League of Legends Lillia guide: best runes, build, tips and tricks

Lillia is coming with League of Legends Patch 10.15 as Runeterra’s 149th champion. Ahead of the Bashful Bloom’s release on July 22, get a chance to master her with our Lillia guide, from the runes you need to the best builds so you can win your first game.

Lillia is League’s first new champion since Sett’s release in January 2020. While there’s been a few reworks since then, Lillia’s release marks the first new “battlemage” since the Swain rework a couple of seasons ago, and she will thrive not only in the jungle, but as a solo laner too.

Before you jump onto Summoner’s Rift for the first time with her, get to know her a bit better with our Lillia guide. With all the best runes, builds, tips and tricks in your sleeve, you should be able to notch your first win with the Bashful Bloom with ease.

What are Lillia’s abilities?

Lillia’s kit makes her one of the few melee-ranged mages in League of Legends. She excels at both burst and consistent DPS at a close range, and thrives with hints of mobility dashed across her kit. As she darts in and out of fights, she only gets stronger, making her the ultimate battlemage.

Passive: Dream-Laden Bough

Lillia’s skills apply Dream Dust, dealing percent max health magic damage over three seconds. This damage is scaled down against jungle monsters, but has no cooldown ⁠— so if you keep hitting camps or champions with your abilities, the passive will always stay active.

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While the small bit of percent max health damage is nice, it’s nothing compared to the passive’s power when her ult is activated. After all, the two go hand in hand.

Q: Blooming Blows

Lillia’s Q has both a passive and an active. The passive gives Lillia move speed every time she hits an enemy, stacking up to five times. She loses these stacks after a few seconds.

The active is a mix of Hecarim and Darius Q. Lillia swirls her censer around, dealing AOE damage. You’ll want to hit enemies with the tip of the ability though, as it will do true damage instead of magic damage. This will be Lillia’s main DPS ability, as well as the best way to apply your passive.

W: Watch Out! Eep!

Lillia’s W is a short-ranged dash coupled with an AOE burst. She dashes forward a slight distance, doing damage in a small area. If she hits an enemy with the center of the blast, it does a lot more damage. This will be Lillia’s main engage tool, as well as a burst finisher after her ulted enemies fall asleep.

E: Swirlseed

Practically global abilities on a regular cooldown? Well, that’s what Lillia’s E, Swirlseed, is. She throws a projectile that’ll keep running until it hits an enemy or terrain. She will also reveal the area where it lands, and slow any enemies hit. Stuck in mid but want to make a play bot with your ultimate? Throw out your Swirlseed and hope for the best.

R: Lilting Lullaby

It sucks when one ally gets hit by a Zoe bubble, but how about all five? Enter Lillia’s ultimate. Any champion with a stack of her passive Dream Dust applied will become drowsy for 1.5 seconds ⁠— no matter where they are on the map. Afterwards, they’ll fall asleep, and will take extra damage if woken up by Lillia or her allies.

Her ultimate can swing the tides of a fight, and can help set up some pretty huge combos if she gets her enemies grouped up. However, if you don’t get the extra damage off after the sleep, you’ll be in a spot of bother straight after.

Best runes for Lillia

Lillia is all about damage. Her kit doesn’t lend well to just trying to face-tank fights. You want to dart in and out of the battle, and your runes have to match. There’s two solid keystones you can take to achieve this: Dark Harvest and Phase Rush.

Dark Harvest is the more damage-centric focused keystone. The Domination rune will only get stronger as the game goes on, and it’s easy to stack up thanks to the amount of AOE damage in her kit. Partner it with Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter, and you’ll have heaps of sustain to live in even the most dire situations.

Phase Rush only adds to Lillia’s mobility. If you are struggling to keep up with your enemies, or need a quick escape, you should be able to stack up Phase Rush and get away easily. If you are jungling, taking Waterwalking is a good idea for the extra movement speed in the river. Nimbus Cloak is also a must.

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If neither of those tickle your fancy, there’s always Arcane Comet or Electrocute. Both options go hard on the damage, but lack the punch of Dark Harvest in the late game, or Phase Rush’s utility. However, they are also easier to proc. If you aren’t one for min-maxing, it might be safer to take one of these instead.

As for secondaries, the Precision tree makes a solid case with Presence of Mind, Legend: Tenacity, and Legend: Alacrity. However, if you run a Sorcery keystone, don’t be afraid to grab Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter if you prefer that. Take one adaptive, one attack speed, and the best choice of defensive shard, and you’ll be set.

Best build for Lillia

Lillia has been designed with jungling in mind. This means that you’ll need to build a jungle item ⁠— no ifs or buts. Taking Chilling Smite with Runic Echoes is your best choice to keep enemies in reach thanks to the blue smite slow, as well as maximise your AP damage. You’ll also want to buy Sorcerer’s Shoes in most situations for the magic penetration.

If you choose to take Lillia in a solo lane though, there’s a few options. Luden’s Echo is good if you are struggling with mana problems, and want the passive damage. However, it’s probably better to run an old faithful duo ⁠— Liandry’s Torment and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter.

Liandry’s is one of the most cost-efficient items in the game, especially if you like taking prolonged engagements like Lillia. The damage ramp-up over time is not something you can ignore. Partnered with the Rylai’s slow, it’s the ultimate duo.

If you get those items second and third, or first and second, you’ll be in a good place to adapt your build in the late game. Need more resistances? Take Zhonya’s Hourglass, Banshee’s Veil, or even Dead Man’s Plate. Want more damage? Void Staff and Rabadon’s Deathcap are your best bets.

If you’re feeling a bit greedy, pick up an early Dark Seal and turn it into a Mejai’s Soulstealer if the situation calls for it. The extra movement speed at 10 stacks feels really good on Lillia. Morellonomicon is also a solid late-game pickup if you need healing reduction, as Lillia can easily apply it with her Q.

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Most mage items synergize pretty well with Lillia’s kit, so there’s definitely plenty of choices for every situation. However, follow the rule of thumb above and you’ll be fine.

How to play Lillia

Lillia can be played in the jungle, or in a solo lane. This makes for two completely different styles of play. Lillia jungle is all about power-farming until you hit level six and get your Runic Echoes. After that, your ganks with the sleep are some of the strongest in the game.

Lillia can’t take objectives like other junglers though, so you won’t be able to Olaf down a dragon early without losing your life for it. You’ll also have to be mindful of enemies invading you ⁠— Lillia is very squishy early, and has no reliable escape tool outside of her Q passive. While Lillia’s W is a dash, it will not get you over terrain.

In pretty much all circumstances, you’ll want to max Q, then W, then E. The extra burst damage on your W helps with nuking enemies with your ultimate more than the utility E can provide you after rank one.

In lane, it’s all about dashing in and out of the wave, trying to keep your passive up on your enemy at all times. It’s like playing Darius ⁠— the more work your passive does in lane, the harder it is for your enemies to step up to the wave. If your jungler comes into gank, getting a slow off with your E is key as pre-level six, that’s your only CC.

In the mid game, you want to look at enabling your team to get some good fights down. If you can initiate with a well-timed Q into an ultimate, you can shut down enemy carries with ease. Reaching the backline is important, as the bonus damage from her ultimate will shred through any enemy not building tanky.

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Keeping up stacks of your Q is also key. Lillia’s Q serves as her best tool to kite around fights, darting in and out with the extra movement speed. If you lose the bonuses, you’ll be a lot more vulnerable. As a battlemage, Lillia will be one of your team’s main sources of damage, so survival is key. If you can burst down the enemy carry and escape with your life, you’ve done your job.

Lillia will be released on League Patch 10.15, which is expected to drop on July 22.