Hello, welcome to the Lux AP carrying guide. When you started League of Legends, was there that one champion you saw and you just needed to have them? Well Lux was mine. Even before I downloaded the game, I was looking at champions and saw Lux, and wanted her ever since. I saved up 3150 IP and bought her. And it was just as I suspected, Lux became my favorite champion. I have won many ranked games with her, and I just want to give my take on how I prefer to play Lux as an AP carry. I hate people who try to play Lux as a support, it's such a wasted role when there are way better supports. Lux as an AP carry allows her to support her teammates by controlling the battlefield with her crowd control abilities and shield, and also let's her drop down enemy's health fast while picking off runners.

Pros
-Very strong early game
-A lot of burst damage
-Heavy crowd control abilities
-Long range support/nuke mage (allows her to stay far from range while doing a lot of damage)
-Good for sniping low health enemies
-Ganks well
-Good at farming
-Can steal baron/dragon
-Very rewarding


Cons
-VERY squishy.
-if caught in combat range can die very easily
-damage dies off late game in most cases.
-Very mana dependent, relies on blue buff
-All skillshots.

Greater Mark of Insight x9
Greater Seal of Clarity x9
Greater Glyph of Force x9

I find these three to be pretty necessary. The MPen marks obviously, the mana regen per level seaks because Lux is extremely mana dependent (early and late game, and there are mana pots for early game) and force glyphs just because. Some people may argue that flat cooldown glyphs are better for Lux because of laser cooldown, however I find with this build and if you have blue (which you should get as much as possible) then you'll have maxed cooldown reduction anyway.

The quintessences are really preference. I personally like to use Greater Quintessence of Fortitude simply for the early game extra beef, however you could also use ability power or magic penetration to really do some heavy damage early game.

My first two choices:



I choose ignite and flash as my summoner spells of choice on Lux. Ignite because it is pretty much necessary on any mid ap carry, it helps finish off that last bit of health and helps if you are facing someone with a lot of regen/spell vamp/lifesteal like Akali or Vladimir. Flash because it is an amazing spell on any champion, flashing to hit that skillshot or flashing over walls to get away.

Other viable options:


Teleport is an alright choice in my opinion, it allows for easy ganks and kills if you can teleport to a lane and get your laser off right away. However it's not a guaranteed kill, so that's why I do not bother.


It helps your team out, plus it can help you aim your laser instead of shooting into the fog of war. It's best to let your support take this though.


I used to take ghost for the longest time on Lux, however I found that flash just worked better for my needs. It still works for chasing and getting in range for that light binding.


I, again, used to take this spell most of the time. Lux needs mana, a lot, early game, and by popping this clarity it will give you enough mana to get that laser up and pick off the running enemy. However it does not serve a well enough purpose late game.

A lot of guides will tell you to take Lucent Singularity first, which I have never understood. Light Binding lets you snare up to two enemies, which is extremely helpful if your team is ganking the enemy jungler and engaging in a level one team fight, however it also lets you get some early harass on your opponent by snaring them and running up and proccing your Illumination (Just be careful they won't hit you with their attack while doing so).

I first max out Lucent Singularity, and then depending on my situation I will choose what to max out next. Most of the time, I will max out my Light Binding, just for the extra damage. However, if I find I am having trouble mid (or facing someone like LeBlanc) then I will max my shield second.

I always start out with Boots and Health Potion x2 and Mana Potion x1. This will allow me some speed to land those low level snares, and harass with Lucent Singularity very easily. The potions give me some more sustain in lane, which is needed. I find this combination a lot more effective than a Doran's Ring, which I used to always take.

On my first trip back, most of the time, I complete my Sorcerer's Shoes because it will eat right through the early magic resist of your opponent. If I don't find myself having trouble with low damage, I'll head straight into creating my Morello's Evil Tome and grab a Fiendish Codex. The reason I build a Morello's Evil Tome is because of the mana regen. It helps out a lot with early game mana problems, and it's worth the sacrifice to wait for a little bit before building straight ap.

Next I start building my Rabadon's Deathcap, usually waiting until I've saved enough to buy Needlessly Large Rod. Don't fret if you didn't, however, just go ahead and buy your Blasting Wand and you'll still be fine.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a very important part of this build, as you'll find you're being focused a lot if you're caught in close combat with the other team. Although Lux does not have an ability she can turn on and activate this item, I have found that this has saved me many times, just simply from activating while in the heat of battle. Team fights usually happen very quickly, so you might find the person that was focusing you has either died or changed targets (very useful when against people like Akali). Even if not, this might give you the extra time to flash away and begin fighting again, or let that last second of Light Binding cooldown pass, and let you snare your enemy.

Lich Bane helps you do two things: rip apart enemies and tear down turrets. Both of which are extremely important. Especially with Lux's AP, by this time, the procc will be very effective.

Finally, Void Staff, just because the enemies will probably be sick of you by now and will be trying to build whatever MR they can scrap together with their starved minion farm.

Smart casting is very important on Lux, since all of her skills are skill shots. I actually bind my smartcast spells to regular spell hotkeys. The two smart cast spells I use constantly are Light Binding which I always have smartcast bound to Q and Prismatic Barrier always smartcast bound to W. If you don't normally use smartcast, it will take a little getting used too, however it is so much better, saving time. The time you save could save a teammates live with your shield.

TL;DR, Go to Keybindings and bind your Smartcast Spell 1 to Q and Smart Cast Spell 2 to W. This will be hard to get used to but is so much better.

Lux's laning phase is very important, as this is one of the areas in which she shines the most. At level one, focus on last hitting. If your opponent runs out from behind the waves on minions, or you see an opportunity to snare them, do it then run in and auto attack for an Illumination charge. Lux's Lucent Singularity makes her an excellent farmer, and as you level up, one hit of it and an illumination procc will kill the caster minions. As soon as you get level 2 and level up your Lucent Singularity you can start harassing. It is most effective to get your passive procc off of everything however that's likely not going to happen, so only do so when you know it will be safe to do so. (Note that the minions WILL attack you from getting this charge, so be prepared to run far behind your minion wave). At level 4-5 your goal is to keep your opponent under ~300hp (your base Finales Funkeln damage.) I personally try to keep them under 250 hp, just incase my MPen doesn't cut through their MR.

If you have successfully completed your goal (while still farming of course) as soon as you hit level 6, level up that laser and blast your enemy. From experience, a lot of my enemies don't expect it. If you can get a snare off that's even better, however you shouldn't need too if you have been doing your job correctly.

Always try to save your Mana Potion for when you hit level 5-6 and if you do go back, ALWAYS get Health Potions and Mana Potionss. On Lux, they will help you far into the game, so I usually always get about 2 of each whenever I return to base.

Predicting what your enemies will do is by far, the most important thing to be good at while playing Lux. If you have never played any champion with a skillshot, then chances are you will not be good at Lux at the start.

Most of the time, you will have to predict your opponents actions on Lux, at any time during the game. This means shooting into the Fog of War at bushes or common enemy hiding spots, predicting Flash and Riftwalk, during laning, figuring out where your enemy will go when they see you start firing your Lucent Singularity, where to throw your Light Binding and when ganking enemies.

When you are laning, it is very important for you to be able to think like the enemy. Chances are when the enemy sees you throwing out your Lucent Singularity, they will not stay in the same spot. Always throw it a little to the side or behind them, most times it will hit them.

When ganking or chasing, throw your light binding to the side, again, chances are your opponent will not run in a straight line. Do not be afraid to throw it over walls, shooting into the dark is one of Lux's specialties. I can't even tell you how many times I have killed an enemy by successfully throwing a bind over a corner wall.
When you are ganking a lane, always aim your Light Binding (un-smart cast keybound for this screenshot) a little behind your opponent. when you show yourself, they will most likely run backward right into the snare. You could try to snare them from the bush, however most of the time creep waves would be in the way. You'll have to chase them up the lane before you can cast your bind sometimes, as well.

When you're laning this is extremely crucial to a successful harass! Always aim your Lucent Singularity a little beside or behind the target. This will most of the time ensure a hit, and you can follow up with an auto attack hit.

Finally, your ultimate, Finales Funkeln! This is, in my opinion, one of the best and most fun ultimates in the game. Since it's on such a short cooldown, you can use it for basically anything. However in this section I'll focus on predicting. Obviously while laning, your opponents will expect a laser right down the middle. If you are trying to pick off a low healt h enemy, watch the way they are running. If they dive for the side immediately, you have to aim there, if they are swerving, try aiming down the direct centre.

And the most fun part of all, shooting into the fog of war. This is when your enemies just get away and you want to try to kill them with your long range laser. First of all, you can always try in front of their far turrets. This has netted me many kills. Here are two very common hiding spots for enemies:


Aiming at these two spots has gotten me so many kills because the enemies are so predictable. When you've played Lux for over a year, the pattern you start to see is amazing.

Lux will take some getting used too. Most champions are the kind where you desperately need to save your ultimate for when you can get the kill. Lux, although sometimes you will want too, is not that champion. Her ultimate can be used for clearing creep waves, stealing baron/dragon, sniping, harassing before a fight, etc. Her ultimate can sometimes even be used twice in a team fight, at the beginning and at the end to kill low health enemies.

But make sure you ALWAYS play safe! As Lux, you should NEVER EVER be in the front lines. Lux has extremely long range, so you can remain untouched in a team fight. Sometimes you can even join the fight over a wall. An example of this would be throwing your Light Binding and your Lucent Singularity into the battle, firing your Finales Funkeln and then popping your Lucent Singularity. This will cause some extreme burst damage, and you're not even full in the fight.

Lux is one of the most fun champions in the game. She is definitely not the best AP carry, but she serves many different roles and is a viable asset to any team. Sometimes my solo queue ranked teams have problems with me midding as Lux. My premade ranked 5v5 teams have no problem with it. Lux is a sleeper champion, help raise awareness about her amazing capabilites!