Look, we are all about light, he is darkness and shadows. It's just not gonna work booboo. Shadow, shadow, ult, electrocute *poof* you're gone. Just too much trouble to lane against, I refuse. I ban him almost every time. Take Barrier or Exhaust if you do end up against him (make sure to exhaust straight after he ults you) and rush Zhonya's. In lane, you can bully early if you feel confident but try to keep max distance. Don't push your wave and try to punish him when he goes for his last hits. At 5, be aware and play back, he will probably try to go for an all in, don't underestimate his damage.
Tip: Zed always positions himself behind you when he ults, use that if you want to try to burst him down.
Qiyana
Keanu Reeves long lost sister, Qiyana. Really difficult to lane against due to her high burst, mobility and invisibility. Use your max range to farm (crucial!!) and charge your Manaflow Band and play for teamfights. Take barrier.
Lucian
After losing his wife, the guy is seeking revenge. Mobile, bursty and he can dodge your Q easily, as his dash is on a low cooldown. Use your max range to farm and charge your Manaflow Band and play for teamfights or wait for jungle ganks as he will be squishy enough to one shot. Take barrier as it helps with his ult and RUUUUN!
Irelia
Despite her peachy butt, one of the most frustrating champions to lane against. Keep your calm and distance, farm up with auto attacks, do not use your spells on the wave. Charge Manaflow with E. Take exhaust. Keep an eye at your minions being low HP, she will dash to them and get her stacks + engage on you.
Fizz
Fish is only in Lux's diet in the first 3-4 levels. Trade with him pre 5 if you know the matchup, then farm under tower. Take exhaust or barrier depending on the other champions in the enemy team. Rush Zhonya's/Banshee's depending on the enemy comp.
Katarina
Have you ever seen a guy throwing knives around his beautiful assistant? You are the assistant, Katarina is the guy, just VERY drunk. He will hit you. A lot. Just stay away, trust me. She is actually one of the hardest people do deal with as her movement is extremely unpredictable, becoming hard to land skillshots on. Poke only with E for manaflow, don't go for AAs, stay far behind even if it means losing some minions and just play for teamfights. Take Exhaust.
Ekko
Child-prodigy Ekko is incredibly strong and while you can kill him early, after he gets his Protobelt, he will just be too tanky and bursty for you. He has insane mobility, high damage and if he gets MR boots, you are just screwed. Try killing him early if you know the matchup or poking with E+AA and after, play for farm and teamfights. Take barrier.
Yasuo
I actually don't know which of the brothers I hate more. Stay a bit to the side/at the very back of your wave, nowhere near close to minions, so he can't dash to you. Farm with abilities but do try not to push, he is good at chasing. Don't try to poke him down outside charging your manaflow band, it's genuinely useless. The white bar he gets represents his shield: if needed (maybe you get a gank) pop this with an AA if it's safe to do so. Tip: your R goes through his Windwall, nothing else does, not even your shield. Take Barrier or Exhaust.
Yone
He out-sustains and out-damages you. Did I mention his mobility? Make use of your max range, try to poke for Manaflow Band and play for teamfights. You CAN kill him early game but you have to know the match-up really well and most of the times it's not worth it. Dodge sideways, not backwards. Late game he becomes very problematic, so you and your team need to CC him and burst. Take Barrier and stay far, far away.
Talon
I cannot say I'm all smiles and sunshines when I have to lane against this guy. DO NOT try to roam against him, that's his thing. Ping aggressively and either push or freeze wave (try to have eyes on him and their jungle to decide this). Warding is particularly important in this match-up to warn your teammates. Poke early just with E and keep your max distance. Rush Zhonya's if you're struggling and take Barrier or Exhaust.
Tristana
SHE. WILL. ENGAGE. AT. LVL. 2. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. Stay far, far away at all times (use your max range to farm). Remember, she gets a reset on her jump when her bomb detonates: do not assume you are safe after the first jump. As soon as she engages with her jump and you manage to deny her damage, feel free to go poke her as your range is much higher. You will be able to one shot her as long as you don't die early and fall behind in farm, so patience is key. Take Barrier.
Annie
''But Bee, she's just a little child...'' Yeah. Satan's child. Faster, tankier than you and bursty, you need to stay the hell away after lvl 5. Every 4 spells, Annie receives a stun on her next cast. You can actually keep an eye on this below her health bar and, even if she is at 3 points (getting her stun at 4), you need to be careful as she can still all in you. You can poke early. Take barrier and a null-magic mantle early to deny her all-in potential and snowball. Consider Mercury's Treads boots if vs a heavy CC engage team.
Xerath
This guy is somewhere between a major threat and an even lane, depending on how good the enemy is at hitting their spells. Most of the times, you will have a rough time in lane. His mana sustain is better thus, he can poke you more. You can push to try to make him lose some CS under tower, be aware of ganks though! Don't stay behind minions, it gives him easy poke and push on the minion wave, always try to be on the warded side of your lane and side-stepping his abilities as much as possible. Take Barrier.
Kassadin
You can kill him pre 6, will that make him weak? Nah. But you can try to get a bit of an advantage early and then farm up after 6, you can't win vs him. Punish him with AAs early when he comes to farm and don't push your wave as it gives you more opportunities to do so. If you want to go full aggressive early, have a look at the 'Be Aggressive!' runes below or take Aery and Scorch. Take Barrier/Exhaust.
Viktor
Viktor does so much better in a 1v1, he is just a strong champion at any given point and you shouldn't trade with him. He will probably push you in so it will be a difficult early. Consider Teleport in this match-up as you will have to back a lot due to his poke or Barrier. You will find yourself farming with abilities a lot, so I'd recommend taking Biscuit Delivery as your secondary (see Standard Runes below). Poke only to charge your Manaflow Band and wait for ganks/teamfights.
Anivia
Another one which depends so much on the enemy's skill, you can try to kill her early but this should be mostly a farm lane as she can trap you easily with her wall + stun if you walk forward. Mostly a pretty dangerous lane if you're out of position and it can be difficult for you to kill her even early due to her passive. Poke until lvl 4-5, then stay safe. After 6 she basically pushes you in with her ult, so use your abilities to depush and ping if she is missing. Wait for ganks or teamfights and you will be a winner, winner, chicken dinner! Take Barrier.
Vel'Koz
Uh the giant eye of death, not my favourite match-up. Most of the time Vel'Koz players aim their Q a bit behind you assuming you're going to walk back, so a lot of the times I try to dodge forward. Be prepared for the rest of his spells though. Take barrier, poke early for Manaflow and farm waiting for ganks/teamfights.
Diana
Diana is just too strong for you in lane, poke down when you can to charge Manaflow and keep your distance! Consider Exhaust and wait for ganks/farm up for teamfights.
Vex
Vex is not an easy match-up. She's an edgy teenager with a taste for kills and it shows - she does a lot of damage with her combo. Try to not stay behind minions and keep max range to farm/poke. However, bait her using her passive for your jungler ganking and she is a free kill. P.S. : Boots early might be a good investment as her ult goes through minions, so the extra movement speed helps you dodge sideways. Don't let her catch you in a tight spot! Take Barrier or Cleanse.
Akali
Akali does things to my tilt levels that not many champions do. IN THEORY, if you can dodge her shuriken, you should be able to survive. Keep your calm, farm up and always stay behind minions. Take barrier or consider exhaust.
Ahri
I'd say even match-up. If she farms with AAs, do the same and try to poke for Manaflow. If she pushes you in, try to depush a bit but save your Q. Your positioning in lane has to be spot on or else she will try to engage. You Q her -> she dies. She charms you -> you die. Take cleanse or barrier.
Aurelion Sol
Probably the rarest Pokemon in League, A Sol likes to push you in and then roam. As long as your team respects that, you can keep on farming. He becomes a problem with Rylai's but before that, he is pretty squishy. Take Barrier.
Azir
Azir is another champion that is not incredibly high damage in the hands of a casual, however one tricks know how to make use of his kit really well. You can poke him down - maintain your distance though, his soldiers hurt! Take Barrier.
Cassiopeia
I'm gonna be honest, I'm terrified of snakes. Especially this one. Cass is easy to farm against on paper, however Phase Rush makes her a fast girl running you down and poisoning you in the meantime. Try to use your E for zoning if she does and Q her in place. CLOSE YOUR EYES! (aka don't turn towards her) Take Barrier for her damage over time.
Heimerdinger
Hmm, he's smaller than the diagram. Heimerdonger is pretty boring to lane against to be honest, you can't really receive ganks as he is a master at 1v2 because of his turrets, so unless you manage to somehow one shot him, it's a farming simulator. Do try to depush him with abilities and try not to roam, he will take your tower! Consider Teleport.
Corki
Just like A Sol, you don't see Corki in games too much, but he likes to do the same. He pushes in, roams and gets kills in the other lanes. Make sure you ping A LOT whenever he leaves lane. Poke early, save your Q's and take barrier/teleport.
Kog'Maw
A rare sight but I can't say I want to see more AP KogMaw's in mid. He pushes in really easily but you can one shot him if you do catch him and he is pretty easy to gank as he has no escape. Take barrier.
Brand
This man is on fire! But not against you! You can usually out-poke him and he is pretty squishy, as long as you don't get caught a lot, you should be able to burst him down. Stay behind minions so he can't stun you and take Barrier.
Galio
We're supposed to be on the same side here, Galio! You're not going to be able to kill him in lane normally as he is too tanky and has a magic sheild, but you can definitely try! Be mindful of being ganked though as Galio is pretty easy to gank for if you're pushed. He becomes a problem if he builds Rocketbelt but, unless he is fed, he can't kill you. Take Barrier.
Cho'Gath
For the darkness you say? How about... BY THE LIGHT! You shouldn't have problems against Cho if you keep your distance, but you can't kill him either. Consider a void staff early and Magic penetration boots or MR boots if you're struggling and the enemy is heavy CC oriented. You will run into some trouble after level 6, however keep your max distance and farm/poke, dodge his Q and you will be absolutely fine. Take Barrier.
Malphite
Honestly, you should never lose this match-up. Malphite has some poke but runs out of mana so much quicker than you, if you are full HP he is not able to one shot you with his combo and he is squishy early game. You just win. Take Barrier and if you struggle, go for early MR/MR boots to deny his all in potential.
Twisted Fate
TF only should become a problem late game so this is one of the easiest matchups against Lux in my opinion. You can easily stay out of his stun range, poke with E+AA and dodge his cards. Take Barrier and poke poke poke!
Taliyah
Taliyah can be tricky but as long as you keep your distance, you will be absolutely fine. Only poke with E and wait for her to miss spells or a jungler gank for an all in. Be wary about walking forward as she can easily combo you. Take Barrier.
Syndra
This is pretty much a farm lane for both of you, although you can probably poke a little bit more early game. Always try to position yourself so that she can't hit her stun. If you struggle against her, consider MR Boots or Banshee's Veil. Take Barrier.
Sylas
After we let him out of the prison (big mistake btw), edgelord Sylas decided he wants to use his magic for even more evil doings. And boy, oh boy does he do well. He is dangerous as he has a gap closer, heal and sustained damage. Not to mention he steals your own ultimate! - Use that in your advantage, you can dodge sideways when he starts ulting. Try to poke early and dodge his engage. Take barrier and consider MR boots.
Vladimir
The guy is out for blood! Literally. You just can't win against him as he has everything to counter your kit: he outsustains your damage, he pokes a lot AND even if you hit your Q, he can negate your combo damage with his pool. Poke early for manaflow and keep an eye on his blood bar(?), if it's almost full - step back. Take Barrier and Zhonya's to negate his all in potential.
Orianna
Her ball is angry and while I appreciate the sentiment, Orianna is not that much of a threat. Same as Lux, she excels in teamfights, however I feel like you can out-damage her. She is pretty squishy as well so try to poke her early. Do not however engage in AA vs AA fights, she wins those. Take Barrier.
Malzahar
Malzahar is a pretty easy match-up, you win early, you can poke him down easily and if you're mindful of his spreading DOT, you should be able to kill him/bully him out of lane.
Tip: If you put your E down where he is and wait about 0.5 a second, it gets rid of his shield and detonating your E does damage him. Take barrier and consider MR boots if you're struggling.
LeBlanc
LeBonk is not easy to deal with: she has a gap closer, CC and burst damage, making her a difficult opponent. You can poke early, keeping in mind that she can dash to you so save your Q for when that happens. Consider an early Null Magic Mantle as it denies her all in potential. Take Barrier or Cleanse.
Ziggs
BOMBS AWAY! Ziggs is very good at poking others down however we can make it a bit harder for him: while usually I would stay behind my caster minions, this time you want to position yourself to the side so he doesn't get easy Q's. Take barrier for his all in potential or teleport if you want to make sure he doesn't take your tower early, as he is very good at that.
Veigar
You and Veigar do similar things, he is just a bit more evil and well...shorter. Usually he will save his Q's to farm the wave so you should get a bit more poke early, care of his trap as it is very useful for ganks against you. If you struggle, Mercury's Treads + Zhonya's is a pretty fail proof way to ensure you don't get one shot. Barrier or Cleanse are both viable here, depending what you are comfortable with.
Pantheon
Pantheon is a really difficult match-up not only for his all in potential, but also because he can block so much of your poke/all in. This is a ''stay at max range, don't push your wave, wait for ganks'' kinda lane so be prepared to just farm up. You can try to hit him with E for Manaflow but save your Q's and, I can't stress this enough, do no walk forward. Take Barrier or Cleanse and early Seeker's Armguard/Tabi's if you're struggling.
Morgana
Morgana can be difficult, probably between an even and a major threat. She usually pushes you in with her W and has a magic shield to counter you so prepare for a tough lane. You have to always position yourself behind minoins to ensure she doesn't hit Q's on you. Once you learn the match-up however, you can poke and actually fight back a bit. Try baiting the shield, ganks are incredibly useful vs her. Any summoner spells are viable here.
Neeko
Neeko is a strong tomato! Similar to Ziggs match-ups, I like to stay a bit further from minions to make sure she doesn't get a second cast on her Q and I accidentally get hit by it. Her root goes through minions so be wary of that, once she misses/you dodge, it is easy to go poke. If you struggle, take Mercury's Treads; any summoner spells are viable.
Lissandra
Ice, ice lady - I really don't find Lissandra too much of a threat. You outrange her so poking with E (even if you don't follow up with an AA) is easy enough for general poke/manaflow band. Don't be fooled by keeping max distance if you're low HP though, she has a gap closer so try to always have your Q up.
Akshan
Lights, camera, Akshan! Just like most AD mids, he is not an easy match up. Ideally, you will have a strong CC jungler that will be able to help you pin him down (as his mobility is quite high). Don't forget he also has invisibility on his kit (I know, I know..) when he is near walls, so, keep that in mind when you think he is not in lane. Keep your max range to farm and I would avoid walking forward unless you're getting a gank. Take Barrier.
Tryndamere
Latest abomination mid, Tryndamere is ridiculously hard to deal with. Be incredibly careful about his rage meter and his critical chance (even level 1) and keep your max distance. After 6 you will struggle massively, so playing under tower and Zhonya's is essential. Always keep your Q up in case he wants to initiate an engage. If you know the match up and you are VERY comfortable on Lux, you can try to trade with him after his spin (pre lvl.6). Consider Plated Steelcaps if the team is heavy AD reliant and take Exhaust/Barrier.
Amumu
Don't worry Amumu, you got a friend in me! As soon as he ults the main carry/carries, hitting your combo becomes so simple.
Leona
Her stun into her ult into your snare. Probably around 4 seconds of CC. It's pretty nasty.
Seraphine
The fact that Seraphine has 2 abilities with AOE CC makes her an ideal champion to play with. Keep an eye our for her root/ult, follow up with your snare, guaranteed success.
Morgana
Morgana's Q is one of the longest CC abilities in the game so it makes it super easy for you to follow up. Equally, she can follow up with her Q if you hit yours, the CC duration is obscene either way.
Malphite
You and Malphite are just like cheeseburger and fries - you go together so well! Wait for his ult: combo guaranteed!
Sona
Oh baby, 5 man Sona ults followed by Lux's combo is what dreams are made of! Of course that rarely happens but even so, a good Sona ult ensures you hit your combo every time. Just act quick!
Braum
You benefit so much from Braum's kit: wait for his stun or his ultimate and fire away!
Nautilus
Nautilus is a CC machine, so it's easy to understand why he is so easy to follow up. After his Q/E, wait for his autoattack so the target get rooted or watch out for his ult - easy follow-up!
Diana
I love a good engaging Diana, pulling people towards her when going in makes it really easy to follow up with your combo.
Rammus
I love having Rammus as a jungler and I make sure to try not to push my lane for an easy gank setup. Use his taunt in your favour - easy combo.
Warwick
Ww hits his ult - you hit your combo. Easy peasy!
Vi
Vi's point and click ult is easy to follow up so pay attention when she's fighting, you might be able to ACCIDENTALLY take some kills with your R. Tip: If you're not in Q range, ult as fast as possible, Vi's CC on her ult does not last very long.
Lillia
Lillia's ult, need I say more? Follow up with your combo and hit as many people as possible - guaranteed success.
Nami
Gotta love Nami's kit, she just has so much to set you up for success, she can slow the enemy or hit her bubble/ult, making your combo hard to miss.
Ornn
Ornn's ult is great to set up your combo however be aware of his displacement, it can mess up your snare.
Thresh
Thresh's ultimate is very useful to slow people down, however most of the time they will follow with a flay or a grab and suddenly, that Q that was going straight into the enemy, misses gracefully.
Sett
This bad boy helps you out by pulling people in and immobilizing them. However hit your Q next to Sett, he will most likely ult people away while you unleash your combo. Hard to synergise imo.
Lee Sin
The sheer amount of times I've had this man kick someone out of my combo is TOO DAMN HIGH! You can't blame him, he's blind, but he definitely doesn't synergise well with Lux.
Jarvan IV
Jarvan's CC on his flag-and-drag and ultimate makes it pretty easy for you to hit your enemies, It's not as easy as a point-and-click CC, however it remains quite strong.
Hecarim
He moves his target like a ping-pong: makes it so much harder to hit your spells.
Volibear
He has a point-and-click stun, you have a snare that can follow. Easy as 1-2-dead!
Ekko
Ekko can stun an entire enemy team making it that much easier for you to follow up with your combo!
Kha'Zix
Bugs... I hate bugs. Most of these guys will take all the kills for themselves, they have no CC, wouldn't recommend.
Sejuani
We love you pig-riding-lady! She has so much CC in her kit and she's a great front liner, what's there not to like?
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Amumu
Don't worry Amumu, you got a friend in me! As soon as he ults the main carry/carries, hitting your combo becomes so simple.
Leona
Her stun into her ult into your snare. Probably around 4 seconds of CC. It's pretty nasty.
Seraphine
The fact that Seraphine has 2 abilities with AOE CC makes her an ideal champion to play with. Keep an eye our for her root/ult, follow up with your snare, guaranteed success.
Morgana
Morgana's Q is one of the longest CC abilities in the game so it makes it super easy for you to follow up. Equally, she can follow up with her Q if you hit yours, the CC duration is obscene either way.
Malphite
You and Malphite are just like cheeseburger and fries - you go together so well! Wait for his ult: combo guaranteed!
Sona
Oh baby, 5 man Sona ults followed by Lux's combo is what dreams are made of! Of course that rarely happens but even so, a good Sona ult ensures you hit your combo every time. Just act quick!
Braum
You benefit so much from Braum's kit: wait for his stun or his ultimate and fire away!
Nautilus
Nautilus is a CC machine, so it's easy to understand why he is so easy to follow up. After his Q/E, wait for his autoattack so the target get rooted or watch out for his ult - easy follow-up!
Diana
I love a good engaging Diana, pulling people towards her when going in makes it really easy to follow up with your combo.
Rammus
I love having Rammus as a jungler and I make sure to try not to push my lane for an easy gank setup. Use his taunt in your favour - easy combo.
Warwick
Ww hits his ult - you hit your combo. Easy peasy!
Vi
Vi's point and click ult is easy to follow up so pay attention when she's fighting, you might be able to ACCIDENTALLY take some kills with your R. Tip: If you're not in Q range, ult as fast as possible, Vi's CC on her ult does not last very long.
Lillia
Lillia's ult, need I say more? Follow up with your combo and hit as many people as possible - guaranteed success.
Nami
Gotta love Nami's kit, she just has so much to set you up for success, she can slow the enemy or hit her bubble/ult, making your combo hard to miss.
Ornn
Ornn's ult is great to set up your combo however be aware of his displacement, it can mess up your snare.
Thresh
Thresh's ultimate is very useful to slow people down, however most of the time they will follow with a flay or a grab and suddenly, that Q that was going straight into the enemy, misses gracefully.
Sett
This bad boy helps you out by pulling people in and immobilizing them. However hit your Q next to Sett, he will most likely ult people away while you unleash your combo. Hard to synergise imo.
Lee Sin
The sheer amount of times I've had this man kick someone out of my combo is TOO DAMN HIGH! You can't blame him, he's blind, but he definitely doesn't synergise well with Lux.
Jarvan IV
Jarvan's CC on his flag-and-drag and ultimate makes it pretty easy for you to hit your enemies, It's not as easy as a point-and-click CC, however it remains quite strong.
Hecarim
He moves his target like a ping-pong: makes it so much harder to hit your spells.
Volibear
He has a point-and-click stun, you have a snare that can follow. Easy as 1-2-dead!
Ekko
Ekko can stun an entire enemy team making it that much easier for you to follow up with your combo!
Kha'Zix
Bugs... I hate bugs. Most of these guys will take all the kills for themselves, they have no CC, wouldn't recommend.
Sejuani
We love you pig-riding-lady! She has so much CC in her kit and she's a great front liner, what's there not to like?
This is the part where I boast about myself so I can convince you you are not wasting your time reading my guide.
I've been playing Lux since Season 3 and I have almost 2 million mastery points with her. I have consistently been in Platinum since Season 5 and I have peaked Diamond 3 (except for this season, tough times, let's not talk about it). This is going to be an in-depth guide that should help you improve whether you are in lower elo or gold/plat/diamond and you are looking to do minor tweaks that make a big difference.
Also, I've been told my Lux is cracked, so that's nice i guess.
Don't forget that this is a guide, you can always adjust it to match your playstyle, these are just my tips and what works for me.
Introduction
Lux - The surprise laser lady Ranged, Squishy, Mage, Support, Strong, Independent, Lady
Why do we like playing Lux ? She is an incredibly fun artillery/control mage. She can farm from afar, keep her enemies at arm's length and use her abilities to manipulate lane and teamfights to her advantage. There is something extremely satisfying about one-shotting someone with your combo, getting multi-kills with your ultimate ( Final Spark) or even, one of my favourite things, stealing baron or dragon.
Abbreviations used:
AD = Attack Damage
AOE = Area Of Effect
AP = Ability Power
CC = Crowd Control
Proc = Activate
Lux's Pros
✦ Long Range
Whether it's in lane or in teamfights, you can use Lux's long range in your favour as very few champions outrange you. ✦ One shot potential
If you are against squishies, have farmed well OR it's late game, you're in for some fun. CC your target, unleash your combo, giggle. ✦ Straight-forward kit
Unless you're like me and you need two weeks to realise you can re-activate Lucent Singularity because you've just started to play this game, her kit is pretty straight forward. We'll talk how to make use of it further down when we analyze her abilities. ✦ Utility kit
I'm not talking just about her Prismatic Barrier which can shield your ENTIRE team, but also her other two abilities that offer CC, making Lux an incredibly valuable teamfighter.
Lux's Cons
✦ Squishy
Lux really needs to make use of her ✦ Long Range ; once someone gets in range to attack you, you're going to struggle to stay alive. ✦ Immobile
Your positioning on Lux needs to be spot on: make use of your kit and your CC and try not to walk too far forward. ✦ Skill shot reliant
Every single one of her abilities is a skill shot, even her Prismatic Barrier. You need to use your abilities sparingly. We will look into maximizing the potential of hitting a spell later on in this guide. ✦ Easy to counter
There are quite a few things that lux struggles into:
picking a lane bully (see threats above) or a jungler like Hecarim, Olaf, Dr. Mundo; buying anti CC items like Mercury's Treads, Quicksilver Sash, Mikael's Blessing; picking Cleanse or buying Zhonya's Hourglass. All of these can make your survivability rate go down and/or your combos harder to hit.
Runes & Masteries
There are a few options you can use on Lux and I will explain a bit about why I prefer using a certain path most of the times and what are the situations in which you should consider swapping things around.
Standard Build
Arcane Comet: This is my most often picked rune on Lux as it gives you the highest burst damage out of the 3 options. Consider Summon Aery if you are against a melee opponent that you will get to harass a lot with AA. Lux doesn't benefit nearly as much from Phase Rush as she does from Arcane Comet or Summon Aery: while the movement speed would be nice to have, losing on the damage that Arcane Comet / Summon Aery inflict is something you can't afford.
Manaflow Band: What's a mage without mana? This should be the rune you pick 95% of the time. The only time i would consider Nullifying Orb is if you are against an incredibly bursty AP champion such as Diana or Fizz and an AP jungler such as Elise. Picking Nimbus Cloak should never happen in my opinion, again I don't value movement speed nearly as much as having mana.
Absolute Focus: [Note: I'm gonna be honest, I swap between this and Transcendence all the time, take whichever you feel matches your playstyle/current situation better]. To win the game we have to be absolute focused, baby! I love this rune because I (mostly) trust myself to position well during teamfights and be able to stay healthy. I take Transcendence if I am against assassins/any other backline divers and I know I'm going to struggle to stay alive. This is also a very good option if you prefer the cooldown on your abilities. Celerity is just a no-no for the same reasons as above: losing on the other runes is never worth it, plus Lux has no movement speed abilities in her kit.
Gathering Storm: Most of the times we'll be playing for mid/late game so as long as your lovely teammates don't ff 15, you have a great amount of AP to help you deal damage. Another viable option is Scorch if you are going really aggressive early and you have an early game comp, also works great with Summon Aery against melee. Waterwalking is only for certain junglers, ignore that, we don't make use of it.
Secondary Tree
Biscuit Delivery does a great job ensuring you have sustain in lane: it gives you both mana and hp and paired with your Health Potion , you should be confident to go for your pokes and charge your Manaflow Band in lane.
Zhonya's Hourglass is probably in my build 80% of the time so having an early Stopwatch while not having to spend 650 Gold is well...golden! You will get this at 14 minutes, however, any takedowns reduce this by 2 minutes. ( Note: you are not actually getting 650 Gold off the Zhonya's price, this is a replica stopwatch worth 250 Gold)
Note: If you think you're not going to need Zhonya's Hourglass in your build, try swapping to Cosmic Insight . I love it for the Spell Haste, it's great to bait people into fights especially with Barrier. If you do end up buying Zhonya's Hourglass, it will also be useful as it gives you cooldown on your items' actives.
/
I would always go for 2 x Adaptive Damage and depending on the lane match-up, swap between MR and Armour.
Author's note:
✦ Keep in mind that these runes and masteries (shards) are the ones I personally use most games. I have found that this combination fits me most and of course you can always alter this to suit your playstyle. Going to briefly go through some alternative builds, I just personally don't prefer over the one above. Give them a try and hopefully you'll like them!
Alternative Secondary Tree
Cheap Shot is great for more damage and more aggression as it gives bonus true damage after a target has been impaired. Both your Q and E count here, so your next damage after any of them two abilities will have true damage applied.
Ultimate Hunter offers you 6 ability haste on your Final Sparkand an additional 5 ability haste for every Bounty Hunter stack. Bounty Hunter stacks are awarded when you first get a takedown on each enemy champion. Note that takedowns also means assists, so even shielding an ally who took a kill will count towards stacking the rune.
Be aggressive!
Domination
Precision
Domination
• Electrocute: This is another viable path if you want to be extremely aggressive in lane. Usually easy to proc with your poke. If you think that you will manage to poke your opponent in lane but not sure if you can kill him, swap to Dark Harvest and collect as many stacks to be able to spike later.
• Cheap Shot: This is the obvious choice here as we are going full aggression. Both your Q and E count as movement impairing abilities so any damage taken after that by the enemy receives the bonus from Cheap Shot. Easiest to proc with your AAs.
• Eyeball Collection: Gives us 2 Ability Power per eyeball collected up to 10 eyeballs plus extra AP when you've completed your collection. More damage to our kit!
• Ultimate Hunter: Out of the 'hunters', this is the logical option for Lux. Who doesn't like a lower CD on their laser? Consider this and Cheap Shot as your secondaries when you're running Sorcery as your main runes if you prefer more damage & ultimate cooldown over the lane sustain that Inspiration offers.
Precision
• Presence of Mind: With Domination as your primary, you NEED Presence of Mind as a secondary rune, otherwise you will have severe mana problems in lane. Again, we are going full aggressive with this build, so getting that mana back when you do go for trades is vital.
• Coup de Grace: Did anyone say...more damage? You have a good choice between Coup de Grace and Cut Down here; as a general rule, if the enemy is mostly squishy, go for Coup de Grace, if there are tanks/off-tanks/bruisers, usually you can make use of Cut Down better.
SHARDS - stay the same as above:
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Note: This is a high risk/high reward path and I would only advise using this build if you know you can play aggressive in lane: you are not hard countered or you want to hard punish someone early ( eg: Kassadin ) and the enemy jungler is not someone who ganks a lot and very early. The reason why I prefer the first build it's because its consistency and in a meta where mages are not incredibly strong, I play to my strengths which are spotting opportunities, scaling with farming and teamfighting.
Lowest Ultimate Cooldown
Sorcery
Domination
SHARDS - we're going to make a small adjustment here:
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- How to play this build -
• This build is mostly to have some fun with how low cooldown your Final Spark is late game, so feel free to try it in normal games and fire your laser away! The reason I don't recommend this for ranked is because we are buying 2 defensive items and no high burst, so you might struggle dealing the damage you are used to.
• Essential in this particular build are Transcendence , Ultimate Hunter and Ability Haste on the shards, feel free to play around with the others as you see fit (you can use the explanations from the other builds to make your decisions).
• This is the lowest CDR you can get on Lux without having a ''troll build'' aka buying the items that give the most ability haste just for the sake of it, even if they don't give you any AP (eg: Black Cleaver ).
• No particular order for the items, except for Liandry's Torment which I would strongly suggest taking first:
• With this build, you will find yourself at level 16 having a whopping 14 second Cooldown on your Final Spark, while still having around 350 Ability Power! Compared to my regular build, we are trading in a lot of AP (I would normally have 600+ AP full build), however you decrease the ultimate cooldown from somewhere around 23 seconds to 14 seconds. Note that you have to have Seraph's Embrace fully stacked for this to get maximum potential, as it grants ability haste equal to 1.3% bonus mana.
• You can actually bring this number down by quite a bit, however this is situational for every game. For extra ability haste, keep in mind to get Cloud Dragon and Blue buff. If you are lucky enough to have Ornn in your team, you're in for some fun as Ornn can upgrade your mythic item for even more cooldown. If you want to have some fun this build or you have another AP carry in your team and want to play more of a ''protection'' role, this is great to try out!
Summoner Spells
Let's talk about Summoner's Spells
• This is the combination I will play most often as Lux is pretty squishy and it helps me stay alive for longer and bait early fights:
FLASH
Flash, flash baby! Flash is essential to Lux's kit. She is an immobile mage and you need it to escape from sticky situations. If possible, always try to use Flash over a wall as opposed to just a few steps forward, you will get a much better advantage.
BARRIER
Barrier is something that I will use the vast majority of the time, I love the protection it offers (timed well with your Prismatic Barrier it can almost cancel an Ignite out) and it's also great for baiting fights in and outside your lane.
• Other options and when to pick them:
TELEPORT
Teleport is great if you think you are going to be forced to back a lot, whether you are forced to depush and use a lot of mana or you are being poked down constantly. Teleport is an incredibly valuable tool for someone who has a high map awareness and can spot favourable situations, so if you think you can make use of this, definitely go for it. It is especially useful versus champions like Ziggs and Heimerdinger who want to take your tower early and they mostly want to push for that.
EXHAUST
I swap to Exhaust in certain match-ups in which I know the enemy will try to get into melee to engage on me. I like it versus Irelia, Katarina and sometimes Tristana and you can consider it vs Zed and Talon; match this to your playstyle and of course, to the enemy's comp as a whole (if they have a hyper carry or an assassin jungle, it might prove quite useful).
Cleanse
Cleanse is something I take very rarely. Take into consideration the enemy team as a whole: would you make use of it more than Barrier ? Do they have Veigar mid and Sejuani jungle? Consider it especially if you don't have a front line in your team, might be a bit harder to position yourself in those situations.
HEAL
Heal is something that botlane benefits from more as it gets casted on two players, Barrier is simply better because it shields you for more damage. Unless you can somehow find a lot of use from the movement speed that Heal offers, always go for Barrier instead.
IGNITE
Never. Honestly.
As Lux , you should never be in range for Ignite after the laning phase which means you will have a redundant spell after 15-20 minutes. Your aim is to stay far behind, catch people and burst with your combo so any other of the above spells work far better in my opinion.
SNOWBALL
When's it's snowing outside and never in ARAMs. I don't know what you expected.
Abilities
Lux's Abilities and how to use them most efficiently
PASSIVE
Illumination
✦ Lux 's damaging abilities mark enemies for 6 seconds. Lux 's attacks consume the mark, dealing magic damage . Final Spark will consume marks on enemies it hits and refresh them.
✦ What does this mean? Every time you hit a champion with an ability, they get marked. Attacking that champion again (autoattacks - AA - included), makes them take additional magic damage that scales with your level.
✦ How to use this most effectively? This is a great tool to use in lane to poke, you usually use your E ( Lucent Singularity ) , followed by an autoattack, providing it is safe to do so. You can also use this to last hit more efficiently if you're struggling, this will push your lane so keep that in mind.
✦ Your passive is a great source of extra damage and you should try to remember to proc it whenever you can. Don't be greedy though: if you are hard countered, walking up for the AA might cost you more than it's worth.
✦ Keep in mind that your ultimate , Final Spark , procs your passive's damage and applies it again. That means you don't need to use an autoattack after a skill if you use your Final Spark.
✦ We will have a look at how to efficiently proc your combo using your passive in lane and teamfights further down.
Q
Light Binding
✦ Lux fires a ball of light, Rooting the first two enemies for 2 seconds and dealing magic damage to each.
✦ What does this mean? Lux 's Q is a skillshot (like every other of her abilities) and once casted, it will damage and root the first 2 enemies it hits. This includes enemies, enemy minions and neutral monsters, so always keep that in mind while trying to make a play.
✦ How to use this most effectively? Light Binding is not the easiest to hit, do not get discouraged if people seem to dodge it easily. One way to ''trick the enemy'' in lane is to position yourself so that your Q will hit one minion and the opponent. Most people disregard this quite often and you can poke efficiently.
✦ Use your Light Binding sparingly. You will find that, especially vs opponents with gap closers, once you have missed your Q, they will engage on you and you will probably be x . x
✦ Tip: Lux 's Q is much easier to hit if your target is already rooted, stunned or slowed (hint, hint: your E). If you are receiving a gank and your jungler has point and click CC, wait for that, then follow with your root.
W
Prismatic Barrier
✦ Lux throws her wand, granting a Shield to allies it passes through. It then returns, granting the same Shield on its return.
✦ What does this mean? Lux 's W is again, a skillshot (you will be surprised how easy it is to miss this in teamfights when your allies think it's an enemy hitting them). The shield scales with AP, meaning, the more AP you have, the stronger your shield will be.
✦ How to use this most effectively? Prismatic Barrier can shield your ENTIRE team, so, especially in teamfights, position yourself so you can take advantage of this as much as possible. Note: On Lux support, if you bought Chemtech Putrifier , you can grant your entire team (except yourself) the ability to apply grievous wounds on their next attack. You should not buy this while playing mid unless incredible circumstances and we will discuss Chemtech Putrifier and Morellonomicon further down.
✦ Tip 1: If you want your ally to receive the FULL amount of shield quicker, distance yourself from your teammate. It might sound counter-intuitive, however throwing your wand while you're next to someone means they will get the full amount of the shield in about 2 seconds, while doing it at max distance, it takes 0.5 second less. This takes time and practice but it's a nice tip to improve your gameplay if you're already an experienced player.
✦ Tip 2: Whenever you are running away from an enemy, throw the wand in the direction in which you are running. Your wand returns about half a second quicker which could mean the difference between surviving or dying.
E
Lucent Singularity
✦ Lux creates a light zone that Slows by 25% and reveals the area. After 5 seconds or on Recasting this ability, it detonates, dealing magic damage and Slowing for an additional 1 second.
✦ What does this mean? Lux 's E is, shockingly, a skill shot. It's her bread and butter and you will find yourself using this ability more than any of the others for multiple reasons. Lux places her E down, revealing the area, slowing the enemies and damaging them upon recasting. Simply put - press E to place it, press E again to make it boom.
✦ How to use this most effectively? There are a few points to make here. On its own, E is your greatest source of damage (except your ultimate, of course). It has long range so use this to poke in lane and charge your Manaflow Band . It is also great for teamfights as it offers AOE damage, so do try to take advantage of that as much as possible.
✦ Let's talk about the slow part. In teamfights, you might want to place your E down but not detonate it straight away. Take advantage of the slow and prevent the enemy from running away or help your team kite. Also, as I mentioned earlier, Lux's E is great to help her Light Binding hit. Try to learn this combo as it is very useful and helps so much with your Q's accuracy.
✦ Tip 1: While running from an enemy, place your E right at your feet and keep running. Do not detonate it straight away; this will either slow or zone the enemy, giving you more escape potential.
✦ Tip 2: Speaking of zoning, this is another great use from your Lucent Singularity. You can use your E to manipulate the lane or teamfights in your advantage. Also, if you have a large area where you have to aim your skillshots, you can try using E on one side and be ready to aim your Q at the opening you created (since we assume that the enemy will probably try to walk around your E). Play around with this, the more you experiment, the better you will get.
✦ Let's not forget that Lucent Singularity offers vision. Incredibly important to avoid facechecking a bush, giving vision on baron and dragon or revealing an area to cover your back while you're taking an objective/a ward. Use this wisely, especially late game, when it could prevent a death that would lose your team the game.
R
Final Spark
✦ Lux fires a dazzling ray of light, dealing magic damage to all enemies in a line.
✦ What does this mean? Lux 's ultimate is, you guessed it, a skill shot! It's a long range laser that hits all enemies in a straight line. Don't let the visuals of some skins fool you; sometimes the laser appears to be wider on the bottom side but if you look at the hitbox, you will know exactly how to aim it (look at the lines on the ground from this video ⇩ ; you can slow the video down by pressing the cogwheel -> playback speed -> 0.5)
✦ How to use this most effectively? Ideally, you want to use your Final Spark on an enemy that is already CC'ed. Your targets should mainly be carries and/or squishy enemies. Lux does not do amazing vs tanks as your main strong point is burst, so, focusing the right targets usually means the difference between winning and losing the teamfight. Be patient, use the tips from the previous skills or wait for your team to engage with CC and fire away!
✦ Something to remember: you can flash while your ultimate is casting! Your Final Spark will still cast from its original position. Note: You will not be able to move until your R has finished casting, however, the extra distance from your Flash might save you from certain death.
✦ Tip 1: Don't forget that using your Final Spark consumes and refreshes your Illumination (passive). So, for instance, for a Q+R or E+R combo, you actually don't have to autoattack after the first spell.
✦ It's very advantageous for you to not fight in large, open spaces or in the jungle where everyone's positioning is scattered; instead, fighting in a lane or dragging teams into narrower terrain can be much more beneficial. In this video below, simply taking the teamfight from the river to tribush got me a great opportunity to use my Final Spark. F for the Penta :(
✦ Tip 2: Your Final Spark is a fantastic tool to snipe enemies for kills or to steal objectives. Have wards in the enemy jungle to take the enemy's blue buff or other camps. Make sure you don't need this soon: there is no lane that needs help, you don't need to push the wave with E+R and there are no objectives spawning while your ultimate is on cooldown.
In terms of Baron and Dragon, if you are only using your ultimate from a distance, when to start casting your R really depends on the levels and the enemy's jungler smite damage (450 or 900); if they have the 450dmg Smite, i'd say start casting your ultimate somewhere about 850 health for Drake; if they have the 900dmg Smite, start casting your ultimate somewhere around 1200 Drake or Baron HP before lvl 15-16 and 1500 HP late game. Take this as a very rough estimate to get you going, you will get the hang of it in time and be able to approximate it depending on the level and how ahead/behind you are.
Lux's combos
Lux's combos revolve around using her autoattacks in between spells to deal maximum damage; later on in the game, you might find that you only need to do Q + E + R to one shot the enemies, but until then, let's make the most out of her kit. Note: please do remember, sometimes going for the AA is highly dangerous, especially in match-ups where you are hard countered - use it wisely.
1
Q + AA or E + AA
This is something you can use in lane a lot for harassment. Keep in mind that as soon as you go for the combo, enemy minions will start attacking you - do not underestimate their damage early game. I like to start my lane by hitting my E + AA - got to show who the boss is. Most of the time enemies will either step back or to the side, so try aiming where you think they will dodge (like most things, this gets easier with practice). Notice how I immediately come back behind my minion line to not take extra unnecessary damage.
2
Q + AA + E + AA
Before level 6, this is Lux 's max damage output combo: use AAs after your damage spells to harass the absolute living soul out of your enemies. If you managed to poke them before this trade early game, you might even be able to bait a trade and kill them. This example embodies a lot of tips that were mentioned earlier: Q enemy through minion, AA between spells, W and Barrier for protection
3
Q + R / E + R
Sometimes you will find that one of your abilities is on cooldown and you can only do one spell + Final Spark . Lucent Singularity can be used on an enemy to slow them and make your R easier to hit. Make sure you detonate your E before your ultimate hits, so you can get the passive proc. Light Binding assures your target stays in place so you can quickly follow with your ultimate. A lot of the times this is enough to take a kill on an enemy or, if you are full build, will probably one shot the target at full health.
4
Q + AA + E place + R + E pop + AA
Sounds a lot more complicated than it is, don't be scared! Watch the video below for clarification. This is what you want to be aiming for late game. In essence, you just want to autoattack after your Q and R (it's not needed to waste time and AA after Lucent Singularity because of the passive proc on R - just make sure you pop your E during your ultimate casting). Most of the times I find that for squishy targets, the autoattacks might not be necessary. I am probably strong enough to kill just with Q + E + R, however if they have a shield/heal, it will surely make a difference. Always assess the situation, will going for the AA put you in danger? Do they have Mercury's Treads so they can get out of your Q quicker? (going for an AA in this situation might make you miss the combo). The more you play, the more you will be able to estimate your damage and whether it is worth it/you need to go for the full combo or not.
Stealing Baron or Dragon
Boy, oh, boy, one of my favourite things about Lux ! You can put so much pressure on the enemy with either a Q / E + R combo or a full Q + E + R combo. Timed right, it does more damage than Smite and you are a HUGE threat for the enemy team.
✦ For a Q + R combo: Throw your Q, then immediately ult. ✦ For a E + R combo: Put your E down for vision, don't detonate it, start casting your Final Spark and while your ult pops, press your E. ✦ For a Q + E + R combo: Place your E, don't detonate it, throw your Q, immediately press R and detonate your E while your Final Spark hits.
It's really hard to give an approximation to when you should start your combo. For junglers that still have their 450 dmg smite, it should be a little easier (but not easy). Take 1500 HP (health) for either Baron or Drake as a very rough estimate to start you R cast (providing you are also casting your Q+E). For level 16 and above, I'd say 2000 HP. It's not an easy thing and you won't get it right every time, however you can go into the Practice Tool and try the combo until you feel comfortable with it.
Items
Let's talk items and when to buy them
Lighting the way!
✦ This is the combination of items I end up taking 80% of the times. It is incredibly efficient, gives you high amount of burst and Zhonya's Hourglass keeps you safe from enemies' all ins. There are, of course, variables. Let's have a look at this:
- Start of the game -
+
Doran's Ring > SUSTAIN AND EXTRA HP Doran's Ring is a pretty classic start for a mage mid lane, it gives you the extra mana sustain that you need (if you are full mana, it will restore health instead), some AP and health. I take this 100% of the time.
2 Health Potions > HEALTH REGEN/SUSTAIN
You have 100 Gold left after buying Doran's Ring , so the obvious choice is to go for 2 Health Potion for the HP regen. Pair this with the Biscuit Delivery from your runes and you should have no problem getting 1300 Gold for Lost Chapter the first time you go base, well, most of the times.
- First Back Options -
Lost Chapter
Lost Chapter : Ideally, you want to always buy this on your first back to base, as it helps so much with mana/mana regen. More mana regen = more poke, you won't struggle as much if you have to farm with abilities and you can maybe even take an early kill as it gives you extra AP as well.
Boots
Boots : It's never bad to buy Boots early; if you have an extra 300 gold or you were forced to back early, Boots + Amplifying Tome or Dark Seal are a solid option. You get to lane quicker, you can dodge/run from the enemy faster and maybe even help your jungler in those early Scuttle Crab fights. Violence, speed, momentum!
Amplifying Tome
Amplifying Tome : A solid buy if you were forced to back early as it gives you AP and it builds into Lost Chapter , which is what we're aiming for. Always keep money for a Health Potion and/or a Control Ward ; if you don't have the gold to do so, I would consider swapping to a Dark Seal
Dark Seal
Dark Seal : I will always buy this if I have 350 Gold to spare before 10-15 minutes. It gives great stats: Ability Power, Health and its passive offers even more Ability Power for assists (1) or kills (2). Even if you don't end up having many stacks (as you lose 4 stacks if you die), it's still worth it for the base stats early game, helping with survivability.
Null-Magic Mantle
Null-Magic Mantle : Definitely take this early vs a heavy AP team or vs an AP laner that you're struggling against. Do not underestimate how useful it can be: you can decide later if you want to build it into Mercury's Treads or Verdant Barrier .
Tear of the Goddess
Tear of the Goddess : If you are planning on building Archangel's Staff, buy Tear of the Goddess as soon as possible! As soon as you have 400-500 Gold (the extra gold is for Health Potion or Control Ward ), assess your wave situation, recall and buy this as you want to stack it as fast as possible.
Seeker's Armguard
Seeker's Armguard : I'm going to be honest, this item used to be great vs AD match-ups. After its nerf, it's OK, but not great anymore. Seeker's Armguard is still worth buying early vs AD match-ups in lane that you're struggling against (and hopefully you chose Perfect Timing on your runes), so you can rush Zhonya's. If you're thinking to buy Zhonya's vs a jungler/enemy AD carry, delay buying this, play safe, and get your Mythic first instead.
Control Ward
Control Ward : Please, please, please, ALWAYS try to have 75 Gold when you back for a Control Ward. Vision is CRUCIAL to winning games and you can get vital and precious information about the enemies and their roams. We'll have a look in the next section where you can put the control wards for best efficiency.
- Mythic, Boots & Legendary Items -
Luden's Echo
Luden's Tempest : Personally, I choose this Mythic most of the time. It gives you the mana regen you so desperately need, has great damage output and gives all your other Legendary items extra Magic Penetration. I always go for Lost Chapter first for the sustain in lane, however if you feel like you are struggling vs your lane opponent, you can rush other items like Zhonya's Hourglass. Beware though, as you will lack damage for a while.
Sorcerer's Shoes
I end up buying these probably about 80% of the games. The flat Magic Penetration is amazing to have even vs enemies that are not necessarily tanks, but have good Magic Resist Scaling or Magic Shields. Unless the entire enemy team is full squishy, these prove to be incredibly valuable.
Mercury's Treads
On top of Magic Resist, the Tenacity that Mercury's Treads offer is invaluable vs high CC enemies. It's actually one of the very few ways to get more tenacity in your kit, so definitely consider vs AP, high CC laners.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
This is a viable option for when the enemy team doesn't have any tanks and you just want that extra cooldown on your abilities. Not a bad buy, but incredibly situational.
Plated Steelcaps
Former Ninja Tabis (R.I.P.), these boots are incredibly situational on Lux in my opinion. Are you laning vs Lucian , Tristana / any other AA based champion and their whole team is AD and kinda squishy? Buy these. Otherwise any other upgrade from the above section are far more useful.
Void Staff
Void Staff : If I'm not behind, this is a FANTASTIC choice as your second/third item. You may ask: "But Bee, what if the enemy team doesn't have any tanks? And I'm not laning vs tanks either!" Everyone has SOME Magic Resist and with ADCs buying Wit's End and other MR items, I think it's a must buy. Take a leap of faith and try it for one game, you will deal loads of damage.
Shadowflame
Shadowflame : Shadowflame takes Horizon Focus' place in my build, as it feels like a significantly better option after the changes. Shadowflame gives you not only loads of AP, but also introduces a new passive for AP champions: extra damage to recently shielded enemies. You gain maximum benefits (20 magic penetration) if the target was recently shielded or if your target is on 1000 HP or less at the time you fight them. 100 AP is fantastic to have early and the recipe is pretty buyer-friendly, so I would consider this as your second item.
Rabadon's Deathcap
Rabadon's Deathcap : So... you're an AP champion... this is the highest AP value item in the game... see where we're going? Now, I know the recipe is not exactly "buyer friendly" but, if you farm up well and don't fall incredibly behind, you will be able to afford it. However, do not sacrifice a lot of time waiting for it if you can't afford it (you're dying a lot or you're losing a lot of objectives waiting for it); buy the defensive items that you need or even rush Shadowflame - which is cheaper. You want to aim for Rabadon's Deathcap to be your 3rd or 4th item ; never leave it until very last as the amount of Gold you have to wait for to complete it will be too damn high.
Zhonya's Hourglass
Zhonya's Hourglass : This is my favourite defensive item on Lux, especially in the current meta where you need to protect your booty from high burst assassins. If you didn't take Perfect Timing on your runes, buying Stopwatch early, carrying on with your core build and completing Zhonya's later is completely viable. This is a great way to not get destroyed by champions with early all in potential. If you're more worried for a QUICK all-in type of burst, consider Crown of the Shattered Queen and go full glass-cannon afterwards. E.G.: Against Zed, I would take Zhonya's Hourglass, against Nocturne, I'd take Crown of the Shattered Queen
- Other Options -
Seraph's Embrace
Seraph's Embrace : First things first, I hope that if you're planning to build this, you bought Tear of the Goddess as early as possible. Secondly, Seraph's is actually a very viable buy on Lux, especially if you want that extra mana, now offering AH and heal based on your mana spent. With my personal playstyle, this item just doesn't cut it for the simple reason that you struggle too much early game - it takes too long to start dealing damage. If you and your team are playing to scale, consider taking this and playing safe until you have your tear stacked.
Cosmic Drive
Cosmic Drive : This is a strong item and a must if you cherish having AH on your abilities over a guaranteed one shot combo. It's actually one of the highest AH items in the game and it has the added bonus of having a mini Phase Rush; if you find yourself needing a sustain item that gives you HP, whether you're getting destroyed by an enemy Kha'Zix or any other assassin, consider this instead of Void Staff or Horizon Focus
Morellonomicon
Morellonomicon : I'm going to be honest, I simply hate this item. I almost never buy it, it feels incredibly ineffective and unless I REALLY have to buy anti-heal (see Chemtech Putrifier below), I prefer going for a bursty-all-in-type of combo to focus on killing the ADC or APC. This does not mean anti-healing is to be neglected, in fact, it is crucial in games in which you play vs high-healing champions. However it's much more effective for your team to buy anti heal (for an enchanter support - Chemtech Putrifier, AD champs - Executioner's Calling or Thornmail for tanks with CC).
Chemtech Putrifier
Chemtech Putrifier : This is an item that was great to buy on Lux at its release, however with the nerfs that followed, it is no longer as great on her. If you HAVE to buy anti-heal, I would go for this over Morellonomicon, as your shield grants your allies 40% Grievous Wounds on their next attack. You are sacrificing some AP damage, however getting AH and empowering your allies are, in my opinion, much better benefits.
Banshee's Veil
Banshee's Veil : Do not underestimate the power of a Banshee's Veil. It can be crucial to block the next ability that hits you (bear in mind it does not pop if someone auto attacks you), so versus a team with strong AP champions (at least 2) and loads of CC, definitely replace one of core items above with Banshee's Veil. Note: If you're just struggling against an AP laner with CC (eg. Syndra) but the opponent does not have any more AP damage, I would suggest going for Mercury's Treads and Zhonya's Hourglass instead of Banshee.
Mejai's Soulstealer
Mejai's Soulstealer : This is an item I rarely end up buying. It is very situational and I will only turn a Dark Seal into Mejai's under a few conditions: I've bought the Dark Seal early and I already have some stacks on it (4+), the enemy does not have a fed assassin that can easily put me behind and I'm not using the gold that requires the Dark Seal upgrade when I can upgrade any other full core item.
Playstyle
Early game and vision
Vision is essential to any good League of Legends player! - Lee Sin, 2011
✦ As the game starts, you ideally want to be there since the begining to get some vision for your team. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing midlaners just run to lane and sit under tower until minions spawn without warding or providing any sort of vision.
✦ Unless we're invading, I'll end up doing one of two things: I'll go in the midlane brush via mid (as you can see in the map below) or I'll place a ward in pixel brush and retreat if they have a strong invade potential like Blitzcrank or Thresh. The reason you should enter the midlane brush via mid and not river is because
a) There could be enemies hiding in the opposite brush seeing out and collapsing on you
b) If they are invading via mid, you will be able to see them and not get caught out
✦ This is why it's so important to be in the game from the beginning, one second late to place that ward and you can be dead. If you think it's too dangerous to place the ward, you can go to plan B and place it a little closer to you, in your jungle (brush) and then retreat.
Note: As the game progresses, you want to have eyes on the enemy jungler, objectives and potential paths that your midlane opponent might take to roam. So, ward appropriately and you will be able to alert your teammates and make decisions about roaming yourself!
There is a lot to talk about in terms of warding, however one pretty comprehensive guide that personally helped me a lot is this, I would recommend giving it a watch as I'm sure it will help you too --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULcsm3VB8gA&ab
Lane phase and farming
Pushing Vs. Freezing
As the lane phase begins, take into consideration your opponent and their jungler. Do you want to push the lane aka do you want to farm with abilities or do you want to wait to last hit?
As a general rule, it's always good to know what your opponents spells do and their cooldowns, as it gives you more of an insight on when to play agressive/when to stay safe and how they farm!
If you are playing vs. an assassin/adc/Tryndamere (he deserves a special mention), it's probably a good idea just to last hit using your AAs while trying to poke with either AAs or E + AA combo. Remember: poking (most of the time) does not warrant missing CS, so always keep your farming as a priority.
I like to farm with my abilities to depush an opponent who wants to force me to play under tower early, as it's hard for Lux to do so in the first few minutes of the game.
Farming under tower
Speaking of farming under tower, let's have a look at how to do this:
✦ For melee minions that are full HP: Let the tower attack them 2x then you AA.
✦ For caster minions that are full HP: You AA once, let the tower attack once, then AA.
For minions that have lost some HP, it's impossible to give an accurate formula, however the more you play, the easier it will be for you to assess how to use your abilities/AAs to farm under tower.
Ranged Vs. Melee Opponents
Very broadly speaking, for ranged match-ups, depending on them pushing you in or not, I like to go in for some early trades with my E at max range (follow with AA if it feels safe). Take advantage of your E range, which tends to be larger than a lot of other champion's spell range and poke and/or farm using it.
For melee, I usually like to be aggressive the first 1-2 levels, poking with spells and/or AAs (really depending on each individual match-up - see threats in the beginning) and then stay behind, farming at max range or under tower and occasionally, if you have the mana, poking with your E. Most of the times it's safer to not go in for the passive proc with the AA, as this will probably put you in danger of being engaged on.
This is because melee champions usually have a much better all in potential early than Lux. The more you play, the more comfortable you will get with the match-ups and know what yours/your opponents limits are.
Objectives
This is incredibly important and too many people don't pay enough attention to Dragon/Herald/Baron spawning times. Always be aware of your jungler's (and hopefully the enemy's jungler) location. Pushing your wave for preparing the objective is a very good practice (providing it is safe to do so).
Make sure you have enough HP and mana 1 to 1:30 minutes before the objective spawns. Backing for mana/HP/spending your gold 1 minute before Dragon/Herald/Baron ensures you can be back in time to set everything up. The fight for objectives leads us to....
TEAMFIGHTS!
AHH! Teamfights with Lux are so exciting!
As you can see, unless you know the match ups incredibly well and can exploit the enemy's weak side very accurately, Lux doesn't necesarily shine (*wink*) in lane. Lanes are won on counters and/or experience but your ultimate goal should be, above all, to not fall behind in farm and wait for teamfights.
Lux's kit is incredible for a teamfight, you have a 2 x bind on Q, a Shield for the ENTIRE TEAM (providing you position yourself correctly), your E that not only slows and damages but also reveals areas for up to 5 seconds and an ultimate that can hit all 5 enemies. So, let's talk about this more in depth.
-Lux's Priorities-
1. Positioning well.
This is literally NUMBER ONE key about having a good teamfight. You are in the last line, behind everyone else, besides your ADC. Note: Keep in mind that some assassins can take a back route to get to you, so, again, vision is crucial.
2. Poke, poke, poke!
Before the team fight starts or as any of the teams start an objective, poke with your E without going for the Illumination proc. This will most likely only put you in danger, so using your Lucent Singularity alone will do the AOE damage you need before your team engages. Speaking of team engaging, don't forget to use your Prismatic Barrier when that happens or if the enemy tries to poke you down/engage. Trying to use your Light Binding can be really useful as you can catch one or maybe even two enemies at a time. Only do so if you're with your team and not secluded, as this would put you in high risk at getting engaged on.
3. Focus the carries.
Tanks are not your job. Not now anyway. Your focus are the enemy carries and the squishies. Look for a bind or keep an eye for a follow up with Final Spark if any of your teammates has them pinned down. Best use of your Ultimate is (ideally) when either the carries are already CCed or you can hit as many people in a line. Don't waste your ult on a Dr. Mundo, only to have the enemy Tristana jump on you and kill you. After that, you can peel for your ADC with literally all your kit - Q for bind, E for slow and W for shield - so they can deal with tanks.
Not every teamfight will be like this - and that's ok.
You won't be able to prepare, have all-round vision for every enemy and poke down for every single teamfight you will ever play out. Do your best using any tricks that you know/have learned and hopefully, you will have loads of fun playing them.
Conclusion and Thank you
Conclusion
Lux is loved by so many people because she is a champion that can not only do tons of damage and has amazing AOE, but also because of her utility in teamfights. Like any other champion, the more you play and the more attention you pay at your damage output, your opponents damage on you with certain skills, farming and positioning, the better you will become at outplaying your enemies.
Have fun, unleash your combo and giggle ❀
- ◦∘○❀○✴★Special Thank You★✴○❀○∘◦-
✦ First of all, thank YOU for taking the time to read this guide. I hope you had a pleasant stay and hopefully you learned something new, no matter how small.
✦Thank you to everyone who has upvoted or commented on the guide, your feedback and support means so much ♡
✦Thank you to jhoijhoi for their amazing mobafire guide! I would have never been able to create this page without their code, so thank you for your selflessness!
For any questions or suggestions/feedback, you can find me at any of the below links. I stream 3 to 4 times/week at 10 am UK time, hope to see you there!
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