Why are LoL players already complaining about Akshan's abilities?

William Davis Published 08/07/2021

Just 24 hours after Riot Games revealed the abilities of the newest champion Akshan, a large portion of the game’s community is loudly voicing its skepticism.

It’s by no means unusual that LoL players are skeptical when a new and seemingly strong additions to the game is introduced, and Akshan is no exception. The Rogue Sentinel has really divided the community with his new and unique mechanics that some think will be broken from day one. The main ability in question is Akshan’s Going Rogue (W). This ability allows Akshan to instantly revive fallen allied champions, and that alone has been very controversial.

As the first mid-lane marksman ever introduced by Riot, it came as a shock to many when it was revealed that the Rogue Sentinel can revive teammates. Through the passive on Going Rogue, Akshan will mark enemy champions as a Scoundrel when they kill one of Akshan’s allies. When Akshan takes down a Scoundrel, he will gain bonus gold, but more importantly he will resurrect allies that the Scoundrel has killed.

This is the first time a mechanic like this has been introduced in League of Legends’ 11 years. The mechanic quickly got players and experts speculating how this will impact the game. One thing is certain: it will definitely be impactful. With this ability, a team with Akshan can potentially get an instant revive if Akshan manages to clean up a fight. This could be make or break in the late game, or even make teams trade kills on purpose to gain advantages.

Has Riot gone too far with new champion Akshan?

As has been seen before when Riot gets extra creative with its champions and items, certain players in the community are very skeptical about such dramatic change. The most skepticism was seen on social media shortly after the reveal, where players shared opinions on how Akshan will be way too broken and could potentially even ruin the game experience.

The biggest criticism towards Riot has been that a revival ability like this will be way too hard to balance and could potentially be abused in professional play. Even though Akshan is still only up for testing on the Public Beta Environment (PBE), some are quickly jumping ship and throwing away all trust in Riot to balance him. Other concerns are that Akshan will be out of control in the ARAM game mode, which is known to have a lot of fights and game-deciding death timers in the later stages.

It’s not the first time that a part of the community has been against new champions from Riot. The same skepticism surrounded Viego when he was revealed back in January, when many players couldn’t believe that his ability to possess dead enemies would ever be balanced. Now, after months in the game, Viego is certainly strong but hasn’t been as big of a problem as some expected. As of right now, Riot has already made adjustments to the Ruined King in six patches to find the right balance for him.

This has led to its own criticism, with players suggesting that kits like those belonging to new champions Viego and Akshan can only be balanced through constant tweaking of numbers.

For now, some players are not looking forward to playing against Akshan, but others are more excited and are happy that Riot keeps innovating in the game by adding new mechanics even after more than 150 different champions have been released.

Whether Akshan will be overpowered on release is still hard to say, but as per usual, Riot will be keeping a close eye on his performance. Only time will tell if Akshan’s kit is too bold or if he will find the perfect balance.

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