Champion Roadmap: October 2019[]
- And the Faithful Shall Be Rewarded
What will you sacrifice for your faith? Only the devout will master the next champion we have prepared for you. A new marksman, raised since birth with only one purpose: to protect the faith from those who stand in the sun. Constantly training, mastering diverse weapons of faith, swapping through them like cycles of the moon with nothing but that one lone voice, pushing, comforting... loving? If you are up to the challenge, you too must train hard and achieve zen-like focus in order to reap the rewards.
So I ask again: What will you sacrifice for your faith?
Aphelios Kit Primer[]
By Riot Aether[2]
Most champions can be summarized relatively quickly, but Aphelios isn't most champions. Learning to wield the Weapon of the Faithful demands discipline, focus, and mental acuity, so consider this primer your first test of faith along the path to mastering a champion with one of the highest skill ceilings in the game.
(But really, this page has a ton of info to process. Read it a couple times, probably.)
We're going to start with the overall structure of Aphelios' kit, then get into what each of his weapons does.
How the kit works
- Guns, basic attacks & ammo
Aphelios cycles through five weapons, each with its own basic attack. He attacks with his main-hand weapon, but always carries an off-hand weapon he can swap to with W.
Aphelios can't pick and choose which two weapons he equips at any given time. His weapons have 50 ammo ("Moonlight") each, and when a weapon runs empty you get the next one in line. Empty weapons go to the end of the line to recharge.
Since Aphelios can swap between his main-hand and off-hand, weapon order changes throughout the game based on which weapons you use first.
Abilities
Aphelios only has three buttons: Q, W, and R. W swaps between his main- and off-hand weapons, leaving him with two actual abilities. Kind of.
Each of Aphelios' five weapons has its own Q ability when equipped as his main-hand weapon. Each Q applies bonus attacks and effects based on his off-hand weapon. All five Qs cost mana and ammo, and each has its own cooldown (you can Q, switch guns, then immediately use the other Q). Aphelios automatically learns Q at level 2 and it slowly becomes stronger over the course of the game. We'll get to what each Q does in the weapon sections below.
Aphelios' ultimate, Moonlight Vigil, sends forward a moon bomb that explodes on the first enemy hit, damaging nearby enemies. Then, Aphelios follows up with enhanced basic attacks from his main-hand weapon against all enemies caught in the explosion. He automatically learns R at level 6, and it automatically levels up at levels 11 and 16.
Aphelios' ultimate, 
Moonlight Vigil, sends forward a moon bomb that explodes on the first enemy hit, damaging nearby enemies. Then, Aphelios follows up with enhanced basic attacks from his main-hand weapon against all enemies caught in the explosion. He automatically learns R at level 6, and it automatically levels up at levels 11 and 16.
Level-ups
Level-ups Since Aphelios automatically learns his Q and R, he puts his 18 level-up points into stats rather than abilities:
- Attack Damage
- Attack Speed
- Bonus Armor Penetration
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.
Fire a skillshot that damages the first unit hit and marks them.
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.
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.
Moonlight Vigil grants Aphelios a flat heal.
Gravitum, the Cannon
Gravitum is a utility weapon that applies a decaying slow to enemies.
Damage and root all enemies on the map affected by Gravitum's slow. Eclipse doesn't use Aphelios' off-hand weapon.
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.
Spout a wave of flame, damaging enemies. Then basic attack all enemies hit with your off-hand weapon.
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.
Deploy a turret that shoots the nearest target with your off-hand weapon.
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.
Custom HUD
All the stuff above is a lot to take in, and a lot to track. Aphelios has a unique HUD to ease this burden.
- Passive, explaining Aphelios' weapons and level ups. The tooltip is as long as this article.
- Aphelios' main-hand weapon and its remaining ammo.
- Q.
- Aphelios' off-hand weapon and its remaining ammo. If its Q is on cooldown, the icon will also indicate remaining cooldown.
- The next weapon you'll get once one of your weapons runs out of ammo.
- R.
Additionally, if your main-hand gun has 10 or less ammo remaining, an ammo tracker will appear on the right side of your screen so you can track your remaining shots.
The Weapon of the Faithful
Mastering Aphelios' moonstone arsenal may prove to be one of the most daunting challenges in all of League. Are you devoted enough for the task? Ready yourself, the Weapon of the Faithful arrives during patch 9.24.
Champion Insights: Aphelios[]
By Riot Cashmiir[3]
Sometimes when we release a new champion, we're greeted with a chorus of, “What the heck Rito, you've gone too far! TOO FAR!!”
Aphelios is probably definitely going to get that reaction. And that's fine. In fact, it's great. Aphelios is here to test what you're willing to sacrifice. Are you willing to relinquish control over which weapons you wield? Are you willing to learn around 30 different abilities? Are you willing to blindly trust that the voice only you can hear knows exactly what you need?
If you believe it's your fate to find victory in the whispers of the moon, then it's time to lock in Aphelios (and Alune). And the results of your faith can be a thing of beauty.
- Faith is Perseverance
Aphelios' journey from early concept to creation was a long one. Well over a year, in fact. But he started, as all champions do, with a goal. His was to allow creative adaptation by using combinations of abilities, instead of twitch reflexes. Basically, he was designed to be the 
Yasuo of 200 IQ, galaxy brain plays.
But where do you begin with a goal like that? What path brought the team to Aphelios, the mute Lunari religious assassin with an arsenal of magical moon relic weapons? The answer is obvious: It all started with wizards and battle royales.
“Even after almost 150 champions, League of Legends doesn't have a wizard,” explains senior narrative writer David “Interlocutioner” Slagle. “It has a shirtless blue guy… Seven versions of him, in fact. But still no wizard.”
To the team, the classic wizard archetype is someone who defeats evil with knowledge. Not fast reflexes, landing skill shots, or perfectly timed abilities. All that matters is the knowledge of what tool to use at the exact moment.
“I don't know who made the call to turn Aphelios into a marksman,” says game designer Stash “Riot Stashu” Chelluck. “The early wizard idea was really cool, but the gameplay experience wasn't that unique for the current roster of mages. We thought it would be a really unusual space in the marksman roster. What if instead of an arsenal of spells, Aphelios had an arsenal of weapons?”
Marksmen largely play the same across all champions. You go to lane, farm minions, forget about the mini map, die a bunch, maybe get a kill or two, and build items. The abilities change, but the overall gameplay is familiar.
With a clear role and general “weapon swapping marksman” design in place, the team needed to discover exactly who Aphelios was.
Some early Aphelios concepts including Braum's mean older brother, one of Quinn's Demacian Ranger friends, a Zaun Assassin, a Knight, a Shuriman Wizard, and a Zaun 'Bard'
“I started thinking of different factions in Runeterra that might have a gunswap marksman,” concept artist Sunny “Kindlejack” Pandita shares. “One of them was Braum's mean older brother, who carried a totem pole that channeled Freljordian animal spirits to swap abilities.”
Zaun was another option: A mad scientist mixing chemicals and conducting experiments to create unique abilities or weapons. And if not Zaun, then what about Piltover?
“Interlocutioner had a really great idea based on this 'right tool for the job' concept,” says Kindlejack. “And it kind of felt like a bounty hunter. It was a person you'd hire because they knew how to hunt anyone, or anything, because they had the right weapon for every situation.”
The idea culminated in a Piltovan bounty hunter who had imprisoned his last bounty. His “assistant” rode a sky-cycle around the Rift, throwing weapons down to its master whenever he required them.
But it just didn't feel like Aphelios.
“I'd been looking at the outfits from the Met Gala that year, and they had combined religious iconography with high fashion,” says Kindlejack. “I thought it was something worth exploring, so I started drawing it.”
The high-fashion-monk-meets-almost-selflessly-romantic-assassin design struck a chord with the team. A champion who believes so strongly in his cause, with unshakable devotion… It was admirable, but scary. It was perfect. But where did he belong in Runeterra?
“I'd been talking to one of the lead concept artists on another project. He told me they'd been doing a lot of research into different factions within Runeterra,” Kindlejack explains. “So he shared the visual explorations with me. The Lunari stuck out because they're a faction that's recognisable to players, but still unexplored.”
Until Aphelios, Diana stood as the lone Lunari in our champion roster. And she didn't offer players much information about her people. What do we really know about the Lunari other than “moon?” What are they fighting for? What do they care about?
“With Aphelios, we had a chance to make the whole world around him spring to life,” adds Interlocutioner. “What's going on on Mount Targon? Now we finally get a glimpse into that.”
Aphelios is a Lunari assassin who finds no pleasure in killing. But he still kills… and he's not alone.
- Faith is Trust
“Aphelios and Alune are twins, born during a rare celestial event,” explains Interlocutioner. “The moon in Runeterra has an orbit, and the moon in the spirit realm reflects that. Every once in a while there's a convergence, and the magic gifted to those born during it is incredible among the Lunari.”
Alune spent her life training to be an oracle to harness the moon's magical light to reveal hidden truths and pathways—whereas Aphelios trained to eliminate any who would do the Lunari harm. The pair represents the two sides of the Lunari faith: magical mysticism and grounded realism. And the connection they share manifests multiple ways in game.
“We were looking for a narrative justification for where the weapons came from,” says Riot Stashu. “Why does the player not get to choose which weapons they use? How does Aphelios get them? Why doesn't this trained assassin monk have any control over it?”
Because Alune always knows what Aphelios needs.
When a match begins, Aphelios drinks poison to open a psychic(ish) connection with Alune. In order for her to speak to Aphelios and send him the magic-infused weaponry, she must be in her sanctuary fortress within the spirit realm. But the poison does more than create a connection. It fills Aphelios with the night's power. His muscles tense, he can channel the magic—Alune's magic. But not without sacrifice.
“The poison causes Aphelios' throat to tighten. It's why he doesn't speak. But there's more to the poison than that. The connection allows Alune to know his thoughts, their souls converge,” explains Interlocutioner. “I think if we ever knew exactly what someone else was thinking, we'd get hurt most of the time. There's a rawness to our realities that often doesn't match someone else's. And Aphelios and Alune have to face this every time they connect. They can't lie to each other. Or themselves.”
Aphelios' silence presented a unique challenge—would players feel emotionally connected with a champion who doesn't speak? Would the connection be hampered if they heard the voice of someone who doesn't really appear? How do you approach the sound design for someone who's speaking telepathically from another realm?
“It was really important to get the 'voice over the walkie talkie' part of Alune's VO right,” voice over designer Julian “Riot Zimberfly” Samal explains. “It needed to communicate that she was in a remote location without being too intrusive. Because if it was too jarring, it could cause confusion and interrupt gameplay.”
To accomplish this, Riot Zimberfly processed unintelligible incantation-esque whispers from Alune's voice actor and used them to create the “walkie talkie” sound effect. The implication is that a few of Alune's own thoughts are escaping through the lunar conduit to Aphelios. Her fragile, but still strong, reassuring voice uses textural and musical layers to create the feeling that it comes from within your head.
Guidance comes in forms other than Alune's magically gifted weapons and gentle words of encouragement.
“When we decided on Aphelios'… unique kit, we all piled into a room to discuss how to explain his abilities to players in game,” explains Kindlejack. “I'd wanted to create a custom HUD since we started experimenting with Ultimate skins. And Aphelios gave us a real reason to do it.”
Aphelios has a Q, an R, and… another R. No Passive, no (real) W, and no E.
League's never had a champion that required an entirely different HUD. Some of the Ultimate skins offer addons, and champions that evolve their skills require extra love. But a champion that doesn't level up in the traditional sense, has “fewer” abilities, the ability to weapon swap, and uses an “ammo” system requires a little bit more than just some extra love.
“It was a really cool and scary moment,” Kindlejack explains. “I'd never done anything like this before. But I think his bespoke HUD creates this unique experience for the dedicated, true believers. (And none of this would have been possible without the work of Bryce “The King of Rad” Mercado, the HUD's engineer.)”
With Alune watching over you, giving you guidance, encouragement, and, most importantly, a deadly host of celestial weaponry, you can use that bespoke UI to focus on what really matters… Big. Brain. Plays.
- Faith is Unwavering
How do you ensure that a champ with five weapons remains cohesive? How do you make the weapons feel unique but still recognizable? And how do they fit in with the Lunari when Targonians use spears and swords?
… Aphelios' weapons aren't exactly as they seem.
“These aren't traditional projectile weapons with magazines,” explains Kindlejack. “Instead, they're like sacred Lunari artifacts. When I was designing them I imagined they were normally on display in a temple. It's the combination of Aphelios' and Alune's gifts that turns them deadly.”
Because of League's top-down perspective, the guns' silhouettes would be difficult to see. Their design needed to feel familiar, so we somewhat imitated silhouettes of other guns to help communicate gameplay—for example, the long-range weapon looks similar to Caitlyn's rifle. But even with this, guns can be pretty difficult to read in-game, so Aphelios' stance and animations do a lot of the heavy lifting. His posture and movements vary with each weapon to make them distinct and intuitive so players know which abilities (and basic attacks) he has access to.
“After we landed on 'Lunari assassin' for his character design, we just went with it,” laughs Kindlejack. “There was some refinement, but compared to most champions his visual design didn't really change. But his arsenal? I redesigned it about 10 times over the course of a year.”
Every time a weapon was changed, added, or removed, the art needed to be updated to reflect that. The colors and shapes all had to be unique, along with the way Aphelios held them. But the need for clarity didn't just stop at the weapons' physical designs.
“It's really hard to make guns sound magical,” shares lead sound designer Brandon “Riot Sound Bear” Reader. “Aphelios isn't casting spells. He's shooting guns. But they aren't traditional guns, so they still had to sound… magical.”
But why does Aphelios need to switch weapons at all? Because of their moonlight “ammo,” obviously. And because Alune's magic eventually wanes, the weapons fade back across the veil to be recharged with the moon's might. That means you need to adapt and react.
“One of the benefits of not being able to choose which weapon you have is that we could make the combination of his weapons super OP in different situations,” says Riot Stashu.
“Because of the ammo, you force players into a scenario where they need to recognize their strengths at that exact moment. You can give them this combination of weapons that's really strong for dueling so they think, 'Oh damn. I have to fight RIGHT NOW.'”
This is the galaxy brain moment. Aphelios' unique weapon combinations create opportunities for him to set up his teammates to engage, or to siege towers and objectives, or maybe even to go toe-to-toe with some of the best duelists in the game. It requires players to recognize and even predict their strengths to be the most effective sad moon boi out there. If not, you'll limp away and (hopefully) use your given weapons more successfully next time.
- The Faithful Shall be Rewarded
Just as Aphelios trained for years to become a Lunari assassin, so too must you train to understand and trust your own abilities. Aphelios knows how to do the job, and eventually you will too.
When a time of darkness comes to Mount Targon, will your faith see you through?
Trivia[]
- Aphelios was accidentally revealed in the champion select screen of Voyboy's
Mordekaiser rework video. - Aphelios is voiced by an unknown Riot Sound Designer for Voice Overs.[4]
- The poison only constricts and agonizes his throat, so while he cannot speak, Aphelios is still able to make basic grunts and gasping sounds in game.
- Alune is voiced by Tania Gunadi, who also voices her in Legends of Runeterra.[5]
- Laura Vall provided the vocals for his theme.[6]
- Aphelios started as a wizard with an arsenal of spells, but this gameplay wasn't unique compared to existing mages.[7]
- Aphelios at one point had 25 different weapons.[8]
- Aphelios' development loading screen had the "Do you really need that many weapons?" text written on it.
- The product goal for Aphelios was to create a champion with a high mastery curve from combining abilities rather than through high reflexes.[9]
- The narrative goal for Aphelios were to examine how faith could be required in a world with gods, create a relationship between the player and Aphelios and Alune that was deep yet soft, and reconcile and enrich the Lunari's philosophy beyond worshiping the moon.[10]
- Aphelios' visual design had to be simpler in order for his weapons to have a dominant visual read for clarity.[11]
- Aphelios' weapons are intended to represent the more alien and sci-fi aspects of Mount Targon.[11]
- Aphelios' weapons were once wholly moonsilver, like Diana's blade, but evolved due to him being unique compared to the rest of the Lunari and the need for him to wield something rarer and potentially fragile.[11]
- The shapes of Aphelios' weapons were inspired by the curves and crescents of the moon, orbits of moons, and the flow of tides.[11]
- Aphelios' visuals are intended to replicate the material of Diana's armor but combine the elements of a minimalist utilitarian and a divine ritualist.[11]
- Alune was chosen to be the primary voiceover because Riot wanted to push Aphelios into the silent monk assassin archetype as well as the silence reinforcing Aphelios' theme.[10]
- Aphelios' voiceover is intended to be a juxtaposition of his constricted, lower and pained exertions against Alune's ethereal and elegant textures due to the light and dark dichotomy being central to the character.[12]
- An iteration of Infernum allowed Aphelios to burn turrets.[13]
- Gravitum was originally called "Goo Gun" and fired goo until halfway through development.[10]
- Aphelios has 148 unique visual effects.[14]
- Aphelios' 5 guns are based on the 5 phases of the moon:[15]
- Calibrum is based on a full moon due to the bright moonlight offering clarity and focus, ideal for sniping.
- Gravitum is based on a new moon due the darkness of the projectiles it shoots.
- Crescendum is based on a half moon because, as a throwing weapon, it is perfectly balanced.
- Infernum is based on a waxing moon due to the waxing moon's light increasing like fire burning.
- Severum is based on a waning moon because the crescent shape of the weapon mirrors the crescent shape of the waning moon.
Media[]
- Related Music
| Aphelios's Theme (Instrumental) |
- Lyrics
Awake to my voice
And hear her call within
Embrace the fear inside
Surrender your mind to night again
Close your eyes
Have faith in me
And leave the light behind
You're never alone
Whenever it's cold let the shadows take hold
You're never alone
Let the poison in
Feel the warmth arise
Close your eyes
Have faith in me
And leave the light behind
You're never alone
Whenever it's cold let the shadows take holdv
You're never alone
And live within, dreams revealed
I'm with you, never alone
Soon you'll be
Set truly free
From all those chains you bear
You're never alone
And live within, dreams revealed
I'm with you, never alone
- Related Videos
_league-ref-riot.png "Aphelios LunarBeast VFX(R) league-ref-riot.png (2.52 MB)")
Teamfight Tactics
- Main article: Summoner icon
- Main article: Emotes
References[]
- ↑ Champion Roadmap: October 2019
- ↑ Aphelios Kit Primer
- ↑ Champion Insights: Aphelios
- ↑ Sunny Koda on Aphelios Voice Actor
- ↑ Zimberfly on Alune's Voice Actress
- ↑ Talonodor on Aphelios Singer
- ↑ Champion Insights: Aphelios
- ↑ Scruffy on Early Aphelios
- ↑ Reav3 on Aphelios' Product Goal
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Interlocutioner on Aphelios Weapon Names
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Kindlejack on the Development of Aphelios' Visuals
- ↑ Zimbferfly on Aphelios VO Goals
- ↑ EndlessPillows on Infernum Turret Burn
- ↑ Phoenix on Aphelios VFX
- ↑ Interlocutioner on Aphelios' Gun Names