Lucian is one of the most influential champions in League of Legends. And the meta has shifted many times simply because of how powerful a marksman Lucian can be in the mid and bot lane roles.
But there’s an off-meta full AP Lucian build that lets you one-shot your enemies just like a mage!
And here in this post, I’ll talk about how to play Lucian AP.
I’ll explain everything around the build, starting from the AP ratios in Lucian’s kit, the necessary runes and items, as well as the Summoner’s Spells and ability order you need to go for.
So, even if you’ve never played Lucian AP, this guide will teach you how to do so!
That said, let’s see how AP Lucian works!
Does Lucian Even Do AP Damage? (Is Lucian AP or AD?)
Lucian is an AD-based marksman that primarily deals physical damage. So, most players build Lucian as an ADC. However, Lucian also have AP scalings on his W and R abilities.
The damage from his ult is physical, but Ardent Blaze (W) is a magic damage spell and even scales with 90% of Lucian’s ability power.
Normally, you’d see Lucian with items like Galeforce, The Collector, and Rapid Firecannon. These items take advantage of Lucian’s power when it comes to dealing AD damage through auto-attacks.
However, when you build Lucian full AP, the power shifts from basic attacks to spells, mainly his W. With AP Lucian, you use Ardent Blaze to deal most of your damage and then cast The Culling to finish off your targets.
But auto-attacks should also be used a lot when playing AP Lucian. And if you add on-hit effects with items like Lich Bane and Nashor’s Tooth, your playstyle will be somewhat similar to AD Lucian.
But you’ll have more burst damage nonetheless.
With a 90% AP ratio, Lucian’s W is one of the hardest-hitting abilities in LoL. Not only does it do great damage throughout the game, but it’s also one of the easiest abilities to aim in LoL.
So, playing AP Lucian is great!
Read Also: AP Miss Fortune Build Guide
Does Lucian’s Ultimate Ability: The Culling Scale with AP?
Lucian’s ultimate does physical damage and scales with both AD and AP. The AD ratio is a bit higher and is 25% while the AP ratio is only 15%.
However, Lucian fires many shots during the 3 seconds of his ultimate and each shot is powered by his AP. So, 15% AP scaling on each shot is a lot.
And that’s precisely the reason why Lucian has low scaling numbers on his ultimate. This ability does so much damage that it must have low ratios in order to not be broken.
The number of shots that The Culling does is determined by your critical chance. Of course, you won’t be building any crit items on AP Lucian.
However, the base number of shots is really enough for the AP build to work on Lucian. And his R will always have more than enough damage.
AP Lucian Runes – Season 13
- Arcane Comet
- Manaflow Band
- Transcendence
- Scorch
- Sudden Impact
- Ultimate Hunter
ARCANE COMET is the best keystone for AP Lucian because it offers the most damage early on. Lucian is a dominant laner and Arcane Comet allows him to poke his opponents during the laning phase.
Arcane Comet can easily be activated whenever you use Lucian’s W. Its damage is adaptive and it even has a small AP ratio too. So, it’s a great keystone overall.
MANAFLOW BAND has the same cooldown as Arcane Comet and you can activate them both at once with a single use of Ardent Blaze. And Manaflow Band increases your maximum mana each time it’s activated.
Once you stack this rune, you gain a permanent mana regeneration. So, you definitely need it.
TRANSCENDENCE is one of the best runes in League of Legends. It gives you ability haste for free, allowing you to use your abilities much more often.
On the other hand, Transcendence also helps you reset your abilities upon a champion takedown which is key for team fighting. AP Lucian depends on his W for doing damage, so make sure to pick up this rune in all matches.
SCORCH is another early game rune that you’ll want to have. It’s a damage-over-time effect that you activate when you hit an enemy champion with an ability.
Scorch fits super well with Arcane Comet and Ardent Blaze and it gives you more damage for free.
SUDDEN IMPACT is a great rune that synergizes with Lucian’s kit. Each time you use E to dash, Sudden Impact will give you bonus magic penetration.
This will make your early game trades very powerful. But it’s also useful later on, especially against a tanky enemy.
ULTIMATE HUNTER is one of the most useful runes in LoL. It gives you cooldown reduction for your ultimate, making it available much more often.
Ultimate Hunter works on Bounty stacks which you collect with champion takedowns. You can have up to 5 stacks on Ultimate Hunter for each unique champion on the enemy team.
And if you get all 5 stacks, your ultimate will reach maximum cooldown reduction.
Read Also: AP Varus One-Shot Build Guide
AP Lucian Items – Season 13
- Sorcerer’s Shoes
- Luden’s Tempest
- Horizon Focus
- Lich Bane
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
SORCERER’S SHOES are the boots you need to get. And the main reason for this is the bonus magic penetration.
Magic penetration is essential for any AP build, especially on an off-meta champion. You want your W to hit as hard as possible when you play AP Lucian, so you always need magic penetration.
LUDEN’S TEMPEST is the best mythic item for playing AP Lucian. It’s a powerful purchase that improves your direct damage and allows you to burst your enemies down.
Luden’s Tempest offers great stats like ability power, ability haste, mana, and even magic penetration. Its passive damages enemies near your primary target too.
HORIZON FOCUS has a great synergize with the overall playstyle of AP Lucian. It allows you to do more damage to enemy champions when you strike them at over 700 range.
Lucian’s W has a 900 range, so you can always activate Horizon Focus that way.
With Horizon Focus, you can quickly combo W and R on Lucian to bring an enemy down. The burst is very high, so it’s likely that you’ll assassinate your target.
LICH BANE is an amazing on-hit magic damage item, especially for a champion that auto-attacks a lot. The item increases the damage of your next basic attack after using an ability. And this further improves your all-in.
ZHONYA’S HOURGLASS is the recommended defensive item for AP Lucian. It grants bonus armor and ability power, but you mainly want it for the Stasis effect.
With Zhonya’s, you can play much more offensively and use the Stasis to dodge the most important spells on the enemy team.
RABADON’S DEATHCAP is the last item you need to pick up and it’s a perfect purchase for the late game. It increases your total AP while also adding lots of raw ability power to your stats.
So, it’s the best way to power up!
Read Also: AP Corki Build Guide
Optional and Situational Items for AP Lucian
There are a few situational items you need to consider on AP Lucian.
First of all, Crown of the Shattered Queen can be a suitable mythic item, especially if you’re up against assassins. Yes, you’ll lose a bit of your burst, but it can keep you safe throughout the game.
Nashor’s Tooth can be a fun purchase and offers a similar playstyle to AD Lucian. And Morellonomicon allows you to counter healing champions in League.
Lastly, items like Void Staff and Shadowflame can be instrumental to your success because of the bonus magic penetration they give. They’re among the best anti-tank items in League of Legends.
Ability Order and Summoner’s Spells for AP Lucian
Building AP on Lucian also means that you need different ability order. Of course, you’ll want to max out your W first, follow it with Q, and then E.
But here’s the full ability order when playing AP Lucian.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | |||||||||||||
| W | W | W | W | W | |||||||||||||
| E | E | E | E | E | |||||||||||||
| R | R | R |
Depending on your lane, there are a few Summoner’s Spell combinations to consider.
Flash + Exhaust is overall great, especially if you’re playing against assassins. However, Flash + Ignite gives you the most power during the laning phase. And Flash + Heal is the best combo for pairing up with a support in the bot lane.
Read Also: AP Twitch Smurf Build Guide
How Do You Play AP Lucian? (Tips)
If you’ve never played Lucian AP in League of Legends but want to do so, here’s what you need to think about once you enter the game.
APPROACH THE PLAYSTYLE LIKE A MAGE.
Rather than playing Lucian as a regular ADC, the AP build allows you to play the game as a mage. This means that you don’t need to constantly auto-attack in order to deal damage.
Sometimes you can stay away in a safe spot while casting W and dealings lots of damage. This is especially important for the late game when Ardent Blaze is super powerful while Lucian’s auto-attacks are not so much.
POKE YOUR LANE OPPONENT EARLY ON.
Since your playstyle will be similar to a mage, don’t hesitate to go for safe trades early on. For example, you should always try to damage your lane opponent when you have your W ready.
Ardent Blaze doesn’t take too much mana and it synergizes very well with Arcane Comet. It’s very powerful early on, even if you only have Doran’s Ring in your inventory.
DON’T FORGET TO AUTO-ATTACK.
Even though I already stated that you should play as a mage and use your abilities more, but you also shouldn’t forget to auto-attack as Lucian.
Auto-attacking on LP Lucian is always recommended but you’ll likely do it as filler when your W and R are on cooldown. Still, with on-hit magic damage items, Lucian’s basic attacks can be very deadly.
TRY TO ONE-SHOT SQUISHY ENEMIES.
The best way to approach late game team fights is to go for the squishy enemies. Assassinating the enemy carries is an easy thing to do with AP Lucian and all you need to do is hit the W and R buttons.
That’s playing AP Lucian in a nutshell.
Read Also: AP Caitlyn One-Shot Build
Conclusion
The AP build for Lucian is a very interesting playstyle that I recommend to everyone. It’s very fun to one-shot enemies with only your W, especially when you do it from range.
People don’t expect Lucian’s Ardent Blaze to do so much damage, so you can always catch them off guard.
Here’s a fun YouTube video of AP Lucian if you’d like to check the playstyle in action.
And if you’d like to check more off-meta builds like this one, I’d recommend you to check my full AP Kog’Maw guide. Or, browse Runetarium to find one for your favorite champion.
Good luck and have fun!
