Milio, The Gentle Flame, is the latest addition to the League of Legends roster and is the first male enchanter to grace the Rift with his presence. This warmhearted boy from Ixtal has harnessed the power of fire axiom, and uses it to soothe rather than harm.
For players looking to pick up this friendly support and win more games in League of Legends, they may be wondering how to build Milio for maximum utility. To make the right item choices and build Milio correctly, players must understand how the character works and what stats are most effective on him. Here's everything players should know.
How Milio Works, & What Abilities to Max
Milio is an enchanter support who excels at peeling for his allies and buffing up champions, especially long-range marksmen and hyper carries like Jinx. Notably, he can provide allies with extra range and damage and offers a massive cleanse for his team when hit by hard engage. He does all of this while shielding and healing those around him, and knocking back pesky targets with his Q.
Milio's Abilities
- Passive - Fired Up!: Anytime Milio hits himself or an ally with an ability, their attacks and spells will deal more damage for a short time, and will also apply a burn.
- Q - Ultra Mega Fire Kick: Milio kicks a fireball that knocks back and stuns the first enemy that it hits. This causes the fireball to bounce up and deal damage upon landing, as well as slowing its targets. Minions and other non-champions are knocked back further and create larger impact zones.
- W - Cozy Campfire: Milio creates an empowered zone that follows an allied target around, providing those inside the zone with bonus attack range and healing over time. Milio can recast this ability to follow different allied targets, including himself.
- E - Warm Hugs: Milio can hold up to 2 Warm Hugs, which provide allies with a shield and bonus movement speed. These can stack.
- R - Breath of Life: Milio heals and cleanses his allies of crowd control in a large circle. He also grants all affected allies 65% tenacity for the next 3 seconds. Milio cannot use this ability when he himself is under the effects of hard crowd control.
Purchasing items that increase the power of Milio's heals and shields is extremely beneficial for him. While he doesn't have the best AP scaling, all his abilities do benefit from Ability Power. His long cooldowns, especially on his ult, make Ability Haste a must-buy. And as Milio is designed to be played in the backline, players should not need to build defensive items for him in most games.
What Abilities to Max On Milio
- E > W > Q, and of course R whenever possible.
Protecting allies is Milio's main objective, meaning that maxing his E is usually the best option. This will allow him to provide bigger shields more frequently. Milio's W has a long base cooldown, which can be decreased by maxing it second. The bonus range and healing will also benefit from this. As his Q does not decrease in cooldown upon being leveled up, and damage isn't a priority for Milio, it is usually best left for last.
The Best Runes For Milio
As a fairly standard enchanter, Milio's Rune options are similarly standard. He has two main Keystone Runes to choose between, Summon Aery and Guardian, with Glacial Augment being another possibility. When it comes to the Minor Runes, Milio has more options depending on the situation. Players can also make choices based on preference.
In terms of the additional stats that players can choose, Ability Haste, Adaptive Force, and Armor are almost always going to be the best options, but swap in Magic Resistance when against magic damage lanes.
Keystone Runes
- Summon Aery: This is the go-to option for Milio, as he has the range to harass enemies and proc Aery. The extra shields on top of all his defensive abilities are the main reason to take Summon Aery though.
- Guardian: In harder bot lane matchups where Milio and his ally are more likely to take high damage or be engaged on, Guardian can be a better defensive option.
- Glacial Augment: The slow field from Glacial Augment can proc when Milio hits his fairly reliable Q. It might be a good alternative in certain matchups that require extra peel.
Minor Runes
- Sorcery Slot 1: Most of the time, Mana Flow Band will be the best option, providing Milio with more mana. However, in situations where the enemy has heavy magic damage, Nullifying Orb is a great alternative.
- Sorcery Slot 2: With Milio's high cooldowns, Transcendence is almost always the best option.
- Sorcery Slot 3: All the options in the third Sorcery tree are viable. Scorch is the better choice in poke lanes, and Gathering Storm is better for when players want to passively scale into the late game. Waterwalking is also an option for players who prefer to roam.
- Resolve: In the Resolve tree, Font of Life, Second Wind, or Bone Plating are all solid options, but Revitalize is by far the best as Milio has lots of healing and shielding in his kit.
- Inspiration: In the Inspiration tree, Perfect Timing can be a good option when players feel the need for a free Stopwatch. But other than that, the standard enchanter options of Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight will usually take precedence.
- Domination: The Domination tree is a less likely option for Milio players, but his long cooldown ultimate can make Ultimate Hunter a tempting option. If players do opt for this minor rune, they should pair it with Zombie Ward.
Support Starting Items & Boots For Milio
Choosing the right starting item is important on any champion in League of Legends. As Milio is a support, players will want to buy their boots early, alongside Control Wards.
Starting Items
- Spellthief's Edge: This will be the go-to option for Milio as he benefits from all the stats, and he should be able to proc it with his ranged autos and long Q.
- Relic Shield: In more difficult matchups, Milio may want to opt for Relic Shield as players don't have to put themselves in danger to complete their Support Quest, and ultimately unlock wards.
Boots
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity: As Milio has high cooldowns, these boots are ideal for Milio in most games. They are cheap and also provide Summoner Spell Haste.
- Resistance Boots: In games where the enemy team has lots of hard CC or magic damage, Milio can opt for Mercury's Treads. When he's up against high attack damage, specifically auto-attackers, Plated Steelcaps can be picked up.
- Other Options: If players really want to roam on Milio or have better kiting potential, they can opt for Mobility Boots or Boots of Swiftness respectively.
The Best Mythic Items For Milio
Mythic Items are usually picked up first in League of Legends, as they are extremely strong and provide extra bonuses when other Legendary Items are completed. Milio has two main Mythic options, which fit into his enchanter play style. Players also have a few choices if they want to opt for something tankier, or something more damage-oriented.
- Moonstone Renewer: This is one of two perfect Mythic options for Milio, as he benefits greatly from the extra healing and shielding power. He can constantly proc the Starlit Grace passive, providing even more healing for his team.
- Shurelya's Battlesong: This is another great option for Milio, especially if he wants to provide even more movement speed to his allies, either for engage or escape.
- Tanky Options:Locket of the Iron Solari is the best option when players want a bit more tankiness, but the more expensive Radiant Virtue could synergize well with Milio's ult.
- Damage Options: If players want to deal a bit more damage with Milio, then Imperial Mandate and Everfrost would be the best two options.
Milio's Core Items & Build Options
Milio's core items outside his Mythic Item are typical enchanter items with some room for experimentation.
- Redemption: In most games, Redemption will always be a solid pickup, as it provides bonus healing and shielding power. It also has a great item active that complements Milio's play style.
- Chemtech Putrifier: When the enemy team has lots of healing, Grievous Wounds is vital, and this item also has good stats for Milio.
- Staff of Flowing Water or Ardent Censer: Both of these items have the same stats and build path, all of which are great on Milio. The choice between the two depends on which allies Milio wants to buff up in a particular game.
- Mikael's Blessing: Although Milio has an AOE cleanse for his team with his ultimate, when the enemy team has lots of hard CC, a secondary way to remove CC can be nice. The magic resistance on this item also makes it good against heavy magic damage teams.
- Wardstone: As with most supports, the Wardstone items are a great cheap option for Milio in the later stages of the game, providing bonus stats and more warding power.
- Tanky Options: If players want Milio to be a little less squishy, they could opt for items such as Frozen Heart, Zeke's Convergence, Anathema's Chains, or any other tanky items that also provide crucial Ability Haste.
- Damage Options: Even though Milio only has one damaging ability aside from his passive, some players might wish to build more AP on him. Decent options include Zhonya's Hourglass and Cosmic Drive.
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