Lulu Build Guide by DarkNazgul

Playing with Squirrels

Hello and welcome to my first Mobafire guide. I will be covering three different methods of playing Lulu all of which are completely viable.
1) Support
2) On Hit Effect
3) AP
This is my first guide so bear with me. I will try to make it better as time goes on, and I hope it is useful to help some people understand the capabilities of Lulu. Please upvote the guide if you find it helpful. If you are interested in Lulu's backstory or want a list of her quotes here's a link. http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Lulu/Background

This guide is now fully Updated for Season 3.

Pros & Cons

spaaaaaaace

Pros + Very fun to play + Turns enemies into cute critters + Amazing Crowd Control + Boosts self/ally survivability alot + Extremely versatile + Effectively has 6 abilities + Great escape mechanisms

space

space

Cons - Mana hungry - Squishy if stunlocked - Not as bursty as other AP champions - No non-ultimate heal - Fairly high skill cap - Usually can't carry a game by herself - Her harass can push the lane

Masteries

Runes

• Greater Mark of Attack Speed
  
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
  
• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
  
• Greater Seal of Armor
  
• Greater Seal of Attack Speed
  
• Greater Seal of Health
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power
  
• Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction
  
• Greater Glyph of Attack Speed
  
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power
  
• Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
  
• Greater Quintessence of Health
  
• Greater Quintessence of Armor

Summoner Spells

Clairvoyance: Required on any true support. Gives your team a ton of map awareness.

space

Flash: Tons of utility. Chasing, Escaping, Jumping over walls, Etc.

space

Exhaust: Good for allowing your carry to get that kill or if necessary stop a gank from killing you. If you feel you need it replace flash with this.

space

Heal: If you feel you need more lane sustain this is a viable option.

Exhaust: It will take a couple seconds to kill people with this build. Exhaust will give us those few extra seconds after Glitterlance and Whimsy to slow them until Glitterlance is off cooldown again. This makes for fairly easy early kills.

space

Flash: Tons of utility. Chasing, Escaping, Jumping over walls, Etc.

space

Ignite: Although I feel Exhaust is more powerful on this build, if your team doesn't have an ignite yet or you're facing a team full of healers this can work.

space

Smite: I use this build in jungle where you NEED this. The other spell is variable.

Ignite: Lulu doesn't have the burst damage of other AP casters. In order to keep up and net kills this is almost a must.

space

Flash: Tons of utility. Chasing, Escaping, Jumping over walls, Etc.

space

Ability Explanations

• Pix: This passive is what makes Attack Speed Lulu Viable. This adds 105 magic damage per auto attack at level 18. The only downside is the damage is dealt to the first enemy in front of you so it can be blocked. That being said someone is still taking damage. This also makes for great early game harassment.
  
  
• Glitterlance (Q): Epic amount of slow, Aoe, significant burst damage, multi-vectored skill-shot, and one of the longest range pokes in the game when combined with Help, Pix!. It fires a bolt of energy from you and another one from pix that deal damage to all targets hit and is not mitigated by passing through enemies. You can do some crazy shots with this if you move your cursor correctly, because the vectors of the bolts are determined by a line passing through your cursor and Pix/Lulu. So moving your cursor between them can let you shoot the bolts in opposite directions, a 90 degree split, or anything else you can think of. This is her early game harassment tool, and it's amazing.
  
  
• Whimsy (W): Grants your AP carry or you extra movement speed and AP, Helps your AD run from a gank, or turns your enemy into a squirrel. Really what more can you ask for?
  
  
• Help, Pix! (E): This ability requires you to think before using it. It has a decent nuke and reveal which is great for killing that pesky Shaco but it also can give you or an ally a massive shield. The downside is you can only pick one, so you have to use your judgement on which is preferable in a given situation. Plus it will cause pix to follow your target allowing for absurd range on Glitterlance. This is because Glitterlance fires from pix as well as yourself. So you Help, Pix! an enemy creep at the back of the wave, then use the range boost to Glitterlance the enemy champions. This lets you zone out enemies incredibly easily.
  
  
• Wild Growth (R): AOE knock up and slow plus a large health boost. Let's say the Shaco is on your team and just decided to jump into the enemy team by himself and die. Well thanks to your ultimate his stupidity can be used for a great initiation! Ult him, shield him, watch them get knocked up and fail to kill him as your team dives in and eats them alive. (Or do nothing and laugh at Shaco's stupidity as he explodes and let him learn not to think that he's Rambo)

Ability Sequence

This sequence is for a passive Lulu Support. We get Whimsy first to easily counter any early ganks or bush traps. Then we max the shield, getting 1 point in Glitterlance at level 3 for the crowd control. If facing a poke lane like Sona Caitlyn you should start Help, Pix! first instead, but ALWAYS have 1 point in everything by level 3. It is also viable to play an extremely aggressive Lulu support depending on who you're laning against. If you want to be super aggressive change the sequence to the same as the AP sequence, repeated here.
This is only recommended if your enemy has very little sustain.







When playing On-Hit-Effect Lulu it is imperative that the enemy is kept in place for extended periods of time in order to spam auto attacks on them. That is why we max slow and polymorph first. One point is put into Help, Pix! for extended range on Glitterlance and for the reveal when chasing through bushes and revealing cloaked enemies.







When Playing AP Lulu we max Glitterlance and Help, Pix! first in order to get the highest burst damage that we can. That being said it is almost always necessary to poke the enemy a few times before trying to burst them unless you have help. Depending on the situation Help, Pix! could potentially be maxed before Glitterlance if you feel it is absolutely necessary.

Items (UPDATED!)

: Gold stacking is always needed on supports since you are not getting last hits. Also as an added bonus these build into Shurelya's Reverie and Shard of True Ice / Twin Shadows.

: This item is a must have for all supports. You will probably end up saving more gold from buying wards with this item then you will generate from GP5s. I often upgrade into Ruby ASAP for more wards.

: We already have maximum CDR in this build so there is no point in getting Ionian Boots of Lucidity. These are by far the best boots for running around the map warding and supporting your team. If you ever finish your build I would recommend getting Homeguard, Alacrity, or Captain for tier 3. In most situations I would recommend Homeguard.

: GET THIS IF YOUR ADC WILL HAVE MANA PROBLEMS. Examples: Varus, Miss Fortune, Kog'Maw, etc. I like this as an early item on Lulu since it gives AP, mana regeneration, and bonus Gold. However, It is preferable to sit on the mana manipulator and Kage's until you need to open up another item slot as finishing the item does not grant much extra stats and the active is not very good. That being said I tend to use the active as an extension of the slow from our Ultimate. Once you Ult someone, wait about 2 seconds until the aoe slow is almost over and use the active so the enemy can be chased more effectively. If you make it to late game and somehow get enough money to finish your build this is the item that should eventually be replaced with something better.

: Discuss with your tank early on about who is getting the Aegis for the team. If it is you it should be the first high tier item you complete. If the tank wishes to get this item then get Zeke's first instead.

: Even with the change from attack speed to AD bonus this is still a great item to get. Once you get this your AD will have no trouble with sustain from the lifesteal (which is great since you have no actual heal barring your ult). Additionally you get CDR and health too. And it's cheap. The only time I would not get this item is if the team was all AP casters except for the ADC, in which case I would instead get WotA.

: As previously stated get this instead of Zeke's if there are numerous APCs on your team. This is also a good situational item for late game when you are finishing out your build.

: This item is worthy of mentioning but I generally don't get it. The cooldown on the active is rediculously high, and the active is the only thing that really benefits the rest of your team. While having lots of mana is awesome I feel that you just lose too much team support by going this item. However, There are 2 cases I will mention that it is definitely worth considering. Case 1: Your tank is rushing an Aegis. As such you have more money to spend how you please. Case 2: The enemy team has Sona, Taric, Amumu etc. and your carry is getting stunned to death.

: One of the best supporting items in the game. When activated your team will have no trouble running away from a lost fight or chasing the enemy down after a victory. The stats are also extremely good. The reason I don't rush this item is that it's better to keep the Philosopher's Stone in your inventory as long as possible to get more out of the gold bonus. This lets you finish your build faster and buy more wards.

: This item is a great bonus to any magic damage team. The aura will significantly improve the damage of other APs on your team, as well as boost your own survivability and AP. The only real drawback of this item is that it is the only support item that does not grant survivability for multiple members of your team. That being said this item is viable at any point in the build provided the Core is still bought at some point.

: This is a great item to finish the support build. Combined with your shield and ultimate your teammates will be nigh unkillable and be able to easily win teamfights by sheer survivability.

: This is a very situational item but it can be very useful. It effectively acts as a second Clairvoyance for nearby enemies. If the enemy team is running a push line-up with Malzahar, Master Yi, Sivir, etc. then I would pick this up to counter backdooring attempts before they get too far. This is also a good item pickup against Evelynn, Rengar, or Kha'Zix to make sure they don't get away.

: Don't forget that one of the support's main roles is spamming wards and getting Oracle's for counterwarding.



I have been unable to decide on an optimal build for OHE Lulu. For now just experiment with the given items and let me know what works best for you.


: These are a must for On-Hit Lulu to give you more attack speed.

: This is your jungling item. You NEED this for clear times and the true damage on-hit is very good even through late game.

: Wonderful item on Lulu. Also approved by Phreak for all junglers. You get the Phage slow, Zeal movement speed buff, and with your low cooldowns you can constantly proc the Sheen passive. If you get the money to buy this it is definitely worth it.

: This gives lifesteal for sustain, a Nuke and Movespeed Steal active, and plenty of attack speed. I don't see any reason to pass this up on this type of build. Amazing item on Lulu. Also can be used for a Q W E Q BotRK Exhaust Q combo for ridiculous slow time.

: This item gives you the needed CDR for spamming your abilities along with a large attack speed boost and alot of AP to help your abilities out. However, With the removal of mana regen and the nerf to CDR this is no longer a requirement.

: These are basic damage items. They all work. Choose what helps you the most.

: If you feel you need it replace Trinity with this, but it's not recommended. Maybe in very specific situations. it will basically guarantee that your target will never get away.

: CDR, AD, HP, all around good item. Also the more Cleavers on the team the less armor you have to worry about, so great pick-up against high armor teams.

: The passive on this item once it's fully stacked does tremendous damage. The only problem is until then it's not great. It will satisfy all your mana demands, however, and give you some AD. Very good item.

: Very situational, but this is alot of health shred on glitterlance. Even though it's a bit off of the rest of the build it may still be worth it against tanky teams.

: If you absolutely need Tenacity. Situational against certain teams.

: For your LAST item if you are getting focused and bursted down you can pick up one of these.




: Since you're going AP in this build we need magic penetration to do more damage.

: This item gives you the needed CDR for spamming your abilities along with a large attack speed boost and alot of AP to help your abilities out. The new Morellonomicon is now a viable alternative to this since they lowered the CDR on Nashor's and put the passive on Morello's. If the enemy team has alot of healing then swap out Nashor's for Morello's. I generally still prefer Nashor's Tooth however.

: Just explained. Personal preference replacement for Nashor's Tooth.

: You're going AP. Nuff said.

: After getting your CDR you will be spamming tons of abilities. This lets you proc this constantly adding alot of extra damage to your DPS.

: You need more Magic Penetration than just boots, Runes, and Masteries. One of these items IS REQUIRED. The reason that I do not have them listed in Core however, is that you usually should only choose one, and that choice is very situational. With the new changes you can get two or even all of them, but that is usually overkill and there are better items to get. Once the stated Core are bought one of these should be your next item. I have found that Liandry's Torment will be enough penetration against teams that aren't full of tanks. If the enemy team is all stacking MR go Void Staff. If they are neglecting to buy any get one of the others. If you have another AP carry on your team it will almost always be better to go Abyssal Scepter. On the other hand if you are your team's only AP it will be almost always preferable to go Void Staff or Liandry's Torment. If the enemy team is all running around with 3k HP and 200 MR then get Liandry's and Void Staff.

: A great sustain item which helps you stay in extended teamfights. If you have another AP carry on your team you should highly consider getting this unless he is. If not, consider whether you feel you need the Spellvamp, because there are probably better options.

: If the enemy AD carry is ripping you apart this is a great option. Also it lets you ult and shield an ally even if you are getting focused then just turn invincible. The 120 AP is also great.

: Spamming abilities will cause Lulu to run out of mana very quickly. To supplement this I would recommend one of these items to fix that problem. If you do plan on getting one of these, get either the Tear or the Chalice early and sit on it until the core is completed, then finish the higher item. As an extra note, if you get Chalice, an early Athene's could be substituted for Nashor's / Morello's in early game if you NEED the MR. This is not recommended under normal circumstances.

: I don't think this is a good item to get on Lulu. Yes it's a good amount of damage, but Lulu is a Damage over time champion from her low cooldowns. She doesn't have super high burst, so this item simply is not worth it in my opinion.

Gameplay, Tips, & Tricks

One of the most important aspects of playing Lulu is having control over Glitterlance's multi-vectored shot. This lets you hit enemies from 2 directions at once. Positioning yourself like below can easily discourage multi-person ganks when two or more enemies get hit by a slow. You can use this trick to hit the enemy jungler while he's ganking along with the enemy from your lane with one shot even if they're not lined up. It should be noted, however, that this requires a lot of practice, and lucky/unlucky pix positioning can change the difficulty.




Remember you do this by positioning the cursor to make a line between Lulu and the cursor point and another line between Pix and the cursor point. Sometimes you will have to run in a circle for a second or two to get pix where he needs to be.

Now let's look at the main harassment trick. The following is an image of Glitterlance's normal range.





Now we augment it with Help, Pix!. This is what we get.





Finally once Pix is on an enemy (or ally) he will stay on that enemy (or ally) regardless of range until it wears off, barring it being something like a pantheon or twisted fate that just ulted across the map. Here is simply an example although the range can get much farther than this.





As you can see using Help, Pix! to augment Glitterlance's range can allow for easy zoning out of the enemies in the lane. This is how you can easily win mid lane when playing AP. If you are playing support this will probably cause you to run out of mana before they take enough damage to leave the lane assuming some sort of sustaining support on their team, thus it is not advisable. It can also push the lane easily. Simply harassing with Help, Pix! can save you a lot of mana and not push the lane while playing support. You need to be careful not to get jumped if doing this however, as you now don't have a shield to use on yourself and are close to the enemy.

Warding

If playing Support it goes without saying that you need to be spamming wards. For the purposes of saving myself time I shall direct you to a very well made guide on how, where, and when to ward. If you need help on warding read this. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/warding-helper-more-than-your-eyes-can-see-54337

Change Log

There's been a few changes here and there since I created the guide. As of now I will actually keep track of them. (I kind of forgot to put this in here before).

August 18 / 2012: Added Ionic Spark to situational items in Attack Speed Guide. Added explanations for rune selections.

August 30 / 2012: Changed Support Cheat Sheet to Fortitude Quints, and OHE cheat sheet to end with Triforce.

October 26 / 2012: Changed support rune explanations slightly. Removed Deathfire Grasp from situational AP items.

December 10 / 2012: Updated the guide excepting Items section to accommodate the preseason 3 patch.

December 19 / 2012: Made some changes to AP masteries.

January 18 / 2013: Updated Support Items Section.

February 19 / 2013: Decided I needed to do something about the OHE section until I figure out the optimal build. Updated with a large situational items section. Changed Shard of True Ice to Will of the Ancients in Support Cheat Sheet. Slight modification to OHE Mastery page.

February 21 / 2013: General improvements to various explanations.

April 14 / 2013: Moved Blade of the Ruined King into Core for OHE Build.

Summary

Lulu is simply one of the most variable champions in the game and extremely fun to play. She can fulfill almost every role and is extremely powerful when played properly. I hope you learned something from reading my guide and please upvote it if you did. Now go Transmogulate your enemies. And try reading this guide again blindfolded. You'll see more with your eyes closed.

A Special Thanks to jhoijhoi for the awesome guide on making a guide. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506