Dark Cosmic Lux

First time I saw the Dark Cosmic Lux splash I genuinely thought Riot dropped two skins by accident. Cosmic Lux and Dark Cosmic Lux releasing together in March 2020 was one of the weirder moves they pulled. But after locking in the dark version for maybe 150 ranked games across season 10 and 11, I think this is the better half. Not even close honestly.

How Dark Cosmic Lux plays differently

This is a full Legendary. New voice lines from Carrie Keranen, new recall, new VFX on every ability. The whole package. Lux mains already know base Lux has some of the cleanest ability reads in the game, so changing all of that is risky. Riot pulled it off here though.

Q fires this dark matter binding that honestly reads slightly thinner than base. Might be overthinking it but I swear the hitbox visual feels tighter, which is a plus for landing snares in lane. The root particles shatter into these purple-black fragments. Clean.

W shield is where the cosmic theme really shows. The wand throw leaves a trail of dying stars. Sounds dramatic but thats literally what it looks like. Two layers of dark energy wrapping around your team in a teamfight. The shield return animation has this gravitational pull effect that base Lux could never.

E is the bread and butter for any Lux player. The zone drops like a collapsing nebula. Purple-black energy pool on the ground, way more visible than some of her other skins where the E zone blends into terrain. Been playing this in Diamond and I appreciate that my ADC can actually see where my E landed for follow-up poke.

R is the highlight. Always is with Lux skins but Dark Cosmic takes it further. The ult fires a beam of compressed dark energy that tears across the Rift. Screen shakes slightly on your end. The sound design here carries hard, this deep cosmic rumble that base Lux’s laser just doesnt have. Deleted a Katarina mid-ult with it last week in a late-game teamfight and the visual was genuinely satisfying.

The Dark Star line and where this fits

Dark Cosmic Lux sits in the Dark Star skinline. Riot’s been building this universe for years. Thresh, Jhin, Jarvan, Mordekaiser, Malphite – the roster is deep. Lux getting both sides of the coin with Cosmic and Dark Cosmic was a smart play narratively. The dark version leans into the corrupted aspect, the idea that Lux absorbed the dark star energy instead of fighting it.

Bo ‘chenbowow’ Chen handled the artwork. The splash captures Lux mid-cast with these swirling galaxies disintegrating around her. (Random aside – this splash was my desktop wallpaper for like six months straight.) The color palette is deep purples, blacks, and these flickers of dying starlight. Compared to the bright optimistic Cosmic version, Dark Cosmic feels like the prestige pick.

Released March 26, 2020. Right around when everything shut down globally. Season 10 was already rolling and I remember spamming this skin during quarantine ranked sessions, probably around 2 AM most nights. No chromas on this one, which makes sense for a Legendary. The base color scheme works. Purple-black with gold accents reads perfectly against Summoner’s Rift.

1820 RP. Full Legendary price. New VO is a big part of what justifies that cost. The voice lines shift Lux from her usual upbeat personality into something colder. Not edgy for the sake of it. More like detached cosmic entity energy. Lines about consuming stars and the inevitable entropy of light. Carrie Keranen shifted her delivery completely from base Lux and it shows.

The recall and small details

Recall animation has Lux opening a dark portal, absorbing cosmic energy, and basically imploding a small galaxy before teleporting back. One of the better Legendary recalls honestly. Not gonna lie, I’ve stood in base just watching the recall loop more than once.

Movement animations feel slightly different too. The idle stance has more weight to it. Auto attacks launch these small dark energy projectiles that feel snappier than base. For a champ where you’re CS-ing with autos pre-6 in mid lane, that auto attack feel matters more than people think. The passive proc specifically – Illumination – pops with this dark burst effect that gives solid visual feedback on when you proc the damage.

Homeguard animation has Lux surfing on a wave of dark cosmic energy. Simple change – huge impact on how the skin feels when you’re rushing back to lane or rotating for a gank setup.

Should you buy Dark Cosmic Lux?

Real verdict: this is arguably the best Lux skin. Bold statement given she has like 15+ skins at this point. But the complete package here, new VO, new VFX on every ability, the recall, the thematic shift from cheerful mage to cosmic threat. It earns the Legendary tag.

1820 RP well spent for mains. If you one-trick Lux or even just play her as a comfort pick in mid or support, this skin changes the entire feel of the champion. Could be wrong here but I think Dark Cosmic edges out even the newer options like Porcelain and Empyrean. Those are nice skins. This one has character.

Shop has it, permanent availability, no vault nonsense. If you’re climbing with Lux this season and want something that feels premium without dropping Ultimate skin money, Dark Cosmic is the pick. Been my go-to Lux skin since it dropped and I keep coming back to it over everything else in her catalog. The dark theme just hits different on a champion designed around light. That contrast is what makes it work.