Mage chains at level two gives you stun, with your range as xerath getting a stun at level 2 makes your harass insane if you get locus of power level 3, Q, W, E, Q can be first blood if you've harassed well.

for maxing it last, at rank 5 the cooldown is about 4 seconds i believe (don't have the numbers in front of me) a stun every 4.5 seconds in a team fight is a huge asset, also it is your highest ap raito, the extra cool down and magic pen of locus just isn't as powerfull early/mid game since it's % based, if they have 2 people with over 100 magic resist at level 10 might consider levelling it before mage chains then.

Also i see where your going with ghost i think, for a more escapable champion but with the mini ghost from locus your can escape pretty easy unless your outnumbered by 2 or 3 champs and if that's the case what were you doing alone as an AP carry?
Mage chains, locus, arcano, drop locus flash and run should give you an insurmountable gap against everyone

@Saikomachi: thank you for the suggestion, I'll try it out! I will explain my picks this afternoon.

@Lawlipoppz: thanks for the upvote! Continue coming back for more info! :-)

@Seviseth: thank you for your compliments and constructive suggestions! This is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll make sure to add these sections soon. And I'll be looking for your upvote I hope! :-)

@Xlavix : unless you give an explanation why, I'll just consider this a troll vote. Sorry.

Mage Chains much too late because need it at lvl 2

I like the effort you put into making this guide nice and generally easy to read. I would definitely like to see it finished, especially with more detail on actual playstyle and examples of different possible scenarios.

The thing that does bother me, however, is your order (and sometimes) choice of items. Delaying the purchase of boots, and I'm talking like 350 gold, makes you HIGHLY less viable for the larger part of the game. And when matches start getting more competetive and play turns into a more high level choice, that order will definitely lose its validity. It is a fine tactic to melt faces with on lower levels, but... not really later on.

Theorize more, especially on the part of general utility and survivability (consistency makes Xerath more dangerous), and expand on this guide. I really like the start, but give these points a bit more thought and let us see :)

Until then I will not downvote nor upvote.

Lol forgot to vote. I keep forgetting to do that.

Ghost confuses me as well. Other than that I like the guide.

Mind explaining why to take Ghost? Other spells seem... to be better for this task. Also why not just max out Arcanopulse first instead of leveling up Locus of Power and Arcanopulse at the same time?