Stats for mythic rank, last 7 days — third-party aggregation, not an official Moonton figure.
Written by EllieAnth — playing MLBB since 2017 (9+ years), peak rank Mythical Immortal, 1126 stars.
How to itemise Julian and, more importantly, why each item earns its slot.
Overview
Julian relies on casting two skills followed by an enhanced skill to trigger Smith's Legacy, which empowers his basic attacks and grants Hybrid Lifesteal stacks. Because his kit scales heavily with Magic Power while requiring him to fight in close range as an EXP Lane Fighter, this build balances early Magic Power scaling with hybrid durability. Purchasing Mana and Magic Power early via items like Clock of Destiny fuels his ability spamming, while Starlium Scythe directly converts skill usage into enhanced True Damage basic attacks. Adding defensive options like Brute Force Breastplate and Oracle ensures Julian survives close-quarters brawling, sustains through passive lifesteal, and repeatedly casts Scythe, Sword, and Chain during extended skirmishes.
1
Magic Boots
2
Clock of Destiny
3
Genius Wand
4
Starlium Scythe
5
Brute Force Breastplate
6
Oracle
Early
Early game mobility allows Julian to rotate between lanes and contest early objectives like the Turtle. The cooldown reduction provided directly lowers the downtime on his abilities—Scythe, Sword, and Chain—allowing him to cycle skills faster and activate Smith's Legacy enhanced basic attacks more frequently during early skirmishes in the EXP Lane to establish early lane dominance.
Early
Julian needs both survival stats and offensive power early on. Clock of Destiny gradually increases his Max HP and Magic Power over time through its unique passive. This sustained growth amplifies the Magic Damage of Scythe and Chain while giving Julian the durable health pool needed to jump into target-rich teamfights using Sword without instantly being eliminated.
In-game passive Unique Passive - Time: Gains 20 extra Max HP and 4 extra Magic Power every 20s, capped at 15 stacks.
Core
Dealing Magic Damage with skills like Scythe or Chain reduces the target's Magic Defense. Genius Wand dramatically enhances Julian's burst potential against squishy heroes and tough fighters alike. By shredding enemy magic defense, Julian's enhanced basic attacks from Smith's Legacy deal far higher overall damage, letting him dominate mid-game duels and force enemies out of lane.
In-game passive Unique Passive - Magic: Dealing Magic Damage to enemy heroes will reduce their Magic Defense by 3-7 (scales with level) for 2s. Stacks up to 3 times.
Core
This item is fundamental to Julian's core playstyle. After using skills like Sword or Chain, Starlium Scythe causes his next basic attack to deal additional True Damage and grant bonus movement speed. This synergizes perfectly with Smith's Legacy, which already empowers his basic attacks after skill combos, turning Julian into a lethal dive assassin who shreds health bars.
In-game passive Unique Passive - Crisis: Within 3s after casting a skill, the caster's next Basic Attack will deal additional True Damage equal to 100 plus 100% Magic Power and briefly grant 10% Movement Speed. This effect has a 1.5s cooldown.
As teamfights escalate in the late game, Julian must survive focus fire while dealing continuous damage. Brute Force Breastplate grants stacks of physical attack, magic power, and movement speed when Julian deals damage, capped by granting control duration reduction. This allows him to stay mobile, recover quickly from crowd control, and stick to targets with Smith's Legacy.
In-game passive Unique Passive - Brute Force: Each second after dealing damage, gain 6 extra Physical Attack and Magic Power and 2% extra Movement Speed for 4s, up to 6 stacks. Gain 15% extra Control Duration Reduction at full stacks.
Situational
Oracle boosts all received shield and HP regeneration effects. Since Smith's Legacy grants Julian stacks of extra Hybrid Lifesteal whenever he hits enemy heroes with skills, Oracle significantly amplifies that healing output. Completing this item transforms Julian into a durable drain-tank capable of surviving prolonged skirmishes near the Lord pit while relentlessly spamming abilities.
In-game passive Unique Passive - Bless: Received Shield and HP Regen effects are increased by 30%.
No build survives every draft. These are the situations where the order above should change.
Prioritise Genius Wand right after Magic Boots before completing Clock of Destiny. Shredding enemy Magic Defense early maximizes the impact of Scythe and Smith's Legacy basic attacks, keeping Julian's damage lethal against sturdy frontliners who buy early defense.
Rush Brute Force Breastplate immediately after Starlium Scythe. The bonus movement speed and control duration reduction mitigate heavy lockdown, enabling Julian to execute his Sword and Chain combos reliably without getting caught out and bursted down.
Prioritise Oracle earlier over Brute Force Breastplate. Enhancing the Hybrid Lifesteal granted by Smith's Legacy allows Julian to heal substantially off Scythe hits, sustaining his health bar while fighting around major map objectives like the Lord.
Item recommendations come from the game's own hero data. The explanations are AI-generated from Julian's ability kit and the items' in-game passives, and are checked automatically against the item list — they never introduce an item the game does not recommend for this hero.