Welcome everyone, and thank you for reading this guide. Before we start, I'd like to say I had interesting experience playing as Lux' summoner, using this tactics, and I would like to thanks Amarunas, Rydellus and Kusoku, as 3 most influential players who helped me with training and discovering such a great champion as Lux.


Before you start using this guide, I'd like to ask you to set all your skills to 'smart cast' and learn how to use this method of skill usage. During most situations difference between life and death of your champion will depend on miliseconds that can be saved using aforementioned smart cast.


As smart casting is done we can go on with this guide.

First things first. Answer these questions.

Wanna save whole team at low level from dying with your shield ?
Wanna be hard to kill ?
Wanna be targeted last ?
Wanna be self sufficient, and need no teamwork to win ?

If you answered all of them "yes" - do us both a favor and change guide.

This guide is aimed to get most damage possible, without sacrificing power to help your allies, however it WILL require good teamwork, and support is NOT focus of this guide.
Interesting fact : sometimes you mind become walking, glass nuclear cannon, with incredibly big sign 'hey, morons ! Shoot this char first \/" above you.

As we got that straight, let's get to business, shall we ?

Explanations

Marks and Quintessences
Insight
Due to offensive focus these go to pure magic penetration. Item build lacks high, core penetration, and with small alteration on tank-heavy teams, together with shoes it will be your only penetration. As for armor - if you happen to get it below 0, well, additional damage never hurt... or rather - never hurt YOU [your target on the other hand...].

Due to total magic penetration of 34.22 you will NOT however be able to completely negate enemy magic resistance alone.

Seals
Clarity OR Resplenishment
Let us be honest - while later in game they will get somewhat reduntant, they are great addon.
Most likely I will repeat it over the guide but one thing is to be noted : Lux eats through mana like Russian Tank through gasoline. With every level they increase amount of mana you regenerate, and in tight situation can mean either additional kill for your team, or polary opposite - one or more kills LESS to your enemies.


Glyphs
Force
While you could easily get more mana from runes, and that would seem logical extention of Seals, we are aiming at firepower. This is why initially small boost to AP will grow into more considerable 25 AP at level 18.


I've seen many guides going to cooldown reduction for increased power from runes.
Why not this one if I claim it to go for firepower ?
Let's be honest - cooldown reduction is capped at 40%, and you WILL get capped, if you don't die, even WITHOUT use of potions and/or golem buff.

Mostly when you divide flat bonus, by the per level bonus you will get number between 5 and 7, this means, at worst case you get more bonuses from per level rune than you get from flat rune of the same type.

More precisely :
Seals Mana regeneration
0.41/0.065=6.307692307692308
Meaning level 6 [first with ultimate Available[ is the LAST level in which they are worse than flat.
Please also note with ALL 9 tier 3 runes, difference totals to 0.18 mana regeneration/5 combined, as each seal alone gives at level 6 0.39 mana regeneration/5, being worse from flat only by 0.02 mana/5.


Glyphs
Ability Power
0.99/0.17=5.823529411764706
This means by the time you get your Ultimate, that I remind you is your most powerful harass and killing tool, you are getting more AP from per level glyphs than flat ones.

There are 2 main builds for mages.
1 is
21/0/9
other
9/0/21

I decided to go to the latter.
First things first : offensive - additional, 15% magic penetration is just too good to pass. It will contribute to your magic penetration greatly, due to lack of any other percentage based reducion in core build [or rather : in build against non-heavy tanking team].

As for offensive masteries - yes I am aware I did say this is offensive guide as whole, however, getting top offensive mastery contributes to 4% of increase of total firepower.
To get it we sacrifice - increased experience acquisition, increased mana pool, increased mana regeneration, 'natural' cooldown reduction of both champion and summoner's masteries. Overall - not direct increase of firepower from support tree gives much higher increase than flat 4% in offensive.

For my set of summoner spells I go as follow :
Flash - Useful both in defense [oops, they are too close and to fast... Light bind + flash out, and you should have enough edge to run out from most chars]

and
Clarity - now, before I get flamed for using so pathetic summoner spell. As I've said before - Lux is devouring mana like russian tank, and though in late game this can be fixed, clarity is incredibly useful in early, building game. Clarity gives an element of surprise, when enemy doesn't expect you to hit them with everything you got, when you are low on mana. Only item that can get this spell slightly reduntant is Archangel's staff, or support of player with mana manipulator [though it will only delay moment you are out of mana].


Other summoner spells to be commented:
Rally - While this spell has been nerfed some time ago, it can still be useful in close combat, it does require however to be relatively close to it's core. This might be viable in Lich bane build as possible clarity replacement, however to reccomend it truly I will need to make some more research.
Ghost - great chasing/escaping skill, useful instead of flash, but both flash and ghost have slightly different uses. While ghost can be better than flash to run, flash gives ability to pass through walls in need. Choice between this and flash is personal.
Revive - theory - good skill allows you to get back into lane asap. In practice, hmm.. let's think. Old rule says that : "If you are in a fair fight you are doing it wrong". Taking in note you die when you ARE in a fair fight, or in unfair for enemie's profit - well... there is something wrong with way you are playing ;)
Smite - Quite a useful skill... for a jungler at least.. You are NOT supposed to need to use it, especially it doesn't hurt champions.
Heal - most often if you desperately NEED to use this skill, you won't live to tell the tale. Basically build is focused on pumping damage, and try to survive by not letting enemies come close enough to tell how you look like [even though Lux is (at least in chinese art) quite fair]. Additionally short term health bursts can be obtained from shield skill [Prismatic Barrier], that should and most likely will save you from death due to damage-over-time abilities.
Ignite - quite useful skill on close range, to finish off this running guy with low hp.
Oh, wait, it doesn't have that much of range, and since it's nerfing (one mastery in past gave 20 AP when Ignite was on cooldown, not it gives half that amount) it cannot be used as reliable AP giving tool. About that range... Finales Funkeln [a.k.a. Ultimate] has low cooldown, high damage, really long range... Instead of this I'd prefer to take clarity so even if I am out of mana, I can still snipe that Forrest Gump down before he can do much [not to mention it is much less heal proof than ignite]

Cleanse - as with heal - if you are in dire need to use it, most likely it won't help you much, however it might be useful in right conditions.

Promote - As for now it cannot be used [it is said to be reintroduced with Dominion].

Clairvoyance - while useful to check e.g. Baron or dragon, it's use is diminished by Lucent Singularity, that happens to give quite nice view [even if short] wherever it is casted. With 10 seconds base cooldown [note : AFTER detonation] it can be used to effectively check brushes [and if someone is there, to put everyone in range into effect of Illumination when detonated, or slowing down any movement of those]

Fortify - Useful spell in defense, however Lux' firepower can outpower bonuses from Fortify when used well. Let's be honest - it DOES have a high cooldown and it allows for 6 seconds of impenetrable defense. It won't save towers alone but it can help with it.

Every Lux player has 5 core skills to consider.
Ilumination - Lux passive, every time she hit someone with one of her other skills [except for Prismatic Barrier, as this is non-offensive skill], that person gets illuminated. When hit from normal attack, additional damage will be dealt, allowing for interesting tactics, and increased harrassment. Please note - Lux and ONLY Lux can deal this additional damage.
Light Binding - when hit, it snares opponent and deals damage. While simple in theory, it can and most likely will be your main weapon, as this allows Lux to safely get out of problematic area, as well as close up do HTH target, bind him, hit him, and be gone before this target gets capability to hit back.
Prismatic Barrier - while many players just LOVE this skill, I do not. I find it's use in small amount of situations during laning phase, that happen to be so rare, this skill will get reduntant in the beggining. In team fights however it can be life saving tool, both of your own life and one of your allies. Don't get me wrong - I do find it useful, however I prefer to focus on more offensively aimed set :)
Lucent Singularity - slow, high splash - this skill will be quite often used against well dodging enemies, as well as those who tend to stay behind minions. This is also useful tool to check brushes for ganks, and quite interesting way to check Baron [for example - if to take it from enemies' hands]
Finales Funkeln - long ranged, low cooldown, high power. With full build able to be used every 25 seconds, good harrassing tool, and great way to steal dragon and baron kills from enemies. While contrary to popular opinion this doesn't have near infinite range, it DOES have really long range. If you see a cluster of enemies - hit them. If enemies are walking in straight line - thank them for helping you aim.



Above skilling sequence assumes high damage, high precision strikes. When enemies are good are dodging I'd reccomend going more towards Lucent Singularity than Light Binding.

Therefore my reccomended priority for skills in as follows :

R > Q > E > W

HOWEVER

if enemy team has high harrassing capabilities, OR can use semi-powerful attacks, AND/OR your teammate is heavy DPS champion that can kill enemies when binded, you should rather use

R > Q > W > E
with at least 1 level in E for slowdown :)

You are free however to take skills in different order if you do feel so [in example due to low Light Binding accuracy, Lucent Singularity might take it's place

Generally you want first to 'probe' enemy for their character skills. This means you are trying to harrass them, see how they avoid your bind, see how they act, and decide if you can keep them bound or they can avoid most of your shots.

While laning with tanks and DPS, you aim to help them get kills. Yes, help THEM get kills.
Why ? Basically if you try to do everything to kill enemy, you might forget one prime thing : League of Legends is a TEAM GAME, this means if your ally kill an enemy - you are one step ahead of them.

Before you start to flame me for this note I want you to know that this DOES NOT mean you shouldn't or can't finish off enemy who is weak enough to do so. I just want you not to focus on 'kill-kill-kill-oh****therewasatower' tactics ;)

Your main focus on first part of game, when not trying to help your ally to kill them should be to harrass them like there is no tommorrow.

Can't kill him in the next 20 second, or less, or unsure you can ? Bind them / attack them with your AOE attack. Came close enough ? bind them, hit them with autoattack [you should do it often after attacking with spell]. If he is weak enough you can attempt to finish him [AOE->autoattack] if no, well, back off a bit, and wait for your skills to finish cooling down and... do it again.

There is a thing you should watch out however. In early game you are very squishy, but this is time when you will be LEAST squishy in comparasion to other characters. When you see your enemy is weak you can go on with Mejai, IF you can get 4 stacks shortly after [5 or more preferably], mainly to offset it's price.


And one of the most important note in this guide : you need to know what is going on on WHOLE map. While I will not require you to buy tones of wards [even if you SHOULD] you need to know where is EVERY SINGLE ENEMY CHAMPION in the match. This means if someone goes into brushes, you need to ESTIMATE where he is.

I do believe the last part is one of the most, if not THE most difficult tasks to be cared of in whole guide, especially when you get to know another thing...

When you know or estimate where enemies are, you are to aim your skills at the estimated location. Or in other words : If you think enemy will be in one location in a short moment [depending on skill this 'time window' changes] you aim at location where your enemy is NOT now ;) [while for some this might be counterintuitive, you are aiming at location where enemy WILL be, when skill gets to that place].

These 2 things will be the hardest things to master when playing Lux.


One note when laning with Leona
Your own and Leona's passives synergise with each other. This means that they work together.
When Leona initiate attack, you are to add your OWN skill, and THEN attack with your auto attack [or use your auto attack right after your ally hits him/her with skill.
Reason for it is : whenever Leona attacks with skill, and deals damage with it [that happens to be, EVERY skill], it adds damage to any autoattack that hits 'buffed' char... Sounds familiar ? Basically it is very same passive you possess, with one minor twist :
Your passive [Illuminance] does additional damage when YOU attack, and only you.
Her passive does additional damage when ANYONE attacks, EXCEPT for herself.
And yes, these two DO stack ;)


On the final note I'd like to note some chapions you should watch out on.
- Tyrmerande [self heal] - can be annoying when laning against. In side lane focus on his enemy, so their overal attack capability will drop quicker.
- Soraka - heal - with her on lane harrassing might become harder, and certainly it will take more efford to break through their healing capability. You can however try to overload their mana regeneration needed to these heals.
- Zilean - time bomb - with this he has powerful harrassing capability, that also has splash, try to avoid going too close to him, and try to harrass him whenever possible.
- Maokai - mine [sapling] - artilery attack AND if miss - mine. Watch out for his zone control capability with it, as it can deal quitea a lot of damage. Try to lure that sapling into hitting creeps, or just wait till these creeps diffuse them.
- Fiddlesticks - silence - when silenced you are almost useless, so try to burst your damage before you get silenced. As fiddle has health problems, I'd reccomend you focused on him in lane fights, if it is not too dangerous.

With other champions I'd reccomend to check what 'flag champions' above are listed. They are quite general, however I will add specific tactics against each champion [including Lux] later on.

Oh boy, I really guess this will be THE most important reason to downvote/flame this guide.

First of all:
Core items are as follows :
Morello's Evil Tome - relatively high [12/5] mana regeneration AND 20% cooldown reduction is very useful in later part of game. This is one of items that will potentially unlock your Ulti/24s capability, that gives quite a lot of MDPS [Magic Damage Per Second], and still allow you to use rest of your skill arsenal.
Sorcerer's Shoes - your only core magic penetration item. With masteries, marks and quintessences it will be your main magic penetration [if not only].
Will of the Ancients - with your low health, you would need to return to base quite often if not this item. With it, you can heal minor wounds whenever you hit champion or minion with a spell. This means 1/4 of damage you deal with them will be transferred into your health. Why did I take this as survivability item ? Basically whenever I am in combat, I either can outrun [or outgun] my enemies, and additional health is not required, or they are much faster, hence additional health delays death, and to be honest - not so much.
Rabadon's Deathcap - well.. This is single most powerful AP giving item. I doubt there is any explanation required here, especially if it improves 2 of 3 items already listed above.


After core I tend to start creation ofTear of Goddess, and in extension -Archangel's staff.
I believe this is place where most people will rage, due to late creation of it here is however my reasoning :
- At the beginning tear of goddess improves your maximum mana and mana regeneration - true, however for a bit higher you get both ability power, necessary in early phase, same amount of mana regeneration [improved further by your masteries and seals], AND decreases time needed to reuse spells.
- Truth be said - before upgrading your Tear of Goddess to Archangel's Staff you only get 2 advantages : higher initial burst [more mana to do so], and same mana regeneration as with both codex and part item - Meki Pendant. As you should aim for NOT dying, or going to base unnecessarily, there is a high chance you will not be able to use your additional pool [of less than 4 spells mind you, later upgraded in low pace] to your advantage in most of time. Later on however......

Final item depends mostly on what my enemies are using. When they are heavy magic defense tank team, it would be almost insane NOT to pick Void staff [that gives of total 55% magic penetration with your mastery].


There should also be one note aboutMejai's soulstealer seen in top of this guide.
This assumes good teamplay, and should be taken at the very second you seem to have a minor edge. You are not supposed to die, so you shouldn't have problems with keeping stack on or above 5, at which point it pays for itself [in comparasion to Needlessly Large Rod [stacks pay for upgrade cost]]. If you are not doing well, I'd reccomend however using other items in it's place.

Example Mejai's Soulstealer replacements
Void Staff - This will both help your damage output, but also can be used against heavy magic resistant teams, however when enemies are on low magic resistance try other items, as this would decrease efficiency of it's unique active capability.
Abyssal Scepter - with heavy AP teams this is good item that help with surviability and your offense. It's better than Void Staff with low magic resistant enemies, due to flat magic resistance reduction.

Lich bane - Please note - while this item greatly improves your firepower, especially in conjunction with your passive [with which it synergies] this makes you also incredibly vulnerable, due to requirement you need to get close to your enemy, however this item is one of the most recommended from these items, in case you simply don't feel comfortable with Mejai.
Word of caution : [even though I have said it shortly before] THIS ITEM IS DANGEROUS TO USE [even if incredibly powerful, especially as later item. As for build based on this build, I am currently in testing phase of new build, that will be noted with details below]
Rylai's Crystal Scepter - when in real trouble this can save you by giving you little additional health, but most importantly slow on your ultimate. It can also help in later game when your allies are chasing, to slow down your enemies.
Rod of Ages - if your team is doing exceptionally bad you might use it to reclaim some edge, HOWEVER you must get it early [with catalyst as your second or third item] for it to be really useful. You can turn it to your advantage but remember - you need 10 minutes until it gets it's full power.
(I cannot however claim I like this item on Lux)

Of these 5, I find most interesting to use on long range Lux [Rod of Ages is often reccomended for many mages, as well as Rylai's Crystal scepter, however I personally prefer first 3]

DIRECT BUY ORDER
- Meki Pedant
- 2x Health Potion

- Amplyfying Tome [if they are weak and tend to get into your spells - upgrade it to Mejai's Soulstealer, otherwise continue]
- Boots of speed
- Buy tomes and finish Hextech Revolver [increased laning time]
- get sorcerer's boots
- slowly go towards Morello's Evil tome
- finish Will of ancients
- go on with Rabadon's Deathcap, starting with Needlessly Large Rod
- go on as you please ;)
Above you can see example order how to build it, assuming GOOD teamplay [or bad enemy teamplay ;)] and high mana usage.

As for now I am experimenting with Lichbane as very first item, to synergise with Lux' passive and to help to get kills in early game. If this tactics will work with rest of build, I will write this version here.

Whenever questions arise, except for those that have been preanswered, mainly in their specific sections I will add this.

Your main powers are lying in your range, and harrassing capabilities, later on you obtain powerful sniping capability, that can allow you to keep your range from enemies, use it, and focus on sheer firepower.

Please note while some may run from you if you do well, this is exactly the same reason why in team fights you will be focused. Keep eyes on your surroundings all the time.

And most importantly - NEVER GIVE UP. Training is needed to play Lux well, however once you get hang of her, you most likely will start to like this char.

By League of Legends build :

1.0.0.118
Guide idea created, and first draft completed.

1.0.0.124
Guide completed as whole.



By guide version :
1.0
First published version, open for discussion.
1.0.1
minor patch in rune section - fixed mistake of clarity/replenishment runes, and added 'science behind runes' section.
1.0.2
added specific build order in top, with additional note in items section, and added exemplary alternatives for Mejai's Soulstealer.
1.0.3
Minor spelling and grammar fix
1.0.4
Changes in Rally spell comments. Thanks Kusoku for being first player to show me really good usage of this spell.

Thank you for reading this guide, and I hope you find it useful.

If you possess any reccomendations how to change this build for it to still do it's core job, I'd be gratious if you left them in comments or send PM to me.
Due to always changing gameplay, expect long list of changes, this guide is subject to change, as League of Legends is updated.


To make things clear :
I do NOT claim, nor ever WILL claim this is the best way to build up Lux. This guide is to show and guide players, with way I USE this great character, and way I find comfortable. I'd like to ask you to refrain from flaming and downvoting this guide only because it doesn't fit your own view of this char.

To make things clear : I have added requirement to vote for first 20 votes, and would like to ask to explain reasons for both upvoting and downvoting this guide, mainly to see how can I improve it in future. Additionally it is supposed to be some sort of defense mechanism [at the beggining] against all who downvote only because this is not their own guide ;)


Nai Anar ar Eleni caluvar tielyannar
[May the Sun and Stars shine upon your paths]


Have fun and good luck on Fields of Justice, hope to see you there :)