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Recommended Items
Runes: Standard Runes, but see guide further down for explanation.
Precision
Sorcery
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:
Recommended
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Ability Order Stats order
Passive
Calibrum
Severum
Gravitum
Infernum
Crescendum
Attack Damage
Attack Speed
Lethality
Threats & Synergies
Extreme
Major
Even
Minor
Tiny
None
Low
Ok
Strong
Ideal
Janna
See guide further down for explanation.
Ideal
Strong
Ok
Low
None
Janna
See guide further down for explanation.
Champion Build Guide

THE WEAPON OF THE FAITHFUL | ||
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SEASON 10 | APHELIOS | GUIDE |
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Hello everybody! My name is Sejwoonapiggle and I have been playing League of Legends since the beginning of Season 4. I’ve consistently hit Diamond in solo queue as a mid laner, support and AD Carry. In season 10, I am now an AD Carry player who mains ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I stream at 3pm GMT+0 every weekday (Monday to Friday) so make sure to come along if you have any questions for me! I’ve always really enjoyed playing as an ADC, but I never thought my mechanics were up to par. But after practice and constant learning, I finally feel like I consistently play at a much higher level than I ever have before. Aphelios has helped me understand ADC from a different perspective. Typically, the type of champions I would play would have a strong early game. Aphelios scales very well but he really needs items to be effective, compared to a Lucian who has a very strong laning phase. |
RUNES |
KEYSTONE
Conqueror
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After over 100 games with Aphelios, I can comfortably say that Conqueror is the best keystone for this champion. You can get Conqueror to 12 stacks very reliably due to the fact that your weapons apply on hit effects. You can instantly stack Conqueror with Severum the Scythe Pistol’s Onslaught. Conqueror’s extra attack damage helps you out immensely because Aphelios is very strong when he has high attack damage and a high critical strike chance. Conqueror also provides you with some healing. I usually take Conqueror in all three variations of my build. |

MINOR RUNE OPTION 1
This is the most flexibility you have. All three options are viable and it is up to your personal preference.
Triumph
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Triumph’s missing health restore after a takedown can save you in clutch situations, and because ADCs really need gold, this minor rune can be very rewarding and easily grant you an additional 300 to 500 gold a game, helping you get your items earlier. I take Triumph in two of my build variations. |
Alternative to Triumph:
Overheal
|
Overheal will grant you a shield that blocks damage when you’re proccing lifesteal or healing effects when at full HP. This is also a great defensive room that allows you to survive in all stages of the game. This rune will save your life in many countless games! Overheal stacks with Severum’s shield as well as Bloodthirster, which can be massively helpful against Assassins, since you have more “effective HP” if you have Overheal. |
Presence of Mind
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Presence of Mind helps you manage your mana. The mana restoration on takedown as well as the permanent mana increase per takedown are a nice quality of life feature to have but I much prefer to take this when I know I can maximise its usage. I tend to be careful with my expenditure of mana so I only take Presence of Mind in one of my build variations. |
MINOR RUNE OPTION 2
Legend: Bloodline
|
Legend: Bloodline grants you 0.6% lifesteal per Legend stack, up to 20 stacks which grants 12% lifesteal. This is MASSIVE for Aphelios and is far stronger than Legend: Alacrity. You usually don’t build Lifesteal until 3rd item at its earliest, or last item at its latest. Sometimes you have to forego lifesteal in games and most people think Severum’s healing is enough but Legend: Bloodline massively helps your survivability. |
MINOR RUNE OPTION 3
Coup
De Grace |
Coup De Grace increases your damage output against low health targets. This is great since we will be frequently headshotting and ulting low health targets, and this rune increases our burst. This rune will help you net many kills that you may not have been able to have gotten due to the extra damage boost! |
Alternative to Coup De Grace:
Cut Down
|
Cut Down is a good alternative rune if you’re playing against 3 tanks or more. It allows you to deal 5% to 15% bonus damage against targets that have 10% to 100% (double) your maximum health. This increased damage is essential when playing against tankier team compositions. |
SECONDARY OPTIONS
Absolute Focus + Gathering Storm secondary gives you a good amount of Attack Damage as you scale through the game. Absolute Focus will typically be active at the start of fights and also when you are farming, and Gathering Storm is a safety net of guaranteed attack damage, which you gain more of every 10 minutes. |
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Zeal items received a 2% movement speed increase so I have created a movement speed dependent kiting build against melee compositions for Aphelios where I build ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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THIS IS BEING TESTED ON MY STREAM. When I play with the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Magical Footwear gives you a free pair of boots with +35 base movement speed instead of +25 base movement speed like ![]() ![]() |
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ABILITIES |
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The Hitman and The Seer (Passive) | Aphelios has access to an arsenal of 5 Moonstone Weapons, created by his sister Alune. He equips two weapons at any one time, one as his main weapon and one as his off-hand. Each weapon has a unique basic attack and passive effect. |
Aphelios begins the game with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Weapons spawn with 50 Moonlight for ammunition, which is consumed on basic attacks. 10 Moonlight is used to cast his Q abilities. Abilities that cause Aphelios to attack do not cost additional Moonlight on top of their ability cost. Once his main weapon is exhausted of Moonlight, it is moved to the end of the queue and Aphelios equips the next available weapon from his reserve. Aphelios cannot improve his abilities with skill points. He starts the game with ![]() He gains access to Moonlight Vigil at level 6, which improves automatically at levels 11 and 16. Instead, Aphelios may spend his skill points to gain either 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24 bonus attack damage, 6 / 12 / 18 / 24 / 30 / 36% bonus attack speed or 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 lethality. |
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WEAPONS
|
Aphelios has 5 different weapons. Aphelios’ Q ability is based on his current main hand weapon. Each weapon’s ability has an independent cooldown.
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Calibrum (Passive) |
CALIBRUM Aphelios gains 100 bonus range while Calibrum is his main weapon. Each attack made by Aphelios will consume 1 Moonlight per attack. Enemies damaged by Calibrum via an ability are marked for 4.5 seconds, revealing them for the duration. Aphelios's next basic attack against a marked target uses the current off-hand weapon and gains 1800 range. |
This attack will consume all marks, dealing 15 (+0.2 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage per mark to the initial target (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9). If Calibrum is the current off-hand weapon, the empowered attack uses the main weapon instead. When


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Moonshot (Calibrum Q) |
Aphelios fires a bolt of energy in a line, dealing 60 / 76.7 / 93.3 / 110 / 126.7 / 143.3 / 160 (+0.42-0.6 per bonus attack damage) (+100% of ability power) physical damage to the first enemy hit (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13). Each use of the ability will cost 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana. Cooldown: 10 / 9.7 / 9.3 / 9 / 8.7 / 8.3 / 8 (levels 1-13) |

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Severum (Passive) |
SEVERUM Basic attacks with Severum don't use projectiles. Each attack made by Aphelios will consume 1 Moonlight per attack. Severum's attacks heal him for 3−20% of damage dealt (depending on level). |
Healing from Severum in excess of Aphelios' maximum health is converted into a shield which absorbs up to 10−140 (+6% of maximum health) damage (depending on level) and lasts for up to 30 seconds. When


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Onslaught (Severum Q) |
For 1.75 seconds, Aphelios gains 20% (+10% per 100 ability power) bonus movement speed and autonomously performs up to 6 (+3 per 100% bonus attack speed) attacks over the duration to the nearest enemy, prioritizing enemy champions. Attacks alternate between Severum and his current off-hand weapon, each dealing 10 / 13.3 / 16.7 / 20 / 23.3 / 26.7 / 30 (+0.21-0.3 per bonus attack damage) physical damage (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13), 25% on-hit damage and can critically strike. This will consume Moonlight from Severum regardless of whether the attacks are used. Each use of the ability will cost 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana. Cooldown: 10 / 9.7 / 9.3 / 9 / 8.7 / 8.3 / 8 (levels 1-13) |

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Gravitum (Passive) |
GRAVITUM Gravitum applies a 30% slow that decays over 3.5 seconds. Each attack made by Aphelios will consume 1 Moonlight per attack. |
Gravitum's slow/passive on hit effect cannot apply to Master Yi during





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Binding Eclipse (Gravitum Q) |
Aphelios expunges (removes the debuff) all enemies affected by Gravitum's slow, dealing 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 (+0.26-0.35 per bonus attack damage) (+70% of ability power) magic damage (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13) and rooting them for 1 second. Each use of the ability will cost 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana. Cooldown: 12 / 11.7 / 11.3 / 11 / 10.7 / 10.3 / 10 (levels 1-13) |

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Infernum (Passive) |
INFERNUM Infernum deals 110% physical damage to the target and sprays four firebolts in a cone behind them, each dealing 75 / 100% physical damage to enemies hit, reduced to 23 / 30% physical damage against minions (at level 1 / 9). Each attack made by Aphelios will consume 1 Moonlight per attack. |
Critical strikes spray eight firebolts over a wider cone and deal bonus damage. When


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Duskwave (Infernum Q) |
Aphelios unleashes a wave of energy in a cone, dealing 25 / 31.7 / 38.3 / 45 / 51.7 / 58.3 / 65 (+0.56-0.8 per bonus attack damage) (+70% of ability power) physical damage to all enemies hit (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13) and locking on to each of them. After a delay, Aphelios then fires a volley of basic attacks from his current off-hand weapon, one at each locked-on enemy. There is no range limit for locked-on targets. Each use of the ability will cost 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana. Cooldown: 9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 (levels 1-13) |

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Crescendum (Passive) |
CRESCENDUM Basic attacks with ![]() Whenever Aphelios casts an ability that would require him to throw Crescendum, he instead throws a spectral Chakram at his target that similarly returns to him. Aphelios accumulates the Chakrams he catches, up to 20, which last for 5 seconds. Attacks against champions and epic monsters will refresh the lifespan on Chakrams. |
Basic attacks with Crescendum hurl all temporary Chakrams at his target, dealing 0-164% of Aphelios' attack damage as bonus physical damage which depends on the number of Chakrams hurled, this can go up to a maximum of 130-223% total attack damage. The bonus damage from Chakrams can critically strike. When Crescendum is assigned, Aphelios can use

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Sentry (Crescendum Q) |
Aphelios deploys a lunar sentry for up to 20 seconds, reduced to 4 seconds after it starts attacking. Deploying a new sentry reduces the eldest's duration to 4 seconds. A sentry has 6 health and take 3 damage per ranged basic attack and 4 damage per AoE ability. The sentry autonomously attacks the nearest enemy in range with a clone of Aphelios' current off-hand weapon, dealing 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 (+0.35-0.5 per bonus attack damage) (+50% of ability power) physical damage (at level 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13). The sentry can critically strike and benefits from Aphelios' attack speed and critical strike chance. Each use of the ability will cost 10 Moonlight + 60 Mana. Cooldown: 9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 (levels 1-13) |

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Phase (W) |
Aphelios switches between his main weapon and off-hand weapon. |

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Moonlight Vigil (R) |
Aphelios casts forth a lunar spotlight that stops upon illuminating an enemy champion. Alune smites the area centered on the illuminated enemy, dealing 125 / 175 / 225 (based on level) (+ 20% bonus AD) (+ 100% AP) physical damage and locking-on to each enemy hit. After a delay, basic attacks will begin raining from the sky based on Aphelios' current main weapon, one upon each enemy locked-on by Moonlight Vigil. These attacks can critically strike for (50% + 18.75%) AD bonus physical damage. There is no range limit for locked-on targets. |
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WEAPON COMBOS |
![]() ![]() Your sentry marks enemies with the calibrum mark, allowing you to attack people from high range and deal insane damage. ![]() ![]() You can easily stack phantom Chakrams by using Infernum’s Q, Duskwave, on a large minion wave. ![]() ![]() Severum’s Q, Onslaught, lets you stack phantom Chakrams. The dueling power of this combo lets you go toe to toe with bruisers as long as you don’t get immediately oneshot. ![]() ![]() You can use Calibrum’s Q, Moonshot on a target and then follow up with Gravitum’s Q, Binding Eclipse to catch out a target. ![]() ![]() Using Infernum’s Q, Duskwave and then switching over to Gravitum’s Q, Binding Eclipse can help set up a wombo combo. The downside is Duskwave’s Q has a low range and you may be compromising your positioning if you attempt to root multiple targets with this combo. ![]() ![]() Use Infernum’s Q on a large minion wave in order to lifesteal a significant amount of health. |
ITEM BUILDS |
Starting item:
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Botlane ADCs need Doran's Blade to help them last hit and to survive the lane. This item will help you scale up and it is the strongest starting item for laners. |

STANDARD BUILD
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Why? |
Aphelios likes Crit and AD. Infinity Edge + Essence Reaver gives him huge damage. This build is widely regarded as the standard build to use on Aphelios. My variant when I play this build is I take Transcendence in my runes as well as the ![]() |

DEATH'S DANCE 3RD
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Why? | Aphelios likes Crit and AD. Infinity Edge + Runaan's Hurricane gives him huge damage. Professional players are building Death's Dance 3rd on ADCs such as Aphelios and Ezreal. I am testing this build on stream since it looks solid for damage and survivability. |

TRIPLE ZEAL KITING BUILD
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Why? | This build seems unconventional but with the patch 10.11 Zeal buffs, the amount of movement speed you get is insane and it allows you to kite really well. You still deal extremely good damage and you can skip Firecannon and build Essence Reaver, but I massively prefer triple zeal against tanky melee comps. |

MANAMUNE BUILD
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Why? | The Manamune build scales very well but it doesn’t give you the strongest start. I’d recommend against playing this in solo queue and only doing it in an organised game where you know you’ll reach 4 items. This build would be stronger if games lasted longer but you typically end the game by the time you finally reach Muramana. |
SUPPORT SYNERGIES |
Janna
|
PROPERTIES
+ POKE AND SLOW WITH ZEPHYR + STRONG STERIOD AND SHIELD + RELIABLE PEEL WITH Q AND R + VERY SAFE LANER, SCALES WELL |
Janna helps you survive the lane and transition into a mid/late game beast. She typically builds ![]() |
Lulu
|
PROPERTIES
+ STRONG SLOW WITH GLITTERLANCE + STRONG STERIOD AND SHIELD + RELIABLE PEEL WITH W AND R + TURNS YOU INTO A HYPERCARRY |
Lulu functions similarly to Janna except Lulu has more single target burst mitigation compared to Janna at the expense of peel. Polymorph is a powerful ability that can stop an Assassin from using their combo on you, and the high shield value from Lulu's E + the bonus health and knockup from R can keep you alive vs champions like Rengar. |
Nami
|
PROPERTIES
+ GOOD DAMAGE/SLOW WITH E + GREAT LANER WITH GOOD DAMAGE + HIGH VALUE HEAL + RANGED + TEAMFIGHT CHANGING ULTIMATE |
Nami has two good spells that can completely incapacitate the enemy team. Her E gives you a slow and bonus damage, and she has many ways to reliably proc Ardent Censer. Her healing and damage is very good and she also provides you with movement speed. |
Braum
|
PROPERTIES
+ GREAT DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES + PASSIVE SYNERGY WITH SEVERUM + VERY STRONG CROWD CONTROL + CAN BLOCK DEADLY SPELLS FOR YOU |
Braum is tanky enough to absorb projectiles or crowd control that could easily kill you. His passive is very easy for you to proc by using your ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Leona
|
PROPERTIES
+ 3 ABILITIES HAVE CROWD CONTROL + VERY HIGH BASE DAMAGE/BURST + EXTREMELY TANKY WITH ECLIPSE (W) + GIVES YOU KILL PRESSURE IN LANE |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Taric
|
PROPERTIES
+ GOOD HEALTH SUSTAIN + SHIELD + HAS AN AOE STUN ON HIS E SPELL + BEST DEFENSIVE ULTIMATE EVER + SCALES VERY WELL INTO LATEGAME |
Taric is the best of both worlds, a good Ardent user who is also a tanky melee support. He typically runs ![]() |
Morgana
|
PROPERTIES
+ BLACK SHIELD BLOCKS CROWD CONTROL + 3 SECOND ROOT WITH DARK BINDING + ULTIMATE IS AN AOE SLOW + STUN + VERY GOOD GANK SETUP FOR JUNGLERS |
A good Morgana will typically remove the neccessity of you building a ![]() |
Yuumi
|
PROPERTIES
+ ATTACK/MOVE SPEED STERIOD ON E + AOE CC ULTIMATE CAN CHANGE FIGHTS + GRANTS YOU BONUS AD WITH W ANCHOR + IS THE BEST LATEGAME ENCHANTER |
Yuumi's synergy with Aphelios comes at a massive expense in that she absolutely sucks in lane, and Yuumi + Aphelios typically has no agency in the laning phase. You will struggle against aggressive lanes and against high burst lanes. Later on in the game, Yuumi can help you survive against Assassins due to her passive shield and heal giving you more effective health, but reaching that lategame 2v5 fantasy is rare since games typically end at 25 minutes. |
GAMEPLAY |
Laning Phase
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The race for level 2 is the first part of laning phase. You and your support will hit level 2 at the same time if you're in exp range for 6 melee minion kills and 3 ranged minion kills. Watch your minion healthbars as well as the enemy's. Whoever hits level 2 has the advantage, so if you and your support will still be level 1 before the enemy levels up you should back up and play safe. |
You want to do your best to farm up and last hit minions in a safe manner. Understand the matchup you're playing: what synergies does your support have with you? What's the enemy botlane? Does your midlaner or the enemy midlaner have roaming capabilities? Do enemy toplaners have a global ultimate or ![]() Once you've understood what can happen in a game, you need to look at creating favourable situations. For example, you're playing as ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Optimal Gun Drop Order
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When you're new to ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Start out by making sure to empty the ammo of ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() You want to deplete ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() You should now have ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() So, now you should have ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
Visualised, here is the optimal gun drop order that you should be starting at level 1, and then continuing throughout the game, seen below.
Now your gun order looks like this!
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