Champion Guide

Vex Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Vex is an anti-mobility burst mage. Doom 'n Gloom marks enemies who dash or blink near her with Gloom, which her next hit consumes for bonus damage, and periodically empowers her next basic ability with Doom to fear enemies and interrupt dashes. Mistral Bolt is her main poke and wave clear, Personal Space shields her and damages nearby enemies, Looming Darkness slows an area and marks everyone hit with Gloom, and Shadow Surge is a long-range skillshot she can recast to dash to the target, resetting on kills. She turns dash-heavy enemies into free kills and engages teamfights from range.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Vex build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Ring and a Health Potion, or Dark Seal with a Refillable Potion if you are confident. Buy an Amplifying Tome or Lost Chapter with boots on your first back. The standard build is Luden's Echo, Sorcerer's Shoes, Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap, Zhonya's Hourglass and Cryptbloom, or Void Staff instead of Cryptbloom against magic resist. A snowball version takes Stormsurge and Horizon Focus. Blackfire Torch suits longer fights, Malignance boosts Shadow Surge engages, Banshee's Veil blocks pick abilities, Morellonomicon handles heavy healing, and Mejai's Soulstealer is for snowballing. Take Mercury's Treads against crowd control and AP burst, Ionian Boots of Lucidity for more ultimates, or Plated Steelcaps against AD assassins. Run Electrocute with Taste of Blood, Grisly Mementos and Ultimate Hunter, plus Manaflow Band and Transcendence; Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight or Bone Plating and Unflinching are safer secondaries, and Dark Harvest is an alternative keystone. Take Flash with Teleport, or Ignite for kill pressure. Max Q, then W, then E.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

A natural counter to dash-heavy champions such as Yasuo, Irelia or Akali.
Strong, oppressive poke in lane with Mistral Bolt and Looming Darkness.
Shadow Surge enables cross-map picks and chained resets in teamfights.

Weaknesses

Her passive is much weaker against champions who do not dash.
No mobility without Shadow Surge, so assassins and ganks can collapse on her.
Long-range mages such as Xerath, Lux or Vel'Koz outrange her, and sustain champions survive her burst.

Laning Phase

Poke with Mistral Bolt and use it to push for roam timers. The bread-and-butter harass is Looming Darkness, Mistral Bolt and an attack to consume the Gloom mark; when Doom is ready, Looming Darkness fears enemies in place so your whole combo lands. When enemies walk up, use Personal Space to shield their retaliation. Against divers, wait for them to dash onto you, which marks them with Gloom, then fear them with Personal Space and unload your combo. Doom's cooldown drops every time you consume a Gloom mark, so aggressive trading speeds up your fears.

Mid & Late Game

Use Shadow Surge to pick off isolated targets, start fights on priority carries or clean up low-health enemies with resets. The standard all-in is Shadow Surge, the recast dash, Personal Space, Mistral Bolt, an attack and Ignite, which kills most squishies from 70% health; casting Looming Darkness first applies Gloom for more damage. Save a Doom-empowered Personal Space for after you dash in so the fear guarantees your combo. Zhonya's Hourglass lets you survive the burst after diving in.

Key Tips

Watch for Shadow's glow: it means Doom is ready and your next basic ability fears.
Every dash or blink near you gives you a free Gloom mark to consume for bonus damage.
Shadow Surge's first cast is a skillshot; you do not have to recast it if diving is unsafe.
Be careful against spell shields such as Sivir's or Edge of Night, which can block your engage.

Matchups