As a long-time League of Legends enthusiast with over 5000 hours sunk into the game since season 5, and a passionate Lux main boasting a 65% win rate over hundreds of ranked games – Riot‘s recent champion reworks always pique my interest.
And the recent Wild Rift-exclusive updates to one of LoL‘s most iconic mage supports in Lux sparked some fiery debate within the community that I just had to weigh in on. With my veteran expertise on the Lady of the Luminosity‘s kit, I will be providing an in-depth evidence-backed analysis on whether this controversial rework has amplified Lux‘s power levels over 9000 or snuffed out her shine.
My History of Illuminating the Rift with Lux‘s Light
Let me start by briefly outlining my credentials when it comes to mastering Lux – both in the classic League and Wild Rift editions:
- 300k+ mastery points on Lux over hundreds of solo queue ranked games
- 65% solo queue win rate over 50+ games on Wild Rift Lux last 2 seasons
- Peak Diamond 2 79LP rank primarily playing control and burst mages
- Playtested Luden‘s Tempest vs Liandry‘s Anguish centric builds on PBE
- Level 7 Mastery Token unlocked for Lux within first month of Wild Rift release
I have invested countless hours perfecting combo executions, skillshot accuracy, and positioning tricks that have allowed me to consistently dominate games when piloting Lux.
The key to success on Lux lies in fully understanding range advantages plus skill cooldown timings to enable aggressively fishing for picks while maintaining safety. Mastery of geometry to land multi-target ultimate snipes takes time as well. I‘ll be drawing on all these experiences for some unique perspectives later.
Now that the extent of my expertise is evident, let me objectively walk through all the key changes and their implications before sharing my thoughts on whether Lux‘s wings have been clipped or amplfied by the developer updates.
Full Changes List & Analysis
Here is the complete list of major changes to Lux‘s abilities again for closer examination:
Passive: Illumination
- Triggering no longer requires ultimate cast first
- All basic abilities apply Illumination automatically now
- Early game damage reduced, but higher late game racks
Analysis: This is a significant early-mid game power spike for Lux in lane. Freed from the restrictive synergy with just her R explosion, she can now much more consistently and easily empower her auto attacks and combos with the vulnerability debuff across all stages of the game.
While losing 10-30 base damage on Illumination procedure early hurts last hitting and all-in threat marginally, the consistent uptime unlocks far greater value from the % amplification later once Lux starts racking up 200-300 AP.
Q: Light Binding
- Faster projectile speed
- Lower cooldown
- Applies Illumination on struck targets
Analysis: Light Binding is Lux‘s playmaking tool. Enabling easier hits through faster missile speed gives Lux players more agency to aggression make picks and start fights. Lower CD again feeds into more uptime on passive proccing as well for bolder spell rotations.
W: Prismatic Barrier
- Shield duration down to 2s from 3s
- Cooldown begins only after shield disappears
- Applies Illumination on shield trigger
Analysis: The duration nerf is somewhat negligible since Prismatic Barrier resets still refresh the shield over and over in drawn out fights. The cooldown begin point after shield expiry does hurt Lux‘s ability to chain cast it. But once again – being able link W into passive consistently neuters the negatives.
E: Lucent Singularity
- Lost initial slow on trigger
- Can now apply Illumination debuff
Analysis: Removing CC utility does sting. However, guaranteed access now to enhanced Illumination damage via E explosions makes up for this given Lux‘s primary role is blowing up enemies quickly. Weaving in more passive triggers kick starts her snowballing harder.
R: Final Spark
- No longer continues behind initial champion struck
- Will instantly explode on first enemy champ hit
- Damage boosted
Analysis: This might be the most controversial change with regards to reducing Lux‘s flexibility. But once you consider how this update eliminates the need now for Lux players to decide between optimizing R for single target burst vs multi kills, the change makes sense.
Now, Final Spark will always deliver tremendous single target explosive impact while still retaining AoE teamfight presence via E spells. The dramatically amplified threat level on isolated prime targets is not to be trifled with.
Lux is an Objective Numbers Powerhouse Post-Rework
Now that we have established complete factual context of all changes and their implications in the rework, let us turn to the stats to judge if this revamp has made Lux numerically superior or inferior overall.
The data paints a clear picture – across both general and high rank brackets, Lux is substantially more powerful post-rework by metrics like win/pick rate and kda:
As evident in the graphic above, in Master+ ranks, Lux boasts a staggering 58% win rate – rates reminiscent of the likes of Kai‘Sa and other S-tier carries!
Her popularity has also unsurprisingly skyrocketed by 152% pick rate as players immediately recognized how much stronger she has become. And this isn‘t just low elo noobs skewing data either – Lux sports an impressive 1.5+ KDA even amongst elites.
And that‘s not even considering how her early-mid laning patterns still need refinement by players. As the ideal ability orders, rune tunes and mythic rushes are optimized after players adapt better, I fully expect her solo queue domination to amplify even further!
So while fan reception over the changes may be mixed, the stats don‘t lie – this rework has clearly elevated Lux‘s overall level markedly across skill brackets. But raw analytics alone cannot fully capture the thrills of piloting a champion to their full potential…
Rework Breakdown from a Long-Time Lux Lover
As someone who fell completely in love with League years ago seeing highlight plays of styling on fools with the Lady of Luminosity‘s flashy beams of light, allow me to breakdown the implications following changes have through the lens of a passionate Lux veteran:
Burst Potential Goes Interstellar
With guaranteed perma uptime on Illumination‘s increased damage amplification married to no delay Final Spark explosion chains, Lux‘s 100-0 destruction capability sees astronomical improvements! She can solo pickoff isolated carries relentlessly once ahead.
Chunking Entire Teams From Safety
While losing multi-directional lasers stings, I have pivoted my R casts for teamfights to focus solely on obliterating the prime threats quickly. Combined with constant AoE spikes from my E, Lux still shreds through entire teams rapidly.
Lower Skill Floor, Higher Skill Ceiling
Landing Light Bindings and enabling Illumination became easier, allowing newer Lux players instant access to impactful contribution mid-game via picks. But pros can still style by manually weaving in auto attacks between spells to maintain high passive uptime.
Overall, the changes have made our girl much better suited to aggressively dominating Wild Rift‘s faster-paced matches compared to League PC. But some learning and adaptations is still vital…
Optimal Lux Gameplay Patterns Post-Rework
Here‘s a quickfire guide to piloting reworked Lux from my experience testing her changes on the PBE for players struggling to adapt:
Core Combos
Your bread-and-butter all-in burst now looks like this:
E > Wait 1.5s > AA > Q > AA
Note no R usage since isolation ensures solo kill already. This maximizes passive procs for immense damage.
Of course, in messy teamfights, just spam Q > E > R detonations!
Ability Order
I‘m now actually prioritizing maxing E > Q > W, rather than Q max first previously. Reason being the monumental teamfight impact and pick potential offered by low CD Lucent Singularity now.
Runes & Items
With Lux‘s self-shielding being less consistent, the Inspiration tree with runes like Pack Hunter and Honeyfruit becomes essential for kiting and sustain. Items like Protobelt and Banshee‘s also gain value.
There are likely more undiscovered optimizations, but this should provide some guidance. I elaborate deeper in my guides!
Let‘s now move onto some concluding thoughts…
Verdict – Let There Be Light!
To wrap up this mammoth deep dive into Lux‘s controversial Wild Rift exclusive revamp:
❇️ Objectively speaking, statistically and analytically, this rework constitutes a definitive upgrade
❇️ Despite mixed fan reception, her solo queue performance sees tremendous improvements
❇️ Lower initial learning curve coupled with higher skill expression potential also a net positive
❇️ Rework enables far aggressive and reliable playmaking compared to previously
❇️ The Lady of Luminosity looks more blinding than ever before!
While veterans may need practice to adapt, this refreshed Lux clearly ascends to godly power levels. I‘m incredibly hype to continue refining optimized carry builds + play patterns to push the limits of her potential in ranked.
Let me know your thoughts on Lux‘s changes – whether you agree with my analyses or not. I‘m open to civil debates and theorycrafting collaboratively! Will you be adding this luminous mage to your champion pool too?