The Weapon of the Faithful Aphelios returns to Teamfight Tactics in Set 7.5 as a two-cost champion, featuring a useful kit and powerful synergy to be a backline carry or synergy bot of some compositions in Dragonlands Uncharted Realms.
Aphelios remains in his backline carry role and can act either as the main carry, a secondary carry or to activate his synergies. His ability Binding Eclipse uses his Infernum cannon to fire in a cone towards his target, dealing damage to the first enemies hit, then he uses his Gravitum cannon to stun all enemies that were previously hit. The amount of damage and stun duration increases with the number of stars.
The traits attributed to Aphelios in Uncharted Realms are Cannoneer and Darkflight. No changes were made to the Cannoneer feature in Set 7.5. Darkflight is a new trait that sacrifices an ally to grant health and one of its equipped items to all Darkflight units on the board.
Aphelios can be a powerful carry in TFT comps that utilize Cannoneer and Drakflight synergies, particularly in partnership with Graves and a robust frontline of Cavaliers.
Aphelios wants attack damage and attack speed items to get the most out of his basic attack. TFT Set 7.5 two-cost champion ideal AD items are similar to what players usually put on other cannoneers.
The Darkflight trait in Uncharted Realms has a gameplay twist in regard to items. The unit that is sacrificed at the start of the round has one of the items equipped on it copied and spread to all Darkflight champions. Because of this, it is common to see carries with only two items, as the third space will be reserved for the item of the sacrificed unit.
Guinsoo’s Rageblade grants unlimited attack speed stacks, perfect for a backline carry that needs to stay alive until the end of the round and increasing the number of casts of the user’s skill. Infinity Edge is another ideal item that grants critical strike chance and damage, increasing the power of basic attacks considerably. And Last Whisper is an essential item to face comps with large amounts of armor on the frontline, such as Guardians, in addition to also granting critical chance.
In builds where Aphelios has the Darkflight trait activated, Guinsoo’s Rageblade can be replaced by Zeke’s Herald from the sacrificed unit. If the sacrificed unit is dropping a tank item like Protector’s Vow, it’s best to equip Aphelios with a third item of its own.
Alternative TFT Set 7.5 items that can also work well on Aphelios are Giant’s Slayer, Runaan’s Hurricane, Statikk Shiv, Hand of Justice, Deathblade, Bloodthirster, and even Titan’s Resolve.
