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Vel'Koz buffs and what I feel they should be

Scuffleboard·7/6/2018, 12:57:34 PM·3 votes·1,320 views

Now, Vel'Koz has been somewhat weak for a while now, as I believe I've remarked before. It's gotten even worse in this patch, as he has a 46.1% winrate with a pickrate just above 1%, which is extremely weak. Riot has put him among a list of mages who need buffs, but not all buffs are created equal.

As of right now, he can effectively lose lane in champ select, with a winrate around 40% or below against champions like Fizz. They have enough mobility to dodge everything he has, and it's almost certainly a summoner or a kill if a Fizz/Yasuo/etc can get on top of him, even under tower. Unless he's massively more skilled than they are, he will lose lane.

To be fair, he is still a good damage mage. He excels at dropping down squishy targets with a single lethal combo- if he can survive lane. And that's why I believe that damage isn't what he needs. It would increase his strengths, but his glaring weakness to mobility and assassins would remain. I respect the idea of champions having their own strengths and weaknesses, and I know Riot likes it too. But his weakness to assassins just feels so extreme that it feels incredibly frustrating to play a champion that's normally fun and interactive.

He needs peel. He needs something to help him live if those kinds of champions can get on top of him. So this is my idea.

E - Tectonic Disruption

Knockup duration is increased to 1.1 seconds and is no longer affected by Tenacity. Cast time is also quickened.

This would make his peel a bit more effective as well as making his E a little easier to land. Thoughts?

12 Comments

Naymliss7/6/2018, 1:11:56 PM1 votes

This would make vel worse to play against as an immobile mage, I say no. Fizz would still be able to reaction dodge, as would other assassins with mobility, but immobile mages wouldn't be able to sidestep.

UnboundHades7/6/2018, 1:46:05 PM1 votes

Just make his e like an opposite xerath e where the knockup duration gets lower based on the distance away which would give some more counterplay if you get hit by a w at the edge of his range while giving a longer knockup for when he uses it closer to him

MOLTinaTOR7/6/2018, 1:47:26 PM1 votes

Knockup duration is increased to 1.1 seconds and is no longer affected by Tenacity. Cast time is also quickened.

Wait, I thought tenacity doesn't work on knock ups?

Kaioko7/6/2018, 7:19:41 PM1 votes

Increasing his E knockup time and not having it reduced by tenacity has been known for a while as the best way to fix it. It's not the easiest skillshot to land and he should be rewarded for getting it off.

Vanic9987/7/2018, 5:53:42 AM1 votes

Yes! You get it! I've been saying this forever. Velkoz already has all the damage he needs. His main issue is he is unreliable at dealing it. It frustrates me when I land my whole combo and the enemy still gets away or turns it around because of how short his e suspension duration is. It's to the point where im calling it the worst skilshot in the game.

Its difficulty to land it aint worth it's reward. A delay, small aoe (It's aoe yet you're most likely only going to hit one enemy campion anyway), and its range is dangerous since its within dashing range and yet all you get is a measly .75 sec suspension. Not even a whole second. Velkoz's ult deals damage over 2.5 secs which means that e is only suspending an enemy for a little less than a third of his ult duration.

Like you I suggested increasing his e suspension duration. In other previous posts. I suggested increasing it by .25 sec from .75 sec to 1 sec but your idea of increasing it by .35 sec sounds good too. When riot reveals the buff on PBE, I hope the e suspension duration is what they change. I'd be pissed if they buff his damage.

Just curious, what source are you using for the statistics? My source says velkoz has been at 48-49% winrate with about a 1.1-1.2% playrate.

Hexs Fortune7/7/2018, 6:08:59 AM1 votes

Riot typically favors buffing strengths rather than nerfing weaknesses.