K’Sante is about to hit the rift as the newest top-lane champion in League of Legends. Here are his abilities, lore and splash art.
He has tonfas as weapons that change when he uses his ultimate, and he’s an LGBTQ black character voiced by British actor DeObia Oparei.
K’Sante, the Pride of Nazumah, is from the city of Nazumah, an oasis city state in the Southern outskirts of the desert.
He’s a ‘mighty guardian wielding weapons forged from an apex predator he once slayed, K’Sante is a hero of his people, dominating fights with keen judgment and defiant fire’.
His weapons may appear defensive at first, but given the right moment, he can transform them into lethal blades, taking down giant foes others dare not approach. In game, K’Sante is a top, tank champion, focusing on saving allies from harm, before picking out the monstrous threat on the enemy team, smashing them through a wall to duel them.
Riot previously said in the 2023 LoL Pre-Season announcement that K’Sante leads the warriors of Nazumah to hunt monsters using the rare resources they gain to build their infrastructure and weapons.
“He actually fought one of the largest monsters the desert has ever known, creating his unique Ntofos [weapon] out of its rare regenerating hide,” said Ryan Mireles, aka Reav3, lead producer of gameplay for League of Legends.
“Ntofos are huge, blunt weapons that can be used defensively, but at any moment, he can shatter them, revealing carefully crafted blades capable of tearing through any foe in seconds. Soon after, the hide will regenerate back to its blunt form. The entire citystate is impressed by him.”
K’Sante Skins
K’Sante is getting a prestige skin in League of Legends, with the artist behind the Worlds 2022 song, Lil Nas X, making the announcement on Riot’s official League of Legends channels.
Lil Nas X’s Prestige Skin is League’s first co-designed artist in-game collaboration in League of Legends.
Previously announced as the President of League of Legends, Lil Nas X co-designed in collaboration with Riot Games the Prestige Edition of K’Sante’s launch skin, Empyrean K’Sante.
Lil Nas X’s Prestige Empyrean K’Sante skin debuts on October 18th 2022 on the PBE (Public Beta Environment) along with the champion, and will be released on November 3rd worldwide (unlockable until November 14th).
The in-game skin will not be available for direct purchase, but earnable through playing League of Legends or Teamfight Tactics games during the Worlds 2022 in-game event. Players will have to earn in-game currency (2,000 Worlds 2022 tokens) to permanently unlock the skin.
He’s also getting a new standard Empyrean skin, which is a brand new line of skins shown off in the trailer below:
K’Sante Abilities
K’Sante has a lot to his kit. His abilities change when he uses his ultimate ability, ‘All Out’. You can see video versions of K’Sante’s abilities on the League of Legends website.
Passive – Dauntless Instinct
K’Sante’s damaging abilities mark enemies hit for a short duration. Attacking a marked enemy consumes the mark to deal damage plus max health physical damage.
All Out: Attacking a marked enemy instead deals physical damage and additional max health true damage
Q – Ntofo Strikes
K’Sante slams his weapon, dealing physical damage in a small area around him and briefly slowing targets hit.
If an enemy is hit, K’Sante gains a stack for a short duration. At two stacks, K’Sante instead fires a shockwave that pulls enemies.
All Out: This ability’s cooldown is reduced and no longer slows targets hit.
W – Path Maker
Begin Charging: K’Sante raises his weapons defensively for a short duration, becoming Unstoppable, and reducing incoming damage.
Release: K’Sante rams forward, dealing a percentage of max health physical damage, Knocking Back, and Stunning enemies he passes through for a short duration based on charge time.
All Out: This ability’s cooldown is refreshed, the damage reduction is increased, it deals an additional amount of physical damage based on charge time, and the charge and dash speed are doubled.
E – Footwork
K’Sante dashes, gaining a shield for a short duration. If dashing to an ally, the distance is significantly increased and they are also Shielded. Other spells can be cast during this ability.
All Out: This ability’s dash speed is increased. Dashing to a targeted location has increased range and can go over walls.
“K’Sante. Hear my name and know my strength. My ancestors built Nazumah. No god, king, or beast could conquer them, and none will conquer me.”
K’Sante
R – All Out
K’Sante shatters his tonfas, dealing physical damage and Knocking Back an enemy champion. Enemies that hit a wall will take a greater amount of physical damage, are Knocked Back over the wall, and are briefly Stunned. K’Sante then dashes after the enemy and goes All Out for an extended duration.
All Out K’sante loses a percentage of max health, bonus armor, and bonus magic resistance. K’Sante gains attack damage, omnivamp, and transforms his abilities.
Further reading: The most recent LoL champion that launched before K’Sante was melee bot-laner Nilah
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
