5/10/12- Build Created.
5/10/12- Moved Abyssal Scepter from core items to optional items.
7/7/12- Lux's mana costs and mana regen were buffed. Now you are legally obligated to kill yourself if you get clarity.
7/8/12- Revised some evaluations in the champion matchup section.
7/8/12- Made Edit History Chapter
9/7/12- OOPS I accidentally a mastery
9/7/12- Abyssal Scepter is now GARBAGE

What does Lux bring to the table? Well...

PROS
- Tons of Damage
- Used to have the best kill "securing" ult in the game (thanks, DARIUS.)
- Tons of Damage
- Reliable and useful aoe CC
- Strong Laning against most champs
- Her laugh is borderline OP
- Tons of Damage
- Tons of Damage

CONS
- All skillshot based, so she requires a mouse to play (sorry, no trackpads.)
- Requires skill to play, which you probably do not have since you're looking at a Mobafire build for this champ.
- She costs 3150 IP. Do you want Lux, or do you want a Quint of Vampirism and 3 seals of Resilience? Some decisions are too painful to make right away.
- You need to actually call "mid," otherwise people will tell themselves that you're a support in order to rationalize their lock-in as Ahri.

PASSIVE: ILLUMINATION ~ I swear this ability makes no sense on a light-based mage, but it's too damn fun to let it bother me. This lets you trade autos in between abilities in lane for extra damage, and is valuable for finishing off low targets later in the game. This is one of the reasons we get Lich Bane on Lux, the other being because she looks adorable with those giant yellow pom-poms that it gives her.

Q: LIGHT BINDING ~ Deals nice damage, but the snare is the real reason you want this. The snare duration does not scale with level, so it's not actually necessary to invest 5 points in your Q before investing more into your shield. This is the first ability you use when instagibbing someone, locking them down so you can take them to pound town with your E and R.

W: SOME GAY SHIELD ~ Does not do damage. 2/10, would not use.

E: LUCENT SINGULARITY ~ This is why you are a total jerk in lane. It's too expensive to constantly throw out, which is why some idiots get clarity. However, repeated use of this skill will push the lane anyway. Save it for when your opponent is locked in a certain path (e.g. creep blocked or against the wall), and poke them with this spell. The fact that this does the most damage out of your basic abilities, along with the fact that that its damage is AOE, long range, and easy to hit, make it desirable to plant 5 points in it as soon as possible.

finales funkelnR: THE REASON YOU BOUGHT LUX IN THE FIRST PLACE ~ A super-sweet Dragonball Z reference that can also be used to pick up kills across the map? YES PLEASE. Its cooldown gets so ridiculously low that you can legit use the ult for no reason other than to see into the fog of war, and no one will judge you for it. Kill people who escaped? Check. Nuke clumped up teams for 700 damage + Illumination debuff? Check. Clear creeps? Super Check. Steal Kills? Mandatory Check.

SKILL ORDER: Just use the Mnemonic Device, "Quintessential Elephants Entered When Everyone Ran, Esteban Quietly Exited Quickly. Rose! Quit Quantifying William's Wicked, Rad Water Wheel!" To make everything simpler to remember.

The rationale behind this order is based on these four points:
1) You're not Udyr, ergo you get "r" at levels 6, 11, and 16.
2) Your E is your most reliable source or harass and damage, so you max is first...
3) Except at level one, where the snare is more useful for leashing and reacting to unexpected invades and level one ganks.
4) Your damage is more important than your shield until late game, so you generally want to level Q before W.

Generally, you'll always want to open Boots and 3 Health Potions. You have no heal, so any harass you receive with a Doran's Ring opener is permanent. The potions give you some leeway in terms of receiving damage, and the boots help you space your lane more effectively.


OPEN WITH


FIRST BACK
OR

GET YOUR Sorcerer's Shoes WHEN YOU CAN AFFORD IT, AND BUY INGREDIENTS FOR YOUR Sheen IF YOU HAVE ANY EXTRA GOLD

PURCHASE ORDER LOOKS LIKE THIS:


IF YOU GO BACK WITH ENOUGH TO GET A Blasting Wand AND NOT ENOUGH FOR A Needlessly Large Rod, THEN BUY THE BLASTING WAND INSTEAD. THERE'S NO SENSE IN SITTING ON GOLD WITHOUT SPENDING IT.

NEXT, BUY


THEN FINISH YOUR


NOW PENETRATE!



CORE:


OTHER COOL ITEMS:


Here is the rationale behind the core build, and what I think of the optional sixth items:

Sorcerer's Shoes: 20 Mpen is nothing to underestimate, as the reduced MR will help you do significantly increased damage against targets without any MR items, and gives you good late game returns on those that do have some. Ionian Boots of Lucidity aren't "bad," per se, but the CDR is unecessary late game once you get blue buff and some elixirs.

Rabadon's Deathcap: MOAR AP MOAR DMG

Lich Bane: The move speed is good, the ap is good, and the MR is good. But the real reason we love this item is its passive. Coupled with your passive, you're adding an additional 500 damage to your combo by the time you purchase this item, and it scales even higher once you get more ap items. It also helps significantly with tower and monster clears.

Void Staff: This is usually necessary on every ap caster, assuming your opponents have reasonable amounts of MR. This is the least "core" of the core items, as the percentage-based penetration won't do a lot of work for you if your opponents are bad and get no magic resist.

Athene's Unholy Grail: A reasonable sixth item. It packs a respectable amount of AP, and the CDR bonus helps you cap at 40%. However, you won't find yourself needing the mana boost, especially if your jungler's been letting you have blue.

Haunting Guise: Usually written off as a gimmicky mid-game item, haunting guise actually gives you some serious bang for your buck. Late game, 20 additional Mpen will help your damage much more than any single ap item would. I don't have the numbers on me to back that up, but I read it somewhere on the internet so you know it's true.

Abyssal Mask: NERFED TO 600 RANGE WTF DO NOT GET

Zhonya's Hourglass: Gives more ap than any other optional sixth item, and gives you armor when none existed previously. Given your position in teamfights though, you won't be using the active very much.

Rod of Ages: You need to commit to this early to make use of its passive, and I don't think it's worth it. the 80 ap can be found anywhere else and the health and mana boosts are unneeded for their own separate reasons.

Mejai's Soulstealer: Go for it if you think you'll get fed. I lack self-confidence so I almost never get it.

Archangel's Staff: Worth getting if you got Tear of the Goddess because you're a spell-spamming nazi. However, Lux isn't good at filling up a tear, and the fact that this build has no max mana items means that archangel's passive is largely wasted.

Ever since season 2, most damage-oriented AP casters have been going 21/0/9. The reason is because there are too many benefits to going full offense to pass up, and since you too will be building for damage, you must also roll 21 offense.
SUMMONER'S WRATH (1/1) You have ignite, so the 5 bonus AP/AD from this mastery is more useful than the 1 bonus AP you'd receive from a 4th point in Mental Force .

MENTAL FORCE (3/4) Hey, turns out AP is useful. Might as well grab some.

SORCERY (4/4) The CDR is nice, but mostly we're putting points in this skill to unlock...

ARCANE KNOWLEDGE (1/1) 10% Spell Pen. CHOICE*.

HAVOC (3/3) We put points here for TONS OF DAMAGE as well as the fact that all the other available masteries at this tier are useless.

MOAR AP MOAR DMG

MOAR AP MOAR DMG

Makes stealing kills EVEN EASIER.

SUMMONER'S INSIGHT (1/1) Everyone thinks that a 15 second flash cd decrease isn't a lot, until they die with 10 seconds left to wait on it. Seriously, over the course of several games, this mastery will save your pathetic behind countless times.

GOOD HANDS (1/3) It was either one point in here or one point in the speed boost mastery. 0.5% increase in speed isn't a lot, but 4% reduced death time can make a huge difference late game.

EXPANDED MIND (3/3) Extra mana is nice, but the reason we get this is to unlock the mana regen masteries. No one will blame you if you go 3 points in Good Hands and 4 Points in Swiftness, but I prefer the increased available mana early game.

MEDITATION (3/3) See above. More mana means more harass.

RUNIC AFFINITY (1/1) Longer Blue Buffs are always nice.

*(note: "choice" is 90's for "cool.")

STANDARD SETUP:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

POR QUE WHY?

Marks give you the most bang for your buck when you grab penetration. When we harass our enemies, we want them to feel it DEEP.

greater seal of replenishment Mostly I just roll these because I'm bad at managing mana on some champions, and I'm too poor to afford multiple AP rune pages. I don't necessarily need them on Lux, but when stacked with the Meditation mastery, you get to squeeze out a little more damage in lane without needing Clarity.

LUX SCALES OFF OF AP AND LEVELS. THESE RUNES ENSURE THAT YOUR TWO STATS COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER, ALLOWING YOU TO SNOWBALL UNCONTROLLABLY.

What is a quintessence, anyway? Do additional damage with these while looking it up in the dictionary.

ALSO ACCEPTABLE
Ap Seals
CDR Glyphs
Or be a total Jew and run an MR page. Not normally recommended, but if you're bad enough to consider an MR page on Lux, odds are you're bad enough to need it.

ALRIGHT MAGGOTS LOOKS AT THESE SPELLS



AWWWW YE THESE ARE SOME SWEET-*** SPELLS HERE. YOU GOT YOUR ESCAPE AND YOU GOT YOUR EXTRA DAMAGE. YOU CAN FLASH INTO IGNITE RANGE FOR A KILL, OR YOU CAN IGNITE AND THEN MANNER FLASH, JUST TO SHOW YOUR ENEMY HOW FEW F*CKS YOU GIVE.

OTHER OPTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD IGNORE
Clarity ~ This is the big one. A lot of Luxes grab this. Don't give into peer pressure. If you pick this spell, your computer will crash and display UNINSTALL_LEAGUE.

Teleport ~ What are you, Nasus? You can't teleport into an ignite or vice-versa. There's no combo to be had here.

Heal ~ Not necessary in lane, not necessary in teamfights.

Cleanse ~ Nope

Clairvoyance ~ Let me tell you a story. Someone on my team once told me that I need CV on Lux in order to properly land my ultimate. The moral of the story is that they were bad and you should ignore their advice.

Promote ~ Combos well in place of ignite. A clutch flash+promote will let you upgrade a cannon minion that's about to die, whereas an ordinary Lux would just let the minion be destroyed.

Smite ~ Hard counters promote. Use in draft when you see another Lux, as it lets you counter the flash+promote meta.

Revive ~ I play Nuzlocke mode, so when my champion dies, I quit the game and never play them again. There are no second chances in the real world, and there are no revives.

Exhaust ~ You do not need this spell. It is unnecessary. You do not require it.

Ghost ~ I'm not a good runner, and I'm assuming Lux isn't either, because we have the same muscle mass.

Surge ~ Matter cannot be created nor destroyed. I am suspicious of a spell that seemingly makes you bigger with no discernible source. Where does the extra mass come from? Aliens? Hitler? I prefer not to find out.

Brief Rundown of who you should fear and who you should get fed off of.

Ahri: Even Match. She has sustain but needs to push to get it, and it doesn't out-heal your poke. Once level 6 rolls around you should be able to kill her if she's at or near half, but her mobility and damage increases make her a significantly greater threat.

Akali: Hard lane. Don't feed, and get a gank before level 6. Try to cs and roam around if you can, because you need a kill advantage to hang around near her.

Anivia: Not terribly difficult, but her passive will keep you from getting fed a lot. Be cautious with your poke. Her abilities are trickier to land than yours, but her harass hits a lot harder. Dance around and harass lightly, and only pop her egg when you know you can get a kill out of it, or at least get her low again quickly enough to force her out of lane.

Annie: Easy lane. Poke poke poke, don't get stunned, poke poke kill. The only thing that can screw this up for you is a solid gank on her behalf.

Brand: Easy Lane. He has no reliable poke and he has no sustain.

Cassiopeia: Somewhat hard. She can harass back, and for less mana. Your advantage lies in the fact that your Light Binding lets you lock her down for a combo, whereas her only way of locking you down is a lucky Petrifying Gaze. If you go toe-to-toe with her, you will probably win due to your burst. But laning is hard and her ult makes her a threat to be careful around.

Fiddlesticks: Too much sustain. Abuse the fact that he either gets outfarmed or has to push. If you get a large enough gold advantage, you can melt him due to his natural squishiness.

Fizz: Stay back and poke. Try to force his playful/trickster in order to get a gank. He can't touch you if you're careful, but after his first back he is still pretty scary.

Galio: Be outfarmed or get a gank. You won't be doing much to this guy.

Gragas: A worse Lux with a slightly more useful, albeit less cool-looking ult. Your superior poking ability should compensate for his Happy Hour.

Heimerdinger: Your Lucent Singularity significantly outranges his turrets. Poke Poke Poke.

Karma: OP Shield. Why can't my shield do damage? Riot nerf plz.

Karthus: He'll try to make it a farm lane. Use your range to punish him as much as possible, but don't let yourself get too outfarmed. He'll inevitably pick up kills and assists once level 6 rolls around, so try to minimize the gold difference before then.

Kassadin: Easy lane pre-six, although his Void Stone will make him more resilient to your harass than you'd like. Step lightly once he gets his ultimate.

Katarina: You outpoke her. Keep a healthy supply of potions and wards, and you'll inevitably win the lane. Try to save your Light Binding in case she Shunpos on top of you, but feel free to use your E all day.

Kennen: Neutral lane. He's more useful in teamfights and hard to gank, but you can harass him easily before he gets his Hextech Revolver. Try to minimize any gold disadvantages and feel free to burst him down before he buys his tankiness items.

LeBlanc: Scary stuff. Avoid if possible. If not, save your abilities and punish her when she uses her Distortion to get into kill range. You need the reflexes of a xiaolin monk on meth, but it's doable. I'd still recommend avoiding this matchup.

Lux: Depends on who has the promote and who has the smite.

Malzahar: He's very resistant to poke and hard to outfarm, but you're more useful than he is. Avoid letting him get an advantage on you in lane, and pick up kills wherever possible.

Master Yi: As much as I hate the concept of AP Yi, he's virtually immune to your poke. Try to get ganks, and again, remember that you're more useful than he is.

Mordekaiser: Poke hard before he gets his spell vamp. A lot easier with blue buff, and probably the only champion worth rolling Clarity against. He gets really resilient to harass, so deter him from farm while you can.

Morgana: Why didn't you ban her? If it's blind pick, why aren't you Darius? If your team already had a Darius, why didn't you queue dodge?

Nidalee: Outpoke all day err day

Orianna: The hell is this b*tch? Is she still in the game?

Ryze: A short-range champion with no sustain? He is a blank canvas upon which you may paint masterpieces of poke and damage.

Sion: Stay back and be careful. You can poke from a distance, but a fed AP Sion is uber-scary. An unfed one is as useless as a 40-minute LeBlanc.

Soraka: Total jerk in lane, but her damage is lackluster. If she pushes, get a gank. If she plays smart, accumulate gold and pick up kills where you can, as you're much better at bursting and getting kills than soraka is.

Swain: Easy lane pre-six, but hard to push out once he gets his catalyst the protector and Ravenous Flock. You can outfarm him, but don't eat his combo or you'll sorely regret it. A fed Swain is one of the least fun things to be responsible for.

Talon: RED FLAG RED FLAG

Teemo: Poke!

Tristana: If she goes in, make her regret it! If she can't itemize, she's nothing more than a gimmicky lane. If you end up feeding her, then you need to stay back and hope you're not the target of her burst.

Twisted Fate: Poke! Don't eat his harass!

Veigar: Easy to harass, but equally easy to slip up against and feed. Tread lightly.

Viktor: BEST EVER. No one plays him so you'll be fine. If you do end up against Viktor, prepare for a 20-minute surrender.

Vladimir: Hard to force out of lane, but his abilities are too short-range to seriously threaten you.

Xerath: Rush Sorcerer's Shoes and do not get out-poked. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Ziggs: See above.

Zilean: Try leveling up your Prismatic Barrier over your Light Binding. He's super-squishy early on and quite an easy lane to deal with.