Azir | |
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General Information | |
Title | The Emperor of the Sands |
Real Name | Azir Omah |
Pronouns | He/Him |
Release Date | September 16, 2014 |
Cost | 4800 880 |
Primary | Mage |
Secondary | Marksman |
Statistics | |
HP | 550 (+ 119) |
HPR | 7 (+ 0.75) |
MP | 320 (+ 40) |
MPR | 8 (+ 0.8) |
MS | 335 |
AD | 52 (+ 3.5) |
AS | 0.625 (+ 5%) |
RNG | 525 |
AR | 19 (+ 5) |
MR | 30 (+ 1.3) |
Developer Info | |
DDragon Key | Azir |
Integer Key | 268 |
External Links | |
Universe | universe.leagueoflegends.com |
Game Info Wiki | leagueoflegends.fandom.com |
Azir is a champion in League of Legends.
Lore[]
- Biography
- Story
Azir was a mortal emperor of Shurima in a far distant age, a proud man who stood at the cusp of immortality. His hubris saw him betrayed and murdered at the moment of his greatest triumph, but now, millennia later, he has been reborn as an Ascended being of immense power. With his buried city risen from the sand, Azir seeks to restore Shurima to its former glory.
Thousands of years ago, the Shuriman empire was a sprawling realm of vassal states conquered by powerful armies led by all but invincible warriors known as the Ascended. Ruled by an ambitious and power hungry emperor, Shurima was the greatest realm of its day; a fertile land blessed by the power of the sun that shone from a great golden disc floating atop the temple at the heart of its capital. The youngest and least-favored son of the emperor, Azir was never destined for greatness. With so many siblings ahead of him, he would never be emperor. Most likely he would take up a position in the priesthood or as governor of some backwater province. He was a slender, studious boy who spent more time perusing the texts collected in the Great Library of Nasus than training to fight under the stern tutelage of the Ascended hero, Renekton. Amid the twisting shelves of scrolls, books and tablets, Azir met a young slave boy who visited the library almost every day in search of texts desired by his master. Slaves in Shurima were forbidden to take names, but as the two boys became friends, Azir broke that law and called his new friend Xerath, which means ‘one who shares.’ He appointed Xerath - though he was careful never to endanger him by naming him publicly - as his personal slave and the two boys shared their love of history by learning all they could of Shurima’s past and its long legacy of Ascended heroes. While traveling with his father, brothers and Renekton on the yearly tour of the empire, the royal caravan stopped at a well-known oasis for the night. Azir and Xerath stole away in the middle of the night to draw the stars and add their own celestial maps to those they had studied in the Great Library. While they drew the patterns of constellations, the royal caravan was attacked by a cabal of assassins sent by the emperor’s enemies. One of the assassins found the two boys out in the desert and was poised to cut Azir’s throat when Xerath intervened, throwing himself upon the assassin’s back. In the ensuing melee, Azir freed his dagger and plunged it into his attacker’s throat. Azir took up the dead man’s sword and rushed back to the oasis, but by the time he returned, the assassins were already defeated. Renekton had protected the emperor and slain the attackers, but Azir’s brothers were all dead. Azir told his father of Xerath’s courage and asked him to reward the slave boy, but his words fell on deaf ears. In the emperor’s eyes, the boy was a slave and beneath his notice, but Azir swore that one day he and Xerath would be brothers. The emperor returned to his capital, with the fifteen year old Azir now his heir, and unleashed a merciless campaign of bloodshed against those he believed had sent the assassins. Shurima descended into years of paranoia and murder as the emperor took revenge on any he suspected of treason. Though he was now heir to the throne, Azir’s life yet hung by a thread. His father hated him - wishing he had died instead of his brothers - and the queen was still young enough to bear sons. Azir trained in combat, for the attack at the oasis had revealed how little he knew of the deadly arts. Renekton took up the task of teaching the growing prince, and under his aegis, Azir learned to wield sword and spear, to command warriors, and to read the ebb and flow of battle. The young heir elevated Xerath, his only trusted confidant, and made him his right hand man. To better counsel him, Azir tasked Xerath with seeking out knowledge wherever he could find it. Years passed, but the queen was never able to carry a child to term, every conceived infant perishing before it could be born. So long as the queen remained barren, Azir’s life was relatively safe. Some around the court believed a curse was at work and a few even whispered the young heir’s name in connection with this – though Azir claimed innocence and even executed some who dared voice such accusations openly. Eventually, the queen bore a healthy son, but on the night of his birth a terrible storm engulfed Shurima. The queen’s chambers were struck again and again by powerful bolts of lightning, and in the subsequent blaze, both the queen and her newborn son were killed. It was said the emperor went mad with grief and took his own life upon hearing the news, but tales soon spread of how he and his guards had been found lying in pieces on the palace floor, their bodies little more than charred skeletons. Azir was shocked by their deaths, but the empire needed a leader, and with Xerath at his side he took control of Shurima as its emperor. Over the next decade, he expanded Shurima’s borders and ruled with a harsh, but just hand. He instituted reforms to better the lives of slaves and privately developed a plan to overturn millennia of tradition and eventually free them all. He kept his plans secret, even from Xerath, and the issue of slavery would prove to be a continual bone of contention between them. The empire had been built on the back of slavery, and many of the great noble houses depended on enforced labor for their vast wealth and power. Such monolithic institutions could not be overturned overnight, and Azir’s plans would be undone were they to become common knowledge. Despite Azir’s desire to name Xerath his brother, he could not do so until all Shurima’s slaves were free. Through these years, Xerath protected Azir from his political rivals and guided the expansion of the empire. Azir married and fathered numerous children, some by wedlock, others by ill-advised liaisons with slaves and harem girls. Xerath stoked the emperor’s grand vision of an empire greater than any the world had ever known. But to stand as ruler over the entire world, Xerath convinced Azir that he would need to be all but invincible, a god amongst men – an Ascended being. As the kingdom reached the zenith of its power, Azir announced he would undertake the Ascension ritual, that the time was right for him to take his place alongside Nasus and Renekton and their glorious forebears. Many questioned this decision; the Ascension ritual was highly dangerous and intended only for those near the end of their lives, those who had devoted their lives to Shurima and whose service was to be honored with Ascension. It was for the Sun Priests to decree who would be blessed with Ascension, not the hubris of an emperor to bestow it upon himself. Azir would not be dissuaded from his rash course of action, for his arrogance had grown along with his empire, and he ordered them to comply on pain of death. The day of the ritual finally came and Azir marched toward the Dais of Ascension, flanked by thousands of his warriors and tens of thousands of his subjects. The brothers Renekton and Nasus were absent, having been dispatched by Xerath to deal with an emergent threat, but still Azir would not turn from what he saw as his great destiny. He climbed to the great golden disc atop the temple at the heart of the city and in the moments before the sun priests began the ritual, he turned to Xerath and finally freed him. And not just him, but all slaves… Xerath was stunned into speechlessness, but Azir was not yet done. He embraced Xerath and named him his eternal brother, as he had promised he would all those years ago. Azir turned as the priests began the ritual to bring down the awesome power of the sun. Azir was unaware that Xerath had studied more than just history and philosophy in his quest for knowledge. He had learned the dark arts of sorcery, all the while nursing a desire for freedom that had grown like a cancer into a burning hatred. At the height of the ritual, the former slave unleashed his powers and Azir was blasted from his place on the dais. Without the protection of the runic circle, Azir was consumed by the sun’s fire as Xerath took his place. The light filled Xerath with power, and he roared as his mortal body began to transform. But the magic of the ritual was not intended for Xerath, and such awesomely powerful celestial energies could not be diverted without dire consequence. The power of the Ascension ritual exploded outward, devastating Shurima and laying waste to the city. Its people burned to ash and its towering palaces fell to ruin as the desert sands rose up to swallow the city. The sun disc sank from the sky and what had taken centuries to build was brought to ruin in an instant by one man’s ambition and another’s misplaced hate. All that remained of Azir’s city were sunken ruins and echoes of its people’s screams on the night winds. Azir saw none of this. For him, all was nothingness. His last memories were of pain and fire; he knew nothing of what befell him atop the temple, nor what became of his empire. He remained lost in timeless oblivion until, thousands of years after Shurima’s doom, the blood of his last descendant spilled onto the temple ruins and resurrected him. Azir was reborn, but was yet incomplete; his body little more than animate dust given form, held together by the last vestiges of his indomitable will. Gradually resuming his corporeal form, Azir stumbled through the ruins and came across the corpse of a woman with a treacherous knife wound in her back. He did not know her, but saw in her features the distant echo of his bloodline. All thoughts of empires and power were forgotten as he lifted this daughter of Shurima and bore her to what had once been the Oasis of the Dawn. The oasis was empty and dry, but with every step Azir took, clear water began filling the rocky basin. Azir immersed the woman’s body in the restorative waters of the oasis and as the blood washed away, only a faint scar remained where the blade had pierced her. And with that act of selflessness, Azir was lifted up in a column of fire as the magic of Shurima renewed him, remaking him as the Ascended being he was meant to become. The sun’s immortal radiance poured into him, crafting his magnificent, hawk-armored form and granting him the power to command the very sand itself. Azir lifted his arms and his ruined city shrugged off the dust of centuries spent beneath the desert to rise anew. The sun disc lifted into the sky once more, and healing waters flowed between temples heaving themselves back into the light at the emperor’s command. Azir climbed the steps of the newly-risen sun temple, weaving the desert winds to recreate the city’s last moments. Ghosts formed of sand relived his city’s last moments from long ago, and Azir watched in horror as Xerath’s treachery unfolded. He wept as he saw his family murdered, his empire fall and his power stolen. Only now, millennia too late, did he finally understand the depths of hatred harbored by his former friend and ally. With the power and prescience of an Ascended being, Azir sensed Xerath somewhere abroad in the world and summoned an army of sand warriors to march alongside their reborn emperor. As the sun blazed from the golden disc above him, Azir swore a mighty oath. I will reclaim my lands and take back what was mine! | |
"Shurima was once the glory of Runeterra. I will make it so again." |
ARISEN
Azir walked the gold-paved Emperor’s Way. The immense statues of Shurima’s earliest rulers – his ancestors – watched his progress. The soft, shadowy light of predawn seeped through his city. The brightest stars still shone overhead, though they would soon be snuffed out by the rising sun. The night sky was not as Azir remembered it; the stars and the constellations were misaligned. Millennia had passed. With every step, Azir’s heavy staff of office struck a lonely note, echoing through the capital’s empty streets. When last he had walked this path, an honor guard of 10,000 elite warriors had marched in his wake, and the cheers of the crowd had shaken the city. It was to have been his moment of glory – yet it had been stolen from him. Now, it was a city of ghosts. What had become of his people? With an imperious gesture, Azir commanded the sands beside the roadway to rise, creating living statues. This was a vision of the past, the echoes of Shurima given form. The sand figures looked forward, heads tilted toward the immense Sun Disc hanging above the Dais of Ascension half a league ahead. It hung there still, declaring the glory and power of Azir’s empire, though no one remained to see it. The daughter of Shurima who awakened him, she who bore his lineage, was gone. He sensed her out in the desert. Blood bound them together. As Azir walked the Emperor’s Way, the sand-echoes of his people pointed up at the Sun Disc, their joyful expressions turning to horror. Mouths opened wide in silent screams. They turned to run, stumbling and falling. Azir watched this all in despairing silence, bearing witness to the last moments of his people. They were obliterated by a wave of unseen energy, reduced to dust and cast to the winds. What had gone wrong with his Ascension to unleash this catastrophe? Azir's focus narrowed. His march became more resolute. He reached the base of the Stairs of Ascension and began to climb, taking them five at a time. Only his most trusted soldiers, the priesthood, and those of the royal bloodline were allowed to step foot upon the Stairs. Sand versions of these most favored subjects lined his path, faces upturned, grimacing and wailing in silence before they too were swept away by the winds. He ran, taking the steps faster than any man could, talons digging into the stonework, carving furrows where they caught. Sand figures rose, and were then destroyed, to either side of him as he climbed. He reached the top. Here, he saw the final circle of onlookers: his closest aides, his advisers, the high priests. His family. Azir dropped to his knees. His family was before him, rendered in perfect, heartbreaking detail. His wife, heavy with child. His shy daughter, clutching his wife's hand. His son, standing tall, on the brink of becoming a man. In horror, Azir saw their expressions change. Though he knew what was to come, he could not look away. His daughter hid her face in the folds of his wife's dress; his son reached for his sword, shouting in defiance. His wife... her eyes widened, sorrow and despair writ within. The unseen event blasted them to nothingness. It was too much, but no tears welled in Azir’s eyes. His Ascended form rendered that simple act of grief forever lost to him. With a heavy heart, he pushed himself to his feet. The question remained as to how his bloodline survived, for it most assuredly had. The final echo awaited. He advanced, halting one step below the dais, and watched as it all played out before him, reenacted in the sand. He saw himself, in his mortal form, rise up into the air beneath the Sun Disc, arms wide and back arched. He remembered this moment. The power coursed through him, infusing his being, filling him with its divine strength. A newcomer formed in the sand. His trusted bondsman, his magus, Xerath. His friend uttered a silent word. Azir watched himself shatter like glass, exploding into motes of sand. “Xerath” breathed Azir. The traitor’s expression was unknowable, but Azir could see nothing but the face of a murderer. Where did such hate come from? Azir had never been aware of it. The sand image of Xerath rose higher into the air as the Sun Disc's energies focused into his being. A cadre of elite guards rushed toward him, but they were all far too late. A brutal shockwave of sand flared out, disintegrating the final moment of Shurima. Azir stood alone among the dying echoes of his past. This is what killed his people. Azir turned away, just as the first rays of the new dawn struck the Sun Disc overhead. He'd seen enough. The sand image of the transformed Xerath collapsed behind him. The dawn sun reflected blindingly off Azir's flawless golden armor. In that instant, he knew that the traitor still lived. He sensed the magus’s essence in the air that he breathed. Azir lifted a hand, and an army of his elite warriors rose from the sands at the base of the Stairs of Ascension. “Xerath” he said, his voice tinged with rage. “Your crimes will not go unpunished.” |
Abilities[]
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Sand Solder's can attack targets outside of Azir's basic attack range. Sand Soldier's expire twice as fast when near an enemy turret.
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Patch History[]
Q cost decreased.
Azir was soaring too high in Pro play, so we lowered his altitude with the 11.5 nerf. Now that he’s in calmer skies, we’re making his laning phase feel a bit more forgiving.
Q - Conquering Sands
Patch 10.3
Base mana increased. R number of soldiers increased.
The emperor has seen better days but has the risk of power-tripping, so we're cautiously buffing him.
Base Stats
R - Emperor's Divide
WALL LENGTH : | [5/6/7 soldiers] | |
⇒ | 6/7/8 soldiers |
Patch 10.1
R base damage and wall duration increased.
With Conqueror nerfed and the fact that he's had low presence in pro play last year, we are being cautiously optimistic and giving Azir some buffs.
R - Emperor's Divide
BASE DAMAGE : | [150/250/450] | |
⇒ | 175/325/475 |
Patch 9.16
Q cooldown increased late.
We're opening up late game windows of opportunity for Azir's enemies so he and his soldiers can't just chase them relentlessly.
Q - Conquering Sands
COOLDOWN : | [15/12.5/10/7.5/5] | |
⇒ | 15/13/11/9/7 |
Patch 9.7
Health regen growth increased. Q damage increased.
Even with 9.4's attack speed buff, Azir still has room to grow without becoming a pro play nightmare. Probably.
Base Stats
Q - Conquering Sands
DAMAGE : | [60/80/100/120/140] | |
⇒ | 70/90/110/130/150 |
Patch 9.4
Base attack speed growth increased.
Increasing Azir's late game damage.
Base Stats
25 mages have more mana regen and base mana, but less mana growth. 5 other mages have more mana regen.
We’re increasing mana regen on the champions most affected by the changes to Doran's Ring and Last Chapter. Mages are also getting some changes to their mana pools and their mana growth. Overall, they’ll be up a bit of starting mana and mana regen, but be substantially down on mana per level.
Click to expand |
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Ahri
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [334] ⇒ 418
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [396] ⇒ 495
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [334] ⇒ 418
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [350] ⇒ 438
MANA GROWTH : [42] ⇒ 21
MANA REGEN : [8] ⇒ 10.65 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [375] ⇒ 496
MANA GROWTH : [42] ⇒ 21
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [334] ⇒ 418
MANA GROWTH : [63] ⇒ 31.5
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [400] ⇒ 500
MANA GROWTH : [56] ⇒ 28
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [308] ⇒ 385
MANA GROWTH : [40] ⇒ 20
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [373] ⇒ 467
MANA GROWTH : [61] ⇒ 30.5
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [380] ⇒ 475
MANA GROWTH : [60] ⇒ 30
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [384] ⇒ 480
MANA GROWTH : [47] ⇒ 23.5
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [300] ⇒ 375
MANA GROWTH : [55] ⇒ 27.5
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [334] ⇒ 418
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [374] ⇒ 468
MANA GROWTH : [57] ⇒ 28.5
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [384] ⇒ 480
MANA GROWTH : [60] ⇒ 30
MANA REGEN : [7] ⇒ 9.335 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [340] ⇒ 425
MANA GROWTH : [60] ⇒ 30
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [266] ⇒ 333
MANA GROWTH : [38] ⇒ 19
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [392] ⇒ 490
MANA GROWTH : [52] ⇒ 26
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [375] ⇒ 469
MANA GROWTH : [42] ⇒ 21
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [324] ⇒ 405
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [367] ⇒ 459
MANA GROWTH : [44] ⇒ 22
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [384] ⇒ 480
MANA GROWTH : [47] ⇒ 23.5
MANA REGEN : [8.5] ⇒ 11.335 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [361] ⇒ 452
MANA GROWTH : [60] ⇒ 30
MANA REGEN : [6] ⇒ 8 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [340] ⇒ 425
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25
MANA REGEN : [10.5] ⇒ 15.335 per 5 seconds
BASE MANA : [334] ⇒ 418
MANA GROWTH : [50] ⇒ 25 |
v8.8
Soldier damage to non-primary targets decreased at earlier levels.
Azir's ranged waveclear allows him to avoid punishment in his tougher matchups, while giving him more time to harass in his stronger matchups. Less waveclear should force him to make harder decisions about when to trade.
W - Arise!
DAMAGE TO NONPRIMARY TARGETS : | [40/70/100% (at levels 1/6/11)] | |
⇒ | 25/50/75/100% (at levels 1/6/11/16) |
v8.5
Q damage decreased.
Azir has a strong laning phase and a strong late game. Lowering the base damage of Conquering Sands gives enemies more time to deal with the Emperor before his late-game AP scaling kicks in.
Q - Conquering Sands
DAMAGE : | [70/95/120/145/170] | |
⇒ | 60/80/100/120/140 |
v8.3
Q cooldown increased at early ranks.
Azir's early laning strength is keeping other mid laners from having enough early game agency, especially at higher levels of play.
Q - Conquering Sands
COOLDOWN : | [11/9.5/8/6.5/5] | |
⇒ | 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 |
W - Arise!
W - Arise!
SOLDIER DAMAGE, LV 7-12 : | [75/80/90/100/110/120] | |
⇒ | 72/75/80/85/90/100 |
SOLDIER DAMAGE, LV 13-18 : | [130/140/150/160/170/180] | |
⇒ | 110/120/130/140/150/160 |
v7.21
Q damage reduced at later ranks. Soldier damage reduced at later levels.
We’re happy seeing Azir succeed across a wider skill range than “only the best,” but now that everyone’s had time to acclimate to the Emperor’s new moves, it’s apparent his damage is a bit high.
Q - Conquering Sands
DAMAGE : | [70/100/130/160/190] | |
⇒ | 70/95/120/145/170 |
W - Arise!
Soldier damage unchanged from levels 1-5, reduced by 5 thereafter.
SOLDIER DAMAGE : | [60/62/64/66/68/75/80/85/95/105/115/125/135/145 /155/165/175/185] | |
⇒ | 60/62/64/66/68/70/75/80/90/100/110/120/130/140 /150/160/170/180 |
Azir’s update seems to have landed well. We’re continuing to keep an eye on how things settle in for the long term, but in the meantime we’ve got improved visuals for Arise!’s new attack speed buff.
General
v7.19
Ability update; check out the below context and prior dev blog for more information.
Azir has been a League balance problem for awhile. Rather than tweak him patch after patch, we sidelined Shurima’s Emperor for a little while, choosing instead to focus on his eventual mini-update. This is that mini-update. For a deep dive into his changes, check out our dev blog.
Here’s the TL;DR, though. Azir—unlike most long-ranged champions—is hard to kill even when you do manage to get on him, and if you get tooclose, he can even counter-initiate with a timely Shurima Shuffle. As a result, experienced Azir players were really hard to punish. Azir’s mobility, and playmaking potential are super cool, but to keep those and allow players to fight back, we needed to bring his range down to not-artillery levels and focus on his identity as a mobile, sustained damage dealer.
Base stats
Q - Conquering Sands
Range down on soldier repositioning. Balance tweaks.
COOLDOWN : | [10/9/8/7/6] | |
⇒ | 11/9.5/8/6.5/5 | seconds |
BASE DAMAGE : | [65/85/105/125/145] | |
⇒ | 70/100/130/160/190 |
W - Arise!
Attack range decreased (summoning range increased slightly). Soldier attack damage increased'
BASE DAMAGE : | [50/52/54/56/58/60/63/66/70/84/98/112/126/139/153/167/181/195] | |
⇒ | 60/62/64/66/68/75/80/85/95/105/115/125/135/145/155/165 /175/185 |
AMMO RECHARGE : | [10/9/8/7/6] | |
⇒ | 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 | seconds |
E - Shifting Sands
R - Emperor's Divide
WALL SIZE : | [4/5/6] | |
⇒ | 5/6/7 | soldiers |
COOLDOWN : | [140/120/100] | |
⇒ | 120/105/90 | seconds |
v7.18
R base damage increased
As a fragile damage dealer, Azir subjects himself to a ton of risk in the late game when attempting flashy ult plays against the enemy backline. His reward for landing those late-game shuffles should be worthy of that risk.
On a forward-facing note, expect to hear a lot more about Azir in the near future. We’ll keep you posted!
R - Emperor's Divide
BASE DAMAGE : | [150/225/300] | |
⇒ | 150/250/450 |
v7.15
Late-game soldier damage up.
Making Azir a more attractive option as a late game hypercarry against many of the current midlane picks (specifically those that don’t wreck him in lane).
W - Arise!
SOLDIER STAB DAMAGE : | [50-170] | |
⇒ | 50-195 | (at levels 1-18) |
With Aegis of the Legion's old aura out of the game, squishy champions who were relying on it to give them enough magic resist find themselves a bit on the burstable side.
Azir’s buffs this patch were outweighed by how hard he was hit by the Rylai’s changes. We’re giving his soldier damage a mid-game boost to help mitigate that loss of strength.
W - Arise!
v6.24
W cooldown reduced. Sun Discs deal more damage and give enemies less gold.
We haven’t talked much about Azir since he fell out of the spotlight about half a year ago. To quickly summarize, Azir’s got too many strengths and not enough weaknesses. This makes balance an extremely finnicky task: with no clear vulnerabilities to exploit, it’s hard to bring Azir back down once he starts picking up a lead.
This patch, we’re raising Azir’s baseline effectiveness without substantially raising his poke potential. He’ll be able to reach and maintain three soldiers more quickly when going all-in on a fight, and faster soldier charges also means better access to Shifting Sands (whether for slick getaways or the Shurima Shuffle). We’re also giving some love to the Sun Disc - “temporary replacement turret” is a cool strategic strength only Azir brings to the table, but it felt a bit bad to use since it could end up as quick gold for the enemy team.
Passive - Shurima's Legacy
W - Arise!
v6.14
Soldiers deal less damage while Azir levels up but are unchanged at level 18. They also grant less vision.
The Emperor of Shurima is a champion that needs no introduction - especially when it comes to why he’s back here in the patch notes. Azir’s problems are many, but can be oversimplified as ‘too many pros, not enough cons’. Amazing sustained damage, long-ranged initiation, really cool armor - he’s got it all. This patch, we’re taking a crack at his damage progression over the course of the game.
Azir’s a champion with game-ending potential, but while champions with similar strength (hypercarries) are gated behind difficult early-games (Vayne) or steep item requirements (Kog’Maw), Azir doesn’t really have a period of weakness to exploit. He just sort of pokes you from afar, leaning on the generous base damage of his soldiers while he gathers enough ability power to dominate late-game. We’re altering soldier damage progression to dip significantly as Azir approaches mid-game, meaning his posse of sand-clad scallywags can no longer bail him out if he falls behind early. This period of weakness presents an actual hurdle for Azir to overcome. Should he make it through that dry spell, however, his soldiers’ damage evens back out at max level. This means the Emperor will still crush 50-minute teamfights like you’d expect.
W - Arise!
v6.11
W is no longer usable on turrets. R duration down and no longer grants speed to allies.
Azir’s been a priority pick for a while now, reclaiming his throne as the top-tier midlaner across the globe. With Midseason’s waters still relatively untested as pro play resumes (where Azir primarily sees the most play), we’re focusing on culling some of the Emperor’s more extraneous power. Azir’s signature strengths lie in his high sustained damage as well as his ‘Shurima Shuffle’ to turn the tables on opponents with a flashy initiation. By leaving these intact, we can get a better look at how Azir fares against newer challengers to his midlane throne while still addressing his dominance.
W - Arise!
R - Emperor's Divide
v6.9
R no longer pins targets to walls
The flashy playmaking nature of Azir's ult befits his status as ruler of an empire, but Emperor's Divide becomes oppressive when it pins enemies against terrain for 5+ seconds. We're removing the abuse case to keep Azir honest.
R - Emperor's Divide
v6.6
Soldiers no longer apply Fervor of Battle.
So this interaction was removed in 6.5, but slipped our patch notes. While Azir’s soldiers look like they’re basic attacking, they’re not applying on-hits. Sand Soldier attacks are treated as spells, and as such, apply spell effects like Liandry’s Torment or Rylai’s Crystal Scepter. For people that knew how this interaction worked (for as long as it did), Azir could actually be dealing more physical damage than magic. That’s not a particular can of ascended worms we’re willing to balance around - on top of the fact that this shouldn’t work anyways - so it’s gone.
General
v6.5
Just some birdfixes for our most glorious emperor.
General
W - Arise!
Another patch, another set of bugfixes for Azir.
W - Arise!
E - Shifting Sands
v5.23
Attack-Move now works with Azir's soldiers and cleaned up some of his spell-buffer combos.
Not in the shop for bugfixes this time, our year-long war against Azir's code continues with some new tech to smooth his ability buffering. What this means is Azir should be able to Shurima Shuffle (or whatever the preferred combo name is) much easier, as well as playing better with attack-move inputs.
General
W - Arise!
v5.22
THE BUGFIX IS GIVEN
We've been here before, so we'll be short. Bugfixes. Done.
R - Emperor's Divide
v5.20
R starts further behind Azir.
As part of our rescripting efforts for Azir, a change in code to Emperor’s Divide had the unfortunate side-effect of spawning the Phalanx closer to his body, reducing its effective range. We’ve tweaked the ultimate back to its original range, so you’ll have the benefit of smoother wall interactions while still scooping the assassins and back-line threats like you used to.
R - Emperor's Divide
v5.17
Movement speed down. Q no longer deals additional damage beyond the first soldier.
As you’ll see throughout this patch, we’re really buckling down on narrowing strengths and weaknesses for champions, leading to more fleshed-out identities and less extraneous power overall. Azir’s a good example of extraneous power, so let’s start with him (also because he’s alphabetically first. That too).
The emperor’s great at a few things, but chief among them are the persistent zones of threat he can manipulate from long range, often deciding fights on foreign fronts from behind the safety of his line of soldiers. Instead of trading off his safety for lack of mobility or sustained damage for a lack of burst, Azir’s having his cake and eating it too. In an effort to preserve his reach and damage output, we’re going harder on establishing weaknesses, making it easier to close on him or avoid his damage without proper command of his forces.
General
Q - Conquering Sands
IT'S REFACTORIN' TIME! part 2
Just like last patch, we’ve got the second round of Azir re-scripting and bugfixing. If you want more context on what that’s all about, you can read up on it in his section from 5.16 here.
W - Arise!
R - Emperor's Divide
v5.16
IT'S REFACTORIN' TIME! Begone, spaghetti code.
For a while now, we've been working behind the scenes on a lot of our code-base to find cleaner ways to implement our champion code and improve behaviour for some of our more… complicated (read: buggy) champions. Our first pass at this was our script review for Syndra's E->Q combo back in 5.13. This patch contains the first batches of fixes to Azir, improving the AI for his soldiers. As we move forward, you can expect more updates like these - script refactoring that result in fewer bugs, but not a ton of power shift one way or the other.
Back to Azir. Being one of our more complex champions, the emperor demands a lot of attention - however, balancing him can be costly due to the scripting issues we just talked about. Our intention with the fixes below is to make Azir flow more naturally, thereby removing some unintentional barriers to learning the Emperor.
General
Q - Conquering Sands
W - Arise!
E - Shifting Sands
R - Emperor's Divide
v5.14
Passive's attack speed portion shifted to W. E no longer knocks up.
- "THE CONTEXT IS GIVEN. True to his nature as emperor, Azir has a habit of making everything about himself. Specifically in professional play where his massive range of threat and ability to single-handedly control battles of any shape or size necessitates the game be played around him. From champion select to laning to teamfights, Azir's dominating position makes it difficult for his enemies to interact.
- Our changes this patch are all in the name of giving his opponents a way to play around Azir's almost impenetrable posturing. The approach here is twofold; removing his ability to turn the tables onto assassins and divers alike broadens his champion-specific counter-picks, while shuffling around his Attack Speed to ensure his explosive mid-game is kept down for a little longer before his ascendancy to god-hood takes hold."
- Passive - Shurima's Legacy
- [REMOVED] WILL OF THE EMPEROR : No longer gains attack speed based on Azir's Cooldown Reduction
- W - Arise!
- [NEW] DROP AND GIVE ME 20 TO 60 : Now passively gains 20/30/40/50/60% Attack Speed
- E - Shifting Sands
- [REMOVED] SHIFTING POWER : No longer knocks up the first enemy champion hit
v5.5
Increased the range at which soldiers can attack and spears 'pass through' to hit things further. Also base attack speed up.
- "Recent balance changes haven't been kind to Azir, so we're giving the Emperor some love targeted at his early-game feel when it comes to commanding soldiers. While these buffs don't solve all of Azir's problems, strengthening his sustained damage should ensure he isn't totally mummified."
- General
- BASE ATTACK SPEED :
0.600⇒ 0.625 - SOLDIER ATTACK RANGE :
325⇒ 375 - SPEAR PASSTHROUGH RANGE :
100⇒ 50 (total range unchanged)
- BASE ATTACK SPEED :
- Did you know we were manually correcting LCS stats in the post-game roundup every time? We take fantasy stats seriously, man.
- Passive - Shurima's Legacy
- DON'T WORRY ABOUT FANTASY STATS : Fixed a bug where killing Azir's Sun Disc would result in a registered turret death in Spectator mode. Fantasy LCS stats were being manually corrected until now, so this fix is primarily for in-game spectating. In other words, you can't blame this bug for your fantasy LCS team losing. SORRY.
Q's base damage is down (particularly at later levels), W's range is lower, and W's crazy tower bomb damage is much lower. Less crazy.
- "Hyper-carries are often defined by a weaker early to mid-game (think Tristana, Jax) as they 'ramp up' into their core items and ability scaling. Lane bullies are the reverse - powerful up-front until their less-than-impressive late-games (like Renekton or Quinn).
- Enter Azir. Who is both.
- As it stands, the emperor's strengths are at odds with themselves. On one hand, he's a hyper-carry with monstrous late-game damage to both champions and structures; on the other, he's a powerful lane-bully with the ability to shove even the most aggressive opposition back to base. When a champion can cover their weaknesses so well, something's gotta give.
- Enhancing Azir's end-game effectiveness goes well with our intended goals for the sand mage, so we're softening his spikes to achieve a more manageable lane along with a little bump to his AD to help him last-hit when his soldiers are slacking off. Which they do. Often. "
- General
- BASE ATTACK DAMAGE :
49.704⇒ 52
- BASE ATTACK DAMAGE :
- W - Arise!
- SOLDIER STAB RANGE :
~400⇒ ~325 (we're marking them as approximate values because they get very complicated) - TOWER BOMB DAMAGE : The tooltip values were incorrectly saying +0.6 ability power (it's actually 0.7).
90 + (15 x level) (0.7 ability power)⇒ 50 + (10 x level) (0.4 ability power)
- SOLDIER STAB RANGE :
- "Just a small fix for consistency, but we wanted to really highlight that Q range. Initially it wasn't actually displaying the full range, so we changed it to do so. This way, when we reduce some power y'all really know what we've had to balance with. This bears repeating: that's a hiiiiiiigh range on Q."
- Q - Conquering Sands
- DO YOU SEE THIS RANGE : Conquering Sands' targeting indicator has been adjusted to properly display the spell's actual range of 800 ⇒ 875. No functional changes have been made.
- SAND FORMATION : When there are 3 soldiers already out, Conquering Sands will always move the nearest soldier to where the player clicks
- "Another patch, another Azir bug-fix. Jokes aside, this specific problem would Arise (heh) when Azir would issue an attack at maximum range, walk out of that range, re-enter range and issue the attack again. In effect, Azir would trick himself into thinking the soldier could attack when it couldn't, creating the illusion that it should have dealt damage. Shoutouts to NA summoner 'A Mana Potion' for helping us track this one down."
- W - Arise!
- NO MORE FAKE-OUTS! : Fixed a bug where a sand soldier would appear to attack but fail to do damage.
Champion Portrait Updates
- "We're making readability improvements to a bunch of the champion portrait icons which were added or updated over the past few months."
- PORTRAITS : The following champion portrait icons have been updated:
- Azir, Cho'Gath, Ezreal, Gragas, Graves, Janna, Jarvan IV, Kayle, Kog'Maw, Lee Sin, Malphite, Maokai, Orianna, Renekton, Rengar, Rumble, Shyvana, Sion, Talon, Tristana, Udyr, Vayne, Veigar, Viktor, Zilean
v4.21
More bugfixes and we're making Azir a little smoother to play.
- "Having tweaked Azir just last patch, we're looking to see how he performs from here before really changing his power level. So... bugfixes. Always bugfixes."
- W - Arise!
- I THOUGHT WE REMOVED DODGE : Fixed a bug where it was possible for targets to walk out of range of a soldier's attack, causing the attack animation to play but do no damage.
- E - Shifting Sands
- I SHIFT IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION : Fixed a bug where casting Shifting Sands outside of its cast range would always cause Azir to walk into range. Shifting Sands now checks for the nearest soldier to your mouse and immediately goes there if the soldier is in range, no matter how far from Azir the mouse was.
- SPEEDY SHIFTING : Fixed an issue where Shifting Sands would fail to be queued up during a cast of W - Arise!. Now pressing W + E together should always create a soldier and then instantly move Azir to that soldier. Note: there's a similar problem with pressing W + Q together that we have not fixed yet but are looking into.
- R - Emperor's Divide
- I'M ACTUALLY HELPING : The allied speed boost of Emperor’s Divide now grants assists
v4.20
Big early game buffs to Q and E, small late game nerf to W's AP ratio.
- "We think Azir's pretty close from a power-level perspective, so we're re-balancing his numbers to smooth out his curve. Early buffs to Q and E should help him take flight, while a nerf to his late-game soldiers should clip his wings before he flies too high."
v4.18
So many bug fixes. Also some small buffs to Azir's base attack damage and attack speed.
- "Gauging a new champion's release strength has traditionally been a difficult task, given we have to account for player learning curves, the landscape of the game and, in Azir's case, how that champion's ability coding holds up in millions of unique games (and game interactions). All of the above also plays into the next steps we need to take in helping (or toning down) that champion. With Azir, we saw some small changes we could take to help out his laning phase, but we're going to take it easier on anything larger until these fixes go through. "
- General
- BASE ATTACK DAMAGE
43⇒ 47 - BASE ATTACK SPEED
0.556⇒ 0.600
- BASE ATTACK DAMAGE
- Passive - Shurima's Legacy
- TWO AZIRS!? Fixed a bug where two Azirs were able to summon a Sun Disc from the same interactive clicker
- NO SUN FOR YOU Fixed a bug where other players were able to target the Sun Disc interactive clicker with abilities (e.h. Lee Sin's Safeguard) or were told they could click on it and then couldn't and then became sad.
- TACTICAL CLICKING Reduced the clickable size of the Sun Disc interactive clickers by 20%
- Q - Conquering Sands
- SLACKING ON THE JOB Fixed a bug where moving inactive soldiers into active combat range with Conquering Sands would fail to activate their attacks properly, leading to 0 damage attacks
- CONQUER FURTHER Fixed a bug where Azir's sand soldiers would fail to cross a wall if they were just a little short of it
- W - Arise!
- PRETTY SIGNIFICANT BUFF FIX Fixed a bug where multiple soldiers attacking multiple targets would often lead to soldiers incorrectly applying reduced damage. Reiterating here: this is a pretty big 'buff' fix.
- THEY'RE BREAKDANCE FIGHTING Fixed a bug where dancing would break Azir's soldier's basic attacks
- E - Shifting Sands
- NEW TAKE ME WITH YOU If Azir uses Shifting Sands on a soldier currently moving via Conquering Sands, he'll now join the soldier on a combined magical journey
- I CAN'T TELL THEM APART Fixed a bug where Azir wouldn't shift to the correct soldier in certain situations
- READY TO GO Fixed a bug where pressing E immediately after pressing W would occasionally not work. Feel free to W+E away now (or try W+Q+E for an even cooler combo)!
- R - Emperor's Divide
- IT'S COMPLICATED Fixed many bugs with Emperor's Divide. This ability should no longer:
- Deal damage multiple times
- Multi-bounce targets
- Pin targets to walls
- Fail to bounce targets to the far side of the wall
- Not break channels
- Break spell shields and still knock enemies back
- And more!
- IT'S COMPLICATED Fixed many bugs with Emperor's Divide. This ability should no longer:
- Bug Awareness
- SOON We're aware of a bug where Azir's Sun Disc currently does not ramp up in damage. We'll be fixing this in patch 4.19.
v4.16
Azir released
Articles[]
- 2018
- 2015
- February 17th, Nerfs are coming in Patch 8.5 for Azir, Ryze, Tristana, and Galio by Aaron Mickunas on DOT Esports
- June 28th, Snowballing to Victory: Nunu and Azir from LoL Esports
- May 18th, The shifting sands of Azir at MSI from LoL Esports
- June 28th, Snowballing to Victory: Nunu and Azir from LoL Esports
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- ORIGINS: Azir
- 2016 Shurima Story Q&A #2
- 2016 Shurima Story Q&A #1
- Azir Q&A: Art & Sound
- Azir Q&A: Creative
- Azir Q&A: Gameplay