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Hands on with League’s new champs, Xayah and Rakan
These two were made for one another. Literally.
This week Riot took the unusual step of revealing two new League of Legends champions in tandem. After all, when you’ve already shipped 134 champs, it’s important to keep things fresh. Why not release a duo?
In reality, double-debut of Xayah and Rakan is more than just a gimmick and the two champions have far more in common than just a synchronous release. Not only are the pair placed in complementary roles (Xayah is an ADC, Rakan a support) but their kits are designed to synergise. In fact, Riot has even gone one step further than that: Xayah and Rakan possess ability bonuses that only apply when playing with one another. Never before have players been so actively encouraged to use two champions together.
The fates of Xayah and Rakan are intertwined. With significant bonuses that depend on one another’s presence, their in-game viability will likely rise and fall as one. The pair have only momentarily been available on the PBE, but we dived with Rakayah to see how they perform as lone eagles, or whether these birds of a feather should gank together.
Xayah – feathered fire
Xayah doesn’t feel like a traditional ADC: by the end game you can’t just point her at targets and watch them melt. In order to deal maximum damage she relies upon careful use of her abilities and monitoring of her “feather mechanic”.
After casting any ability, Xayah’s next few attacks pierce through targets and drop a feather where they land. These feathers can then be recalled to her position, dealing damage. If an enemy is struck by three feathers at the same time, then they’re momentarily rooted. Her ultimate, Featherstorm, makes her briefly untargetable and then unleashes a barrage of feathers. Here’s a Riot playing her with infinitely more skill than us:
Don’t expect to go chasing down opponents like Lucian or netting kills from the opposite side of the map like Jinx. The base damage of Xayah’s attacks also isn’t enormous, probably because her W, Deadly Plumage, increases the speed and strength of her basic attacks.
Xayah has virtually no way to catch up with out-of-range opponents and relies on baiting them within the border formed by her deployed feathers. Netting kills in lane is a case of setting up traps and then closing them. We found ourselves dying more playing Xayah than expected because of her inability to attack from safety, and her ultimate depends on impeccable timing.
Rakan – support wing
This is where Rakan comes in: a mobile nuisance built with a little bit of everything. He can poke using his Q, which heals after a short delay. Additionally he can jump to and shield allies, as well as knocking opponents up. Key to his kit is the mobility built into his W, E and R, all three of which provide effective methods of engagements or escape.
Players who enjoy heavy-engage champions will immediately feel at home with Rakan’s playstyle, though there are key differences. Where some supports have their big lockdown moment, and then fully disengage, Rakan goes back and forth, skirting in and out in the manner Riot has encouraged with more recent champions like Ekko and Camille.
He ain’t tanky, but Rakan brings a decent amount of sustain to lane through the consistent healing – assuming he manages to land his Qs and jump within range of his ally. Here’s Riot having a good time with the him in bot lane:
Rakan’s ultimate charms every single enemy he walks through and is an utter nightmare to deal with in teamfights. Given his ability to move about with such frequency and ease, teams are going to have to keep on constant watch for him. There exists a tonne of potential synergies with The Quickness, not least other AOE ultimates like that of Orianna or Vel’Koz for whom Rakan can serve as a funnel, drawing all enemies into the firing line.
Xayah and Rakan are also lovers
© Riot Games
Xayah with Rakan
One champ has mobility and stickiness problems, the other champ is mobile, can heal, shield, and comes loaded with two forms of CC. It’s a natural pairing, but requires precise timing and coordination in order to make everything work as planned. We often found that the temptation to splurge: recalling Xayah’s feathers at the same time as Rakan charming and then knocking up opponents was great, but wasted the potential for chain CC and left Xayah extremely vulnerable at the tail end of an engagement.
Of course, we probably weren’t making the best of their built-in synergies either. Rakan’s Battle Dance rushes to aid of an allied champion, but if that champion is Xayah, then the distance he can dash is significantly longer.
Similar benefits apply the other way: Xayah’s W, Deadly Plumage also lends its increase in attack speed and damage to Rakan if he’s nearby.
We only made use of a long-distance Battle Dance once or twice, but the increase in range probably saved our Rakan’s life. The threat of distance diving also made Xayah a less juicy target, in spite of the modest size of the shield generated.
However poking in lane with this pair is difficult: they instead rely on Rakan getting in and out with extreme haste whilst Xayah delivers a couple of damaging shots and hopes to either coax enemies into range of her feathers or drop some more behind them.
Will people begin choosing either of these champs without the other? Probably, but given how both have been carefully sculpted to match one another’s playstyles, it simply makes sense to put them together for the moment. The increased attack speed from Deadly Plumage, which is shared with Rakan by Xayah, is a significant boost, especially given that basic attacks reduce the cooldown on his passive, which grants him a shield.
You can jump in and try Xayah and Rakan on the PBE right now as the two undergo testing.
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