Hi, I'm aleciofilho and I'm here to present to you my Xerath guide.

As everybody, I'm new to this champ. I discovered, however, a great way to win games with it. Take a look.
P.S.: I'm Brazillian, so please forgive me for my bad english. And do not down vote before reading the full build.

Xerath is the newest champion in LoL. He is a mage who can control mid lane and constantly harass his enemy with his incredbly long range. Here I will try to tell you how I play Xerath, my way of building it and... and that's it for now, I think.
For you guys to remember, this build is about MID LANING Xeraths. May not work as well in side lanes.

"Power laning, power farming, power ganking, power kills! So many kills! Four-hundred kills!"

– Xerath, the Magus Ascendant's joke

PROS Great dmging champion. Great harassment because of his long range. Farming potential. Not squishy (this is a build condition). A mage who can make THE DIFFERENCE in teamfights.

SPACE

CONS At early game, got to be played safe (due to the build). Skill shot based. This means that take some time to master. Require fast reactions.

Well, as a mage standard set of masteries, I go 9/0/21, puting a point in Arcaic Knowledge and maxing cooldowns. It looks like this:

I go with FULL OFFENSE Runes for some reasons:

1 - The itens give Xerath the survivability it needs.
2 - Xerath, as I said, does great dmg and harass a lot.
3 - As the plan is to rush an early Rabadon' Deathcap Xerath's AP becomes CRAZILY high at early-mid game.

RECOMMENDED Summoners Spells:
Almost a must for mages. Imo, u should take this.

For that kill your spells couldn't get you. Though, due to the short range of Ignite and the long range of your skills, you won't be able to cast your ignite all the times.

I recommend exhaust for Xerath beacuse sometimes you can be caught off guard in a short range. And you DON'T want to fight in short range.

Another VIABLE Summoners Spells:
Can always be used. Can be used to deffend turrets, to take turrets, to get in a teamfight, etc.

I don't like Clarity because you can learn how to save your mana. Even though, Xerath consumes much mana, then Clarity is still viable.

As teleport, always viable. BUT, due to Xerath's range, you won't need it so much. Flash works MUCH better here.

You may want to see that guy in the fog of war to get a kill with your LocusofPower + Arcanopulse

The other summoner spells are not viable for Xerath imo.

Ascended Form Ascended Form
"Xerath feeds on arcane power, making him increasingly resilient to physical harm. He converts a percentage of his Ability Power into Armor."
As it says, the more AP you have, the more armor you have. This makes Xerath more resistant to physical dmg as you get stronger.

Arcanopulse

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

This is you bread and butter, the skill you are going use to farm, to harass. Arcanopulse must be maxed first. It has a low cooldown and good dmg and AP scale.

Locus of Power Locus of Power

"Xerath anchors himself to a source of magical power, increasing the range of all spells and granting him bonus % Magic Penetration. Although he is immobilized while Locus of Power is active, his movement speed increases upon disabling the ability."

Locus of Power is the skill that makes Xerath who he is. It brings a tottaly new mechanic to the game. This spell allows you to harass your enemy from long distances. Early game it has a high cooldown, but as you max it, it gets pretty low. This one you max second.

Mage Chains Mage Chains

"Deals magic damage to an enemy and marks them with Unstable Magic. The next spell Xerath strikes this enemy with stuns them."
Mage Chains is used to start your combo and get the enemy stunned with your next spell. For that reason, it is maxed last.

Arcane Barrage

"Calls down a blast of arcane energy, dealing magic damage to all enemies in an area. May be cast up to three times before going on cooldown."

This is your ultimate. It deals great dmg and have a nice range and area of effect. Not that hard to land and it processes really fast. Must be maxed every time it is possible.

THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Well, Xerath has a few 'combos' and 'tricks' you can use to improve your lane control

• For farming, remember using you Locus of Power before using your next spell to optimize your dmg. Use only Arcanopulse for farming. Try to place yourself in a line with the minions and your enemy and always try to hit them when you farm.
• For harassing use Locus of Power + Arcanopulse. If the enemy is close enough Mage Chains befor landing your Arcanopulse to proc the stun.
• When you are going to the kill all you have to do is basically cast all Xerath's skills as fast as possible. So it goes like this. Locus of Power in a way to make your Mage Chains be able to hit the enemy and open with it then Arcane Barrage (it lands really fast, if you aim fast it is almost impossible to the enemy to escape) once to proc the stun then Arcanopulse and hit Arcane Barrage two more times. Before the enemy runs away you'll probably be able to hit another Arcanopulse (if they are not dead).

I build Xerath in a way to make him hard enough to kill to discourage people to run into him and kill him as they do with most of mages.

It goes like this:

Starting items:
Meki Pendant + 2X Health Potion
This should make you able to stay in lane until you can go back for your first purchase.

First buy:
Finish Chalice of Harmony and Boots / Mercury's Treads (depending on the amount of gold you have) and always try to bring some Health Potion with you.

Next buy:
Finish to buy Mercury's Treads if you didn't and start to buy Rabadon's Deathcap and whenever you can grab an Elixir of Brilliance.

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CORE ITEMS:
, and

This will give you an early AP because of Rabadon's Deathcap and the Runes along with survivability because of Chalice of Harmony, Mercury's Treads and your passive.

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THE IDEAL BUILD:


This set is going to give you survivability and damage.

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SITUATIONAL ITEMS:
If the other team is AP heavy, change your Void Staff for a Banshee's Veil. You can even change your Challice of Harmony for a Force of Nature or Guardian Angel

If the other team is AD heavy, change your Void Staff for a Zhonya's Hourglass. You can eve change your Challice of Harmony for a Guardian Angel.

Early-game (1~6):
In the beggining try last hitting minions and play safe because you won't have much HP. Harass your enemy as you farm with Arcanopulse. Try getting money for your first purchase.

Mid-game (7~12):
At this time of the match you should already have your core itens. Try getting an Elixir of Brilliance if you have the money. When you feel a teamfight coming, activate you Elixir and go for it. If you can make your jungler give you Blue Buffs, get it whenever you can.
During teamfights Xerath shines if he is well placed. Try staying away from the real fight and spam skills in the enemy team, stun their carrier, kill their mage... things like that.

Late-game (13~18):
In the end of the match, you should be stronger than most of the other players due to the fact that you took mid lane. (im assuming you are doing well in the match: not GREAT, not HORRIBLE). Try making teamfights to happen, do your job and then push to the win.

This is my first guide here in MOBAfire. Hope u guys enjoyed it. :)
Soon I'll be atatching videos and images.
Help me improve: leave me a comment or send me an e-mail to aleciofilholol@hotmail.com.