Welcome Summoner's

This is my first guide ever seeing as there are not a lot of Guides for Xerath. I thought I would take a try at creating one.
This is a guide for Xerath that is written for Dominion in the Crystal Scar but with a few tweaks could work just fine in Summoner's Rift.

In the ancient civilization of Shurima, the mage called Xerath practiced magic with undying passion. He believed that with enough magical power, he could gaze into the heart of Runeterra to know the secrets of history and the universe beyond. Such magic was beyond the limitations of a mortal body, but Xerath obsessively pursued a path to infinite power nonetheless. With every breakthrough he grew more and more powerful, yet not without consequence. Xerath's increasing arcane abilities wrought havoc on his physical form. Desperate, he undertook a dangerous ritual to transcend his dying body. The outcome would be immortality or self-destruction. Violent magic unleashed during the ritual caused devastation throughout Shurima, but when the dust settled, Xerath emerged as an ascended being of pure arcane energy.

Free of flesh and bone, Xerath held nearly infinite power at his command. However, in the wake of his chaotic ritual, the mages of Shurima feared his careless disregard for life would bring ruin to the kingdom. After a terrible struggle they subdued Xerath, but they could not destroy his ascended form. Instead they trapped him within an enchanted sarcophagus and sealed him in an underground tomb. Eons passed, civilizations rose and fell, and Xerath's imprisonment was lost to memory. For centuries, Xerath's vast power tore away at the sarcophagus and weakened its spell. Finally, he willed forth a burst of magic that shattered his prison, but its core remained, containing Xerath and his power within its broken pieces. Seeking to rid himself of this burden, he was drawn to the magic of Valoran's nexuses and found he could absorb their power. Yet the nexuses had gatekeepers: petty mages known as summoners. Xerath knew his key to true freedom from his prison lay in gaining their trust, and he offered his power to the League of Legends.

For Runes Xerath needs to focus strictly on Magic Pen and AP. As always Marks should be Magic Pen. Seals and Glyphs should be AP per level due to the superiority of per level runes in the Crystal Scar.

9 Great Mark of Insight : The usual Magic Penetration seeing as Marks are always better as this.

9 Greater Seal of Force : As I said Ability Power is necessary in abundance on Xerath as a Mage class.

9 Greater Seal of Force : Same as Seals.

3 Greater Quintessence of Force Because I like that extra AP in Dominion. The fights are not as long so you need more power in your punch...or Arcanopulse

For Masteries I go a modified 9/0/21 that is based purely on preference. I moved a point from Cripple to Deadliness This is strictly because I have found that with Xerath's long range and strong AP its not necessary. I personally prefer a little extra crit instead. But remember you can change the skills around to fit your play style but for this build, ability power, cooldown reduction and mana points are key!

Now for Items, I always start Ionian Boots of Lucidity, I do this so you can rush top and keep poking them back with your long range abilities. I like the added cooldown reduction for quicker kills. You may have a bit of a mana problem the start of game depending on how vigorously you are using your skills but by end game you should have max cooldown reduction of about 40% which is huge considering how much AP you will have as well. The next Item is Rabadon's Deathcap added AP in ginormous awesome amounts. This is where you really start getting powerful. After grab your Rylai's Crystal Scepter for a nice health boost, its decent AP and its slow affect. Could any item be more perfect for Xerath? I like to take Abyssal Mask next, I take it over Void Staff because instead of flat Magic Pen it increases not only your magic resist for a little more survivability but also decreases the other teams magic resist so it essentially gives you and your teammates magic penetration. Will of the Ancientsfor the lovely spell vamp and AP for you and your temmates. We'll finish off the items with your Morello's Evil Tome giving you AP, Mp5 and capping out your cooldown reduction.

This is my preferred route for the items you can swap the order especially moving your Morello's Evil Tome to earlier if your feeling the need for more Mp5 early on.

Ascended Form(Passive): Xerath feeds on arcane power, making him increasingly resilient to physical harm. Converts 15% of his Ability Power into Armor.

Arcanopulse(Q) (Active): Fires a long-range beam of energy in a line, dealing magic damage to all targets hit.

Range: 900/1300
Width: 100
Cost: 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 mana
Damage: 75 / 115 / 155 / 195 / 235 (+0.6 per ability power)
Cooldown: 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 seconds


Locus of Power(W) (Active): Xerath anchors himself to the ground he is standing on for up to 8 seconds, increasing the range of all his spells and granting him bonus magic penetration. Upon disabling this ability, Xerath gains 35% movement speed for 2 seconds. He can deactivate the ability at any time after 0.5 seconds of casting it.
Cost no Mana! < please read

Cooldown: 20 / 16 / 12 / 8 / 4 seconds
Bonus Magic Penetration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 %

Mage Chains(E) (Active): Deals magic damage to an enemy and marks them with Unstable Magic for 3 seconds. The next spell Xerath strikes this enemy with will stun them for 1.5 seconds.
Range: 600/1000

Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana
Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 seconds
Magic Damage: 70 / 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 (+0.7 per ability power)

Arcane Barrage(Active): Calls down a blast of arcane energy, dealing magic damage to all enemies in an area. May be cast another two times, with no cost, within the next 12 seconds before going on cooldown.
Range: 900/1300
Effect radius: 400

Cost: 150 / 180 / 210 mana
Cooldown: 80 / 70 / 60 seconds
Magic Damage Per Cast: 125 / 200 / 275 (+0.6 per ability power)


Now for skills levels 1-6 are pretty important to follow but as you get to higher levels just remember you want to max out your Arcanopulse first, Mage Chains second and Locus of Power third. Always as usual get your ultimate Arcane Barrage at 6, 11, and 16.

For Summoner's skills I went Flash and Exhaust but Ignite, Ghost and Garrison are good options as well depending on play style.

For Xerath's long range you a perfect mid creep going from tower to tower and fight to fight. With your long range of spells, the speed boosts in the middle and the Relic buff you can get easily from tower to tower and destroy the opposing team before they can even get to you where your safely hiding in the bushes.

To sum everything up Xerath is a extreme range mage caster who requires a lot of AP to build his power and armor. If you add extra cooldown reduction he can tear an opponent to pieces in seconds! This guide is basic guidelines on a build that can Dominate in Dominion.

Thanks for reading and Leave your Comments below ^_^