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PSA:Lux shield is S tier and youre still building her full ap support

Professor Ward··16 votes·13,747 views

Not gonna go into a ton of obvious strengths and weaknesses she has here, her cc, her uptime, or her burst potential. Most of you know these aspects of lux well,** but i feel that her shield has always been grossly underestimated.**

It offers zero utility(aside from ardent). It does offer misplay, it is back end loaded, and it takes a little time to get used to. But it also offers one of the more rewarding(and large) shielding experiences in the game when performed well.

Of any viable/semi viable support, on numbers alone, lux has by far the strongest shield. 1650+60%ap+aery/itemmods with an optimal cast. This is more effective hp to a team than an entire level 18 adc, and more than locket almost ever offers on a 6 second cooldown. Try building any assortment of item 3504 item 3107 item 3222 item 3174 ,** As her shield is huge, these offer much larger bonuses to lux than i feel are intended.**

At worst its a self shield that is still only beaten by karma's mantra e. With even a half decent cast it quickly becomes one of the strongest shields in game.

Learn how to land her shield with some efficiency**, and i think you will learn that there is a glaring hole in the current support meta that is shield bot lux.

87 Comments

Daddy Ants22 votes

Nah man gotta rush that item 3089

: ^)

Crookodile20 votes

Lux's shield is one of the best designed shields in the game, it actually requires skill to use. Most shields are point and click, but Lux's, there is and actual skill floor. Gotta say, love the design.

LordGeovanni1 votes

And because it doesn and requires you to aim some where other than the enemy where you are already aiming makes it maybe the least used ability in the entire game (some where around tahm kench ult) Except for saving her self but she will never use it to help the engaging tank or allied adc/ mage.

Terozu6 votes

Except good Lux players do.

Professor Ward9 votes

{quoted}

And because it doesn and requires you to aim some where other than the enemy where you are already aiming makes it maybe the least used ability in the entire game (some where around tahm kench ult) Except for saving her self but she will never use it to help the engaging tank or allied adc/ mage.

the fact that you have the strongest shield in game, and are still prioritizing the enemy over shielding, is the reason i wrote this post.

Ryouhi3 votes

{quoted}

Lux's shield is one of the best designed shields in the game, it actually requires skill to use. Most shields are point and click, but Lux's, there is and actual skill floor. Gotta say, love the design.

That may work for a mage that happens to have a shield in her kit, but if as a support, shielding is your main job, teammates dodging your abilities is amongst the most infuriating things i can imagine.

Just from a gameplay experience perspective, making it possible for your teammates to ruin your ability to shield them, especially in soloque where coordination is already horrid, really does not sound fun at all.

Crookodile1 votes

While that is true, a lot of Lux's shield is backloaded, so, if for example, they made all other shields a skill shot it would not have a return. However, that's not the solution whatsoever, but I would like to see some more skill shot shields.

Daddy Ants2 votes

{quoted}

Lux's shield is one of the best designed shields in the game, it actually requires skill to use. Most shields are point and click, but Lux's, there is and actual skill floor. Gotta say, love the design.

I'd love to see Janna, Lulu, Karma with a Skillshot shield.

SangreDeNoche13 votes

Considering allies dodge it most of the time even when you warn them at the start of the game you might as well not even count it as an ability.

LordGeovanni5 votes

Bad play doesnt mean that it isnt there and cant be used.

Ariel the Cruel3 votes

Isn't that the excuse the boards use to defend Yasuo when they complain about him? XD

LordGeovanni1 votes

I dont get what you are saying but i want to please elaborate and example if you will.

Ariel the Cruel2 votes

It's a jab at the community.

People complain that is strong. Then people defend that he is hard to use and must play better than you.

People complain that he is hard to deal with. People defend by saying you just have to play better than him.

So the logic here is simply that strong or weak is determined by good or bad play.

They're by no means the most valid arguments out there. But they seem to be the most common. XD

LordGeovanni1 votes

True thats how things like Draven and Caitlyn get buffs despite the strength they are at.

inplane12 votes

The fact that it offers zero utility already puts Lux's shield as "meh" tier. Yeah it's big, but it's practicality is limited as it can miss and it isn't instant for teammates. It still has a travel time and is somewhat telegraphed, whereas Janna and Karma shields are instant and lack counterplay. If you're going for teamwide shield strats, you may as well play Karma since her Mantra E becomes ridiculously low CD thanks to her passive and the movement speed boost is very helpful compared to higher shield values.

Oleandervine9 votes

Lux isn't a shield support though, she's a poke support. You build pure AP on her because that's how you set up a kill lane. It takes finesse to do, because some people don't understand how to properly utilize a poke support that isn't Brand or Sona, but her strength is setting up murder for your ADC, and picking off anyone they can't get to in time.

abca988 votes

{quoted}

Lux is a support.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/788/619/693.gif

Lęmon2 votes

lmfao me [sg-lux]

Rathar Dashing2 votes

If I can get a kill with my ult, I'm getting that reset bb [sg-lux]

Terozu3 votes

Actually, you just need an assist within 3 seconds of casting it. They changed it.

IainG101 votes

She can be played as either, as can Morgana.

And before we get the torches and pitchforks out and scream blue murder, I'm a Support main with MR7 on both; I have gotten about 8x as many S ratings on Lux as a shield supp as her as a pure AP poke supp or a midlaner combined.

Rathar Dashing3 votes

You forgot to mention the best item to pair with her shield, item 3174.

With her ability to poke consistently, it turns her powerful shield into an even more powerful heal/shield. It also has a very good build path, and is super cheap AND full of stats she wants. Plus, it allows you to buy a item 3107 and still gain a good amount of AP from it.

Crispy0Snake3 votes

If they have a mage mid then this build is by far the best build for Lux supp:

Enchanter Lux Lux: item 3092 item 3504 item 3107 item 3222 item 3174 item 3020

When completed, Mikael's' Harmony passive alone gives +350% base health regen and you get an extra 50% from redemption so say you're level 15 when you get Mikael's, you'll have 64 health regen which gives 12.8 health per second.

When you complete Athene's, you will lose the +350% base health regen, however, you'll get 90AP from Athene's' Dissonance passive alone and have +450% base mana regen, which is the most you can have. If you have all of these at level 17 you'll get 22.66 mana per second and never run oom really.

Keep in mind in this build you only build Mikael's for the mana regen and cdr which combined give 40 AP with Athene's and Transcendence, and you still get the cc disabling active

This gives +40% heal and shield effectiveness (45%-50% with revitalise), and you'll heal an ally for a lot when you shield them with athenes, this is 3 times as effective on redemption, you can give your entire team ardent censer at once. Full AP is far more expensive and This build still gives +215 AP and 400 health 70 MR and infinite mana, while having so much CDR that you get +40 AP from Transcendence. She also has lots of synergy with Aery.

TL; DR It's enchanter Lux but she gets AP from Transcendence and Athene's whilst being a very strong enchanter.

LightIsMyPath4 votes

Swap the Mikael with a mejai and you get my usual support build. (unless I need the Mikael for the active of course). I am a midlaner and building AP as support feels super bad, like I am constantly playing from behind. If I avoid the full shield build I'll still go for something like twin shadows to make picks from afar. I may take a morello against soraka sona and nami if ad doesn't buy executioner but I'll never understand who goes for ludens first item and completes it when everyone else is at 2 items +

giantZorg4 votes

On the next patch, you can swap Mikael's for Shurelya's if the changes on PBE go through as they are. It also has 10% cdr and 100 % mana regen, plus some health and nice active.

Larriet2 votes

I'm excited for it.

Crispy0Snake2 votes

I did not know this so I upvoted earlier and I just had a thought: swap boots for Shurelya's and change up the build order. The only problem is you'll be tempted to build Mikael's before Athene's so you get some benefit from the Harmony passive

Transcendence would give 60 AP and Athene's Dissonance would give 110 AP at full build, I'm certainly trying Shurelya's tomorrow with and without boots!

giantZorg3 votes

If you really need the harmony passive, just keep the chalice in our inventory without upgrading. Might work against AP supports as you can use the MR, but specially on Lux I would value the Athene´s passives way more than the Harmony passive.

Larriet1 votes

To expand, other items I like on support Lux:

item 3905 item 3009 item 3117 "Standard" AP support item and other boot option for more roaming

item 3041 item 3165 are very situational, former because you need to be ahead and latter because it's so expensive. I only use them rarely.

Crispy0Snake2 votes

As a rule, I personally never take item 3117 on lux (And on many other supports too). It's too tilting when minions slow me down by so much. If minion damage didn't effect them I would be all for buying them on other supports. Many of lux's cooldowns are lower than 6sec, so if you're in a fight rotating spells out, you'll always be sluggish at moving. I like swifties though

I used to like twin shadows on Lux, but apart from the active it's quite a selfish item, imo it's too selfish for a support and if I'm snowballing and want to be selfish there are much more gold efficient items that only cost a little more gold

ChaddyFantome1 votes

Mikaels HP regen and Athene's AP are non compatible unique passives. The Ap conversion cancels out the HP regen conversion.

Crispy0Snake2 votes

I addressed this

When you complete Athene's, you will lose the +350% base health regen

And before you say that Mikael's Harmony passive adds a lot of value to the item, it actually doesn't

Mikael's Harmony passive only increases the gold efficiency of the item by 3.57% for every +25% base mana regen. It's 104.52% gold efficient without it's passives and active. For comparison, Twin Shadows is only 86.07% gold efficient without it's active. Mikael's is an amazing item and is highly underrated, especially with so much cc in the game!

ChaddyFantome1 votes

{quoted}

I addressed this

Oh, my bad then.

And before you say that Mikael's Harmony passive adds a lot of value to the item, it actually doesn't

Im well aware. The only one that would maybe be debatable it is Soraka, and even then she'd more than likely prefer the AP to Heal more off of Q.

Mikael's Harmony passive only increases the gold efficiency of the item by 3.57% for every +25% base mana regen. It's 104.52% gold efficient without it's passives and active. For comparison, Twin Shadows is only 86.07% gold efficient without it's active. Mikael's is an amazing item and is highly underrated, especially with so much cc in the game!

The problem with it is it is far harder to make use of the value of its active. Its kinda like good old DFG where if you are using the ACtive, it is actually OP, but if you aren't, you are better off with a different item all together.

its why a lot of people dont buy it, despite it being so good. Ive won entire games off of it.

As a result, i think Shurelia's or Locket would be better for the slot on a more consistent basis.

koshkyra2 votes

But you need AP to have it scale off of those shield buffs in the first place.

Imo: item 3504 item 3222 item 3174 item 3089 + optional ap item and boots

Rathar Dashing3 votes

That's true, but honestly it has a super high base power and pretty small AP scaling, so shield power buffs are actually pretty useful (if you want to focus on her shield).

Professor Ward2 votes

{quoted}

But you need AP to have it scale off of those shield buffs in the first place.

Imo: item 3504 item 3222 item 3174 item 3089 + optional ap item and boots

it has the same scaling as any common shield and shield supports do just fine with a similar build. This is the problem, most just consider it weaker when in fact it isnt.

IxozieI2 votes

Yeah, let's build items that only help one of her abilities instead of items that help all four. Your suggestion makes no sense. Relying only on Lux's shield, even if you're support, is just a bad idea. If you want to do that why wouldn't you pick Karma instead? Even better, go for Janna, Nami or Lulu.

Ardent alone might be worth it since you get AP / movement speed as well. The rest not so much.

Professor Ward5 votes

{quoted}

Yeah, let's build items that only help one of her abilities instead of items that help all four. Your suggestion makes no sense. Relying only on Lux's shield, even if you're support, is just a bad idea. If you want to do that why wouldn't you pick Karma instead? Even better, go for Janna, Nami or Lulu.

Ardent alone might be worth it since you get AP / movement speed as well. The rest not so much.

Literally the worst argument ive ever heard as everything youve said also applies to janna nami lulu and karma......

like i said, all of their shields are weaker..... Lulu janna and karma all suffer the exact same flaw you stated with lux and have weaker shields.... I dont get your point??? Why shouldnt they be building full ap if only one of their abilities is a shield?

Also lux is extremely fine with these items, i listed only 4, and never said to buy all of them in succession 100% of the time. She shields more with less ap and hits harder with lower ap than all of the champs listed. Lux in no way has to have 500 ap to be successful.

BakedLotion1 votes

Actually your argument is worse than his. How much damage does Janna, Nami and Lulu do in comparison to lux? What are their total AP ratios?

Exactly, much lower than lux's in any realistic situation.

Professor Ward3 votes

{quoted}

Actually your argument is worse than his. How much damage does Janna, Nami and Lulu do in comparison to lux? What are their total AP ratios?

Exactly, much lower than lux's in any realistic situation.

All that means is that they are more balanced shielders. Lux doesnt need the damage she has with that shield and thats my entire point. They dont compete with lux if youre shielding well as she is going to outperform in every single way.

More shield More range More damage More uptime

BakedLotion1 votes

Okay so why isn't she played as a support instead of a mid laner then?

because at the end of the day she's a burst mage with a shield. Not a shield mage with burst.

She doesn't need the damage? You're kidding me right?

She outperforms in every way but nobody plays her support, and when they do, she barely pulls a 50% win rate?

Stop trying to convince people that lux support is good. It isn't.

now I'm not going to search up your rank, but put your own rank into consideration. At your skill level, it might work. But it probably doesn't elsewhere.

Professor Ward3 votes

{quoted}

Okay so why isn't she played as a support instead of a mid laner then?

because at the end of the day she's a burst mage with a shield. Not a shield mage with burst.

She doesn't need the damage? You're kidding me right?

She outperforms in every way but nobody plays her support, and when they do, she barely pulls a 50% win rate?

Stop trying to convince people that lux support is good. It isn't.

now I'm not going to search up your rank, but put your own rank into consideration. At your skill level, it might work. But it probably doesn't elsewhere.

I have absolutely no clue where youre getting this "nobody plays her support" crap from.

according to op.gg she has a** 55% support pick rate and a 44% mid pick rate,** she in fact is played as support much more frequently than mid

Also you laughably talked about her barely pulling off 50% winrate as support, While leaving out the fact that her winrate is actually slightly higher in the support role. She doesnt hit 49% winrate mid....

BakedLotion1 votes

https://lolalytics.com/ranked/worldwide/platinum/plus/champion/Lux/ <- this website is the best for statistics at the moment

http://champion.gg/champion/lux/Middle?

op.gg is the shittiest website for statistics either you're including bronze, silver, and gold in your search (ranks that are quite irrelevant), you're lying, or op.gg is wrong.

Professor Ward2 votes

{quoted}

https://lolalytics.com/ranked/worldwide/platinum/plus/champion/Lux/ <- this website is the best for statistics at the moment

http://champion.gg/champion/lux/Middle?

op.gg is the shittiest website for statistics either you're including bronze, silver, and gold in your search (ranks that are quite irrelevant), you're lying, or op.gg is wrong.

op.gg uses only korean plat+ stats, arguably the best players in the world, thats the cause for difference. Also riot has recently partnered with them for clash and play.op.gg so its hard for me to not respect their stats.

IainG102 votes

Also, with the exception of Karma burning Ult, Lux is the only one that can shield multiple allies simultaneously

Larriet3 votes

Lux's other abilities are free utility as a support; they function totally fine without full AP. The only exception being ult, but even that has such a low cooldown lategame (and supports get 40% CDR super easy) that you can freely use just for vision.

Itz Rewind Time2 votes

I do build her for her shield when I'm support. It just doesn't help when my entire team including my adc tries to dash out of the way of it like it's a Zoe E.

Blumpkin Nation2 votes

Occasionally, I'll build shield strength+ Lux in ARAM. I remember taking Revitalize/Font, Aery, and getting item 3107 anditem 3504. I maxed W first and I was shielding our diving Kennen for almost half of his lifebar. He stopped after the shield doubled from coming back and said "Wtf is this shield?"

It's pretty fun.

Pika Fox2 votes

Plus it has a hidden effect that forces the enemy to flash away to dodge it.

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