Riot Games says LoL Aphelios, the "big brain, sad moon boi" who's now making his way to League of Legends, is "the most complex champion" it's ever created. That complexity is the result of his unique kit, which is so different from those of other characters in the game that Riot created a unique HUD for Aphelios to support it.
Aphelios carries five weapons, each with a unique basic attack. He attacks with the one in his main hand (Q), and carries another in his offhand (R) that he can swap to at any time with W. The catch is that he can't choose which weapons he's packing: Each of them has 50 ammo, and when it runs dry it's automatically swapped out for the next weapon in line that's not currently equipped, while the empty weapon goes to the end of the line to "recharge." And because the swap bypasses the offhand, the order in which they cycle will change throughout the game.
His ultimate, Moonlight Vigil, will also vary depending on the weapon equipped. It begins the same for all of them, with a "moon bomb" that explodes on contact with the first enemy it hits, doing area-of-effect damage to nearby enemies. But after the detonation, he follows up with "enhanced basic attacks" from his main-hand weapon against all enemies caught in the explosion.
His arsenal:
Calibrum, the Rifle
- Calibrum is a poke/harass weapon. Its basic attacks have extra range. When abilities deal damage with Calibrum, they mark enemies hit. Aphelios can right-click marked enemies anywhere on the map to follow up with a basic attack from his off-hand weapon (or his non-Calibrum weapon, in cases where he swaps Calibrum to his off-hand before firing). This attack detonates other nearby marks for bonus damage against the marked targets.
- Q: Moonshot - Fire a skillshot that damages the first unit hit and marks them.
- R: Moonlight Vigil's follow-up attacks mark all enemies hit. These marks deal higher damage when consumed.
Severum, the Scythe Pistol
- Severum is a sustain weapon that heals Aphelios for a portion of the damage it deals. Overhealing from Severum is converted into a small shield.
- Q: Onslaught - Gain movement speed and rapidly fire your main-hand and off-hand weapons at the nearest enemy, prioritizing champions. Onslaught shots behave like basic attacks but deal reduced damage.
- R: Moonlight Vigil grants Aphelios a flat heal.
Gravitum, the Cannon
- Gravitum is a utility weapon that applies a decaying slow to enemies.
- Q: Eclipse - Damage and root all enemies on the map affected by Gravitum's slow. Eclipse doesn't use Aphelios' off-hand weapon.
- R: Moonlight Vigil's follow-up attacks apply a massively increased slow.
Infernum, the Flamethrower
- Infernum is an AoE/waveclear weapon. It deals increased basic attack and ability damage and creates a damage cone behind enemies hit.
- Q: Duskwave - Spout a wave of flame, damaging enemies. Then basic attack all enemies hit with your off-hand weapon.
- R: Moonlight Vigil's follow-up attacks create damage circles around enemies hit instead of damage cones behind them.
Crescendum, the Chakram
- Crescendum is a close-range DPS weapon that behaves like a boomerang. Once Aphelios basic attacks with Crescendum he can't attack again until it returns to him, but his attack resets when it does. Attack speed increases Crescendum's travel speed instead. The closer Aphelios is to his target, the less distance Crescendum has to travel—and the faster Aphelios can attack. When abilities or their follow-up attacks deal damage with Crescendum, they create temporary copies of it for each enemy hit that increase the strength of Crescendum's basic attack.
- Q: Sentry - Deploy a turret that shoots the nearest target with your off-hand weapon.
- R: If Moonlight Vigil hits fewer than three enemies, its follow up attacks still increase the damage of Crescendum's basic attacks as if at least three enemies were hit.
Aphelios' custom HUD indicates the equipped weapons and remaining ammo, and any time remaining on a Q cooldown. It also indicates basic attacks and effects, has an ammo tracker (once ammo in the current weapon is down to ten shots), and indicates which weapon will come up next once the main hand runs dry.
Aphelios is currently in testing on the League of Legends PBE and expected to move to the live servers with the 9.24 patch coming in December. You can get a more detailed look at the character at leagueoflegends.com, or of lore is your thing, dive into the story of The Weapon of the Faithful.
