Hello! Welcome to my Aphelios guide! My name is DoubleFeedOP and I'm currently a Grandmaster ADC Player who has officially completed their first full season! I peaked at Grandmasters 123 LP During Season 10 and strive to make a conscious effort of furthering myself and my fellow ADC community. I stream on Twitch so be sure to stop by if you have any questions or leave a comment on my guide and I'll be sure to respond to you as fast as possible!

Aphelios is one of the most complicated champions in the rift ATM and his playstyle is very rewarding when you get the hang of it. When you learn how to cycle and siphon between your weapons, which you will from this guide, you will decimate your opponents (Just make sure to tell them that DoubleFeedOP/FaceofKled helped you decimate them). Aphelios is a knowledge based ADC that once you learn all of his cycles, you can learn his simple mechanics and master him.

Calibrum It's called moonshot and as TheFaceOfKled puts it, "The hit box is moon(REDACTED)." To put it simply, Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle is going to be your base weapon that you start with and the passive for it is going to give you 100 extra attack range. This is going to be used as your main poke weapon during laning phase but is NOT a carry weapon. It's a projectile that once you hit marks the enemy and lets you attack again for your 2nd weapon's auto attack. Ways you can abuse this are by using it with preferably Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon because it's a pretty far root allowing you to make picks. Once you land your Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle Q, you can root the target because it uses your second weapon as the basic attack and Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon allows you to Q and root the target. Another way you can use this is by using Infernum, the Flamethrower for some extra AOE and Crescendum, the Chakram if you'd like to pick up some extra stacks for your Crescendum, the Chakram which will do a ton of single target damage. Severum, the Scythe Pistol is the least favorable as it just counts as an auto attack and will only give you a miniscule amount of lifesteal.
Gravitum Used to root your enemies Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon is essentially a weapon which slows every auto attack you land with it and can root targets who have been hit by you recently with your Q. Ways you can synergize this with your other weapons would be preferably with Infernum, the Flamethrower because you can auto attack - Q with Infernum, the Flamethrower then swap into Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon and use your Q to root multiple people or clear waves with it. After that, Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon also works well with Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle (AS SEEN ABOVE) and the rest are pretty poor choices. To put it simply,
Calibrum gives you a long range slow/root (up to 3 targets if you have hurricane) for maximized pick or chase potential.
Severum has bad synergy with Gravitum because you already gain movement speed during your Q, making the slow redundant.
Infernum and Gravitum pairs up to become the best teamfighting combo because of the utility and AoE damage. This pair also offers a quick AoE slow and root as well as the ability to wave clear instantly before Hurricane.
Crescendum is the worst synergy for Gravitum because it is the only pair that can not stack Crescendum without using R, wasting the potential of one of your carry weapons.
Infernum Shotgun-Like Weapon Infernum, the Flamethrower turns your auto attacks into a shotgun, blasting your auto attacks giving them an area of effect which resembles a cone. This is a great weapon for clearing waves and setting up for stellar R's because your R becomes an AOE which hits everybody around them so clumped up enemies will take a TON of damage. This weapon synergizes very well with Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon because of the root you can follow up after auto attack and creating an AOE root.
Severum Offers lifesteal and sustain. Severum, the Scythe Pistol is mostly going to be used when you need to lifesteal during lane or after a fight because you get some lifesteal back after every auto attack with its passive. This weapon synergizes very well with Crescendum, the Chakram as it can give you a ton of kill pressure and lifesteal that you'll need to get in deep with Crescendum, the Chakram.

this pepega forced me to do this :
As Aphelios, you want to maximize the up-time of your carry weapons and have them synergize with your support weapons. Your carry weapons are Infernum, the Flamethrower and Crescendum, the Chakram because of their increased damage output and your support weapons are Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle, Severum, the Scythe Pistol and Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon because of the utility they provide.

As a refresher,
Infernum, the Flamethrower does 110% AD to the main target and applies splash damage in a cone. The cone does 75% AD to anyone hit, increased to 100% AD at level 9. The splash does 30% damage to minions.
Crescendum, the Chakram has increased attack speed at closer ranges and does bonus damage based on stacks. Abilities that use Crescendum, the Chakram on the offhand grants a stack per target hit by the Crescendum, the Chakram attack.
Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle marks the targets hit by it's attacks when used on the offhand.
Severum, the Scythe Pistol heals for a % of all damage it deals
Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon applies a mark for 3.5 seconds to anyone it hits. The mark applies a 30% slow for 0.7 seconds, decaying to 10% for the remaining 2.8 seconds.

Weapon Combination Tier List
S tier: Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Infernum, the Flamethrower, Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Crescendum, the Chakram, Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon + Infernum, the Flamethrower
A tier: Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon, Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Crescendum, the Chakram
B tier: Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Infernum, the Flamethrower, Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon, Infernum, the Flamethrower + Crescendum, the Chakram
Cringe tier: Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Severum, the Scythe Pistol, Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon + Crescendum, the Chakram

Optimal Combos:
Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Infernum, the Flamethrower:
-Allows you to stack Conqueror quickly with Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q
-AoE damage with Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q
-Gives sustain with with Infernum, the Flamethrower Q

Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Crescendum, the Chakram:
-Allows you to stack Conqueror and Crescendum, the Chakram quickly and consistently with Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q

Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon + Infernum, the Flamethrower:
-Best teamfight initiation combo with the choice of AoE damage R or engage R.
-Provides AoE slows and roots with Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon and massive AoE damage with Infernum, the Flamethrower.
-This combo also allows you to almost instantly clear a whole wave early game, setting you up for a recall.

Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon:
-Gives pick potential with long range slows and roots
-Note: This combo has no carry weapon, it is just a transitional combo
Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Crescendum, the Chakram:
-Your sentry marks its targets, allowing you to auto attack them with Crescendum, the Chakram from a long range at the sentry's attack speed
-Each mark you proc gives a Crescendum, the Chakram stack

Welcome to our next iteration of FaceOfKled calling me KEKW until I post a new section!
Suboptimal combos

Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Infernum, the Flamethrower:
-Does not mesh well: Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle provides single target damage at long range and Infernum, the Flamethrower provides AoE damage at short range
- Infernum, the Flamethrower Q marks all targets hit but you can only proc the mark on one target, making it the worst possible variation of Infernum, the Flamethrower Q
- Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle Q with Infernum, the Flamethrower does not provide as much value as it does with Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon. The long CC is way more valuable than the AoE damage.

Severum, the Scythe Pistol + Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon:
- Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q already increases your movement speed by 20%, making the 30% slow redundant
- Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q is good for stacking Conqueror for extra damage on your carry weapons but this combo does not have any of the two carry weapons

Infernum, the Flamethrower + Crescendum, the Chakram:
-Has both of your carry weapons active at the same time, resulting in a longer downtime
- Infernum, the Flamethrower Q does not reliably stack Crescendum, the Chakram because it only grants one stack per target hit, but not killed by the initial wave.

Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle + Severum, the Scythe Pistol:
-Two support weapons without any utility
- Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle Q only gives the damage of one regular auto attack when proccing the mark
- Severum, the Scythe Pistol Q applies marks to targets hit but does not proc them, wasting a lot of damage potential through repeated marks

Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon + Crescendum, the Chakram:
-Only Crescendum, the Chakram combo that can not obtain stacks without the usage of Moonlight Vigil, thus wasting the potential of a carry weapon

PROS + Galaxy Brain Kit + You sound smart + People have no clue what you're doing + Hard to master, satisfying playstyle + If you survive laning phase you can steam roll the rest of the game. + If you know how this champion works then every other champion looks really simple to you. Aphelios is one of those champions that can randomly surprise your enemy into unfavorable positions with his unnecessarily complicated kit. Could you believe that the developer of Aphelios thought about increasing his power based off of what stage of the moon the actually MOON was in. Thank the heavens that I didn't have to go back to 8th grade and re-learn the lunar stages. With that being said, once you master Aphelios, school work will be like nothing and you'll be admitted to the honors program in your respective school or you can report FaceofKled.

CONS - He's incredibly difficult to learn for no reason - Weak early laning phase - 2 Items to become 100 years, 3 items to become 200 years. - With the rise of ADC's such as Jhin and Vayne, it can be hard to get out of laning phase feeling like you're building an advantage over these champions. - Positioning can be tricky to master. - FaceofKled will roast you if you don't master your cycles. The largest con to playing Aphelios comes down to the fact that if you're streaming on twitch, FaceofKled will be sure to constantly shove down your throat Aphelios cycles and force you to make an Aphelios guide because you never took the time to learn Aphelios cycles. He gets countered by the meta, even from S10, he was countered by Caitlyn and Jhin and still is to this day. Early game meta is prevalent in the rift so it makes Aphelios incredibly difficult to come out of laning phase with any advantage and most likely, a deficit that you have to come crawling out of.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: Flash is a staple for any ADC player. You're going to want to use Flash to get away or dodge skillshots/position better for teamfights. HEAL: Use this when you need that extra boost of movement speed to get away/ chase an enemy for or when you need that small boost of health that can save you or your allies. Just keep in mind that taking multiple heals DO NOT STACK because of the grievous applied to yourself when casting multiple heals. EXHAUST: Exhaust is only taken in very situational circumstances such as if you're against an enemy Kha'Zix or Kayn. Be sure to abuse the fact that if you use Exhaust, you should easily be able to run down enemy ADC's but keep in mind that you'll have to get uncomfortably close to able to do so. Most of the time, this summoner spell is only used when you're up against an ADC like Samira that has to get up close to you anyway to be able to do damage. CLEANSE: Take cleanse when you're up against heavy CC comps such as Ashe Leona or Caitlyn Nautilus. You won't be able to kite if you can't do anything so make sure that you take that extra precaution with Cleanse. BARRIER: Use barrier when you have an ardent support that can take advantage of the Revitalize secondary rune and provide you with a safer laning phase such as a Soraka or a Yuumi.

Galeforce

Runaan's Hurricane

When going meta Aphelios, you're going to want to choose one of two mythic items, Immortal Shieldbow or Galeforce. This all depends whether you want the mobility or the survivability that either item would provide you with. Keep in mind that when going either, your playstyle will substantially change. Runaan's Hurricane is a staple item that will be in your Aphelios game no matter what because of how well it synergizes with your kit and the 11.1 buff to Runaan's Hurricane.

Maw of Malmortius Use this item when you're up against a target that has a lot of AP burst damage such as Akali.

Mercurial Scimitar Use this item when you're up against heavy CC comps that can shut you down such as a Leona or Rammus.

Mortal Reminder Use this item when going against comps with lots of healing. Be sure to build this item second to last or last item because the other items are staples but be sure to build an Executioner's Calling early game if need be.

Bloodthirster This gives you a lot more survivability for when you're going up close with your Crescendum, the Chakram

Guardian Angel Take this when you're up against a target like Evelynn and no matter what you do you're going to end up dying but your team can capitalize that and take out the enemy team whilst you're coming back to life.

Keep in mind that this is for BOTTOM lane. Now let's begin.

Aphelios is a champion that is very versatile in nature. There are many ways to go about playing Aphelios but I personally prefer starting Doran's Blade in a majority of matchups. During the start, you're going to want to go ahead and 5 point / leash your jungler. In high elo, it's preferable that you just go to lane and the jungler does a leashless clear but it's fine if not. If he doesn't want a leash then you have a few options...
1. Go walk up to the minion wave before it crashes and make them all attack you. Then hide in the bush and watch them kill the first minion on your side. This secures level 2 because they lose a minions worth of xp but be careful if they cheese you because most high elo bot lanes will know about this strategy
2. Cheese them in a bush
3. Try to secure vision and steal pressure by pressuring their bot lane during leash. Only done if you can overwhelmingly beat the enemy AKA if you're against something like a Senna Sona. This usually doesn't work though.

Thank you for reading my guide! This is all a WIP as the season progresses I will be sure to update this guide with my good friend (FaceOfKled). Thank you and I hope I helped you win your next League of Legends game on your climb to Challenger! I'm really excited to have the opportunity to take my knowledge and put it on a platform that other newer players can further their gameplay with. Aphelios is one of those champions that when you learn him, learning every other ADC will feel like a breeze.

I want to remind everybody that this guide is WIP and I will try to update even a small new section everyday until its completion. Feel free to tune back in a week and learn even more about my favorite champion, Ezreal.

Feel free to check out my Twitch and stop by to chat anytime!