Lux Build Guide by chu8

Introduction

Hello I'm chu8 a former competitive DotA / Heroes of Newerth player and now a high level League of Legends player in Diamond, consistently playing at a high level in all seasons of the game. I'm a 2300+ elo mid player and I'm sometimes called King Lux. This guide is an attempt to show you why!

Lux is one of my favorite champions. She's a strong champion with great poke and range abilities. Her long range super cannon of an ult can melt anything in its path and her utility can drive enemies crazy.

I stream a lot, so be sure to follow me at www.twitch.tv/chu8!

Pros / Cons

Pros

1. Strong long range maneuvers
2. Excellent Crowd Control (snare and slow)
3. Excellent AoE
4. When a snipe with ult is successful, pants get wet

Cons

1. Relatively weak early game
2. Heavily skill shot dependent (nubsie skillshotters stay away!)
3. Outclassed by a lot of champs

Runes

9x 9x 9x 3x

...

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Seal of Scaling Health Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

The runes for Lux are pretty simple. For reds I get magic penetration to maximize damage. You can go Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration if your're ballsy (remember Lux is also good for harassing with her auto attacks in lane). For yellows I go Health per level as those I find are the most solid, at least to my play style. Blues are Ability Power per level to increase damage, and Quints are flat Ability Power to give more damage to your skills.

Keep in mind these aren't the only runes for Lux. Change them depending on your need. For example, if against Mantheon or Lee go flat armor on your yellows, and if you're against AP champions looking to trade aggressively like Annie or Brand then go blue flat magic resist.

Masteries

Masteries are pretty standard, going 21 in offense for maximum magic damage and 9 in utility to help with mana issues and buff duration increase for longer blue buffs. The CDR and mana that come from blue buff are too good to pass up when dealing with a play style like Lux's so let's increase it's duration!

When you are running Ignite + Flash, make a small change in the utility by taking off Summoner's Insight and adding 1 point into Mastermind . This is because summoner's insight reduces CD of flash by 15 s, while mastermind reduces CD of flash by 12 s (4%), and ignite CD on top of it. 3 s less CDR is well worth the CDR on ignite.

If you're against a very extremely aggressive champion like Pantheon then you can instead take 9 in defense with flat armor seal runes.

Summoners - Why Teleport?

Teleport for a mid lane champion is not that common, but definitely not to be looked down. Since Lux is outclassed by a lot of champions, forcing kills with Ignite often turns out bad. Despite this, if you run ignite on Lux, it will result in some nice kills in certain defensive scenarios. There will come times when your enemy will make a move on you, and you counter that by casting Prismatic Barrier to mitigate damage, landing a good Light Binding for snare -> pop Illumination with basic attack -> Lucent Singularity -> attack, ignite for easy money. This is extremely deadly to enemies that are attempting to dive tower, notably Maokai who thinks he is hipster by snaring you when you are in flash range of your tower. Flash bait him while he snares so he moves into tower then release combo wombo for easy kill steal from mighty tower.

^ That explanation had nothing to do with Teleport, but useful information nonetheless. Now the real deal, the teleport summoner spell for Lux. You want to use this at around level 3~4 when bottom laners are level 2, best timing is when enemy bottom lane is making a move on ally bottom lane. If you can catch this timing, teleport gank will yield very fruitful results. Level 6 is also a really nice timing for teleport ganks, as your combo does extremely high burst that most of the champs at bot cannot handle. Try this summoner for a good number of games to see if it fits your play style, if it doesn't just go back to mainstream ignite, missing that hipster opportunity.


If you do not want to run teleport (even though I highly recommend it for the great roam and ganking potential) you can run either Ignite or Barrier with your flash. Ignite is good when you plan or at least know you can get away with playing aggressive in lane to get kills. Ignite increases your kill potential and I recommend running it when you plan to use my swag yolo ham build for snowball games.

Keep in mind that Lux has a very poke and range play style. You never want to be closer than you have to and for some that like to have play styles strictly for that or to play extra safe to survive and get more spells off, you can run Barrier for the extra protection.

These are both at the opposite ends of the spectrum, one a really aggressive summoner and the other for more protection.

Items

This is a good build to follow if you don't have an extremely aggressive and risky play style. This caters to more passive players who want to farm up early and get big mid/late game. Oracle is great for this defensive build as the ward clear is good for many situations.

Notice them green eyeballs? You can buy more if you want, but NOT less. Warding is great for defensive or aggressive play. Also, notice the placement of wards throughout the build. It's a good indicator of when to go back and shop.


This build is one for people of the exact opposite play style as the standard build. It is for people who prefer hyper aggressive style of play. You must take Ignite for this build to work effectively as it is built around winning your lane, getting all blues, and just dominating the game overall.

The build is intended for snowballing so again use it with ignite. Also, you must have a jungler who will give you blue for this to work. It is a more advanced build for that aggressive dominating play style.



The bruiser match up build is when you are playing against an AD champion who is really strong and you want to play really safe and smart. You must do this if you are against champions like Pantheon, Kha'Zix, basically any AD assassin or bruiser that can play extremely aggressive. You also want to consider getting 9 in defense for masteries instead of utility and flat armor for yellow runes with this build.

The final build is relatively similar, but you want to get wards, 2 dorans and an armguard before going into your core items. Survivability early game is key to success with Lux since you rarely die late game.



An ideal item build for lux is pretty straight forward. Build enough AP to one-shot back line (ranged minions), build enough tankiness for early game survival (with dorans, chalice, armguard), build enough sustain for mana (either double doran into athene's as 2nd/3rd item or rush athene's). Athene's is a must on Lux because of her mana issues, the only alternative is building RoA, which I might consider doing vs Heavy nukers like Kassadin, Annie, Leblanc, Pantheon and such. Follow my standard itemization as it is reliable in most situations.

One thing to note is that since you are far more likely to die early-mid than late game due to weak early laning phase, it is very important to minimize feed early. How do you do this? Buy wards, then buy some more wards, followed by buying some more wards. Those green eyeballs are your best friends.

Spells

Illumination (Passive) A decent chunk of your DPS comes from popping your passive. Your Final Spark auto pops passive, meaning that you could Light Binding-> Final Spark and you would also have your passive damage added to that combo. Light Binding->basic attack to pop passive-> Lucent Singularity->basic attack to pop passive is a really strong combo for damage.

Light Binding Snares 2 people, but be careful not to get confused with duration. The second target that Light Binding hits only get snared for 1 second, so if you want to land Lucent Singularity/ Final Spark on that specific target, be sure to immediately cast afterwards. Because those spells have casting time, you really, really need to cast right away or they will miss.

Prismatic Barrier Hits and bounces on as many targets as you hit. This is an extremely powerful defensive spell in many situations. Try to cast this very often, pre-shielding will be a solid choice in many team fights since it will be much harder to hit this skill shot on allies that are trying to maneuver around the battle field once a fight actually begins.

Lucent Singularity Very useful for getting vision (in brushes and such), zoning, and AoE slow, needless to mention the AoE damage. Use this spell instead of face checking brushes and it will save you from many deaths. Also use this to zone enemies when it is favorable to do so. Leave this spell on the ground when you want slow to last for its max duration.

Final Spark This one needs no explanation. Pew Pew, Pew Pew! One thing to note when using this spell, don't hesitate to use Final Spark on minions for wave clear against pushing enemies. You could also try and hit 2+ enemy champions, but you gotta be pretty sure to actually land it, otherwise they will laugh at your puny peasant Lux and march into your base.

Combos

1) Basic Rotation: Light Binding->basic attack-> Lucent Singularity->basic attack

You will be using this combo from beginning to end. Passive actually adds up a lot of damage, neglecting this will put you straight down to peasantry!

2) Full rotation: Light Binding->basic attack-> Lucent Singularity-> Final Spark->basic attack

Very important that Q lands, otherwise it is likely other 2 spells will miss resulting in 3 missed skill shots and spam of "LOL" from both teams.

3) Guarantee Landing Q: Lucent Singularity-> Light Binding-> Final Spark

This is not so bad. It's mainly to make sure you actually hit your skill shots. The slow from Lucent Singularity helps landing your Light Binding better. This combo also helps when the enemy is trying really hard to dodge your Light Binding. Don't worry about popping passive for this one, otherwise it will mess up the skill shots. This is for a quick, clean combo.

NOTE:

When you get used to playing Lux, try to throw Light Binding and briefly check if it hit before casting Lucent Singularity or Final Spark. Don't just throw in all spells expecting them to hit! Unless of course you are the true King Lux, then everything is okay. Also, try to take advantage of the passive, it adds a really good amount of damage to your output in between spells. If you have the opportunity to hit a spell and auto attack to pop the passive then go for it instead of an all in combo wombo. Remember, any harass you are able to get off on your opponent all adds up. Of course if you can hit a combo go for that instead.

Ranked Play

Early game is arguably the most important stage of the game, and that stays true for Lux. It dictates the story for the rest of the game so it is important that you follow your goals as Lux. To summarize, your early game goals are to play safe, get as much CS as possible, and don't go for kills, but for harassment. This isn't to say that if you can or think you can get a kill not to go for it, rather take any opportunities you can but don't overextend or get greedy. You are Lux, an amazing poke champion. Use your range to your advantage, don't get closer than you have to.

To start, decide whether you are invading or not. Wait to learn a skill until you see enemies when you invade or when they invade so you can land a snare with Light Binding. If you don't see anyone you are free to learn your normal skill build by starting Lucent Singularity. It is a great tool for harassing and helping to clear wave.

Play safely by placing wards on one side of brush at all times and don't push out too much. Also don't let them push too much either so you don't have to contest last hits with your own tower.

Don't commit too much to grab the kills, but make as many trades as possible if it is favorable. Playing safe doesn't mean playing extremely passive, you just have to avoid getting killed, and you will have relative strength at late game to dominate with your long range maneuvers. Basically, harass as much as you can and don't overextend to get kills. You should aim to make sure any trades you have with your opponent comes out in your favor. With Lux's kit this is relatively easy if played right.

If your lane opponent is tanking creeps, send a Light Binding his way to help him take even more damage from both the creeps and you. Remember, Lux is not the best at harassing with her spells alone until about level 3, so play smart with your auto attacks and making sure your opponent is tanking creeps. Once you hit 3 you have the start of your combos available to you.

If you decided to run Teleport you should always be looking at your minimap to find a good opportunity to gank. Once you hit 3 you should aim to use that teleport to start some ganks. Don't be afraid to teleport even before you hit 3. If you can make a 2v2 or a 2v3 into a 3v2 or 3v3 go for it.

When you hit 6 you will of course be utilizing Final Spark in your combos. Keep in mind that your opponents will absolutely expect this, so try to land Light Binding before you do this. Also now that you have your ultimate you can actually try to steal buffs or snipe enemies in other lanes without having to teleport. A good ward on their blue and when their middle tries to take blue buff you can land that ultimate to steal it.

Start farming wraiths once you are 7. As you level up you can clear wraiths by doing Lucent Singularity with a Light Binding on the big wraith, cleaning up the smaller ones with your passive and one auto attack.


Mid game is time to grab your blue buffs every time it is up. Get on your knees for your jungler if you have to! Remember, it's his blue to give up. With blue buff and Athene's Unholy Grail you should be able to spam your spells for easy money wave clears. Spamming your Final Spark past level 11 is completely okay as well.

You are not a strong ganker because of your skill shot spells, but be mindful when you should roam to help your team out or when you could snipe another lane with your ultimate. Absolutely do not try to follow your lane opponent when he is ganking. This is especially true if your lane opponent is a bursty damage dealer that can take you by surprise and melt you down. But, if you have a teleport up then you can use that to get away from this situation while still "following" your opponent into another lane, only you'll be teleporting and getting there faster.

Stay behind tanks in team fights unless there is no threat. It is really easy to get burst down as Lux, especially if you overestimate your survivability with your CC / shield. They are not as helpful in a situation where you are getting melted in few seconds. Good Lux players know how to go in and out of team fights, always staying away from threatening range of enemies and knowing when to come back into a fight when your spells get off cool down.

At this point in the game Lux starts to take off as a good poke harass champion, so play like one! Whenever there is a team fight you should always try to poke before either teams initiate and during the fight, again, you should be mindful of when to go in to poke and do damage and when to come out before going in again (cool downs dictating). This is especially true during dragon fights or turret pushes. For dragons you just poke them down and shield your teammates appropriately. They will not only take damage from you but also from dragon for the one who is tanking it. When your team is pushing you should take advantage of your spell ranges to poke them down while they're on top of their turret while you take no damage. Your Prismatic Barrier shield helps your teammates tank turret damage too.


In late game you are now a super duper laser cannon and can kill everything with no mercy. True King Lux style! Make sure to spam your spells as much as possible, and as effectively as possible. Don't blindly spam spells, but spam them in smart ways. For example, don't cast Light Binding when enemy is doing some crazy B-boy dance move in front of you. Cast Final Spark to clear waves when enemy team is looking to make a push, and cast when there's a chance to hit enemy champions along with the wave.

Positioning is key to success for late game Lux. Stay at long range for most part of team fights, try to stay hidden while spells are on cool down. Good positioning equals good luxing, always think of this while you play. You are a long range poke champion, play like one! Assess the situation before you attempt to pop back into team fights or go in for a closer look.

At the start of the fight try to land your Final Spark on as many champions as you can. It is important that you do this early enough that the enemy team starts with a health disadvantage and that you have time to get your ultimate off cool down during the fight. Since you will be taking advantage of your long range in team fights, you are effectively in the back line of your team during the fight, along with your AD Carry. So, during fights you should be thinking about poking enemies with your spells while staying as far back as possible and also shielding your priority teammates like your AD Carry with Prismatic Barrier. Your skill set is perfect for protecting carries with Light Binding and Lucent Singularity on the enemy team's front line with Prismatic Barrier to shield in the meantime.

Farming Tips

Farming with Lux is not too hard, your Lucent Singularity along with your passive procs will allow for easy last hits. Once you have enough Ability Power, you can one-shot the back line creeps with just one cast of Lucent Singularity, then proceed to proc passive on melee minions for easy moneys.

Try not to cast Light Binding while farming, unless you are absolutely sure nobody can gank you. One of the common mistakes as Lux is casting it too much for farming purposes, giving opportunities for enemies to jump you easily, as you are a squishy champ without an escape mechanism, and now without a snare.

Farming with Final Spark is completely acceptable, depends on preference. Usually it's a strong play to clear wave fast with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark, then go shop immediately after, so no CS will be missed.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading my guide. I hope that you enjoyed it and learned something from it. If you have a question or suggestion please leave a comment. My english is not the best so this took me a long time to write. If you notice anything please let me know so I can fix it.

I try to stream a lot and play high level rank games so if you want to watch that please follow my stream at www.twitch.tv/chu8