Who is Akshan in League of Legends?

A few weeks ago, Riot Games announced its next major franchise event, Sentinels of Light, via a web puzzle. Players uncovered the site via link changes in Riot's social media profiles, and used their knowledge of League of Legends lore to unlock the announcement. Through completing the web puzzle, players also discovered that the new champion's name is Akshan.

But who exactly is he? And when is he coming to the League franchise?

Who is the newest League of Legends champion?

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The newest addition to the League of Legends mythos is Akshan, the Sentinel of Light and roguish assassin who’s bound to shake up gameplay nicely. He grew up a street urchin in a Shuriman village who would never turn a blind eye to injustice and would stand up to anyone who he deemed to be in the wrong - to his detriment, apparently, as after an altercation he is beaten almost to death.

He is saved by a kind woman named Shadya, resurrecting him with a mysterious weapon that Akshan wields himself in the wake of Shadya’s murder and aids him in his journey for vengeance.

Principal narrative writer John “JohnODyin” O’Bryan said: “We had a hard time finding the right balance between revenge and hero. There were points during development where we made a slight adjustment to who he was, and he swayed too far into evil, and lost the good part about him. There was a span of time when he wasn’t the type of man you’d want to root for. I think he’s landed in a place that’s morally grey. He has strong morals and a good motivation, and that’s what keeps him from being the type of man he hunts.”

Whilst you're here, make sure to check out our full guide on the league of legends ranks 

How does the new League of Legends Champion play?

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Akshan was designed with sneakiness in mind, while combining his assassin’s nature with the abilities of a marksman. He’s described as “a midlane marksman with a grappling gun, stealth, and a revive”, so it’s clear that Akshan is an all-rounder, with amazing abilities that might come at the expense of his health.

He’s also said to have some good applications when it comes to crowd control and target access, so he’ll be a great asset to your team.

What are Akshan's abilities?

Here are all of Akshan's abilities:

What is Akshan's passive ability?

Passive - Dirty Fighting - 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.

What is Akshan's Q ability?

Q - Avengerang - 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.

What is Akshan's W ability?

W - Going Rogue

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 move speed and mana regeneration while moving toward them.

What is Akshan's E ability?

E - Heroic Swing - 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.

What is Akshan's R ability?

R - Comeuppance - 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 channelling and firing Comeuppance.