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Lulu Build Guide by

Lulu: A Whimsical Guide for Support and AP

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3 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author cmoosewylde

Lulu Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (3) More Lulu Guides

Choose Champion Build:

Spells:

Clairvoyance

Heal

Ability Order

Lulu Passive Ability

Introduction

Lulu is a powerful, effective support and AP champion if used correctly. Although without any hard CC, she is capable of rendering enemy champions ineffective, buffing allies, and helping your team turn around an otherwise losing game!

After reviewing the Lulu guides currently on Mobafire, I decided to add my own. My build has served me well, and I hope that it does to you, too!

Pros / Cons

spaaaaaaace

Pros

+ Great early game harass with
+ Ability to save allies in danger
+ Good initiator for team fights
+ Can shut down enemy initiators

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Cons

- Poor early game sustain without s
- takes practice to aim correctly
- More complex skills, as several can be used on allies or enemies
- Tends to be focused down in team fights

Changelog:
4/7: Began working on AP Lulu build for top or mid solo lane.
4/9: Added more information on AP build, updated skills section to include screenshots.
4/11: Updated summoner spells to use Heal instead of Flash, updated summoner spell section to reflect change.
4/16: Removed Rod of Ages in favor of Morello's Evil Tome.

Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

Summoner Spells

: As a support champion, one of your primary duties is map control. allows you to maintain that constant awareness of enemy movements which will allow your team to set up teamfights correctly or escape ganks. More on this in the Maintaining Map Control section.

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: Lulu doeesn't have any built in sustainability. The summoner spell allows you to remain in lane longer during the laning phase. It also allows you to keep your carry alive. , combined with , and will ensure than an enemy who hopes to kill your carry is faced with a daunting task!

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Other Good Summoner Spell Choices

: Flash is seen at all levels of play for great reasons. It allows you to escape a bad situation as well as initiate great teamfights. For , you'll want to use your primarily for escapes, as it will be your only method of escape.

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: When building a solo lane Lulu, I recommend Teleport. This will allow you to leave and return to your lane quickly, as well as assist other lanes if they are in trouble. This will allow you better map control by superior positioning.

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Runes

Greater Mark of Magic Resist: The big choice for Marks is between these and Greater Mark of Magic Penetration. I choose warding for the additional survivability, since Lulu's role is never as a damage dealing champion.
Greater Seal of Gold: Again, as a support champion, you will need the additional gold generation. Between these seals and your Greater Quintessence of Golds, you'll be earning 5.3 gold per 10 seconds. That's like starting the game with a Philosopher's Stone or Heart of Gold!
greater glyph of replenishment: These glyphs will allow you to remain in the lane longer, using your abilities to greater effect. Even though your first item will be a Faerie Charm, I find that I need the additional mana regen if my lane is particularly aggressive. You always want to be in a position to aid your allies, and you can't do that if you're out of mana.
Greater Quintessence of Gold: As a support champion, you will want to avoid last-hitting as well as getting champion kills. This will put you at a gold disadvantage. These quints will help to compensate for that gold disadvantage. Other players will, no doubt, prefer Greater Quintessence of Health, but I find that they are an early game crutch that are unnecessary. Lulu is not a tank or a front-line fighter, so you should not need the additional health.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: For our AP build we want some magic penetration. This will allow our spells to continue to do great burst damage even when our opponents buy magic resistance items.
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration: During the laning phase, you'll be using Glitterlance to harass enemies and pick up minion (and possibly champion!) kills. These seals allow for greater mana regeneration, which will keep you in lane longer.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power: These glyps will add much needed AP to our build, allowing you to poke and harass with much more effectiveness at earl levels.
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Like our glyphs, these Quints will give your Glitterlance more damaging power and your Help, Pix! a better shield!

Masteries

As a support champion, Lulu benefits most from the Support Mastery tree. Extra Mana and Mana regeneration, Bonus XP, and additional Cooldown Reduction are all wonderful on Lulu and allow her to fulfill her role on the team more effectively. Additionally, I choose to take 9 points in the Defensive tree to give Lulu some extra survivability. If you're doing your job well, you'll be focused down with more and more ferocity in teamfights, and you need as much survivability as you can get.

For the AP solo lane build, I pick up the mana regeneration and movement speed masteries from the Support tree, then push all the way down the Offense Mastery tree.

Ability Explanation

Pix, Faerie Companion: This passive will allow you to last hit if you are in a position where you have to hold a lane solo while your lane partner has gone back to base or died. It is also one of the great benefits to Help, Pix! when cast on an Ally.

Glitterlance (Q): This is a powerful slow with a great AP ratio. For our support build, we will be focused on using this spell to slow enemies for a gank or save allies from a team fight. With the AP build, this will be your primary damage-dealing spell.

Using Glitterlance with Help, Pix!: This is one of the more interesting and difficult combos at Lulu's disposal. is always cast from both Lulu and Pix. When is cast, the beam from will still originate from both Lulu and Pix, even if Pix is currently harassing an enemy! This is not a great way to kill steal from your carry!. This is, however, a great way to help secure a kill for your carry.

Situations

Your teammate is fleeing from a gank or dangerous battle. By casting on your ally, then firing from that ally towards the advancing enemy, you ensure your ally's survival!

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is a great tool for clearing creep waves! By targeting a minion on one end of the wave with , you can line up a to hit multiple minions simultaneously.

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By casting on a minion, then firing from that minion, you can harass an enemy at enormous range with little to no threat to yourself. This can allow you to push an enemy out of the lane or secure a kill!

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Whimsy (W): This is the spell which got most people (including me) excited about Lulu. Execution of it, however, separates a great Lulu player from an annoying and ineffective one. This is an exceptional interrupt, cancelling ultimates from Fiddlesticks, Nunu & Willump, and many others! It is also a great way to shut down those destructive initiators such as Amumu and Volibear. Finally, don't ignore the AP and Movement Speed buff if cast on an ally! Utilizing Whimsy on both enemies and allies is the mark of a great Lulu player.

Using Whimsy on enemies:

There are two situations to keep in mind when using Whimsy. The first is stopping a fight before it happens. With your superior map control, you should be aware of most ganks in your lane before they happen. If your carry isn't in a position to fight it out, use Whimsy on the enemy ganker as they approach and allow your carry to run away. You can also use Whimsy to save your entire team from an unwanted team fight by targeting the enemy initiating champion ( Volibear or Amumu). By removing the enemy's ability to create a fight when or where they want, you give your team a huge advantage.

The second situation for which Whimsy is very effective on enemies is when ganking or initiating a team fight. Drop Whimsy on the enemy carry and watch the enemy team's DPS drop significantly. If they have an AP burst champion ( Annie or Veigar for instance), they should be the primary target for Whimsy. This will prevent massive burst damage and allow your team the advantage in any fight.

Using Whimsy on an Ally:

There are also two primary situations to keep in mind when using Whimsy on an ally. The first is applying the AP buff. Tossing this on your AP carry just before a team fight and your ally will love you for it!

The second reason to cast Whimsy on an ally is to grant the movement speed buff. Your build will include a Shurelya's Battlesong, but if it is on cooldown or you don't have it yet, then this is a great way to help initiate a fight or allow an ally to escape.
Help, Pix! (E): I prioritize this skill slightly in the early game to help sustain my lane partner.

Using Help, Pix! in early game: Cast on your lane partner before they sustain damage. This may seem obvious at first, but it is surprisingly difficult in the moment. Your goal is to prevent any damage from reaching your lane partner, so cast this spell just before they are attacked. This can be very tricky when laning vs Master Yi, Katarina, or other dash/blink champions. It necessary, though, if you want to win your lane. If your lane partner is at 1/3 or 1/4 health, its already too late! They are going to want to recall to avoid death, and they should. Your goal is to prevent them from getting that low in health.

I don't often use Help, Pix! in the laning phase to harass. I want to save my mana and keep this spell ready in case of a gank or enemy harassment. The other major advantage of Help, Pix! is that your passive Pix, Faerie Companion is transferred to the friendly target! If another teammate (often your jungler) is coming in for a gank, casting Help, Pix! on your lane partner or jungler will increase their damage output and help secure the kill!

Using Help, Pix! mid game: You'll be using very similar tactics here. You want to shield your allies from damage, as well as help increase their damage output (if ever slightly). You'll want to use Help, Pix! on enemy champions more often in this phase of the game. The damage isn't as important as the sight on an enemy for 6 seconds! This will help your allies secure kills on enemies who have escaped a gank with very low health and is attempting to hide in the jungle to recall or heal up!

Using Help, Pix! late game: Your shield will be less valuable as the game moves on and enemy AP burst champions get more powerful. You will want to save this spell for lining up Glitterlance shots or saving allies when they are very low health. I would only use Help, Pix! offensively if you have won a team fight and an enemy champion is within casting range and may escape. Note that your goal is to reveal the enemy for 6 seconds so your other team members can chase and get the kill!
Wild Growth (R): Ah! The ultimate! Create even bigger Cho'Gaths! Make your allies gigantic! Ok, realistically, what does this do? Well, other than making your allies HUGE, it gives them a lot of temporary health, knocks enemies away, and slows nearby enemies!

When to use Wild Growth:

Offensively: When your team is initiating a team fight, use Wild Growth on your initiating champion! This will give them additional survivability with the health, as well as disorient the enemy team. If you time your spell correctly and the ally is in the middle of the enemy team, then the effects will knock enemies out of position, allowing your carries to clean up nicely!

Defensively: If you have an ally in trouble and needs to escape, then Wild Growth is also for you! The extra health, knock-back, and slow will most certainly help your ally escape a bad situation.

Ability Sequence Order

It is important to note that doesn't have one "bread and butter" skill which you should prioritize over all others. I prioritize slightly in my skill order to increase effectiveness in the laning phase. Note, however, that each of Lulu's skills are necessary and advantageous during the course of the match.

will shine during the early game laning phase. As you move into the roaming and teamfight phase, you will want more levels in and . By late game, the shield provided by will not scale as quickly as the damage from enemy AP burst champions and you'll be relying more and more on , , and . Keep this in mind as you are leveling your skills.

Items

Each of the lines of icons here represents an item slot. The "cheat sheet" portion at the top of the guide indicates the order of item purchases, but it occurred to me that it is also very important to manage your item slots effectively. The illustration below allows me to graphically explain how I fill each item slot. Though the game will automatically adjust the item order as you purchase, this chart should allow you to understand how I fill each item slot. If a component item for one of the final items is not listed, then I recommend that you purchase that component as part of the final item.

-> philosopher's stone ->

sight ward -> More sight wards -> Even More sight ward and s

-> -> ->

2x s -> ->

-> either or

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Explanation of Items:

is a wonderful support item, granting an active ability movement speed bonus to (potentially) your entire team. Mastering this item's active is key to playing a great support. Use this just before a team fight to give your whole team a movement advantage or during a losing battle to get everyone out.

grants everyone around you bonus health regen, and you can use it to shield (potentially) your entire team! This will help so much in team fights that I cannot recommend it enough! It works wonderfully well with , giving you amazing shield potential.

s and sight wards are your best friends as a support! As you can see above, I have dedicated one item slot to them for the entire game. This is because you should always have some wards on hand! Your runes, philosopher's stone, and will give you more than enough gold generation to constantly buy wards. See more on when and where to ward in the Maintaining Map Control section.

are probably my most controversial choice here. Many players will prefer , but I will forgo the tenacity for more cooldown reduction. By the time you upgrade your boots, you should already have purchased an , which means that if they're wasting CC on you mid-game, they're setting themselves up for a gank by your carry! If you're playing correctly, its almost an advantage if they waste CC on you!

gives ability power, cooldown reduction, as well as mana regeneration. During the mid and late game team fights, this item will ensure that you will be able to consistently perform and help your team. I replaced with this item because I found that Lulu benefits from the Morello's more. The loss of survivability from RoA is offset by Lulu's own abilities when buffed by Morello's.

is such a wonderful mid game item that I cannot pass it up! This item will allow you and your team members to survive more encounters. Make sure to sell this item by late game to pick up either a or , depending on whether you are facing down more AP or AD enemies.

is going to play a key role in Maintaining Map Control by allowing you to remove enemy wards. It will also allow you to see those pesky invisible enemies like and evelyn. It also doesn't take up an item slot if all six slots are full. If all slots are full when you purchase it, your champion will automatically "consume" it and you'll enjoy the effects immediately.

Maintaining Map Control

Here, I'll be talking about s, sight wards, clarivoyance, and . All of these are tools at your disposal to accomplish one powerful objective: Map Control.

Map Control is a combination of Map Awareness and Tactical Positioning.

Map Awareness: is knowing where your enemies are. Simple, right?

Tactical Positioning: is being at the right place at the right time to escape a gank or initiate a fight.

The below image is from Your Tryndamere Resource, by Apotheosis.

Blue: For protecting the lane
Red: To guard Baron and Dragon
Yellow: For protecting your own jungle
Orange: For counter-jungling

You should be playing Lulu in the bottom lane along with one of your team's carry's. If so, then your first priority for ward placement is in the bush along the river (the closest blue circle). This is the most typical direction the enemy jungler will take to gank you. Please note that a clever jungler or ganker will also come into your lane from the bush above your turret in your own jungle! This is also a great place for a ward.

So why am I telling you to start the game with both a sight ward and a ? So that you can destroy your enemy's wards! Yep, since s reveal invisible, they will reveal enemy wards and allow you to destroy them. Your enemies in the bottom lane will also want to ward the bush leading into the river, so drop a in that bush and take out their ward! Now they are blind and they just wasted 75 gold.

You will also want to use sight wards on Dragon and Baron. By maintaining Map Awareness of these objectives and denying your opponents the same, you give your team a powerful advantage.

is an exceptional tool if used correctly. At the beginning of the game, use it on the enemy's spawn to watch what items your enemies purchase! Early game, drop on the enemy's Blue and Red Buffs to check on the progress of their jungler. If you know they started at Blue and Red is also now gone, then you know they will be planning for a gank soon. Warn your team! Also use CV just before teamfights to check nearby bushes. This can save your team from ganks and allow your team to always set up the fight when and where you want.

will allow you to roam the map and remove all enemy wards that you find! Be careful roaming alone, but the tactical advantage you can give your team is extraordinary!