Yea i don't know what it is with all these Lux builds where they get rod of ages. All i know s with my build: 95% of the time i have fewer than 5 deaths, 95% of the time i have a kdr or more than 1, and most of the time my kdr is 2 or higher. Today i played two ranked games as Lux and went 7/2/7 and 15/4/22.

As soon as i can upload my videos, i will show the 7/2/7 and 15/4/22 that I mentioned before. (Btw, these are all ranked games (and as of the first 3 games they were all consecutive games in that these are the only ranked lux games i've played in this series. Figured i would make that qualifier).

7/2/7

Play Video please excuse the ****py quality and the improperly timed sounds, problems with recording.But it shows the 15 minutes of that game (since youttube videos cant be longer) that actually mattered. The 2 before was only spawning and getting bot, and after was 1 kill, another death, some asists, and their prompt surrender.

15/4/22

Play Video Play Video Better quality and working sound i think. I made a bunch of stupid mistakes late game, but at that point the game was won and it didnt matter.

9/0/3

Play Video Basically, fed Lux with a competent team = win game. Granted a few of the kills, im sure i didnt do the most damage, but for the most part im pretty sure i did.

Pros:

long range

• consistent damage early/mid/late
• long poking range
• snares two people so makes it easier to chase and to help teammates run away
• once you have cdr, can ult and kill whole minion waves.

Cons:

• Shield is generally useless unless they're ignited unless you're superfed and have a lot of ap.
• squishy
• cannot carry a game

I don't really think that super specific runes are necessary for Lux. If you have runes that work on X caster, you should be fine, but mpen can make your early game easier against tankier people.

Recommended

Clarity
Depending on my team i will need clarity. If we have a real support i ill go for something else but more often than not, we dont and my clarity is not only useful to my team in that it gives them mana, i am very often glad i have it for getting off that one last snare or ult (both early game when i dont have mana regen, and late game when i need to spam my skills a lot to save my team from dying ;D)

Flash
If their team has any sort of cc, then often your snare alone won't suffice for getting out of ganks, thus flash.

Alternatives

Clairvoyance
I have nothing against clairvoyance, its a great spell! But if you're being revealed to the enemy team, whats the first thing you do? You move. I've made more out-of-no-where ult shots where i am just guessing where they are that kill someone than i can count; but it always seems to be the ones that they are clairvoyance'd that they move and i miss. If you are really good at predicting people's movements, then by all means get it, it helps the team, and it may help you get ult kills. But for me, i am generally pretty good at predicting where they will be without being sure and still killing them. Either way your ult cooldown is really short and its not that big a deal if you miss

Teleport
Good on almost everyone, if you are being forced to 1v2, can help you keep your lane.

Ignite
Also good on most people, but your Lucent Singularity has a mini-ignite that can generally do the job.

Exhaust If you're new to Lux and don't want to waste your Light Binding on a target you don't think you'll hit, or if you just want to screw up their carry in a team fight, then exhaust can work, but I don't think its all THAT good with her in particular.

Light Binding

• I get this first almost always because mid ganks and jungler ganks (ganks on our jungler i mean) at level 1 generally get stopped cold by a well placed snare to the face. It will snare two people, the 2nd of which is a much shorter snare. You can try to snare people behind minions but really the 2nd snare is mostly useful for running away from two people or just getting them illuminated for your autoattack.
  
• After getting it at level 1, i would generally level it after maxing Lucent Singularity, but sometimes i level my skills without paying attention, and get Light Binding and I'm still good.

Prismatic Barrier

• This skill is kind of mediocre until late game. Even then the shield doesn't block nearly as much as shields that other people have. Its mostly useful for canceling out ignites and poisons, and for taking off some of the damage on skills like a Karthus ult. I personally like to use it to psych people out. Sometimes it works to make a champion move out of the way and into a spot that you want them to, because if things are moving fast, it can look like your snare. I particularly enjoy being against Sivirs as Lux then throwing out my shield and watching them waste the spell shield, just so i can snare her right when the spellshield breaks.
  
• Because it doesn't really shield all that much, even when leveled up, don't bother getting more than one point in it until later, but i generally like to get that point earlier rather than later, just in case.

Lucent Singularity

• Awesome skill: aoe, with a medium slow. Great for farming, if you can get a bunch of minions low, in early game, then Lucent Singularity and autoattack all the minions still alive, you can get a good farm going with just this skill. Also good for harassment because of the relatively low cooldown and mana cost. If you can, throw out the singularity where it will hit minions and the champs so you don't have to waste your mana just for harassment.
  
• Also, try to pop the singularity AFTER you send out an autoattack to a champ, that way you do the damage from your e, plus you do the extra damage from your passive. Doing it this way makes it easier to actually get the proc from Illumination because they are slowed. I see so many Luxes pop it immediately and then lose the chance for the extra damage. This is fine if you wouldn't be able to hit them if you had waited, but more often than not, you should have the time to send out that autoattack before they leave.
  
• Max this skill first because it does a lot of early game damage and is fairly spammable.

finales funkeln

Finales Funkeln

• Great skill for catching people that think they are safe at the turret. The range is saddeningly short, but i suppose were it any longer, it would make it too easy for her to get cross-map easy kills. Instant damage, with a slight delay from the the charge up. Use it as early as you can in team fights because the cooldown should be short enough where you could have the chance to use it twice.

In general try to get autoattacks in between each of your skills (q,e,r), but if they're low enough, go: Light Binding, finales funkeln, toss out Lucent Singularity, autoattack, then pop Lucent Singularity, and if you can; get off another autoattack. If they aren't dead by the end of that, then you're targeting the wrong person, or they are going to have to bp anyway.

Like i said, i dont know whats up with people getting rod of ages, but i would never recommend it. It delays your damage and because she is so squishy, the extra health doesnt really matter, and i am in favor of mana regen over mana.

So Anyways,

Core items

Doran's Ring

Definately get this item. I see some other builds start with regrowth pendant, and i don't get it. I also see amplifying tome, which makes more sense, but really doesn't cut it in my opinion. Doran's ring gives you some AP for that early game harass and farming; without it you dont really do much damage. It also give you mana regen, which is helpful if you didnt get clarity, and it gives you health, which is helpful on any squishy champ

sorceror's shoes

Sorceror's Shoes

Either these or Ionian Boots of Lucidity. I like the cdr on the latter of the two, but either works.

Morello's Evil Tome

Gives you a fair amount of AP, and basically negates any long term mana regen problems you might have had. I tend to spam my skills out of necessity, which is why i also get clarity, but given that a lot of people wont, its quite helpful. The best part about this item, is that it gives you cdr. With this, at level 18, i can ult to kill entire minion waves, and by the time the next wave comes, i can ult again.

Rabadon's Deathcap

Lots of ap, Yay. Necessary to do the damage output that you want.

Once you have your deathcap, you should be set. The rest of the items are generally less important as long as they continue to give you ap.

Situational Items

Rod Of Ages

I'll talk about this one first because its in most of the other guides. In my opinion, the reason you would get rod of ages would be for the mana and for the health, obviously becasue otherwise you would just buy robaon's deathcap. For such a squishy champ, there's not much point in building actual health items because if you get caught you're gonna die anyway in most cases; Lux's strength lies in her ability to run away and to aid her teammates in running away without taking damege. The mana is useful i suppose, but like i said, mana-regen > mana for lux in my eyes until late game because you will delay your damage which isn't the most spectacular in the first place and the mana-regen item i buy comes i with the cdr that makes it easy to spam your ult and all your skills.

Zhonya's Hourglass

Gives you a lot of ap, can the active can help you weather the storm of a team fight when you get so good that their team focuses you at the start of every one. The armor can be helpful but in general, if you are at the point where you need that armor, you're probably dead anyway.
I almost always get this item.

Lich Bane

Late game, when you have all that ap, the sheen can really help. I don't generally end up buying it, because at that point, if your team can't pick up the kills just from your skills by themselves, you're probably fighting a losing battle.
I get this item sometimes.

Void Staff

Ap + magic pen, generally can't go wrong when they start building magic resist to counter you.
I usually get this item (as a final item).

Will of the Ancients

The main thing you would be looking for is the spell vamp. I generally don't tend to need it, but its not a bad item overall.
I never get this item, but i don't see why you shouldn't.

Mejai's Soulstealer

If you're doing really well, get this earlier in the build, probably after or with the fiendish codex. Lux is really good at getting stacks because she is so able to get assists and clean up kills (along with getting kills on her own).
I dont get this item (because i dont like my ap to go down if I die), but it can be REALLY good.

Archangel's Staff

This item is alright but because you're getting it so late in the game, you're wasting the unique passive since you won't charge it up all the way. I would only really get it in a game where i am trolling and stacking them.
Pretty much never get this

Rylai's Crystal Scepter

The whole point of this item is the slow. Light Binding snares, and Lucent Singularity already slows, so the only skill you would have where the slow would be noticeable would be finales funkeln which is a more long ranged shot anyways.
I would never get this item.

Build 1 is basically the build that I build, with the last item being situational. I almost never build mejai's because if you're against good teams they will focus you regardless, and if you are getting high on your stacks with mejai's they will focus you even more, plus my damage output is generally good enough to be perfectly fine without mejai's. That being said, I know a lot of people like to buy mejai's and getting stacks, as long as your team is getting kills, is fairly easy with lux.

So I still say you'll need the mana regen early, so try to get the Meki Pendant and the Mejai's Soulstealer at the same time, and as soon as possible, go back to get the Fiendish Codex. After that, its pretty much the same as the first build, but i would recommend getting the void staff more often than not because your damage will be super high if you're getting close to 20 stacks and any good team will be getting magic resist. If not, get yourself the Zhonya's Hourglass to help soak up damage when they focus you to keep your stacks.

This is pretty much common to all champs, but farm, farm, farm. with ilumination, you can make your autoattacks do a lot of damage to make last hitting easier. If they have a jungler, be sure not to push too hard, but barring that, and being map-aware for mias and thus ganks, you should be free to push a little against most pairs. I wouldn't try hard to push necessarily, as much as, if you happen to find yourself pushed, your skills should hopefully be enough should the tides turn against you. Lux makes early first bloods fairly easy against any squishy people, but be careful because alone, her early game damage isn't stupendous. This is why -

Try not to let your team make you 1v2 for your team's jungler. I feel that it's a waste of your champ to be playing that role. It hurts your farm and being Lux doesn't lend yourself well to buying gp5 items. You are not only an ap carry, you can support champs fairly well.

Either way, you harass pretty well, and depending on how tanky the champs in your lane are, you can probably deny them xp.

By this time (end of laning phase and on), you should have at least Morello's Evil Tome and hopefully Needlessly Large Rod or more. Never travel alone unless you have a very warded jungle. You can get blue if your team will allow it, but like i said, don't do so alone unless you have a very warded jungle or you can see every one of their champs. Try to stay in the back of team fights, calmly throwing out your skills and shielding your team whenever possible. Like i said in the skills section, use your ult as soon as possible. It might cost you getting some kills that you could have sniped, but often its the early damage in a fight that will determine the late outcome, so your ult may save lives in a team fight you lost, or have turned the tide for a team fight you win.

In general, I very lose with my ults, i have no problem using it to farm because the cooldown is so short. Therefore once you have Morello's Evil Tome I find it is less necessary to be so frugal with skills and so intent on last hitting (though its still important).

Lux is a really fun champion to play. If you can land your Light Binding, you're pretty much good. Even if you are a mediocre Lux that can only land her skillshot, you still are well on your way. Being good with Lux just takes time to get used to her, and it's not really a strategy you can teach, moreso just an ability to predict what people will do so you can land your snares, that will help with being any champ.