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Powerful beyond reckoning, the ascended being known as Xerath was once a mortal of flesh and blood. He is now something vastly different - a being of writhing arcane energy. Having emerged from millennia-spanning imprisonment, he is now ready to unleash his power upon Runeterra, and utterly destroy any who oppose him.
Lore
Unbound
This was the moment.
The singular moment that had cost him so much, that had taken a lifetime of planning. A corrupt empire and its strutting princeling would be struck down under the blankly idiotic sun symbol they both so trusted. The key to immortality, jealously guarded and miserly offered, would be his alone, stolen in front of the entire world. A singular moment of perfect vengeance that would finally free the slave known as Xerath.
Though his 
master's helm revealed no human expression, and knowing that the lovingly etched metal could not respond in kind, Xerath smiled up at the soulless hawk's face just the same, his joy genuine. A life spent in servitude, first for a mad emperor and now a vain one, endless manipulations for and against the throne, a near-damning quest for barely remembered knowledge that almost consumed him—all of it led to this grotesque masquerade of Ascension.
The very word when spoken aloud was an assault: We will Ascend, while you are chained to the broken stone as the sands of time swallow you all. No. Not anymore, and never again. The chosen golden lords will not be taken into the sun’s embrace and made gods. A slave will do this; a simple slave, a boy who once had the misfortune to save a noble child from the sands.
And for this sin, Xerath had been punished with a horrible, maddening promise: Freedom. Unobtainable. Forbidden. Should the thought even dart through a slave’s mind, it would be punished by death, as the Ascended could gaze past flesh and bone, deep into one’s very soul, to see its dim traitorous glow. And yet, there it was, spoken by the young princeling he dragged from the embrace of the mercurial mother-desert. Azir, the Golden Sun, vowed that he would free his savior and new friend.
A promise unkept to this day. The words of a grateful child, innocently oblivious to the impact they would have. How could Azir upend thousands of years of rule? How could he fight tradition, his father, his destiny?
In the end, the young emperor would lose it all by not honoring his word.
And so, Xerath was elevated and educated, eventually becoming Azir's trusted right hand—but never a free man. The soured promise ate into what he was, and what he could have been. Denied a small, simple thing, the right to live his life, Xerath decided to take everything, all of the things denied to him, all of the things he deserved: the empire, Ascension, and the absolute purest form of freedom possible.
With each step taken toward the offensively grandiose Dais of Ascension, positioned respectfully behind his emperor and flanked by the inept sentinels who supposedly protected Shurima, Xerath felt an unknown lightness he was genuinely shocked by. Was this joy? Does vengeance bring joy? The impact was almost physical.
At that very moment, the overwrought suit of golden armor that was his tormentor abruptly halted. And turned. And walked toward Xerath.
Could he know? How could he possibly know? This spoiled, self-obsessed boy? This righteous, falsely benevolent emperor whose hands were just as bloody as Xerath's own? Even if he did, there was no staying the killing blow that was already in motion.
Xerath had planned for every contingency. He had bribed, killed, out-maneuvered, and plotted for decades—he even tricked the monstrous brothers Nasus and Renekton into staying away from the event—but he had not planned for this...
The Emperor of Shurima, the Golden Sun, Beloved of Mother Desert, soon to be Ascended, took off his helmet, revealed his proud brow and smiling eyes, and turned to his oldest and most trusted friend. He spoke about the love of brothers, the love of friends, of hard fights won and others lost, of family, of future, and finally... of freedom.
At these words, the guards flanked Xerath, moving in, weapons drawn.
So the princeling did know. Had Xerath's plans had been undone?
But the fools in armor were saluting. There was no menace to them, they were honoring him. They were congratulating him.
On his freedom.
His hated master had just freed him—he had freed them all. No Shuriman would ever wear chains again. Azir's last act as a human was to unfetter his people.
The foundation-shuddering roar of the assembled masses drowned out any response Xerath could have had. Azir donned his helmet and strode out onto the Dais, his attendants preparing him for the godhood that would never come.
Xerath stood in the shadow of the monolithic 
Sun Disk, knowing that an empire-destroying doom was but seconds away.
Fall of the Empire
- The following was posted as a series of images on the League of Legends' official Facebook page.
In ancient Shurima, young emperor Azir was persuaded by 
Xerath, his magus, to attempt the fabled Ascension ritual – despite ancient warnings to do so only in times of direst threat.
Azir's hubris proved disastrous. As the Sun Disc focused the dawn rays into a transformative beam, Xerath betrayed Azir, shoving his emperor aside and stealing its power for himself.
In an instant, Azir was obliterated – and Xerath remade as a spectral being of pure, malevolent energy – as the city around them was swallowed whole by the desert.
Nasus and 
Renekton, Ascended heroes of Shuriman legend, sensed in an instant that something had gone terribly wrong and rushed to the Sun Disc. They hurled Xerath into a chained sarcophagus – but the magus shattered it into shards.
Renekton dragged Xerath into the Tomb of the Emperors and shouted to Nasus to seal the door. With a heavy heart, Nasus entombed his brother with a madman in the buried ruins for all eternity. Or so he believed…
Descent Into The Tomb
- Narrated by
Nasus.
"The tragic fall of Shurima was nothing comparing to the tragedy of its rise from the grave.
In a market at the edge of a desert. A stranger appears. 
Cassiopeia, a noblewoman from Noxus looking to hire a guide to take her to the fabled lost city. But not just any guide, she hires a owner of a legendary blade, the mercenary called 
Sivir. Sivir gathers her band of sell-swords and set out in to the desert to find the very bones of Shurima.
Five days beneath the broiling sun a scout spots towers juddering upwards and a stairway leading underground. They climb down, into the darkness.
Ancient treasures gleam in the torch-light, even Sivir is astonished of the grandeur of the ruins. Her men head deeper in only to stumble into traps and be eviscerated. Sivir is stunned with horror, but Cassiopeia does not flinch. She sees only the statue of a huge serpent silently guarding the door to the tomb of the Emperors and smiles.
The ancient weapon is a key. Cassiopeia betrays Sivir. She picks up Sivir's blade, puts it into the lock. The guardians curse is triggered. The stone serpent comes alive. It pins Cassiopeia in its jaws - the venom sears her flesh like acid.
The Tomb door opens. Renekton emerges, the brother I loved and locked away, twisted beyond insanity, followed by Xerath, an architect of his torment. My failure is complete.
Quotes
- Champion selection
- Attacking
- Movement
- Taunt
- Taunting an enemy Azir
- Taunting an enemy Nasus
- Taunting an enemy Syndra
- Taunting an enemy Thresh
- Joke
- Laugh
- Upon beginning a game of Ascension
- Upon becoming ascended
- When a nearby ally becomes ascended
- When a nearby Renekton becomes ascended
- Killing an enemy while ascended
- Upon winning a game of Ascension
- Uncategorized
Co-op vs. AI Responses
Match start
- "Observe power in its purest form!"
Player team victory
- "Your power is... formidable..."
Player team defeat
- "GG!"
Ancient Ascendant Xerath Quotes
These responses are exclusive to the non-playable Xerath that resides in the Ascension Featured Gameplay Mode.
- When ten champions dance nearby
Development
- Xerath was designed by Volty.
Xerath's image and release date were leaked from the November 2011 issue of PC Gamer.
The Magus Ascendant in PC Gamer
"This caster champ, a being of pure energy, perfectly captures the feeling of uncontrollable power. He charges up energy with each spellcast, temporarily increasing the damage and cost of subsequent spells. Playing him will be a tricky balancing act between knowing when to open the floodgates and pour out your damage, and when you're better off taking the slow-and-steady route."
Champion Sneak Peek
Announcement made in the Sneak Peek by Average Gatsby:
Xerath Comic
At Riot Games a big part of our corporate culture is breaking down barriers through innovation. And, while we're on the subject, this seems like as good a time as any to introduce our latest champion. Meet Xerath, the Magus Ascendant. Previously one of the most powerful mages in Valoran, Xerath's learned the hard way just what sort of trouble accepting constraints – in this case a gigantic, enchanted sarcophagus – can get you into.
Of course, even a chained Magus Ascendant is somebody you want to avoid underestimating.[1]
Xerath Mechanics Preview
Announcement made in the Mechanics Preview by Morello:
Greetings Summoners!
Xerath, the Magus Ascendant, is our newest mage-type character in League of Legends. His playstyle offers a new way to perform the mage-carry role; long range barrages and sieging.
The cornerstone of this is in his ability Locus of Power. This makes Xerath immobile, but gives his spells massively increased range and defense penetration. This really allows him to set up and barrage an area before becoming mobile again to perform a more standard mage role.
Using this range gameplay, Xerath has wide-area spells he can use to really saturate an area with major damage. Arcanopulse, his bread-and-butter ability, shoots a short-delay beam at the area, zapping anyone hit for significant damage. Arcane Barrage, his ultimate, allows him to launch up to three massive explosions at a long range, both doing area denial and good team damage. To protect himself, Mage Chains is a reliable single-target spell that will allow Xerath to stun an enemy if he hits him with a subsequent spell.
Xerath is something we liken to a Howitzer or artillery piece. He should really appeal to people who enjoy very long ranges and like aiming skillshots and leading targets. We're excited to offer a new mage paradigm to League of Legends, and will be continuing to add new ways to play existing roles into the game.
Scorched Earth Xerath
Announcement made by NeeksNaman:[2]
If you've been waiting for that new Xerath skin that really gets you all hot and bothered, your long wait is over. Scorched Earth Xerath is exploding onto the Fields of Justice for all you budding pyrotechnicians, fireworks enthusiasts and anybody else who thinks the process of combustion is really, really cool. Featuring an appropriately incendiary complement of new spell effects befitting his fiery new look, this is one take on the Magus Ascendant you won't want to miss.
Previous Lore
In the ancient civilization of Shurima, the mage called Xerath practiced magic with undying passion. He believed that with enough magical power, he could gaze into the heart of Runeterra to know the secrets of history and the universe beyond. Such magic was beyond the limitations of a mortal body, but Xerath obsessively pursued a path to infinite power nonetheless. With every breakthrough he grew more and more powerful, yet not without consequence. Xerath's increasing arcane abilities wrought havoc on his physical form. Desperate, he undertook a dangerous ritual to transcend his dying body. The outcome would be immortality or self-destruction. Violent magic unleashed during the ritual caused devastation throughout Shurima, but when the dust settled, Xerath emerged as an ascended being of pure arcane energy.
Free of flesh and bone, Xerath held nearly infinite power at his command. However, in the wake of his chaotic ritual, the mages of Shurima feared his careless disregard for life would bring ruin to the kingdom. After a terrible struggle they subdued Xerath, but they could not destroy his ascended form. Instead they trapped him within an enchanted sarcophagus and sealed him in an underground tomb. Eons passed, civilizations rose and fell, and Xerath's imprisonment was lost to memory. For centuries, Xerath's vast power tore away at the sarcophagus and weakened its spell. Finally, he willed forth a burst of magic that shattered his prison, but its core remained, containing Xerath and his power within its broken pieces. Seeking to rid himself of this burden, he was drawn to the magic of Valoran's nexuses and found he could absorb their power. Yet the nexuses had gatekeepers: petty mages known as summoners. Xerath knew his key to true freedom from his prison lay in gaining their trust, and he offered his power to the League of Legends.
| “ | "I have no need for vengeance. Time has brought ruin to the mages of Shurima and I alone remain." |
| — Xerath, the Magus Ascendant | |
 |
Candidate: Xerath
Date: 4 October, 21 CLE
OBSERVATION
Aside from the vaguely human shape within the shattered remnants of his sarcophagus, there is very little indication that the being called Xerath was ever a man. His presence is cold and unfeeling, with nothing to be read upon the iron mask one might call his face.
He does not pause to observe the hallway around him. Xerath approaches the massive doors to the Reflection Chamber and, with a sweep of his arm, they open before him.
REFLECTION
The doors had only just closed behind Xerath when a sandstorm obscured his vision. Violent, stinging wind surrounded him, and he realized in horror that it began to eat away at his very form. The shattered pieces of his sarcophagus withered into wisps of sand. Worse still, Xerath felt himself grow weak. As his prison disappeared into the storm, the arcane energy that made up his form faded with it, replaced by flesh and bone.
The sands of time had turned against him. He was human again.
Around him, the storm took shape in the darkness. He recognized the sandstone walls and the statues that rose from the floor to the ceiling. These regal figures clasped scepters to their chests, and their eyes, plated in gold, gazed eternally down upon those below them. He was in the Temple of the Falcon, where all the mages of Shurima practiced their craft.
The peers of Xerath's youth sparred beneath their Magi ancestors. They threw fire and ice and twisted magic into the shapes of blades, honing the arcane into weaponry. Such was the charge of mages: the greatest masters of magic would stand victorious over Shurima's conquered foes.
Xerath watched silently at the temple's wall, entranced by the light from their spells. Nothing whetted his thirst for understanding as the pure arcane. Its dull glow called to him, and in its depths he knew there lay a thousand secrets.
"Why do you not join them, Xerath?"
The voice broke his focus. Tabia, one of his fellow mages, stood beside him. Her sudden appearance and the look of her smile made him stumble with his words for a moment. "Ah... well... we have our differences."
"You are a mage of Shurima," Tabia said. She moved closer to him. "We have the same path. What differences do you mean?"
"The way they bend their magic," he replied, turning his gaze back to the other mages.
"They make weapons of it, but they don't understand. The more you force your control over it, the more you lose your true connection to the arcane."
"Magic is chaotic. You know the lessons. Without a mage's guiding hand, we can only hope to control what the arcane does and does not destroy."
"Yes, but if it's pure power we want..." Xerath cupped his hand. In the curl of his slender fingers, a blue-violet flame sparked into existence. He knew he could shape it as he wished, but he simply let it burn.
On its own, with only the slightest prodding, the flame grew. Soon it burned fiercely in his hand, its raw power coursing through him and warming his very core.
"All it needs is a vessel," he said.
He turned his gaze up from the flame to see Tabia looking at him, not his magic. She smiled again, and her beauty drew his mind away from the arcane. Between them, the flame grew stronger...
...and then reality blurred around him.
The temple darkened and Tabia's face faded from his view. For a moment he remembered the summoners' trick and the Institute of War, but pain drew him back into another memory.
Sheer, limitless power set him aflame from the inside out. Deep within, at his very core, he felt a searing agony where the fire burned too hot, threatening to burn its way to the surface, to consume and destroy him.
The arcane needed a vessel... but his frail human form could only hold so much.
Xerath grimaced. "I will not allow this mortal body to stop me." He held out his hand. Arcane fire sprung from his fingertips, crackling with power as it formed runes that hung briefly in the air.
The burning, blinding-white magic quickly grew to a tumultuous wind around him. An ancestral statue shattered, its pieces crashing to the ground and shaking the foundation of the temple. It took all of his strength and will to hold the spell. Even then it swelled and flared, threatening to break free.
But a voice rose above the chaos. "Xerath! Stop!"
Tabia.
Xerath's hold over the ritual wavered as he turned towards her voice. She stood at the foot of a Magi ancestor, her dark hair a stark frame to her pale, beautiful face.
"You mustn't do this," she shouted, her eyes burning fearlessly. "It will consume you. It is killing you already, and you would only let it do its work faster!"
"Tabia," Xerath pleaded, his voice hoarse and trembling. "Please, you don't understand..."
The spiraling arcane twisted and pulsed like a storm above them. Xerath felt it slip further from his grasp.
"You do not need this," she said, and there was pleading in her voice, too. "Stop it now, and you can heal. You can have life again. I can help you," she paused. "Come home."
Xerath's will faltered. Perhaps she was right. He imagined himself at home, away from the Magi and the arcane forever, and all the pain it had caused him. The way it had eaten at him from within, all gone. Perhaps...
Tabia mouthed something, but Xerath could not hear her. The statue above her shuddered and began to collapse.
"Tabia! NO!"
At the sound of Tabia's scream, the rest of the statues and the Temple walls began to crumble with the force of Xerath's spell. He'd lost control. At its center, he covered his face with his hands, shouting her name in agony. His brief vision of home and escape from the arcane had been lost as soon as he'd found the strength to reach for it.
It was too late to stop the spell. It would consume him, too, and he trembled in terror at the prospect. All of his efforts for naught... everything he'd worked for, lost.
Unless he finished the ritual.
He hesitated. Part of him wished to accept death, but a greater part still remembered what he'd set out to do—to become something greater. To transcend the mortal body that held other mages back.
He had nothing left but this. Though his whole body ached with weakness, Xerath steeled himself.
I will become eternal... or I will die.
He raised his arms and the writhing mass of magic above him again gained some semblance of form, but still it expanded, destroying the remaining Magi statues and the temple's walls. Xerath pulled the spell inward with all the strength he could muster, blocking out what he could see of the temple collapsing around him.
For a moment, in the chaos of the arcane, he could see a reflection of himself: a pale, emaciated man, aged well beyond his years.
As the spell engulfed him, Xerath's eyes were full of fear.
In an instant, the chaos subsided. Xerath was back in the Reflection Chamber, and a hooded summoner stood before him.
"All that power," said the summoner, "And now you are a prisoner."
"An inconvenience," Xerath replied, his voice echoing through the chamber.
"Yet not what you envisioned when you took control of that spell. Do you have regret, Magus?"
"I do not."
The summoner scowled. "You sacrificed yourself, your people, and the woman you loved... all for power. Power you can no longer reach."
"As I said," Xerath continued. "An inconvenience. I will be free."
"Why do you want to join the League, Xerath?"
At this, Xerath paused. "The burden of my prison was brought about because the mages of Shurima could not comprehend what it was I pursued. I will not allow my goals to be misunderstood again. Consider my work with your League, summoner, a show of good faith."
The summoner regarded him quietly for a moment before giving a curt nod. "As you say. How does it feel, exposing your mind?"
Xerath turned away. "I am no longer the naïve student you have exposed," he said, "My previous existence means nothing."Previous Abilities
These abilities were part of Xerath's original kit, in use from his release in V1.0.0.126 until his rework in V4.2.
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Patch history
V5.4:
- Shocking Orb
- Maximum stun duration reduced from 2.25 seconds to 1.75 seconds.
V5.1:
- Shocking Orb
- Tooltip updated to reflect the actual maximum stun duration of 2.25 seconds from incorrectly listing 2 seconds.
- General
- Texture updates to Classic, Battlecast, and Runeborn Xerath.
- General
- New lore.
- Additional quotes, including special quotes for Ascension.
- Eye of Destruction
- Spellthief's Edge, Frostfang and Frost Queen's Claim no longer proc twice when Xerath hits targets in the center of his spell.
- Rite of the Arcane
- The 0.6 second cooldown between casts no longer benefits from cooldown reduction.
V4.5:
- Base armor increased to 16 from 12.
V4.2: Reworked
- Additional quotes, including special taunts for Syndra and Thresh.
- Stats
- Base mana reduced to to 238 from 250.
- Mana per level increased to 47 from 45.
- Base mana regeneration reduced to 6 from 7.
- Mana regeneration per 5 per level increased to 0.65 from 0.6.
- Attack range reduced to 525 from 550.
- Attack animation slightly shortened.
- Mana Surge (Innate)
- Every 12 seconds, Xerath's next basic attack will restore 30 - 195 mana. The amount of mana restored is doubled if the attack target is a champion
- Arcanopulse (Q)
- First Cast: Xerath starts charging, gradually increasing Arcanopulse's range from 700 to 1400 while slowing down movement speed by up to 50% over the next 1.5 seconds seconds. After 3 seconds, Arcanopulse cancels and half the mana cost is refunded.
- Second Cast: After a brief cast time, Xerath fires a beam of energy in a line the deals magic damage to all enemies hit.
- Damage increased to Template:Aps from Template:Aps.
- Cooldown adjusted to 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 from 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5.
- Mana cost increased to 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 from 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85.
- Eye of Destruction (W)
- Active: Calls down a ground-targeted blast of energy, dealing Template:Aps magic damage to all enemies caught within the blast and slowing them by 10%. Enemies caught in the middle of the blast instead take Template:Aps magic damage and are slowed by 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80% instead.
- Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds
- Mana cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110
- Range: 1000
- Shocking Orb (E)
- Active: Xerath fires a orb of energy forward in a line that detonates on striking an enemy, dealing magic damage and stunning them for between 0.75 and 2 seconds. The stun duration is longer the further the Shocking Orb has travelled.
- Cooldown: 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 seconds
- Mana cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
- Range: 1000
- Rite of the Arcane (Ultimate)
- Active: Xerath roots himself in place and gains three shots of Arcane Barrage, a very long range magic artillery that does Template:Aps magic damage to all enemies hit. Xerath can cancel this effect early. Half of the cooldown is refunded if no shots of Arcane Barrage were used.
- Cooldown: 130 / 115 / 100 seconds
- Mana cost: 100 at all ranks
- Range: 3200 / 4400 / 5600
- Stats
- Base movement speed increased to 340 from 315.
- Locus of Power
- Can now be cast while rooted.
- Arcane Barrage
- Reduced the delay between casting the spell and the impact to 0.5 seconds from 0.875.
- The visual indicator for the ultimate will appear at the start of the cast bar instead of at the end.
- Locus of Power
- Magic penetration bonus increased to 16/22/28/34/40% from 10/15/20/25/30%.
- Mage Chains
- Missile speed increased to 2100 from 1700.
- Ability power ratio increased to 0.8 from 0.7.
- Arcane Barrage
- Allied ultimate HUD indicator will now remain green until all 3 spell casts are used.
- Fixed a bug where Mage Chains could sometimes stun the target for 2 seconds instead of 1.5.
V1.0.0.126: Added.
- Ascended Form (Innate)
- Xerath feeds on arcane power, making him increasingly resilient to physical harm. He converts a percentage of his ability power into armor.
- Arcanopulse (Q)
- Fires a long-range beam of energy, dealing magic damage to all targets hit.
- Locus of Power (W)
- Xerath anchors himself to a source of magical power, increasing the range of all spells and granting him bonus % magic penetration. Although he is immobilized while Locus of Power is active, his movement speed increases upon disabling the ability.
- Mage Chains (E)
- Deals magic damage to an enemy and marks them with Unstable Magic. The next spell Xerath strikes this enemy with stuns them.
- Arcane Barrage (Ultimate)
- Calls down a blast of arcane energy, dealing magic damage to all enemies in an area. May be cast up to three times before going on cooldown.
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References
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