Lulu 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.

A Lulu ARAM build is enchanter items that pay out every time she shields, on a champion the Howling Abyss doesn’t adjust: her listed modifiers are 100% damage dealt and 100% shielding, both meaning no change. One lane, four allies in reach, and Pix always has someone to follow.

We chose the items by reading their patch 26.21 text against her kit. Statistics stayed out of it.

How is Lulu changed in ARAM?

Two lines in the Wiki’s data, and both sit at 100%, which is the mode’s way of writing “untouched”. Damage dealt 100%, shielding 100%. That the shielding line exists at all tells you something: Riot tracks it for enchanters and has decided Lulu’s Help, Pix! shield needs neither a trim nor a bump on this map. Does that make her average here? Not really (far from it). An enchanter’s value on the Abyss comes from how many allies are within 550 range of her at once, and in a single lane the answer is usually all of them, so the kit gets stronger without a single number changing. The flip side is that Whimsy on an enemy, the polymorph that stops them attacking or casting, is an 18 second cooldown with no Abyss discount, and five enemies means four of them are still casting while one is a critter.

Why does Lulu fit the Howling Abyss?

Because every ally spell she owns gets cast more often when the allies never leave. Riot’s data for patch 26.21:

• Pix, Faerie Companion (passive): Pix fires homing bolts of magical energy whenever the champion he follows attacks an enemy unit. Other units can intercept the bolts.
• Glitterlance (Q): Pix and Lulu each fire a bolt that damages and heavily slows everything it hits. Cooldown 7.
• Whimsy (W): on an ally, Attack Speed and Move Speed for a short time. On an enemy, they become a critter that can’t attack or cast. Cooldown 18.
• Help, Pix! (E): on an ally, Pix jumps to them, shields them, then follows and aids their attacks. On an enemy, Pix jumps to them, damages them, and grants vision. Cooldown 10/9.5/9/8.5/8.
• Wild Growth (R): she enlarges an ally, knocking nearby enemies into the air and granting that ally a large amount of bonus Health, with a slowing aura for a few seconds after. Cooldown 120/100/80.

Pix is the quiet reason. He follows whichever champion he was last sent to and fires bolts whenever they attack, so on the Abyss you park him on the attack-speed carry and he never runs out of targets. Glitterlance is two bolts, hers and his, and in a clump both bolts hit several people and heavily slow all of them. Then Wild Growth. An ally who is already in the middle of five enemies becomes huge, knocks all five into the air, and gains a slowing aura, and on the Rift that ally has to walk a long way to find five enemies standing together. Here they’re already there (no walking required). What breaks her? Being the one who gets dived, because Lulu has no dash and no self-shield unless she casts Help, Pix! on herself, and a dive that reaches her ends quickly.

What should a Lulu ARAM build focus on?

Heal and Shield Power with Ability Haste, so Help, Pix! comes back faster and shields for more, plus a couple of effects that fire every time it lands. Four items from the current patch.

Ardent Censer goes first: 45 Ability Power, 10% Heal and Shield Power, 125% Base Mana Regen and 4% Move Speed. Sanctify enhances both Lulu and the ally she heals or shields for 6 seconds, granting 25% Attack Speed and 20 magic damage On-Hit. Whimsy already gives an ally Attack Speed, Pix fires on every attack, and now each shield adds more Attack Speed and On-Hit damage on top. Put an attack-speed carry under all three and the result is rude.

Staff of Flowing Water second, with 35 Ability Power, 10% Heal and Shield Power, 10 Ability Haste and 125% Base Mana Regen. Rapids is the reason. It grants both of you 40 Ability Power and 15 Ability Haste for 6 seconds whenever she heals or shields an ally. Help, Pix! is on an 8 second cooldown at rank 5 and Rapids lasts 6, so the buff is close to permanent in a fight. To be fair, it’s better when your carry is a mage, but 15 Ability Haste for Lulu herself is never wasted.

Moonstone Renewer third: 25 Ability Power, 200 Health, 20 Ability Haste and 125% Base Mana Regen, and Starlit Grace chains every heal or shield to a second ally (not herself) for 30% of a heal or 35% of a shield. On the Abyss there is always a second ally nearby. In practice this turns one Help, Pix! into one and a third shields, every 8 seconds, for the rest of the game.

Shurelya’s Battlesong finishes it with 50 Ability Power, 15 Ability Haste, 4% Move Speed and 125% Base Mana Regen, and Inspiring Speech grants nearby allies 30% Move Speed for 4 seconds. That’s the engage button for a team that lacks one, or the retreat button for a team that engaged badly (both happen). Redemption replaces it when the fights are long trades, not dives. Boots: Ionian Boots of Lucidity, for 10 Ability Haste.

How do you play Lulu on the Howling Abyss?

• Park Pix on the carry who attacks most. He follows the last ally you sent him to and fires bolts on each of their attacks, so an attack-speed champion gets the most out of him.
• Whimsy the assassin, not the tank. The polymorph stops attacks and spells, and it is an 18 second cooldown, so spend it on the champion whose spells kill.
• Wild Growth the ally in the middle. Nearby enemies are knocked into the air, which on the Abyss is often the whole team, and the bonus Health keeps that ally standing afterwards.
• Glitterlance through the line, not at one target. Both bolts damage and heavily slow everything they touch.
• Keep a Help, Pix! for yourself. It’s her only shield and she has no escape, so when the dive comes it goes on Lulu.

How do shopping and Mark change the game on the Howling Abyss?

You shop at the fountain at the start and after each death, nowhere else, and an enchanter who dies rarely ends up shopping rarely. Fine. The order still matters (more than people think). Buy Bandleglass Mirror first for the Ability Haste and Mana Regen, then the rest of Ardent Censer, then Staff of Flowing Water in one piece if the gold is there. Why Censer before Staff? Sanctify’s Attack Speed and On-Hit damage stack with Whimsy on an ally from minute one. The catch with Staff is that Rapids only shines once the team has Ability Power to multiply. The healing relics along the lane are for the carries. Lulu stands behind them and shields, and honestly she should be the last person on the team to touch a relic.

The ARAM summoner spell, Mark, throws a snowball and lets you dash to the champion it hits. On Lulu it is not an engage tool. It is a scouting one: Help, Pix! on an enemy already grants vision, and a snowball that lands tells the team who to Wild Growth onto. For what it’s worth, dash with it only to follow a carry who has already gone in, and funny enough, that’s the one time a Lulu dash makes sense (the carry needs the shield more than she needs distance).

Is Lulu good in ARAM?

Yes. The 100% damage dealt and 100% shielding lines mean the map changed nothing, and nothing needed changing, because a single lane puts every ally inside her 550 range and gives Wild Growth a clump to knock up. She needs one attacker worth following with Pix. Give her that and the enemy team spends the game fighting a carry who is faster, shielded, enlarged and shooting extra bolts.

The champions who go through the shield and reach her are covered in the Lulu counters guide. Our guide to LoL roles explains what the support position asks of an enchanter on the Rift. Every item here has its own page in the item database, and Boots explains why Lucidity over Sorcerer’s Shoes for her. Her cosmetics live on the Lulu skins page.

Put simply: Censer, Staff, Moonstone, Shurelya’s, Pix on the attacker, Whimsy on the assassin. That is the Lulu ARAM build, and the rest is choosing who to make enormous.

FAQ

Is Lulu nerfed in ARAM?

No. The League of Legends Wiki’s champion data for patch 26.21 lists 100% damage dealt and 100% shielding for her on the Howling Abyss, both of which mean unchanged.

What items does the Lulu ARAM build use?

Ardent Censer, Staff of Flowing Water, Moonstone Renewer and Shurelya’s Battlesong, with Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Redemption replaces Shurelya’s when fights are long rather than sudden.

Who should Lulu put Pix on?

The ally who attacks most often. Pix fires homing bolts whenever the champion he follows attacks an enemy unit, so an attack-speed carry gets the most bolts.

Can Lulu shield herself?

Yes. Help, Pix! cast on an ally shields that ally, and Lulu can target herself with it. It is her only shield and she has no dash, so saving it for a dive on her is sensible.

Does this build rely on win rates?

No. It comes from Lulu’s patch 26.21 ability descriptions and the item data, with no statistics behind it.