Lux Guide: Light, Shine Down!
1 - Introduction
Lux is an AP carry with a good amount of area of damage abilities and utility for the team. It is relatively easy to play at a decent level. However, it has a quite high skill ceiling, which means you can slowly but steadily become better at her the more games you play. Since it is a champion that relies solely on skillshots, she is by no means forgiving - A mistake can often decide if you live to tell the tale or not. Altough knowing and being able to combine her abilities is a very important attribute, the most important thing for an AP carry Lux is positioning. Such a skill can only increase with a great amount of experience in gameplay (which can be done with any champ, but specifically AP mid in this case).
2 - Pros and cons
ü Great range allows easy harass for low risk
ü Has good utility (Snare+shield)
ü Capable of sniping fleeing enemies
ü Ulti and E provide vision, including in bushes
ü Passive helps early-mid game
ü Lots of AOE damage on teamfights
ü Can easily support top and bot lane with ultimate
ü Always positive!
û Very squishy
û Can't spam abilities
û Mana hungry early game
û All abilities are skillshots
ûTriggering her passive puts her at risk
3 - Summoner spells - Flash+Ignite
Teleport, CV, Heal are all good alternatives.
4 - Runes - Magic Pen Marks
Mana Regen per level Seals/Armor
Flat Magic Resist Glyphs
AP Quints
5 - Masteries - 9/0/21 (10% cooldown, Presence of the master always beneficial); also 21/0/9 (more damage > Less spells used >Less mana spent)
6 - Builds
· Main build - 2x Doran's ring (if fed; if not, chalice of harmony), Sorcerer's shoes, Rabadon, Unholy Chalice, Void Staff, Zhonia's.
7 - Skills
Q- Light Binding - Snare
W- Prismatic Barrier - Shield
E- Lucent Singularity - AOE damage - Gives vision; Spends a huge amount of mana at lvl5 (130).
R- Finales Funkeln (now called Final Spark :S) - Ultimate, Gives Vision, Long Range
8 - Skill order - R>E>Q>W
9 - Play Style - With Lux, your objective for the game is getting fed without being killed while farming as flawlessly as possible (that's basically the same for every champ, but this is usually possible on Lux). Keeping distance in your lane through good positioning, while watching your opponent's playing style (agressive, passive or passive-agressive) and being wary of the enemy abilities and their cooldowns is key to not taking damage. If you are almost overextending and your opponent at mid is low health and near tower, just don't follow him (the jungler can come up and ruin your day, killing you and protecting his teammate from being killed - which would give them gold for the kill and an assist, vs. the risk of not getting the kill and dying in exchange for 300 gold).
This is only possible through much practice and behaving adequatly against the enemy champion, antecipating their movements. I briefly refer to that in the next section.
Usual combo - Q-E; Q>E>R>AA.
10 - Game stages
· Early Game - Harass sparingly with your E while keeping watch on your mana bar. Don't forget to keep a nice amount of distance from your opponent - He should be around the limit of the range of your E. You should have always at least 1/4 of mana reserved for gank situations, where you will usually need to use Lux's Q if you don't wish to burn Flash. Against agressive enemies, keep trying to hit Q when you get a clear shot. In case of success, use E immediatly, auto-attack, blow up Lucent Singularity, auto-attack and retreat. Be wary that this strategy won't work easily against enemies such as Brand or Anivia, since they can easily stun you and unleash their devastating combo when you try to go for AA. Against a champion such as Katarina, who only has her throwing daggers to harass at lvl 1, start from the beginning with auto-attacks and spam your E just a bit.When she gets Shunppo and you notice she is using it for last hitting, time your Q-E-AA- explode E-AA combo for then.
When you hit 6,it's time for showdown! If your enemy is at half health already, try getting him in your Q. Even if you don't hit it but are confident that you can get the kill, follow up with E, explosion, and Ulti.
· Mid Game - By this time, farming will become way harder because of dragon and small skirmishes in your mid lane. Compensating in kills is a necessity. If you start getting some stacks, you are doing just fine. If the game isn't going that well, don't buy Mejai's or sell if you already did it and buy as much AP as possible (Lux can't do much without AP). Even if you don't get kills, if you can keep stacking assists then it's just fine. And try not to KS with your ulti!
· Late Game - Keep doing massive AOE damage on teamfights while staying far from the action. If focused, Guardian Angel can be your best friend. Your team needs to have some kind of initiation and tankyness. If the team has someone like Galio, Amumu, then you are capable of easily bursting the AP and AD carries if they get caught in their ulties.
11 - Lane encounters
· Easy win - Annie, Ashe, Swain, Karthus, Kennen, Twisted, Veigar
· Hard but winnable lanes - Brand, Ezreal, Katarina, Sivir, Gragas, Sion, Ziggs, Caitlyn
· Counters - Anivia, Galio, Morgana, LeBlanc, Ryze, Talon
Kennen - Not much to say. Play safe while constantly harassing with E. As long as he doesn't hit you with his Shuriken, he won't be able to easily inflict damage. Lux can win this lane without much difficulty due to her amazing range. Try to stay behind your minions while not being too close to them, or Kennen will rush in and inflict damage.
Veigar - You have way more range. Don't try to trigger your passive: it's way too dangerous. Veigar's stun can easily allow him to unleash his combo and totally destroy you. If you stay out of range and slowly but steadily take his HP, it's an easy lane.
Viktor - His E is quite damaging. Start with Boots and Pots x3 so you have an easier time avoiding that attack. If you keep your distance he won't be able do use his Q, Power Transfer, on you, so you take less damage. Using your passive might be too risky, engage only after seeing him waste either his Q or his E on minions.
Brand - If Brand manages to pull his stun against you at lvl 6, your death is very likely. Dodging the stun is a must. Otherwise, if you can avoid more often than not his Pillar of Flame it's not such a hard lane.
Brand - If Brand manages to pull his stun against you at lvl 6, your death is very likely. Dodging the stun is a must. Otherwise, if you can avoid more often than not his Pillar of Flame it's not such a hard lane.
Katarina - Start harassing since the beginning. She can't harass you easily until she gets some AP and more levels on Shunppo/Throwing Knives. Throw E and abuse your passive. When she gets at level 4/5, start getting some more distance from her. At 6, kill her with Ult. Shunppo might be a "Get out of Jail" free card, so use Ult after she burns the ability.
Talon - Hard, hard, hard. At lvl 4 he can easily dodge your abilities by using Cutthroat on you and taking half of your health in an instant. Play passively and ask for ganks right away. At level 6, he will very probably kill you. A nice option is to buy Chain Mail ASAP, in order to shut down a lot of damage.
Galio - Will have loads of Magic Resistance. Dodge his abilities and see if you think you have a shot at killing him around lvl 6. A gank might help win the lane. Otherwise, very tricky.
Anivia - Coordinate a gank when she gets low health. Strike her before he appears and, when she turns to egg form, attack with your jungler at the same time.She should die, making the lane a little easier. Her egg is the biggest problem in lane. Dodge her frosty ball (the Q ability). By level 6, watch out for her Ultimate+ Frostbite+ Wall combo - It bursts like no tomorrow.
Sivir - Damaging her will be a challenge. Her spell shield easily counters your E and Q and, if you try to go for passive procs, her AA damage will be huge. Try to take around 40% of her health. When you get to level 6, burst her down.
Caitlyn - Annoying because she won't allow last hits. Will try to constantly harass. Put her in order with Q-E combo and snipe her with your Ulti at 6. Be careful with your health when she is at level 5, when she hits 6 she might score a kill with her Ulti if you are seriously low.
Ezreal - Able to easily dodge E or Q with his own E, while also doing quite the damage (doesn't matter much if he is AP or AD when it comes to that). However, since he is squishy, you might be able to burst him down. Call for a gank if having trouble.
