How to Play Aurelion Sol in League of Legends

We have the perfect guide on how to play Aurelion Sol for you that will teach you the ins and outs of this severely underutilized champion.

Pros to Picking Aurelion Sol Mid

1. Excellent Roaming Potential

Aurelion Sol is one of the best mid-lane roaming champions in League of Legends. Aurelion Sol's abilities will allow you to effortlessly influence your side lanes after pushing your lane and gaining lane priority. All you need to do is push your wave and use your E to get into the scrappy skirmishes around the map. We will talk more about how you can do this in the later sections of this Aurelion Sol guide.

2. Outstanding Wave Clear and Trading Potential

You are consistently damaging the minions just by being near them, thanks to your passive. If you combine it with your W, you can quickly push the wave into the enemy’s turret or poke at the enemy mid lane champion, making them lose a lot of minions in the early stages of the game. This is why Aurelion Sol is actually considered a lane bully, and one must learn to utilize it properly if they want to play Aurelion Sol properly.

You are consistently damaging the minions just by being near them, thanks to your passive. If you combine it with your W, you can quickly push the wave into the enemy’s turret or poke at the enemy mid lane champion, making them lose a lot of minions in the early stages of the game. This is why Aurelion Sol is actually considered a lane bully, and one must learn to utilize it properly if they want to play Aurelion Sol properly.

3. Escape Tools

Suppose you are playing a champion that is aggressive in the laning phase of the game. In that case, there is a good chance that you will be repeatedly ganked by the opponent’s jungler. However, despite that, Aurelion Sol provides you considerable protection from this, and you won’t give away a kill if you play to your strengths. We will discuss more how you can do this later in the guide.

Cons to Picking Aurelion Sol

1. High Skill Ceiling

You will need to put in hours and hours of practice to get used to this champion. Realistically, you can expect to play 20 to 30 ranked games before getting used to him. This is one of the reasons why you don’t often see Aurelion Sol in competitive games, as professional players can’t put that much time into being familiar with a champion that they might not even be able to play due to the enemy’s team composition.

2. Mana Drain!

Aurelion Sol is a champion that is entirely reliant on his abilities to deal damage. However, his abilities cost a ton of mana, so you need to learn how to use them effectively and prepare your Aurelion Sol build to boost your mana regeneration and max size.

Without your mana, you will only be a minor kill threat to your opponents. If you have wasted your mana just to clear waves as an Aurelion Sol mid and have no mana to deal damage to the enemy champions in a skirmish nearby, then you are not playing him well.

3. Struggles if Side Lanes are Losing

Suppose you are an Aurelion Sol mid and have done everything according to what we teach you in this Aurelion Sol guide. In that case, you are still dependent on your allies and can’t really solo carry the game.

It is your job to help your teammates in the side lanes due to your ability to roam easily. Still, suppose they are already losing by some margin. In that case, you can’t help them out because if you give away one more kill to the enemy side laners, then you will not only be tilted for the rest of the game, but your opponent will have a lot of gold in their pockets.

Aurelion Sol’s Abilities

Aurelion Sol’s Passive Ability: Center of the Universe

Aurelion Sol is perhaps the only champion in League of Legends that is consistently dishing out damage just by being near to the target. Center of the Universe grants you three orbital stars that deal magic damage and apply spell effects on enemy champions and minions. If you have an item that deals burn damage to the enemy champions, like Liandry’s Torment, you will deal that bonus burn damage to them without you spending an ounce of your mana!

We have talked about the advantages, but there is a considerable drawback of constantly dishing out damage. You can run, but you can’t hide! If you are looking to escape and do a cheeky recall when your opponents are trying to find you by recalling in a bush, then today isn’t your day, as your orbital stars will still be visible. If you really want to know how to dominate with Aurelion Sol, you will need to learn to use this ability to its full power with your positioning.

Aurelion Sol’s Q: Starsurge

This is your central crowd control ability and something that you will need to use at the perfect time. Aurelion Sol fires a circle in the target direction, which expands on reactivation or when it reaches the maximum distance it can go. Aurelion Sol also gains a movement speed boost during the time your Starsurge is traveling.

A thing that not many players know is that you can actually combine this ability with your flash. You can use Starsurge in one direction and flash in the opposite direction to instantly detonate your star for a quick and easy stun.

Aurelion Sol’s W: Celestial Expansion

The ability that separates a good and excellent Aurelion Sol player is how they use his Celestial Expansion ability. If you are really serious about mastering Aurelion Sol, you need to master this skill. The ability widens your orbital circle and increases the circumference of your passive. This also increases your damage by almost 50%. Still, if you reactivate the ability before it expires on its own, then you will get a boost of movement speed.

The ability that separates a good and excellent Aurelion Sol player is how they use his Celestial Expansion ability. If you are really serious about mastering Aurelion Sol, you need to master this skill. The ability widens your orbital circle and increases the circumference of your passive. This also increases your damage by almost 50%. Still, if you reactivate the ability before it expires on its own, then you will get a boost of movement speed.

You have to keep in mind that your stars are always moving in an anti-clockwise direction, so position yourself while using Celestial Expansion so that you will be able to hit them as many times as you can with them.

Aurelion Sol’s E: Comet of Legend

Comet of Legend is the perfect ability to roam towards your side lanes very quickly. You will glide towards the target direction when activated. You will stop when you either reactivate the ability or take damage from an enemy champion or turret. You will always have to remember one thing while using Comet of Legend: while you are in flight, you can see enemies over terrain, but they can also see you! This means that they can interrupt your journey prematurely and can prevent you from reaching your destination.

Always use this ability when you are sure that you won’t be caught by an enemy champion out of place because it has an 80-second cooldown for most of the game. You don’t want to just waste it without any real purpose.

Comet of Legend is also a great ability to use to get back into position quickly whenever you go back to the fountain.

Aurelion Sol’s R: Voice of Light

When you use Voice of Light, you will fire a beam of light that will not only damage the champions hit but also knock them away from you. You should primarily use your ultimate as an execution tool similar to how Caitlyn’s ultimate works. However, the ability can be used in several ways depending on what situation you find yourself in. We will discuss it in detail in the later sections of this guide.

The Best Runes for Aurelion Sol

Here we present some general, timeless advice on the best runes to include in your Aurelion Sol build. However, for advice that is based on the current Meta, check out our dedicated Aurelion Sol Build page with updated stats.

1. Electrocute!

Picking the Electrocute rune might seem a little bit weird at first but we have a good reason. Aurelion Sol players have been so used to either Phase Rush or Arcane Comet that this might feel utterly wrong at first but believe us, it isn’t! You can proc your Electrocute very quickly with Celestial Expansion in the game’s laning phase or during team fights, making it very difficult for enemy champions to move freely.

You get that extra movement speed after your Celestial Expansion expires anyway, so you no longer need Phase Rush. We are sure you will agree with this section of our Aurelion Sol guide after a couple of games.

2. Cheap Shot

Aurelion Sol has so many crowd control options built into his kits, and it makes sense to do bonus damage combined with them. Suppose you are unsure about your positioning and want some extra protection. In that case, you can go Taste of Blood instead, but we will still recommend you to opt for the Cheap Shot rune.

3. Eyeball Collection

When you learn how to play Aurelion Sol, you are bound to roam to side lanes and get takedowns on the enemy champions. This rune will help elevate your base stats further and further. At the end of the game, you might have almost an extra 30 ability power without spending any gold!

4. Relentless Hunter

There should be no confusion regarding this rune in your mind, as this fits the fundamental playstyle Aurelion Sol was designed for. You will get that extra movement speed while using your E (Comet of Legend) that might result in you reaching the side lanes at the perfect time to get multiple takedowns on the opponent champions.

5. Manaflow Band

Manaflow Band is a very useful rune for all mana-reliant champions like Aurelion Sol. We are sure that the other runes might change in the upcoming seasons, but there is no way that Manaflow Band will ever be made obsolete to Aurelion Sol.

6. Gathering Storm

We are often so confused why players don’t opt for Gathering Storm. It is the perfect rune for the mid-game and late game, and that’s where Aurelion Sol shines the most. Combine this with your Eyeball Collection rune. You will have almost 60 extra ability power, which is what you get after spending 3000 gold on an item in your Aurelion Sol build!

7. Aurelion Sol Guide for Summoner Spells

There are some options one can go for Aurelion Sol, but in this Aurelion Sol guide, we will always recommend you to choose from three spells: Ignite, Flash, and Cleanse. In most of the games, you can go for Ignite and Flash without any hesitation.

Still, if you feel like there is a lot of crowd control pressure on the opponent’s team, you can definitely go for Cleanse instead of Ignite. Summoner Spells like Heal, Teleport, and Ghost are often seen on Aurelion Sol. Still, if you think about it, they really don’t fit in well with the fundamental identity of the champion.

How to Play Aurelion Sol in the Early Game

There are so many Aurelion Sol guides that never talk about the most important aspect Sol's gameplay, which is the laning phase. Aurelion Sol has a really efficient laning phase due to his ability to push the wave continuously. Combine this with the extra burst damage that an Electrocute rune will provide you. It won’t be surprising for you to learn that you need to get in the face of your opposing champion every single time!

We highly recommend you spend some time in the practice tool with Aurelion Sol and learn how to wave clear with your Celestial Expansion. As a rule, you should be able to clear at least five of the six minions from a normal wave, and a trick you can use to do this is to first hit the casters and then clear up the melee ones.

You don’t need to level up your E (Comet of Legend) on Level 3 and can wait until Level 4 to do so. This will give you that extra damage you need to force off summoner spells of the enemy champion or, in the best case, a free kill they wouldn’t be anticipating.

Suppose you haven’t been able to do that. In that case, you can still look to make an early contribution and try to help your jungler secure the scuttle crabs on both sides of the map as you won’t miss out on a lot of minions thanks to your fast waveclear.

Warding is Critical

A key thing to remember is that never, ever forget to buy control wards or forget to place wards. Warding in League of Legends is life. You are susceptible to ganks, so a good idea would be to play around the side of the lane where you have planted your control ward on. The best Aurelion Sol players often plant their ward down the bottom lane bush as that’s where they prefer to roam. They have a more significant impact than the island top lane is in the game’s current state.

You can use your stealth wards on the other side of the lane to offer you extra protection. However, if you are ganked, there is still a way to escape. The moment the enemy champion gets on top of you, stun them with your Q, and use your R to knock them away. You can simply use your E to glide away then, but if you don’t have your R available, you can look to flash away rather than wait for them to get on top of you again and use your E after that.

You can use your stealth wards on the other side of the lane to offer you extra protection. However, if you are ganked, there is still a way to escape. The moment the enemy champion gets on top of you, stun them with your Q, and use your R to knock them away. You can simply use your E to glide away then, but if you don’t have your R available, you can look to flash away rather than wait for them to get on top of you again and use your E after that.

You will always need to push the wave under the enemy turret and look away for roams. Suppose you are up against a melee champion. In that case, it is relatively easy to do so, but please don’t try to harass an enemy that is a ranged champion under their turret, as that might result in you being ganked and potentially giving away a kill to the opponent if you are ganked.

The enormous power spike in the early game comes when you complete your first item, you will start noticing that you are dealing more damage than before. Try to poke down your lane opponent, but commit to an all-in and take away their life!

Playing Aurelion Sol Mid in the Mid Game?

This is your time to shine! Aurelion Sol is perhaps one of the best champions during the 15-25 minute timeframe that makes up the mid game. You will need to be the best player on your team in these ten minutes in order to set yourself up for a strong late game! You will already have leveled up your W (Celestial Expansion) to its limit, which means every star would hit like a truck. You should look to keep the wave tucked under the enemy turrets and roam with your teammates.

If you have good map awareness and feel like there isn’t anything happening around the map, feel free to join a side lane of your choice and start farming there. It is not very easy to freeze the wave as an Aurelion Sol and something that you shouldn’t be looking to do anyway, so please don’t try doing that. When you hit Level 11, you will have a lot of damage in your ultimate so look to join any skirmishes around the map with the help of E (Comet of Legend) and dish out damage from afar.

Aurelion Sol, unlike other mid-lane champions, is supposed to be used quite differently in team fights. You can think of yourself as a ticking time bomb that the enemy is supposed to run away from. With this mentality, you will be able to zone them away from your allies. Suppose you have a few ranged champions in your team. In that case, they will damage the opponent champions without worrying that they will be engaged, as you can do more damage in any surprise engagements with your ultimate (Voice of Light).

You have to make sure it’s not you starting team fights and being caught out because it’s your job to use your abilities as zoning tools at this stage of the game rather than initiating tools. Make sure that you have placed a control ward in a position you feel the opponent might try to engage from while you are in the side lanes. If you do all of this, you will master how to play Aurelion Sol at the highest level.

How to Play Aurelion Sol in the Late Game?

The game after 25 minutes isn’t where you are the most potent champion anymore. The ranged carries of the opponent team may be able to destroy you from afar, so you will need to be extra careful with your positioning from now on. However, you will get some extra tools in your inventory too. One way to try to offset the power of ranged champions in the late game is to include Rylai's Crystal Scepter and a few movement speed boosting items in your Aurelion Sol build. In that way, you can prevent enemies from kiting you.

You would have already maxed your Q at this stage of the game, which means you can easily burst down opponents. This means that you will be able to act as an initiator for your team, too, if you combine your Q with your R and then clean up whatever little health they have left with your W.

It is highly recommended that you stay with your team from now on rather than farming in the side lanes so you can help your team do more damage during team fights. Don’t use your ultimate before an opponent engages so you can punish them for wasting their engagement tools and then turn the fight around with a numbers advantage to your team.

Aurelion Sol's Role in Team Fights

Suppose it’s the 18th-minute mark of the game, and you are farming in the side lanes. You notice pings from your allied champions suddenly and notice that a brawl is breaking out around the dragon pit. You will need to use your E and join the skirmish as soon as you can but need to position yourself alongside your ADC, so the opponents can't get on top of them.

If they do, then use your Q and R to knock them back. This will ensure that they are in range for you to hit them with your W while your AD carry can deal the remaining damage to send them back to the fountain.

In the late game, things change up a little bit as you are no longer required to go to the side lanes. You can initiate team fights but should look to get in the backline as soon as possible because you don’t want the opponent team to hit you with hard crowd control abilities to kill you before your allies join. If you really want to get better at playing Aurelion Sol, then remember you must be the last one to die on your team in every situation!

Aurelion Sol Combos and Tricks

It’s time to give you some combos you can make some flashy plays with!

1. Fasten your stars!

We have already talked about how the abilities work previously in this Aurelion Sol guide. Still, now we are going to share something we didn’t tell you before about them. We previously stated that you can cancel your E to stop you gliding towards a target location, but now is the time to know some special tricks you can do with it.

If you use your W the moment you come to a halt, then the orbital speed of your stars would be almost double what you usually get. This is because the stars are already moving faster when you exit your E. Still, now you can combine them with your W immediately too!

You can use a very cheeky combo if you combine your flash with it. Suppose you use your flash rather than recasting your E to come to a stop. In that case, it will happen immediately without any animation. However, you will still get that bonus speed on your stars if you use your W immediately after that! If you feel like an opponent will flash away, you can get on top of them and then reactivate your W to have a free kill!

Suppose you aren’t willing to commit your flash. In that case, you can use your recall in its place, but that won’t allow you to close the gap and will still take a one-second buffer animation before you come to a stop. Another way to fasten your stars is to collide into the boundaries of the map. However, this is possible only when you are in a side lane and getting divided by opponents.

Summary - E -> Flash -> W (Can use your ignite too)

2. Voice of Light Bugs?

Suppose you have previously played against an Aurelion Sol without going through any Aurelion Sol guide. In that case, you might have encountered this problem. There are two fundamental problems with Aurelion Sol’s ultimate that Riot Games never really fixed.

The first is that the ultimate range is a little bit more than what you can see on the indicator. Secondly, if an opponent is behind your tail and you use your ultimate in front of you, they will still get knocked ahead. This is an error with how his hitbox works. Still, if you feel like an opponent will kill you, you can use this trick to turn the tides around and start damaging him rather than running away.

The first is that the ultimate range is a little bit more than what you can see on the indicator. Secondly, if an opponent is behind your tail and you use your ultimate in front of you, they will still get knocked ahead. This is an error with how his hitbox works. Still, if you feel like an opponent will kill you, you can use this trick to turn the tides around and start damaging him rather than running away.

You can use your R after you have used your Q because the opponents will be knocked away at the same distance your Q explodes and stuns the enemies. This definitely opens a lot of possibilities for you.

3. Clockwise Movement!

You have to follow specific trends if you want to know how to play Aurelion Sol in League of Legends properly. We previously discussed how orbital stars move in an anti-clockwise direction. To fully utilize them, you need to move in a clockwise direction yourself! This will ensure that you hit your opponents with as many stars as possible!

4. The Everfrost!

Everforst is perhaps the most commonly built mythic item on Aurelion Sol right now. We will tell you about a bit of trick you can pull off with it in this Aurelion Sol guide. If you use your E and immediately follow it up with a Q, and Everfrost, then your opponent will be just waiting there for their slow death. You can follow this up with your R before using your W to take care of whatever little health they have left.

Summary - E -> Q -> Everfrost -> R -> W

Conclusion

We hope we have discussed everything related to Aurelion Sol in our Aurelion Sol guide for you. This will not only teach you how to play the champion but will ensure that you are among the top-ranked Aurelion Sol players on your server. You might have noticed that the itemization sector was missing from our Aurelion Sol guide, and that is due to the very nature of League of Legends.

If you liked our Aurelion Sol guide then please go ahead and share it with your friends but if you think that we missed something, then kindly tell us what, so we can add that to make this the ultimate guide on how to play Aurelion Sol on the internet.

Images Courtesy of Riot Games.