Guide · ADC

Aphelios Guide

the Weapon of the Faithful

Marksman

Tier B ADC

Aphelios, the Weapon of the Faithful, is a marksman champion that is demanding to master. Across our 540 analysed ranked games, Aphelios is mostly played as ADC (100% of its games), with a 50.7% win rate in that role: tier B among ADC champions (#14 of 36, ranked by win rate). Aphelios's damage is mostly physical (94%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 54.5% in long games (over 35 min, 44 games) versus 46.8% in short games (under 25 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 540 ADC games played with Aphelios, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Aphelios is a marksman with five Lunari weapons: he carries two at a time (main and secondary), and each weapon has a unique attack and ability. Attacks and abilities consume ammo; when out of ammo, the weapon is dropped and Alune summons the next one. Phase swaps the two weapons.

Long-range harassment

Q › AA AA › W

When: Your main weapon is Calibrum.

Calibrum fires a long-range bullet that marks the target and allows a second attack at very long range; Phase swaps your weapons to chain.

The team fight

W › Q › AA AA › R

When: A team fight is underway.

Choose the weapon whose ability serves best: Infernum hits in a cone with the secondary weapon, Crescendum deploys a turret that attacks, Gravitum roots the slowed enemies.

See all 3 Aphelios combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Learn the weapon order: the third slot tells you which one is next. Each weapon has its own active ability: Calibrum marks, Severum runs while attacking, Gravitum roots, Infernum hits in a cone, Crescendum deploys a turret.

Common mistakes

• Not watching your ammo: a weapon with no ammo is dropped.
• Using the ultimate without looking at your main weapon: the effect depends on it.
• Forgetting Phase: swapping weapons changes your attack and ability.

Riot's official tips for playing Aphelios

• Each of Aphelios' weapons have different strengths, so try to find the right situation for your current weapons.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Infinity Edge, Lord Dominik's Regards, and The Collector (93 games, 62.4% win rate).

Infinity Edge+Lord Dominik's Regards+The Collector

93 games · 62.4%

Hexoptics C44+Infinity Edge+Lord Dominik's Regards

71 games · 60.6%

Infinity Edge+Lord Dominik's Regards+Runaan's Hurricane

57 games · 71.9%

Skill order

Max order : Q > E > W59.7% · 62 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q		●	●	●	●			●		●
W	●
E							●		●		●	●		●	●
R						●							●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 91 games).

Starting items

Doran's BowHealth PotionHealth Potion58.5% · 65 games

Doran's BladeHealth Potion38.1% · 21 games

First completed items, in order

The Collector›Infinity Edge

32 games · 56.2%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3918 gold, 79 CS, 3568 XP. At 15 min: 6487 gold, 119 CS, 5711 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Barrier51.2% · 334 games

Flash + Ghost49.5% · 107 games

Cleanse + Flash50.0% · 70 games

Exhaust + Flash50.0% · 24 games

Most-played runes

Press the Attack + Inspiration

54.3% · 304 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph90%

Legend: Bloodline78%

Cut Down95%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back91%

Triple Tonic62%

Shards

Attack speed58%

Adaptive force97%

Health91%

Press the Attack + Sorcery

46.0% · 50 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph52%

Legend: Bloodline86%

Cut Down94%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Gathering Storm100%

Absolute Focus94%

Shards

Attack speed80%

Adaptive force98%

Health scaling60%

Fleet Footwork + Inspiration

46.9% · 49 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph67%

Legend: Bloodline86%

Cut Down90%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back84%

Cosmic Insight63%

Shards

Attack speed51%

Adaptive force96%

Health86%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Aphelios's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team53.2% · 141 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Infinity Edge 61.6% ▲

The Collector 50.0%

Lord Dominik's Regards 62.3%

Hexoptics C44 51.1%

Runaan's Hurricane 60.6%

Phantom Dancer 60.0% ▲

The item that stands out most is Phantom Dancer: 60.0% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team43.1% · 144 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Infinity Edge 49.5% ▼

The Collector 37.7% ▼

Lord Dominik's Regards 53.3% ▼

Hexoptics C44 46.8% ▼

Runaan's Hurricane 48.4% ▼

Stormrazor 56.7%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team53.7% · 255 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Infinity Edge 58.5%

Lord Dominik's Regards 65.2% ▲

The Collector 56.4% ▲

Hexoptics C44 53.6%

Phantom Dancer 54.5%

Stormrazor 56.9%

The item that stands out most is The Collector: 56.4% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Aphelios as ADC

Viktor Aphelios: 26.7%15 games

Viktor has the edge in 73% of the 15 ADC duels against Aphelios. See the Viktor guide.

Tristana Aphelios: 30.8%26 games

Tristana has the edge in 69% of the 26 ADC duels against Aphelios. See the Tristana guide.

Zeri Aphelios: 40.0%15 games

Zeri has the edge in 60% of the 15 ADC duels against Aphelios. See the Zeri guide.

Jinx Aphelios: 46.9%49 games

Jinx has the edge in 53% of the 49 ADC duels against Aphelios. See the Jinx guide.

Jhin Aphelios: 48.8%43 games

Jhin has the edge in 51% of the 43 ADC duels against Aphelios. See the Jhin guide.

Who Aphelios is strong against

Ashe68.4% · 19 games

Ezreal66.7% · 39 games

Kai'Sa64.7% · 51 games

Yunara54.8% · 42 games

Caitlyn53.8% · 39 games

How to play against Aphelios

• Each of Aphelios' weapons have different weaknesses, try to exploit the ones that work best for your champion. Watch out for the purple Gravity gun, it can root you.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Aphelios's matchups.

Aphelios ADC: what our games say

Laning phase against the ADC average

Measured over 91 Aphelios games with a timeline; the average covers 49 champions played ADC in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: long (over 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Abilities

PassiveThe Hitman and the Seer

Aphelios wields 5 Lunari Weapons made by his sister Alune. He has access to two at a time: one main-hand and one off-hand. Each weapon has a unique Basic Attack and Ability. Attacks and abilities consume a weapon's ammo. When out of ammo, Aphelios discards the weapon and Alune summons the next of the 5.

QWeapon Abilites

Aphelios has 5 different activated abilities, based on his main-hand weapon:

Calibrum (Rifle): Long range shot that marks its target for a long-range follow-up attack.
Severum (Scythe Pistol): Run fast while attacking nearby enemies with both weapons.
Gravitum (Cannon): Root all enemies slowed by this weapon.
Infernum (Flamethrower): Blast enemies in a cone and attack them with your off-hand weapon.
Crescendum (Chakram): Deploy a sentry that shoots your off-hand weapon.

WPhase

Aphelios swaps his main-hand gun with his off-hand gun, replacing his basic attack and activated ability.

EWeapon Queue System

Aphelios has no third ability. This slot shows the next weapon Alune will give him. Weapon order begins fixed but may change over game time -- when a weapon is out of ammo it goes to the end of the order.

RMoonlight Vigil

Fire a concentrated blast of moonlight that explodes on enemy champions. Applies the unique effect of Aphelios' main-hand gun.

Other ADC champions to know

Most played

Jhin48.5 %Yunara52.4 %Kai'Sa49.9 %Ezreal45.2 %Caitlyn50.3 %Jinx51.0 %Tristana50.0 %Lucian48.9 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Brand57.7 %Syndra56.7 %Aurelion Sol56.7 %Kog'Maw55.3 %Senna55.3 %Mel54.9 %Vel'Koz53.8 %Xayah53.1 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Aphelios page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides