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Spells:
Flash
Clarity
Ability Order
Illumination (PASSIVE)
Lux Passive Ability
Introduction
Many people have severe misconceptions as to how Lux is supposed to be played. I have had games with her where my teammates rail on me for hanging far away from the teamfight and not "helping". This is a dangerous attitude to take towards how Lux should be played. This guide will attempt to explain what Lux should do, both in-lane and in a teamfight.
This guide will not explain how to hit moving enemies with skillshots. This comes only with lots of practice.
First and foremostly, Lux is an AP carry, and then a support, in that order. She's not a prime candidate to get tons of wards for, as she needs AP to be effective. Lux is no Janna - a defensively built Lux is next to worthless. Janna's spells are on a short enough base cooldown that she can keep someone nearly permanently slowed and knock up an entire enemy team, so AP is not vital for her. This is unlike Lux, who can slow about half the time and root one or two people every so often - not quite good enough if you are doing negligible damage.
Passive: Illumination

A decent passive, useful from early to lategame. Its uses are threefold: lane harassment, lane pushing/defending, and increasing the damage of your ultimate. From midgame onwards, a single




Q: Light Binding

Like Morgana's

W: Prismatic Barrier

The shielding on this is modest at best early game, but how many times have you survived with 10 hp? Any shield is better than no shield at all, especially when you or a team-mate have been afflicted with

E: Lucent Singularity

Lux's bread and butter, and what makes her unique in my opinion. This spell has an extreme range - although nominally 1100, the AoE of the spell means that this spell can hit units more than 1100 distance away. It passes through creeps, so it's a relatively easy spell to aim as far as skillshots go. Due to its AoE slowing properties, it also makes it easy to set up ganks with this spell, as well as to guarantee a hit when triggering (as the slowed enemy will be less able to flee the zone before it triggers). Finally, it provides vision in where it lands, allowing you to use it as a poor man's Clairvoyance on brushes which seem suspicious. You will find yourself using this spell a lot, in lane harassment, farming, defending, scouting and teamfights.
R: Finales Funkeln
Finales Funkeln
Lux's signature spell. It has extreme (3000!) range. This is longer than the distance between the two mid-lane towers! The damage and AP ratios are decent - what makes this spell shine, apart from the great range, is the short cooldown. At level 3 and max CDR, this spell has a measly cooldown of 24 seconds (!). However, it is not the easiest of spells to aim with on moving targets. While it has a long range, it has a relatively narrow beam path (much thinner than the gigantic arrow that you see when aiming it). As such, if you are not confident with your prediction abilities, you want to fire this on enemies trapped with



+ High damage that scales well into the endgame
+ Good lane control
+
Lucent Singularity can scout Brush
+ Long range
+ Good team synergies with
Light Binding and
Lucent Singularity
+ Can initiate safely with
Light Binding
+ Good zone control in teamfights
+ Clears creep waves quickly lategame
+ Finales Funkeln has a very short cooldown for an ultimate
- Fragile
- Purely AP, and therefore weak against MR stacking teams
- Her long range can work against her when facing a team with a good assassin, as she is usually standing too far from the main fight to be helped (same problem as Dwarven Sniper in DotA)
- No inherent escape
- Poor mobility
- Needs farm to be effective late-game
- Needs AP to be effective, thus cannot effectively itemize for defence
- Reliance on blue buff lategame
- Mana hungry
- All 4 spells are skillshots
- Fairly long cooldowns on her 3 primary spells mean that she may experience short periods of worthlessness during teamfights
+ Good lane control
+

+ Long range
+ Good team synergies with


+ Can initiate safely with

+ Good zone control in teamfights
+ Clears creep waves quickly lategame
+ Finales Funkeln has a very short cooldown for an ultimate
- Fragile
- Purely AP, and therefore weak against MR stacking teams
- Her long range can work against her when facing a team with a good assassin, as she is usually standing too far from the main fight to be helped (same problem as Dwarven Sniper in DotA)
- No inherent escape
- Poor mobility
- Needs farm to be effective late-game
- Needs AP to be effective, thus cannot effectively itemize for defence
- Reliance on blue buff lategame
- Mana hungry
- All 4 spells are skillshots
- Fairly long cooldowns on her 3 primary spells mean that she may experience short periods of worthlessness during teamfights


I take these runes because the extra penetration helps greatly towards increasing the damage on all three of Lux's spells from earlygame to endgame. Lux does not need health if you are playing her correctly, so HP quints are non-optimal.

Lux, generally speaking, has rather poor mana sustainability issues. These will go a long way towards lane sustainability. The scaling runes are taken here because they equal the flat runes at about level 6-7. Unless one is playing at a high Elo, the laning phase is still relevant during this period.

Because you will not be taking

TL;DR Lux doesn't need CDR early, so scaling runes work better on her.
Standard 9/0/21. If you have at least 2 other teammates with mana issues, pick
Insight
instead of
Greed
.
Utility Mastery
is gotten because Lux should have second priority for Golem buff (after the team's jungler).




There's nothing much to say about this. Enemy fleeing out of range?







This may be surprising to some, but from experience, Lux has great mana issues. All of her spells cost a lot of mana, and more importantly, Lux is useless without mana. Even her passive runs off mana indirectly! (you need to hit someone with a spell to apply it) Clarity's purpose is twofold. Firstly, it allows for greater harassment and lane control, as you don't have to be afraid of spamming your spells into brushes to counter brush-juking. Secondly, it allows you regain the critical mana needed to fire off one more spell. Often, I find myself out of mana in crucial situations, like when an enemy is escaping or I am nearly dying. At that instant, a quick Clarity and a

What? No Clairvoyance?

This guide probably needs a teammate to pick Clairvoyance for best effect. I've found that if you don't pick Clarity, you have to play a lot more conservatively in-lane and in fact, one of Lux's 'Pros' (Strong laning phase) becomes an outright Con (Weak laning phase). Lux's mana consumption is one of the highest in the League, and being mana-starved early on cuts off most of her effectiveness. An auto-attacking Lux is outlaned by almost everybody. While it's possible to run Clarity-Clairvoyance, having no Flash just makes me nervous. Of course, if you have a teammate who already picked




These spells have far too short of a range to be safe to pick on Lux. If you're in range to Exhaust or Ignite, you're in range to be killed.
Starting out:



Buy more or less health potions depending on the opposing team's lineup and how comfortable you are with laning in general. A ward is always helpful if the opposing team has a jungler. When the opposing team's solo is about level 5, drop it in the brush leading to your lane. You get

First trip back
Philosopher's Stone


With a Philosopher's stone, your sustain problems should be settled for most of the game. Also, getting this early means the increased GP10 pays off faster. Getting a Mejai's Soulstealer early is also important. For most champions, in a serious game, snowball items are only a good idea if you are already winning. However, properly played, Lux should have the lowest number of deaths on the team, as well as having the highest assists. This is due to her not being near teamfights as well as having no less than four spells at 1000 range which can produce assists (the fourth having 3000 range!). Thus, Mejai's will typically hover around 12+ stacks, a good enough payoff for this item.
After a few fights



Sorcerer's Shoes. Why not


Rabadon's Deathcap is standard issue. Lux needs the AP. Void Staff should always be gotten unless for some strange reason, none of your opponents choose to buy any MR items.
Luxury items


At this stage, which item you get depends on the circumstances. These are just suggested items and you should observe the situation before deciding what to get. For instance, Lich Bane requires you to get into auto-attack range for maximum effectiveness, so make sure you can do so without immediately being gibbed if you are to purchase it. Similarly, Zhonya's is good if your opponents have a habit of going for you in a teamfight (Zhonya's and then Flash away). Many other items work in here as well, hence why this subsection is titled 'Luxury items'. Sell your Philosopher's stone to make room for wards or a sixth item at this stage.
Don't get this


Lux's spells don't have good cooldowns early on. She won't be able to make good use of the passive from

Lux, properly played, should not be taking damage in teamfights. She shouldn't itemize for defence. Furthermore,

What? No defensive items?

Properly played, Lux shouldn't be taking damage in a teamfight. Being 1000 distance away, you can and should be able to flee any fight that turns unexpectedly sour, and you can even do this while attempting to save a teammate, as your spells have a long reach. If you're not at most the second-lowest deaths on the team, you're doing it wrong.
Caveat: Occasionally, when facing certain team compositions, you may be forced to pick a BV. This is rare, however, and you really shouldn't be picking Lux against these lineups in the first place.
Why not rush a Sheen -> Lich Bane?

Lux isn't supposed to go into auto-attack range unless it is safe. Rushing a Sheen->Lich Bane means that a large part of your damage output is going to come from autoattacking between spells. This isn't going to work against a large number of lineups. It will also build the dangerous mentality of constantly staying within auto-attack range during teamfights (and consequently, within spell range of opponents).
Priority is in the following order:
Finales Funkeln>
If you are going to do a gank at level 1, get
Light Binding, as a 2 second bind is generally superior to a 20% slow. Otherwise,
Lucent Singularity is preferable at level 1. It is difficult to reliably hit an enemy with
Light Binding in the laning phase, hence, if you wish to keep up the pressure on an enemy right off the bat, it's easier to use
Lucent Singularity.
Get one level of
Prismatic Barrier at level 5. You never know when it might save someone from an
Ignite.
Finales Funkeln>
>
>
If you are going to do a gank at level 1, get




Get one level of


Early game
With



Remember the ward you bought at the start? Drop it in the brush leading to your lane when mid is level 5 if they have a jungler, and when mid is level 6 if they don't.
Mid Game
Lux should roam around to gather stacks on


Late Game
At this point, you should be using Finales Funkeln whenever possible, except just before a teamfight, as it will, together with


Lux's role in teamfights is unique. She does not go into auto-attack range unless it is safe. Lux is frail, and a prime target for ganks. Ideally, you should always be standing to the rear of your team when engaging in teamfights.
All four of Lux's spells have at least 1000 range. There is a reason for this - abuse it. By stepping into 550 range (auto-attack), you are sacrificing this huge advantage. Triggering
Illumination is not always more important than keeping yourself alive. 95% of your effectiveness is retained from 1000 range as compared to 550 range, so do not sacrifice your life for that 5% from Illumination.
Ignore your teammates if they complain that you don't participate in teamfights. You do not need to run in like a berserker/monkey just because your teammates don't think you're participating! Standing a good distance away, and firing spellcombos off everytime they're off cooldown is the right way to play a Lux. If your spells are all on cooldown in a teamfight (quite possible considering how long the cooldowns are), what good will you do rushing in to auto-attack? It will get you killed and you will have done maybe 50 additional damage to one enemy, congratulations for nothing. If your spells are on cooldown, be patient. Wait far from the frontlines until your spells' cooldowns reset, then throw them in again.
Your spells have 1000+ range - do not throw that advantage away! And also, when your spells are on cooldown, you are useless - don't try to 'help'!
Of course, this doesn't mean you religiously avoid going near the teamfight. Obviously, if it is safe to do so, you go in to auto-attack to trigger
Illumination. But if you're not sure that you can escape after getting into range, it's better to be safe than sorry.
All four of Lux's spells have at least 1000 range. There is a reason for this - abuse it. By stepping into 550 range (auto-attack), you are sacrificing this huge advantage. Triggering

Ignore your teammates if they complain that you don't participate in teamfights. You do not need to run in like a berserker/monkey just because your teammates don't think you're participating! Standing a good distance away, and firing spellcombos off everytime they're off cooldown is the right way to play a Lux. If your spells are all on cooldown in a teamfight (quite possible considering how long the cooldowns are), what good will you do rushing in to auto-attack? It will get you killed and you will have done maybe 50 additional damage to one enemy, congratulations for nothing. If your spells are on cooldown, be patient. Wait far from the frontlines until your spells' cooldowns reset, then throw them in again.
Your spells have 1000+ range - do not throw that advantage away! And also, when your spells are on cooldown, you are useless - don't try to 'help'!
Of course, this doesn't mean you religiously avoid going near the teamfight. Obviously, if it is safe to do so, you go in to auto-attack to trigger

Q: Light Binding

A common trick is to fire Q when there is only one creep between you and your enemy. Some people think they are safe from a Q as long as there is at least one creep between you and them, and for those people, the binding will follow through and hit the champion for half the damage and duration, allowing you to either throw an auto-attack for

E: Lucent Singularity

Lux's auto-attack flies relatively slowly. You can take advantage of this fact to harass a bit more safely. Fire a


This is of particular use because the 0.5-1 seconds of time saved in comparison to attacking after detonation is 0.5-1 second less time for your opponent to react. This gives your harassment a higher chance to land, and less chance that your opponent can retaliate with a ranged spell of their own. This can be tricky to time, but with practice you can get the hang of it.
R: Finales Funkeln
Finales Funkeln
Killsteal Baron/Dragon/Golem/etc with it (from opponents, of course, not your teammates). Or at least attempt to. Also, sometimes, firing it blindly into the jungle when you know an enemy has escaped into it but your team's Clairvoyance is on cooldown doesn't hurt. I have occasionally nabbed kills with this. With the short cooldown on this lategame, it seldom hurts to try.
I make no claims on being an expert in LoL. However, in my opinion, Lux can be viable in Ranked, but she doesn't fare too well against certain lineups (lineups which are mostly tanky, or lineups which focus on isolating team members). Her greatest weakness to me is her vulnerability to being backstabbed by a roamer / stealthed opponent from behind (Evelynn comes to mind). Be very wary of picking Lux if your opponent is known to have a competent Evelynn/Shaco/Twitch. Oracle's is not very likely to be useful if you are caught alone away from the teamfight.
Lux is a great champion. She's not top-tier, but she's a decent champion. However, she takes some getting used to, especially with her unique playstyle that focuses on being as far from the action as possible. This, coupled with the fact that for maximum effectiveness Lux gets practically no defensive items, means that one needs to be very wary of taking damage as Lux. With the upcoming buffs to
Light Binding, we should see her viability increase even further in the near future.
Lux still could do with some improvements, but at levels that aren't the highest levels, she'll do fine.
I don't want to say stuff like "I'm a pro and I owned with this so you will too". To me, these are common sense (which is sadly pretty rare) tips to playing Lux.
I hope you've enjoyed my guide, and don't forget to vote / comment. :)

Lux still could do with some improvements, but at levels that aren't the highest levels, she'll do fine.
I don't want to say stuff like "I'm a pro and I owned with this so you will too". To me, these are common sense (which is sadly pretty rare) tips to playing Lux.
I hope you've enjoyed my guide, and don't forget to vote / comment. :)
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