Published: 2026-10-19 · League of Legends: Wild Rift

Wild Rift Hwei guide (7.3b): runes, items, spell combos and counters

Role and playstyle

Hwei is the painter mage who arrived in Wild Rift with patch 7.3 on September 21. Each of his three basic ability buttons opens three different spells: Disaster (Q) holds his damage spells, Serenity (W) his utility and speed, and Torment (E) his crowd control. Despite two nerfs in 7.3a and 7.3b, he is S+ in the mid lane on WildRiftCore's October 18 list and also sees play as a support. He is a long-range zone controller with no mobility, so positioning is everything.

Recommended runes and items

• Keystone: Arcane Comet. For the other runes, wr-meta suggests Manaflow Band, Transcendence, Scorch and Bone Plating.
• Summoner spells: Flash and Ghost. Hwei has no dash, so Ghost helps both to escape and to chase.
• Items: Spellslinger's Shoes (upgraded from Boots of Mana), Blackfire Torch, Infinity Orb, Rabadon's Deathcap, Zhonya's Hourglass, Void Staff.
• Situational: Banshee's Veil against heavy assassin teams, Morellonomicon against strong healing, and Void Staff earlier once the enemy stacks magic resist.
• As a support, start with Spectral Sickle and then move into the ability power build with Blackfire Torch.

Combos and key tips

• Passive: hitting a marked enemy with a second damaging spell triggers an explosion. Always finish combos with two different damage spells.
• Gaze of the Abyss (E then W) roots and reveals the first enemy hit; follow with Severing Bolt (Q then W), which deals more damage to immobilized targets.
• Grim Visage (E then Q) fears the first enemy hit; use your Q spells while the fear lasts.
• Crushing Maw's range dropped from 7.5 to 7 in 7.3b, so you need to be a little closer. Lock the target with the root or the fear first.
• Skill order: max Q first, then E, then W.

Counters

• Good against Hwei: assassins with dashes. Our engine lists Kassadin, Zed, Talon, Akali, Katarina and Fizz among the best answers, and in the jungle Nocturne, Kha'Zix and Evelynn can catch him too.
• Hwei is good against: slow melee champions. He can kite and control fighters such as Darius, Garen and Aatrox from range.
• Items against him: magic resist (Force of Nature, Mercury's Treads) plus Quicksilver Sash or Banshee's Veil to break or block his control.

What changed recently

In 7.3b (October 14) his passive explosion went from 40-285 + 30% AP to 30-280 + 25% AP. The Pool of Reflection shields and the bonus damage on Stirring Lights went down, and Crushing Maw's damage dropped from 70-220 + 70% AP to 60-210 + 60% AP, with its range now 7. Even so, his ban rate stays high; wr-meta showed him at a 57.7% ban rate during 7.3a.

Riot Games Wild Rift patch notes 7.3 and 7.3b · wr-meta.com Hwei build page (patch 7.3a) · WildRiftCore tier list (patch 7.3b, October 18, 2026)