My name is Stoniel, a mid gold tiered top and mid lane main. I've been playing since the beginning of Season 2, and always tried to predict who was "closet OP", with my first real success being Full AP mid lane Gragas. While trying to figure out what champion would be next, I experimented with tons of champs out of their normal role(AP Tristana/Master Yi/Tryndamere/Kog Maw, just to name a few) who would all later receive nerfs because this new playstyle shocked the meta. AP Lucian has always been decent to play around with, but was too inconsistent to actually play. But with the new support item, AP Lucian can reliably get off his combo, and can actually deal ALL of his potential damage.He also has a surprisingly dominant laning phase against many common mid laners.



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Pros

+ Lots of Damage from R + 90% AP Scaling on W + E makes him very mobile + Procs Sheen effects very well

AP Lucian Strengths AP Lucian is a fun, hard hitting mid laner. He has a strong laning phase, and a very easy time farming due to his range and high base AD. He greatly benefits from the Thunderlord's Decree Mastery, since he can easily proc it with his double AA's. AP Lucian can easily turn the tides of a teamfight if he hits his abilities, dealing 1000's of damage very early on in a match.

Cons

+ Missing an Ult cripples your damage + W can take some getting used to + Auto Attacks become useless late game + If you use E too early, you are very vulnerable

AP Lucian Weaknesses Although AP Lucian can deal tons of damage, he is very similar to his "non-meta" counterparts, in that a large portion of it relies on one ability in particular. This means that a missed ult can easily mean your team loses a teamfight. A well played Lucian should be able to use relentless pursuit to dodge any skill shot cc's, but anything that isn't dodged or can't be dodged, spells a lot of trouble for AP Lucian.

This is pretty self explanatory. This is one the best summoner spells and can get you out of danger, or put you in a position to get another kill. Essential.

The second summoner spell isn't as simple to pick, but I prefer ignite, since it helps to finish opponents off.

If you aren't as confident in your ability as AP lucian, this could work and could function as a slightly less effective,extra flash.

or These 2 summoner spells can help keep you alive. Heal is the stronger of the 2, but can be halved if your opponent took ignite.

Situational Items Explained
Even with all the nerfs to this item, it is still insanely strong. The slow will still allow you land Ardent Blaze and your entire Culling. Also, this item is very cheap, gives a bit of CDR, and gets you a good bit of gold with the passive gold it gives.

Morellonomicon should only be bought if they have a team with a lot of healing. The mana regen is just unneeded and the AP should usually be gotten elsewhere. If you find yourself wanting your ult to be up more often, or against Dr. Mundo or Vlad, this item is a very good choice, but otherwise should probably be avoided.

I personally love getting Rylai's because it guarantees that I can hit an entire ult even when Ghosties are down, and it gives 100 AP and 400hp,but it isn't necessary by any means.

If the enemy team is stacking MR, might be a good idea, but since The Culling is physical damage, I would say don't go for this item.

This item adds a good bit of upfront damage onto your W and Ult, but doesn't do much in taking down somewhat tankier champions, which is why I would only get it if you are against mostly squishies, or if you have a pretty big gold lead on your opponent.

Lord Dominik's Regards is another somewhat odd item, but actually makes a lot of sense. Since the Culling is physical damage, the 40% bonus armor pen will add a lot of damage. Also, if the other team has a lot of hp, it could add up to another 15% physical damage onto the Culling.

Banshee's Veil stops champions like Leblanc from one bursting you, and can also prevent you from getting cc'd out of your ult, meaning you get off more damage. This build is pretty centered around dealing a lot of damage, so if the enemy team doesn't have anyone who can burst you down or stop The Culling, this item isn't as necessary.

Zhonya's gives a lot of AP, and stasis for 2.5 seconds, which is really nice on a lot of AP champions. Unfortunately, Lucian isn't really one of those champions. If Lucian has to use zhonya's hourglass, he is most likely going to die as soon as he comes out of it, since he will only have a portion of his damage available to him again. On the other hand, if you are getting immediately dove onto, it may help buy your team time to get the enemies off of you so you can have a safe ult, so it isn't completely useless. Not essential, but still a potentially useful item.


The new Guinsoo's would probably only be good if you also built Nashor's Tooth, but might be alright in that case.

If you want to do more damage with Auto Attacks, this is usually a better option than Guinsoo's. It gives a lot of CDR, a good chunk of AP, and Attack Speed, but is pretty costly, and is usually outclassed by most of the other items on this list. Even when taking Lucian's passive into account, more AP is going to allow you to do your job of chunking much better than a small bit of extra DPS.

AS OF PATCH 5.22, LUCIAN'S ULTIMATE NO LONGER GETS MORE SHOTS WITH ATTACK SPEED, WHICH IS WHY ATTACK SPEED ITEMS AREN'T RECOMMENDED

Recommended Runes

Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration- In my opinion these are the best marks for AP Lucian. These give more damage to The Culling, as well as Ardent Blaze.
Greater Seal of Armor - These tend to help against Auto Attack harass you may face, and especially help against AD mid laners.
Greater Glyph of Magic - These are really nice since this build doesn't usually get much MR, and will help you deal with Magic Damage mid laners.
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - These runes will start you off with 15 AP from runes, and give a good damage boost.

Other Good Options

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - If you don't want to buy hybrid pen runes, these will be more than fine, and are probably the second best marks for this build.
Greater Seal of Health - These runes will also be fine, some people like to run half health seals, half armor seals, but any combination of these 2 runes will work fine.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power - These are riskier, but are a good choice if you just want more raw damage. But this build doesn't really get too many defensive items, so MR glyphs will usually work better.

IN LANE

During the laning phase, you should harass withArdent Blaze. If you land Ardent Blaze and you're in range to get off a Double Auto, do it. W>AA procs Thunderlord's Decree, and gives you a nice bit of extra damage. Before level 6, AP lucian has very little damage besides Ardent Blaze, so avoid going balls to the wall when W is down. Use sparingly, it may seem like a short dash, but it can help you get away from a gank by allowing you to dodge skillshots, or just get closer to your turret.
Once you hit 6, start to look for openings to land The Culling. If your enemy is very mobile, this means you wait for them to use their movement ability aggresively, such as Fizz's Playful Trickster . Once the ability is on cooldown, hit them with Ardent Blaze,if they are close enough ignite them, and then start wailing on them with The Culling. This should almost always result in a kill, or at least send them back.
After you get Frost Queen's Claim, try to do the same thing as before, but use the active as soon as they come out of their movement ability, then proceed to combo them down. As long as they are 3/4 health or below, this is a kill. Another good idea is to use Frost Queen's Claim as soon as your jungler starts coming in for a gank, this means they should almost certainly land all of their own CC and damage, and helps insure the kill.

MID TO LATE GAME

During teamfights, your job is deal as much damage as possible, as safely as possible. Throw out Ardent Blazes from afar until either team commits, then throw out The Culling, trying to land as many shots as possible onto their squishies. Since The Culling will be dealing 1000's of damage, it makes a huge impact on teamfights. Teamfights are also a good time to use Frost Queen's Claim. Frost Queen's Claim can help start teamfights by slowing enemies, allowing your team to pick them off. It is also very powerful if the enemies turn to initiate onto you, as you can slow the champions that are trying to dive onto your team's squishies, and then wail on them with Ardent Blaze and The Culling. Since Lucian does an amazing job at using Sheen passives, Lich Bane is a very good idea to grab so that you can really take down turrets quickly.

Here are stories sent personally to me after making this guide. If you feel compelled to share your success story, send me a message through MOBAFIRE.