AP Twitch Runes Build Guide

Twitch can definitely be considered as one of the most versatile Champions on Summoner’s Rift. Not only does he outshine many other ADCs (with the right support), but Twitch can be played in almost all lanes. Moreover, if you’re an AP-driven player, Twitch is one of the few marksman Champions that can work for you.

So let’s dive straight into an in-depth guide of Twitch but with an ability power build. We’ll go over everything from runes, item build paths, and even the playstyle that would work best.

How is AP Twitch Played?

If you’re opting for AP Twitch, you need to remember that attack speed is still very important to you. Since the build is more centered around chipping your opponent’s health bar down with auto attacks and DOT effects, you’ll need to upgrade both stats side-by-side. In terms of playable lanes, AP Twitch is a viable pick for almost all lanes except the top lane. However, the build path is usually the same regardless of your lane, with only minor situational changes.

How Do Twitch’s Abilities Work?

AP Twitch is a pretty coinflip pick, either you dominate hard or feed hard. However, if you know your way around Twitch’s abilities, you will never be useless to your team. Especially with AP Twitch, it is essential you play around cooldowns. Let’s take a look at what Twitch’s kit has in store for us:

Deadly Venom (Passive)

Twitch’s passive is going to be your main source of DOT damage (and trust me, there’s a lot of it). With each basic attack, Twitch applies a charge of Deadly Venom (max 6 stacks). These stacks do true damage and scale with AP. Keep auto-attacking the enemy to refresh stacks. This ability does not affect structures.

Ambush (Q)

Ambush can be your best friend when you’re in a tight spot. Allowing you to go invisible, it is a great tool to escape or start an engagement. After 1 second of activating the ability, Twitch becomes camouflaged and gains 10% move speed. This bonus is increased to 30% when facing Champions that cannot see him. Damaging or taking damage breaks the camouflage and gives you bonus attack speed for 5 seconds. If an enemy dies from Deadly Venom, this ability’s cooldown is refreshed.

Venom Cask (W)

Twitch’s W is a great disengage tool, especially in team fights. With the right positioning, not only does this ability give your team time to back up and regroup, but it also stacks Deadly Venom on any Champions standing inside its radius. While it might not kill the enemy team, it should give you enough time to get the rest of your cooldowns back. Venom Cask is also a great tool to check bushes as it gives true sight of enemies.

Contaminate (E)

If your opponents are fleeing and just outside the auto-attack range, hit them with your E. Contaminate sends out lethal toxins that deal damage to enemies based on the number of Deadly Venom stacks they have. It can sometimes be used to finish off enemies, especially late game when you have bought some items. It is only available if a target with a Deadly Venom stack is within the radius.

Spray and Pray (R)

Spray and Pray is one of the best team fight ultimates in the game, especially if the Twitch-user knows how to position themself. Spray and Pray buffs Twitch’s base AD and attack range and replaces his auto attacks with bolts that pierce enemy units. Each bolt applies on-hit effects. A good Twitch W followed by R can send the entire enemy team back to their fountain.

AP Twitch Build Paths (Runes+Items)

Now that you know how Twitch’s abilities work, let’s give you a rundown of the meta build that is abused in high ELO. While these build paths can be played around with and slightly differ according to your role, some core elements will remain the same.

Runes

• Primary: Since Twitch is more of a hit-and-run Champion, Hail of Blades is the best primary rune to go with. You can stack up 3+ Deadly Venom every time you hit the enemy with Hail of Blades. Choose Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, and Relentless Hunter to go with it. Taste of Blood is for self-sustain, Eyeball Collection for additional damage, and Relentless Hunter to help you rotate and move around the map.
• Secondary: Presence of Mind and Legend: Alacrity are great secondary rune choices. With AP Twitch, you will run into a lot of mana problems. Presence of Mind should help sustain your mana problems in the lane, especially during the early game. Legend: Alacrity helps you scale your attack speed as you get takedowns throughout the match. 

Items

• Starting Item: Your starting item should always be Doran’s Ring if you want to play AP Twitch. Doran’s Blade is situational if you aren’t sure whether to go AP or AD. Remember to buy 2 health potions as Twitch is extremely weak early game and can be killed by almost any laner in a one-vs-one.
• Core Items: Your core build consists of Nashor’s Tooth into the Crown of the Shattered Queen. You want to build Nashor’s Tooth first, as the additional attack speed will help chip down the opponent’s health bar faster. Also, remember that the higher your attack speed, the faster you stack your passive. 
• Next, move on to Crown of the Shattered Queen. This will prevent you from being burst down and give you some additional AP, so your abilities hit harder. CotSQ’s passive also fits AP Twitch’s kit perfectly. Additional move speed and AP per legendary item help Twitch move around the map easily and finish off low-health enemies.
• Situational Items: Once you have got your core build down, it’s just about stacking AP. You can go for Rabadon’s Deathcap for more ability power or Cosmic Drive, which gives you more ability haste. Zhonya’s Hourglass becomes a core pickup if you are up against an assassin or overly-fed jungler. Just remember that this build is focused on AP rather than AD.
• Boots: For boots, you can go with either Ionian Boots of Lucidity or Berserker’s Greaves, depending on your playstyle. But mostly, Ionian Boots of Lucidity is a better fit for AP Twitch.

Final Thoughts

Twitch is not an easy champ to play, with an insanely weak early game and hyperscaling potential. If you are not great at last-hitting, take this build into the jungle to see how it works. Make sure to see what works for you before committing because meta builds don’t win games, skill does.