Aphelios ARAM Build and Guide

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch; ARAM balance numbers come from the League of Legends Wiki’s champion data.

An Aphelios ARAM build is a classic crit marksman path, since his five guns all scale off Attack Damage and attacks rather than Ability Haste. His ARAM numbers? Standard: 100% damage dealt and 100% damage taken. What changes is the map, not him.

Five guns, one item list, and his patch 26.21 ability text to connect them. Win rates played no role.

How is Aphelios changed in ARAM?

Riot left him exactly where he was, and that’s the whole story of this table. Both rows sit at 100%, which in the Wiki’s ARAM data means the same values he has on Summoner’s Rift. There’s no healing line, no haste line and no Attack Speed adjustment either. So the interesting part isn’t the table. It’s how five guns behave in a lane where the enemy is always in range (spoiler: some of them get a lot better).

Why does Aphelios work on the Howling Abyss?

Because two of his guns hit groups, and ARAM is a mode made of groups. Riot’s patch 26.21 data:

• The Hitman and the Seer (passive): 5 Lunari Weapons, two held at once, each with its own attack and ability; ammo runs out with use and the next weapon replaces the empty one.
• Weapon Abilities (Q): Calibrum marks for a long-range follow-up, Severum runs fast while firing both guns, Gravitum roots enemies it has slowed, Infernum blasts a cone and follows up with the off-hand, Crescendum deploys a sentry firing the off-hand. Cooldown 9.
• Phase (W): swaps main-hand and off-hand. Cooldown 0.8.
• Weapon Queue System (E): shows the next weapon; empty ones go to the back of the line.
• Moonlight Vigil (R): a moonlight blast that explodes on enemy champions and applies the main-hand gun’s effect. Cooldown 120/110/100.

Infernum blasts enemies in a cone and then attacks every one of them with the off-hand weapon. In a one-lane fight, a cone through the middle of the enemy team is a lot of off-hand attacks at once. Moonlight Vigil explodes on enemy champions too, and it applies whatever the main-hand gun does, so a Gravitum ultimate sets up roots across a group, while an Infernum one sprays a cone. Gravitum is the safety gun. With no dash, Aphelios relies on its root to stop divers, and the narrow lane means the divers arrive from the front. The catch is ammo: you don’t always get the pair you want when the fight starts.

What should an Aphelios ARAM build focus on?

Attack Damage and Critical Strike first, then Armor Penetration and one survival item. Why skip Ability Haste? His Q runs on a flat 9 second cooldown, and the guns do their damage through attacks anyway. Four items and boots.

Infinity Edge is where the build should start. The stats are 75 Attack Damage, 25% Critical Strike Chance and 30% Critical Strike Damage, with no passive to think about, which suits a champion whose basic attacks change every few minutes. Raw numbers work on every gun (even the chakram).

Slot two goes to Bloodthirster, mostly for its 15% Life Steal (the 80 Attack Damage is a nice extra). Ichorshield turns any extra healing from Life Steal into a Shield, so a full-Health Aphelios shooting into a crowd builds a buffer for when the divers reach him. In ARAM that happens every fight, honestly.

Lord Dominik’s Regards is third, bringing 35% Armor Penetration and 25% Critical Strike Chance. The more bonus Health a champion carries, the more Giant Slayer adds, topping out at 15% extra damage once the target reaches 1500 bonus Health. ARAM tanks build Health early, since they die often and shop on every respawn, so the passive usually has something to work with.

The fourth slot is defensive. Guardian Angel gives 55 Attack Damage and 45 Armor, and Rebirth brings him back with half his base Health after 4 seconds of Stasis when he takes lethal damage. Immortal Shieldbow is the cheaper option, granting a Shield for 3 seconds when damage would drop him below 30% Health. Boots: Berserker’s Greaves for 30% Attack Speed.

How do you play Aphelios on the Howling Abyss?

• Fire Infernum into the pack. The cone hits every enemy in it, and each one takes an off-hand attack afterward.
• Hold Gravitum for the dive. Its root only works on enemies already slowed by the cannon, so slow the diver first.
• Check your main-hand before using Moonlight Vigil. The ultimate applies that gun’s effect, so the same button does very different things.
• Drop Crescendum’s sentry where the fight will be. It fires your off-hand weapon on its own while you keep shooting.
• Burn bad ammo between fights. Empty weapons move to the back of the queue, so spending a weak pair early brings the next one forward.

How do shopping and summoner spells work for Aphelios?

You can’t recall on the Howling Abyss. The fountain is the only place to buy, once when the game starts and again after every death, so plan purchases around Infinity Edge first and buy the biggest crit component you can each trip. Health relics along the lane help a marksman with no healing in his kit, though Bloodthirster eventually takes care of that.

Whatever spells you pick stay with you all game. ARAM adds Mark, a thrown snowball that offers a dash onto the champion it tags. Does a marksman with no escape want to dash forward? Rarely. Flash plus a defensive spell keeps him alive, and for what it’s worth, an Aphelios who lives through the first ten seconds of a fight usually wins it.

Is Aphelios good in ARAM?

Yes, with a bit of luck on weapon timing. He plays at 100% damage dealt and 100% damage taken, so the map does the work: Infernum and Moonlight Vigil hit groups, and Gravitum handles the divers. Long story short, the hole in his kit doesn’t move with the map. No dash.

His bot lane matchups are in the Aphelios counters guide. Our guide to LoL roles covers what marksmen do in a standard game, the LoL items database lists each item with its full stats, and the Aphelios skins page collects his cosmetics.

In practice, the Aphelios ARAM build is Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, Lord Dominik’s Regards and Guardian Angel, and the game plan is Infernum into the crowd with Gravitum waiting in the off-hand.

FAQ

Is Aphelios buffed in ARAM?

No. The Wiki’s patch 26.21 champion data lists 100% damage dealt and 100% damage taken for him, which is no change.

What items does the Aphelios ARAM build use?

Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, Lord Dominik’s Regards and Guardian Angel or Immortal Shieldbow, with Berserker’s Greaves.

Which Aphelios gun is best on the Howling Abyss?

Infernum is strong against grouped enemies, since it blasts a cone and follows up with an off-hand attack on everyone hit. Gravitum provides his only root.

Does Ability Haste help Aphelios?

Very little. His weapon ability has a flat 9 second cooldown, and most of his damage comes from basic attacks.

How was this build chosen?

Gun by gun. We checked what each weapon and Moonlight Vigil do in patch 26.21, then kept the items that help all five. No win-rate data was used.