Lauriel — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Default: B]
Lauriel — Mage Guide
Lauriel is a mid-lane burst mage-assassin. She doesn't poke you down over ten seconds. She stacks four passive curses in under two and detonates you for a chunk of true damage before you can react. Dash in with W, blow the curse stack, and she's already halfway out before your team can collapse on her. That hit-and-vanish rhythm is what separates a good Lauriel from a great one.
She sits S tier this patch for a simple reason: the meta is packed with mobile, squishy carries, marksmen and secondary assassins who build little to no magic resistance. Her true damage passive ignores the defensive itemization they do run. Her W cooldown reset on hit means a skilled player can chain multiple repositions in a single team fight, making her hard to pin down with conventional CC chains. She also scales well into the late game without needing her ultimate online, so she's never truly dead at the 4-5 minute mark.
Pick Lauriel if you're comfortable with positioning-heavy mages and want a hero who actively punishes passive play. She rewards aggression and map awareness in equal measure, and she's one of the few mid-laners on the Thai server right now who can flip an even game single-handedly.
Strengths
- +Lauriel's passive true damage bypasses magic resistance entirely, meaning tank-heavy compositions that itemise against other mages still take full burst from a completed curse cycle.
- +The W cooldown reset on hit gives her unmatched in-fight repositioning for a mage, letting her weave through grouped enemies and apply curses to multiple targets in a single rotation.
- +Her damage pattern is front-loaded and extremely fast, the time between entering a fight and detonating a passive stack is well under two seconds, which is shorter than most escape ability animations.
- +R's cooldown reduction on her other abilities means she has a second burst window in the same fight, which most enemies are not prepared to survive after already burning their defensive cooldowns on the first rotation.
Weaknesses
- −Lauriel has no hard crowd control of her own, so she is entirely dependent on her team or Flicker to initiate on enemies who have repositioning abilities ready.
- −Against opponents who can buy Medallion of Troy or receive a Mantle of Ra from their support, the magic damage component of her combo is noticeably reduced even though the true damage from the passive is not, which forces her to rely on stacking curses more carefully rather than deleting enemies instantly.
- −Her W is a skillshot that fires in the direction of the dash, so against a single mobile target in an open lane, such as a Nakroth or Butterfly, half the fireballs routinely miss and the cooldown reset fails to trigger, effectively stranding her in a bad position.
- −She is extremely vulnerable between curse cycles; once she has committed her Q and W, a burst assassin who survives the initial rotation can simply kill her before R can cover her retreat.
Abilities
PDivine Punishment
Enemies hit by Lauriel's abilities are cursed. When cursed 4 times, the curse detonates, dealing true damage to enemies in range and reducing movement speed by 50% for 1 second. Restores 110 HP.
1Holy Light
Lauriel attacks a nearby enemy with holy light, dealing magic damage. After a short delay, the beam deals magic damage again.
2Blink
Lauriel dashes in a direction and releases 3 fireballs at nearby enemies, dealing magic damage. If a fireball hits a target, reduces this skill's cooldown by 4 seconds.
RSmite
Lauriel creates a large magic circle, dealing magic damage to nearby enemies and reducing the cooldown of her other skills.
How to Use Lauriel's Kit
Every ability hit places one curse stack, and the explosion at four stacks deals true damage, so the sequence in which you apply stacks matters enormously. Use Q's double-hit nature to your advantage: the initial beam and the delayed second hit each count as separate curse applications, meaning a single Q can contribute two stacks on its own. The 50% slow on detonation is not cosmetic; it's your window to land the next rotation before the enemy can disengage, and the 110 HP heal keeps you viable through extended skirmishes you'd otherwise lose.
Q fires instantly but deals its second hit after a short delay, so don't immediately dash away with W after casting, hold position for that second beam to land and bank two stacks. The most common Diamond-rank mistake is treating Q as a single-hit poke and repositioning too early, leaving 50% of the ability's stack-building potential on the table. Against mobile targets, aim slightly ahead of their path; the beam has forgiving width but a fixed forward direction, so prediction matters more than raw reaction time.
The three fireballs are shot at nearby enemies in a scatter pattern, they do not all hit the same target reliably, which means in a 1v1 scenario you want to dash directly through or beside your target so the spread lands on them rather than scattering into minions or jungle camps. The four-second cooldown reset on hit is the core of Lauriel's mobility ceiling: in a team fight, keep weaving through grouped enemies rather than committing to one hard dash, and you can maintain near-continuous repositioning. Using W with no enemies nearby is a massive misplay, save it for when you'll guarantee at least one fireball hit.
R's primary role in most fights is not the AoE magic damage itself, it's the cooldown reduction it applies to Q and W, which effectively gives you a second full rotation almost immediately. Drop R at the start of a teamfight rather than mid-combo so the CDR kicks in while enemies are still grouped and before they scatter from the slow. Against single targets, R is best used right after detonating your first passive stack explosion, so the refreshed Q and W let you immediately begin the second curse cycle.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Holy Light | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
2Blink | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
RSmite | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Desolate
Spirit
Secret
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard 4-Stack Burst
121Open with Q, dash through the target with W to scatter fireballs (two stacks minimum), then let Q's delayed second beam land for the fourth stack detonation, this is the bread-and-butter rotation for isolated squishies in lane.
Full Rotation Reset
12R12Use this against tanky targets or in teamfights: detonate the first passive stack cycle, immediately drop R to reset Q and W, then begin the second curse cycle before the enemy can reposition.
Flicker Engage
R12Flicker into the center of a grouped backline, drop R for the AoE and CDR, then chain Q and W to finish individual targets, ideal for teamfights where the enemy has no vision of your position.
W Reset Dive
212POpen with W to close distance and tag the target with fireballs (resetting W almost immediately if it hits), then Q for two more stacks and ride the passive explosion into the kill, best used on low-health enemies at the edge of your range.
Gameplan
Lauriel's first real power spike is level 4, when both Q and W are leveled and she can reliably stack four curses in a single trade. Her damage before this point is genuinely poor. Do not force fights at levels 1-3. The biggest breakpoint is Rhea's Blessing completion: the magic lifesteal makes her passive heals enormous and lets her sustain through extended skirmishes she would otherwise lose. Berith's Agony pushing her into the 400+ magic attack range is the second critical item spike, usually around the 10-12 minute mark. That's when she should be hunting for picks across the map rather than farming. At full build she is strongest in disorganized fights where enemies clump.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Prioritise reaching level 4 safely — trade only with Q's double-hit in lane to poke without overextending, and avoid burning W aggressively before you can reliably complete a four-stack cycle.
- →Push the minion wave in and rotate to the nearest jungle objective or teammate skirmish at level 4; Lauriel's early kill pressure in a 2v2 is significantly higher than most enemies expect.
- →Buy Rhea's Blessing as your first and only recall priority — do not cut the build short for boots; the lifesteal is what keeps you alive through the mid-game aggression phase.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →Once Rhea's Blessing and Gilded Greaves are complete, play like an assassin: use the minimap to identify isolated carries rotating through river or jungle and punish them with W-engage before they reach safety.
- →Shove your mid wave before every objective fight and arrive slightly late rather than skipping Berith's Agony components — your teamfight value at this spike is too high to waste on an even-gold standoff.
- →Track enemy Flicker cooldowns; Lauriel's combo is fast enough to kill almost any squishy before Flicker comes out, but if they have it available your R-entry can be baited and punished.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →In late-game teamfights, prioritise the enemy marksman or secondary carry over the tank — your true damage will eventually kill a tank too, but squishies die in one rotation and swing the fight immediately.
- →Don't Flicker-initiate blindly; wait until your frontline has absorbed the first wave of CC before entering on the backline, which ensures the enemy's displacement abilities are on cooldown when you arrive.
- →If the game goes beyond 18 minutes and you have Holy of Holies complete, you can afford to be the fight-starter — your burst is high enough that even a partial curse detonation will force defensive items and create space for your team.
Matchups
Never first-pick Lauriel in a ranked draft. Her counters, Keera, Butterfly, and Nakroth, are all high-priority picks that can be slotted into the enemy lineup mid-draft specifically to answer her. Lock her in after the enemy has committed their mid-laner or their primary assassin, and confirm your support is a CC-anchor like Grakk or Baldum before hovering her at all. In bad matchups, especially Butterfly and Nakroth, play the lane defensively until Rhea's Blessing is complete, then pivot to farming the opposite side jungle rather than trying to win the 1v1 on pure mechanics. The matchup you actually win early is any slow, non-mobile mage like Azzen'Ka or Ilumia. Abuse those aggressively.
Lauriel gets countered by
KeeraKeera's passive magic resistance scaling and her ability to rapidly reposition out of Lauriel's curse-stacking window make it nearly impossible to complete a four-stack cycle before she escapes or trades back lethally.
ButterflyButterfly's passive invincibility frames occur at exactly the window Lauriel needs to land W's fireballs, so the cooldown reset routinely fails and Butterfly simply kills her during the recovery animation.
NakrothNakroth's sustained gap-closing and attack speed mean he will be on top of Lauriel before she can complete a second rotation, and his jungle presence makes mid-lane Lauriel a constant gank target throughout the early game.
AleisterAleister's persistent slow field and root make it trivial to chain Lauriel down mid-combo, denying the W resets she needs to survive after committing her burst.
Lauriel synergizes with
BaldumBaldum's ultimate pulls every nearby enemy into a tight cluster directly beneath Lauriel's W scatter radius, guaranteeing maximum fireball hits and near-instant passive detonation on multiple targets simultaneously.
GrakkGrakk's hook pulls isolated targets out of position and holds them in place for exactly the duration Lauriel needs to land Q's delayed second beam and complete a curse cycle uncontested.
ArumArum's bind and follow-up slow extend the window Lauriel has to stack curses on a target who would otherwise dash out, and Arum's presence in the frontline lets Lauriel delay her engagement safely.
AnnetteAnnette's long-range knock-up sets up Lauriel's Flicker-R initiation from off-screen, meaning the enemy team has to respect two different angle threats and is far less capable of collapsing on Lauriel post-entry.
Pro Tips
- →Deliberately delay auto-attacking after casting Q so that the minion wave doesn't obscure the second beam's travel path, Q's delayed hit can be body-blocked by minions if you push too far forward after the initial cast.
- →In teamfights, use R not as an offensive tool but as a 'reset button', cast it the moment you've confirmed your first passive detonation, even if only one or two enemies are in range, so Q and W are back online before the fight resolves.
- →You can bait ganks by appearing to overextend in mid lane and then using W's long dash distance to cross the wall toward your own jungle, the fireballs will hit the pursuing jungler and give you a kill opportunity if the passive detonates.
- →Level W at every opportunity after level 4 rather than splitting points evenly across Q and W; the fireball damage scales faster with W rank, and the four-second cooldown reduction threshold doesn't change with level, so a lower W cooldown baseline means more resets per fight.
Lauriel is the right pick for mid-lane players who want a mage that creates advantages proactively rather than waiting for the team to set things up. She punishes passive opponents, rewards map awareness, and scales into a genuine teamfight threat with minimal items. Her S-tier status this patch is earned and unlikely to fade quickly given the meta's current direction toward mobile squishy carries. The single most important thing to master is the Q double-hit stack rule: if you leave that second beam on the table in every trade, you are playing a significantly weaker version of the hero. Lock her in when your team has at least one CC-anchor support, and you will be a nightmare to deal with at Diamond rank and above.
Lauriel — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lauriel good in the current ROV patch?+
Lauriel is S tier on the Thai server in the current patch, which is about as strong as a mid-laner gets right now. The prevalence of squishy, mobile carries who don't itemize magic resistance makes her true-damage passive particularly punishing, and her W reset mechanics give her survivability that other burst mages simply lack. If you're comfortable with her positioning demands, she is one of the highest-upside picks in mid lane.
What is the best build for Lauriel?+
The core build the Thai high-rank community converges on is Rhea's Blessing first into Gilded Greaves, then Berith's Agony, Boomstick, Shield of the Lost, and Holy of Holies as the final item. Rhea's Blessing is non-negotiable as a first item because the magic lifesteal amplifies every passive heal and keeps her alive through extended skirmishes. The rest of the build prioritizes raw magic attack and penetration. She doesn't need utility items because her true damage passive does the heavy lifting.
How do you counter Lauriel?+
The most reliable way to counter Lauriel is to pick a hero who can reposition out of her curse-stacking window. Butterfly and Keera are the two clearest answers on the Thai server. If you can't pick those, purchasing Medallion of Troy on your carry significantly reduces the magic component of her burst, even though it doesn't affect the true damage from the passive detonation. Hard CC that interrupts her between W dashes, like Aleister's root or Grakk's hook, also shuts down the reset chain she relies on to survive after committing.
Is Lauriel hard to play / good for beginners?+
Lauriel is rated Medium difficulty, and that's accurate. Her buttons are simple, but the ceiling is genuinely high because proper play demands that you understand curse-stack sequencing, W fireball placement, and fight-entry timing all at once. A beginner can pick her up and get kills immediately because the burst is forgiving, but you'll plateau quickly if you don't learn to delay Q reposition for the second beam and to use R as a reset tool rather than an opener. She's a reasonable second or third mage to learn after you have a baseline understanding of mid-lane positioning.