Talk:Xerath/Strategy/@comment-207.237.170.142-20120213230546/@comment-5045559-20120507145201

I honestly have no idea why people think Tear is for the mana. I build it not for the mana but for the AP you'll get from that mana, because i play Xerath the way he was designed to be: AP artillery Carry.

With tear into AAS i get full stacks by midgame (by proccing Locus on the way back to lane for example, which when immediately deactivated, considering the movement speed bonus, makes you arrive at the exact same time where you were going). Then the first AAS gives me around 115 AP which then is multiplied by Rabaddon. Just those two give me about 500 AP with anti-carry pene (30) from sorc boots and Red runes. Every extra AAS then gives more AP than all the previous ones, and upgrades the previous ones to its own new AP production (2nd gives 2*135 AP, then i always forget to check the 3rd).

Abyssal is irrelevant if you're never that close to enemies (both for the Mres and the aura) which i never am. Zhonya isn't that good because i already have epic armor from epic AP, the active is way too situational on Xerath, and 100 AP isn't enough for my build.

My endgame AP is 1037 with Rabaddon, Sorc boots, Void Staff and 3 AAS plus blue elixir, without nashot buff. That means 3-shot kill (almost 2-shot) on any carry and 229.35 armor from passive. 850 damage Q, 3*900 damage R and 1000 damage E.

Here's the total burst: 4544.7 damage. With up to 62% magic pene And 29 flat. That, my friends, is the true power of Xerath, you can even burst down Lee Sin or Olaf alone if you feel like it. He can afford it precisely because he's an artilley and doesn't need to get close. that is why you shouldn't tone down his power with lower-than-110 AP items in his build.

Yet again, this is my way to play him, your friends might like you better with tanky items like zhonya's and rylai's, and lower damage. Just as much as i play him my way, you should feel free to play him yours.