Lulu Build Guide by Pallis123

Introduction

Lulu is pretty much the most awesome, cute and adorable support out there. I like playing Lulu quite offensive (e.g. with Sorcerer's Shoes, Morellonomicon and Frost Queen's Claim), so I am able to have a bigger impact on the game and don't have to fully rely on my teammates to dish out damage.
Have fun reading my guide and I hope you pick something up from it!

Pros & Cons

Every champion has a few reasons why he / she is good, or why not. The same goes for Lulu.

Pros

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Good CC: Lulu has four different ways to CC the enemy ( Glitterlance slow, Whimsy polymorph and Wild Growth knockup / slow), which makes her very good at peeling for her ADC.

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Useful in all stages of the game: Lulu's abilities have good base damage and the scaling isn't bad either. That combined with the fact that she can peel very well, makes her very solid both early and late game.

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Insane poking ability: if it comes to poking from a long range, Lulu is your girl! With a 650 range Help, Pix! and a 925 range on Glitterlance, you can hit the enemy from a whopping 1575 units away!

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Fits with nearly every ADC: Lulu can be played both aggressive and passive, making her a good partner for most ADCs in the game. Though, of course, some ADCs work better with her than others.

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Fun to play: Lulu just has that something.. Using Whimsy on yourself makes you look like a witch on a broomstick and you can turn enemies in squirrels, how awesome!

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Cons

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Mana hungry: Lulu is, besides of maybe Sona the most mana hungry support in the game. You use your Glitterlance, Whimsy and Help, Pix! all pretty often, and they cost a lot of mana.

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Squishy: Lulu has no built-in tank ability (like Leona's Eclipse). In this build you get a little health and some armor or magic resist, but that's all. Position well, otherwise you die very fast.

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Hard to learn: With 6 different ways to use your abilities, you need to have a good sense of when to use which spell on whom. That will be hard in the beginning, but you'll get the hang of it after a few games.

Summoner Spells

In my opinion, those are the best summoner spells for Lulu:

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You must always have Flash. You have no way to instantly reposition yourself ( Whimsy doesn't help much when you need to 'gtfo' of there in a second) and therefore can be killed very fast. It can also be used offensively, so you can reach an enemy who was about to escape to kill him, or make sure that your teammates can catch up with him.

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For our second summoner spell, there are 3 viable options. I will list them in order from the one I like most to the one I like least.
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I only recently picked up Ignite on supports, because Gleebglarbu (challenger player) stated that it is an awesome spell for solo-queue. As I already explained, my philosophy behind this guide is to deal more damage than normal supports, so Ignite fits greatly. The results until now are good, most of the times I win my lane and get my ADC fed.

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Exhaust is more often seen on supports and in bronze people will often ask you to take this instead of ignite. In the lane it can win you a trade or fight if you put it on the enemy ADC. Exhaust is in lane weaker than Ignite, but late game will win you teamfights if you exhaust an assassin or hyper-carry in time.

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Lulu has no way to sustain herself or her ADC, so Heal can be pretty awesome. It can also bait your enemy into trying to kill your ADC, who all at once pops his Barrier and gets Healed. Chances are you will win the trade. Heal is a little more forgiving than Ignite / Exhaust - try it out if you only recently started to play Lulu.

Runes

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I run 3x Greater Quintessence of Ability Power on Lulu because it gives a nice chunk of extra harrassment early game, and is pretty decent late game as well. You could also opt two switch these for 3x Greater Quintessence of Health versus a kill lane like Leona + Ezreal. They will help you survive and maybe even win an all-in.

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greater mark of hybrid penetration

Lulu needs to harrass her enemies a lot in lane, with both auto-attacks and spells. Since greater mark of hybrid penetration complements both physical and magic damage, it is the best choice. You can take 9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration if you feel like you don't auto-attack very often and rather stay safe while using Glitterlance.

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9x Greater Seal of Armor is mandatory on every support. You will 9 out of 10 times be facing an AD champion on the other side, and this mitigates their damage a lot. Some people run 9x Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration, but I wouldn't do that. Lulu already is squishy as hell and you really need the armor to stay healthy.

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The enemy support or ADC ( Corki, Kog'Maw, Varus) will likely be dealing some sort of magical damage, you need a little bit of magic resist. The first points in magic resist help the most (the difference between 0 and 10 is bigger than between 90 and 100), so we don't get 9 of them. You can better get a few scaling ones for late game.

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Like explained above, in lane you will be facing only a little bit of magic damage, so we mix in 5x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, because every team will have at least one big source of magic damage late game. They outscale the flat ones at lvl 9, which is about the time that the first teamfights will start to occur.

Masteries

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Note: I don't recommend using this tree. Tier 1: There's only one good choice for Lulu in tier 1 of the offense tree, and that is, of course, Sorcery for the 5% CDR. Tier 2: Expose Weakness is the best mastery in the offense tree for Lulu, because if she hits the enemy with her spells, her teammates will do more damage. And that's what the support is for: helping teammates. Mental Force is also good, because AP is like explained before a very good stat on Lulu Tier 3: Arcane Mastery: 6 flat AP is very good, you will now start with 20 AP which is pretty much for a support. If you are stubborn and really want to go further, you could go with these masteries: Tier 3: Spell Weaving is a decent mastery, because you will be auto-attacking your enemy and using abilities a lot, thus you make good use of it. The last 2 points will be put in Executioner because it's 'the best of the rest'. Tier 4: Blade Weaving does the same as Spell Weaving , but the other way round. So take a point in this one. The other 3 points will of course be put in Archmage . Tier 5: It's pretty clear that you should put your points in Arcane Blade and Devastating Strikes . I mean, Frenzy ? Nope. Tier 6: If you go 20 points in the offense tree, of course you take the last mastery as well!

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Tier 1: Block is a good mastery because you'll be trading auto-attacks a lot in botlane, and the 2 damage less per hit will start to add up after a while. Same goes for Unyielding . We get Recovery because health regeneration is pretty good as well. If you get hit by 1 auto-attack of your enemy every 5 seconds, it's worth exactly the same as Block . Tier 2: Veteran's Scars gives you flat out 36 health, which is almost the same as 1.5x Greater Quintessence of Health - probably the best mastery out of the whole defense tree. Tier 3: Juggernaut doesn't give you that much more health, but it's the best you can get in tier 3. The points you have left-over can be divided between Hardiness and Resistance , depending on which enemies you are facing. If you want to get more defense (I wouldn't recommend it, the utility tree is too good to skip in the preseason): Tier 4: Perseverance just like Recovery gives you a good bit of health regeneration. But it scales off your HP which you don't have much, so it's just a little bit you get. Tier 5: Tenacious : all 4 points you can put in this, should be put in this. You face 2 enemies in botlane, and an improvement of 8 armor and 4 magic resist is rather big. Tier 6: Legendary Guardian : if you have gone this deep into the defense tree, of course you must get the last mastery as well. It gives you 15% Tenacity , which is pretty useful.

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Tier 1: As you see, I take 6 points in this tier and only 2 in tier 4. That's because both movement speed (from Fleet of Foot) and mana regeneration (from Meditation ) benefit Lulu a lot, and the increase from Expanded Mind is unnoticeable. Inspiration is the biggest joke of all possible masteries. Tier 2: Summoner's Insight is a very good mastery, and it means you have your Flash up half a minute earlier. As for Ignite, the cooldown is reduced by 21 seconds. The fourth point in this tier goes to Alchemist , because it makes potions heal a little bit more and it is necessary to get Culinary Master . Tier 3: Greed : simple, you are a support and need money. 1,5 gold per 10 seconds means that after a game of half an hour (normal duration), you have earnt 180 x 1,5 = 270 gold. Culinary Master is an awesome mastery, because it gives you 10 mana, and more important, 20 health instantly. You're being Ignited in the early stages of the game? Pop this and you might survive with 5 health. Tier 4: Assuming you will be close to minions a lot, this mastery might be worth over 300 gold in a full game. A one-point wonder. Wealth is also good because you can now start with either a potion more, or with 2 wards and no pots. Tier 5: Bandit stacks nicely with Spellthief's Edge. If you want to go further, put your next 3 points in Intelligence , because 5% CDR and 10% shorter cooldown on your items is good. Tier 6: Wanderer helps you return to lane faster and makes for faster ward coverage.

Ability Sequence

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This passive is great for a few reasons: first, if you put it on your ADC / toplaner / jungler with high attack speed, they deal significantly more damage. Second, you can use it to easily harrass your enemies with Glitterlance, and last Pix gives you vision if you put your Help, Pix! on an enemy champion.

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Glitterlance is Lulu's main damage ability. It has a 925 range and is an easy way to harrass your opponent without coming close. We max this first, because the damage and slow duration both get higher. A lot of people max Help, Pix! on Lulu, but I disagree. The cooldown is longer than Glitterlance's and it costs more mana.

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Whimsy gives a nice speed buff to an ally, which is useful for engaging / disengaging. If cast on an enemy, he becomes a squirrel. He moves slower and can't use spells and attacks. This skill is awesome with only 1 point, so we get it at lvl 4 (lvl 3 if your enemy has a good all-in at lvl 3, like Leona) and max it last.

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Help, Pix! is an awesome skill, mainly in the laning phase. It deals a decent amount of damage and shields for about the same. The damage is higher when you have 2 points in it, so put on your enemy rather than your ADC (but if you can save your ADCs life, do it!). The damage and shield value go up as you level it, so max this second.

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Wild Growth is one of the best supporting ultimates in the game. It gives your ally 300 health and knocks up nearby enemies. It remains for 7 seconds and slows nearby enemies. It is perfect to bait enemies into their own death. Late game you should use this on your initiator (a Malphite that knocksup twice.. damn that's pretty annoying)

Items

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Normally, you will want to start with Spellthief's Edge, a Stealth Ward and two potions. I prefer to have 1 Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation and 1 Mana Potion, because I spam my abilities quite often as Lulu and therefore can use the mana. If you manage your mana better than I do, however, you can take two Total Biscuit of Rejuvenations. Spellthief's Edge grants everything Lulu needs for the laning phase. AP, mana regeneration and gold income. Remember to auto-attack your enemy every 10 seconds, to get the best out of this item. However the real reason why Spellthief's Edge is so awesome on Lulu is that every bolt Pix fires procs the passive as well (same goes for Scavenger ) and thus gives you 21 gold per hit.
Always get at least one Stealth Ward at the start, to place in the river bush when your lane is pushed.
Optional: you can take Ancient Coin. It has an awesome active (the one that used to be Shurelia's Reverie, but it doesn't give any AP so I don't like it that much.
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These 2 items are the core for your laning phase. Frostfang is exactly the same as Spellthief's Edge, but it grants more AP, more mana regeneration and more gold income. Chalice of Harmony makes that you will never run out of mana again and gives you some magic resist against the magic damage you are taking. Don't forget to pick up a pair of potions and wards as well.
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This set of items is core on Lulu. First, and most important of all, get your Sightstone. It gives you a good chunk of health and provides you with 4 wards everytime you back. If are playing it right, you will never have to back for wards anymore (though you must still get a Vision Ward every now and then). You don't yet have to immediately get your Ruby Sightstone, because the normal one is sufficient. The second item you will get depends on how the game is going. Pick up the Mikael's Crucible if your carry (be it AD or AP) is super fed and it's important to protect them. Using it just for the heal is a waste, so put it on them as soon as they get CC'ed. If your carries, however, are not doing that good, your best bet would be to rush a Frost Queen's Claim so you have more peeling power and can have a bigger impact for your team. Get the one you didn't have yet as your third item.
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Next, you'll want to get your boots. Don't skip them, they really are important!
There are two choices here. The first is Ionian Boots of Lucidity, which you will get most of the times. It is a very cheap source of CDR and will probably by the end of the game have made you cast a spell or 15 / 20 more. Since this patch I'm also very fond of Sorcerer's Shoes on AP based supports, such as Lulu. They will make you deal a lot of damage which will also help with carrying your team.
As for enchantments, there are only two viable options in my opinion. In 90% of the games, you'll be getting Enchantment: Homeguard because it helps you with running back to lane faster and defending your base faster if you are losing. If you often find yourself initiating the fights but your allies are following up too slot, you can get Enchantment: Captain so they have a little more movement speed and will probably be there in time.
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For your fifth item you need a defensive one. Look at the enemy team and decide if you need armor, or magic resist. If you need armor, Frozen Heart and Randuin's Omen are both great items. The first one gives an AS reducing aura, which actually decreases the damage of their ADC a lot. The second option is Randuin's Omen. It gives quite some armor less than Frozen Heart (95 round 50), but if you are being focused in teamfights this item is actually better. Apart from passively slowing the attackers attack speed, you also lower his movement speed. And on top of that, the active is a fantastic slow of ~4 seconds. This helps a lot with catching up if enemies get away with like 200 health.
If the enemy deals more (or solely) magic damage, you can choose between Locket of the Iron Solari and Abyssal Mask. In most cases you will get Locket of the Iron Solari, because it gives a defensive aura to your team and has an awesome AoE shield. If your jungler decides to pick this up, don't get it! You end up wasting your gold on an aura and active that won't work. Get the Abyssal Mask instead. It boosts your damage a lot, makes you tankier against mages and also increases your AP carry's damage.
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If you reach the late game and have enough to buy a sixth item, you can afford to get an offensive one. I like to get either Twin Shadows, Morellonomicon or Zhonya's Hourglass.
Twin Shadows gives you movement speed, ability power and magic resist which are all good stats on Lulu. The passive is another tool of slowing your enemy, effectively giving you 6 (!) ways to peel.
The second option would be Morellonomicon which I like the best. Not because of its passive, I consider that pretty wasted except for the rare case where you play against Dr. Mundo / Garen. No. The real deal are the base stats. 75 ability power, 20% cooldown reduction and 12 mana regeneration per 5 seconds are all fantastic stats. Pretty self-explanatory, no? Its components are very cheap, so if you have some spare gold, pick u an Amplifying Tome or Faerie Charm!
Since the preseason patch with changes to support, Zhonya's Hourglass is also a good option in my opinion. It gives armor, a lot of ability power and an active that makes you invulnerable for 2.5 seconds. Deal more damage, get killed slower and don't die to that stupid Ashe who's trying to blow your head off.
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To finish off the build you only have to upgrade your Sightstone into a Ruby Sightstone. You're done!
This is a good example of a balanced build. It gives you all the stats you need and a few nice passives and actives. (But although supports do earn more gold since the preseason, you will probably don't get all 6 items very often)

Gameplay

In this section I will explain how to play Lulu in the different stages of the game and how to use her skills to their fullest potential.

Laning phase
This is where Lulu truly shines and makes up for a good late game. Get your starting items, head over to botlane (red / blue buff if your jungler needs a leash) and wait for the minions to come. Your goal is to make sure your ADC can farm safely. In contrary to popular believe, it's not the ADC who carries the laning phase, it's the support! You deal the damage and protect your ADC, he should mainly be focussing on farming. Glitterlance is awesome for both harrassing and protecting your ADC, as it deals damage and slows the enemy. The cooldown is 7 seconds and you should use it often. Only using Glitterlance doesn't drain your mana too fast.
If the enemy is really going in on your ADC, immediately shield him and polymorph the enemy ADC / support (depending on who will deal the most damage). Slow them down by using Glitterlance and when they back off start to hit them with your auto-attacks. As long as you don't get grabbed by a Blitzcrank or Thresh and your ADC is not stupid, you should always come out on top of trades as Lulu.
When your jungler ganks, put Whimsy and maybe Help, Pix! on him and slow your enemy down with Glitterlance. Put your Ignite on the ADC if you can, and pray for God that you get a kill.

If your lane starts to be pushing towards the enemy side of the river, put a Stealth Ward in the river bush (and maybe tri-bush) and back off as soon as you see an incoming enemy. Ping your ADC to retreat with you. In the case you are too late, do the same thing that you would do if the enemy botlane engaged on your ADC.

Ping your jungler to come for dragon as soon as the enemy botlane / jungler is dead. 190 global gold is not something to underestimate.

Mid game
The first turrets will have fallen by now, and teamfights start to occur around dragon or maybe just in a lane.

There are three rules of thumb, and if you follow them you will most likely win the teamfight:

1. Immediately polymorph / slow / kill any enemy that jumps on your carry! This is by far the most important thing to do, because without carries your team won't win the fight. Also, you can put the Mikael's Crucible's active on your carry.
2. Use your Glitterlance, Help, Pix! (if not already used on your carry) and Frost Queen's Claim to kill the enemy carries that positioned poorly. Only your damage will already be around 500, together with your team they will pretty often die.
3. Don't die! Might seem stupid, but a lot of supports commit suicide for their carry, but this will often only give your enemy another kill because a lot of people will in turn try to save you.
   Stay behind your tank line unless their carries are clearly focusing someone else. Otherwise you are dead meat.

Further, you should be roaming around the map with your boots and Whimsy (giving 500 movement speed) to ward everywhere. You should try to have a Vision Ward at either Baron or Dragon, 1 / 2 Stealth Wards in your own jungle, and the other(s) in the enemy jungle. If you happen to be around baron when your Greater Lens is up, clear the enemy wards.

Late game
Late game is pretty much the same as mid game, except for the fact that people will nearly have their full build now. Your most important goals are still to not die and protect the carries, however your damage isn't that great anymore by now.
If you are losing the match, get Enchantment: Homeguard and defend your base, while sending one of your team's players out to splitpush. Tell him to place some Stealth Wards around and let him clear the wave until some enemies are clearly coming after him. Your Glitterlance has a pretty good waveclear, so if the rare occasion where you will be the one to splitpush occurs, don't hesitate! You have Stealth Wards with you, can back off fast and can clear the waves fast.
As soon as you aced your enemy or have like 3 / 4 players advantage, do baron.

But of course, the most important thing is to take the enemy nexus!

End

This was my guide to support Lulu, I hope you enjoyed it and will leave a comment behind.

I'm planning on making a synergy / counter list, but have not yet faced enough different champions to do it now.