Combos · Support

Tahm Kench combos

The River King

4 Tahm Kench combos explained key by key: in which order to cast the abilities, when to use them and what each step does. The main combo is Q › AA › Q › Q. Further down: every ability's cooldown, cost and range, and the skill max order measured over ranked games.

Tahm Kench combos

The stun

Q › AA AA › Q › Q

When: An enemy is within range.

Tongue Lash applies a stack of An Acquired Taste; at 3 stacks, the champion is stunned and the stacks are consumed.

The engage

W › Q › R

When: An enemy is far away.

Abyssal Dive makes you dive then reappear at the targeted spot, damaging and knocking up enemies; Devour swallows an enemy champion (3 stacks required).

Protecting an ally

R › E

When: An ally is under threat.

Devour on an ally gives them a shield for a few seconds; Thick Skin protects you too.

The ally rescue

W › R › E

When: An ally is targeted by an engage.

Abyssal Dive brings you to the ally, Devour gives them a shield for a few seconds, Thick Skin converts your stored damage into a temporary shield.

Role in team fights

Tahm Kench chooses between protecting and attacking: swallowing an ally takes them out of a control, swallowing an enemy separates them from their team. Abyssal Dive helps him join the brawl or leave it.

Common mistakes

• Using Devour on an enemy without having the 3 stacks.
• Not converting your stored damage into a shield.
• Using Abyssal Dive with no direction.

Cooldowns, costs and ranges

A combo only comes back once its abilities are off cooldown: these values (rank 1 to max rank, in seconds) tell how long to wait between two combos. Source: Data Dragon 16.19.1.

Ability	Cooldown (s)	Cost	Range
Q · Tongue Lash	7/6.5/6/5.5/5	50/46/42/38/34 Mana	900
W · Abyssal Dive	21/20/19/18/17	60/75/90/105/120 Mana	1000/1050/1100/1150/1200
E · Thick Skin	3	—	2400
R · Devour	0	100 Mana	—

Official ability descriptions

PassiveAn Acquired Taste

Tahm Kench puts the heft of his immense body behind his attacks, gaining extra damage based on his total health. Damaging enemy champions builds stacks of An Acquired Taste. At three stacks, he can use Devour on an enemy champion.

QTongue Lash

Tahm Kench lashes out with his tongue, damaging and slowing the first unit hit and healing himself if he strikes an enemy champion.

Applies a stack of An Acquired Taste to enemy champions. If the champion already has 3 stacks of An Acquired Taste, they are stunned and the stacks are consumed.

WAbyssal Dive

Dive down and then re-appear at target location, damaging and knocking up all enemies in an area.

EThick Skin

Passive: Tahm Kench stores a percent of the damage he takes and heals based on it while out of combat.

Active: Convert all stored damage into a temporary shield.

RDevour

Tahm Kench devours a champion for a few seconds, dealing magic damage if they are an enemy, or shielding them if they are an ally.

Skill order

Max order: Q > W > E60.9% · 23 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W		●						●		●		●	●
E			●											●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 51 games).

Riot's official tips for playing Tahm Kench

• Your most important function as a support is to keep fragile allies safe. Keep Devour's range and cooldown in mind and position accordingly!
• Consider carefully when to use Thick Skin's active. Sometimes shielding early to avoid further damage is good, but sometimes the healing is more beneficial.

How to play around Tahm Kench's combos

• When you see Tahm Kench use the shield from Thick Skin, remember that he just opted out of a good deal of healing. He will also not accumulate new gray health until Thick Skin comes off cooldown. Use this to your advantage!
• Watch out for Kench's Abyssal Dive - you can cancel it's channel with immobilizing crowd control effects.

Frequently asked questions

Build, runes and counters: full Tahm Kench guide · every champion's combos · tier list