A silent, dedicated Lunari warrior, Aphelios consumes a poison to channel the voice of his sister, Alune. She guides him from her sanctuary, sending him a powerful array of moonstone weapons to destroy the enemies of their faith. A high-strategy marksman with access to a massive arsenal, Aphelios takes the game you know and shoots it over the moon.

Patience is key to master the Weapon of the Faithful. Welcome to the Aphelios champion spotlight.

Aphelios weapons

Aphelios has access to five different weapons, each with a different passive and active ability. There’s Calibrum, the sniper rifle. Severum, the scythe pistol. Gravitum, the gravity cannon. Infernum, the flamethrower. and Crescendum, the chakram. Two weapons are equipped at any given time: a main-hand and off-hand. Each weapon has limited ammo, consumed via basic attacks and active abilities.

When one runs out of ammo, the next gun in his arsenal replaces it, sending the exhausted weapon to the back of the line. Aphelios has a uniquely designed HUD, which displays his currently equipped weapons, how much ammo they have, and their corresponding active abilities. Use W to switch between your main-hand and off-hand weapons. The HUD also shows you a glimpse of the next weapon Alune will send once a weapon runs out of ammo.

Consider your current arsenal and ammo before you begin a fight, so you can use the best combos for any situation. Let’s take a closer look at each moonstone weapon. Caliber, the sniper rifle, is best for long-range poke and harass. Who would have thought? Its active ability is a skill shot that marks its target. Once marked, the enemy is revealed, and Aphelios can follow up with his off-hand weapon from any distance.

Best weapons for Target

If there are multiple marked enemies in an area, Aphelios can target one to deal bonus damage, consuming all nearby marks. Whether in the main-hand or off-hand, any damage-dealing ability will apply the mark as well. Severum, the scythe pistol, restores health with each attack. This effect can overheal, granting Aphelios a small shield. Severum’s active ability boosts movement speed and rapidly fires both his main- and off-hand weapons at any nearby enemies.

Remember, this also applies the passive from his off-hand weapon. Oh, hi, Mark. Graviton, the gravity cannon, applies a decaying slow on each hit. Gravitum’s active ability damages and roots all enemies affected by the slow. This ability doesn’t use his off-hand weapon. Infernum, the flamethrower, blasts enemies with a damaging area of effect. Each shot deals bonus damage and explodes in a cone. If your attack crits, the area of flame widens. Infernum’s active ability spouts a wave of flame, which triggers the off-hand gun to basic to attack all affected foes.

Crescendum, the chakram, is a close-range weapon that behaves like a boomerang. You can’t attack again until the chakram swings back around, so the closer you stand, the quicker you attack. Critical strikes make the chakram return even faster, so the correct build and positioning can provide absurd DPS. While Crescendum is in your off-hand, landing any ability other than with Gravitum will store mini chakrams. They deal with bonus damage when auto-attacking with Crescendo. Crescendum’s active ability creates a turret trap that activates to shoot the nearest target with your off-hand weapon, applying its passive effect.

This turret will also benefit from any attack speed and crit that Aphelios has built. It looks like Leona’s feeling the gravity of this situation. Aphelios’ ultimate, Moonlight Vigil, fires a missile that explodes on contact. He then applies an enhanced passive from his main-hand weapon. Muse about the power of a Supermassive Black Hole from the Gravity Cannon. Or a surprise Flamethrower with tons of damage. Think wisely about how your weapon can change the flow of the fight.

Aphelios Sniper Rifle and Scythe Pistol

You’ve always got two options. Maybe more if you can empty your clip in time. Different weapon combos each have their strengths, allowing for different play styles. Aphelios always starts with the Sniper Rifle and Scythe Pistol, which grants him solid poke and sustain during the WANING phase. By mid-game, using the Flamethrower on main-hand and the Gravity Cannon on off-hand can help you set up ganks by spraying foes with fire and rooting them in place.

Now let’s take a look at a baron fight and how Aphelios would approach it differently based on his active arsenal. Say you hit the baron pit with the scythe pistol in the main-hand and chakram in the off-hand. The pistol’s active ability provides Aphelios with extra mobility to stay alive and kite. The chakram in the off-hand builds mini chakrams so you can swap weapons and deal heavy damage afterward. But what if you came to the fight with a different set of weapons? Equip the gravity cannon in the main-hand with the off-hand flamethrower, and Aphelioscan start the fight on his own terms.

His ult applies the gravity cannon’s passive slow to the enemy team. Using his active ability to, he’ll root them, allowing him to swap to the flamethrower and incinerate them. Or take it one more time with the sniper rifle in the main-hand and the gravity cannon in the off-hand. This setup lets Aphelios ult into the enemy team, marking them all. Aphelios can then use the sniper’s active ability to poke and mark the enemy team as they run.

With the off-hand gravity cannon, he can apply the passive slow, then swap in and root them with its activities. With so many styles of combat, Aphelios rewards players with high game knowledge and strategic patience. Learn the best combos and when to use them so you can showcase your galaxy brain. Don’t be PHASED by the sky-high skill ceiling: this lune-attic is a challenge to learn, but fulfilling to master. For more illumination on Aphelios and his wea-PUNS, check out the links below.