Riot Games has revealed the newest champion for its League of Legends MOBA to be Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel. He is the third champion released so far this year to tie into the year-long Ruination storyline that may come to a head, or even an end, in Ruined King: A League of Legends Story later this year. A combination between a mid-lane marksman and an assassin, his abilities will allow him to burst down enemies and escape combat with ease.

League of Legends' South Asian-inspired champion hails from a Shuriman village, where he grew up as a street urchin. Akshan always stood up for what was right, fighting against injustices he saw in the world around him. One day, he crossed the wrong person and was beaten to death for his convictions. Resurrected by a weapon both revered and feared by the Sentinels of Light, Akshan then trained to join their ranks before eventually taking the powerful weapon for himself. While more of a rogue himself, he no doubt knows other Sentinels of Light, such as Lucian and Senna, who were featured in the Season 11 cinematic along with Viego.

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Every three hits from Akshan’s attacks and damaging abilities deal a burst of physical damage. If the target was a champion, Akshan also gains a shield.

After attacking, Akshan fires a second attack that deals reduced physical damage. The second shot can be canceled like a regular basic attack. If Akshan cancels the second shot, he gains a burst of move speed.

Akshan throws a boomerang that deals physical damage and reveals enemies hit, extending its range each time it hits an enemy. Enemies can be hit once as the boomerang goes out and once as it returns.

Passive: When enemy champions kill one of Akshan’s allies, they are marked as Scoundrels. When Akshan gets a takedown on a Scoundrel, he gains bonus gold, all allies killed by the Scoundrel are resurrected at their base, and Scoundrel status is removed from all other enemies.

Active: Akshan becomes camouflaged for a short duration or indefinitely while near terrain. During this time, Akshan can see trails leading toward Scoundrels and gains movement speed and mana regeneration while moving toward them.

Akshan fires a hookshot that embeds in the first terrain hit. While embedded, he can recast to swing around the terrain in the cast direction, firing physical damage bullets at the nearest enemy while swinging. While swinging, he can recast again to jump off in the direction of the cursor and fire a final shot.

Heroic Swing's cooldown resets when Akshan earns a takedown on an enemy champion.

Akshan locks onto an enemy champion and begins channeling power into his gun to store bullets. At the end of the duration or after recasting, Akshan unleashes the stored bullets, each dealing physical damage based on missing health to the first minion, champion, or structure hit.

Akshan can move normally and cast Heroic Swing while channeling and firing Comeuppance.

There is quite a lot going on in Akshan's kit. Akshan's abilities clearly showcase his role as a Sentinel of Light, insinuating how he may eventually come up against the Scoundrel that is the Ruined King, the big story villain of Season 11. In all likelihood, Akshan's mechanics will take some time to master but can be immensely powerful in the right player's hands.

The potential of his resurrection ability led Riot to tone down some of his combat power to compensate, which is seen in how Akshan doesn't have any slows or crowd control, unlike other assassins. His hookshot Heroic Swing mechanic also seems very interesting to play. It will be interesting to see what the cooldowns are for each of Akshan's abilities and whether he will be a champion that needs either a buff or nerf after launch.

Thankfully, players won't have to wait too long to play this dashing rogue. Much like League of Legends' Lillia tied into last year's Spirit Blossom summer event, Akshan will likely play a role in the upcoming Sentinels of Light event this summer. It will be interesting to see how Akshan fits in the mid lane, and where players might try him out elsewhere.

League of Legends is available on PC. Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel, is expected to release on July 22, 2021.

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Source: Riot Games