Aphelios Build Guide by RezoneVerified

How is it going guys! My name is Rezone and I'm a Master Tier Midlane main. I peaked at 270 LP Master Tier this Season and have 4.5 Million Mastery Points on Heimerdinger! I upload gameplays, guides, tips and pretty much any other League of Legends related content you could ever ask for! I was the BEST HEIMERDINGER EUW in Season 7 and I'm best known for inventing the Holy Trinity of Tilt build on Heimerdinger a couple of seasons ago (Banner of Command, ZZ'Rot Portal and Rylai's)! I've also recently competed in TWITCH RIVALS where I played Heimerdinger ADC and came joint first against other streamers such as TFBlade. Aphelios is a surprisingly simple champion once you learn how to play him. He has multiple weapons, making him extremely adaptable to whatever situation he is in, especially when you know how to weapon manage. He has insane utility in his kit, and is extremely fun, and satisfying to play.

FLASH Flash is the best summoner spell in the game, it is your escape tool and engage tool. You can use this to get in range for that last auto attack on an escaping enemy, or to escape from enemies yourself.

HEAL Heal is generally the summoner spell that all ADCs take, giving you extra sustain in lane and can be used for a clutch turn around in a fight. It also grants you extra movement speed, and heals a nearby ally.

TELEPORT Teleport is important for being able to teleport back to lane after recalling, and for being able to help out your team in difficult spots, turning a 3v2 into a 3v3 and potentially turning the fight. It's generally not as popular on ADCs, but can be taken if you're with a champion such as Yuumi, who will generally take Heal for you.

Conqueror

★ Conqueror grants us 2-5 adaptive force for every stack (up to 12 maximum), and heals for 6% of the damage we do when fully maxed. This increases our damage output and helps us to sustain throughout the game. Lethal Tempo is also the second best option for Aphelios.

Triumph

★ Triumph is a fantastic rune, enabling us to secure clutch outplays, by healing after we get a takedown, and also granting an extra 20g - which adds up in the long run.

Legend: Bloodline

★ Legend: Bloodline grants us up to 9% extra lifesteal, which is invaluable on a marksman. Legend: Alacrity is a secondary option for Lethal Tempo.

Coup De Grace

★ Coup de Grace is the go to rune in this column, granting us an extra burst of damage on low health, enemy champions, allowing us to finish off kills.

Nimbus Cloak

★ Nimbus Cloak grants us movement speed and Ghosting for 2 seconds after casting a summoner spell, the higher the cooldown the higher the granted MS (up to 35%). This helps us escape, or catch up to escaping enemies easier.

Gathering Storm

★ Gathering Storm increases our AD the longer the game goes on. An all around great rune for ADCs.

INFINITY EDGE ✦ Infinity Edge If you choose to go the AD route, you can pump out some serious damage with Infinity Edge, cleaving your enemies depending on your weapon and just becoming an insane, heavy damage threat.

IMMORTAL SHIELDBOW ✦ Immortal Shieldbow Immortal Shieldbow is our first choice for mythic item, providing us with AD, AS, Crit Strike Chance, life steal and when we take damage that would take us below 30% health, we gain a shield up to 800 damage, and bonus attack damage for 8s. This makes us a monster with insane survivability.

KRAKEN SLAYER ✦ Kraken Slayer The secondary choice for a mythic item, doing extra bonus true damage on every 3rd attack and granting all other legendary items attack speed. This is a good item for more durable targets.

RUNAAN'S HURRICANE ✦ Runaan's Hurricane This item is fantastic as Aphelios' guns have good on-hit synergy, and Runaan's Hurricane will apply that all enemies cleaved.

MORTAL REMINDER ✦ Mortal Reminder Outside of all the useful stats this item gives us, it also provides grievous wounds which reduces the healing the target receives by 40%, increased up to 60% when the target is below 50% hp. This is extremely useful with all the healing provided in the game, and moreso if they have champions such as Soraka or Yuumi.

PHANTOM DANCER ✦ Phantom Dancer Not necessary a staple for Aphelios any more due to the shield being put on Immortal Shieldbow, but it's still a decent pick up if the enemy team is very mobile and has a lot of dashes.

GUARDIAN ANGEL ✦ Guardian Angel We gain a second life with Guardian Angel, making it extremely useful if you're the sole win condition on the team and are being bursted down every teamfight. You gain armor, and a Stopwatch before completing the item, giving you a single-use stasis.

BLOODTHIRSTER ✦ Bloodthirster You gain AD, and a "blood shield" when your lifesteal overheals you, granting you extra survivability and sustain. Be wary of grievous wounds when taking this item, champions like Kled and Katarina already have it built into their kit.

The Hitman and the Seer (Passive) BONUS AD: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24 BONUS AS: 6 / 12 / 18 / 24 / 30 / 36% BONUS AP: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18%

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 Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle as his main weapon and Severum, the Scythe Pistol in his off-hand, with Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon, Infernum, the Flamethrower, and Crescendum, the Chakram queued in reserve. The queue order can be rearranged based on weapon usage.

MOONLIGHT: Weapons spawn with 50 Moonlight for ammunition, which is consumed on basic attacks or 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.

WEAPON MASTER: Aphelios cannot improve his abilities with skill points. He starts the game with Phase and gains access to Q abilities at level 2. 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 bonus attack damage, bonus attack speed or armor penetration.

The active effect of Aphelios' Q ability varies based on his current main hand weapon. The individual actives do not share a cooldown.

Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle (Q) COST: 1 moonlight

Aphelios gains 100 bonus range while Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle is his main weapon. PRECISION: Enemies damaged by Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle 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 global range. This attack will consume all marks, dealing 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 (based on level) (+ 40% bonus AD) bonus physical damage per mark to the initial target. If Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle is the current off-hand weapon, the empowered attack uses the main weapon instead.

Moonshot (Q) COST: 10 moonlight & 60mana COOLDOWN: 9/8.25/7.5/6.75/6

ACTIVE: Aphelios fires a bolt of energy in a line, dealing 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (based on level) (+ 60% bonus AD) (+ 100% AP) physical damage to the first enemy hit.

Severum, the Scythe Pistol (Q) COST: 1 moonlight

Basic attacks with Severum, the Scythe Pistol don't use projectiles. RESURGENT: Severum, the Scythe Pistol's attacks Heal power heal him for 8% − 25% (based on level) of damage dealt. Healing from Severum, the Scythe Pistol in excess of Aphelios' maximum health is converted into a shield for an amount of up to 10 − 140 (based on level) (+ 6% maximum health), lasting for up to 30 seconds.

Onslaught (Q) COST: 10 moonlight & 60mana COOLDOWN: 10 / 9 / 8s

ACTIVE: For 1.75 seconds, Aphelios gains 20% (+ 10% per 100 AP) 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, the Scythe Pistol and his current off-hand weapon, each dealing 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (based on level) (+ 35% bonus AD) physical damage, 25% on-hit damage and can critically strike. This will consume Moonlight from Severum, the Scythe Pistol regardless of whether the attacks are used.

Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon (Q) COST: 1 moonlight

BINDING: Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon applies a 30% slow that decays over 3.5 seconds.

Binding Eclipse (Q) COST: 10 moonlight & 60mana COOLDOWN: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10s EFFECT RADIUS: GLOBAL

ACTIVE: Aphelios expunges all enemies affected by Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon's slow, dealing 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 (based on level) (+ 35% bonus AD) (+ 70% AP) magic damage and rooting them for 1 second.

Infernum, the Flamethrower (Q) COST: 1 moonlight

INCENDIARY: Infernum, the Flamethrower deals 110% AD physical damage to the target and sprays four firebolts in a cone behind them, each dealing 75 / 100% (based on level) AD physical damage to enemies hit, reduced to 34 / 45% (based on level) AD physical damage against minions. Critical strikes spray eight firebolts over a X% wider cone and deal bonus damage.

Duskwave (Q) COST: 10 moonlight & 60mana COOLDOWN: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6s

ACTIVE: Aphelios unleashes a wave of energy in a cone, dealing 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 (based on level) (+ 80% bonus AD) (+ 70% AP) physical damage to all enemies hit 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.

Crescendum, the Chakram (Q) COST: 1 moonlight SPEED: 600 (+ 75 PER 10% BONUS ATTACK SPEED)

Basic attacks with Crescendum, the Chakram hurl the blade at the target, which lingers for 0.25 seconds before homing back to Aphelios. He is disarmed until he retrieves Crescendum, the Chakram, but the attack timer is reset once caught. ARCING: Whenever Aphelios casts an ability that would require him to throw Crescendum, the Chakram, 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, the Chakram deal 30 / X% AD (based on number of Chakrams) bonus physical damage. The bonus damage from Chakrams can icon critically strike.

Sentry (Q) COST: 10 moonlight & 60mana COOLDOWN: 9 / 8.25 / 7.5 / 6.75 / 6s

ACTIVE: 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 3 health, enemies can attack the sentry with basic attacks, dealing 1 damage per hit. The sentry autonomously attacks the nearest enemy in range with a clone of Aphelios' current off-hand weapon, dealing 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 (based on level) (+ 50% bonus AD) (+ 50% AP) physical damage. The sentry can critically strike and benefits from Aphelios' attack speed and critical strike chance.

Moonlight Vigil (Q) COST: 100 mana COOLDOWN: 120 / 110 / 100

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. Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle: Applies an empowered mark that deals 20 / 45 / 70 (based on level) additional physical damage per mark. Severum, the Scythe Pistol: If at least one enemy is hit, Aphelios heals for 200 / 300 / 400 (based on level) health. Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon: Enemies are slowed by 99% for the same duration. Infernum, the Flamethrower: Attacks splash in a circle instead of a cone, dealing 50 / 100 / 150 (based on level) (+ 40% bonus AD) physical damage instead. Enemies will take damage from overlapping areas. Crescendum, the Chakram: 3 additional spectral chakrams return to Aphelios from the first enemy hit, for a total of 4, on top of those from other enemies hit.

Early game Aphelios starts off with constant poke and harass with Calibrum auto attacks mixed with aggressive Q's. Being able to out range from level 1 is great for establishing momentum in the lane and helping get an early gold advantage. Very few champs can deal with the early aggression especially when combined with that of an unorthodox AP support eg Lux, Heimerdinger, Brand, Zyra! Alongside your Calibrum is your Severum on offhand, this helps keep you afloat in lane without heavily investing yourself into early Life Steal. Adept usage of this can allow you to overheal and out sustain your opposing ADC quite easily with an early Dorans Blade. Note that when you use Severums Q that you gain a significant movement speed boost, this allows for a great gap close or a disengage too. Early game using Severums Q can allow you to heavily trade while re-gening quite a lot of health in the process. Take advantage of your pressure if you achieve level 2 before the other laner.

Once you hit around level 3 or so you'll become a lot more reliant on your Gravitum. This gun is used purely for kiting, stunning and slowing. Aphelios uses this to disengage from ganks or if he gets caught out in a 1v2 scenario. Combining Gravitum Q with Severum Q can allow you to AoE stun and pull of great combos with your jungler or support. The guns attack speed is significantly lower than that of other weapons but with good reason, each auto attack slows and then stacks are consumed as a stun when Q is used. Using Gravitum stun allows an easy unmissable Calibrum Q!

By level 6 you will be balancing all weapons with Infernum and Crescendum now being available. Infernum is primarily used for clearing massive waves of creeps and procing multiple offhands eg, AoE Calibrum Marks, Multiple Chakrams and AoE Gravitum stuns. Crescendum is exceptionally good when getting caught in melee range as the attack speed can be devastating especially when getting multiple Chakram stacks. Crescendum Q is fantastic for helping take towers/objectives or procing other weapons special effects. Your turret can be an AoE monster with Infernum offhand, a vampire lifesteal Sentry with Severum offhand, a Sniper Elite with Calibrum or a great disengage stun machine with Gravitum!


Mid to late game, you've hopefully turned into the hyper carry (we've all seen the videos!) that you're aiming to be. Your damage has the insane potential to one shot the majority of squishies, but - you yourself are also very easy to be assassinated. You must watch your positioning at all times, just like most ADCs.