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Akshan, League of Legends' Rogue Sentinel, is a mid-lane marksman who is simultaneously capable of lethal assassination and supporting role play.
Riot's lead game designer Jeevun “Jag” Sidhu in a recent dev blog, addressed some concerns about Akshan's exact role in the game. Jag also discussed Akshan's strengths and weaknesses and why he was designed with a revive.
League of Legends' Rogue Sentinel is a self-reliant assassin who can burst enemies, and utilize his mobility to sneak into a teamfight or escape. What separates Akshan from the other League of Legends assassins is his exclusive ability to revive slain allies.
Though the champion apparently seems abnormally overpowering, Riot Devs did design him, keeping in mind a few specific weaknesses, offering his opponents a way to counter. Jag specifically discussed Akshan's weak late game damage, lack of CC, unreliable teamfight damage, and the difficulty that is faced while killing a powerful enemy to pull off a revive.
Riot dev talks about Akshan’s intended strengths, weaknesses, and why he was designed with a revive
Jag in his dev blog pointed out the various complex attributes of Akshan. As of now, even League of Legends devs do not have an exact idea of how powerful his revival ability can turn out to be. He said:
“Sometimes Akshan will resurrect a single ally who will proceed to instantly run it down again. Sometimes he’ll solo turn a game by killing a Scoundrel that just got a Quadra Kill, reviving his entire team to march forward and take the Nexus. We know just how much potential this mechanic could have, and that drove us to put constraints on this effect.”
Riot devs created this risky ability as they wanted him to be "something unique, exciting, and new.” According to him,
"The first answer, in terms of what led our exploration into the team utility space, is that it matches who Akshan is as a person. He’s a complex hero on a journey to find a way to be a part of the world. He’s lived his whole life on his own, but now wants to live in a way that lets him connect with people and help them, even if doing that could severely cost him."
Secondly:
"Of course, it has to go beyond that—the revive has to make sense in terms of gameplay. Players talk a lot about champions that are not just fun to play as, but also fun to play against. We summarized those in the two lists up top and expect a lot of follow-up conversations will focus there, but I also want to talk about designing Akshan as a champion who's fun to play with."
Akshan's strengths and weaknesses
According to the dev, Akshan was built to play aggressively early on in the game by roaming and skirmishing.
His intended strengths include:
- Strategic flanking and target access due to stealth and mobility from grappling hook.
- Long range kill pressure with ultimate.
- Unique utility by reviving slain allies.
- Highly self-sufficient due to built-in shield and ability to choose engagements.
- Strong burst damage, particularly when snowballing.
- Windows of top tier roaming from increased movement speed when hunting Scoundrels.
His intended weaknesses include:
- Access to revive requires killing an enemy (often the most dangerous one)
- Weak reactive defenses, particularly against aggressive melees that can bodyblock his grappling hook.
- Worst-in-Marksman-class sustained DPS.
- Worst-in-Marksman-class attack range.
- Damage falls off significantly with game time.
- Extremely unreliable damage in teamfights.
- No crowd control, and very low value to the team when behind.
To sum up, Akshan promises to be the typical selfish archetype of an assassin, while also sacrificing his soul for his team. No League of Legends champion appeals to every player in the community.
But the devs truly believe that fans will be able to connect more with this charming marksman-assassin. Jag is certain that Akshan will be a completely new experience for League of Legends players.
