Be Their Undoing
Arcane Comet
Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a comet at their location, or, if Arcane Comet is on cooldown, reduces its remaining cooldown.
Adaptive Damage : 30 - 130 based on level (+0.05 AP and+0.1 bonus AD )
Cooldown: 20 - 8s
Cooldown Reduction:
Single Target: 20%.
Area of Effect: 10%.
Damage over Time: 5%.Why?
Arcane Comet can really shine on poke champions who are able to proc the effect from a long distance. **TIP:** If you're only proccing Comet with Xerath's [Q] your hit rate is going to suffer. **Try using [W]s slow and [E]s stun to more effectively deal chip damage in lane**.
Manaflow Band
Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana.
After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 15 secondsWhy?
Manaflow Band is what makes Xerath Support possible. His [Q] and [W] mana costs are extremely high with without Manaflow you're going to struggle poking and harassing in lane. Try to use [Q] when the Manaflow effect is up so that you get the most out of the mana refund. **TIPS:** Always try to auto a minion when your passive is off of cooldown, to further sustain your poking pressure.
Absolute Focus
While above 70% health, gain an
adaptive bonus of up to 18 Attack Damage or 30 Ability Power (based on level).
Grants 1.8 Attack Damage or 3 Ability Power at level 1.Why?
Absolute's bonus ability power is fantastic for asserting early game lane dominance from afar.
Scorch
Your next damaging ability hit sets champions on fire dealing 20 - 40 bonus magic damage based on level after 1s.
Cooldown: 10sWhy?
Scorch is the bread-and-butter of Xerath support as it further** empowers your poking and oppressive damage in lane**.
Magical Footwear
You get free Slightly Magical Footwear at 12 min, but you cannot buy boots before then. For each takedown you acquire the boots 45s sooner.
Slightly Magical Footwear grants you an additional10 Move Speed .Why?
Magical Footwear is a valuable and safe rune option on nearly all champions (minus roaming supports), acting **effectively as a kill's worth of gold at 10mins**. The saved gold lets your opt into more AP damage items earlier than otherwise possible. If you're playing into a few scary assassins/divers (Zed/Nocturne) **Perfect Timing can be a great alternative for minimizing deaths**.
Cosmic Insight
+
18 Summoner Spell Haste
+10 Item HasteWhy?
More CDR means more spell casts/poke and thus more lane harass, playing up on your strengths.
The Brink of Infinity
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Arcane Comet
Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a comet at their location, or, if Arcane Comet is on cooldown, reduces its remaining cooldown.
Adaptive Damage : 30 - 130 based on level (+0.05 AP and+0.1 bonus AD )
Cooldown: 20 - 8s
Cooldown Reduction:
Single Target: 20%.
Area of Effect: 10%.
Damage over Time: 5%.Why?
Comet's poking nature allows you to repeatedly proc Comet for additional harass damage. If **procced with [W] or [E] you're much more likely to Lane the Comet** thanks to the slow/stun.
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Manaflow Band
Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana.
After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 15 secondsWhy?
Manaflow combined with Xerath's passive provides you massive mana sustain. **Xerath has massive mana costs on [Q] and [W] so make sure to use those abilities to get the refund**.
Transcendence
Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:
Level 5: +5Ability Haste
Level 8: +5Ability Haste
Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.Why?
Transcendence allows Xerath to hit 30% CDR with Morello's alone for a massively powerful mid-game poke and harass. If you'd rather opt for **less, but more powerful spell casts, Absolute Focus is a great alternative**.
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Scorch
Your next damaging ability hit sets champions on fire dealing 20 - 40 bonus magic damage based on level after 1s.
Cooldown: 10sWhy?
Xerath excels at poking in lane and Scorch is the ultimate lane dominance rune. Combined with Comet, Scorch **should easily put your target in Coup De Grace range** very quickly.
Triumph
Takedowns restore 5% of your missing health, 2.5% of your max health, and grant an additional 20 gold.
'The most dangerous game brings the greatest glory.'
—Noxian ReckonerWhy?
Triumph is an all-around solid rune choice on any champion. The extra heal on kill/assists allows you to continue on in fights.
Coup de Grace
Deal 8% more damage to champions who have less than 40% health.
Why?
Coup De Grace is the go-to rune for mid-lane mages who are looking to **pump out maximum damage** to back-line targets. Xerath's long range allows him to **hit the back-line** no matter where he is positioned, making him prime for taking full advantage of Coup De Grace.