Lu Bu — Patch 1.63 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: C | Web: S | Web: S | Web: B | Web: B] Pro play (RPL 2026): 2 picks, 50.0% WR, 0.7% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked. Ranked S on zathong.com. Ranked S on metatierlist.com. Ranked B on pillarofgaming.com. Ranked B on commonsensegamer.com.
Lu Bu — Warrior Guide
Key Insights
- Tyrant: every ability or auto shaves 1s off Impale's cooldown, turning W into a near-2-3s reset in extended fights.
- Red Stallion has 3 charges; only the third hit delivers the knockup, so burn charges 1-2 for positioning and save 3 for the CC.
- Impale applies a 2-second slow and chains directly after the Red Stallion knockup before the enemy lands, maximizing lock-down time.
- Conqueror lasts 8 seconds and gives boosted physical attack, 20% CC resistance, and lifesteal; activate it before the first dash, not after.
- CC resistance from Conqueror is a percentage reduction, not immunity; stuns still land but are visibly shorter, letting you recover into Impale faster.
Strengths
Red Stallion's third-charge knockup is reliable engage that needs no setup.
Tyrant passive keeps 
Impale's 2-second slow near-permanent in extended fights.
Conqueror plus Hercules's Madness makes him nearly impossible to burst mid-fight.- Near-zero ban rate at Diamond; practiced players exploit a sleeping lobby.
Weaknesses
- No escape: Red Stallion goes forward, so a missed engage without Flicker is death.
- Conqueror lasts 8 seconds; getting kited before it activates kills his damage window.
- Ranged poke heroes can stay outside Red Stallion range and whittle him down freely.
- Frost Cape is mandatory item three, leaving him weaker than top bruisers mid-game.
Matchups
Abilities
PTyrant
Reduces Impale's cooldown by 1 second when Lu Bu attacks a target with a skill or auto attack.
1Red Stallion
Lu Bu charges toward enemies in a designated direction, dealing physical damage (tap hero to stop). This skill can be used consecutively 3 times. The 3rd attack launches enemies into the air.
2Impale
Lu Bu swings his spear, creating a wave of energy that deals physical damage and slows enemies for 2 seconds.
RConqueror
Lu Bu empowers himself, increasing his physical attack damage and crowd control resistance by 20%. Additionally, auto attacks and skills restore HP for 8 seconds.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Red Stallion | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
| 2Impale | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
| RConqueror | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Golden Body
Spirit
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard All-In
R1112Activate Conqueror before the first dash so lifesteal and CC resistance are live for the entire engage. Fire all three Red Stallion charges to land the knockup, then immediately Impale into autos while the enemy is airborne and slowed.
Flicker Knock-Up
1112RUse two Red Stallion charges to make the enemy think you are just poking, then Flicker to close the final gap before firing the third charge for the knockup. This catches players who backed off the first two dashes assuming they were out of range.
Tyrant Reset Loop
R111222Against tanky targets or in a 1v2, commit fully with Conqueror active and weave autos between each Impale cast. Tyrant passive resets W repeatedly and you keep the slow going while lifesteal does its work.
Expert Video Guide
RoV:Lubu สายสมดุล สู้ได้หมด META ออฟเลน - Doyser — Doyser
Gameplan
Lu Bu's earliest spike is level 4, when all three Red Stallion charges are available and Impale has its full slow. Before level 4 he trades poorly. His first real pressure window opens at Spear of Longinus, where the penetration turns Conqueror's physical attack into actual kill threat. The true breakpoint is Frost Cape as item three: the slow proc on autos after ability use chains with Tyrant resets into a near-permanent slow loop. Once Frost Cape is done, push every side-lane skirmish and contest every objective. Past the 18-minute mark, when carries have items, the solo-carry window shrinks, so use the mid-game spike as aggressively as possible.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Focus on last-hitting and stacking Spear of Longinus charge passives safely. Lu Bu before level 4 loses most direct trades against meta slayer-lane bullies, so avoid all-ins until Red Stallion has all three charges available.
- →At level 4, look for one aggressive trade under your own tower using the full Red Stallion knockup into Impale to burn the enemy's potion or force a recall, then back immediately to buy.
- →Ward the river bush on the jungle side early. Lu Bu has no escape from a gank and the slayer lane is isolated, so vision gives you time to use Red Stallion as a repositioning tool instead of a panic run.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →The moment Frost Cape completes, stop farming side waves and start looking for 1v1 skirmishes on enemy junglers or over-extended laners. This is your peak carry window.
- →Contest every drake and dark slayer objective with your team. Conqueror sustain makes you one of the strongest fighters in a prolonged brawl over pit control.
- →If you are behind after a rough early game, build toward Medallion of Troy as an earlier defensive pivot instead of forcing Hercules's Madness. The magic defense buys survivability until a comeback fight opens up.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →In teamfights, do not initiate. Let a tank like Baldum or Arduin engage first, then Red Stallion onto the carry they have displaced and run the full combo on a pre-locked target.
- →Blade of Eternity's revive passive is your insurance in decisive late-game fights. Do not avoid deaths out of fear. Use the revive as a second engage window after the enemy burns cooldowns on it.
- →Stick to marksmen and mages over peeling for allies. With Conqueror active at full build you beat virtually any carry in a 1v1, so the correct play is always to find the backline.
Pro Tips
- →Cancel the Red Stallion animation between charges with an auto attack. The window is tight, but running Q, AA, Q, AA, Q adds up to noticeably more damage than triple-dashing with no autos in between.
- →Conqueror's CC resistance is a percentage reduction, not immunity. Against Arduin or Lumburr you will still get stunned, but using R before their CC lands means the stun duration is visibly shorter and you get back into Impale faster.
- →When Red Stallion charge three is about to land the knockup, queue the Impale input immediately. W fires the instant the airborne animation starts, landing before the enemy hits the ground and giving you the full slow duration.
- →In the slayer lane against poke-heavy opponents, hold Flicker defensively in the early game rather than using it to go in. Lu Bu has no other escape, and saving it for a tower-dive gank is worth far more than burning it when you're under-itemized.
Lu Bu is a high-floor, moderate-ceiling warrior whose A-tier spot is earned on actual results, not meta hype. Players who commit to the Frost Cape timing and the Conqueror-first engage find a consistent, nearly unbannable solo-carry option at Diamond and above. He suits players who prefer decisive, all-in fighting over split-push or utility-tank roles. The habit to build is activating Conqueror before the first Red Stallion dash, not after. That one adjustment separates players who win trades from those wondering why the lifesteal never kicked in fast enough.
Lu Bu — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lu Bu good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. He is a solid A-tier warrior sitting at 50% win rate across Thai-server ranked, and that holds up well given his near-zero 0.7% pick rate means he is almost exclusively played by people who have actually put time into him. Not meta-defining, but reliable, almost never banned, and punishing in the hands of a player who respects his power-spike windows.
What is the best build for Lu Bu?+
Standard is Gilded Greaves, Spear of Longinus, Frost Cape, Hercules's Madness, Medallion of Troy, Blade of Eternity. Frost Cape is non-negotiable: it turns the Tyrant passive's constant ability usage into a permanent slow layer stacked on top of Impale, and skipping it for damage delays your spike painfully. Hercules's Madness pairs with Conqueror by giving you a shield exactly when you are deepest in a brawl.
How do you counter Lu Bu?+
Pick heroes who go untargetable during his Red Stallion commit (Murad's ultimate) or who permanently outrange his dash (Allain, ranged mages). In lane, shut down his level-4 all-in by staying behind your caster minions and backing off whenever you see him stack two Red Stallion charges. He needs all three to connect for the knockup, so forcing him to miss the third charge wastes the entire combo.
Is Lu Bu hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium, and that is accurate. The basic combo is simple enough for newer players to feel impactful, but the ceiling is high. The hard part is not the inputs. It is reading when Conqueror's 8-second window opens a winnable fight versus a losing trade, and resisting the urge to use R as a panic button instead of a pre-engage tool. A solid second warrior for players stepping up from Easy heroes.