League of Legends is rolling out another champion, even though the last new champion has only been released for less than a month. Tahm Kench, the River King, has climbed out of the water and revealed himself as a new tanky support or solo lane champion (top lane?). The cinematic trailer was released June 19, 2015, and details on his abilities were officially released today.
If Twisted Fate and Fizz had a love child, this would be it. Though this fish champion doesn’t do much damage he does have a lot of utility.
Passive: An Acquired Taste
Every basic attack leaves a stack in the form of a little three part piranha. Each time he auto attacks or uses an ability on a champion, a piece of the fish becomes colored, and turns red when three stacks are applied. Getting three stacks on a champion, or multiple champions at once, applies a different effect with each ability.
Q: Tongue Lash
When used, Tahm Kench roots himself and lashes out with his amphibian tongue. Whether it be champion or minion, this attack slows and damages the target. If there are three stacks of An Acquired Taste upon the target, it stuns instead of slows.
W: Devour
This interesting ability varies from target type, but can be applied to every minion, monster, enemy, or ally. Kench stops to swallow the target completely, and the target is instead represented by a little circular marker next to his health bar.
When applied to minions and monsters he devours the creature and then spits it out in a different direction when reactivated, doing damage to whoever they hit.
Allied champions are devoured as well, but the ally becomes immune to any damage and Kench gains movement speed towards enemies. Both Kench and the ally he swallowed can decide when to jump out.
Enemy champions are slightly trickier. If three stacks of An Acquired Taste are applied, he can devour the enemy champ but suffers a movement speed loss. The enemy champion has limited sight, however.
E: Thick Skin
There is an active and a passive to this ability. In passive form, damage that Kench receives turns into gray health while in battle. When away from battle, the gray health disappears and he is healed for that much. The active is said gray health turns into a short shield.
R: Abyssal Voyage
Another passive and active. The R passive is his damage scales with his maximum health. The more health, the more damage dealt. His active ult creates a whirlpool underneath him and transports him to another area of the map. The fun part? You can grab a friend and go! Devour one of your allies, and bring them along with you during the ult. When you arrive at your destination your ally hops out and jumps into battle (or far away from it).
This champion is going to be a nightmare to deal with. Not only does he have crazy health related bonuses, but his utility as a support or top laner is crazy. Though his ult won’t have complete range of the map he will still be able to visit lanes as he pleases. This makes Kench a good top lane champion as you can trade in the teleport summoner spell for a different one. The gray health will also do a lot of good for him as a top laner against champions with a constant harass.
As a support, Kench has everything. Auto attack to harass, then hit them with your Q to stun. From there your adc is free to do as they please with the opposing champion. When the enemy tries to run, apply a few more stacks of your passive and swallow them whole. They won’t be going anywhere!
There will most likely be a couple nerfs with this champion when Riot realizes how over powered their new champions have been lately. Kench’s utility makes him worth buying if you’re a top or support. It may be a bit difficult to stack your passive and use an ability at first, but fear not, you will get the hang of it. No official release date has been revealed, but with how Riot is releasing information, the new champion should be available on the main servers shortly (Tahm Kench is already on PBE, if you have an account).
Good luck in the Fields of Justice!
