Click to open network menu
Join or Log In
Mobafire logo

Join the leading League of Legends community. Create and share Champion Guides and Builds.

Create an MFN Account






Or

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

x
Lux Build Guide by Tantaurus

AP Carry Lux, a Luminous Guide - [S3 Updated] - [In-Depth]

AP Carry Lux, a Luminous Guide - [S3 Updated] - [In-Depth]

Updated on March 20, 2013
7.3
9
Votes
3
Vote Vote
League of Legends Build Guide Author Tantaurus Build Guide By Tantaurus 9 3 56,444 Views 12 Comments
9 3 56,444 Views 12 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Tantaurus Lux Build Guide By Tantaurus Updated on March 20, 2013
x
Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment. You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment

You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.

I liked this Guide
I didn't like this Guide
Commenting is required to vote!
Would you like to add a comment to your vote?

Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.

Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Lux
    Lux : AP Carry
  • LoL Champion: Lux
    Lux : Support

Guide in work.

This guide is in work.

Missing sections :
[*] Tips against opponents in lane.
[*] TL;DR sections
[*] Lux Support section
Back to Top

Introduction.

Hello all ! I'm Tantaurus, and this is my first guide on Mobafire.

I'm a huge fan of AP mid champions, and even if Lux is not my main, i really enjoy playing her. And i'm not bad with her, that's why i dare making this guide.

I think Lux have to be played in a certain way, but there isn't a godly build, it's all about the player and his playstyle. Unless you play her AD, because it's so bad and ******ed, yup.

99,9 % of you, dear readers, will not read the entire guide, it's ok ! But if you really want to play her well, i guess the advices i can give you could help you, and anyway, you spend your time as you want ^^.

I'm improving this guide little by little. I would like to add some videos/pictures, more and more advices, TL;DR chapters, all this stuff you know.

This take time :) but it's coming !

Have a nice time reading Lux - A Luminous Guide and playing her !

PS : English isn't my native language. I surely missed some mistakes in this guide, and i'm sorry about it. If you have grammar mistakes phobia, just tell me where the mistake is and i will change it :).
Back to Top

P.S of the Introduction.

I've spent a lot of hours making this guide. Why ? It was interesting, and i really enjoy sharing ideas !

So please, just understand if his desing isn't awesome :) first time using BBCode for me, it will be better with time and experience.

And again please, i'm open to constructive critics, i'm open to debates :) ! I think anyway that having your opinion will make me better with Lux !
Thank you for reading it, up-voting it if you liked it, down-voting it if not, and explain why :).

Last thing : don't attend to be godlike the first time playing Lux after reading my build. As i will say, Lux need skill, it comes with time spent playing her :).
Back to Top

Pros / Cons.

SPACE SPACE

Pros
+ Very high range
+ Good damages
+ Can snowball hard
+ Two CC
+ Low CD on ulti
+ Good in teamfight
+ The "DEMACIAAAAAA"
SPACE SPACE

Cons
- Squichy like hell
- Hates assassins
- Easily countered
- Need some skill
- Only skill-shots
- Mana issues early
- Awful skins, really
Back to Top

Masteries.

These are actually the only one mastery page you can decently use with Lux. You need 21 points in the offense tree, as an AP Carry you will have to do the most part of the magic damage.

After thinking a lot about it, in my opinion these 9 points in utility are nice. You want mana regen, more mana, the 15 seconds reduction for Flash and 20% increased time for blue buff. You have one point left to put, and 0.66% increaded MS don't really make the difference, but feel free to take it if you want too.
Back to Top

Runes.

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush

I run for classics runes with Lux. Mostly because i just have one runes page for my AP mid mages, so it's really general. Plus, Lux is an early/mid mage, in that way we will try to make this time more better for her, and remember, making a good early = having a nice late.

By the way, for me and in this runes page, Quintessences and Marks can't be switched. You absolutely wants these.


Quintessences



SPACE
For me, the best one, you can't do without it. Lux is a stong early mage because of her high damage bases. These quints will help you to deal much more damage early, and any AP you can get is nice ! Have in mind that if you succeed early, you will have a good late game.
SPACE


Marks


SPACE
You really can't do without it. Let's do the maths : most champions starts with about 30 MR. You have +8% M.Pen with Arcane Knowledge , 7.8 M.Pen with Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x9 and 20 M.Pen with Sorcerer's Shoes. Making the maths, your enemy really have... -0.2 MR. YOU ARE DOING TRUE DAMAGE ! And remember that MR doesn't scale with level for most champions, contrary to armor, so you will do a lot of damage until they get some MR ! But we have an awesome friend if they stack MR... Void Staff ;). Enough said i guess !
SPACE


Seals


SPACE
I have seen so much guides which tell you to take Clarity... Why not take Promote with it too --' ? (Actually, Promote doesn't exists anymore) Seriously, NEVER EVER take Clarity since you are level 8, and Ignite suddenly unlocked (go see "Spell summoner" section for this). These seals are really enough. With 3 points in Meditation , you start with a good regen mana : 11,7MP / 5s. Starting with a Doran's Ring increases it too 14,7MP / 5s. Trust me, if you use your spells efficiently, it's enough and more. Blue at 7:10 will help you until getting Chalice of Harmony. I really like them, but i can understand that you prefer other seals.
SPACE

Other seals viable on Lux are :

Seals you may think "Why not ?" but it's a big and heavy NO :
  • Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regenation are awful on Lux. Like, even more awful than Urgot is, so you see the point. Lux is early/mid mage, this is a late game seal.
  • Greater Seal of Magic Resistance are not really interesting, because glyphs are better anyway. These are mostly to counter harass, and you shouldn't be harassed as Lux. The only damage you could take is a heavy burst, and a little MR will not really help. When a Veigar press E post-6, you are screwed, pointed.


Glyphs


SPACE
I've tested a lot of glyphs. What i found, is that there isn't any "YOU-HAVE-TO-TAKE-THESE-GLYPHS" solution. With these, i have 28 AP level 1. It's nice. I like it, but it's a really personnal choice. I will not yell at you if you don't take it, even if i think they are the better choice nowadays.
SPACE

Other glyphs viable on Lux are, for example :
  • Greater Glyph of Magic Resistance are way better than Greater Seal of Magic Resistance and Greater Mark of Magic Resistance, and can be interesting if you begin with Lux or against hard harass champions as Karthus etc... I see it more usefull on top for off-tanks, against an AP like Vladimir or Kayle.
  • Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction can be good, making you reach 9,85% CDR with Sorcery. Not really opti on Lux, remember that you can't really spam your spells because of mana. I see it if you like to harass with Light Binding, to be safer in lane. If you play this way, you really have to play with Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration, unless you don't want to back every 3 minutes for mana.
    UPDATE ! These seals get really buffed, they are really interesting now !
  • Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration can be nice. I have never tested these, but 2,8 more regen mana / 5s could really interesting if you have hard mana issues.
Back to Top

Summoner Spells.

I play Lux a lot, for improving this guide and knowing what i'm talking about. Here we talk about summoner spells. You can saw that i took Flash + Ignite on this build, it's kind of classic. I discovered Clairvoyance on Lux a few time ago, and it's reaaaaaaaally awesome too.


You can't think about don't taking it.



Flash

Seriously, the best summoner spell. Makes you coffee. If you use it smartly, a Flash used = your life saved. You must not use it if you can survive without it, because it has 285 seconds CD (4:45 !!!), so it's really important to be very efficient on it.

You can use it offensively, in a combo Flash + Ignite + AA to finish an enemy. He is mostly used to run away in fact, because when you Flash offensively you have no escape.

Always try to Flash threw walls, this way your opponent can just Flash following you, and if his Flash in on CD, you saved your life. If he Flash to follow you, he will not have it for 285 seconds, it will be an easier kill soon. Try to avoid doing it against champions with a dash (like Ezreal and his Arcane Shift or Tristana and her Rocket Jump).


Choose one.





Clairvoyance
+ Free warding for 5 seconds where you want on the map, every minute.
+ Synergizes greatly with Final Spark to land it correctly, if your target is too far to see him.
+ You can check Blue/Drake/Nashor.
+ Short CD (60s).
+ Makes your game really safer.
+ You will use it the entire game.

- Without Ignite, your early burst is decreased.
- Against high sustain champions, you will miss Ignite early.
- Not really optimized in the current metagame : it's more a support spell, but for now almost all supports take Exhaust instead. Having one Clairvoyance in your team can be really helpful.

I pretty love this for now, and i play with it very often, except against Swain and Vladimir who can sustain themselves so hard.
Don't forget to use Clairvoyance at 1:55 at your Blue enemy's camp, and next one to the Red one (or the opposite for junglers without mana), to check where is the jungler.



Ignite
+ Increase so much your burst.
+ Synergizes greatly with Illumination to finish an enemy.
+ Very useful against high sustain champions like Vladimir, Swain, Fiddlesticks with Grievous Wounds.
+ Scales with level.

- High CD (180 s)
- Short range, shorter than all your spells.
- Late game, if you are enough close to Ignite an enemy, you are really too close. You will certainly die quickly, because all the enemy team will focus you, it's really not worth it.

I clearly take it just against Swain now, Fiddlesticks when i met one (very rare).


Teleport
+ Nice for quick ganks.
+ You can back, buy and come back in your lane in 12 seconds, shorter than the time between two minions waves. Just think about cleaning the wave before, using Lucent Singularity and if you want, Light Binding, to don't lose some minions.
+ Works with a lot of things : turret, ward, minion, Teemo's mushrooms...
+ You can TP and save a turret left alone (and take a lot of farm !), or split-pushing (attack a turret alone and let the enemy team coming to you, so your team can take another turret). Don't do this if your Mejai's Soulstealer is well-stacked.

- SOOOOOOOOOO high CD (300s).
- You don't have vision around your destination point, just the vision of the ward/minion/ Teemo's mushroom, and it can be dangerous in jungle.
- Need 4 seconds safety, and to have a really good gank, you must not being visible while casting it.
- You can't TP back, think about how you will go back.


Infinite debates.





Heal

I don't like it, because others are much more usefull ! Some wants it for the famous "Heal noob", saving your life with it when your enemy is sure you will die. If you like it, and absolutely want it, go ahead, but highly not recommanded.


Clarity

For me, the best way to lose a game. I guess that if you need this amount of mana, it's because you use too much your abilities. With Lux, that means pushing hard, which is incredibly stupid. Learn to master your mana pool early and use properly your spells, and stop taking this ****. By the way, it's totally useless late game, and you absolutely don't want to lose a summoner spell in the most difficult part of the game for you. Really, this spell is awful.


Ghost

Could be interesting. I can understand why some players take it, this way you have a double escape. You should never take Ghost instead of Flash, because running quick isn't enough for saving your life as Lux : a lot of champions have hard CC, high mouvement speed base (a lot of solotops/junglers), mouvement speed steroid (like well-named Teemo's Move Quick) or gap-closers (like Talon's Cutthroat). Not needed to say that if you use Ghost and you are hard CC a few time after, you have wasted it.



And the other ones ?



Please, don't take them. Like Clarity. Some could be interesting, but in fact, NO. The only exception could be a Cleanse against a Veigar, but i still prefer Mikael's Blessing or Banshee's Veil.
Back to Top

Skill sequence.

Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
R>E>Q>W


What's the idea behind this ? The main idea is this :

YOU HAVE TO ADAPT YOUR PLAYSTYLE TO THE GAME

You can see a general way to upgrade your skills as Lux. In any enemy team composition, this is appropriate, but it can be not optimized.

These are general rules :
  • Always take R, Final Spark, at levels 6, 11 and 16.
  • At level 1, always take Q, Light Binding. If your jungle is invaded, it can save your life. If you invade, you can separate an enemy from his team, and at 5v1, even at level 1, it's instakill.
  • At level 2, always take E, Lucent Singularity. It's your IT-CAN-BE-USED-FOR-EVERYTHING spell. You need it level 2.
  • You always want to max E, Lucent Singularity, first. It's your main source of damage, harass, push/depush, so you need the increased damages. It's also your personnal Clairvoyance, and having a lower CD can be usefull. At level 5, with max CDR, you can almost make a constant zoning (cf Skills and Tips section, Lucent Singularity chapter) with a one second CD.
  • If you are having some issues early with a high damage mage or a DoT ( Malzahar, Fizz, Morgana for example), it is really interesting to take 1 early point in W, Prismatic Barrier at level 3. And if you still are in trouble, upgrade it again at level 5. 2 points will be enough at least to level 12.

You can see here all you CAN'T and MUSTN'T change :

Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

The E at level 9 means that you must have Lucent Singularity level 5 when you are level 9. The W at level 8 means that you must have at least one point in Prismatic Barrier when you are level 8. All last skills upgrades are up to you.
Back to Top

Skills and Tips.

In this part, i will explain you her skills, what are they usefull for, and how to master them.


Illumination (passive)




Lux's damaging spells charge the target with energy for 6 seconds. Lux's next attack ignites the energy, dealing bonus magic damage (depending on Lux's level) to the target.

Not the best passive in the game, especially for a very high-ranged mage. His main utility is for harrassing early in lane, usually after a Lucent Singularity.

Tips :


  • For harrassing your opponent, you can Lucent Singularity + AA easily. But don't use it too often : you have to be near your opponent to land your AA, that way you are vulnereable to counter-harrass and to ganks ! For this, a little advice : land your Lucent Singularity when you are in range for an AA. Just after landing it, make an AA, and just after make Lucent Singularity explode when it arrives at destination, so the AA will arrive after and ignite the Illumination mark. You earn a lot of time, you use the Illumination mark, and just after landing your AA, you can retreat a little to outrange your enemy.
  • You can finish an enemy with a Flash + Ignite + AA combo. It deals pretty damage early, giving you a very high burst.
  • The light mark lasts 6 secondes : if you want to finish your opponent using this mark, care about invicibility. If you land your AA, it could be countered with invicibility (like Zhonya's Hourglass's active, Kayle's Intervention or Tryndalol's Undying Rage) or shields (like Viktor's Power Transfert) using the mark and dealing no damage. Anyway, an early Zhonya's Hourglass is always to counter Karthus' Requiem (which can't happens because you are already the AP mage), built by a Fiddlesticks (very rare) or by a bad Morgana. Just wait until the end of your opponent's immunity and go. This is also true for Ignite.


Light Binding (Q or A)




Fires a ball of light, rooting the first enemy hit for 2 seconds and dealing 60/110/160/210/260 (+0.7*AP) magic damage. The second enemy receives 50% of the effect.

Your principal CC. For a CC, he deals really good damages, and 0.7 AP ratio, it's nice. The fact is, it needs some skills and experience to be well-used.

Tips :


  • You can hit a champion who is behind a minion. Your Light Binding will only be 50% effective, but it's better than nothing !
  • Don't farm/push/harrass with it, really. You can root two enemies for 2 and 1 seconds if you cast it well ! In lane, it can save your life from a jungler gank. The only problem is that it have a fairly long CD early, and it could be down when you absolutely need it. Plus, you could have mana issues, and harrassing with your Lucent Singularity is suffisant enough.
  • People don't think about it, but you can check bushes with it. I know, Lucent Singularity is way better, but in some cases (CD, not enough mana, your touch E is broken...) it can help. How ? You can't hear the sound of the spell hitting an enemy. But if you fire Light Binding in a bush, and the spell don't come out of the bush, there is two enemies in it. Highly not recommended to use it this way, but saved my life few times.
  • When you want to hit an opponent with it, you can't fire it directly in his position, because he can avoid it easily. Always fires it just a little behind him, because the first reaction of 90% of players against Lux will to go back to avoid it. Brain, skill and anticipation are needed to master Light Binding well.
  • An easy way to hit your Light Binding is to fire it from a bush or over a wall, because he will see it too late. Works pretty good threw the wall near mid turret, land it from the jungle.


Prismatic Barrier (W or Z)




Throws Lux's wand to a target location and back, protecting herself and all allied Champions it touches from 80/105/130/155/180 (+0.35*AP) damage for seconds.

Yup. Looks like a bad spell huh ? You shouldn't think this way... This spell is awesome. I love to see my opponent raging because i use it in the right timing, and it saves my life. U mad ? People really underrates this spell, thinking " Just for Lux Support, great i just have 3 spells '-- ". Ok, it will not save you from a feeded AD Carry, but if an AD Carry can touch you, it's all your fault, because you really must not be in his range.

Tips :

  • She throws her wand and it comes back : in fact, the spell is twice more powerful than written up there. Level 5, you can take free 360 (+ 0.7 AP) damages. And this, for all your team. And this, every 6 secs with max CDR. And this, for a low mana cost. Looks better this way huh ?
  • This spell works exactly as Ahri's Orb of Deception : you land it, and it comes back. If you move during the spell duration, the wand will follow you when coming back. Great to shields low-life friendly champions who are moving, and eventually receive a little "Ty lux gj" !
  • You can counter a lot of spells with this one. You certainly think about Karthus' Requiem and you think well dude ! The timing is short to have both shields (go away and come back shields), but it's easy to master it after a few times. However, even with both, Karthus' Requiem always outdamages your Prismatic Barrier. Works with Malzahar's Malefic Visions, Morgana's Tormented Shadow if she rooted you, in fact, every DoT and every spell who need a time to cast.
  • You can counter an Ignite too. But not all. "WTF, there is only one Ignite dude !" Yeah, yeah. But i talk about an Ignite used to finish you when you run away, not a one used during the fight. Why ? We will see this...
  • ... now. A thing that you should always think about, is that you can't move your Lux for a few time after casting Prismatic Barrier, because of the animation of Lux throwing her wand away. Not very long... but enough time for a Veigar to stun you and rape you. Enough time for every champion to land a ranged CC on you. And remember, our Lady of Luminosity is squichy like hell. in fact, more than that.
  • A thing i see sometimes : don't use it on a ally trapped in a bush... Or maybe you should just tell your enemies that there is a champion in the bush... Gank failed ! I say this, but if your friend will die from DoT in his bush, just do it and save him, don't be a ******.
  • As i said, the wand will go and go back. The fact is, if you move in the same direction as you landed it, you will reduce the time for the wand to come back. Two types of spells can be landed and take a few seconds to kill you :
  • DoT (like Ignite, Teemo's poison) : DoT are dealing damage each second for a few time. As your Prismatic Barrier shields you for a fixed time, you want it for the most time possible. For this, throw your wand in the opposite direction of yours, so you earn a little time because of increased distance. Works really better combined with a Flash : Prismatic Barrier + [[Flash] + run awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the opposite direction to back safely !
  • Spells casted with delay (mostly Karthus' Requiem, Vladimir's Hemoplague and Zilean's Time Bomb) : the spell will hurt you in some seconds, but you want both shields. For this, you really need timing. If the spell can target several champions, the most important thing is to protect your team. If you died but you saved the AD Carry, 2, 3 or maybe 4 friends (happens !), it's a relative benefit for your team. Remember that your AD Carry is the most important champion in team fight, and is the first priority for your shield.
  • Last thing : your Prismatic Barrier protects you from every source of damage, even these which can't be reduced by MR or armor. The computer just count how much damage you should take, and your shield just lose the same amount of life.


Lucent Singularity (E)




Creates a zone that slows enemies by 20/24/28/32/36%. After 5 seconds the zone detonates dealing 60/105/150/195/240 (+0.6 AP) magic damage. Activate again to detonate early.

Yup. Looks like an awesome spell huh ? You should think this way... This spell is awesome. So high range, a quick animation and the bowl is fast. A large radius of effect. It slows your enemy, and you can control its explosion. And did i speak about damage ? Really high damage for an harass early, the second part of your combo during all the game. This spell do so much things, he is really an important Lux's skill, and not the most difficult to master.

Tips :

  • First use : harrass. Wait. His mana cost his (fairly) high (70/85/100/115/130 mana). So, you have to use it with your brain. It's really hard to avoid it, because of the high speed of the bowl and the slow, plus your opponent can't see where you land it. You HAVE TO use it in critical moments for harass : when your opponent will make a last-hit, you know where he will be for a few time, so go. I see sometimes champions between their mid turret and the wall near to hit, it's really easy to land it this time. Think about landing one early just after having it : he will see the damages you can deal, and you take a psychological advantage, and with time, the lane.
  • You can make some zoning with this. Zoning, it's making your opponent miss last-hits, so miss golds, so you take an advantage. Land your bowl between your minions and him, and during 5 seconds he can only watch, because 99% of players prefer protect their life bar than their last-hit... Sad, but true. I'm not saying that you should take 200 damage for one last-hit, but missing a whole wave and having a lane pushed is hard.
  • You can chech bushes with it : just land it in, and you will see visible things as champions. Don't work with wards, Teemo's mushrooms or stealth champions like Teemo himself.
  • Surely, it can slow an enemy who is chasing you... or you are chasing. It worth the cast time.
  • You can afraid other champions with it : especially in jungle. Land it in a thin way, and your opponent have two choices : be slowed and take some damage, or giving up. He can take an other way too, but will surely not catch you so.
  • A tip : it can help you to hit your Light Binding, thanks to the slow ! A general rule with Lux, is to never starts a combo with Light Binding except you are sure to succeed it, watch the Light Binding tips to know more about it.


Final Spark (R)




Channels a dazzling ray of light dealing 300/400/500 (+0.75*AP) magic damage to all enemies in a line. Final Spark ignites and refreshes the Illumination debuff.

THE Lux's spell. Aka PEW-PEW, Final Ray to the Death, The Burning Light or "Oups, i killed you from so far and you don't even saw me !" This ultimate makes you coffee. You can do so much things with it. A really high range, massive damages, it can touch your 5 enemies in the same time, and some nice features comming with it. Of course, hearing Lux yelling "DEMACIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !" is always a pure pleasure, because you always heard "You have slain an enemy" after !

Tips :


  • First use : kill. In early game, when you use it, you want a kill (or a Blue/Drake steal). You may not enjoy ALL the damage if you kill with it, but it is a great finisher ! It's not called Final Spark to let your opponent alive, no way... And because of the 3000 range on it. It means that if you are at your inhibitor's turret, you can hit your mid turret with it. You can easily finish a enemy running away from a teamfight low life, just be aware of your enemies running away.
  • Final Spark needs 1 second to cast before hitting. During this time, a thin red line appears, showing where it will hits. It's bad, because your enemies, if they are reactive, can escape it if they have high speed, a gap-closer or just Flash away. Some champions can be inkillable for a few moment (As said up there, Zhonya's Hourglass active, etc...). You want to fire your ulti on a champion under CC who reduces his faculty to move. Lucky you, Lux has 2 CC !
  • Just have to be said : if a enemy escapes your ulti with Flash, i know, it's raging to let an enemy with 50 HP. But your ulti has 80/60/40 seconds CD, and Flash has 265 seconds CD. Next time, he just won't be able to Flash away.
  • The awesome range can helps you to steal strategic monsters : it requires a lot of skill, and a vision. For this, you have to be the one who take the last HP of the monster. It's hard, and you will fail it some times before succeed it.
    You can steal Blue/Red buffs easily, Drake is harder, and Nashor is very hard and really needs skills.
  • Stealing Blue/Red buff : it's kind of easy. You need a ward on the monster's camp for seeing the monster's HP, and timing. You absolutely want to deny the second Blue buff to have an easy lane. Junglers usually starts Blue for spamming spells in jungle : if the opponent jungler have mana, he will 90% of time starts Blue, so the second Blue will be around 7:10. Be sure to put a ward at the extrem point of the curved bush along the camp's wall (picture incoming !). The jungler will low the Golem to your opponent mid champ, this way he can take it easily. And when the Golem is about 300 HP, it's time to PEW-PEW him ! Blue Buff stealed ! Works also on Red buff, it's the same way to proceed. You just don't need Red buff.
  • Stealing Drake : he is usually made for the first time at around 10:00. The support of your team have to ward Drake, and if he don't, just do it. It's harder, because the jungler usually uses Smite to finish the Drake, and Smite will make more damage than your ultimate mid game (unless you are hardly feed). Anyway, his Smite may be in CD, or the enemy jungler so bad, or sometimes it's just the bot lane (carry AD + support) who makes a quick Drake after a enemy double-kill bot, so you can do it !
  • Hardest, the Nashor. Because he needs all the team to be done usually, so the damage done to Nashor is not constant, very high, and the jungler keep his Smite to secure it. The fact is, in late game, Final Spark deals really high damage, and outdamages Smite. I do it with feeling, but i have a personnal tip : i stand safe in a bush (from which i can hit Nashor of course) and watch the amount of Nashor's HP, and with how much speed this amount decreases. It's all about really quick mathematics, or just a feeling. You will know how to fire it with a lot of experience. Just for you to know, if the whole enemy team deals 500 damages/sec, and your ulti makes 500 damages, you have in theory exactly 1 second. During this second, if you fires Final Spark, you will kill Nashor, and GG. But... (there is always a but), in the team, people will usually keep Smite and some heavy damaging abilities to the end, to secure Nashor from stealing (and they will see that there is a Lux, so they will care much more !), so in-game it's more complicated. I personally think that it's closer to 0.25 second possibility.
  • " Final Spark ignites and refreshes the Illumination debuff", what does this mean ? If your target had already a Illumination mark, Final Spark will consume it to deals damage, and will also put another one Illumination mark after. Nice added damage, which increase Final Spark from 500 (+0.75*AP) to 690 (+0.75*AP) on level 3 (when you are level 18).
  • With 40% CDR, level 3, Final Spark have 24 seconds CD. Pretty quick CD, just 100 MP, so don't be ashamed to use it for farming a whole lane instantly.
Back to Top

Items : Core.

CORE

There is core items, which are so good you can't think about don't take them (in fact, you can do without Athene's Unholy Grail, but it's the best option).




SPACE

Sorcerer's Shoes


Clearly, the best boots for Lux. As a squichy, you absolutely wants some boots, to move faster, and repositionning yourself in team fights. You will clearly enjoy 20 M.Pen, because as i said, you will do real damage (or close to) early.
SPACE





SPACE

Rabadon's Deathcap


So much AP, and gives you more AP from all your other items. A classic, really.
SPACE





SPACE

Athene's Unholy Grail


This is the best way to resolve your mana issues. Lux is really a huge mana user, and after this, you just don't have to worry about mana.
SPACE




SPACE

Void Staff


Late game, the most part of the enemies will buy some MR, because you hurt them very hard, because they want Guardian Angel, etc... The thing is, with this, you will ignore a lot of their MR. Usually, you have to take it when they stack MR, like more than 100 MR, under, Abyssal Mask is better. Since they nerfed Abyssal Mask's range, with your very high range, Abyssal Mask is useless on Lux. Consider rushing it against a Galio.
SPACE
Back to Top

Items : Defensive solutions.

Defensive items



Sometimes, you just make a bad start, and you need to tank a little more to stay alive. Don't worry, here are the solutions.




SPACE

Zhonya's Hourglass


A lot of AP, some nice armor, an incredible passive. Really usefull against Karthus, Vladimir and why not, Fizz, Morgana and Ziggs, to protect yourself against their ultimates.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • If there is one of these champions you have a hard time against.
  • If the enemy team is mostly AD.
  • If you feel having a good team who will protect you during these 2.5 seconds, so this way you can back to safety after.




SPACE

Banshee's Veil


HP, mana, MR, everything usefull. And a nice passive, who can avoid you an engage.
SPACE


When i should take it ?

When i should NOT take it ?
  • There is a Teemo in the enmy team : 75% of the time, you will loose your passive in a mushroom, and you will miss it in team fight.
  • They have a lot of CC (Sometimes, they just have Volibear top, Amumu jungle, Alistar support, and you want to commit suicide.), and just one shield is not enough, so it's a waste.

If you take it, don't take : Zhonya's Hourglass




SPACE

Rod of Ages


HP, mana, AP, hey why not ? But in fact, it's a big and heavy NO, because there is so much better to do.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • Never. This is a early item for AP tanky mid champions. Lux don't need to be stuffed tanky, she has at least 1100 range. You have Chalice of Harmony early to tank a little more your enemy damage, it should be enough.





SPACE

Mikael's Crucible


Mana regen, mana, MR. Cheap. The active gives an instant (little) Heal and Cleanse. It's an item between Athene's Unholy Grail for mana regen and mana and Quicksilver Sash for the Cleanse. The only bad thing is that is an early item, and you miss some AP.
SPACE


When i should take it ?

When i should NOT take it ?

If you take it, don't take : Athene's Unholy Grail




SPACE

Guardian Angel


THE defensive item. Armor, MR, and a resurrection every 5 minutes. He has been nerfed with season 3 patch (since 30% of your max HP is less than 750 HP for most AP carries), but it's still good enough.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • You have a team who will protect you if you die. Come back alone and die just after, it's kind of useless. Can be great with a Mejai's Soulstealer.
  • In team fights, you are not really focused, but sometimes you die and your team miss your burst.

When i should NOT take it ?
  • The opponent team makes aces. Coming back alone, low life, against 2 or 3 waiting for you, it's useless.
  • You are hardly focused.

If you take it, don't take : Zhonya's Hourglass
Back to Top

Items : Offensive options.

Offensive items


But, you will mostly want to do massive damages, and for this, there is some items too.




SPACE

Deathfire Grasp


Really nice AP, and CDR is always good. The active is awesome : it deals 15% of max health to the targeted enemy, and all magic damages they take are amplified by 20% for 4 seconds.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • You have an easy lane, but your opponent is tanky, and you can't kill him easily. ( Malphite AP, Cho'Gath, etc...). It will madly increase your burst.
  • In your team there is another magic damage dealer : some top laners ( Kayle, Teemo, Vladimir...) and/or AP junglers ( Amumu, Fiddlesticks, Nunu & Willump...). If your team focus well in team fights, you can really depop every champion.

When i should NOT take it ?
  • You take a risk : the active has 650 range, you will need to get closer to active it, because you do it BEFORE your burst. If you die doing this, it's worthless.
  • You have a bad time : think about more armor or MR (go check Items : Defensive solutions.), being exposed will not help you and you will certainly feed your enemies.

If you take it, don't take : Lich Bane




SPACE

Seraph's Embrace


It gives you so much mana. And turns 3% of your mana pool on AP. Doing the maths, it gives you AT LEAST 60 AP (base) + 3% of 1000 mana, so 90 AP. The active is interesting too ! It takes 25% of the mana you have at this moment to make a shield (3 seconds duration) with the same amount.
The fact is, you need this at the end of team fights : you have made your burst once (maybe twice or three times), you don't have so much mana left... It will not be so significant.

By the way, once, an Ignite should kill me as Lux. I used the active while waiting for CD, and like 2 seconds after, i used Prismatic Barrier. Life saved, with like 10 HP.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • You have an easy lane. You don't need to reduce the magic damage from your opponent, and need some more mana.
  • There is Karthus, Ziggs, Vladimir, etc... against you. Taking it early will earn you a free Barrier for late game.

When i should NOT take it ?
  • You already fully built 2 items, or it's 20 minutes... It takes a lot of time to stack as Lux, because of your high cooldowns... (Doing the maths quickly, with a spell every 6 seconds, you will stack it in 18 min and 48 seconds). You have to build it early.
  • You want AP, but don't care about mana. Go check another items, like Mejai's Soulstealer.

If you take it, don't take : Athene's Unholy Grail




SPACE

Mejai Soulstealer


AP. And some AP. Oh, and some AP too. If Rabadon's Deathcap is the item who gives the more AP (thanks to +25% on total AP you have, DAT ITEM), Mejai's Soulstealer is surely the second. At full stacks, it gives... 180 AP, 15% CDR. WTF. Plus 25% of Rabadon, 225 AP... and this item costs 1235 golds. But, you really take a risk taking it. By the way, as Lux, you are away from team fights, you shouldn't die that much in a game (2-3 times is acceptable). You should be able to stack this at around 12-15 stacks easily if you play safe.
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • You are feed like never, and you never died (or maybe once). If you start to have high scores, like 5/0, 8/1... this item can make you snowball so hard.

When i should NOT take it ?
  • In every other way. You lose your gold if you can't stack it, and losing gold, it's losing game.
  • Even if you are feed, if the enemy top, jungler or adc is feed too, care. You coulds lose more buying Mejai's Soulstealer. Could be better to buy a nice item, and overfeed your enemy, and then take it.

If you take it, don't take : Lich Bane
Synergizes greatly with Guardian Angel, to save your stacks.




SPACE

Morellonomicon


Some AP, some mana regen, and a nice passive, which reduces by half the health regen if your enemy is under 40%, for 4 seconds.
SPACE


When i should take it ?

When i should NOT take it ?
  • In every other way.
  • You took Ignite and it is enough.

If you take it, don't take : Athene's Unholy Grail




SPACE

Liandry's Torment


Some AP and HP. The passives burns 5% of the current health of a enemy you hit with a spell. Does half damages for AoE or multi-targets spells, and does double damages for spell which reduces the mouvement. That way, Q is doing 5%, E and R 2.5%
SPACE


When i should take it ?
  • There are a little tanky, but not that much.
  • You are missing just a little more damage.
  • You don't like to get close, and Deathfire Grasp isn't THE solution for you.

When i should NOT take it ?
  • You have some skill as Lux. Go any other AP item, you will do more damage.
  • They are not tanky.
  • You have an easy game.

If you take it, don't take : Lich Bane
Back to Top

Opponents.

Here we see about your lane opponent : the difficulty you will have against him, the best way to win the lane, and some tips.

Colors code used :
  • Purple : Very hard to play against, never take Lux against these champions.
  • Red : You don't have the advantage, but it's dealable.
  • Yellow : A match-up based on skill, it's just about the way you play.
  • Green : Lux is stronger, pretty easy lane.
Back to Top

Opponents : TL;DR section.

So, don't want to read all this boring stuff, or you want to do it fastly, anyway, this is for you.




Really really hard champions








Hard but dealable champions








Skill based match-up








Easy lane


Back to Top

A





Assassin, high mobility, good sustain, high burst, combo maker.
1 hard CC (Charm).


  • Orb of Deception is her main way to harrass you. It's a skill-shot, you can avoid it by staying away from Ahri.
  • Charm is her only CC : avoid it by staying behind a minion.
  • When you see her making her ultimate, Spirit Rush, go to your tower and make Prismatic Barrier.
  • Always make your combo when her ultimate is down. Just to be sure.


Start build


SPACE

Rush







Assassin, high mobility, high sustain, weak pré-6, very high burst post-6.
1 soft CC (slow).


  • Before level 6, you clearly have the advantage : harrass her hard, call your jungler to have ganks, deny her farm : the objective is to make a really good start.
  • You can Lucent Singularity when Akali is in her Twilight Shroud.
  • After level 6, she owns you so hard. Call for more jungler help, use Lucent Singularity to farm, let her push to your tower, but stay away from her Shadow Dance's range.
  • You can ask your jungler to keep the lane : roam, and try to get a kill early. Bot lane is really good, you will have a easy kill. If you kill the AD Carry and the Support, ask your jungler to come to make Drake.
  • In team fights, stay really back at first to avoid massives CC, behind your tank and your bruiser. Focus the AD carry, and when she don't have all her stacks on Shadow Dance, go and depop her.

Start build


SPACE

Rush







Glass canon, high burst, good pusher, combo maker.
1 hard CC (stun), 1 soft CC (slow), dat wall.


  • Anivia is a glass canon char : she (yes, it's a lady) does massive damages but is very squichy.
  • Like you, she need to CC you to make her full combo : if you avoid her Flash Frost, you made the job.
  • Her main source of burst is Frostbite : if she hurted you with Flash Frost or Glacial Storm, Frosbite will do twice the normal damages. It's a targeted skill, you can't avoid it.
  • With Rebirth, Anivia can stand your busrt : ask for ganks to kill the egg too.





High burst.
1 hard CC (stun).


  • Pyromania makes a little cloud around her : her next skill will stun, so don't stay next her when her passive is up.
  • Harrass her hardly, you can kill her really early and win the lane. Don't be greedy, and don't attack her if she has her Pyromania with 4 stacks or up.
  • If you have some issues, consider buying a Mikael's Blessing.


Start build

or
SPACE

Rush



Back to Top

B





High burst, combo maker, low DOT.
1 hard CC (stun), 1 soft CC (slow) .




Start build


SPACE

Rush



Back to Top

C




Cassiopeia



High burst, heavy harrass, heavy pusher, heavy DOT.
1 hard CC (stun), 1 soft CC (slow).


  • Cassiopeia is a hard harrass / combo champion : you can avoid Noxious Blast if you are always moving.
  • After level 6, stay away from her : she can ult you and make her full combo.
  • Cassio is a little squichy, and have mid range : just stay away from her, you outrange her very hard.
  • She can spam Twin Fang every 0.5 if you are poisonned. Badly, it works with every poison... Care about it, Cassiopeia works pretty well with Teemo, Singed...


Start build


SPACE

Rush






Cho'gath



Very tanky, good sustain.
1 hard CC (bump), 1 soft CC (silence).


  • Clearly, Cho'Gath isn't this hard against you. Your only problem, is that he will stand your burst, he can heal hard with Carnivore in laning phase and this way, your harass is useless.
  • Ask for jungler ganks, you will not kill him alone.
  • Avoid Rupture, and everything will be fine.
  • In laning phase, you have 3 things to do : farm, farm and farm. Cho'Gath farm very easily, try to not being outfarmed. Play safe to don't give kills, and roam to take some.
  • If he becomes very tanky, you can take Liandry's Torment, you will do some nice added damages.


Start build


SPACE

Rush



Back to Top

D





Assassin, high mobility, high burst, tanky.
2 soft CC (attract, slow).


  • Pre-6, you have the advantage : farm, deny her farm, harass her hard. Ask your jungler to gank, if you have 1 or 2 kills early you will have a really easier game.
  • Farm, farm, and more farm. The objective is to gain enough power to burst her.
  • Post-6, stay away from her. She will urst you very hard. Diana always want to engage with Crescent Moon to have no CD on Lunar Rush, if you avoid it, you may survive.
  • Consider buying a Banshee's Veil early, it can be really helpful. Don't take it if you have a really nice advantage, because you will miss the AP. Don't take it if you are really really in a bad game : Diana feed, game ended.


Start build


SPACE

Rush

Back to Top

E





Assassin, high mobility, little sustain, tanky, high burst, combo maker, 1 dodge.
1 hard CC (stun).


  • Elise is very hard... She is tanky, have a very high burst, a little sustain, and pretty good harrass. Her Rappel will allow her to avoid your Light Binding, you won't burst a good Elise.
  • Nowadays, she is one of the strongest pick, you shouldn't pick Lux against Elise.
  • Post-6, try to farm safely, stay behind minions to avoid his Cocoon/Rappel.
  • Elise deals mostly %life damage. She has to make a very precise combo to make the most damages possible. It starts with Cocoon, which is her only CC.
  • If you are in trouble against her, build MR, not HP.


Start build


SPACE

Rush




Evelynn


Assassin, tanky, stealth.
1 slow CC (slow).





  • Evelynn is annoying. She isn't that hard, she is just annoying. She will try to Hate Spike you all day.
  • She got nerfed pretty hard, and she isn't played mid a lot for now, it's more about Evelynn jungle for now.
  • Pré-6, farm, she has no CC and very few range. Just care about jungler's gank.
  • Post-6, she will try to Agony's Embrace to engage, stay a little back and keep farming. If she come, just Light Binding her and combo her.
  • ALWAYS say SS when she leaves mid lane : Bot lane will be protected by a pink ward, but Top usually can't afford it early. Protect your teammates, don't give kills, carry dat game and win.
  • If you are in trouble (happens), build some HP (like Liandry's Tourment, or Banshee's Veil if the have hard CC).


Start build


SPACE

Rush

Back to Top

F




Fiddlesticks



Very high burst, high sustain.
1 hard CC (dat fear), 1 soft CC (silence).


  • Fiddlesticks in lane, it's very rare : he is mostly played jungle for now.
  • He has sooooo high sustain, but is very squichy : harrass him, and when he is casting Bountiful Harvest, you can easily aim Light Binding and your full combo. Ignite him first anyway, to reduce his Bountiful Harvest.
  • He isn't a great farmer, you can easily outfarm him. Take it to your advantage.
  • Never EVER get close to him, if he can cast Terrify on you, you are in serious troubles.
  • Banshee's Veil didn't work on Crowstorm, and it deals really heavy damages : don't make defensive items, jusr rush Sorcerer's Shoes, and up Prismatic Barrier a little more than usual to protect your whole team.
  • Crowstorm needs 2 seconds to cast : ward your bushes mid lane, he will always try to cast it hidden. You can stop it with your Light Binding, because he won't be able to dash, so the cast will be deleted.


Start build


SPACE

Rush

Enchantment:Alacrity




Assassin, high mobility, DOT, heavy burst, 1 dodge.
1 hard CC (bump), 1 slow CC (slow).


Back to Top

G





Tanky (lots of MR), high sustain.
1 hard CC (dat ultimate...), 1 soft CC (slow).






Tanky, good mobility, good sustain.
1 hard CC (ultimate), 1 soft CC (slow).


Back to Top

H




Heimerdinger

CH-1 Concussion grenade


Little sustain (passive).
1 hard CC (stun), 2 soft CC (blind, slow).


Back to Top

K





Good sustain.
1 soft CC (slow).






High damages, high harrass.
1 soft CC (slow).





Kassadin



Assassin, high mobility, high damages, weak pré-6.
2 soft CC (silence, slow).





Katarina

Sinister steel


Assassin, high mobility, good sustain, combo maker.
No CC.






Assassin, high mobility, good sustain, high damages, high harrass.
1 hard CC (stun).


Back to Top

L




LeBlanc

Sigil of silence


Assassin, high mobility, very high burst.
1 hard CC (root), 1 soft CC (silence).


Back to Top

M




Malzahar



Heavy DOT, high damages, high burst, high harrass, hard pusher.
1 hard CC (suppression), 1 soft CC (silence).





Master Yi



High mobility, heavy sustain, broken damages.
No CC.





Mordekaiser



Very tanky, good harrass, good sustain, DOT.
No CC.






Tanky, good sustain, hard pusher, 1 dodge (shield).
2 hard CC (root, stun).


Back to Top

O





High damages.
1 hard CC (kind of bump), 1 slow CC (slow).

Back to Top

R





Tanky, little sustain, heavy harrass, combo maker.
1 hard CC (root).


Back to Top

S





Tanky, heavy sustain (best ever ?), DOT, combo maker.
1 hard CC (root), 1 slow CC (slow).






High damages, heavy harrass.
1 hard CC (stun), 1 slow CC (slow).


Back to Top

T




Talon

Mercy cutthroat


Assassin, high mobility, good sustain, stealth, combo maker.
2 soft CC (slow, silence).





Teemo

Camouflage


Stealth, high mobility, high damages, heavy DOT, dat traps...
2 soft CC (slow, blind).





Twisted Fate



High damages, good pusher, combo maker.
1 hard CC (stun).


Back to Top

V





Really heavy burst (best ever ?).
1 hard CC (stun, and dat stun...).






High damages.
1 hard CC (stun), 1 soft CC (slow).





Vladimir



Very tanky, high sustain, 1 dodge.
No CC.


Back to Top

X




Xerath

Ascended form Locus of powerMage chains


Little tanky (armor), combo maker.
1 hard CC (stun).


Back to Top

Z





Assassin, high mobility, good sustain, high damages, combo maker.
No CC.






Hard harrass, hard damages.
1 hard CC (bump), 1 soft CC (slow).






Hard harrass, good damages, hard pusher.
1 soft CC (slow).





Zyra

Deadly bloom


Hard pusher, good damages, combo maker.
2 hard CC (bump, root), 1 soft CC (slow).


Back to Top

Thanks to...

  • jhoijhoi for his Making a Guide guide and his lines dividers. An awesome guide (and clearly how you have to start) if you want to make a guide.
  • IceCreamy for his How to use Columns guide, really helps me with some issues on columns.
  • You, dear reader for reading my build !
Back to Top

Changelogs.

11/08/12 : Start creating this build.
08/09/12 : First publication, still writing some sections.
08/09/12 : Correcting most grammar and spelling mistakes.
11/12/12 : Add Items and Opponents sections. Refresh the guide for S3 patch. Lot of changes in items, masteries. Add a Support build. Add a "Guide in work" section.
20/03/13 : Reworked on build, items, opponents section.
Download the Porofessor App for Windows

League of Legends Champions:

Teamfight Tactics Guide