I had a game following your build a bit.
And I give it a thumbs up :) I never had one blue, I never needed one blue. Mana was never a problem, never ran out.
Great guide indeed!

So, I really like the guide. +!. But do you think it can be possible for you to add matchups? Like how does Xerath do against other mids? Really good guide, best Xerath guide on MobaFire :D

Nice guide! But I have 1 objection - about Archangel staff. You suggest to leave Tear as it is, charge it, get some other items, and get staff only when Tear is maxed. The thing is - staff charges 2x faster! I most of time rush staff first on my AP carries, and you need only 6 minutes and 20 seconds to spam your skill 1 time every 4 seconds to get staff =) In real game you will get Seraph's Embrace ~10 minutes earlier, if you complete Archangel first. And basically only diff from Archangel and Seraph is Seraph active - Archangel gives AP bonus from mana as well.

First off, I love your guide. I'm really looking forward to maximizing Xerath. Although, am I doing something wrong, my Tear of the Goddess is never fully charged. It takes forever! Is there a reason for this? Thanks for any feedback.

I'm gonna try that tear out lol.

Consider a Teleport option if you have a tough lane or like quickly moving into the range of a RotA to gank (and secure the kill) on someone. You should usually be too far away to get in Ignite range.

I personally like getting Ionian Boots if I have not gotten a kill yet or don't seem to be getting close to a kill. The 40% CDR helps. I get a sorcerer if the enemy is easily zoned, possibly outtraded, or has already fed a kill (or got a early MR item for some reason). By late game, I sell Ionian for Sorcerors and also take a Blue Pot for the 10% CDR I am missing.

I still can't agree with that Tear, but that's a personal & playstyle choice. I play Xerath with poking as his main function, I can't burst that well. And Grail is probably better in that aspect.
I try to aim for 40%cdr, because I'm not so good with skillshots. And when you lack quality, you have to raise quantity;) Plus I want to cut down as much of the ultimate's cd as possible.

Few things I would offer for your consideration:

1.) Move Morellonomicon to the CORE items. I think you meant it that way. And you certainly need at least 1 cdr item in the core. 5 seconds cd is way too much for your main damage spell.

2.) I would take at least 6 armor seals and mr glyphs. If you start building Tear and have no defense runes, you can get eaten by an aggresive jungler very easy. And it helps you when you get to the auto-attack range to trigger Mana Surge and cs. Even if you don't go for the Grail, I'd say that picking some armor seals + doran makes you much more durable while doran + Mana Surge should be enough to sustain your mana.
2.5) If you play bronze, like me;) I'd really suggest some defensive runes (I agree that the utility masteries are better then defensive). Your teammates in that low elo will defend you just by mistake, so you need at least a chance to defend yourself for a second - when some high-mobility champion get's through all the distance to you. That's one of my reasons why I build Grail too;) That 40 mr really helps. Although I admit that Archangel's shield is much better, you can get the Chalice at least 15 minutes earlier (probably much more).

3.) I didn't do the math, but I hear that Void Staff's magic penetration is good even against a small mr(that still doesn't convince me to build it sooner than 5th item).

4.) Experienced players could consider Cleanse instead of Barrier. I don't think Ignite is any good on Xerath.

Anyway I like the guide and appreciate your work. It gave me something to think about;)

Xerath, with my build, is very little Blue buff dependant. Actaully, it could depend largely on the type of jungler you have. Evelynn won't give you blue buff. Lee Sin will probably give you blue buff. If you are sure you will get blue buff, change those masteries. I wouldnt trust all junglers in solo que xD

First thing is solved (thx btw). Second thing, I checked and rechecked and it's only coded ONCE. I have no idea why it appears twice (any hints would be appreciated).



There's 2 main points for Doran's Ring. One is mana regen, which is no longer needed on Xerath because of Mana Surge. Second is AP and health. For that we get 2 HP that with Culinary master gives you added health and mana. Plus, we get a head start in our rush for Tear of the Goddess. BUT, feel free to grab 1 or 2 Doran's if you're falling terribly behind. I would then recomend upgrade to Archangel's Staff before going to Morellonomicon though. Probably a pro could prove me wrong but I've seen quite a few guys running Seraph's Embrace in heavy spell users (even in Ziggs!!).

Blue trinket is fine on anybody. BUT: both Eye of Destruction and Rite of the Arcane provide vision on shot. So if you suspect there might be an enemy hiding, fire a W. It will not hurt (much like Lux's Lucent Singularity. Plus, the added ward might save your life a lot more often in my opinion.

Thx anyway, I will give it a try.

I tried you masteries as so far they work out well particularly in Laning phases. I want to know your reasoning for not choosing Runic Affinity over the Culinary Master for later phases were your team "HOPEFULLY" gives you blues.

P.S. Ur guide is the first good Xer guide since ReWork. keep it up :D

A minor coding error in champion abilities section when talking about your e (no icon). And the "mastery bar" is shown twice in your masteries explanation section : voluntary ?
I'm not a midlane player at all but I think that starting Sapphire Crystal makes you quite weak compared to a Doran's Ring.
You could also mention hybrid pen marks.
Have you ever tried blue trinket on him ?

Other than that, it seems quite good.

From my experience, Xerath's Arcanopulse range is larger than 1100, but tooltip says otherwise. I have no way to calculate that. Same with Rite of the Arcane.

I havent finished reading your guide yet but i want to point out that the Q max range is 1400

EDIT: Also his ult does not make him immune to displacement effects as far as i know (no mention of it in the patch notes nor from my experience in game) but over all not a bad guide ill take what you have said into account as i continue trying to learn Xerath again