Lux Build Guide by Smol Jelly

Introduction

My name is Smol Jelly, and I’m a one-trick Lux main on the North America server. I’ve reached Mastery 7 with her, and have used her extensively Mid Lane, as well as occasionally on Support, but I prefer Lux Mid. Because I use her so often, I have plenty of knowledge that I can pass on to make your Lux games a lot easier. Wielding the power of light, she is a burst heavy mage with minor crowd control (CC) abilities, such as Light Binding. She’s good for poking champions, protecting allies, and keeping others at bay, or sniping a clutch kill with her incredibly long range ultimate, Final Spark.

Pros and Cons

Pros + Heavy burst + Good snowball potential + Easy to pick up + Good CC with Light Binding + Good lane harass + Long range basic skills + Good team fight utility + Skills provide vision + Massive range ultimate with Final Spark Lux is an incredibly friendly champion for new players to pick up. Her kit is very simplistic, but it's very dangerous. She's got one of the longest auto attack ranges for a Mid Laner, offering good poke and trading potential when paired with her passive, Illumination. Her burst with Light Binding, Lucent Singularity, and Final Spark is strong enough by mid-game to one-shot squishy champions. Additionally, her massive range can help you safely steal objectives in a pinch, and snipe a kill without completely roaming to a different lane.

Cons - Squishy - High mana costs - Hard to master - Low Mobility - Has incredibly hard counters - All skills are skill shots Unfortunately, Lux still faces some major difficulties. She has a rough time against champions with high mobility, since all of her skills are skill shots. Additionally, she's not very mobile, so she can get blown up pretty quickly by assassins. Lux also gets shut down pretty hard not just by champions, but by items such as Quicksilver Sash, Banshee's Veil, and Hexdrinker. Additionally, Lux is incredibly hard to master. Since she's got no point and click abilities, you have to work hard on being able to predict enemy movement, and reading the situation. When you get shutdown, you get shutdown hard. But a good Lux can still be useful, even if you begin to fall behind!

Primary: SorceryAs Lux, making Sorcery your primary rune tree will maximize your poke, assist you with high mana costs, and add to your overall power throughout the game. Domination is an acceptable choice, but I've found much more success in lane with Sorcery.

Arcane Comet Arcane Comet is an amazing rune that synergizes well with your kit. You can proc it with your Light Binding, Lucent Singularity, and Final Spark. Primarily, this will add to your poke damage in lane, giving you a more oppressive presence.	Summon Aery Summon Aery is good for poke as well, but not nearly as useful to you as Arcane Comet. Summon Aery is useful however if you want to boost your shields for better team protection.	Phase Rush Phase Rush is not a good Keystone for Lux. Because your abilities already have a massive range, you have no need for Phase Rush to chase down targets.
Manaflow Band Manaflow Band will assist you with the high mana costs Lux has. This will make earlier laning phases easier so you can stay in lane a bit longer before having to back, and you'll have enough mana to pull out skills at clutch times.	Nullifying Orb Since there are a lot of AP heavy Mid Lane champions, Nullifying Orb can help you survive some burst. However, considering your high mana costs, Manaflow Band is still the better choice.	Nimbus Cloak Do not take Nimbus Cloak on Lux. Her ultimate ability, Final Spark, is a channel, and more often than not, you'll be using it to secure a kill. The movement speed Nimbus Cloak gives you doesn't help you in any way as Lux.
Transcendence Transcendence is a great choice on Lux, as it will help you reduce some of her long cooldown timers. This will also prevent you from having to build 40% CDR through items alone.	Celerity Additional Ability Power is nice, and Celerity offers that. However, it's not as good for you as Transcendence, due to the fact that you will not be buying anything to increase movement speed except for boots, and you don't have any skills that increase movement speet.	Absolute Focus The only downside to Absolute Focus is the health threshold. You need to stay above 70% to utilize it fully. However, due to Lux's insanely large range, if you're confident with the match, you can consider taking Absolute Focus.
Gathering Storm Gathering Storm is my final rune of choice in the primary tree, as it gives Lux major help throughout the game. It allows you to one-shot squishy champions by mid game, and it will make her a late game monster.	Scorch Scorch isn't as strong as it used to be. It's still good for early pressure and an early win, but Lux scales better with other runes.	Waterwalking As a Mid Laner, you do want to roam to assist others. While the additional AP and movement speed is nice, it's not too helpful for Lux, as she can still assist another laner from miles away using her Final Spark. Plus, the other runes give her bigger benefits as the game continues.

Secondary: Inspiration Inspiration Secondary will give you 20 bonus AP on Lux which is really nice. Additionally, the Inspiration tree has some very versatile options for runes to make the game easier for you.

Cosmic Insight Cosmic Insight provides an additional 5% Cooldown Reduction on skills and summoner spells. This will assist Lux with her long cooldown times. Additionally, since she has practically no escapes, having Flash off of cooldown faster may just save your life.

Perfect Timing Perfect Timing is a free Stopwatch. You can use it to build Zhonya's Hourglass in late game, but more importantly, you can use it to save yourself during an early gank or all-in.

Minion Dematerializer Minion Dematerializer will help you clear out waves, get to minions in difficult spots, and increase your damage to minions. If you're not experience with farming on Lux, this can help you to not miss out on that important CS.

Secondary: Domination Domination Secondary will also give you 20 bonus AP on Lux which, again, is really nice. The Domination tree has more aggressive runes to really help you secure kills and do more damage.

Cheap Shot Cheap Shot provides bonus damage to abilities or basic attacks that hit slowed or immobilized champions. Since Lux has two abilities that slow or root, Light Binding and Lucent Singularity, the extra damage can certainly make a difference over time.

Eyeball Collection Eyeball Collection provides bonus AP based on your champion takedowns, assists, or ward takedowns. Since Lux is a Mid Laner, you'll be able to gain more stacks of this rune through your solo kills and effective roams.

Ghost Poro Ghost Poro is unique, as it will not only provide you with a small amount of AP, but also vision. If you place the Ghost Poro in the enemy jungle, it will not only give you the AP increase, but also possibly alert you to the enemy jungler if they're going in for a gank.

Secondary: Precision Precision Secondary will give you 5.5% bonus attack speed, as well as 14 bonus AP. The Precision tree has several options that will allow you to not only do more damage, but see a greater return in terms of gold for your efforts.

Presence of Mind Presence of Mind restores 20% of your maximum mana upon champion takedown, as well as refund 10% of your Final Spark cooldown. Even though part of the cooldown of Final Spark is refunded on champion kill, the mana refund is massive for Lux, and it can help with her lane sustain and her high mana costs.

Coup de Grace Coup de Grace helps with your one-shot potential by increasing damage done to champions who are under 40% of their maximum health. This can secure kills very well.

Cut Down Cut Down is also a good option for Lux, as she is weak to tanks. This will help her to literally cut down tanks, and increase your maximum damage output.

Secondary: Resolve Resolve Secondary will give you 15-135 bonus health (based on level) and 10 bonus AP. Because Lux is squishy, the Resolve Secondary passive, as well as the Resolve runes can help you survive in a tough lane match.

Bone Plating Bone Plating is the go-to answer for a bad match up in lane. If you're up against a hard lane opponent, take Bone Plating in order to increase your sustain and help you survive that pesky burst damage.

Chrysalis Chrysalis, like Bone Plating, can help save you in a difficult lane. If you're up against bursty assassins, or champions with very good early game, this could help with your lane sustain.

Revitalize Revitalize offers good team protection, and self protection, as it is a nice boost to your shields, which can help in a pinch. If you chose Summon Aery as your main keystone, this makes your shields truly a force to be reckoned with.

Flash is a MUST HAVE summoner spell on pretty much every champion, especially Lux, due to the fact that she has no escapes. Save Flash to get out of a tricky situation

Barrier is a good answer to the burst you might face in Mid Lane. Not to mention the fact that it synergizes very well with your Prismatic Barrier. It can negate a massive amount of burst damage from jungle ganks or all-ins at any stage of the game.

Heal is always nice because it'll provide you with a small amount of health, as well as some movement speed to get out of a sticky situation. It's good not only for yourself when Flash is on cooldown, but for getting a teammate out of trouble. I still prefer Barrier, which is stronger than Heal late game for it's ability to negate back line dives.

Cleanse is entirely situational. I'd bring it for champions like Zoe, Malzahar, and Veigar, in order to walk away with your life, since being CC'd by champions like those mean certian death.

Ignite is good for being an aggressive laner. However, Lux does better when she's out-ranging her opponents as opposed to being up and in their faces. She can burst someone down without Ignite, so it's best to take other spells.

Teleport isn't necessary for Lux either, as she can have an impact on lanes without having to fully roam up or down to them.

Ghost isn't necessary for Lux, as Flash is a better escape, and she doesn't gain much from additional movement speed.

You are Lux. You are not a Jungler. You do not work in the jungle. The funnel comps were nerfed, and you weren't a good champion to funnel into anyways. Never. Take. Smite. Ever.

Initial Buys

Doran's Ring and two Health Potions is a good start against lanes you are unfamiliar with. It gives you good sustain, and you've got several potions to help you out.

Dark Seal and Refillable Potion is a good start against lanes you have the advantage in. This build will allow you to hard snowball and dominate late game, but Dark Seal can be very feast or famine.

First Back

1300 Gold: Lost Chapter builds into Lux's main early power spike item, Luden's Tempest. It'll provide major mana that she needs for lane sustain, as well as some decent AP.

1100 Gold: Seeker's Armguard is an ideal first buy against AD heavy champions like Yasuo and Zed. This can seriously bolster your defenses and make the lane much more bearable, giving you greater sustain and negate some of their damage.

300 Gold: Boots are good to pick up early and upgrade as your second item.

Core Items

Luden's Tempest provides a large amount of AP as well as mana. It also helps improve your wave clear. It's a must buy for Lux.

Since you are playing Mid Lane Lux, you're itemizing to be an AP carry. Sorcerer's Shoes will help give you some magic pen, which will increase your overall damage and negate enemy defenses.

Morellonomicon adds AP, Health, Magic Pen, and more. If this is your third item, the combination of Sorcerer's Shoes and Morellonomicon can very well completely negate squishy enemy champion magic resist. This also puts Grievous Wounds on enemies, greatly reducing their healing, which is helpful late game.

Rabadon's Deathcap is the big power spike item mages need to obliterate anyone. 120 AP, and then adds an additional 40% AP based on your current AP stat. It's an insane boost that will allow you to completely delete your opponents if they're caught out.

Additional Items

Void Staff provides a decent amount of AP and a large amount of magic pen. This is necessary for going up against tank-heavy teams, but I'd also recommend taking it against squishier teams to increase your already disgusting damage.

Defensive items are amazing, and if you're against an AD heavy comp, Zhonya's Hourglass is the defensive item for you. It provides AP, armor, and invulnerability for 2.5 seconds.

Banshee's Veil is a good item to pick up against an AP heavy team, or a team with heavy CC, as it will allow you one "Get Out of Jail Free" card periodically in the form of a spell shield. This item also gives decent AP, 10% CDR, and solid magic resist.

Seraph's Embrace is a decent item, due to it's major mana component, as well as it's AP. I recommend Luden's Tempest over Seraph's Embrace because of it's damage proc, but the shield that Seraph's Embrace provides can save you in a pinch.

Spellbinder is scary on Lux. Imagine supercharging your burst before unleashing it. That's what Spellbinder does. The major drawback for this item is the fact that your cooldowns are a bit longer, so it'll take some time for the item to stack.

Let's get this out of the way. Lux is one of the few champions that can fully utilize Mejai's Soulstealer. If you want to invest in it, that's fine. This item can provide some incredibly large damage boosts, but it's very feast or famine. It's a natural progression to take this item after starting Dark Seal, but do not center your build around this item, and be prepared to sell it if you cannot maintain the stacks.

Basic Abilities

Lux's damaging spells charge the target with energy for 6 seconds. Lux's next attack ignites the energy, dealing bonus magic damage (depending on level) to the target.

• This is a good trading and farming tool in lane. Land any of your skills and you can follow it up with an auto to proc the passive.
• For best trading, use with Lucent Singularity.
• ONLY AUTO IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. You can get damage from other sources. Your passive is not the main damage skill, so don't worry about popping every passive mark.
• Final Spark procs and resets your ultimate, so make sure you hit an enemy with either Light Binding or Lucent Singularity before ulting.

Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 Mana
Range: 1175

Lux releases a sphere of light that binds and deals damage to up to two enemy units.

Fires a ball of light, rooting up to two enemies for 2 seconds and dealing 70/115/160/205/250 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage to each.

• This skill hits two enemies, including minions!
• When using this skill, try to hit two enemies whenever possible, making sure that at least one of them is a champion.
• Don't use Light Binding for waveclear. It's a valuable skill with a long cooldown, and throwing it out without care can leave you vulnerable.

Cost: 60 Mana
Range: 1075

Lux throws her wand and bends the light around any friendly target it touches, protecting them from enemy damage.

Throws Lux's wand in target direction protecting her and all allied Champions it touches from 50/65/80/95/110 (+20% Ability Power) damage for 3 seconds. Upon reaching its destination it returns to Lux, protecting her and other allied Champions it touches from another 50/65/80/95/110 (+20% Ability Power) damage for 3 seconds.Shielding an ally with the outgoing shield doubles the value of the returning shield.

• Prismatic Barrier doesn't have a limit to how many allies it can affect. Try to hit as many as possible with the shield!
• Consider taking a rank or two in this skill early against poke or burst champions in order to negate their damage and have a better trade.
• Remember that the shield boomerangs, so positioning as the wand goes out is just as important as it comes back.

Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 Mana
Range: 1100

Fires an anomaly of twisted light to an area, which slows nearby enemies. Lux can detonate it to damage enemies in the area of effect.

Creates a zone that slows enemies by 25/30/35/40/45%. After 5 seconds the zone detonates dealing 60/105/150/195/240 (+60% Ability Power) magic damage. Activate again to detonate early.

• This is your main tool. Poke? Check. Farm? Check. Soft CC? Check.
• You can detonate the ability early to surprise enemies with it, or leave it on the ground so it can slow. The slow can help stagger minion waves.
• Don't spam this skill early, because it has a very high mana cost.
• THIS SKILL GIVES VISION. Use it to check bushes instead of walking right into them, especially in the jungle.

Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 3340

After gathering energy, Lux fires a beam of light that deals damage to all targets in the area. If Final Spark helps take down a champion, part of its cooldown is refunded. In addition, triggers Lux's passive ability and refreshes the Illumination debuff duration.

Fires a dazzling ray of light dealing 300/400/500 (+75% Ability Power) magic damage to all enemies in a line. Enemy champions that die within 1.75 seconds of being hit by Final Spark refund 30/40/50% of its cooldown. Final Spark ignites and refreshes the Illumination debuff.

• Even though the range is massive and the damage is huge, it has a one second animation that locks you in place.
• This is one of the lowest cooldown ultimates in the game, so don't be afraid to use it because you think it might come in handy in a few minutes! It'll be off cooldown by then!
• A well timed Final Spark can beat out a jungler's Smite. Use it to steal Baron Nashor , any of the dragons, or (if you ward deep so you can keep an eye on it), enemy Blue Buff for better lane sustain.

Ability Max Order

> > >

Lux is like most champions in League. Max your ultimate, Final Spark,as soon as you can. This is not only your highest damage and longest range skill, but it's got amazing one-shot potential, and will help you late game to steal objectives such as Baron Nashor from a safe distance. As a Lux player, you generally want to max your E, Lucent Singularity, first. This will help you maximize poke damage in lane, and also assist you with waveclear. After Lucent Singularity, max your Q, Light Binding. We take a rank in it at level two because of it's root, which sets up your combos, but we don't max it until second because it's got a smaller hit box than Lucent Singularity. Finally, we max Prismatic Barrier. You can take ranks in this earlier if you're getting really harassed, but you should always max this skill last.

Ability Combos

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Lux's basic combo, and a majority of your early poke.

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A high damage, AoE combo that can be used to secure objectives at close range. It can also be used to do high damage to enemies in the pits that are trying to take major objectives, or in small corridors in the jungle.

> >

Lux's staple post-6 combo. It has amazing one-shot potential with enough items depending on the lane opponent.

> > >Auto> >Auto

This combo is centered around popping Illumination debuff marks as many times as possible for max damage. If used carefully, this can burst even some of the less squishy lane opponents. They'll think twice before attacking you again.

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A high-risk Lux combo that relies on the startup animation for her Light Binding. Since there is a brief wind-up animation, you can use Flash to maximize the range, and surprise enemies by throwing it out faster than they can react. This can be difficult to pull off, and disastrous, should you miss, as you've just blown a Flash and a long cooldown skill which is your only form of self peel.

Laning PhaseThere are a few major components to consider with regards to Lux's Laning Phase. By working on each of these areas, you can really bolster your Lux play and hard carry games. A Lux that gets ahead and snowballs is an unstoppable monster, and it starts in the Laning Phase.


1. Farming


It doesn't matter what champion you're playing in Mid Lane. Farming matters. Every minion you kill gives you EXP and Gold, which quickly turn into levels, skill ranks, and damage boosting items. At lower ELOs, players tend to trade more, and place less importance on farming. However, if you focus on farming, you'll be able to stay in the game at practically any point, even if you give up a kill or two, especially at low ELO.


The difficulty of farming on Lux depends entirely on your approach. If you're used to charactes who spam abilities to wave clear, you'll soon find yourself out of mana, and struggling to get along. Lux does have an auto attack animation, so it's worth it to go into Practice Mode and practice last-hitting some minions just to get used to her auto attack animation. One good thing about her auto attack is that it's one of the longest auto ranges for Mid Lane, so she can stay back safely and last hit from a good position.


If there's a large wave and you have a large amount of mana, use Lucent Singularity to help clear the wave, and to place Illumination marks on the minions. I typically save my Lucent Singularity to last-hit multiple minions (3 or more), or to do damage to cannon minions and caster minions.


After getting Luden's Tempest, farming and wave clear on Lux becomes a lot simpler. Your Lucent Singularity can kill caster minions in one use, and the massive amount of mana you get from Luden's Tempest will help abate the cost of the skill.


Because your ultimate has such a short cooldown, it's also possible to use Final Spark to clear massive waves of minions (two or more full waves) that are pushing objectives like turrets.


2. Lane Harrassing/Trading


The hitbox on Lucent Singularity, your Illumination debuff, and your overall range on your abilities make Lux a bit of a lane bully. How you approach trading is going to vary based on your opponent, and it will take a little bit of time to learn each individual match.

When against melee opponents, or opponents with shorter auto attack range than you, you can periodically direct an auto attack at your opponent. Remember to only do so if you have the opportunity. Doing a small amount of damage is not worth missing the EXP and Gold a minion can give you. Also, certain Melee champions like Talon, Fizz, Katarina, and Akali can jump on you at a moment's notice with their abilities. A single ability from any of those melee champions is going to do a lot more damage than any Lux auto attack, so be wary.

You can set up for a more efficient harass with Lucent Singularity and Light Binding. Use either skill to last hit minions and damage your lane opponent at the same time ( Lucent Singularity is better for this, as it can hit all minions and champions within it's range). Landing these skills will set up Illumination, and if given the opportunity, you could auto attack your opponent for additional damage. Do not chase someone for the auto attack and Illumination proc, as you can be baited into a gank, quickly be countered, or miss precious, precious farm.


It doesn't take too many items for you to start ramping up your damage. Once you have Luden's Tempest and Sorcerer's Shoes, your poke will really hurt, and you begin to unlock your true burst potential. By the time you finish your Morellonomicon, you will be able to one-shot squish lane opponents, the enemy ADC, and possibly a squishy support (not counting Janna, Lulu, Karma, or Morgana).


3. Roaming


Mid Laners are almost expected to roam. We are in the middle of the map, and therefore we can assist Top Lane and Bot Lane if they're facing increased pressure. A successful roam can net you a kill or an assist, which will help you with EXP and Gold necessary for your next power spike.


You should only roam if the following conditions have been met:

• You're lane is pushed up. You cannot leave if the enemy has you pushed under tower.
• Enemy Mid Laner is missing. You should caution ping this anyways, to let others know that your lane opponent is missing, but this is the perfect time to roam.
• A fight is about to break out in either lane, and you can help secure a victory.
• The enemy is pushing the lane you want to roam to. This can allow you to punish them for over-extending.

Lux roams are unique. She doesn't have high movement speed, sot it might be dangerous for you to walk through the river if there's no wards, especially if the enemy jungler hasn't been spotted for a while. However, your ultimate range is massive. I've said it time and time again, but you can use this to secure a kill without ever even going near the Top or Bot Lane. If your teammates in those lanes have a hard CC, you can use Final Spark to deal massive damage and snipe the enemy, giving you kills without wasting the time it takes to walk all the way down.


If your opponent is roaming, you have a decision to make. You can either hard push your lane, which will allow you to do turret damage and deny them CS, or you can attempt to counter roam. It'll take some time to develop your skills here, but in time, you'll be able to make better calls as Lux when it comes to roaming. If an opponent has better wave clear, I would use the time they took to roam to hard push your lane in. If they have weak wave clear, freeze the wave, and look for a counter roam.


Mid and Late Game Lux's mid and late game roles are very similar. With her simple, but effective kit, she has a few goals she needs to accomplish.


1. Continued Wave Clear and Farming


Once Lux has a few items, her wave clear is incredibly effective. If your team keeps getting pushed in, or the waves keep crashing hard into your towers, Lux has the ability to quickly clear out these problematic waves. Sending her to clear waves also allows her to get gold necessary for the more expensive items in her build.


However, she should always be cautious of her surroundings. If she pushes too far up into a lane, she's very susceptible to ganks or collapses. Lux can get easily caught out, and if you miss your Light Binding, you're a sitting duck.


If you've reached a late enough stage in the game, and you're desperate for farm, check with the jungler to see if it's alright to start taking jungle camps. The jungler ALWAYS has priority over the camps, especially if they're in close proximity to the camp, but at a later stage in the game, the jungler may start allowing laners to take camps for the gold and EXP boost. While camps like Raptors will give Lux a lot of gold, the coveted Blue Buff can make Lux's life so much easier.


2. Team Fighting


If she's even remotely ahead, Lux is a team fight moster, offering large utility and damage. Her Light Binding can catch out and isolate targets, and her burst combos can immediately delete squishier, high-priority targets like the enemy ADC or Mid Laner.

Even if she's behind, Lux still has major team fight utility. Her Light Binding can lock down enemies for other teammates to burst, her slow can make it easier to land skill shots, and her shield can still offer minor protection for teammates.

Regardless of your status in the game, Lux should approach team fights with these specific pieces of knowledge in mind:

• Look for the best opportunity to use your Final Spark. While it's true that Final Spark gets cooldown refunded if you kill with it, it's better to use the ult when you have the guaranteed hit as opposed to a lucky snipe.
• Prioritize squishy champions. Lux hurts. A lot. You can completely delete squishy champions, majorly reducing the enemy's team fight damage.
• You also have protection abilities! Use your shield for clutch saves, and to keep important teammates alive! Your Prismatic Barrier and a well landed Light Binding can keep your teammates, and yourself, alive.

3. Objective Stealing


Junglers always have to be nervous when they see specific champions on the Rift. Cho'Gath and Nunu & Willump can chomp down a major objective, even beating out their Smite. However, Lux has two advantages that Cho'Gath and Nunu & Willump lack:

• The element of surprise. Junglers in low ELO hardly ever expect a Lux Laser to steal objectives.
• Range. Partnered with Farsight Alteration, you can safely snipe Baron Nashor , Elder Dragon , or whatever objectives your team needs, without putting yourself in harm's way.

Remember: Final Spark has a really short cooldown for an ultimate ability, so it's well worth the attempt to throw out the laser to steal any objective you can. You'll have your ult back up in no time, so it's no major setback to try to steal an objective.

Lux is a burst heavy, CC throwing, long range, artilery mage. While she can be played as a support, she's got the true potential to hard carry a game if she's played properly in Mid Lane. She's easy to pick up, but she's incredibly fun and challenging to play. Locking in Lux can help you to develop some other important League of Legends skills which transfer between other champions.

Give her a shot, I'm sure you'll find Lux enLIGHTening! Thanks for taking the time to read my guide, I hope it helps you out, and that you are able to win some matches with the knowledge I've given you!

Love,
Smol Jelly

I'd like to thank jhoijhoi for the guide on writing guides! It was incredibly helpful for me as I created my own guide. The guide for writing guides can be found here.

The descriptions for Lux's skills came directly from the Lux Champion Guide page on League's website.