Celeste has the best poke game in VainGlory. Bar none. But what is "poking"? It means to go in, drop a skill for damage, then back out. If you've ever watched a good Celeste player you'll know the pattern; it almost looks like a dance. Not only does it create great crowd control in the lane, it can force enemies out of it entirely.

Julia's Light Slot: Heroic Perk Celeste's basic attacks are flares of solar light that deals crystal damage and reveal their target. Damage: 75-125 (level 1-12) (+75% crystal power) (+100% weapon power) Reveals enemies for 1.5s - even after the target leaves vision range.

With enough crystal power, her basic attacks are almost a fourth skill. Make sure that after using an ability, though, that you retarget the enemy to not lose out on free damage. Since her basic attacks have a crystal element, items like Frostburn will actually proc. Late game, Celeste's damage output can fall off if you're not remembering to auto-attack, so don't forget!

Heliogenesis Slot: A Celeste forms a small star at a target location, dealing crystal damage to nearby enemies. The star will briefly linger on the field. If Celeste uses this ability on an existing star, the star will go supernova, dealing more crystal damage in a larger area. Deals 50% less damage to minions.

Heliogenesis should be your primary way to harass, poke, and keep your distance from enemies. It also grants vision, so don't be afraid to drop one in a bush before going past the halfway point in the lane. It can honestly be safer than face checking to set a Scout Trap.

Making the stars go supernova can seem like they need to be right on top of each other, just enter practice mode and lane with her to find that sweetspot of how close they need to be to go supernova. Also, don't be afraid to not follow each star with a supernova. Laying more stars will give you more options of where to place your supernova and give better crowd control.

I like to max Heliogenesis out as fast as possible to get the additional range and cooldown from the overdrive. Feel free to go a more traditional route if this approach doesn't fit you.

Core Collapse Slot: B After a brief delay, the target location collapses and nearby enemies are stunned and take crystal damage.

Core Collapse does moderate damage, but where it really shines is its stun. Merciless Pursuit takes several points until it reaches a full second for the stun. Core Collapse starts at one second and with it's overdrive can be a 1.5 sec stun with a 10 sec cooldown(!). That's crazy! Most will max out her ult, but ocassionally consider overdriving Core Collapse for getting multiple stuns in during a team fight.

A stun is awesome, but only if you can land it. Just as with Heliogenesis, you need to place Core Collapse where your enemy will be in the next instant. Being chased, for example, place it close to you or in between you and your chaser. You will either stun, or force them to change routes (potentially turning around).

Solar Storm Slot: C Celeste launches a storm of stars that travel across the world. Stars collide with the first enemy they hit, dealing crystal damage in an area. The number of stars increases each time Solar Storm is upgraded. Deals reduced damage to objectives.

Solar Storm is VainGlory's closest thing to a global ability, and to be used effectively, should be thought of and used in such a way. The devs recommend using Celeste's ultimate to secure the kill on a fleeing enemy - and that's a good use - but because of such a small cooldown, especially when maxed, I find it nice to use it after stunning opponents with Core Collapse (usually when they're all in a bush).

If you want to look at the true range of Solar Storm, activate the ability and then scroll the minimap around. Do this, as well, to aim for that long snipe kill.

CORE:

Most every Celeste build will include Eve of Harvest, and this one is no different. Lifesteal, additional energy and energy regen, and crystal power you cannot go wrong here. But...I would advise against picking up two. The additional lifesteal is really the only benefeit from stacking these and it ends up being a wasted spot.

Celeste is a mage (meaning she will rely on her skills more than other heroes) and her basic attacks even scale off of crystal damage. Aftershock's main benefit is that it helps you through the midgame when you're at your weakest.

All of your damage is crystal. All of it. Celeste needs a Piercing Shard even more than Skaarf. He at least has Fan the Flames. You lose out on a lot of damage if it doesn't ever get to your target.

Most defensive items are useless on Celeste. She's so fragile that if you actually have enough defense to live, you trade it for damage output. Reflex Block gives you a great shield and negates debuffs so you can boots out.

They're boots.

HARD CARRY OPTIONS:

Piercing Shard is more important, but if you have extra cash the additional shield pierce is great. Remeber, Broken Myth now works like Breaking Point, but harder to lose stacks.

Never a bad choice, I just feel that you need the passive effects from other items more before a Shatterglass. If you like the straight crystal power, by all means start working on one sooner!

Works best with one or two Shatterglasses, this is a late game investment that will most likely not help you much if bought before anything else. Because Celeste is a glass cannon, the 115% crystal scaling makes her auto-attacks beastly and late game it's so much fun, but again, in the late game.

Assuming I'm the only the only laner, an Energy Battery is the best choice. It keeps you in the lane longer and that's critical for farming gold in the lane for such a hard carry as Celeste. Alternatively, if there's potentially two of you in the lane, go with the Ironguard Contract first so you aren't losing out on all the gold. One more thing about the contract, if you find yourself using more potions than you'd like in the first few minutes of the game, the health regen can really save you some gold, plus an early scout trap to protect yourself from an early gank is great.

Early on Celeste is actually very strong, yet very fragile. Use Heliogenesis to harass enemies out of the lane and punish those that are too slow to avoid your supernovas. For this reason, I place my first two skill points in her Heliogenesis. Play smart, and you won't quite need a stun yet.

Her basic attacks aren't that strong yet, but after grabbing the first two Crystal Bits they start to have some oomph. Learn the amount of time it takes for her (celestially) slow auto-attacks to hit their mark. Usually you can grab last hits in the lane by waiting until your target's health goes bright red, but with Celeste, you will never last hit this way. That is because that mechanic only takes into consideration the weapon power portion of her attack. For that reason, newer players will rely on Heliogenesis. For securing multiple last hits this is acceptable, but for just one, you will be wasting energy.

More team fights will start and enemy heroes will start to pose a bigger threat. Crossing the halfway point in the lane alone with no vision will be an easy kill for the enemy. Don't let them. Drop a star in their bushes to check for enemies before getting too close. As with any laner, keep an eye on the map, if you see a team fight break out, go help! You bring a good amount of damage and can use Core Collapse to secure kills or to flee. But use it sparingly, it has a long cooldown that can be unforgiving.

This is when you're at your weakest; now that enemies have items worth something they can burst you down before you deal a ton of damage. Vision and a Reflex Block are your best friends during this phase.

If you stop farming in this phase you become a liabilty in the late game.

By now you can check the scoreboard and know what type of damage the enemies are dealing. Upgrade your Reflex Block accordingly. If you're getting targeted and still need some defense, use that last slot for countering. I love Fountain of Renewal, but since Celeste is so squishy, you could still die, and so I only recommend it if you're able to play on-the-edge of team fights. If you're being focused down first, come in the fight late to help avoid being focused.

If a Reflex Block is all you need, go for one of the hard carry options. One of these items isn't necessarily better than the other, but for me it comes down to will you have the gold to grab one of these or will the match be over soon? If it looks like you could be done soon, always remember to use a Crystal Infusion to help finish out a game. Then either pick up the Broken Myth, or a Heavy Prism if you're going for the Shatterglass or Alternating Current, that way you can change your mind if needed.

When it comes to pushing the lane in late game, Celeste can have a hard time doing it solo because of how susceptible to ganks she is, keep a protector near by and make sure your allies know when you want to push. A Crystal Infusion is great for this last push. Your damage should be fiercesome, both in terms of AoE damage, but also single target damage.

Celeste can overextend during this phase when chasing low health enemies. Use Solar Storm to finish them off and know when chasing becomes a risk.

Heliogenesis ALL THE BUSHES!! With a range of 9, you should be safe from most ganks, and preventing one can turn it into an ace for your team.