Introduced by Riot Games as a marksman with the motto “the greater the risk, the greater the reward,” Akshan currently possesses an overly “broken” power level.
It is known that Akshan’s skill set will disrupt everything in any match he participates in. While one might think that with such powerful abilities, Akshan would have lower stats than other marksmen, the reality is that he is as sturdy as the top meta marksmen right now.
First, looking at health, base damage, armor, etc., Akshan’s base stats at levels 1 and 18 are equivalent to other hot meta marksmen like Ezreal, Varus, and Lucian. However, the difference is that Akshan has a shield mechanism, camouflage, and a hookshot, making his safety far superior since he has so many tools for kiting in fights and trading abilities.
Next, the passive combo of “Dirty Trick” and “Boomerang Blade” (Q) will allow Akshan to clear waves and trade abilities very effectively, akin to a “premium” version of Sivir.
Thanks to the passive that allows an extra auto-attack (similar to Lucian), combined with a fast cooldown Q ability, players can choose different Mythic items to open up unique playstyles.
The only downside when laning as Akshan might be his short attack range (equivalent to Sivir), but this can be mitigated by his ability to deal damage from a distance with Q (increasing range each time it hits a target).
In team fights, Akshan will be the primary target for enemies (like any other marksman), but thanks to his E skill that allows for continuous repositioning and resets upon securing kills, as long as he maintains clever positioning, it will be very difficult for enemies to reach him.
Additionally, assassin champions who tend to play aggressively must be wary because if they take down someone and allow Akshan to finish them off, it will result in a wasted effort.
Finally, Akshan’s ultimate can deal significant damage, though its weakness is that it can be blocked by minions or monsters. However, this skill can be activated while moving or using his hookshot (E), giving Akshan numerous potential positions to deal damage. Notably, it also crits and heals, which can help Akshan recover a good amount of health in critical situations.
Overall, the biggest “risk” with Akshan, similar to other champions recently released by Riot, entirely lies in the mindset and skills of the player. In terms of champion quality, he does not really face any significant risks to achieve optimal performance as Riot has suggested. In fact, as long as he is in a team composition with two or more Teleports, Akshan already has enough capability to create comeback situations that frustrate opponents.
However, Akshan is still in the testing phase on the PBE server, so this “broken” power may only be temporary before his official release on the main servers.