I really liked the guide. I have been playing this game for about a month and I just want to thank you for explaining CS. I never could figure it out I finally got that it had something to do with creeps a couple days ago. But anyway as for spell vamp I don't know if any of the people who are opposed to it on AoE champs play Mordekaiser but everyone suggests it for him. Obviously xerath doesn't need it like he does but it doesn't hurt on AoE in my experience also as indicated by your math. But I did enjoy the guide I also wanted to say that despite some of the negatives I found the posts just as helpful as your guide. I have no idea how to vote on here but if I did then you would get a +1

This is a very well put together guide on a champion that I feel is quite underrated. However, I feel that not getting an abyssal scepter because of the short range of the aura is a shame. I pick one up after my morello's, deathcap and ryalis/RoA (depending on situation) so that I gain a decent amount of AP and MR. At this point of the game I usually find myself heavily focussed by at least one enemy, having ~ 100 MR to go with my 150 armour and ~3k health makes me surprisingly tanky. Also, the bulk of the wannabe xerath assassins are melee dps-type heroes, who walk right into the aura for you. This I feel justifies the item a lot.

Also, I tend to use ghost in place of Teleport. It rarely gets used for escape, most often I use it to get places quicker than the opponent is expecting. a full duration ghost makes you arrive at your destination 4.2 seconds quicker, which is ample to suprise an opponent, come in behind them to gank etc.

That said, I don't know what I'd remove from the build for the abyssal (I've never tried lifesteal), and teleport is never a bad choice. Particularly on a champion who can happily melt all the minions on his turret with one ulti that is up again in 30s time!

Many thanks for the enjoyable read.

I'm glad I could help! Thanks for taking the time to vote.

Very helpful, I am now semi-decent at Xerath. Many thanks

I'm glad you liked it, and glad you read the maths stuff before posting stuff about AoE spell vamp sucked!

This guide was intended for SR, but as you said, you're playing 3v3 so its pretty different. I would probably go for more Doran's in 3's verse 5's because there is less chance of a gank that you wouldn't expect happening, I agree. Obviously teleport isn't the best choice for a 3v3, lol...

Let me ask you, how does Clarity work out with you? Do you use it much late game or does the viability end? I never really considered it, I've only ever used it with mana intensive supports...

If you get this post your findings would be appreciated! ^_^

already entered my message lol

Hey just wanted to say i loved the build, started playing xerath a week ago and have gotten fairly decent at him but was bored at a chorus concert tonight and stumbled onto your build while looking up stuff with my phone....just tried it out in threes (thats what i play) and it was quite viable, really enjoyed it...although i only got one dorans ring and i got it first and no health pots and used flash and clarity....quite enjoyed it thanks for the input and the info on spell vamp :)
Earned my vote

I made a section dedicated to explaining why I get so much CDR. Xerath doesn't need blue buff end game, his mana preservation at level 18 with my runes / masteries / build is PERFECTLY fine. End game its more efficient to let your allies have blue. It's also reckless to rely on an inconsistent, not-guaranteed buff for your maximum damage potential. Having max CDR ensures your end game maximum damage potential consistency.

As for the masteries... They're both so minimal. It honestly doesn't really matter.

I appreciate the post though.

I'm glad you liked it DJ.

Tried it, liked it. I usually build a little differently but this build works pretty well.

at a glance:

you don't need that much cdr. swap lucidity for sorcerer shoes. get blue buff(~~25% CDR)

enhanced recall >> enhanced ward


rest looks good. i see you mentioned this, but yeah ap/level is generally better for mage in the glyphs section. Consider this: You probably won't be able to kill someone until you get your ult. By level 6, the ap/level glyphs are already just as good as the flat ones.

Read the rest of GrandmasterD's and I's discussion. We started out at eachother's throats, his first post wasn't without more than a little too much aggression. At the end we were civil and my guide included nearly all of his suggestions, the ones that weren't changed or included were CDR and Spell Vamp which I took two hours of my time to test and do the required algebra to decide whether or not I agreeed with him, and then added the explanation in the guide. You take the quote out of context, ignoring how aggressive he was toward me in the beginning.

First, i'm throughly dissapointed in you. aside from the guide and the completely valid non-refuted (you disagreed, but not nearly as substantially as he made his points) points he made, Grandmaster D. is a great LoL person, up quite high. it simply may not appear so to you because he isn't overly active here because he has a life as well as being incredible at lol. Second, try learning the following things: respect. you have shown none. next, your champ. this isn't terrible, but certantly is far from great. third, who you're talking to. finally... how to relax. this isn't your life, or an attack on you. although i haven't downvoted, i'm certantly not about to upvote.