I absoutely love to play Lux. She can't really be countered and because of her extreme range can be a really pain in the *** for most people. Also it always pisses me off when people get away with only a few HP. Well, with Lux you still have a chance to shoot them down.

For Runes, there are not a lot of ways to go. If you build her as an AP carry like me, then you definitely need the Magic Penetration and Ability Power. Also Lux is pretty mana dependent so Mana Regeneration would be a nice choice. Also because of Lux's ultimate has a relative short cooldown, Cooldown Reduction would also be something to consider.

I recommend the following:
9x Greater Mark of Insight
9x Greater Seal of Clarity
9x Greater Glyph of Force
1x Greater Quintessence of Insight
2x Greater Quintessence of Potency

This setup is not anything special for a caster, but it allows good damage early game ánd late game.

For Masteries, there are 2 equally viable options:
9-0-21, pick this one if your opponents have high sustain and you don't want to play too aggressive. The pro's of this build is that you get a little Spell Vamp and some Cooldown Reduction on both your spells and your Summoner Spells

21-0-9 is also a good option. Pick this one if your opponents are squishy and you think you can burst them down. The pro's of this build is that you get more Ability Power and damage to squishy targets.

For Items, there aren't many options that are viable enough on Lux. First of all, you should ALWAYS start with Boots and 3 Health Potions. This makes your harrass much much easier, because you can just throw your ball, detonate and basic attack to proc your passive, and boots make this a LOT easier. When you get back and you have around 1300 gold, you have two choices. Either you build the Morello's Evil Tome or the Rod of Ages first. If you're doing good in lane pick the first, if not pick the second. So either buy a Fiendish Codex or a Catalyst the Protector on your first way back, or some pieces to make it. After this, either finish that item or buy yourself Sorceress Shoes if you find it nessesary. After the Morello's Evil Tome, buy the Rod of Ages or vice versa if you started with the Rod of Ages. Morello's Evil Tome is really good on Lux because it gives you a decent amount of Ability Power, Mana Regeneration ánd Cooldown Reduction, which are all really good on her. In mid-game you really need the survivability which Rod of Ages gives you, and also the extra mana pool is really useful. After this you are free to build full offensive and get yourself a Rabadon's Deathcap, Lich Bane and Void Staff. Lich Bane is really good because combined with her passive can deal pretty high damage.

tl;dr:
Tier 1 boots and 3 pots
Fiendish Codex / Catalyst the Protector
Sorceress Shoes
Morello's Evil Tome / Rod of Ages
Rod of Ages / Morello's Evil Tome
Rabadon's Deathcap
Lich Bane
Void Staff / Banshee's Veil / Zhonya's Hourglass

Other items:
Archangel's Staff: I used to always build a Tear on Lux. But it lets your early game advantage go partly to waste. You only want to get this item for the mana issues, but Rod of Ages and Morello's Evil Tome rid you of this problem already.
Abyssal Scepter: If you want Magic Resist, pick Banshee Veil over this one, because of Lux's great range you don't ever need to use the aura of this item.
Chalice of Harmony: This is a cheap item and also rids you of your mana issues. Only buy this when your AP opponent is mopping the floor with you.
Soul Shroud: If you buy this item, you officially recognise that you are the team's support and not its AP carry.
Nashor's Tooth: This item itself is not bad on Lux, but then your focus becomes a bit too much on your passive. And this item is a bit too expensive for what it does for Lux.

Lux's bread and butter skill is Lucent Singularity (E). It has amazing range and also a slow effect. It is perfect for harrassing your opponent so pick it first and level it first.

Light Binding (Q) is a really good spell, in that it can snare up to 2 champions in a line. The projectile is slightly slower than Brand's Sear or Morgana's Dark Binding, but if placed correctly can result in a lot of kills. Since you only use this spell for the snare and not for the damage, you max this spell last. However, if you're facing a really bad opponent you might just as well go for the damage and max this spell second.

Prismatic Barrier (W) is a really handy spell. You toss out a skillshot boomerang which shields yourself and any ally you hit and it refreshes the shield on return. This spell allows you to get a LOT of assists, because everybody you shield that gets a kill gets you an assist! Also when you're facing a lot of damage over time, like Brand or Morgana this spell can really save your life. Also against your opponent's skillshots it's really good to toss it out. This skill is really good for teamfights and really saves people's lives. That's why you max this skill second. The duration of the first snare is pretty long, so when you got your opponent is snared, make sure you proc your passive before detonating a Lucent Singularity on him, which will allow you for a second passive proc.

Finales Funkeln (R) is Lux's ultimate. This skill will make you say "IMMA FININ MAH LAZORRR" all the time. The range on this spell is about 3x the range of your Lucent Singularity. This spell makes Lux an excellent ganker, because even when your gank fails and lets them get away low, they will still see the red light. The fact that it has a 1 second channel makes it a bit tricky to aim as you have to predict your opponent's path for that 1 second. At level 16, with the Cooldown Reduction this spell has 27 second cooldown in my build. The cap is 24 seconds but those 3 seconds don't really matter enough to get that 10% extra CDR.

Illumination is Lux's Passive. It's really useful in lane and will give you the upperhand in your lane. It is also good to know that your ultimate will do bonus damage if your opponent has a proc of your passive.


Your standard burst combo will be: Light Binding and Lucent Singularity, first basic attack to proc your passive and then detonate your Lucent Singularity. Now take a good aim and use your ultimate. It's better to wait a second to get a better aim then to recklessly shoot and miss.

As a burst-ish caster, the best way to go is, of course, Flash and Ignite. There was a time that Clairvoyance was also a really good pick on Lux, but since you're not the Support of the team. If you're playing arranged, make sure you have easy communication with your Support so he can CV for you on demand. I sometimes see Lux's who pick Clarity... it's true that Lux has mana issues but if you're a good Lux player it is just obsolete. You shouldn't spam Lux's ability all you want

Good versus:
Anivia, Ryze, Karthus, Kennen, Swain, Vladimir, Sion, Cassiopeia, Gragas, Veigar

Bad versus:
Akali, Malzahar, Morgana, Kassadin, Katarina, Heimerdinger

With Lux as an AP carry, you can often surprise your enemies how much damage Lux can actually do. Lux is a great champion with a lot of utility and easy harrass. Lux has excellent lane presence and can't really be zoned. She is an excellent ganker in that she can shoot down everybody who thinks they can escape. Lux doesn't really counter anybody in lane, but at the same time isn't really countered by anyone else. Her biggest weapon is her incredible range so she should always stand way back in a teamfight. Anyone who tries to come near you is easy target for your snare.