Embrace The Ethereal

INTRODUCTION

PREPARATION

ITEMIZATION

GAMEPLAY

EXTRAS

Runes

Warding

Synergy

Combos

Welcome to my support guide. If you're a seasoned veteran of the Illuminator or just a casual Light-bringer, I hope this guide will be able to teach you enough to make you "Embrace The Ethereal" or force your enemies to "Fade in the Light".

This guide is set up so it will shift from game knowledge (Runes, Itemization, Summoner Spells, Match-Ups and Synergy(s), as well decision making in all phases of the game) to actual gameplay (abilities, sequences, combos, itemization, item usage, effective roaming, and vision control). It will also chronologically move from before the game to late game with some extra features thrown in at the end.

If you enjoy this guide, make sure to leave me a like on the guide, and a comment about what you enjoyed. If you didn't enjoy the guide, please let me know what you disagree with or any criticism at all as it helps improve my guides! Anyways, hope you enjoy my guide on support ! ♥

Chromuro has been an absolute dream is making my guides the best they can be. He's been with me since my very first guide, and actively making my life easy while I work on the design and writing portion of the guide. Without him, none of the coding you will find in the guide would have happened. Seriously the guy, put up with my perfectionism and coding everything I could think of if possible. Check out his coding lab: "The Coding Lab: How To Make Your Ideas Come To Life".

PsiGuard has been an inspiration for my guides for a long time since the first guide I read on the site was his guide which encouraged me and eventually inspired my work today. Thanks to him I've been able to improve and sharpen my skills. Hope I make you proud!

I would like to extend a special thank you to my Mobafire family; Maintained, nMinus and Jovy who gave me recommendations and opinions on my art and/or guides. Without them, I would continue to be the super indecisive perfectionist that I know that I am and never be able to finish anything. I would like to give credit to Emi and LadyOfClockwork who heavily inspired my visual work.

I want to thank the following who gave me all the tools to succeed and improve as a player and as a support main. Mobalytics, GameLeap LoL Challenger Guides (YouTube Channel), MeNoHaxor and Lohpally. Through my actually short time playing this game, my quest for knowledge and improvement was blossomed and groomed thanks to those resources.

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Sleepy describes themselves as "undeniably eccentric, an individualistic high fashion mindset with a compassionate and nurturing soul" or in other terms, a person living their "authentically extra fantasy life".

"Whoever you feel you are in your heart, be that"

PROS

+ Team-wide shield
+ Long range
+ Versatile Champion
+ High Kill Pressure
+ Great Peel

is a long-ranged control mage so her strengths lie within her ability to control and deny areas with , keep enemies in place with , peel for herself and allies with and make enemies fade in the light with .

is a very versatile champion with the ability to be built in many different fashions, full supportive with , , full damage with and , or even a hybrid of both with and . Even ability maxing is versatile with maxing for poke and harass in the laning phase or for an incredibly large shield.

CONS

- Very Squishy
- Heavy on Positioning
- Skill-shot Reliant
- Immobile
- High Mana Costs

while she has high damage and heavy poke, she is very squishy and immobile with the second-lowest base armor in the game. She typically makes up for this fault with an incredibly high range, but positioning and vision control is extremely important to not get caught out and picked off.

With such a long-range comes with heavy mana costs in her primary poking tool so mana management is key when using rune set-ups like where mana is not as available. Her mana issues can be fixed by taking and even for extra mana sustain. Lux is skill shot reliant so not hitting a can be life and death, so throwing any ability out carelessly is a no go.

GUARDIAN / AFTERSHOCK

provides a massive shield that can save your life as well as an ally's life against burst damage making it a consistent pick up against heavy burst lanes and against assassins who'll want to dive your carries.

NIMBUS CLOAK

provides with what she doesn't have mobility. Whenever a summoner spell-like or is used, you will give movement speed which is much-needed mobility for someone like Lux.

SHIELD BASH

, namely an underrated rune empowers Lux's survivability by giving her bonus magic resist and armor whenever she uses her shield including an empowered auto-attack. This is really useful during the laning phase, as you'll take minimal damage while dishing out a decent amount of damage.

TRANSCENDENCE

will provide 5 ability haste at level 5 and at level 8, adding up to a total of 10 ability haste. On champion takedown, reduce the cooldowns of basic spells by 20%. Having as much ability haste on a support is always welcomed, Transcendence will be especially powerful in team-fights allowing you to have your spells up very frequently.

BONE PLATING

is yet another increased survivability tool that is useful on Lux as it is great at reducing poke and AOE damage during laning phase or team fights, often enough the rune can make a life and death difference keeping you alive where else you might have died without the rune.

Offensive:
8 Ability Haste

Flex:
9 Adaptive Force

Defensive:
6 Armor

REVITALIZE

Since you are taking as your main rune you will be maxing first, for max utility for your team. focuses more power into your shields and heals from , and during a teamfight, the 15% extra shielding and healing on allies below 40% can mean life or death, especially if you can shield your whole team.

STRONG VS:

ARCANE COMET

synergizes extremely well with Lux's long-range poke from Lucent Singularity as she can poke safely while being able to consistently harass the enemy with Comet. Her abilities besides her ultimate Final Spark are either root or slow, so Comet should in retrospect always successfully hit as long as the opponent doesn't have a mobility ability.

MAGICAL FOOTWEAR

gives you free tier one boots allowing you to put the 300 gold you would of spend on purchasing to getting your core items quicker. Your lost chapter item of choice can cost you up to 3200 which is quite expensive on a support budget so Free Boots helps us. can be taken for more mana/health sustain during the laning phase.

MANAFLOW BAND

is the butter to a mage's biscuit as with any mage, they have mana issues and Lux's role as a support is to harass the enemy to deny them farm and ultimately knock them out of lane. The other runes in this slot don't really benefit her more than needing mana, though can be taken against double AP bot.

COSMIC INSIGHT

provides you access to having both summoner spells as well as item haste including both passive and actives on items. This is especially potent on summoners spells like and that have important uses as well as items like allowing you more up-time on its passive.

TRANSCENDENCE

will provide 5 ability haste at level 5 and at level 8, adding up to a total of 10 ability haste. On champion takedown, reduce the cooldowns of basic spells by 20%. Having as much ability haste on a support is always welcomed, Transcendence will be especially powerful in team-fights allowing you to have your spells up very frequently.

Offensive:
8 Ability Haste

Flex:
9 Adaptive Force

Defensive:
6 Armor

GATHERING STORM

is an excellent rune for scaling and will provide a hefty amount of ability power in the mid to late game which benefits greatly. Other option, is really strong rune on any support champion that wants to knock the other laners out of lane as it ramps up your damage a reasonable amount.

STRONG VS:

FLASH

NOT TODAY SATAN!

is a core spell on a majority of champions in the game and is another name off that list. Due to the sheer amount of flexibility, by allowing you to dodge skill-shots, hop walls, escape death and ultimately survive. This summoners spell also opens up an extra possibility to make a play or secure a kill. Always, Always take Flash every game.

BARRIER

OH YOU WANTED ME DEAD! HA!

is considered a greedy or selfish pick as it doesn't provide any form of lane pressure or protective purpose for an ally. However, Barrier is a stable for outside of the Aftershock set-up to give her more survivability where she normally doesn't have it. Take it on games when not running or against heavy burst damage.

IGNITE

KILL SECURED!

is an aggressive summoner spell and will allow you to finish off your enemies easier and secure kills by taking away the last bit of HP they have. It's considered the bread and butter summoner spell for mid and support. Take when up against sustain champions such as or to prevent them from being able to save an ally due to the greavious wounds.

EXHAUST

ASSASSIN REPELLENT SPRAY!

is a defensive summoners spell that is extremely potent against assassins such as , or or Skirmishers such as , or to reduce their incoming damage to possibly save yourself or an ally's life. The spell can be used aggressively to keep the an crucial enemy carry/assassin at bay, or keeping an key target from escaping.

's damaging spells charge the target with energy for 6 seconds. Lux's next attack ignites the energy, dealing 18-190 (at levels 1-18) (+20% of ability power) magic damage to the target.

's passive is called and is activated by Lux whenever she hits one of her damaging spells. The passive is pretty self-explanatory and doesn't require that much thought. The best way to utilize the passive is through her primary trading combo: Q (), E - Do not pop (), auto-attack, pop E, auto-attack. This increases her overall damage output. It's also potent in her main kill combo. Q, E - Do not pop, R (), pop E.

I highly recommend not running at the enemy just to proc your passive as you likely take too much damage to make it worthwhile. A quick trading pattern in lane to make the most out your passive without putting yourself in major risk is by throwing out , auto-attacking and popping the spell before the auto-attack hits the target.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Useful Tips

To maximize your damage output with you passive, auto-attack between spells to ensure you proc the passive.
Taking Aftershock while allow you to minimize the amount of damage you take so being able to proc your passive is much easier versus the Arcane Comet set-up.

Things to note

Don't go running at the enemy to proc the passive, it'll usually end with you taking chunks of damage or getting all-ined because you're extremely squishy.

releases a sphere of light that immobilizes and deals 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to up to two enemy units for 2 seconds.

is Lux's hard crowd control, a deadly tool that she uses to catch people out and pick off key targets with. When an enemy is hit by Light Binding, they are open to the full barrage of damage that Lux and her allies can apply. Uniquely, Light Binding roots up to two enemies and with Lux's full combo can potentially kill or at the very least endanger the lives of two enemies.

is a great tool for locking enemy champions while they get hit with any and every spell thrown at them. The ability can be an easy set-up for chain cc from your such as 's , 's or 's to name a few.

The best way to utilize is being in a brush that the enemy has no vision in and waiting for a squishy/key target or hitting enemies over the walls that you have vision of. Something to keep in mind when using Lux's abilities is that it has a cast time and it doesn’t have the fastest missile speed. This means that when you are trying to Bind moving enemy(s), you will have to aim ahead of them slightly in order to compensate for the travel time.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Useful Tips

A special trick is using Flash during Light Binding's casting animation will result in the projectile fired in the position that you are flashing into. This will is more likely to catch your enemies off guard as they typically won't have time to react.
During the laning phase, take control of the bush as soon as possible to begin applying pressure. Standing in brush and shooting out Light Binding will increase the chance it hits due to enemies not knowing where you are.
Use Light Binding during the animation of your opponents attack such Ezreal's Mystic Shot which temporarily roots him in place. You'll more than likely guaranteed a successful binding depending on the distance the spell was cast.
The ability is a great tool to make picks in invades and even counter invades from the enemy. Always wait to put your first ability point till you know what'll happen.

Things to note

This is Lux's hard crowd control, don't throw the ability out carelessly. Once it's gone, you are left vulnerable to ganks and all ins. It's better to withhold the ability as the threat of the ability is often enough to scare the enemy.
Hitting a Light Binding is crucial to saving yourself or your ally's life, so holding Binding till the enemy is at a nearly unmissable range should ensure the binding hits.

throws her wand to a target location and back, bending the light around herself and any friendly Champions it touches, protecting them from 45 / 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 (+35% of ability power) damage for 2.5 seconds.

After reaching maximum range, the wand returns to Lux, shielding herself and any friendly champion it touches for the same amount again. The second shield stacks with the first shield while also refreshing the shield duration.

is your primary peeling and utility spell. The spell is best used in small areas as the shield is significantly more likely to hit most if not all your teammates if positioned well.

The shield is utilized best with shielding/healing items such as which grants the shield movement speed/AP and as it is able to apply it's effects up to your whole team. At 45% cool-down, the shield almost lasts long enough for it to come off cool-down.

synergizes extremely well with as you can proc the rune twice; initial shield and if the shield breaks before it has returned. The shield should be used to minimize the most amount of damage while trading and in team fights to ensure you and your allies come out on top.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Useful Tips

Prismatic Barrier is best utilized before taking incoming damage to negate the most amount of damage possible.
The shield is extremely strong in the Aftershock set-up as you will be able to negate a signficant amount of damage while being able to deal damage with Shield Bash.
During teamfights try to line yourself up to hit as many teammates as possible with Prismatic Barrier, this is extremely potent in small areas and in combination with Ardent Censer.

Things to note

Prismatic Barrier has a long cool-down in the early stages of the game, so be mindful to play safe until it's backed up as you'll lack protection for yourself and your ADC.
As mentioned above, you can proc Shield Bash twice by auto-attacking at the intial shield and after the shield IF the shield breaks before it has returned.
In the Arcane Comet set-up you're not building shield or maxing the shield till second, so the shield will be significantly weaker.

Fires an anomaly of twisted light to an area, which slows nearby enemies by 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45% and .25 seconds while out of the zone. Zone lasts 5 seconds. Lux can detonate it to deal 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to enemies in the area of effect.

Enemies damaged by the singularity are slowed by 20 / 24 / 28 / 32 / 36% for 1 second. Reveals the area while in flight and while stopped. Displays a cooldown timer until the singularity automatically detonates. Can be re-cast in flight to detonate on arrival.

serves as your secondary crowd control spell, secondary peeling, zoning, and poking spell. The spell is excellent laning tool maxed first in poke/harassment heavy rune-sets up such as where you want to harass and force the enemy laners out of lane.

Outside of the laning phase, serves as your scouting tool as it provides vision so use it when warding to avoid walking into the fog of war and ultimately getting picked off. It also serves as an amazing zoning tool as it slows during and after it's been activated.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Useful Tips

Best way to utilize it during the laning phase as a poke tool, is to throw it where you predict they will walk. Like going up to last hit a minion.
Lucent Singularity while slow all targets within it's radius, so withholding it while running away then poping it just as they are about to leave the radius can act as a great peeling tool as it slows during and after it's exploded.
Delay a team fight for as long as possible while you keep poking and chipping away at the enemy's health bar with this spell.

Things to note

Be mindful when using this ability, despite it being on a reasonably low cool-down the mana costs of Lucent Singularity can drain Lux's mana relatively quickly in the early game. This is not much of an issue by taking Manaflow Band and Biscuit Delivery/ Presence of Mind.
The main issue with leveling this ability is you can and more than likely will take the farm from your Marksman and push lane at the wrong times. Keep in mind the risk of stealing farm is more likely.

After gathering energy for a half second, fires a beam of light that deals 300 / 400 / 500 (+100% of ability power) damage to all targets in the area and reveals it. It ignites and refreshes Lux's Illumination debuff if it hits enemies already afflicted.

is 's bread and butter spell and her primary playmaking ability. In damage builds, you will utilize this spell extremely well as it will do a significant amount of damage especially making picks with your kill combo. In defensive set-ups, the damage from your ultimate is admittedly laughable as you aren't building much damage and no magic penetration. The best way to utilize this spell in utility builds is as a clean-up tool, snipping low-health enemies who attempt to getaway.

Level six and onwards makes 's kill potential extremely high due to the high damage and extremely low cool-down that has. In damage set-ups, the ultimate kill combo is, Q, E (Do Not Pop), R, E (pop). In most situations, the damage should be enough based on items built by yourself and the enemy champion.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Useful Tips

Final Spark has a extremely long range so you have the ability to potential snip low health enemies who you cannot reach normally (ex: backing away, under tower, etc).
Final Spark has a extremely low cool-down espcially after getting cool-down reduction so you are given the tool to make more plays.
Lux's kill combo is Q, E (do not pop), R, E (pop). In damage builds, this should be enough to kill any squishy champion.

Things to note

While casting Final Spark, Lux cannot move (unless you have Flash) so be mindful of your positioning when using it as you can be killed before it finishes casting.
Lux is extremely squishy so missing this ability can often mean death as you loss your primary kill pressure.

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Q

W

E

W

R

W

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W

E

R

E

Q

R

Q

#1. Final Spark
6 / 11 / 16
#2. Prismatic Barrier
1 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 9
#3. Lucent Singularity
3 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18
#4. Light Binding
2 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 13

#1. Final Spark
6 / 11 / 16
#2. Lucent Singularity
1 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 9
#3. Prismatic Barrier
3 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 13
#4. Light Binding
2 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18

For the most part prior to the rise of maxing first was the most optimal way to go as it provided you the upmost harassment and poke during the laning phase. It's still most optimal when going where you have the mana to do so.

Full utility with /, maxes W - first by level 9 as you'll reduce the cool-down to 10 seconds (not including cool-down reduction) as well as maximum shielding power. This set-up is extremely potent during the laning phase you'll take little damage thanks to your shield while being able to harass opponents in coordination with which can proc on both halves of your shield (if the shield broke before returning). I recommend taking at level four as its mana cost is extremely high and you aren't harassing in comparison to the poke set-up which I will get more into in a moment. Taking your first point into will allow you to out trade most champions level 1 by taking minimum damage and procing .

As for the Poke/Harassment set-up , you'll want to max by level 9, by level 13 and by level 18. As mentioned earlier, maxing E - first will allow you to widdle down your opponents to set them up for all-ins or ganks from your jungler. It's extremely potent with your kill combo as it will usually provide you with enough damage to one-shot a squishy early game. I recommend waiting to put any points until it's been decided if you're being invaded or invading as you'll want to take for it.

As with a majority of champions, put points into your ultimate whenever possible, at levels 6, 11, and 16.

One of the most common mistakes players make especially support players, is they build exactly the same every single game. Every game is different while you will build your core items, the rest of your build is determined per game. One thing to note is do not build completely based on what lane you're facing. Build based on the entire team, not just your bottom laners. Here are a few examples of standard builds and situational builds I use for Lux.

UTILITY BUILD EXAMPLES

	The Standard Build.
	The Enage Build.
	The Build vs Heavy AP/CC.

DAMAGE BUILD EXAMPLES

	The Standard Glasscannon Build.
	The Build vs Assassins/Heavy AD.
	The Build vs Heavy AP.

The general rule of thumb is that every game will be different so you won't always go for the same build path. In the section below, you'll find the build paths for different situations. Remember that there are times that you can't afford your items and that's completely okay. Get your expensive stuff when you are able to, support is on welfare after all!

STANDARD START - RECOMMENDED

This is the standard aggressive support starting build; , two s, and an . I recommend taking this start if you're running as the goal is to poke and harass as much as possible in laning phase. If you're a seasoned support player as well if you're confident in your ability to actively poke and harass for your support quest take as your starting support item.

ALTERNATIVE START

The Alternative defensive start build path, is best against hyper-aggressive bots lanes such as , , , , / where being able to harass freely isn't always possible without putting yourself in danger. You'll take when into hard match-ups where being aggressive can be detrimental and lead to your death. Take this whenever you run / as your primary focus is to survive laning phase and get to mid-game/teamfights.

STANDARD BUILD PATH

, a and costs a total of 885 gold. This set-up provides early AP as well as sustain so you are able to trade more favorably to create a lead. If you are running the / set-up opting for a more Enchanter playstyle, you may want to consider purchasing and a Control Ward if you have 875 gold. If you are going the set-up, I recommend opting for the boots rush path.

BOOTS RUSH BUILDPATH

Rushing can really help you get back to lane quicker, be able to get into better positions to hit your spells and avoid them as well as chase down enemies who try to escape you. This is especially good in the damage build as you rush for magic penetration or even in the utility side for (strong roaming and catch potential) or (rushing as much ability haste as possible early).

SNOWBALL BUILDPATH

It's not always necessary to rush if you're doing well and want to pick up a to snowball your lead by ramping up your early game damage. is honestly a really strong item on a support as you can easily stack it with assists and gain early game damage pressure. I highly recommend this build path if you're confident in your ability and are looking to force fights with your weaker enemy laners.

Core Items are items that are crucial to your build as you should focus on building them almost every game as soon as possible. However, occasionally you may need to swap the item out or delay the completion of an item if the situation calls for it. For example, you may need to swap Imperial Mandate for a different mythic item like Locket of the Iron Solari against burst/assassins or Shurelya's Battlesong when you need engage. In another situation, you may need to swap your core boot for a defensive version or buy Oblivion Orb if you need anti-heal.

• or are alternating your options here. Lucidity is great when you want to get as much ability haste as possible. will provide with more mobility to get s off on enemies and ward easier.

• For a majority of games, will be the best mythic item for as it provides everything she needs; ability power, mana regeneration, health, and 20 ability haste as well as a passive that heals the lowest health nearby ally every few seconds while in combat. This item provides a hefty amount of utility and applies items like and .

• is a extremely versatile item that can be build every single game in comparison to it's counterpart . The item provides movement speed which is an invaluable stat, especially in high elo. On top of that, the AP it provides is always useful as most champions have AP ratios on their spells, making the item perfect for every game option.

• gives 18 early magic penetration that will allow to apply more pressure and deal significantly more damage to potentially snowball an early lead. Rushing as soon as possible will give more burst potential and allow you to position yourself much easier to avoid skill shots and land more s.

• is the best option for AP/Damage support, as it provides everything she needs in terms of damage at a price of 2700 while also allowing her to simultaneously support her teammates as well. The mythics that were designed for mages; , , and are far too expensive for a support budget.

• when purchased provides 70 ability power, 200 health, 20 ability haste, and a passive that grants 20 additional ability haste and bonus movement speed once you reach the threshold of 160 AP. The movement speed alone is an invaluable stat on a champion with no mobility like .

Situational items are items you buy whenever the situation calls for that isn't one of the core items. In League of Legends, no game will require the same items over and over again because every situation will be different and therefore they're called situational. It's always recommended to take an item depending on what situation you're in.

SNOWBALLING

VS. HEAVY CC/AP

ANTI-HEAL

• is a strong snowballing item that is actually good on a support due to them being able to easily stack it. However, I find that people (rather just me) just start inting and quickly make the item not worth the 1400 gold spent. I recommend buying and not upgrading unless you're feeling confident.

• offers a whopping 20% healing and shielding power, 15, ability haste, 50 magic resist, mana regeneration and an active item that can safe the life of your carry or another ally by removing the crowd control and healing them. Consider picking it up when against heavy crowd control or AP compositions.

• is the support version of that provides ability haste and mana regeneration instead of more ability power and health. Purchase early if up against healers like or to shut down life-steal. Upgrade it into Chemtech if up against heavy healing, or champions like Vladimir.

RABADON'S SUPPORTCAP

TEAM-FIGHT POWER

ENGAGE

• is 's bread and butter item and a significant power spike regardless if you're building utility or damage. The great thing about this is it will boost your shields as it has a 30% AP scaling and gives you a hefty amount of AP to deal the utmost amount of damage. Best to purchase the item after you have your core items, usually the 5th item.

• is a great utility item to take on any support as it's extremely cheap, can heal the whole team and can be used from a distance. It's best used during a team fight as it will likely heal most of your teammates and damage the enemy at the same time. The downside is often teammates will run away from the heal, which quickly makes it hard to use.

• is an mythic that is an amazing engage tool and a disengage emergency button if needed. The item is extremely potent when up against melee ranged champions (ex: , , ) who need to get close in order to be effective. The item when used empowers all nearby allies next 3 attacks with bonus damage making it best used when engaging.

EMPOWER CARRIES

BUFF LINKED ALLY

VS. MAGIC RESIST STACKING

• is best picked up when you have an AD carry crucial to your win condition or team compositions with heavy auto attackers. The item is amazing with on-hit champions like , and , as well as champs who purchase and . This item's effect can be easily kept up by Moonstone.

• is picked up for two reasons; you need the armor against heavy ad comps and you have a single ally you want to empower. This item is also great if you need to lock down and protect your carries, allowing you to kill key targets like assassins who need to jump on your carries in order to win team-fights like , , .

• is best utilized on damage builds to be able to make the most amount of use out of this item. The item is should be bought when the enemy is picking up magic resist () rather than just one champion unless it's a key target such as the ADC. Consider picking up if the enemy starts picking up some magic resist but not enough to buy the full item.

Defensive Items like Situational items are items that should be bought when up against certain champions or team compositions. When up against Heavy AD and Assassins purchasing Zhonya's Hourglass will provide you with defensive stats and an active to save your life. Another example is heavy AP/CC teams, purchasing Mercury's Treads and/or Banshee's Veil is optimal.

BANSHEE'S VEIL

SORRY NOT INTERESTED IN HOOKERS

is a direct counter to heavy ability power based team compositions especially to champions who rely on getting picks to get a snowball effect going (ex: , , , ) as the will block their primary crowd control or intial burst damage.

LOCKET OF THE IRON SOLARI

MO SHIELDS MO PROBLEMS

is a mythic item that when activated gives an decaying shield to all nearby allies, as well as 5 bonus armor and magic resist to nearby allies. This item should be purchased in place of other mythic items against assassins and heavy burst compositions, as the resistances and shield will help you and your allies survive against their burst.

MERCURY'S TREADS

vs. HEAVY CROWD CONTROL/AP

is defensive boots choice when up against heavy AP and especially teams with crowd control. These boots are primarily taken for the tenacity which can often mean life or death where else you couldn't have that chance with other boots. I highly recommend picking up these boots when up against champions like , , who have considerably long crowd control lock-down

NINJA TABI

vs. HEAVY AD/AUTO ATTACKERS COMPS

is a great defensive boot choice when up against team compositions that contain heavy attack damage and hyper carry champions such as , , , and . These are the most situational boots and often skipped over for core boots, usually for a instead.

ZHONYA'S HOURGLASS

vs. AD ASSASSINS/BEING FOCUSED

is without a doubt the best defensive item for a support as it's active puts you in stasis which makes you invurnerable and untargetable for 2.5 seconds which is amazing against assassins such as , and allowing you to survive their burst. You also get the stasis effect with which other defensive items don't have. The item is effected by the rune , which gives you a free stopwatch.

Before we jump into gameplay with specifically, we need to cover arguably the most important aspect of League of Legends, Macro Play. Macro is extremely significant to gameplay as proper and optimal Macro can and will be the key to winning games. The question is what exactly is Macro? Macro is the art in which you take the information you receive about the game (before and during the game) to force your win conditions over the enemy by taking and utilizing your advantages across the map. Macro is based on your game knowledge, awareness, and decision making that ties into team play.

"I can't wait to get started."

If you've made it this far it's more than likely dark outside and you need to turn on the light. See what I did there? Haha, I'm funny. I'm so lonely. Previously we covered Items, Summoners Spells, Abilities, Sequence, and Itemization, now it's time to discuss gameplay.

We will be discussing Laning Phase; Lane Control, Harassing and Zoning, Trading and All-Ins, Dealing with Ganks, and Roaming which are all important things every player especially an support should know by heart.

"Tomorrow is a twinkle, but today is a shining promise."

Lane Control

Harassing and Zoning

Trading and All-Ins

Ganks

Roaming

One of the most complicated and hard aspects of Macro is Lane Control a.k.a Wave Manipulation. The average player sees League of Legends as a game just against Champions when in reality it's actually against Champions AND Minions. With optimal Minion Manipulation, the game becomes like chess you control where fights happen.

"Wave manipulation is the skillful and calculated controlling of minion waves to fit your desired win condition or course of action in the next time frame of your choice. With proper lane manipulation you will drastically improve as a player in a wide variety of situations because you can control matchups, zone, set up jungle ganks, control objective pressure, etc - all of which allow you to extend leads. Sometimes, you may only be able to deny one minion, but one minion at a time adds up rather quickly which may result in the difference between being level 5 or being level 6, a turret, etc." - Tj “Command Attack” Bjorklund.

Fast Pushing is where you aim to create a large wave that will push very quickly to create an instant map pressure by killing the melee minions in a wave to deny experience and gold to the enemy laners. Slow pushing is killing the enemy caster minions to make sure the enemy minion wave is doing less damage to your own minion wave which in the process makes your own minion wave do more damage to theirs. The goal is to make a large wave of your minions' build-up that will cause pressure and eventually crash into the enemy turret. Freezing is the act of keeping the wave by your tower without it crashing. You can accomplish the this by thinning the wave, last hitting a minion at the very last possible second, tanking, or pulling minions away. Freezing can also refer to the lack of hitting a minion in order to create a wave-power differential.

"Cold calculation is the key to victory"

WHEN TO FAST PUSH

BACK TO LANING PHASE

Getting level advantage. One of the most important things to do in the laning phase is to get level two as soon as possible. This is important as getting a level advantage over your opponents allows you to make very aggressive plays and denies the enemy the opportunity to play aggressive regardless of what support you are. This also implies to getting level six first.
The enemy laners recalled If you've forced your enemy laners to base fast pushing the wave to the tower will help you extend your lead by getting tower platings and denying them experience and gold at the same time.
Your jungler wants to execute a dive. Executing a dive goes both ways as you can call for a dive or your jungler. Remember to be the one who begins a dive to soak up tower shots for your allies.
You want to Roam to establish Vision or Gank. Roaming is an important aspect as a support while Lux is not a traditional roaming support. Roam to establish vision to prevent ganks, flanks, around objectives, and deny vision as well.
The Enemy is across the map. If your enemy laners (or enemy team in general) are across the map, hard push the wave towards the turret. In the process, you'll create map pressure and take an objective to push and possibly advance an lead.

WHEN TO SLOW PUSH

BACK TO LANING PHASE

To Harass or Siege Towers. By slowing pushing you begin to build up larger and larger waves which makes harassing and especially seiging towers more potent. This type is mostly used after laning phase in comparison to Fast Pushing.
To Recall, Ward, or Roam. By creating a larger wave you cause much more pressure than fast pushing, which opens up many options to either recall or roam to gank or ward. The enemy will be forced to answer the wave and cannot stop your roam.
Setting up a play across the map. Another mid to late game orientented situation as you'll usually look to set-up the wave to cause pressure to force the enemy to deal with the waves allowing you to make picks and take objectives.

WHEN TO FREEZE

BACK TO LANING PHASE

Deny the enemy from experience and gold. Denying your enemy especially your laners from as much experience and gold as possible can set them back a resonable amount while being in a safe position.
Pressured by the enemy jungler to overextend. With no vision around the area looking to freeze the minion wave by your tower can offer a bit of protection until you are able to reestablish vision.
Enemy laners based and the wave is pushing towards your tower. This is an alternative to pushing the wave toward the enemy tower to base method as it also ties into denying the enemy experience and gold.
Holding the wave for your ally. The method is to stand infront of the minion wave to prevent it from going to your tower, only last hitting minions so they don't go to waste.

Harassing is where you aim to use your spells and auto-attacks to wear down the enemy's health bar in order to obtain kill pressure, deny them experience and/or gold, force them out of lane and ultimately set-up an all-in. The concept is to discourage the enemy ADC from last-hitting to deny them gold because they will be too afraid of walking up and taking damage from you.

Depending on what rune set-up is chosen will determine how will harass. In the poke-harassment set-up, Lux does an excellent job at harassing due to her long-ranged spells primarily which can hit more than one enemy at a time. Look to harass whenever you have Comet, , and up to have optimal damage. As for / set-up, use as a engage, followed by to safety proc , (if you took Domination secondary) and . The barrier and your runes will soak up any damage you take while still allowing you to deal out great harassment.

As mentioned earlier, consistent and efficient harassment can push the enemy laners out of lane to deny them gold and experience which is known as . Zoning is also known for preventing and keeping enemies from safely reaching an area usually to assist their allies in fights or rather force poor positioning which is great for making picks. Best times to zone are when you have level advantage or when you harassed them enough they risk being all-ined, you can walk up to zone the enemy bot lane from their minion as you have kill pressure.

"By the time you've heard the thunder, it's too late."

WHEN TO ZONE

BACK TO LANING PHASE

When you have level advantage. In the bot lane, you always want to push for level two as soon as possible when you get to lane. Having level two first allows you to immediately create pressure as your kill threat is much higher due to have two spells versus your enemies single spell. The kill pressure usually causes them to back off, but walking up usually in the bush near by will force the enemy to back away or risk being killed.
They are at low health and you are healthy. When you efficiently harass them to the point they will be afraid to walk up to avoid being all-ined, look to walk up into the bush or past the minion wave towards them as they will be forced to back off to avoid potential all-ins.

Trading is the exchange of health, mana, and cool-downs between two champions, in order to gain kill pressure on them, to either burn summoner spells, secure a kill or force them out of lane. When trading you aim to deal more damage to the enemy than you receive or otherwise, it's a poor trade as the enemy will gain kill pressure.

All-Ining is where you aim to kill the enemy as extended trading usually leads to all-ins. All-Ining usually happens when one of the following conditions is met; level advantage, enemy's crucial spells and/or summoner spells are unavailable, enemies are low after harassing and/or trading, etc.

's / set-up is extremely good at trading and all-ining as she is extremely tanky due to the pure amount of defensive runes and her shield . When looking to trade and potential all-ining, hitting a will activate to soak up any damage you take while you dish out damage with your empowered auto-attack(s) thanks to (It will only proc twice if you've auto before it returns and the shield breaks before returning).

As for the set-up, Lux is very squishy and more reliant on hitting her skill-shots, however, she will dish out more damage due to maxing and her runes. If you've taken (I recommend it) it can soak up a lot of damage in conjunction with your shield so while you aren't super tanky, you still come out on top in most if not all trades/all-ins if played correctly.

"This brings me no joy."

WHEN TO TRADE/ALL-IN

BACK TO LANING PHASE

When you have level advantage. This is mentioned so many times throughout the Gameplay section. Gaining a level advantage is extremely important and will allow you to make plays as well as deny the enemy from being able to play aggressivly.
You came out on top of a trade. As mentioned above, when trading you want to always come out on top of the trades. If you are successful in this, looking to all-in someone can force out summoners spells or even secure a early kill.
Crucial Spells are unavailable This goes both ways for trading and all-ining. Pay closely attention to the enemy to see if you can force out spells, once spells like Nami's Aqua Prison, Zyra's Grasping Roots or summoner spells such as Flash are down as their kill pressure is signficantly lower.
Your Jungler is ganking/Teammate Teleport Play If your jungler is ganking or your Top/Mid Laner is wanting to make a Teleport play, it becomes considerably favored to your lane as it's a 3v2 situation, so be prepared and act fast as you can force out summoners or get a kill to snowball a lead with.

Ganking is where your jungler or the enemy's jungler comes into your lane to all-in usually to secure a kill to get their laners or themselves ahead. They normally come when the enemy is pushed very far up so the enemy has a lower chance of escaping. When being ganked, it's important to land to prevent the person ganking to do anything significant, this also applies when you are having a teammate gank since locking the enemy down can result in an easy kill. As a Support, you must always be aware of your surroundings as ganks can happen at any time, especially if you're pushing a tower.

Counterganking is when an ally/enemy ganks the lane that's already being ganked to make the odds even or prevent their team from falling behind. If ganked, it's important to have proper communication with your jungler to set up a counter gank so your lane can stay ahead/catch up. In order to prevent being counterganked, set-up vision in order to see it coming and zone off the enemy jungler if possible.

Tower Diving is when the enemy or your team wants to engage low healthed or outnumbered enemies under their turret. When your team is looking to tower dive the enemy as a support you must be the one to begin the dive in order to tank tower shots so your allies can dive. Stand near the end of range until you are too low, this requires coordination and great timing. As for dealing with ganks, asking for assistance from allies or retreating is the best course of action to avoid being towered dived.

"So beautiful they forget to run."

SETTING UP GANKS

BACK TO LANING PHASE

Clear Vision Keep track of when and where enemies places their wards and if they have placed a Control Ward. In order to have ganks even happen properly is to clear out wards so the enemy laners are unable to see your jungler coming.
Burn Summoner Spells As a support you have the tools for setting up your team for success. Sometimes you'll need to burn Flash and snare with Light Binding to secure kills. (Most commonly used if your jungler is coming through the bushes in the lane)
Notify your team of your laners lack of summoners Anytime you and/or your ally are able to force out summoners spells from the enemy always, always PING it. Important information like this can potentially set-up plays especially ganks when Flash is down.

PREVENTING GANKS/TOWER DIVES

BACK TO LANING PHASE

Vision is Key Soon you will be learning about vision, why it's needed and why it's important. Having proper vision management for one can save your life and your allies as it will give you information to avoid and discourage ganks.
Saving your spells Regardless if your being ganked or towered dive, saving your spells and not throwing them out carelessly can and will save your life. Light Binding is your only hard crowd control, so hitting it is crucical. Wait till the gap is getting thinner as hitting the spell will be easier in the meantime using Lucent Singularity to zone off other enemies will lead to success.
Retreating when low healthed The best thing one can do to avoid ganks especially being towered dive is to just not be there. If you or your ally are low healthed and the enemy is healthy, more than likely you will get towered dive. Don't stay if you are too low.

At its core, Roaming is essentially moving around the map to get vision around the river, enemy jungle or objectives, scouting for the enemy jungler, assisting allied laners and catching out and picking off enemies. While it seems simple on paper, it's far more complicated than it seems. Knowing when the best times to roam and making the most efficient use of your time separates the good supports from the mediocre supports.

The best time to roam is when the following conditions are met; ADC has Recalled, you are pushed to the enemy's tower, and to counter the enemy support's roam. While trailing the enemy support isn't as important as the other conditions, it can prevent and deny an effective roam by the enemy support. However, you can choose to stay in lane and punish the enemy support for roaming by harassing and zoning the enemy ADC from gold and experience. More commonly you should look to roam whenever you are pushed against the enemy tower or your ADC has recalled as you'll have at least 15 seconds (30 maximum) to sweep for wards and plant your own vision around the river, enemy jungle or .

As for the best pathing for roaming, after recalling traveling through your jungle down to the river gives you more options versus simply walking down your lane, you can invade the enemy jungle with your own jungler, look to walk mid-lane to possibly make a pick, take with your jungler or simply walk back to lane.

"We began in the dark, we end in the dark."

WHEN TO ROAM

BACK TO LANING PHASE

Your ADC will be safe for the next 30 seconds. One of the biggest mistakes support players make is roaming at a really bad time. Roaming when you are pushed up against the enemy tower is a good time to roam as the enemy will need to focus on last hitting and getting experience.
Wave Placement As mentioned a moment ago if you're pushed up to the tower the ADC will be safe as it takes about 15 seconds for the wave to reset in the middle giving you time to roam the river to place and deny vision.
ADCarry has Recalled If you do not have enough money to spend at the shopping roaming will be a great use of your team as you can head to mid-lane to possibly secure a kill. If you did have gold, you can recall and immediately go to mid-lane as your ADC won't be any danger for at least 30 seconds.
Jungle wants to invade the enemy jungle As a support, occasionally you might find yourself following your jungler when he invades the enemy jungler to make sure they are safe and assist in case a fight breaks out.
Counter Roam the Enemy Support If the enemy support is a roaming champion such as Blitzcrank, Pyke, etc, or you think they will roam following them to counter-gank can prevent them from helping their other laners. Look to place a Control Ward in the pixel bush in the river, or bush towards the blue sides jungle to spot potential roams.

One of the most important jobs that you as the support needs to do and know extremely well is Vision. Vision is absolutely essential for both providing an advantage for your team and denying vision for the enemy. Knowing what is going on around not only your lane but also around major objectives can help your team as a whole make the most optimal calls and decisions.

While vision isn't as important in the early game, it quickly becomes the most important part of the game. With optimal vision control, you will able to take objectives and force bad decisions from the enemy with vision denial. In this section, you will learn the importance of warding and most importantly how to ward to your best ability.

"Vision helps me better protect those in need."

Protects your allies and yourself. Regardless of whether it's during the laning phase or mid to late game, optimal vision will protect you and your allies from ganks, flanks, and sneaky assassins looking for picks.
Getting and Securing Picks. One of the best things about warding, especially warding objectives, is that you might see an opportunity to catch out and pick off a key target, especially the enemy support when they come to ward. I recommend asking your Jungler or Top laner to come with you when warding.
Safetly Siege and take Objectives. When looking to take objectives, warding the areas around certain objectives will alert you to possible flanks and allow you to make picks to easily take objectives and siege towers where normally it might be dangerous without proper warding.
Vision Control and Denial. Warding is an extremely important part of the game as your team will be able to make cleaner calls and decisions. Warding actually can be a bit of a mind game as when you have vision and take down the enemies' vision, the enemy will play differently. Much more scared and desperate especially if the possibility of losing an important objective such as Baron or Elder Dragon.

WARDING TOTEM

is your beginning warding item before you transition over to after completing your support quest. This is your primary way to ward in the early game, however unlike your support item it only has a single charge (up to two) that regenerates. You should never run out of wards in the early phase granted you coordinate with your ADC to cycle wards.

CONTROL WARD

Unlike wards from your support item and , s are permanent until broken. I highly recommend keeping two control wards on you at all times as you'll often need to relocate your ward to a different spot. cost 75 gold and reveals all wards in the radius of the ward. Always buy a control ward after each back if you have less than two.

ORACLE LENS

is an trinket item you pick after completing your support quest as you no longer need wards from . When activated, a drone that reveals all wards you come across for 10 seconds allowing you to destroy them.

An important thing to note is that until you complete your support quest you will have to rely on your s. I highly recommend coordinating warding with your ADC, so you can cycle through wards so you are never without vision. I wouldn't really recommend wasting your wards on the bottom bushes in your lane unless you are against a champion like , if the enemy support is hiding in the brush or you're expecting a possible lane gank from the enemy jungler, play safe and position in a place where it's hard for them to engage.

Icons colored in Purple are Deep Ward locations, Orange are Priority warding spots you should regularly use, and Red are spots. Orange Icons occasionally be spots for Control Wards, especially in defensive situations. For example, on blue side lane warding the tri-brush towards your jungle is a great spot for a control ward

"Use of surveillance is elementary warfare!"

It's important to ward according to where you are positioned in lane. For blue side, if you're pushing the enemy under their turret, warding the brush in the river, towards the Scuttle Crab or over the wall towards the enemy's tri-brush are all great spots. When being pushed, warding the tri-brush or the brush behind the lane will keep you safe and prepared in case of a gank or attempt to tower dive. Placing a gives you permanent vision till broken, so placing depending where you are positioned is optimal.

If the enemy support likes to roam alot or roam orientated champions such as , , etc. Placing a control ward in the pixel brush in the river will spot any roams. A control ward in the bush in your jungle will spot any jungle invades.

Blue side - Laning

"Our enemies could be anywhere."

Red side - Laning

"Let's deny them the element of surprise!"

On the red side, the wards are pretty similar however a few specific differences from the blue side that you must remember as each side will require similar but different warding requirements. Due to the way the map was constructed, the red side has fewer places to ward than blue side.

As mentioned previously you will need to ward according to the placement of the wave. When playing even, warding the river brush is a priority, if you're being pushed to your tower warding the tri-brush in your jungle will alert you of the enemy jungler's flank to tower dive.

You might have noticed the ward in the enemy's tri-brush is purple which means it's considered a deep ward. It's considered a deep ward because it can and will provide important information such as jungler's intention to gank or heading to take Scuttle Crab. I wouldn't recommend ever placing a there as the enemy will easily be able to clear it.

Before we jump into warding of and , I recommend warding at least one minute before the objective spawns and recall to replenish your designated support item. This is important to do so you can spot the enemy support who's coming to ward (and take down vision) so you can come, sweep and take down wards.

Not having vision over important objectives such as can force poor positioning and decision making from your team and vice versa in the enemy's case as well.

"All the elements are now in place!"

When warding for as the blue side, you want to look to get vision around the objective and enemy jungle. Planting deep wards in the enemy jungle will be able to detect them coming from different parts of the jungle or from the bottom lane. This is especially good when the enemy has no vision and is scared to lose the objective as you can catch out and pick them off especially the enemy jungler who is looking to steal.

I recommend asking an ally to buy a to place either in the pixel bush in the river or in the pit as it'll help cover more area and deny vision at the same time. This leaves you with more options to place and plant wards in priority spots and deep ward the jungle.

Blue side - Dragon

"Banish the shadows."

Red side - Dragon

"Let's see what we've been missing!"

On the red side, the control wards are the in the same spots as blue side. Priority Wards as follows; placing a ward or even an aggressive in the brush towards mid lane will see people panthing over, however it may be better to place a ward over the wall by the brush towards the blue side as most if not all people will avoid walking into the brush without vision.

Placing wards in the brush on ride side and over the wall on dragon put will find anyone who may be attempting a steal. If you have any extra wards or can ask an ally to place a deep ward in the tri-bush towards bot lane or the path () towards the dragon will give you more opportunities to make picks off clueless enemies who may not have expected the areas to be warded.

is one of the most important if not the most important objective to have in the mid to late game as it's excellent for siegeing and ultimately pushing your lead to a victory is utilized by your team correctly. I recommend holding two s so you are able to move one control ward to the next area if needed.

On the blue side, Placing a Control Ward in the pit will give you vision and show you wards that may be there. As for priority wards, you must always place in the brush behind the pit and the open area to avoid potential steals. This area specifically is heavily contested and will mostly break out in fights so having vision can help you.

Blue side - Baron

"Just doing my part!"

Other areas to place wards are in the river brush by mid lane and/or over the wall as it will spot rotations. Deep Wards can be placed next to the and tri-bush by top lane to possibly make picks to get a free objective. In green is a special trick ward as many people only sweep the pit so you're able to still see the enemy doing if placed correctly.

Red side - Baron

"Lighting the way."

On the red side, having a in the brush entering the enemy jungle is extremely crucial as it's a heavily contested area as most people would walk through or tried to ward defensively. Keeping the brush controlled is optimal.

As for priority wards, having a ward in the brush towards mid-lane and over the wall will allow you to see rotations and possible warding from the enemy support. Another word is placed over the wall towards the blue buff as it's another area people will travel on towards Baron. As for deep wards, it'll provide information on the positioning of the enemy team if you are wanting to get an idea of where they are headed usually to make picks off.

The Mid-game usually will begin when the first tower has fallen. The winning lane typically rotates with another lane to further their lead by taking another tower or objective. Which means team-fighting and objectives become the focus of the game rather than solely beating your laning opponents. As for the late-game, it begins when teams begin sieging tier two (Inner) towers and Inhibitor(s) and key objectives such as or .

While Lane Control, Harassing and Zoning, All-ining, Warding are extremely important in the early game, they transition over into the other stages of the game as you may have noticed in the Warding section. However, in the mid-late game, you have to know how to take what you've learned and apply it in the rest of the game as well as learn team-fighting, take objectives, and proper usage of your abilities and active items.

"A prism has no problem splitting its focus."

Team-Fighting

Abilities/Actives Usage

In team-fights, your primary goal is to peel and protect your carries to ultimately keep them alive. Occasionally you will need to use her abilities such as to engage, otherwise, it will be needed to lock down enemies who attempt to jump on your ADC and/or mid-laner. Assassins a majority of the time will be the one you need to watch out for as they have the tools to do so.

Peeling is the act of reactively protecting an ally or carry by preventing them from reaching the target or stopping them from reaching a target, which can be achieved through your two crowd control spells and for protection.

In team-fights, you'll want to position yourself mainly in the backline with your ADCarry so you are able to look after him in case of potential flanks especially from Assassins who will need to eliminate them from the fight. Positioning is extremely important as you don't want to walk up and get picked off as your team will suffer from the lack of utility and peel. However, don't stand too far back as you as you'll not be able to peel or make picks for your team.

As for team-fighting playstyles, / is based on utility and setting up your teammates with all the tools they need to succeed. Utility-based is best utilized in small areas where her shield is nearly impossible to miss when trying to hit as many targets as possible. The goal is to mainly peel and protect your allies, usually saving your in case of flanks.

As for , you drop utility for heavy damage and poking. Utilize this by delaying fights as much as possible so you are able to efficiently harass and whittle down the enemy's health bar with for a favorable outcome. Like utility Lux, you'll still want to be positioned in the back by your carry to peel but will also serve as a secondary damage dealer as will be quite lethal.

"I'll lead the way to victory."

's ability usage is pretty standard outside of active items as her abilities are pretty straight forward and if you've read team-fighting, you'll know the importance of saving and landing your abilities. Her spells are relatively spammable at 40% cool-down reduction her spells are under 6 seconds (Not including Ultimate). You must always look to throw out spells when needed, however, missing a spell can lead to an ally's death.

In addition to talking about abilities, we will be talking about how to use active items such as , , , etc. Using active items correctly and at the right time can be very tricky.

First off ability usage, as mentioned before 's cool-downs at 40% cool-down reduction is under 6 seconds. In fights, you'll aim to lock down enemy champions with while providing shields and heals from various items such as , and (if you are going utility). As a support, your primary job is to protect and peel for your team while giving them the tools to succeed. If your team has reasonably great crowd control such as jungle, mid, top, your CC will serve as backup or rather as a peeling tool to keep bruisers and/or assassins from jumping on your carries.

is a mix of a utility, damage, and control mage so when using either use it as a poking tool by attempting to hit as many enemies as possible or a zoning tool to prevent enemies from reaching an area safely and/or as a peeling tool. To get the most out of try to line yourself up to hit as many allies as possible to get the most out of , with 45% cool-down reduction worth in Ability Haste the shield breaks as it hits 1 second, so the shields up-time is extremely high.

Last but not least for ability usage, let's talk about 's ultimate . Final Spark has an extremely low cool-down once you've maxed out cool-down reduction especially in the late game once it's maxed out. In /, the damage itself isn't too great however any damage in a fight can turn the tides of the battle. In , Final Spark becomes a deadly weapon so lining up your enemies when hitting your ultimate can be devastating.

Item active usage can be tricky but beyond helpful when mastering such as knowing the best timing and who to use it on. is a great example of an item you need to know when to use it and who on. As mentioned in Itemization, Mikael's is bought when up against heavy crowd control teams or rather champions who can lock-down your ally. It's taken when up against crucial CC such as 's , 's and 's to name a few. It should be used on your ADC or APC as either one of them can admit large amounts of damage. unlike Mikael's Crucible is AOE heal and is best used during team-fights on as many allies and enemies as possible as your allies will be healed and your enemies will take damage in the process.

is picked up as an engage/disengage tool depending on the situation it calls for. If your team lacks an engage, using Shurelya's to engage will provide a burst of movement speed to yourself and nearby allies as well as damage on their next 3 attacks. When used as an engage it's to chase down and pick off enemies. Otherwise, use it as a disengage tool for remaining allies to escape safely from unfavorable fights. is best used when grouped up with your allies during fighting allowing you to get the most out of your shield due to its decaying nature. Another way to use it is when your initial shield has been used, and you need to use it to soak up until your shield comes back online.

"Without light, the people lose heart."

After laning phase, Objectives become the sole focus of the game as objectives are important objects on the map that provide advantages to whoever controls them. Objectives are considered the following things; Elemental Dragons (, , , and ), , , , , and the Nexus Turret.

Taking key objectives can provide global advantages to your team causing map-wide pressure to the enemy team that when utilized well will allow you to snowball and ultimately take home the game. In this section you will learn about the major objectives; Dragons, Baron, Turrets, and Inhibitors. When to take what objective and what objective to choose over another.

"I'm just beginning to plumb the depths of this power."

Dragons

Rift Herald/Baron

Towers/Inhib

There are two types of Dragons; Elemental Dragons which consist of , , and . Each dragon provides a different buff to the team that slain the dragon known as the "Dragon Slayer". Each of the first 3 drakes is always different from each other; the first elemental drake will spawn at 5 mins and the second drake will spawn 5 mins after the first one was slain. The element of the third drake determines both the Rift type for that game, as well as what the rest of the elemental drakes will be for the rest of the game. From then on, only the drake that spawned third will appear known as Rift Drake.

Dragon Soul is obtained after the first team has slain four elemental dragons. The dragon soul obtained is based on the Elemental Rift and can only be obtained by a single team per game. The winning team will be presented with a powerful permanent reward (persists through death) that changes based on what soul is obtained. Infernal, Mountain and Ocean are the best Dragons souls for Lux regardless of what playstyle you take as each benefit Lux quite well.

The best elemental dragons for Lux is Infernal and Cloud; Infernal gives bonus ability power while Cloud gives ultimate CDR that ignores CDR cap. Cloud specifically turns Lux's already short cooldown on even shorter allowing her to make use of her ultimate considerably more often.

Once a team has slain their fourth elemental drake, will spawn 6 mins after. Elder Dragon is a strong team-fight buff and the highest impacting dragon in the game. Upon being taken to 20% health, any damage by a player with the dragon will execute the player immediately. Full AP will benefit from this dragon the most, as you will be able to easily one-shot enemies with your full combo.

"Life breezes by in an instant."

WHEN TO TAKE DRAGON

BACK TO OBJECTIVES

Enemy Jungler is Dead. If the enemy jungler gets picked off it's a good time to look to take Dragon as they will not be able to potentially Smite steal the dragon.
The enemy is across the map. If the enemy team or enemy jungler is across the map, and your team is close by looking to take the Dragon will be a good option as it'll be easily taken.
Bot Lane is too low or recalled. This applies mainly to the early stages of the game. If the enemy bot lane has recalled or too low they will be unable to contest the objective without putting their lives at risk.

is an objective that spawns within the pit that spawns at 8 mins and can be spawned up to two times per game. It lasts until it's killed or it despawns and is replaced by Baron at the 20-minute mark. Herald is harder to take than most but easier than Baron. Herald serves as a sieging objective when spawned with . When near a , Herald will charge dealing a huge amount of damage to the tower, however, it is considerably easier to kill than objective itself as it damages itself upon hitting towers and can be attacked by enemies by hitting it in its exposed eye.

is best utilized after a team-fight to quickly siege as many towers as possible before respawns, if there are no enemies around and no one will be able to stop it or low health towers to name a few. Your Jungler will usually be the one to carry as they can transition between lanes easily.

along with are the two most important objectives for their respective reasons. Baron is specifically needed for his buff () that is applied to nearby minions allowing them to become empowered sieging weapons. This is especially strong when one of the enemies' inhibitor spawning a which in hand with the buff will do considerable amounts of damage to minions, players, and turrets who come between its path. Outside of powered minions, also provides all alive allies with an empowered , bonus attack damage and ability power. Note that death removes the buff from yourself.

When taking make sure to have proper vision control over the objective and the enemy jungle. Ideally, the best situations to take is when you picked off the enemy jungler, the enemy team is across the map, and after winning team-fights and you're team is healthy enough to take it.

"Creation meanders, and so must I."

WHEN TO TAKE RIFT/BARON

BACK TO OBJECTIVES

Enemy Jungler is Dead. If the enemy jungler gets picked off it's a good time to look to take Baron as they will not be able to potentially Smite steal the dragon.
The enemy is across the map. If the enemy team is across the map, and your team is close by looking to take the Rift Herald or Baron will be a good option as it'll be easily taken.
The enemy is Dead. If the enemy is dead and you have enough health/damage to take Baron before the enemy team has a chance to respawn, take it.

There are many different types of within League of Legends, you have Outer turrets, Inner turrets (also known as Tier Two Turrets), Inhibitor turrets, and Nexus Turrets. Did I mention this section is about Turrets? No? Okay.

The Tier One or Outer turrets are the only turrets in Summoners Rift that have Turret Platings. Turret Platings are the lines of defensive added to slow down the game and avoid early snowballing. There are five turret platings that are removed if not broken after fourteen minutes, each plating destroyed grants nearby allies 120 gold divided per ally. During laning phase, you and your ADC aim to get as many platings and ultimately take down the tower first.

An Inhibitor is a small objective (each lane has an Inhibitor) guarded by an Inhibitor Turret. Once destroyed, will spawn in the respective lane the Inhibitor was destroyed in. If all Inhibitors are destroyed they will spawn two super minions rather than one. Once destroyed, they will respawn after five minutes. Beware of potential backdoors as it'll be extremely easy to once an Inhibitor is down.

"Arson is such an ugly word. Accurate, but ugly."

WHEN TO TAKE TOWERS

BACK TO OBJECTIVES

You have Baron/Rift Herald If you've obtained the Baron Nashor buff or have Eye of the Herald you can look to potentially take a tower or many depending on the situation
The enemy is dead. As with all objectives, it's best to take a turret if the enemy is dead and there isn't a objective such as Baron or Elder Dragon to take.
The enemy has recalled or across the map. If the enemy has recalled at a poor time especially during laning phase looking to take Turret Platings or even the turret itself is a good idea as long as you have proper vision over the enemy.
The enemy team is weak If the enemy team has a number disadvantage or champions with poor waveclear.

Combos are an extremely important aspect of a champion's mastery and the Lady of Luminosity is no expectation. As mentioned previously, has a decently high skill cap, and if you plan to be successful as Lux, you must learn the most crucial combos to get the maximum value out of her kit and ultimately set yourself up for success.

Below you will learn the most important combos to master, however, these are not her only combos as the other ones are not always practical. A Important Note: For clarification, her passive and represent when to auto-attack.

"You cannot hide from the light."

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my guide! I hope I was able to teach you something regardless if you're a new player or a seasoned veteran of the Lady of Luminosity. If you are curious to find where certain art or articles featured here are from, click the image or linked text to be sent directly to it. If something is not credited please let me know :). If you liked my guide let me know by leaving a like and a comment.

If there's anything I might have missed or any information is possibly outdated, leave me a comment and I'll correct it as soon as possible. If you didn't like anything in the guide, let me know and we'll discuss it as I read all my comments and try to reply to all of them.

A special thanks to all those who supported me throughout this journey of writing this guide and to those who took time out of their lives to give their opinions and thoughts.

Change-Log

Lux Build Guide by Sleepininthegarden