The Season 13 Hidden Aphelios Guide (Crit Change 13.1b)

Intro (Note: This is an advanced guide. You have to know the basics and fundamentals before reading this.)

Welcome To The Season 13 Hidden Aphelios Guide! I go by the name "Hidden" hence my twitch name "Hidden4Ever" (A follow would be appreciated!) and I thought I'd make this guide to help New/Current Aphelios players for their Season 13 Journey. I wasn't planning on playing at all in Season 13, I wanted to stop playing. But when I saw the new changes, I thought I should be the one step up and be their guide. There's rarely any Aphelios streamers except Remmacs, but he doesn't really stream anymore. So now I want to be the voice for however long that I can be. If you want to join my discord server and ask me questions, or just want to hang out, you're more than welcome to! Click this here to join.

My League IGN used to be "Suicide Aphelios" but apparently it was "offensive" even though I had the name for a year and a half, so now my name is Hidden Ghoster (Main Account) (NA) and my highest peak is D2 12LP

I named myself Suicide Aphelios after limit testing a lot in Season 11 and constantly dying to find combos, tips and tricks so that 1 day I could master this Champion.

I promise it's just a league name. (Due to the fact that it was "offensive" I had to name change on December 18th, 2022)

In this Guide, You can find a lot of useful information and after the crit changes if you're confused, this is the place to go.

(Different Rune Pages All The Way At The Bottom)

If you are here for the Runes/Builds, It's all the way at the bottom. If you need an in-depth analysis, please read the whole thing as every bit of this information is crucial.

Laserholic (Who is he?)

For those of you who don't know who "Laserholic" is, he's a 1K LP Challenger Aphelios main who's taught me so much about this champion. All throughout Season 11 till now, he's given me so much Advice, tips and tricks to help me climb in ranked. I want you guys to go show him support by following his Twitch and Subscribing to his Youtube Channel. 

Mythic Explanation

After 13.1b being released, there's been a lot of questions as to what the standard Aphelios build should be now. All 3 mythics are now optimal with IE being 2nd item being built. I have to say it feels pretty amazing have IE 2nd instead of it being a third item now. You can even build Immortal Shieldbow, that's how good this patch is. Shieldbow/IE, Galeforce/IE and even Kraken/IE. Mythic option will now be based on the enemy team comp. If a lot of AP burst, go Shieldbow. If a lot of mobilty, go Galeforce. If a lot of tanks, go Kraken Slayer.

Is Collector Purchase efficient after the crit changes?

Collecter will still be a good purchase, you just won't be building it until later on into the game. I've found that Mythic/IE/Mortal Reminder | Mythic/IE/LDR have been good item purchases and it's a really good build. You can cut the enemy down without having to worry about your damage. Bloodthirster can be a 4th item purchase and collector will just be a last item thing now.

Situational Items

Now, you might be asking, "what's next after those 2 items?" This is where items like "Mortal Reminder", "Lord Dominik's Regards" "Bloodthirster" and "The Collector" all come in to play. After your 2 Core items, you need to build based off their team comp.

3rd item is going to be either LDR or Mortal Reminder. If the enemy is healing a lot, go Mortal Reminder. It's super OP. You have crit, grevious wounds and armor penetration. If the enemy team is mostly tanks, and they have a lot of HP, go LDR for the unique passive.

4th item is almost always going to be bloodthirster. After you have any of those 3 items, sustain is going to be needed. You have now maximaized your damage. Overheal + Bloodthirster Shield + Severum shielding w/Severum lifesteal makes it impossible for the enemy team to kill you.

I like going Collector as my 5th item. After already being unstoppable with with those 4 items, having the collector passive by executing enemies, and having extra lethality wouldn't hurt. You're practically a raid boss and can easily 1v9 games now.

Why Ghost instead of Heal?

Aphelios is already an immobile ADC to begin with. He has no Dash or escape mechanism. The reasoning for taking Ghost is because with Kraken Slayer, you're now an immobile ADC with no Movement Speed and No Dash. It's good into comps when they pick Champions such as Udyr, Nunu, and other Movement Speed Champions. I feel the value of Ghost is more efficient than having bonus MS from heal and getting so little HP back. You already get healing from Bloodthirster, along with severum and a shield provided by 3 different things.

Why Overheal and Not Presence of Mind? (POM)

Now you might be wondering, Overheal or Presence of Mind. The answer is pretty simple. I go overheal because I don't think Aphelios has mana problems. The shield provided from Overheal, along with bloodthirster and Severum is more than enough to survive longer and last longer in fights. With Presence of Mind, it's only good for lane bullying as you can splash your damage with infernum and get free mana back. I prefer the shielding value instead of getting mana back as I can be a lane bully in most scenarios.

Coup De Grace or Cut Down?

I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. Coup De Grace is only good for snowballing in lane, but it won't do you any good if it gets to mid - late. Remember, we're now playing in Durability Patch and won't have any affect on the new item "Heartsteel". Cut Down will always be better and you can't go wrong with it. Aphelios has the lowest, if not one of the lowest base HP in the game. Don't forget LDR Paired with Cut Down makes killing everyone a bit more easier.

Why Sorcery instead of Domination Secondary?

Now that games are longer, this makes Gathering Storm very useful. By around the 30 mins mark, you have a free B.F. Sword paired with Absolute Focus, that's practically an item right there. You don't get the same value if you go Domination second. This isn't Season 11 where Omnivamp still exists and you're lifestealing everything with Conqueror. There isn't a point in going "Taste of Blood" or "Treasure Hunter" because it won't do you any good. The Only Time I recommend you going Domination 2nd is if you're smurfing in low elo and you're looking to make a montage or something. Runes will be below.

Can you still go other Precision Keystones?

Yes, you can go other Precision keystones. If you're looking forward to choosing other keystones, I recommend PTA as it's a good alternative for taking short trades and you can proc it easily with Severum (Red) Q. Once you proc it, you're able to deal bonus damage to your target, making tanks a bit less tankier.

Fleet Footwork is also really good to swap out for lethal tempo, if up against poke lane. I used to be unsure about it, but after trying it out in multiple games, it's really good because you need that sustain in lane. It also scales really good late. You can go Galeforce, Bloodthirster with this build as the synergy is amazing.

---

---

Quick Aphelios AD ADC Build

---

Summoner Spells

---

Starting Items

Best Overall Build

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

4

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

7

7

7

7

8

8

8

8

9

9

9

9

10

10

10

10

11

11

11

11

12

12

12

12

13

13

13

13

14

14

14

14

15

15

15

15

16

16

16

16

17

17

17

17

18

18

18

18

Aphelios Matchups: Threats

Here is a list of Aphelios Best and Worst Matchups. I will be trying to make sure that these are always up to date. I hope you find this information useful.

---

Threats:

all

0

0

0

0

Runes/Keystones

After the Durability Patch and the New Pre-Season 13 changes, a lot has changed with the meta. Now, it seems as if tanks are going to be meta for a while, and Lethal Tempo Semms to be the most efficient Keystone. You're able to stack it because of how much tankier everyone is and gives the best Scaling with Kraken Slayer. It scales the best Mid to Late game and it has a lot of damage potential.

• Lethal Tempo (Standard)
• Nimbus Alternative
• If Smurfing And Aggressive
• If Smurfing VS Double Poke
• PTA Alternative
• Sustain/Poke Lane Kraken/Gale -> BT Build

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Starting Items/Core Build/Spells

Mythic(s)

Boot(s)

Core(s)



• The Standard Aphelios Skill Path

Aphelios

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

4

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

7

7

7

7

8

8

8

8

9

9

9

9

10

10

10

10

11

11

11

11

12

12

12

12

13

13

13

13

14

14

14

14

15

15

15

15

16

16

16

16

17

17

17

17

18

18

18

18