Renata-Lulu is a duo bot lane composition that is able to carry any lategame once the build comes online. It relies on Renata’s passive, Leverage being able to deal massive damage on every basic attack with Lulu acting as an automatic proc ally. There are a few specific things that are required to make it work, so this guide will get into those specifics and offer insight into this hypercarry playstyle. Leverage deals percentage max health magic damage on-attack, then deals it again when an ally damages that same marked enemy. With enough investment, each of those hits will do upwards of 15% max health damage. That’s 30% of the target’s HP each time it is applied and activated. With attack speed and something to proc marks just as fast as they are applied, like Pix, Faerie Companion, every auto attack deals 30% max HP magic damage. Get Sorcerer's Shoes and a Void Staff to pierce resistances and you’re dishing out unholy damage. It’s essentially a stronger version of Kog'Maw where you deal tons of percentage magic damage but have a weak early game. And, because it’s unheard of, nobody knows how to play against it, how much damage it does, and Riot won’t ever nerf it lol. As long as Lulu has about 34 Ability Haste to get her E cooldown to match her allied Pix duration, you can always have something to proc Leverage over and over and over.
Additionally, having two supports on the team means you bring a lot of utility to the table outside of damage. Renata and Lulu can still shield allies, CC enemies, and the like. And Renata also doesn’t mesh well with enchanter items anyway, usually opting to build tank items and actives instead of relying on Heal and Shield Power like other enchanters. This means Renata isn’t required to build enchanter items for her spells to be useful, so you’re free to build full damage and still revive or Berserk people. Renata is often chosen in professional play for the strength of her ult alone, so having that asset for the entire team and then murdering opponents handily yourself is a win-win.

Pros:

1. Playing Renata-Lulu guarantees you lategame power. There are a few select champions that are said to "put the game on a timer" and Renata by far has the strongest potential. Being able to indiscriminately 3-shot anyone just can't be beat. 2. Having two enchanters on your team offers a lot of utility that other team comps can't compete with. There are often metas where utility ADCs like Ashe, Jhin, and Sivir are the most prominent due to their utility and not their damage. Renata has better utility than all of them. Bailout and Hostile Takeover are some of the strongest abilities in the entire game, and you can afford to have them on your carry. The team synergy is incredible. If your jungler is Nocturne, Master Yi, Volibear, etc they will love getting a Bailout put on them so they can get into the enemy team and be revived if things don't work out. (Personally, it is rare for me to Bailout my teammates over myself, but when it's good to do, it's good to do). 3. Renata can handle tanks. This is a big point right now in League's meta. The power of tank items like Unending Despair and Heartsteel can be so abusable on certain champs that teams can't handle tanks in the lategame with 8000 health, and most marksman are not capable of handling them, specifically. Ever since we bot laners lost Giant Slayer and the old version of Kraken Slayer AND the old Cut Down, the ADC class that was supposed to handle tanks often struggles and get put on Reddit/Tiktok clips for not killing a tank that's two items behind. Renata will NEVER have this issue with her Best Employee by her side. All those tank stats are just damage chart padding for Renata in the lategame. No tank can outscale the percentage damage that Leverage affords her. 4. To add to the above point, Magic Resistance is less common of a stat in League, and is harder to justify building. Everyone can use a basic attack, and many powerful champions are AD champions, so Armor is a more worthwhile stat that can be built much easier. This is a downfall that traditional ADCs suffer from since the entire class identity is based around dealing damage with their basic attacks. Renata does not have this problem. The majority of her damage will end up being Magical Damage, so all the Armor that your opponents end up building against your Warwick jungle will have no effect on you. And if the opponents DO build Magic Resistance to try to counter you, that leaves your AD allies open to damage those enemies easier. By dealing consistent Magic Damage, you are forcing enemies to build less Armor, effectively taxing them an item slot as well as reducing their total Armor. 5. Another pro is that absolutely nobody plays this. All 5 of us APC Renata players are spoiled because our champions are not commonly banned and nobody knows how to play against it or even how it works half the time. I have had enemies add me after the game asking how it works and why I did so much damage. Enemies in the early game are much more likely to underestimate you and take a bad engage or a bad tower dive and die. The sheer knowledge check that this comp inflicts upon enemies gives you an advantage early if you are already familiar enough with it to utilize that gap.

Cons:

1. Renata-Lulu's early game is really hard. This is the number one turn-off for people. Renata's early game stats are low, her damage doesn't come online for a while, farming minions is a bit more difficult than your average ADC, etc. These hurdles are right in your face from the get-go and it dissuades many people from trying this combo to its fullest. Please do not give up here, though. The payoff later is so worth it. To get through early game, farm your 900g for Pickaxe so you can last-hit under tower effectively and do not take any unnecessary risks. 2. Another issue is agency. When either Renata or Lulu are separated from each other, Renata becomes severely less useful. Lulu can get away with being away from Renata and helping their team as usual, but it means Renata basically doesn't exist. This duo requires Lulu to follow Renata around and prioritize her in every situation, otherwise the game is effectively 4v5. It's like a reverse situation of Yuumi where Yuumi might as well not exist if she doesn't have her carry to attach to, but this time it's the carry who becomes useless. This makes the Lulu player a bit limited for options and also makes her have to change her playstyle to accomodate Renata. 3. Another con is that this duo requires a decent amount of coordination and communication. I would basically never play this with random teammates, so if my duo isn't online, I'm not playing this. Both players must be skilled independently as well, unlike with some other bot lane champions where they can be carried by a single skillful player. If the support runs it down, the combo is over. If the carry mispositions and dies, the combo is over. If an assassin obliterates one of the duo, the combo is over. Skill and coordination must be used to overcome these challenges. 4. The last con is that your team can run it down on you just as easily as if you were any other ADC. If your mid laner loses 2 turrets in 10 minutes, you're out of luck just as much as the next guy. Keeping a game alive until you get to 2 or 3 items is not exactly up to your discretion, so it can be difficult to get there with an inting team that is also flaming you for playing off-meta, but people do that anyway so it doesn't bother me any.

Coming soonTM

Shown above is my main rune page for Renata Glasc as a bot lane markswoman. The only runes that are set in stone are the Adaptive Force shards, though. You need those adaptive force runes in order to farm well enough to get your Pickaxe on your first recall, and Renata's base health is quite low so the flat base health is really noticeable. So let's go over the other runes and options, instead.

I go for Lethal Tempo as my keystone now since it not only grants Attack Speed (which I appreciate) but also scales with Attack Speed. This means that I have a source of damage that goes along with whatever Attack Speed item I have regardless of what other stats it provides. It validates Guinsoo's Rageblade early, it validates Legend: Alacrity, it scales with Nashor's Tooth, and it grants damage in prolonged fights so even level 1 Renata isn't completely lacking damage. I used to go Fleet Footwork before they brought back Lethal Tempo so that I would have sustain throughout the early game which is something that Renata and Lulu lack and could really use. Even into lategame, Fleet granting movement speed allows Renata to maneuver around fights effectively so she can mow down enemies one by one as is ideal for her. There is also an argument to be made for Press the Attack increasing your outgoing damage but I never found it to be that powerful, and the damage difference between Lethal Tempo and PTA is not in PTA's favor. If you want to try it, I won't stop you.

Presence of Mind is a comfort pick for me, personally. Renata can very easily run her mana out in lane if she has to shield herself from poke or go for grabs to make plays or peel for herself, and she isn't building Mana Regen here as enchanters do. In the lategame, Presence of Mind lets you carry any fight at any time. You get a kill in Bailout, it resets the duration, you get your mana back, Transcendence lowers your cooldowns, you chase the next enemy, grab them, get a kill, same deal, you chase the next enemy, same deal, etc. It uncaps your limitations in all-out fights, and I love that about it. The other runes are probably nice, too, but they aren't for me so don't quote me as recommending them.

Legend: Alacrity is now my Legend of choice since Lethal Tempo came back. The extra Attack Speed scales with LT, scales with the build, and is a lot more consistent than Legend: Haste, my old rune of choice. Legend: Haste was good before LT came back because over the course of a fight, and especially over the course of a game, you could get out so many more Bailouts and Handshakes that the time spent in Bailout would actually grant more total DPS than the Attack Speed granted from Alacrity. LT came back and all that changed, though, now that there are so many external ways of getting Attack Speed, which this build loves.

Coup de Grace and Cut Down are basically completely interchangeable now (Riot please bring back old Cut Down please please please). If the enemy team has a lot of tanks that are going to be high health for a long time ( Dr. Mundo, Swain, Zac) then Cut Down is likely just overall better, but in any other case Coup de Grace gives you that finishing power that really helps you seal a kill, especially if you get to having Shadowflame alongside it.

The Sorcery tree is my preferred secondary tree since it lets me scale into lategame really well with the ramping AP from Gathering Storm and play a super hypercarry playstyle with constantly refreshing cooldowns from Transcendence. I have often revived myself twice in a single fight (I have a clip of it happening from a Cho'Gath biting me somewhere. Where did I put it?) all thanks to the Sorcery tree. But you don't have to play that playstyle exactly.

Magical Footwear and Cash Back from the Inspiration tree are good for gold value and really helps your build come online smoother. Paired with Triple Tonic, Biscuit Delivery, or Approach Velocity (to chase with your E), you got some good-lookin' runes.

If you're concerned about Renata having low defensive stats, you could always just go Bone Plating and Shield Bash or Overgrowth from the Resolve tree. If you go Overgrowth and end up building Riftmaker, combined with Lulu's Wild Growth, your health bar can get pretty big. Revitalize is also good, not because it makes your terrible shield a little less terrible, but because you get bigger shields from Lulu when your health is low (i.e. when it matters).

I would NOT recommend the Domination tree. Treasure Hunter would be good as a money rune but you only need the money early and you're unlikely to kill anyone other than your lane opponents. This could also be said for the other Hunter runes which could be appealing into lategame to give you more macro presence, but those downsides can be overcome with skill/knowledge and don't necessitate runes. Taste of Blood and Cheap Shot are good rune options, too, but the cooldowns don't synergize with the DPS playstyle of this build. That being said, I have been theorycrafting a Hail of Blades build that would open up other support options and potential for a bursty gameplay pattern, but we're not there yet. Maybe one day.

My build is the optimal damage build at all stages. I start with an AD starter item and double Adaptive Force runes since Renata has the 8th lowest AD in the game and I need it to farm at all level 1. Your first recall should be for a Pickaxe at least so you can farm effectively in lane before your damage starts to come online. Buy Sorcerer's Shoes whenever you have enough gold for it but not enough gold for your main items. If you go back with 300g and need 1025g to finish your Guinsoo's Rageblade, buy the first boots. If you back with 900g and can't afford the Needlessly Large Rod for your Rabadon's Deathcap, finish the Sorc Shoes.

Building Guinsoo's Rageblade first gives you access to some AP, but you get more value out of the early AD and huge Attack Speed bonuses so that you can start doing good DPS, especially with Lethal Tempo damage online. Once Lulu builds an Ardent Censer or you finish your Nashor's Tooth, the Guinsoo's Rageblade phantom hits will be validated and apply those. Note that the phantom hits do NOT apply Leverage and couldn't anyway since the mark has to be removed to be reapplied.

By the time you finish Nashor's Tooth, your damage is coming online and functioning decently. You can start taking fights handily and blast your way through enemies. The added On-Hit damage gives your autos value from all the AP you'll be building to increase your Leverage damage and will be applied by your Guinsoo's Rageblade phantom hits now. Also, the sufficient AP from it will convert your Adaptive Force into AP to make you scale correctly.

After that, Rabadon's Deathcap explodes your damage potential. You've already built a good bit of AP, the passive percentage bonus from Rabadon's Deathcap grants a ton of stats and the increase to your passive ratio will make you a terror to the enemy team. This is the point of no return for the enemy team. You will be able to take any fight that you can survive and blast through squishies and tanks alike. You can also do Baron Nashor with just your Lulu at this point if she also has 2-3 items.

Next you need your magic penetration item to lock in your damage values, so you build a Void Staff. Enemies have to build magic resistance to stop you, so ignoring as much of it as you can is definitely a necessity. Also, since your passive damage is percentage based, you need penetration to get all that damage through since there is no flat value to chip away at lower health but higher resistance enemies (which are rare, of course, but so is magic resistance in general lol). The Nashor's Tooth + Guinsoo's Rageblade combo deals significant flat damage at this point though, so squishies without resistances are also being terrorized by you regardless of their maximum health.

Finally, the last item is a bit situational but Shadowflame is the best bang for your buck since it allows ALL of your magic damage to crit low health enemies. This means 5000 HP tanks at 2000 HP will take 20% more of your passive's damage, which is just wild already.

You could build Morellonomicon if the enemies heal a lot, but it should be far too late for that by now and your support can build it for you anyway. The only other real options are Zhonya's Hourglass to survive nukes, Riftmaker to survive in extended fights and maybe potentially heal yourself through fights, or straight up tank items to keep yourself alive ( Jak'Sho, The Protean, Randuin's Omen, etc.).

https://imgur.com/a/9X31sGt

At 6 items, you are god. You deal a third of EVERYONE'S and ANYONE'S health PER AUTO, through whatever little magic resistance they have built, all the time. No other champ can keep up at this rate. I have stat-checked a fed Kayle at this point (or maybe earlier). I have 3-shot full tanks at this stage. This is the pinnacle of damage in League of Legends. It's the entire point of playing this and building this.

Ability Haste, Ability Haste, Ability Haste. The Haste granted by Lulu's rune page is absolutely vital to the wellbeing of the combo. At level 5, with Transcendence, the Haste shard, and 4 Glowing Motes or the equivalent, your Haste is up to 33 and puts your Help, Pix! cooldown to nearly 6 seconds. Pix, Faerie Companion stays with an ally for 6 seconds, to clarify. This means these runes are of utmost importance to guaranteeing Renata Glasc can always have Pix to proc and clear Leverage marks so that more can be reapplied. Those 2 runes are completely non-negotiable.

Now, there is debate around which keystone to use. The one my duo and I like is Summon Aery, since not only will it basically always make the Lulu shield bigger by slapping another shield onto it, but in certain scenarios Pix is able to launch Aery while still attached to Renata, contributing to damage dealt. The improvement to each and every Lulu shield makes Renata really hard to kill in any fight, so I much prefer it to Guardian which is usually used as an alternative enchanter rune.

Manaflow Band is also incredibly important since Lulu runs into mana droughts from constantly granting Pix to Renata while also using other spells. The new Axiom Arcanist rune does not empower Lulu's ultimate in any way since it doesn't deal damage, heal, or shield, so it's not an option. The same reason also stops Renata from using the rune. Nimbus Cloak is also of little consequence to Lulu, so it can also be eliminated.

The third row on the Sorcery tree is a contested one. Waterwalking helps you rotate and empowers you for objective fights, Scorch provides much needed early poke damage in lane, and Gathering Storm allows you to scale up alongside your Renata and get bigger and stronger. Lulu's AP scalings aren't the most important thing in the world, but, that being said, Lulu still does have AP scalings, and I have been shielded for my entire health bar thanks to my duo going Gathering Storm and a Moonstone Renewer, so I'm going to recommend Gathering Storm.

I believe the only acceptable other tree is Resolve. Revitalize granting Heal and Shield Power is just way too good for enchanters. Even if dipping into Precision for Presence of Mind or Legend: Haste would technically solve problems previously discussed, Revitalize just holds too much value. Because of that, and the value from Transcendence, I fully believe the only rune options are Resolve with Sorcery or Sorcery with Resolve.

In addition to Revitalize, Font of Life provides a bit of healing both for Renata and Lulu, which grants a taste of much needed sustain in lane for both champions.

If you are not interested in using Summon Aery, Guardian is a good alternative keystone rune. It provides a reactive shield on a lengthy cooldown, but the shield is bigger and is only used when it matters. Where Aery can sometimes not apply a shield if Lulu damages an enemy before empowering Renata, Guardian will ALWAYS shield Renata, and even shields Lulu, too, which is great for her own survival. The rune is fine, but for my money, the 90 to 40 second cooldown is not worth it unless the enemy team is all divers and assassins.

The other runes are simply not worth enough to discuss. Honorable mentions go to Presence of Mind and Legend: Haste, but there is unfortunately not room. You could use them as replacements for Manaflow and Transcendence if you go Guardian as your keystone, I suppose, but having to farm up Legend: Haste only to NOT get the refresh on kill effect later doesn't sound great.

The core of the Lulu build is Dream Maker, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Ardent Censer, and Knight's Vow. This grants sufficient Ability Haste when combined with Lulu's runes to permanently grant Pix to Renata, it grants Renata Attack Speed and On-Hit damage to synergize with her Guinsoo's Rageblade, and the Knight's Vow keeps Renata alive through extended fights while also keeping Lulu alive since Renata will be doing so much damage. Dream Maker is also the optimal support item choice since it grants damage reduction AND damage to Renata just from shields, which makes Renata deceptively tanky. I have checked the stats at the end of many games, and Dream Maker can even end up dealing more damage than Ardent Censer pretty handily. The value is too good. With these items, Lulu can turn Renata into a god in the hands of good players.