Pocket Picks: Doublelift's Lucian
Have you ever wanted to sling Ashe arrows like Sneaky? Or use LeBlanc to juke your way into another dimension like Bjergsen? Well, now’s your chance.
With Lolesports' Pocket Picks, we’re here to deliver the best tips and tricks straight from the pros to help you master the champions closest to their hearts -- their Pocket Picks.
In this episode, TSM's AD carry Doublelift is here with advice to help you master his Pocket Pick, Lucian the Purifier.
According to Doublelift, mastering your combos is the most crucial aspect of getting the highest amount of damage out of Lucian. You can learn more about those in the video above, and to help you maximize your efficiency as Lucian, Doublelift has a few more tips for you to consider.
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When it comes to item builds for Lucian, there are two builds that players tend to be divided about: The Essence Reaver / Rapid Firecannon build and the Youmuu's Ghostblade / Black Cleaver build.
"I always like the Ghostblade / Black Cleaver build right now and there are a lot of reasons why," says Doublelift.
"Ghostblade has great synergy as the first item with his kit, because Lucian has really high mobility and he has really good chase down," Doublelift says. "Plus, when going Ghostblade you have another way to get into the fight quickly. So you use Ghostblade and dash in, and now you're super sped up with really high attack speed."
"Lucian's also a really low range champion, and often you'll either be getting bullied or you'll be bullying lane because of the volatile nature of low range AD carries," explains Doublelift. Meaning that with this build, you'll be a bit more durable -- and mobile. "I think when you couple those two things together, they give Lucian really high kill potential in the side lanes."
And what about the Essence Reaver build? "I think Essence Reaver is a waste, because Lucian doesn't run into mana problems unless you're spamming Q -- and if you are spamming Q, you're either killing your opponent or you're missing them -- so you just need to work on your Lucian mechanics," Doublelift says with a laugh.
He goes on to explain how the Essence Reaver build relies on critical strikes, and he doesn't like how unreliable those can be. "Especially on a champion like Lucian, where when you're going in you're going all in, I would prefer a more consistent build. So I choose to go for two items first that don't give any crit."
Now that you've got an idea of what Doublelift builds, let's go a bit more in-depth about how he uses those weapons at different ranges to get the most out of them.
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One aspect to mastering every champion is understanding their range. According to Doublelift, there's an inverse relationship between the amount of damage Lucian can deal compared to how far away he is from his opponent. Let's break this concept down a bit further.
"For example, at your highest range, you don't have any options except to use The Culling. So here, you'll be doing the least amount of damage at that range, but you'll still be doing some," says Doublelift. "But at his lowest range -- which is 500 or even melee range -- he has the most options. He can use all of his abilities, all of his auto attacks, and potentially his Piercing Light can hit multiple targets. In that range you'll be able to do the most damage."
"Understanding when you need to be at each of these ranges is extremely important," stresses Doublelift. He also encourages Lucian players not to be scared to get into the lowest range first and slowly kite backwards.
And while that seems simple, Doublelift recalls how even in pro play, he's seen so many people too scared to get in the right range. "When you use Relentless Pursuit to dash in, you want to be dashing in the 400 or 450 range area. If you dash in SUPER CLOSE, you're putting yourself in a really vulnerable position to die," says Doublelift.
"Dashing into melee? Don't do that!"
Another way to look at it is by comparing Lucian to other AD carries. "Other ADCs need to be at a lower range than their max range to do damage but Lucian doesn't," says Doublelift. Take Ashe, for example, who has a range of 600 compared to Lucian's 500. "When Ashe is hitting a target at 600 range, she's not doing a lot of damage. But when she's hitting someone at 500 range, it's totally different. Now, when they move away, she's still continuously doing damage," Doublelift explains. But Lucian's different. "If Lucian's at 500 range, it doesn't matter if his target moves away because he can always dash and chase them down."
"So don't dash in lower than 400 range," he mentions again. "Always try to maintain a barrier of 400-500 range." If you can do that, you'll be able to unleash tons of pain. But if you're stuck at your max range, always consider using Lucian's ultimate: The Culling.
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"I think the biggest mistake I see Lucian players do, is that they just use The Culling whenever!" laughs Doublelift. "They use it at the start of a team fight when they don't have to."
So when should you use The Culling? "If someone is just getting to a skirmish, you want to dash in first and then use The Culling as a "back off" tool," Doublelift explains. "Thinking about variable ranges from earlier, after you've gotten off as many auto attacks as you possibly can, you tread that fine line and back off at the last moment and shoot The Culling."
"Really, The Culling is something you pull out of your back pocket when it's not feasible for you to auto-attack," Doublelift continues. "Your number one priority on Lucian is getting in a position where you can do the most amount of damage. The Culling is like, 'I can't auto-attack anymore, so I'll just do this instead.'"
Another thing to remember when shooting The Culling is to keep your enemy's position in mind. "Use The Culling in an angle where you can move left and right in the same way your opponent will be trying to juke your Culling left and right," says Doublelift. "And always look to cancel The Culling early. If there's an opportunity for you to go in and do your combos then you probably should."
The Culling also has synergy with Doublelift's preferred item build. "With Black Cleaver, you're shooting so many bullets and shredding their front line and taking away their armor. You'll provide a little utility to your team in that sense and you'll be doing damage from a safe range," says Doublelift.
The Culling is just one of many tricks Lucian has up his sleeve. Share your best Lucian tips below and let us know all about your own Pocket Picks!
Below you can download various wallpaper sizes of the Doublelift Lucian illustration by Nips. You can follow Nips on Twitter and Facebook to see even more of her art.
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1280 x 720 Pocket Picks: Doublelift's Lucian Wallpaper
