Riot has introduced a new featured game mode for League of Legends: Ascension. And it’s all about getting unlimited power – which is lovely.
Ascension sees two teams of five pitted against each other, both attempting to defeat the Ancient Ascendant Xerath and steal his big ol’ buff. That power makes a champion vastly more powerful, though not so much that the opposing team can’t take him down with a coordinated assault.
Specifically, killing Xerath confers a bonus to the player of unlimited mana, improved cooldowns, bonus health, AD and AP, along with armour and magic penetration. In the right hands, this could make a champion an unstoppable killing machines.
But! There’s always a but. Healing and regen powers are halved by the gift, and the opposing team will always know where the Ascendant is. If the empowered player is taken out, Xerath will respawn and the circus will begin all over again.
Victory is point-based. The first to 200 wins the day. One kill equals one point, three points are gained for capturing relics dotted around the map, five points can be gained for killing an Ascendant and Ascendant champions get double points for kills.
Making things a bit trickier is the map itself. Shifting sands have made some it impassable, so players will need to teleport to get into the action or to explore the map in search of relics.
Rewards in the form of icons are doled out for winning one, three and five games. A fourth can be yours if you win a match where one of your team has gained the Ascendant buff, while denying your enemies the same power.
Take a gander at the mode in action below.