Whether you are looking to play Aphelios or play against him, get ready to study, because there is a lot to learn about this champion. This is an Aphelios weapon combo guide with explanations on ability interactions.
For the 2020 preseason and the holidays, Riot is giving the League of Legends community several new champions. First Senna and now Aphelios, the most complicated champion yet. His kit consists of 5 weapons, and 2 will be accessible at a time. That means there are several combinations between the weapons, and I’m here to explain them. Riot Games has already released a kit primer, so I’ll be focusing on how the weapons interact with his abilities and other weapons.
Aphelios Weapon Ability Guide
Before I get into the combination of weapons, we need to understand how the weapons work independently. Each weapon has a different auto-attack effect, Q, and R effect.
R – Aphelios’ R is a long skill shot that explodes on the first enemy champion hit, dealing damage in an area around them. Aphelios then hits all enemies caught in the blast with his primary weapon. This effect happens instantly, so the auto-attack animation doesn’t occur.
Calibrum: The Sniper Rifle
Calibrum passively grants 100 attack range while it is the primary weapon. Using this weapon brings Aphelios’ attack range up to 650, matching Caitlyn’s. The extra range is great for poking with auto-attacks.
Whenever this weapon deals damage through an ability (including abilities from other weapons) it marks the enemy. Marked enemies can be attacked from any distance with both weapons. Attacking a marked target consumes all other marks on enemies in the area for additional damage to the attacked target.
Q – Calibrum’s Q is a skill shot similar to Caitlyn’s Q, but it is thinner and does not go through enemies. Since this Q does ability damage with the Calibrum, enemies hit by it will be marked.
R – Marks that are placed on enemies by the ultimate each deal an additional 20 damage when consumed.
Calibrum as a primary doesn’t activate the secondary weapon at all. However, as a secondary, Calibrum can attack through the abilities of some primary weapons, giving access to incredible attacks at any range which makes for some crazy interactions in this Aphelios weapon combo guide.
Severum: The Pistol
Any damage dealt by Severum, auto-attacks or abilities, heal Aphelios for a percentage of the damage dealt. If he is at full health, he gains a small shield instead that lasts up to 30 seconds. This weapon is all about sustain. You can heal a ton just by taking CS with Severum.
Q – The Q for Severum grants move speed and causes Aphelios to automatically fire at the nearest target (prioritizing champions) with both weapons. The attacks don’t count as an auto-attack. Instead, it is a damage over time effect with the Q. However, it does apply the on-hit effects from the Severum and secondary weapon. The move speed granted by the Severum Q is the only mobility in Aphelios’ kit. The ability is particularly good at shredding turrets.
R – If you hit an enemy champion with R while Severum is the primary weapon, you restore a flat amount of health in addition to the health gained from the follow-up attacks.
Severum is a very simple weapon in comparison to the rest of Aphelios’ arsenal. Combinations with it have minimal complexity. Other weapons normally just increase the healing potential of Severum while Severum’s Q brings rapid attacks of the secondary. Aphelios is one of the few ADCs to have sustain built into his kit.
Gravitum: The Grav Cannon
Gravitum is the most straightforward of Aphelios’ weapons. Attacks from this weapon slow the target, and this includes attacks from other weapons’ abilities.
Q – Q expunges all enemies affected by Gravitum’s slow, damaging them and rooting them in place. If you set it up, you can root a lot of targets.
R – When an enemy is hit by Aphelios’ R while Gravitum is the primary weapon, Gravitum’s slow is increased to 99% for the attacks in the second half of the ultimate.
Since Gravitum’s Q doesn’t use the secondary weapon, combinations with it are fairly simple. Still, other weapons that do attack with Gravitum can bring some interesting CC opportunities. It may be the only CC in his kit, but there are many different ways to hit enemies discussed in this Aphelios weapon combo guide.
Infernum: The Flamethrower
Infernum is the AOE weapon in Aphelios’ kit. Attacks create a cone of splash damage behind the target. Critical hits create larger cones. This weapon can provide great team fight damage and wave clear.
Q – The Q for Infernum is a cone of damage. Enemies in the cone are also attacked by the secondary weapon. This is the ability that brings AOE to all the other weapons.
R – An ultimate with Infernum as primary will cause the follow-up attacks from Infernum to have an AOE effect all around the hit enemy champion.
Infernum by itself is an AOE nightmare for opponents. Moreover, this weapon can make any secondary weapon just as dangerous. The Q provides a lot of opportunities in this Aphelios weapon combo guide.
Crescendum: The Chakram
Chakram brings a very unique auto-attack. It is the first of its kind in League of Legends. Chakram functions as a projectile that needs to return before you can attack again, but once you have a Chakram, you can attack, so the closer you are to the target, the faster you can attack. Attack speed determines the Chakram projectile speed instead of how often you can attack. Abilities that fire Chakram produce additional Chakram projectiles that can be used to attack immediately before the previous one returns.
When Crescendum is used by abilities, a mini Chakram is created that floats around Aphelios for a while and adds bonus damage when you attack with Crescendum.
Q – Place a turret of the secondary weapon. This ability doesn’t remove your secondary weapon, it just creates a turret version of it. This Q can massively increase damage output, lets you hit more targets to stack weapon effects, and gives weapon effects from a distance. This is Aphelios’ most powerful Q, in my opinion.
R – The bonus when casting ultimate while Crescendum is the primary weapon is 3 Chakrams.
Crescendum brings in a lot of synergy with the other weapons. It can do a lot of extra damage when used in abilities to get Chakrams. Turrets of whatever weapon it’s paired with can make for interesting opportunities as well. It is the most interesting weapon in this Aphelios weapon combo guide.
Aphelios Weapon Combo Guide
Now that we understand how the individual weapons work, we can move on to how they work together.
I’ll go through each weapon in order along with all of the combos with it (unless I already went over the combo).
This section also has a ton of videos, if they do not load for you, you can find them in this playlist.
Calibrum and Severum
The Calibrum and Severum abilities don’t combo as well as some other weapons, but they are still powerful in lane together. The combination of poke and sustain can be devastating early game for opponents. Calibrum can be used to poke and trade aggressively with auto-attacks while Severum is used to CS and regain any health that you lost during trades.
Outside of the lane phase, this combination is one of the weaker ones. Poke and sustain is good by itself, but the weapons have minimal beneficial interaction. Severum’s Q does attack with Calibrum, so it marks targets hit by Q. However, since Severum is close range only, you can’t take advantage of the long-range attack unless the opponent gets too far away. Severum’s Q might end up marking multiple targets, so it can increase the damage on the first target attacked with the mark.
Calibrum and Gravitum
The other three weapons: Severum, Infernum, and Crescendum all use the secondary weapon in their ability. Calibrum and Gravitum do not. This brings their interaction down, but these two weapons still have something to contribute.
Calibrum’s long-range Q can mark a single target. Marked targets can be attacked from any distance with both of Aphelios’ weapons. Attack the marked target to slow them with Gravitum and then expunge them with Gravitum’s Q with and root them. The range on the Q for Calibrum is massive, so this combination of guns can produce one of the longest ranged CCs in the game.
Calibrum and Infernum
This combination of weapons is one of the less exciting combinations that don’t work particularly well together. Calibrum is focused on long-range single target damage while Infernum is AOE but, they still have some interesting interactions.
With Calibrum and Infernum, a long-range Calibrum Q, then attack to follow up on the marked target, you can get in some pretty nice AOE poke from Infernum.
Infernum’s Q will cause all enemies in the cone to be marked by Calibrum, then you can attack the highest priority target with a mark and get bonus damage from all the other marks placed by the cone. Minions in the cone are also marked, so an Infernum Q on a wave means a lot of single target damage on the first attacked target that is marked. If you Q a wave with Infernum, try to hit an opponent in that cone or with a quick Calibrum Q before or after to use all those extra marks from minions.
Calibrum and Crescendum
This is one of my favorite combinations. The Calibrum turret that you can place with Crescendum’s Q lets you attack from a very safe distance. If you can get a turret down, back away, and use the marks placed by the turret, you can attack from many miles away as you can see in the video.
When you attack a marked target with Crescendum, a mini Chakram is made that will persist for some time and add bonus damage to Crescendum auto-attacks. So while a Calibrum turret is marking targets, you can attack them and quickly increase your damage. Attacking a marked target does not hinder your attack speed based on range.
Severum and Gravitum
Severum and Gravitum don’t make the most exciting combination, but it’s not the worst. With Gravitum as the primary weapon, you can attack to slow and root the enemy and then use Severum’s Q to shred them with no chance to escape. With Severum as primary, you can move around to slow multiple targets then switch to Gravitum for a multi-target expunge and root.
Severum and Infernum
Infernum’s Q on multiple targets can heal a good chunk of health with Severum’s passive, especially if you hit a wave of minions. Severum’s Q, on the other hand, brings out a lot of attacks very quickly. They don’t do as much as a normal auto-attack, but it triggers a lot of extra AOE damage with Infernum as a secondary.
Severum and Crescendum
As I mentioned earlier, Severum brings rapid auto-attacks to the secondary weapon. This effect is great for Crescendum because of how the additional Chakrams work. A single Severum Q stacks 3 Chakrams, meaning your auto-attacks are going to hurt a lot more. Moreover, while using Severum’s Q you can close the distance with the move speed increase then switch to Crescendum for rapid, devastating attacks.
Crescendum Q can place a Severum turret. The turret can give you a lot of extra sustain in a fight. However, I find that this combination of weapons shines best against objectives. A Crescendum turret, Severum Q, and Crescendum auto-attacks can shred any objective on the map very quickly.
Gravitum and Infernum
This combo is great for team fights. The weapons individually are already strong with Infernum’s AOE and Gravitum‘s CC. Together, these weapons can root a large number of enemies almost instantly. You can use Infernum‘s Q to slow enemies is the cone then switch weapons for Gravitum‘s Q to root them. After that, just switch back to Infernum for the benefit of AOE auto-attacks against enemies that are rooted near each other. Infernum‘s Q doesn’t have the longest range, so it’s risky to start fights with it, but it’s a great follow-up to your teammates engage.
Gravitum and Crescendum
This combination is solid. It can provide multi-target CC and tons of damage. You can set up a turret Gravitum to slow enemies then hit them with a Gravitum Q for the root. After that, if you are close enough, switch to Crescendum to get fast attacks on the rooted enemies. It’s also possible to go for long-range roots with a distant turret setting them up, but if you are too far back, your only follow up would be R.
Infernum and Crescendum
Infernum’s Q with Crescendum as a secondary can produce a lot of Chakrams to empower Crescendum’s auto-attacks. The more enemies, champions, or minions hit by Infernum’s Q, the more Chakram’s you get, so Infernum Q a wave, swap weapons, then attack the enemy with some Draven-sized auto-attacks.
Crescendum’s Q with Infernum secondary places a mini Infernum as a turret, meaning even more AOE attacks to go alongside your own Infernum auto-attacks. Catching an enemy team in a small space with this combination is the equivalent to a Rumble ultimate in a corridor.
Aphelios Best Combos and Secondary Weapons
Weapons come out in a specific order: Calibrum, Severum, Gravitum, Infernum, and Crescendum. When you use all the ammo on one it goes to the back of the line so, you can manipulate order by holding and using the weapons.
Being able to make the best out of each weapon in any situation is good. It will also be important to know which strategy you should implement when holding certain weapons. Knowing which weapons to keep for specific situations is also important.
Setting up two weapons is difficult, but saving one weapon as a secondary for a situation that you know is coming is very much possible. For each situation, these are the best weapons and combinations:
Best for a Team Fight
Assuming that opponents will be mostly grouped, the best weapon for team fighting is Infernum. The ultimate alone can do splash damage on the same level as Brand. As for a secondary, the best choices are Gravitum and Crescendum. Gravitum is better if you need to kite or CC more. Crescendum is best for more damage output.
Best for Laning
There’s a reason why Calibrum and Severum are the starting weapons. They are great in a standard lane. Calibrum lets you poke or farm safely while Severum gives sustain to help with trading. If you want to be pushing and lane, then Infernum is the best.
Best in a 1 VS 1 or Small Skirmish
Crescendum can win a 1v1 easily. The turret alone gives Crescendum the most single-target DPS out of all the weapons and is even better if you can get close enough to take advantage of the Crescendum attack speed. The secondary weapon is more open to possibilities: If the enemy is someone with long-range you will want either Severum to close the distance, Gravitum to root them, or Calibrum to out-range them. If the enemy is melee, Gravitum and Severum will be good for kiting.
Best for Taking Objectives
Crescendum has the highest DPS especially if you can get close to the objective. The next-best and best second weapon is Severum because it’s Q can shred through objectives. If you are looking to hit a tower that is being defended Calibrum might be more useful than Severum. The extra range will enable you to hit the tower from a safe distance.
That’s about it for Aphelios, the most complex champion to hit the Rift, and his weapons that make him into a 5-in-1 champion. Hopefully, this Aphelios weapon combo guide helped you understand the champion and his kit a bit more.
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