Aphelios, the Weapon of the Faithful, is one of the most intricate and versatile ADCs in League of Legends. His unique weapon system allows him to adapt to a variety of scenarios, making him a high-skill, high-reward champion. Mastering Aphelios means learning not only his mechanics but also how to optimize his build and runes to maximize his potential.
1. Statistics on Patch 14.23
As of Patch 14.23, Aphelios is a viable pick in both casual and competitive play, but his performance is heavily dependent on player proficiency. Here are his key statistics:
- Win Rate: 48.36% (Emerald+ tier)
- Pick Rate: 5.0%
- Ban Rate: 0.7%
- Games Played: Over 2.5 million in the Emerald+ tier
These numbers highlight Aphelios as a situational pick rather than a universally strong ADC. His low ban rate and decent pick rate reflect that he’s a champion you can often secure without contest, provided you’re comfortable with his complexity.
2. Recommended Runes for Aphelios
Option 1: Press the Attack
This is the go-to setup for most games, as it focuses on enhancing Aphelios’s sustained damage output and ability to shred through opponents.
Primary Tree (Precision):
- Keystone: Press the Attack – Increases damage after three consecutive hits, synergizing well with Aphelios’s attack patterns.
- Triumph: Grants healing on takedowns and bonus gold, useful in extended fights.
- Legend: Bloodline: Provides lifesteal, boosting survivability in trades and team fights.
- Cut Down: Helps deal with tankier enemies, a common challenge in the late game.
Secondary Tree (Sorcery):
- Absolute Focus: Grants bonus AD while above 70% health, capitalizing on Aphelios’s poke-heavy playstyle.
- Gathering Storm: Provides scaling AD, making Aphelios stronger as the game progresses.
Option 2: Fleet Footwork
Choose this setup in matchups where you’re against poke-heavy lanes or need extra sustain.
Primary Tree (Precision):
- Keystone: Fleet Footwork – Grants healing and bonus movement speed on attacks, improving lane sustain and mobility.
- Overheal: Converts healing into a shield, providing an edge in extended trades.
- Legend: Alacrity: Boosts attack speed, allowing smoother weapon rotations.
- Coup de Grace: Increases damage against low-health enemies, helping secure kills.
Secondary Tree (Domination):
- Taste of Blood: Offers healing when damaging enemies, perfect against poke-heavy matchups.
- Ravenous Hunter: Provides scaling omnivamp for improved sustain as the game progresses.
Which to Choose?
- Opt for Press the Attack in standard games where you can maximize damage in team fights.
- Go Fleet Footwork if the enemy bot lane features poke-heavy champions (e.g., Caitlyn or Ziggs) and you need extra sustain to survive the laning phase.
3. Recommended Build for Aphelios
Starting Items
- Doran’s Blade: Standard ADC start, offering AD, health, and lifesteal.
- Health Potion: Provides early sustain in lane.
Core Build
- Kraken Slayer: A must-have for Aphelios, enhancing his DPS and allowing him to shred through tankier targets.
- The Collector: Provides burst damage and lethality, making it easier to secure kills.
- Infinity Edge: Significantly boosts your crit damage, turning Aphelios into a late-game powerhouse.
Situational Items
- Lord Dominik’s Regards: Essential when facing teams with multiple tanks or high-health champions.
- Bloodthirster: Grants lifesteal and a shield, increasing survivability in prolonged fights.
- Guardian Angel: Provides a second chance in fights, particularly useful when targeted by assassins.
- Runaan’s Hurricane: Enhances AoE damage and synergizes with Infernum, one of Aphelios’s strongest weapons.
- Mortal Reminder: Necessary for countering healing-heavy champions like Dr. Mundo or Soraka.
- Wit’s End: Excellent against AP-heavy compositions, offering magic resistance and attack speed.
Pro Tip: Adjust your build based on the game’s state and the enemy composition. For example, prioritize Lord Dominik’s Regards against tanks or Runaan’s Hurricane for multi-target damage in team fights.
4. Recommended Skill Order and Summoner Spells
Skill Order
Aphelios’s abilities are tied to his weapons, so the key is to maximize his utility and damage from weapon rotations.
- Level 1-3: Start with Q to access weapon abilities, followed by additional points in Q to improve damage and utility.
- Max Order:
- Q: Max first to enhance damage output and functionality of your weapons.
- E: Max second to reduce the cooldown of weapon queues and improve weapon management.
- W: Max last as it provides utility but doesn’t scale significantly with levels.
Summoner Spells
- Flash: Mandatory for almost all ADCs to escape danger or reposition in fights.
- Heal: The default choice for sustain and team utility.
- Barrier: Consider this over Heal against high-burst matchups (e.g., Draven or Pyke).
5. Game Plan: Early, Mid, and Late Game
Playing Aphelios effectively requires adjusting your approach to each phase of the game. His unique weapon system gives him strengths and weaknesses that change as the match progresses.
Early Game
The early game is all about surviving, farming, and preparing for Aphelios’s late-game power spike. Aphelios has a decent laning phase but requires careful weapon management to thrive.
- Farm Safely: Prioritize last-hitting minions to build up gold and scale into your core items. Use Calibrum for long-range poke and farming when safe.
- Weapon Management: Start learning how to rotate through your weapons effectively. Severum is excellent for sustain, while Gravitum can help you disengage or set up trades with its slow.
- Avoid Risky Trades: Aphelios lacks mobility, so avoid committing to fights unless you have support synergy or jungle assistance.
- Vision Control: Use Crescendum turrets and Gravitum to control brushes and ward off potential ganks.
- Power Spike: Upon hitting level 6, Moonlight Vigil becomes a powerful tool for securing kills or turning skirmishes.
Mid Game
Aphelios comes online in the mid game, where his damage becomes a significant factor in fights. This phase is about objectives, skirmishes, and setting up for team fights.
- Objective Focus: Use Aphelios’s range and damage to help your team secure dragons and Rift Heralds. Crescendum turrets can also provide utility in these situations.
- Weapon Combos: Pair Infernum with Crescendum for AoE team damage or Calibrum with Gravitum for pick potential.
- Stick with Your Team: Aphelios excels when protected by his support or frontline. Avoid overextending, as you’re a prime target for assassins or divers.
- Engage with R: Use Moonlight Vigil to initiate or follow up on fights, aiming to hit multiple enemies for maximum impact.
Late Game
Aphelios is one of the strongest late-game ADCs, capable of shredding teams with the right positioning and weapon management.
- Positioning is Key: Stay at the backline, dealing consistent damage while your frontline absorbs enemy pressure. Use Gravitum and Infernum to punish divers or disrupt the enemy team.
- Weapon Rotations: Ensure you have the optimal weapons for team fights. For example:
- Infernum + Crescendum: Ideal for AoE damage and multi-target fights.
- Severum + Gravitum: Offers sustain and crowd control, helping you peel for yourself.
- Objective Domination: Aphelios’s damage output is crucial for securing Baron and Elder Dragon. Use Moonlight Vigil to deter enemy contests.
- Be Patient: Don’t overcommit or chase kills. Let your team engage and focus on dishing out damage from a safe distance.
6. How to Team Fight with Aphelios
Team fighting with Aphelios revolves around maximizing his damage output while staying safe. His lack of mobility makes positioning crucial, but his utility and high DPS can swing fights in your favor.
- Know Your Weapons: Each weapon combination brings unique advantages in team fights:
- Infernum: Use for AoE damage in clustered fights. Pair with Crescendum for devastating follow-up damage.
- Gravitum: Slows and roots enemies, providing excellent utility to lock down key targets or peel for yourself.
- Severum: Provides lifesteal, allowing you to survive bursts of damage.
- Calibrum: Poke enemies from long range and follow up with empowered auto-attacks.
- Crescendum: Maximize damage by staying close to enemies or setting up turrets for zoning.
- Ultimate Usage: Moonlight Vigil can initiate fights, deal massive AoE damage, or finish off fleeing enemies. Always aim to hit multiple targets for maximum value.
- Position Safely: Stay behind your frontline and rely on your support to protect you. Use Gravitum or Severum to kite away from divers.
- Focus Priority Targets: Target enemy carries like the ADC or mid-laner. If they’re out of reach, deal damage to the nearest safe target while staying alive.
Credits to @MissFortuneDaBes
7. Toughest Matchups
Aphelios struggles against champions who can exploit his lack of mobility, outrange him, or burst him down quickly. Here are some of his toughest matchups:
- Caitlyn: Her superior range makes it hard for Aphelios to trade effectively in lane.
- Tip: Play safe and farm under tower. Wait for your support or jungle to set up kills.
- Draven: High early-game damage and snowball potential can shut down Aphelios before he scales.
- Tip: Avoid extended trades and focus on surviving until mid game.
- Samira: Her ability to block projectiles and dive onto Aphelios makes her a challenging matchup.
- Tip: Stay with your support and kite her using Gravitum.
- Ziggs: His poke and wave clear can zone you out and make laning difficult.
- Tip: Use Crescendum turrets for vision and farm safely.
In tough matchups, focus on farming, avoid risky trades, and coordinate with your support and jungler to create opportunities.
8. Tips & Tricks
Mastering Aphelios requires understanding his weapon mechanics, positioning, and adaptability. Here are some key tips to elevate your gameplay:
- Learn Weapon Combos: Practice using weapon synergies effectively. For example:
- Infernum + Crescendum: AoE damage with massive follow-up.
- Gravitum + Severum: Sustain and crowd control for peeling.
- Calibrum + Gravitum: Long-range poke and root setups.
- Ammo Management: Keep track of your weapon’s ammo to ensure you have the right setup for upcoming fights. Use less impactful weapons to farm and save the stronger ones for critical moments.
- Vision Control: Use Crescendum turrets to scout objectives or dangerous areas.
- Ultimate Timing: Moonlight Vigil can turn fights, secure objectives, or pick off key targets. Practice aiming it to hit multiple enemies.
- Adapt Builds to the Game: Adjust your items based on the enemy team’s composition. For example, buy Lord Dominik’s Regards against tanks or Mortal Reminder against heavy healing.
- Communication is Key: Let your team know which weapons you have ready so they can play around your strengths.
- Stay Calm Under Pressure: Aphelios’s complexity can be overwhelming. Focus on your positioning and weapon usage, and the damage will follow naturally.
