The idea for making Camille inspired Akshan – League’s latest champion.
Akshan, League of Legends’ newest champion and Sentinel of Light, has a fancy grappling hook that reminds many fans of a particular scissor-legged champion that is already in the game. But it turns out that this isn’t a coincidence, since Camille used to be able to travel as freely as Akshan does today.
Jeevun “Jag” Sidhu, the current lead game designer on the Summoner’s Rift team for League, confirmed today that this curving grappling hook motion was inspired by Camille’s E, Hookshot, five years ago. Jag showed Katarina being used as a test subject for this grappling hook in a video shared to Twitter, looping around the landscape in a similar fashion to how Akshan presently does.
Jag stated that this widespread mobility was difficult to incorporate into League at the time, most likely owing to its unusual interactions with Summoner’s Rift, which had never been done before. Camille was introduced to the game later that year, and the iteration she was launched with a focus on a much more linear grapple to the terrain—a mechanism that had previously been exclusive to her.
Askhan’s grapple, which is tied to his E ability, has undergone significant modifications from its first concept. While he travels in the same arc, he also auto-targets enemy champions and fires a few shots at them while traveling. Although Camille did not achieve this cone mobility with her grapple, we now know that the concept was developed and refined before Akshan’s debut.
Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel, will join League’s roster of champions on July 21, bringing with him a kit full of damage, stealth, and even the power to revive his teammates.