League of Legends: breaking down reworked Pantheon’s kit

With the new Pantheon’s kit finally revealed, we’ll look to see how the Unbreakable Spear will play once he enters the fray of League of Legends.

Pantheon’s rework is fast approaching and we’re all excited to see what his new kit will bring to the game of League of Legends. In their reveal yesterday, Riot said that they wanted to maintain Pantheon’s identity as a Spartan warrior, an AD spell-caster who is primarily focused on getting into the fray.

We already discussed how his new model, visuals, splash art, and theme seem to hit that objective out of the park. But does his kit make good on that promise as well? Today, Riot released a gameplay preview (above) that showcases his abilities, so what do these abilities mean?

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"Passive – Mortal WillAfter five basic attacks or spell casts, Pantheon’s next ability (other than his ultimate) will be empowered."

This stays kind of similar to his old passive, Aegis Protection, in that it stacks. However, instead of granting him an on-cue defensive ability, Mortal Will now grants him some extra damage. It’ll be important for Pantheon players and opponents to keep track of the ability counter and time their trades accordingly.

"Q – Comet SpearPantheon lunges with or throws his spear (depending on if you tap or hold the button) in a straight line, damaging enemies struck.If empowered, Comet Spear does extra damage and are slowed"

So this is an upgraded version over his current Q – Spear Shot. It’s now a skill shot that he can use either in melee or ranged version (it’s unclear what the benefit of just lunging is, maybe the thrown spear doesn’t damage all enemies hit?). Now at least you won’t get pummeled down with a ton of spears that are undodgeable.

"W – Shield VaultPantheon leaps to a target area, dealing damage and stunning them.If empowered, Pantheon’s next basic attack deals three additional strikes at reduced damage."

Again, this is an up-to-date version of his current W – Aegis of Zeonia. It retains the point-and-click hard CC that has always really defined Pantheon, but it also adds an element of auto-resets to his kit.

One note from the video that is interesting: it appears these additional strikes do stack his passive. As you can see in the video, one W plus an auto gives you four stacks towards your next empowered ability, which means this could be key to use as an empowered ability, especially for jungling.

"E – Aegis AssualtPantheon sets his shield in a target direction, gaining invulnerability to champion damage from that direction and doing damage continuously.If empowered, the duration of Aegis Assault is increased."

It appears that Riot decided to combine Pantheon’s old passive and E – Heartseeker Strike to create one half-defense, half-offense ability. A lot of people are already musing that the damage invulnerability is overpowered for a basic ability. However, I don’t necessarily agree given that the invulnerability only applies in one direction, meaning mobile champions will be able to get to his side or behind him to negate this ability entirely.

"R – Grand StarfallPantheon leaps into the air and then hurtles back towards the target location, dealing damage to all enemies he passes through. On landing, Mortal Will is immediately refreshed."

I love this re-imagining of Pantheon’s ult, where it deals AoE damage and also acts as a semi-dash. It looks cool as hell and really plays into his identity as a God-warrior. The fact that his passive is immediately refreshed on landing means this can be a great engage tool since he’ll be able to cast his W on landing, basically re-stack his passive, and get another empowered ability (either Q to finish a fleeing enemy or E to defend if he’s gone too deep).

Pantheon’s reworked kit will hit the PBE during Patch 9.15!