This is my first guide so bear with me.

I have seen many guides around saying that Lux is a Carry. I have also seen many guides that say she is not in anyway shape or form a DPS-er. I am going to take an unbiased stance (or as much as I can) and look at Lux breaking her down so everyone can really see what she is like.

I will warn you now, I am very opinionated and will share that with you. If you disagree with what I say, please leave a civilized comment with a reason and I will think on it. I do like some constructive criticism.

Remember: This is how I play Lux and how I do the best. It is not necessarily THE best.

Pros:

Absolutely untouchable range
Very big team supporter
Great Ult for fleeing enemies
Oh good lord the Crowd Control
Can zone Very effectivly
Good at fleeing
Very nice cool down on Ult

Cons:

Squishy
No built in fleeing mechanism
Isn't the best an any role
Play demands a high level of play to be effective

What is Good:

Clairvoyance: You are a support Champion. This is a support spell. See where I'm going with this? I took a point in Mystical vision because it was so good. Some people claim this spell is for Noobs and is useless. Quite the opposite. When you Clairvoyance that smack-talking Warwick, steal his buff, and then kill him, I give you full permission to giggle all game long.

Ghost/ Flash: Since you have no built in escape abilities you will need at least one. I prefer Flash since you can hop walls and it will instantly put distance between you and your chaser. However, ghost has advantages too. You can skirt minions by simply walking through them and you can run farther faster than you can with flash. Basically Flash is a short term escape while Ghost is a long term one.

What is Iffy:

Teleport: I don't know what to say about this. It is good because it means you wont leave you lane for more than 10 seconds but if you leave at the right times you won't need to be back instantly. However, if you always forget to spam Clairvoyance this is the next spell I would take.

What is Bad:

Exhaust: The only time this spell would be good is early game. This will let you proc your passive many more times and give you more time to put the hurting on someone early game. However, late game you if you get close enough to auto attack you will probably have a very short lifespan after that. Basically, if you wanted Lich Bane (which has very good synergy with her passive) I would get this, but in this guide you HAVE to stay alive to do well.

Smite: You're not a jungler. The only time you should be killing neutral minions is if your walking by and by this time it's mid game. In mid game you don't need smite. Stay away from it.

Clarity: This is handy early game, but useless late game. If you are constantly running out of mana you're laning wrong. Make each shot count and you will never need this.

Heal: You should never be hit. You should be the last to be targeted due to your range so leave this spell to the tank that will need it. There is no point to wasting a perfectly good spell slot.

Rally: Viable if your damage comes from your basic attacks. Seeing as how it doesn't you need to avoid it.

Cleanse: the only time you should be hit by any type of CC is if you are flanked or ambushed and then you have bigger problems. Forgot Clairvoyance didn't you?

Revive: This tells me that you plan on dying. A lot. As for any game. Choose things that will keep you alive instead of things that make dying tolerable.

Fortify: Someone on your team should probably have this, but frankly, that person is not you.

Ignite: Once again we have to get close to use this and that is bad for your health.

You want to focus on Lucent Singularity primarily. Light Binding is technically a better snare/damage spell but it is much, MUCH harder to land even if you are a pro skillshotter. Light Binding should be focused second while picking up Finales Funkeln where you can. Then max Prismatic Barrier last.

Finales Funkeln> Lucent Singularity> Light Binding> Prismatic Barrier

The bread and butter of this guide.

When you start the "best" item is probably Doran's Ring, I however, do not like it. I want an item that I will use all game long and not one that I plan on selling in the future. I want a Tear of the Goddess as fast as possible for the benefits it provides. So, the question is a Sapphire Crystal or a Meki Pendant. I did the numbers and if I stay in the lane 2.38 minutes I would have regenerated the 200 mana that the Crystal would have given me. I for one plan to lane longer than 2.38 minutes. The Pendent is the way to go. And I'll grab 2 Health Potion also.

After laning and a few kills I will finally go back for the First time and grab Ionian Boots of Lucidity and a Tear of the Goddess. Generally, I can pick up an Amplifying Tome as well to start my Mejai's Soulstealer.

After you have upgraded to a Mejai's it is even more important than before to NOT DIE. This build revolves around this getting to a full 20 stacks. If it does you will be unbeatable.

At this point you will want some more AP. Rabadon's Deathcap is the way to go. It gives a lot of AP plus a 30% boost which endgame is a lot.

Note: It is important to try to keep you 6 item slots full at all times. Don't wait to buy a Deathcap when you could buy a Needlessly Large Rod. Buy the pieces when you have the money. The reason is that this is a very expensive build. Most times you will never make it to the end.

Around this time games are starting to get one sided, and you can probably see who is winning. If you kept you stack up you have quite a bit of AP and your opponents probably realize it too. Now time for some Magic Pen. Void Staff gives a lot of pen that actually scales to what your opponent has in Magic Resist. This along with your Runes with give sufficient Magic Pen most games.

The last real Item slot is very flexible. If you are playing noobs that don't have resist grab another Rabadon's Deathcap. If somehow you position yourself wrong a Zhonya's Hourglass may help. Rylai's Crystal Scepter may help if you feel a bit squishy. Basically, it depends on the game.

Lastly you can pick up your Archangel's Staff to finish the build off.

Early Game:

Lucent Singularity is where most of your damage will come from early game. It does a decent amount of damage and if you can proc Illumination you will be doing quite a bit of damage. You should be harassing with this every chance you get while you are laning. I lane with a friend usually and at level 6 we will take out both of our opponents almost every time. However, if you solo q like the majority of people here is how you can dominate your lane.

I generally harass constantly with Lucent Singularity after a while they will start playing more passively. Now is when you can start pushing them. Get in between them and their minions. This will keep them from getting XP at early levels and will win you the game at late levels. The reason you can do this is SINCE YOU ARE ONLY LAST HITTING MINIONS AND NOT AUTO ATTACKING THEM CONSTANTLY you will be closer to your tower. This is where you want to be.

If they get super out of position land Light Binding and immediately throw Lucent Singularity on top of them. (DO NOT DETONATE IT YET) Auto attack your target to proc Illumination. Detonate Lucent Singularity. Auto attack again.

This is why you can kill at level 6. Toy with your opponent and get them around 650 health. If you push to hard they will heal. At level 6 use this rotation and you will kill them.

Light Binding. Lucent Singularity (non detonated). Auto attack. Detonate Lucent Singularity. Finales Funkeln.

Note: Your ultimate will Proc Illumination automatically and leave you with another chance to proc Illumination. Usually by this time though your opponent will be running away so it's a bit harder to land.

Light Binding will do 110 damage. Lucent Singularity will do 150 damage. Illumination will proc twice for a total of 140 damage. And your Ult will hit for 300 damage for a grand total of 700 damage at level 6. If they weren't scared of you before they will be now. If you can auto attack after your Ult you can do another 70 damage, but this is fairly rare unless you are close when you land Light Binding.

Mid-Late Game:

The rotation will stay the same except that I will not proc Illumination the first time. The reason being is that it forces you to get close and can result in your death.

I'm gonna throw in a few examples of how to scare away/save teammates/piss the other team off that I do every game I play. Hopefully people with start playing her at her full potential instead of thinking she is a damage dealer.

Ex 1:

First off and her probably best ability is the ability to evade or aid a teammate in running away from enemy Champions.

Let's say Annie is running from two Champions and they are right behind her. She already used flash and Ignite on people during a team fight and she is running just as fast as her little legs will carry her. She's dead right? Wrong. I will run toward her and immediately throw Prismatic Barrier so she runs INTO it. Immediately follow that with Light Binding so both enemies run into it. Then drop Lucent Singularity at their feet. This gives them a choice to debate while they are in a light stasis.

Choice one: They don't know what it does and try to run through it. They are then slowed aiding your escape only for you to detonate it at the last instant so they take damage.

Choice Two: They run around it. You have just made their path longer by placing an obstacle to run around giving you more time.

Choice Three: They say screw it and leave. This is actually the best option they have, but they seldom realize it.

Ex 2:

You are in a 5v5 team fight. (BTW this is an ideal fight)

Amumu is your tank and has moved to the right to prevent enemy Udyr from running into your team and killing your Anivia. Enemy Annie saw this opportunity to run in and unload on your Ashe on the left, now unprotected, side. You, as Lux, can toss a Lucent Singularity on the left making a hazardous zone for Annie. If she proceeds you land Light Binding and the rest of you spells and kill or wound her severely. Either way she will be stuck in place in the middle of you team. Shield or no shield, that's not a place an AP carry wants to be in.

These are just a few examples that happen every game.

I want to add this part to clear up some misconceptions surrounding Lux. She IS NOT primarily a DPS/Burst Champion. She is a Support champion. Plain and Simple. She however, is not a GREAT support champion. She is a hybrid between the two classes.

She can deal damage very well. However, her cool downs and AP ratios prevent her from getting on the level of an Annie, Anivia, or Leblanc. She will never deal that much damage unless she gets fed. A lot.

She is also not the best support. Her shield is not anywhere close to the level of Janna's. (Janna's shield can't shield the entire team though so take that as you will) She also doesn't give out buffs like a Sona does nor does she heal.

Lux is for those people that find joy in shielding a hurting Amumu from a would-be deadly Karthus ult only to turn around and drop said Karthus in a second flat. She is used to fill in for allies. She is a constant thorn in the enemy side, just out of reach but always in range. She can shield, zone, snare, slow, and then turn around and kill. Lux is lethal.