League of Legends Seraphine guide: best build, runes, tips and tricks

Seraphine is ready to hit Summoner’s Rift in League Patch 10.22! If you’re looking to pick up the Piltovan songstress, we’ve got you covered, with all the best builds, runes, tips and tricks so you can master Seraphine before you even play her.

Seraphine is finally here in League of Legends, and she’s ready to serenade the Rift. No matter if you think she plays like Sona, or any other champion, there’s a few quirks to her kit that you need to know.

We’ve got you covered though. If you’re looking for the best Seraphine builds, runes, tips and tricks, you’ve come to the right place.

What are Seraphine’s abilities?

Seraphine’s kit is very much like a utility mage. She has healing, shielding, crowd control, and a whole lot of damage in just four buttons. She can seemingly do it all, and it will make her quite the flexible pick.

Passive: Stage Presence

Seraphine’s passive is really what makes the rest of her kit shine. After every third basic ability, Seraphine’s next ability will echo, casting a second time. This helps her proc some of her two-cast bonuses, like the heal on her W and the root on her E.

• Read more: Everything we know about Seraphine

She can also create Notes when nearby allies and casting spells, gaining attack range and bonus magic damage. This makes her quite good as a support in the laning phase, and a beast when it comes to 5v5 teamfights.

Q: High Note

Seraphine’s Q is your bog-standard AoE damage ability that seemingly every mage has in their kit. It flies through the air before landing on a spot, and it can’t be blocked by walking in front of it.

This is going to be Seraphine’s primary damage tool and waveclear. It’s also a handy ability to finish a combo with, given it does bonus damage based on missing health.

W: Surround Sound

Seraphine’s W is a mish-mash of Karma and Sona’s heals and shields. Seraphine casts a shield to herself and nearby allies, giving them extra movement speed. If Seraphine is already shielded, it’ll then also heal on top of the shield.

This heal gets more powerful the more allies are nearby, and with the double cast, you can instantly shield and heal allies in a pinch.

E: Beat Drop

Seraphine’s E is more akin to Neeko’s E. Seraphine casts a straight line skill shot, slowing any enemy it passes through. If the enemy is already slowed, they’ll be rooted in place.

This is a great ability for wave clearing, as well as keeping enemies in place to take the brunt of the rest of your damage. On the numbers, E max Seraphine seems to be the best way to go in most matchups, although Q max could potentially be the play if you need the extra raw burst.

R: Encore

Look, if Sona ultimate was a charm, this is what it would be. Seraphine’s Encore can chain through champions ⁠— both enemy and allies ⁠— to extend a fair ways away from Seraphine. It will charm enemies, and give allies Notes, which gives them bonus attack range and damage.

• Read more: Everything we know about League Patch 10.13, the pre-season 11 update

Because the charm also slows, you can follow up with a root from Seraphine’s E, before finishing enemies off with Q for the maximum burst combo.

Best build for Seraphine

With Season 11 around the corner, the builds and runes are primarily going to focus on the next major update. However, if you want a quick rundown for a Season 10 build you can pull off in Patch 10.22, here’s what you can do.

GLP is incredibly strong on Seraphine given the slow allows her to follow up with E. Rylai’s and Liandry’s is the same deal ⁠— a power combo that allows Seraphine to melt targets with ease. That, combined with Rabadon’s Deathcap and Zhonya’s Hourglass is the most straightforward build for mid.

In support, you’d look towards the more stock-standard enchanter build. Ardent Censor, Athene’s Unholy Grail, Mikael’s Crucible, and Redemption are all incredibly strong on Seraphine. If you go Athene’s first and then follow up with the Forbidden Idol items, it’ll be good.

Looking into Season 11 though, there’s one Mythic that should be on every Seraphine players’ lips: Everfrost. With the slow cast like GLP, as well as a bit more sustain with the health on top, it’s the perfect utility item to build on mid Seraphine. Archangel’s Staff, Horizon Focus, Zhonya’s Hoursand Rabadon’s Deathcap will be the go to Legendary items.

Support Seraphine’s should look towards Imperial Mandate as their Mythic item. The passive of extra Ability Power makes her still scale into the late game while building utility. For Legendaries, Chemtech Fumigator, Staff of Flowing Water, Ardent Censer, and Ancient Runestone are incredibly strong for a good mix of damage and utility, including some Grievous Wounds.

Best runes for Seraphine

There are a couple of rune choices you can make for Seraphine. Obviously, being a mage means that the Sorcery tree is her strongest. You can basically pick any keystone ⁠— Arcane Comet, Summon: Aery, and Phase Rush ⁠— and be fine.

Moving down the tree, picks like Manaflow Band, Absolute Focus, and Gathering Storm are the way to go. This maximises damage, as well as solves some of Seraphine’s mana issues.

In support, Bone Plating and Revitalize are good secondary picks, but for mid, Biscuit Delivery and Time Warp Tonic are handy for staying in lane.

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There is room though, if you really wanted to, to double down on Seraphine’s burst with Electrocute. You could even consider going Glacial Augment, but with Twin Shadows and GLP about to be removed, the build will be significantly weaker. She’s relatively flexible though, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

How to play Seraphine

Seraphine plays out in two different ways depending on if you play her support or mid. She is viable in both positions right now. Despite her AP ratios not being the greatest, her burst damage is too good to look past in mid, especially given the rise of solo lane Lulu and Karma, who have worse numbers and around equal levels of utility.

Support Seraphine is very much about harassing the enemy and using your heal to gain a health advantage. If you can poke the enemy out and sustain their damage, eventually you will have the health advantage by having the heal and shield.

In mid lane, it’s all about using her range advantage. You don’t have the advantage of an ally constantly in your lane to get Notes, but you can still keep the enemy at arms length with the right level of poke. You do have to be mindful of keeping control of your wave though ⁠— given the size of her AOE, it’s relatively easy to just shove it in and put yourself in a bad spot.

Seraphine does well with chasing enemies down with her slow and shields. However, once an enemy jumps on top of Seraphine, it’s a lot harder to navigate her way away. Use the bonus attack range from Notes to try and maintain distance, and save your double cast for your root if needed.

Her ultimate is also the perfect ability to set up the rest of her kit. The charm slow works to proc her E snare, and then you can try and line it up for the double cast Q for maximum burst ⁠— given the missing health scaling.

• Read more: Riot touts major Soraka buffs in League Season 11 after item rework

Her double cast also helps with wave clear. You can fire two Q’s or E’s into the minion wave to nuke it, making for easy pickings. It can help to stop sieges too; given the range Seraphine has, she can do it from relative safety.

Seraphine is expected to release on League Patch 10.22, which drops on October 28.