Lux Build Guide by AngelPants

About Me

I'm a gold elo (season 3) player on the NA server. Lux has been my main character for almost 2 years. I currently have a 76% win rate with her so far. I am by no means a pro player, but I do feel that I know Lux well enough to give some tips on how to help players learning how to use her effectively. Welcome to my guide!

About Lux

Pro's and Con's of Lux

Pro's: •Very long range •High burst damage •All spells are AOE •Excellent at kiting most enemy champions •Can protect her teammates very well •Very fun and rewarding kit

SPACE

SPACE

Con's: •Very squishy •Low base mana regen •Requires a high level of skill •Positioning with Lux is more important than with most other champions •Long cooldowns (except for her ult) •Has a difficult time against assassins

With that said, what I am going to try to do with this guide is show you how to play up to Lux's strengths, while compensating for her weaknesses, so read on!

Masteries

As you can see, I go for a 21/0/9 build with Lux. Pretty standard caster masteries. I take all of the Ability Power and raw damage increases in the Offense tree, and take the mana and mana regen increase, the Summoner Insight skill for improved Teleport and Flash, and one point in Runic Affinity to give her a longer duration when she acquires Blue Buff.

Runes

I take magic penetration marks, mana regen per level seals, ability power per level glyphs, and flat ability power quintessences.

Another option would be to replace the AP per level glyphs for magic resist glyphs instead, which will give you better defense against the enemy mid.

Summoner Spells

Preferred:

Flash is just an all-around excellent summoner spell that will get you out of many situations. Try to position yourself against a wall during teamfights if you can so that you can flash over it to safety if things start to get dangerous, or if an assassin finds his or her way to you and your team can't help you in time.
Ignite is very good for getting early game kills, as it adds that much more to your burst damage. It's essential when laning against champions who depend on their sustain. However, this spell does fall off in strength late-game, and you will rarely be in range to use it outside of the laning phase, as Lux likes to stay in the back during teamfights.
Teleport not only allows you to get back to your lane during the laning phase immediately, it also helps you to gank other lanes or help your teammates who are in trouble. Also, you'll find yourself getting a lot of kills by teleporting in to finish off fleeing enemies with your laser!

Other Possibilities:

Exhaust is a good summoner spell for champions who get within range of you. An exhaust plus a binding is just about a guaranteed escape.

Not a terrible pick for Lux. You can use it to scope out the enemy jungle and buffs or to finish off fleeing enemies with low health with your laser.

A good way to think of it is as your "training wheels" summoner spell for her until you learn to manage her mana better, if you're having issues with it. But with an early Chalice of Harmony, you shouldn't be having mana issues.

Heal got buffed for Season 2 and it actually a decent Summoner Spell now. However, it's a Summoner Spell that should be chosen by your team's support, and it is really a suboptimal pick for Lux in general.

I actually find myself taking Barrier more often than I thought I would. It's great against champions who depend on high burst to take you out. Coupled with your own shield, you'll find yourself surviving many sticky situations that would have otherwise killed you.

Usually taken by your team's AD Carry, but it's not a bad choice for Lux. Cleansing out of that fear, stun, silence, what have you, may just save your life. Consider taking this spell if the enemy team has a LOT of CC and gap closers.

Not Viable:

Never. Ever. Unless you're playing Dominion.

This is for your jungler, not you.

Abilities

Passive: Illumination

Lux's damaging spells charge the target with energy for 6 seconds. Lux's next attack ignites the energy, dealing 20-190 (depending Lux's level) magic damage to the target.

Lux's passive is a risk-reward ability, as it requires you to get up-close and personal with your enemies in order to activate it. You'll find that you get the most use out of it during the laning stage of the game. As a general rule, you want to stay as far away from the fights as you can with Lux while still contributing. This is made possible due to her incredibly long range.

This passive requires you to get within auto-attack range to use it, which is very risky in the later stages of the game. However, it is very nice for the beginning to add that extra damage in for harass, and also makes farming a breeze. It should be noted that Lux's ultimate ability will proc her passive automatically.

Here are some pictures showing her passive. The first pic is of some minions with the debuff on them, and the second shows Lux igniting the passive.

Q: Light Binding:

Lux releases a sphere of light that binds and deals 60/110/160/210/260 (+70% ap) damage to up to two enemy units, dealing 50% effect to the 2nd unit struck.

Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11 seconds

Cost 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana
Range 1000

This ability allows you to bind two targets at the same time.

Using Light Binding Defensively:
If someone tries to dive you, this should be the first ability you throw out to stop them in their tracks. If there is more than one enemy chasing you, try to position yourself so it will bind two targets.

Using Light Binding Offensively:
This isn't an ability you want to throw out to harass your enemy. The only time you should be using this offensively is if you know you can get a kill for yourself or someone else on your team. Of course there are exceptions to this. During the laning phase, if you know you won't be ganked anytime soon, feel free to throw this out to set the enemy up for your other spells, and get some major damage on them. Know however that you will be very vulnerable until it comes off of cooldown again.

You can see the range of her ability in the first picture and the effect of it in the second. Note how it has hit two minions, and they both have the illumination debuff on them.

W: Prismatic Barrier

Lux throws her wand to a target location and back, bending the light around herself and any friendly Champions it touches, protecting them from 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+30% ap) damage for 3 seconds.

Cooldown 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds

Cost 75 mana

Range 1000

The numbers for Lux's shield may not seem like all that much, but once you factor in that it can shield your ENTIRE team from damage during a teamfight, you realize that it is a very good shield indeed. It will take some practice to get down, and for some reason, in my experiences at least, my teammates have a bad habit of actually running AWAY from my shield - so you have to predict your allies movements, which can be a pain sometimes, but it is definitely worth mastering.

You can see the range of the spell in the first pic and what it looks like when activated in the second.

E: Lucent Singularity

Fires an anomaly of twisted light to an area, which slows nearby enemies by 20 / 24 / 28 / 32 / 36%. Lux can detonate it to damage enemies in the area of effect, dealing 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 damage (+60% ability power).

Cooldown: 9 seconds after area has been detonated

Cost 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 mana

Range 1100

This is your bread and butter as Lux. You're going to be using this to farm minions and to harass enemy champions. This ability can also be used as a scouting tool - if you throw this into the fog of war or brush, it will illuminate a large portion of the area until it pops or you pop it yourself by hitting E again.

This ability also slows all enemies within its AOE. It's not a tremendous slow, but it does help when escaping or chasing down enemies. However, as soon as you pop it, the slow effect is removed. If you do not need to use the slow effect, it's best to throw this ability out and pop it immediately to deal damage.

This is Lux's best poking tool, and you should be throwing this ability out whenever you can to harass, ideally catching as many enemy champions with it as possible.

Again, the pictures show the range in the first picture and the effect in the second.

R: Final Spark

Finales Funkeln
After gathering energy, Lux fires a beam of light that deals 300/400/500 (+75% ap) damage to all targets in the area.

Cooldown 80 / 60 / 40 seconds

Cost 100 / 100 / 100 mana

Range 3000

Ahhh, the Lux laser. This is, in my opinion, one of the all-around best ultimates in the game. It deals massive damage in an AOE line, and look at that range - 3000! Not to mention it's on an extremely short cooldown - with 40% cooldown reduction, you can get this baby down to a 24 second cooldown when when it's in its 3rd level. This usually means you can start a teamfight off by firing this into a group of enemies, and by the time the fight is over, it should be off of cooldown again so you can snipe any enemies trying to flee with low health.

You can also use it to farm minions and push lanes later in the game. Additionally, if you are leaving your lane to shop during the laning phase, go ahead and fire your laser to get some extra gold and push your lane - by the time you get back, it will be just about ready to go again.

You can also steal dragon and baron from the enemy team, and you *should* do this as much as possible. I can't tell you how many games have been turned around by a well-timed Lux laser into Baron, effectively stealing it. In addition to that, you can put a ward in your enemy's jungle so you have vision of their blue and red buffs, and steal it from them when they are attempting to take it.

It is also worth noting that Lux's ultimate grants vision wherever she fires it, which can be useful for scouting the enemy jungle - it's on a short enough cooldown that can actually be used for that!

This ability will proc her on any enemies who have it - meaning this should ideally be used after you've landed one of Lux's previous abilities on an enemy (or enemies) to maximize its damage.

Here are some pics, the first 2 showing the MASSIVE range - so large I had to take two screencaps. The next one shows the red targeting beam that comes out right before the laser fires, and finally a picture of the laser beam itself! I caught it at the tail end of the laser, the AOE is actually a bit thicker than it shows in the picture.

Farming

Farming with Lux is relatively simple.

Early game, you are going to want to use a tactic called "last hitting." What this is entails is you waiting until an enemy minion gets to low enough health so that you can deal the finishing blow with an auto attack. This allows you to get gold from every minion in the lane without pushing your lane to the enemy tower.

You don't want to stand and consistently auto attack enemy minions or use your spells to push the lane, because this is an open invitation for the enemy jungler to come into your lane and gank you. Even one death in a solo lane can put you very far behind your lane opponent, getting behind in experience, gold, and items - so don't push that lane!

Entering mid game, you can use your to begin farming minions. The best way to do this is to throw your Lucent Singularity inbetween the enemy melee and caster minions. Igniting it will proc your on them. You can clear out the caster minions by activating on each of them. For the melee minions, wait until they have taken a hit or two from your own minions, and then activate on them as well.

Once you get enough AP, your should be able to clear out entire creepwaves on its own - ideally. I personally use this as a benchmark as to how powerful I am at each stage of the game. If I can clear out an entire wave with my I know that I am right where I need to be in terms of ability power.

After your Finales Funkeln reaches level 2 and 3, don't hesitate to farm entire waves of minions with it, especially if you're sure a team fight won't be starting. It is on such a low cooldown that it makes an excellent farming/pushing tool later in the game.

C-C-C-C-COMBO!

Lux is a very combo-oriented champion. You will be looking for openings in the enemy team's defense so you can unleash your full combo and ideally kill an enemy champion (or champions!). This is how you should fully maximize Lux's damage potential. You can begin her combo by either throwing out her or . Sometimes I find that the slow from her makes it a lot easier to hit with your .

So let's say you begin with a to slow your opponent. While the AOE is on them, throw out your . Auto attack to proc from , and then hit E again to pop your . Now immediately fire your Finales Funkeln which will automatically activate from . Finally, auto-attack one more time to activate that was refreshed from your Finales Funkeln. If you have enough AP, this full combo is usually enough to either outright kill or almost kill any squishy champion. It is a bit tricky at first, but practice makes perfect and comboing with Lux is one thing you definitely will want to master.

Note that in the late game, it's usually not going to be possible for you to get those auto-attacks inbetween to activate all of your , since you will be in the back of the team, no where near auto attack range. At that point in the game, your combo will consist of your and , immediately followed by your Finales Funkeln.

Skill Order

As you can see, I put a point in first, then immediately max my , followed by and maxing last, obviously leveling up my Finales Funkeln at levels 6, 11, and 16. Putting a point in first is great if your team plans on doing any level 1 fighting - the double root is a phenomenal ability for this. However, if your team does not plan on doing this, you can put a point in first, and then ; it's really up to your personal preference.

Item Build

I like to start off with . This will give you extra mobility and lots of sustain in lane. Alternatively, you can switch out one for a .

On your first trip back to base, pick up 2 . These will give you a ton of mana regen and some extra health, and a nice boost of AP. I prefer building these over , simply because they are cost effeicient, can be sold later for better items, and help out with her poor mana regen early game.

Building a at this point can prove to be beneficial, especially if you are getting burst down instantly by the enemy mid, or having mana issues, or not able to get blue buff for whatever reason, and it is very fairly priced at 890 gold. You may not need to build it every game, but it does build into a nice item for Lux, which is the new .

After this, I usually go ahead and upgrade my boots. I recommend building . Spell penetration is very important on Lux, and the gives you 20 spell pen.

Next, I go straight into building my . Ideally, it's better to grab the first if you can, but if you can only afford the first, go ahead and get it.

You can opt to build if you are doing well at this point. Now I know some people are against this item, but Lux is actually one of the few champions who can make good use of it under the right circumstances; since she stays so far away from teamfights, she should ideally very rarely die, and she racks up assists VERY easily. You'll find yourself filling up your Mejai's very quickly. However, with that said - if you don't think you will be able to keep stacks on your , you can of course skip it.

Next, I like to build a . If your enemies have begun to build magic resistance, this baby will allow your spells to slice through most of it. Combined with your masteries, this will allow you to cut through 50% of their magic resistance, plus an additional 29 points from your and magic penetration marks.

After that, I finish up my if I opted to build an early . It is a great item for Lux, as she makes use of every single stat that it provides.

Finally, I build a for the massive AP boost and armor, but more importantly, for the active on the Zhonya's which makes you invulnerable for 2 seconds, while also making you unable to take any actions until it's over. This item is especially great when facing against enemies who can easily break through the front lines of your allies to try and take you out immediately in team fights.

Also, you should be grabbing an EVERY time you can once you hit level 6. It gives you a nice chunk of AP and 10% cooldown reduction. Don't pop it right away, though - wait until a team fight is about to start and then activate it, so you're not wasting any time by just running around or farming minions.

Alternate Item Choices

is a good investment if the enemy team has a ton of CC or a fed enemy AP carry. It's good for just about any champion, and what I usually choose when building a defensive item on any of my carries.

is a good item for Lux too, especially if you find yourself taking a lot of damage from the enemy's AP carry. It gives a nice chunk of magic resist and ability power, and also has an aura that reduces the magic resist of nearby enemy champions by 20, while giving some AP.

gives Lux some survivability during team fights in the form of spell vamp. It's not exactly a perfect item for her, but it can be helpful in some situations. Since all of her spells are AOE, she get a nice burst of healing any time she uses her or Finales Funkeln. This is also a great choice if you have an AP carry top lane instead of a bruiser.


I have never personally bought this item on Lux, because I feel she has enough burst already without having to get within range of using it. It does give some cooldown reduction, but you should have plenty enough from Blue Buff, and Elixir of Brillance.

This item gives you health, mana, and ability power. Sounds like a great item, and for most casters it is. However, it is very expensive (3035 gold), and by the time you finish building it, you could have been very close to finishing your instead - and as I've stated before, Lux needs all the AP she can get, as quickly as possible. This isn't a bad item for her, but I normally find myself falling behind in damage when I build it.

Items Not Recommended

Let's start with the major one. This item is designed for champions who have spammable abilities or champions who need an extremely large mana pool. Lux does have mana issues, but at 2855 gold, there are MUCH better items you can be purchasing.

Tons of mana, cooldown reduction, and armor. A fantastic item - just not for Lux. You want her to make use of every stat when she builds an item, and the armor in this one completely goes to waste.

Just no. Not unless you're doing AD Lux.

I used to build these boots just about every single game...until I realized that they became complete trash once I hit 40% cooldown reduction through Blue Buff, and /or .

Lux & Blue Buff

Lux is very mana hungry, and has relatively long cooldowns. This means that she is VERY dependant on Crest of the Ancient Golem (aka Blue Buff). In fact, besides Anivia and Swain, I would say that she is the most Blue Buff dependant champion in the game.

If your jungler does not need Blue Buff to begin the game with and he or she is willing to give it to you, this will dramatically increase your ability to harass your enemy early game, giving you an immediate advantage.

However, most junglers do need Blue Buff to begin their route, so don't depend on this or demand that you take it. But the third time the blue golem spawns (around 11 minutes or so), this is when your jungler should begin to let you have it.

A jungler who is not giving Blue Buff to his AP carry by this point, is a bad jungler, plain and simple. You will unfortunately run across these people and there isn't much you can do about it (besides attempting to steal it for yourself!), so it's important to remember that you can't 100% rely on having this every single game. Just politely inform your jungler that you will make much better use of it than he or she will, and hope that they will be reasonable and let you have it.

Laning as Lux & Dragon Control

Lux is ideally a mid-lane champion. She can theoretically go into any lane and do well enough against certain enemies, but she really is most at-home in mid. In the current meta, mid lane is where most teams will send their AP champion.

Before level 3, I don't recommend using your spells at all unless absolutely necessary. The damage you will deal does not really justify the cost in mana it will take to use the abilities - just stick to last hitting minions with your auto attacks. Once you hit level 3, you can begin to harass, using your long range to your advantage.

Always look for openings to throw your at your enemy and get some damage in. You will have to predict your opponent's moves, so look for patterns. A lot of players will rhythmically move in and out to last hit minions. Wait for them to go in for a last hit, and then quickly send out your and pop it immediately. You should try and hit some minions as well when you harass with this, especially if you find your lane being pushed back too far.

The range on this ability is so long that most champions won't be able to counter this harass. The danger comes when you want to go in closer to proc your debuff to get in that extra damage. The knowledge of when to do this will come from experience; generally speaking, if you know you're going to take more damage to activate it than you are going to deal to them, just let it go. Once you have your , you can shield yourself when you go in to auto attack them to negate a lot of the damage they can do to you.

As stated before, don't use your to harass unless you need to. You are going to need this ability to either a) protect yourself from a potential gank from their jungler or b) lock them in place for when your own jungler comes to gank them. It's very important to have this ability off of cooldown so you can use it when you need it.

Also, and this is not just with Lux but any champion, don't use your spells with the sole purpose of farming in the early game. Not only will this leave you out of mana very quickly, but this will push your creeps to the enemy's tower, creating a dangerous opening between yourself and your own tower, leaving you very vulnerable to a gank from the enemy jungler. Just use your auto attacks to last hit creeps and farm gold.

Early game is all about controlling Dragon. One of the most wonderful things about Lux is the fact that she can snipe Dragon and effectively steal it for your team! Your team will love you for it, and your enemies will hate you. It works best if you have a or placed that grants you vision of dragon. You can make do with your as a scouting tool by throwing it into Dragon's cove, but you have to be much more precise.

If you hover your mouse over your Finales Funkeln description, it will tell you exactly how much damage it will do at that point in time. If you left-click on Dragon, it will bring up its health. Once its health gets to the point where your Finales Funkeln will finish it off, fire away! With some precision and a bit of luck, you will be able to snipe it and steal the kill before the enemy jungler can smite it.

Once you have your Tier 2 boots, it's time to start helping out your other lanes whenever you can by pushing your creepwave to the enemy tower with your . turns Lux into an excellent roamer, and you can oftentimes make it to top or bottom lane before anyone on the enemy team realizes you've even left. This creates excellent ganking opportunities.

Good teams will have on parts of the river. Let's take a look at the best possible routes for ganking, from both sides.

Mid Game & Teamfighting

Mid game usually begins at around the 15 to 20 minute mark, and this is when teamfighting begins. Ideally, you should have a few stacks on your if you opted for one, and you should be working on your . During teamfights, your goals as Lux are to burst down enemy champions with your spells while also keeping your allies protected and shielded.

Positioning with Lux is extremely important. You definitely want to stay as far back from the fight as possible while still being in range to contribute. Try to catch any squishy enemies out of position, and bind them in place with your Light Binding. This is a great initiator, and a good team will take advantage of that enemy being vulnerable, getting a kill for your team. You can also initiate with your laser, but be sure to hit at least 2 or 3 (but ideally all of them!) with your first so your Finales Funkeln will do extra damage to them by activating your . This will immediately turn the tides in your favor before the fight even begins.

If an enemy manages to break through to try and kill you, you should immediately bind them with your , shield yourself with , and drop down a to slow them. Some champions will still be able to get to you, [ , for example] but at least you've done all you can to survive. Once the teamfight is over and if your Finales Funkeln is off of cooldown, you can snipe down enemies with low health who are trying to escape, which is always an amazing feeling. However, don't save it just to do this; it's much more beneficial to the team if you can catch a group of them together rather than just one.

Hopefully you will have Blue Buff during the fight and will have 2 ranks in your laser, which means that if you open with your Finales Funkeln, many times it will be back off of cooldown in time for you to snipe fleeing enemies as well.

Late Game & Baron Control

Late game is all about controlling Baron Nashor. One slip up, one teammate out of position or on the wrong area of the map, can mean the end of the game - which means you should be travelling as a group at all times. Your team should have the enemy's jungle heavily warded, and you should have a in front of Baron Nashor.

Lanes can be cleared with ease by using your Finales Funkeln, due to its strength and low cooldown. Team fights will usually (but not always) happen around Baron Nashor. Your AP should be through the roof by now, and you should be level 18 with all of your abilities maxed out. Keep doing what you've been doing previously; nuking down enemies and keeping your allies alive. You can also try and steal Baron Nashor the same way you steal Dragon, although it's usually a bit tricker to pull this off, due to the enemy having more areas warded, and if you're caught and are killed, you are basically giving them Baron Nashor and will most likely lose the game - so be careful!

Final Comments

Hopefully you guys have found some useful information in this guide (which ended up quite a bit longer than I expected). I truly think Lux is an underrated, powerful champion who can be an asset to just about any team. So get out there and pewpewpew everything in your path, and have fun!

Any comments/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!