From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Xerath in the botlane in League of Legends.
Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.
That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.
Runes
Core Items
Build
Luden's Tempest is a pretty standard item on mages, offering tons of damage and good mobility.
Horizon Focus is great on champions with a lot of range, such as Xerath.
Other good items include Morellonomicon, Zhonya's Hourglass, Shadowflame, and Void Staff.
Starting Item & Boots
Skill Order
While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Xerath skill priority is:
R > Q > W > E
Summoner Spells
These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Xerath in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.
Gameplay
You'll play Xerath support similarly to how you'd play in the midlane - zoning. You'll be quite immobile, so you'll want to stay behind the minion wave at all times and just try to prevent the enemy botlane from getting ahead. You'll want to instruct your ADC to play it cool, too.
- Level 1 - Take W - Eye of Destruction, so you can zone your opponent and look to poke.
- Level 2 - Take Q - Arcanopulse, for more poke.
- First Back - Start building towards your Luden's with a Lost Chapter, which will help with mana management.
Tips & Tricks
- If Xerath doesn't release the Arcanopulse, it refunds half the mana cost.
- The duration of Shocking Orb increases with the distance travelled by the Orb, up to two seconds.
- If Xerath doesn't launch Eye of Destruction, the cooldown of Rite of the Arcane is halved. Be mindful of this is you don't have the range to reach a target.
