Zaahen will be the next Darkin champion, hitting the Rift in League of Legends‘ upcoming update. While he is classified as a top lane brawler, Zaahen can be flexed in both Jungle and Support, allowing him a fair bit of flexibility depending on your matchups.
The champion’s kit was inspired by Xin Zhao (literally the host body) as well as other existing Darkins in the game. Riot also brought back some mechanics from Aatrox’s older kit, where the champion is able to revive himself after certain conditions are met.
Below is everything you need to know about Zaahen before he officially goes live.
All Zaahen abilities in League of Legends
Here is a list of all the abilities that Zaahen will drop within League of Legends:
| Ability | Effect |
|---|---|
 Passive – Cultivation of War | Zaahen’s attacks and abilities against enemy champions grant him stacks of Determination, gaining bonus attack damage per stack. When filled with Determination, Zaahen gains increased attack damage and can revive. |
 Q – The Darkin Glaive  Recast | Zaahen slashes twice on his next attack, dealing bonus damage and healing himself. Zaahen can recast this ability to have his next attack deal bonus damage and knock up his target. |
 W – Dreaded Return | Zaahen stabs in a direction, damaging enemies hit and pulling them toward him. |
 E – Aureate Rush | Zaahen dashes to a location and slices around himself. |
 R – Grim Deliverance | Zaahen rises, then stabs downward, damaging enemies and healing for a portion of the damage dealt. |
Zaahen playstyle explained
When it comes to his playstyle, Zaahen will typically play out like a top lane bruiser who ramps up in power the longer a fight goes on. He will lack a fair bit of early game skirmishing power; however, once he reaches certain powerspikes, he will be capable of single-handedly taking over teamfights.
His Passive, Cultivation of War, will let him stack attack damage with every hit and poke that he lands on the enemy. When he reaches full stacks, he will then be able to revive. This is the old Aatrox passive that Riot is looking to reintroduce. Moreover, he will be able to stack this passive multiple times if he is able to hit several champions at once.
When is Zaahen releasing in League of Legends?
Zaheen will be officially hitting the Rift on November 19, 2025, at 11 am PT / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 9 pm CEST. He will be arriving with patch 25.23, which will be one of the final updates that LoL receives this season.
