Lux has never been a mage we could experiment too much with. She’s a long-ranged champion that usually goes for a bursty AP build. But it’s not uncommon for Lux to go with a support build either. However, the Lich Bane Lux build offers a different playstyle than those two.
And it’s so fun to play with!
Alright, but what are the benefits of playing Lux with Lich Bane? And is Lich Bane any good on Lux?
Lich Bane grants 2 valuable stats – 75 Ability Power and 8% Movement Speed. It synergizes with Lux’s passive – Illumination. And you can use it to increase the damage of her basic attacks. Lich Bane is especially useful versus melee champions.
But should you build Lich Bane on Lux in every game?
Of course not. Sometimes it’s better to stick to her regular AP build, simply because of the playstyle that Lich Bane offers. You can’t always get the same amount of value from this item, so it’s best to stay versatile.
For example, if you’re facing a long-ranged team, such as Zoe, Ezreal, Jayce, and Nidalle – you’ll want to go for the pure AP build. But if you’re against Zed, Volibear, Leona, and Darius – you’ll be much better with the Lich Bane build.
Now let’s jump into the runes you need to have, and later I’ll explain why this build is so good at countering melee champions!
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Lich Bane Lux – Runes
Here are my recommended runes for playing Lux with the Lich Bane build:
- Electrocute – strikes your target with bonus Adaptive Damage every time you perform your combo, or you add an auto-attack at the end of your rotation.
- Cheap Shot – a 4-seconds cooldown rune that allows you to deal bonus true damage to enemies caught in your Q or E.
- Eyeball Collection – it’s an easy way to increase your Ability Power in the early game without doing anything, really.
- Ultimate Hunter – lowers the cooldown of your ultimate and turns it into a basic ability in the late game.
- Manaflow Band – helps you manage your mana by both increasing your maximum mana and your mana regeneration.
- Transcendence – gives you a total of 10 Ability Haste, but it also refreshes the cooldown of your abilities while in a team fight.
The first question you might have about this rune page is: Why Electrocute and not Arcane Comet or Dark Harvest?
Electrocute is an excellent keystone for Lux because it always activates after her combo – E > Q > E > R. However, it also does great damage when you auto-attack your target after your E and Q. And you can actually proc Electrocute by either Q or E plus two basic attacks.
Since we’re playing a Lich Bane Lux build here, we focus more on our auto-attacks. We want our auto-attacks to deal more damage and to always activate Electrocute.
However, Arcane Comet is not bad either. Nor is Dark Harvest! You can try both of them and see how they work for you. I’d say that Dark Harvest is overall better, with Arcane Comet being especially useful in the laning phase.
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Optional Runes
Keep in mind that you can swap nearly all runes on this rune page. If you prefer to play with Biscuit Delivery and Time Warp Tonic, then totally go for it. But if you’re a beginner and still practicing Lux, then stick to the recommended choices!
Here are a couple of optional runes you can use:
- Arcane Comet – great for poking in the early game.
- Dark Harvest – does bonus Adaptive Damage to low HP targets and can be activated with your auto-attacks.
- Scorch – burns your target and helps you trade efficiently in the lane.
- Gathering Storm – is a great rune for scaling into the late game.
- Coup de Grace – allows you to deal 8% more damage to targets below 40% HP.
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Lich Bane Lux – Items
And here are the items you should run when playing the Lich Bane Lux build:
- Luden’s Tempest – gives you the highest burst damage out of all other choices, plus all the necessary stats you need.
- Lich Bane – is your core item to this playstyle, allowing you to deal significant magic damage to your enemies with your basic attacks.
- Horizon Focus – is a great way to boost your long-range damage, and it will make your combo even more deadly.
- Zhonya’s Hourglass – is your best defensive item against melee and ranged champion because you can dodge so many abilities with it.
- Rabadon’s Deathcap – boosts your Ability Power by 35% and should generally be bought in the late game.
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity – give you 20 Ability Haste in the early game, making you a much more flexible pick.
And here the question is: Shouldn’t I build Lich Bane first since it’s the core of this build?
Well, no. There is a clear reason why mythic items are in a different category and we can only have one of them in our inventory. They are much stronger than the legendary items because they provide more stats and higher damage buffs.
And so, Luden’s Tempest should always be purchased first, even before Lich Bane. It will increase your power much more in the early game. While Lich Bane will only empower your auto-attacks, Luden’s Tempest will improve your overall damage and mana resource.
Having to build Luden’s Tempest before Lich Bane isn’t a bad thing. Lich Bane does more damage the more Ability Power you have. So, purchasing it after you have a bit of AP is actually recommended.
Read Also: 8 Things You Need to Know About Lux
Optional Items
If you’re trying out the Lich Bane Lux build for the first time, I’d suggest you stick to these item choices 100%. However, you should also adapt to the situation at hand and mix a few other AP items in your build. And, of course, Lich Bane should be the only item you don’t wanna change here.
You should choose between these situational items:
- Liandry’s Anguish – a recommended mythic item against tanks and tanky champions.
- Void Staff – is a must-have against tanks as well because it gives you all the Magic Penetration in the world.
- Morellonomicon – helps you secure more kills by reducing your opponents’ healing.
- Banshee’s Veil – protects you against teams with an overwhelming about of crowd control abilities.
- Mejai’s Soulstealer – it’s a massive boost in damage, but it depends on stacks.
Lich Bane Lux Build – Guide
The first thing to understand here is how Lich Bane actually works.
After you use an ability, Lich Bane empowers your next basic attack to deal 75% of your base Attack Damage and 50% of your Ability Power. Keep in mind that Lich Bane takes only the base Attack Damage of the champion, so you can’t scale it by building more AD. However, that’s not the case with the Ability Power ratio.
In a practical sense, Lux on level 11 would deal approximately 185 bonus damage with her auto-attacks, thanks to Lich Bane. That’s nearly as much as a basic ability would deal.
Now, you may think that 185 magic damage on level 11 is not much, but just remember that Lich Bane has only 2.5 seconds cooldown! This means that you can constantly take advantage and abuse the bonus damage effect. Sure, your opponents can negate it with Magic Resist, but that’s why you’re building Luden’s Tempest and Void Staff!
So, why is the Lich Bane Lux build so effective against melee champions?
Well, melee champions are always in your auto-attack range. You won’t have to chase them to hit them with basic attacks. Instead, you can empower your auto-attacks every 2.5 seconds and squeeze out more damage than you would typically do.
But Lich Bane is also very helpful on mages such as Lux because you’re practically useless once your abilities are on cooldown. Your basic attacks without Lich Bane don’t deal nearly enough damage to hurt anyone, so you need to change that.
And those are the basics of playing the Lux Lich Bane build in League of Legends!
Read Also: Lich Bane Veigar Build Guide
Conclusion
So, is Lich Bane Lux any good?
Honestly, yes. Like I mentioned already, you’d definitely get more value out of it when playing against melee champions. However, you can still make it work against ranged champions too.
But I would also say that this playstyle isn’t for everybody. It requires you to stand closer to your enemies so you can auto-attack them, and thus it increases the danger. It also works better with players who can actually kite around and avoid damage in team fights. And if you’re one of them, then definitely try this build!
Good luck and have fun!
