Lucian is a complex ADC that requires you to precisely time your combos for you to succeed. Here’s how you can get started playing him.

Lucian is one of those ADCs that is very strong in the early game but falls off hard in the late game. His combination of mobility and burst damage make him a very good lane bully that can almost always gain lane priority. Once he gets his items and hits his power spikes, he can essentially one shot the opposing ADC. So what makes Lucian such a strong champion?

Champion Abilities

Lucian’s kit is geared towards hitting his abilities in the right sequence. To make the most out of him, you need to be a master at executing well timed combos. Lucian has a lot of damage and mobility in his kit making him perfect for those looking for an aggressive ADC.

Passive – Lightslinger

After using one of Lucian’s abilities, his next auto attack within 3 seconds will strike twice. The second shot deals a percentage of Lucian’s AD based on level, but fully applies on-hit effects. Minions and monsters take full damage from the second shot. The second shot can critically strike for 100% damage.

Vigilance: Ally buffs empower Lucian’s next 2 basic attacks to deal 14 (+10% total) magic damage on-hit, stacks up to 4 attacks.

This is a big reason why Lucian has a lot of damage. His DPS is significantly higher just because he can strike twice in a single basic attack. The other part to this passive, Vigilance, also makes him a very powerful duelist when paired with a good enchanter.

Q – Piercing Light

Shoots a bolt of piercing light through an enemy unit, damaging enemies in a line for physical damage. Piercing Light’s cast time decreases slightly as Lucian gains levels.

This is Lucian’s primary offensive ability. It’s the biggest source of his burst damage and can be used to effectively poke opponents down even if they hide behind minions. Since Lucian has a pretty short range, this is a great ability to trade with your opponent without having to get too close to them.

W – Ardent Blaze

Fires a shot that explodes upon enemy contact or reaching the end of its path. The explosion deals magic damage and marks enemies for 6 seconds. When Lucian or his allies damage a marked target, Lucian gains Vigilance and Movement Speed for 1 second.

A lot of players tend to misuse this ability on Lucian. Most of the time, they’ll either be mindlessly using Ardent Blaze to proc Lightslinger or using Ardent Blaze to face check brushes. While it can be a good tool to face check a brush, it’s better used offensively as it helps you be more mobile and stick better to your target. 

E – Relentless Pursuit

Quickly dashes a short distance. Whenever Lightslinger hits an enemy, Relentless Pursuit’s cooldown is reduced by 1 second (double to 2 seconds against champions).

This ability is what ties all of Lucian’s abilities together. All of Lucian’s combos will revolve around the dash and mobility Relentless Pursuit gives. It allows him to seamlessly weave in and out of combat while dealing tons of damage. 

R – The Culling

Lucian moves freely while rapidly firing 22 (+1 per 4% Crit Chance) shots in a single direction for 3 seconds. His shots collide with the first enemy they hit and each does physical damage. The Culling does 200% damage to minions. Lucian may use Relentless Pursuit during The Culling. Reactivate The Culling to cancel early.

Lucian becomes a very powerful 1v1 duelist post level 6 because of his ultimate. It gives him an advantage whenever he gets chased down by an opponent or when he chases a fleeing enemy. It’s also a great source of damage in team fights as it can hit multiple targets when positioned correctly.

Runes and Item Builds

Over the years, there have been several ways to build Lucian. After all, he is a very versatile champion that can be played in different ways. However, recent changes to the meta forced Lucian to stick with the traditional builds for ADCs. So for items, your focus is to build attack speed, damage, and stack crit.

Starting Items

When playing as Lucian, you start the game like any other ADC. A Doran’s Blade + Health Potion start gives you everything you need to survive the early game. Doran’s Blade has a lot of great uses especially on a champion like Lucian. It gives you 8 Attack Damage and 80 Health plus 2.5 % Omnivamp. It helps you farm, trade and sustain just before you get to your core items.

Mythic Items

All three ADC Mythic items are viable and great picks for Lucian. However, for this guide, we’ll show you the two best options. The Mythic you should go for most of the time is Galeforce. Galeforce has nearly identical stats to the other ADC Mythic items but what makes it stand out is its active dash. This makes Lucian more mobile, giving him two dashes instead of one and makes him a deadlier duelist. Kraken Slayer is a great alternative and can be great when you don’t need the extra mobility from Galeforce because you have a reliable Support. Kraken Slayer does have the edge when it comes to raw damage but Galeforce gives Lucian more utility so you should go for it most of the time. 

Full Build

After purchasing your Mythic, go for tier 2 boots. As an ADC, you should always opt to purchase Berserker’s Greaves as it gives you attack speed. Since Lucian is a caster and relies mostly on his abilities to deal damage, your next item should be Essence Reaver. This item gives Lucian a lot of damage, mana sustain, crit, and the spellblade passive. It empowers each of his auto attacks right after he uses an ability. Next, go for Infinity Edge since it’s pretty much the go to damage item on any ADC. Lord Dominik’s Regard should come after Infinity Edge as it helps Lucian take down enemies with higher max health than him. Finish off your build with Guardian Angel for additional damage and survivability thanks to its passive resurrection.

Other Viable Items

Most items that give Attack Damage, Attack Speed, and Criticals are all viable on Lucian depending on the situation. These are items that can easily be swapped with some of the items on Lucian’s core build. Bloodthirster is an excellent item that you can include in your full build if you need lifesteal. If the enemies have a lot of healing abilities, you can go for Mortal Reminder to mitigate their regenerative capacities. Serylda’s Grudge can be great for kiting opponents and gives Lucian additional utility thanks to its passive slow. The Collector is a good overall item on any damage dealer since it can help easily execute targets below 5% health. 

Runes

For runes, go with the Precision tree as your primary and take Press the Attack as your keystone. This gives Lucian additional damage whenever he hits a champion three consecutive times. You can easily proc this rune because you have the double auto attack whenever you use an ability from your passive, Lightslinger. Next, take Presence of Mind for mana sustain, Legend: Bloodline for the bonus lifesteal, and Coup de Grace to help you deal more damage. For secondaries, go with the Inspiration tree and take Magical Footwear for free boots and Biscuit Delivery for additional early game sustain. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Lucian is very reliant on his combos to be effective. Make sure you understand each of his abilities and how you can make the most out of them. A good combo to start when trading would be E>AA>Q>AA. This is the standard combo most Lucian players will need to master. Use it wisely as it can leave you vulnerable when ganked.
2. Lucian falls off really hard in the late game and will be outscaled by other ADCs especially hyper carries. Although, he can absolutely destroy them in the early game. Champions like Draven or Caitlyn can directly counter Lucian if they lane against each other. Try to ban these champions if you can.
3. For summoner spells, always take Flash and Heal. You can also swap out heal for Barrier, if the enemies have a lot of burst, or Cleanse, if the enemies have a lot of hard crowd control.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Lucian in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!