the Rod of Ages as the first item after your early game core. If, by the time the item is done stacking, your laner is even or ahead and your other carry is behind, you can build the second item. If this is not the case, you would be dragging a dead animal with you or lack the required amount of peel to protect 2 carries, most probably killing you all. Build 1 or 2 other items and, when the mid game starts, build the Knight's Vow. Seeing as the Knight's Vow transfers damage dealt to your bound ally to you as true(!) damage, you are going to want to build health rather than resistances. This is where the Rod of Ages comes in. It will have given you 500 health once fully stacked, meaning you're able to pack quite a punch. Next to this, using the UNIQUE passive from the Catalyst of Aeons component, you get health from casting abilities. So basically, you take more damage when near a bound ally (instead of them taking damage) and you heal yourself by casting abilities. And with the extra mana added by the Rod of Ages, you're able to spam your abilities quite effectively.

Discussions

+60 Ability Power +300 health +300 mana Passive: Your Champion gains 20 Health, 10 Mana, and 4 Ability Power every 1 min. Bonuses cap at +200 Health, +100 Mana and +40 Ability Power. (Not included in stats) UNIQUE Passive: Eternity: Your champion gains 15% of damage taken from champions as Mana and spending Mana restores 20% of the cost as Health, up to 25 per spell cast (toggle spells heal for up to 25 per second). COST: 2700g

+80 Ability Power +1000 mana UNIQUE Passive: Awe: Gain Ability Power equal to 3% of your maximum Mana. Refunds 25% of Mana spent. UNIQUE Active: Mana Shield: Drains 20% of your current Mana to shield yourself for an equal amount + 150 for 3 seconds. 120 second cooldown. Seraph's Embrace is obtained by gaining full Mana Charge on Archangel's Staff (750 bonus Mana). COST: 3000g

These items both suit different roles. The Rod of Ages gives you AP and more survivability with some health and mana which get progressively higher for the next 10 minutes after purchase. The Seraph's Embrace gives you mana, which gets progressively higher until the maximum amount of stacks is reached, AP and more AP based on the maximum amount of Mana you have. However, both items do share the aspect of stacking, meaning these items can grant you with a large powerspike once completely stacked. I will talk about how they compare to eachother, when to build which item and why I almost never build them

Stat-wise there are some small differences. For conveniece, I will calculate with base stats and assuming the items are fully stacked. The first and most important stat, AP, is pretty hefty on both items. the ROA gives you 100 AP and the Seraph's gives you 110 AP. The latter, however, has the potential to give your even more AP depending on whether you build more mana. Considering survivability, both deliver on different terrains. The seraph's gives a lot of mana, 1000 to be precise and a shield based on your maximum amount of mana. The ROA gives you 500 health and 400 mana. So, statistically, Seraph's has the slight edge. However, both are very viable.

To be short, you may want to buy Rod of Ages when you expect to get bursted. In this case peel won't help, meaning you are going to want some survivability in the form of health or resistances. On the other hand, if you expect nobody to reach you and to easily reach the late game, you could buy Seraph's Embrace. Now, here's why I almost never buy these items. To begin with ROA, you get 100 AP, some mana and some health. If you know how to play Xerath and are comfortable with doing so, you'll need neither the health nor the mana (although in some cases some extra health can be nice). For a bit of extra gold, you can get other items which might not have the same amount of AP, but provide you with much more useful passives and actives (e.g. the Void Staff). As for the Seraph's, the same reasoning applies. The amount of AP is good, but you shouldn't need the mana. And since you won't be stacking mana items, the passive on the item goes to waste. For roughly the same amount of money you can get other items which are more useful to you.

If you, however, do experience some issues with the management of your mana, these items both can be good. I just urge you to not get used to them and try to learn how to play with other items.

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+80 Ability Power +300 Health +400 Mana UNIQUE Passive: 15% of damage taken from champions is gained as Mana. Spending Mana restores 20% of Mana spent as Health, up to 25 Health per cast (Toggle spells heal for up to 25 per second). UNIQUE Active: Fires a spray of icy bolts that explode, dealing 100-200 (+35% of ability power) magic damage (depending on level). Enemies hit are slowed by 65%, decaying over 0.5 seconds (40 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items). COST: 3000g

+75 Ability Power +300 Health UNIQUE Passive: Your spell damage and summoned minions will slow the target's movement speed by 20% for 1 second. COST: 2600g

These items are both bought in this build for their peeling capabilities. Both give you some nice AP, although they have different AP values due to differences in prize. I will go over in which situation you should pick which item and how they compare to eachother.

There is little use in going into the statistics, seeing as both items are in a completely different prize-range. For 400 extra gold you get 5 more AP, a different passive and an active. The passives can't be compared as they are structuraly different.

Now, as for the purpose of buying these items. You will build Everfrost or Rylai's Crystal Scepter because you want to be able to peel for yourself. Both items provide that peel in a different way. Rylai's adds a slowing component to all your abilities. It allows you to kite, whilst also giving you some potential to catch people out. This, however, is not your main reason to buy it, the peel is. The Hextech on the other hand provides a gap-closer, which also slows enemies around you. which one you want depends on the enemies. Logically speaking, if the enemies are easily kiteable, you should opt into the Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Equally evident, if the enemy has a lot of skillshots, you should choose the Everfrost. There are some middle grounds with which you have to think logically which item would work best. As an example, Ekko gets a movementspeed buff from his passive. As such, kiting is not really effective. You should stay out of range of his 'e', and if you're not you need to be able to quickly reposition yourself. Therefore, you are going to want to build the Everfrost. If you don't know which one to buy when facing a certain opponent, feel free to ask.

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Mid-lane

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Early game: You are going to want to start the game by just simply farming. Try to get all of your abilities and poke your enemy from time to time with a 'q' or a 'w'. Try to proc your passive on enemies, but don't be afraid to use it on minions. When you are winning trades and are out-farming your enemy, try to deny him cs. You should avoud pushing your enemy in, unless you can roam with a high chance of succes or when the enemy can't farm under his turret. If this is not the case, just keep poking and farming. Buy a control-ward and put it somewhere in a side-brush when you do shove your enemy in. This way you will know where the jungler is, and with your long range, you are very good at defending it.
Your main goal for the early-game is not losing your lane. If you win or tie, both in CS and kills, you can basically outscale anyone. This doesn't mean you shouldn't be playing aggressive. You have a lot of bullying-power with which you can potentialy deny your enemy a lot of resources. Make sure you don't force anything you don't 100% know you can win though.

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Lvl

Potential

Breakdown

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1

Poke: Low Engage: Low Kill Potential: Low

Your laning-phase is relatively weak, especially level 1 and 2. During these levels, you have no means to effectively defend yourself. Both your Arcanopulse and Eye of Destruction are AOE abilities, meaning you have a high chance the wave will shove into the enemy, leaving you susceptible to ganks and engages from your enemy laner. To avoid this, you have to try and prevent your lane from shoving. For this reason, I like to take Eye of Destruction first when I'm facing a dominant laning opponent, as you are less likely to shove the wave this way. For now, simply focus on farming. During these first two levels, you are going to want to use your abilities quite sparsely. This way you will be able to farm under turret when you get low due to the enemie's pressure. Additionally, this will allow you to push back enemies who are trying to constantly shove you under your turret. Don't force anything for now. If you are able to get some free poke off, go for it, but don't overdo it. Lastly, and this is mostly for players who are used to playing with Xerath, I encourage you to try to find a pattern in the enemy's movement, more specifically the way he dodges. Use a few abilities and see which way the enemy walks. You still want to avoid using up too much mana, but when you have your passive up, you can cast an ability and proc the passive. If you succeed in finding this pattern somewhere during the first 3 levels, you are going to have a much easier time in lane. Whether this works generally depends on the enemy and whether they even give you the time to analyse their movement, but it is definitely worth a try.

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2

Poke: Average Engage: Low Kill Potential: Low

Level 2 is not much different from level 1 in the sense that you still don't have a lot of room to work with. You have no way to defend yourself and not enough damage to be able to play aggressively. You do have another spell to work with now, allowing you to do more poking. Do still keep your mana at a high level (about 1/2), for the same reason mentioned above. This extra spell simply means you can punish the enemy harder when they make a mistake. This doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't force anything and should focus on farming above anything else. There are going to be enemies who will try to lvl 2 cheese you (e.g. Talon, Yasuo or Zed). These enemies are mostly AD, which is why I sometimes take my Shocking Orb second instead. This way I am able to peel for myself and prevent the enemy from getting a kill and snowballing. You will probable hit the 3-minute mark when you're level 2, sometimes level 3 (depending on the position of the wave). This is the general time junglers have finished their clear. Unless you are pushed back, stand on the opposite side of where you expect the enemy jungler to be anf farm from this position. Stick to that side of the lane, as you will have the most reaction-time this way. Keep an eye on the map, as you might be able to spot their jungler or have to help your own jungler in a fight.

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3

Poke: Average Engage: High Kill Potential: Low

At this level, you are going to have all your abilities. You're able to react to most situations, though you will not be as effective as other champions might be (yet). Allthough I generally like to hold off with poking hard until I'm at least level 4, you should start looking to land a stun and hit your full combo afterwads. This is where reading the enemie's movements comes into play. If you're able to predict where the enemy is going to dodge, it is easier to hit your abilities and bully the enemy. This is about the time where you are going to execute your general plan of action: If the enemy is bad at farming under turret, try to shove them in; If the enemy likes to shove, try to freeze the wave in front of your turret; If the enemy has a weak early game, poke them down. Start slowly at this point in the game and progressively increase the frequency at which you are executing your plan. This is for the general reason that you get stronger the longer the game goes on, giving you more room to work with. At the same time, enemies are going to start executing their plan. For example, an Annie will start to stack up her passive and land her full combo on you. By this time, you will have more mana to work with. Your spells will cost more as well, but this does not outweigh the mana acquired by leveling-up. This means you can use your abilities more frequently. Don't be afraid to end up with a little amount of mana. Your passive as well as the passive from the Doran's Ring will give you enough mana-sustain. Do make sure that you have enough mana to cast your Shocking Orb at all times though.

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4

Poke: High Engage: Average Kill Potential: Low

Level 4 is where your true potential starts to show. You deal a lot more damage and are able to bully enemies effectively. You are still (and will always remain) vulnerable, however, meaning you don't want to mindlessly walk up and harass the enemy. I generalyl like to poke the enemy down to half health with 'q' and 'w' before I start to look to land some Shocking Orbs. If you are able to, try to poke the enemy without shoving the wave. This is important in earlier levels, but especially from this point onwards. If the wave is on your side of the map, the enemy has to step up to get cs, leaving him vulnerable to ganks. If you notice the wave stays on the enemy's side of the map, push the wave hard until it reaches the turret. This way the minion wave will bounce and push into you again. Enemies will be able to engage onto you more effectively at this point as well. To be able to counter this, you need to have a good knowledge of the enemy you're facing, as well as Xerath. As a general rule of thumb, I like to stand at the point where, if I were to throw out my Shocking Orb, I will be back under my turret before the enemy can catch me, no matter what spells they use (not taking Flash into a count). This range will differ based on the enemy you are facing, as well as the enemy jungler. For example, I play safer when I'm facing a Rek'Sai than when I'm facing a Kindred.

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5

Poke: High Engage: Low Kill Potential: Average

With another point in your 'q', you seriously start to hurt. Your poke is really strong, and with the amount of mana-sustain you naturally have (even more when you've bought a Lost Chapter), you are a real monster. You should be able to avoid getting engaged upon at this point, except for when you get ganked. Therefore, you need to make sure you have (at least 1 side of the map) warded-up. When an enemy engages on you, simply stun them and walk back. In the proces of walking back, you can punish the enemy hard and prevent them from going in again. As soon as you start to get near hitting level 6, you have to make a choice. If you think you are able to kill the enemy (by poking and ulting afterwards), you should start poking and shoving/freezing the wave (depending on the whereabouts of the enemy jungler). If you know you are not going to kill the enemy, for example when you are facing Anivia, you are going to want to try and shove the wave and look towards other lanes for opportunities to ult. You can ask your jungler to get vision on a specific side of the map or get some vision yourself.

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6

Poke: High Engage: Low Kill Potential: High

Now that you're level 6 and have your ultimate, you can finally fullfill your role as a sieging sniper. You can poke the enemy, clear the waves quickly and as such take towers. You have a lot of pressure on other lanes with your ultimate and can roam very effectively. You are quite reliant of others to engage, but when you've started a fight, you'll be able to dish out a load of damage. If you were able to get out of lane even or ahead, the rest of the game will most likely be in your favor. You will only get stronger and stronger, whilst other enemies are falling behing or are failing to keep up with your scaling. From here on out, the game will essentially only change in 2 ways: when you enter the mid-game and when you enter the late-game, both of which are described below.

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Mid-game: As soon as towers are starting to fall, the laning phase has ended. When you are ahead, try to take your enemy's turret if you haven't done so yet. Start roaming and try to get kills in other lanes. If you are able to get a kill in your own lane, you ofcourse don't have to roam all the time, but try to create as much pressure as possible.
If you are behind, keep farming. try to help other lanes and try to prevent yourself from dying. Don't go through unwarded territory (unless you have back-uo), as you can easily get picked off. Try to play for the late-game and stall as much as possible. If your enemy has a powerspike around this time, try to group with your allies and move as a unit from lane to lane to take objectives.

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Late Game: This is where you shine. You have about 3 or 4 completed items and are dealing massive amounts of damage. Try to group and utilise your fantastic ability to siege. Gaining a gold-lead through destroyed towers is a very good strategy. Poke the enemies as much as possible and try to get them low. If you are afraid of one enemy in particular, focus him and when he reaches about 1/2 health, ult him to scare him off. Afterwards engage with your team and win. If you're not, simply focus on their carries, throw out as much spells as possible and kite with your 'e'. When the teamfight turns in your favor, use your ult to finish enemies off. Don't use it in the middle of a fight, though, as it leaves you rooted and vulnerable. Be cautious about when to throw your stun. It is your only tool of defence and has a fairly long cooldown. If you waste it and someone engages onto you, you are done for.


Support

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Early game: In the early game you have to be really careful. You are still fairly weak at this point, so make sure you don't get caught. Getting bush-control as soon as possible is key to winning. Both the river and the lane-bushes are very important, which is why you should get a Sightstone very quickly. This item allows you to see the enemy jungler coming, which prevents enemy ganks and makes it possible for your team to make a play elsewhere. Next to that, it is much easier for you to hit your spells when the enemy can't see you casting them. That's why I take a Sweeping Lens as my starting trinket. Try to poke your enemies and AA (Auto-Attack) them as much as possible. Do make sure that you have enough mana for your stun, as it is the only peel-tool you have.
Getting you and your ally out of lane unscaved is your main goal. Try to deny your enemies as much as possible, but don't get caught off by a Rocket Grab or a Death Sentence, because you are really squishy.

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Mid-game: As soon as you get your first 1 or 2 items and across the map turrets start to fall, the laning-phase has ended. This means you have to be extra careful about enemies coming to gank you, making warding even more important. Next to that, this is the stage in which you decide in which way you want to keep playing support. Either you start to roam to try and get your other lanes snowballing, or you stick with your ADC and aim for the late-game. My preference lies with the second option, but I have found both options viable. You should make a choice taking the enemy team, your own team and, of course, your personal preference into a count. You still want to stay back and try to poke the enemies a bit. The main difference with mid-lane gameplay is the fact that you don't deal as much damage with your spells, so you are going to want to use them more as a zoning-tool.

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Late game: This is where you are at your strongest. Basically, you have an extra mid-laner on your team, which is able to peel and deal damage at the same time. Make sure you use all the actives of your items in a teamfight, as they can truely turn a fight around. However, you should never forget that you aren't a carry. This means that defending your ADC is and remains your primary goal. If you are going to have to sacrifice yourself for your ADC, you should do so. Never forget that throughout any stage of the game.
Keep up the warding and try to have a Control Ward placed at any time. You can set-up your team for an engage by the slowing that Rylai's gives you and your Shocking Orb. If you played the game correctly up till this point, you should have no problem ending it off.

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Frequently Asked

Answers

Q: With which ADCs doeas Xerath support synergise?

// Xerath support revolves around reaching late-game and becoming a second mid-laner who can peel for his ADC at the same time. For this reason, Xerath works well with any ADC that can get Xerath through the laning-phase. All ADCs that heve a lot of lane-presence and can finish a poked enemy off synergise. Examples are Lucian and Miss Fortune, but also lane bullies like Jinx, Draven and Caitlyn.

Q: When should I roam as Xerath mid instead of ulting?

// What it comes down to, is that you should roam whenever you have the chance to (the lane is pushed into the enemy and the target lane isn't) and when your ult won't secure a kill. There's a difference in result between ulting from your lane and busting a flash or spending a minute to walk over there and pick up a (double) kill. However, do remember that you're not a master ganker and that you should only gank if the enemies are low enough to be killed with ease. If this is not the case, either ulting or simply go on farming will be more beneficial.

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Patch

Influence on Xerath

P 7.19

None

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P 7.18

Eye of Destruction: Bugfix slow now correctly decays from 25% to 13% once, not twice Spellthief's Edge line: Tribute passive After last-hitting a minion, Tribute charge generation is paused for 6 seconds -> 8 seconds Frostfang: NEW Cooldown Reduction 10% Frost Queen's Claim: Build Path Frostfang + Fiendish Codex + 450 gold -> Frostfang + Blasting Wand + 500 gold (total cost unchanged) Knight's Vow: Total Cost 2300 gold -> 2200 gold Combine Cost 700 gold -> 600 gold Health 350 -> 250

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P 7.17

None

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P 7.16

None

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P 7.15

Eye of Destruction: Slow 10% -> 25% (center zone slow unchanged at 60/65/70/75/80%) Rite of the Arcane: Base Damage 200/230/260 -> 200/240/280 Adaptive Helm: Damage Reduction Damage taken from repeated instances of a spell or effect is reduced by 15% -> 20% Knight's Vow: Health 400 -> 350

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Date

Changes

July the 25th, 2015

- Start of guide.

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August the 2nd, 2015

- Corrected some grammar and spelling mistakes; - Added Zhonya's VS Rylai's discussion section; - Added Support build path (Gameplay explanation coming soon); - Added Sona to match-up section.

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August the 10th, 2015

- Changed title appropriately; - Corrected some spelling mistakes. (I can't type for ****); - Added Patch 5.15 to the "Patch Influences" section; - Added support to the "Gameplay" section; - Updated a mistake in the "masteries" section.

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August the 30th, 2015

- Added Patch 5.16 to the "Patch Influences" section; - Upgraded Support part on the Masteries and Runes sections. (Items coming soon)

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February the 24th, 2016

- Edited and republished for the new season; - Updated the "Patch influences" section; - Updated the "Threats" section; - Updated the "Items" sections; - Updated the "Summoner Spells" section; - Updated the "Mastery" sections; - Updated the "Abilities" section.

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February the 28th, 2016

- Added banner to the guide; - Changed guide name to 'Death, Too Unreal'; - Added Patch 6.4 to 'Patch Influences.

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April the 7th, 2016

- Added Aurelion Sol to the 'champion matchups' section; - Added new patches to the 'patch influences' chapter; - Updated the threat level of certain champions. Special thanks to BlueMoon1 to notifying me on this.

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April the 29th, 2016

- Updated the 'threats' section at the start of the guide; - Introduced the Support role in the 'threats' section; - Added new patch to the 'Patch Influences' chapter; - Updated itemisation; - Smoothened lay-out and (textual) structure; - Introduced FAQ.

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May the 5th, 2016

- Updated the itemisation according to recent changes; - Added patch 6.9 to the 'Patch Influences' section; - Updated information on abilities, items, etc according to newest patch; - Worked on Images and Artwork (coming soon).

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May the 22nd, 2016

- Added custom artwork and Table Of Contents and updated lay-out; - Updated overall content according to Sethbling's notes. Special thanks to him; - Added 'Patch 6.10' to the patch-influences; - Added Taliyah to the 'champion match-ups'; - Updated 'Item-Discussions section (part 2)' according to recent changes.

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June the 24th, 2016

- Updated some coding issues considering the artwork; - Updated the patch-notes for Patch 6.11 and 6.12; - Added a link to my coaching service in the 'Word Of Thanks'.

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August the 21st, 2017

- Updated all the outdated statistics; - Updated the Patch notes; - Updated the general build (items, runes, masteries and order of abilities); - Updated Match-ups in the "threats" section; - Added new builds in the overlay for specific situations; - Expanded the item explanation, added a new item combination section and updated the item discussion section; - Updated the 'masteries' section, as well as its artwork.

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September the 4th, 2017

- Added Patch 7.17 to the "Patch Influences" section; - Fixed some formatting errors.

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September the 14th, 2017

- Added Patch 7.18 to the 'Patch Influences' section; - Updated the 'Patch Influences' section to now hold 5 patches; - Updated the 'Masteries' section to discuss Deathfire Touch ; - Updated the 'gameplay' section to include a breakdown of the first 6 levels.

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September the 28th, 2017

- Added Patch 7.19 to the 'Patch Influences' section; - Made a quick hotfix for the bug with images.

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