So I main velkoz and love him but don't see him too often, with the tank meta that I don't mind why don't we see him more? He is like the Mage version of vayne? Land all ur skill shots do tons of true damage and he also has a lot of cc to get the tank off him? Your thoughts!?
RiotRiot King Cobra2 votesScarra loves to play Vel'Koz mid and he had a discussion with his chat about why Vel isn't seen that much even though this meta is, arguably, where he should shine. The following sums up what he said (although he only discussed Kog'Maw).
The major limiting factor is the existence of other champions fulfill a similar role as him (long-ranged poke/sustained aoe) but do it either more reliably or have more reliable aspects that makes how they fulfill the role generally better.
Vel'Koz competes, mainly, with Ziggs, Xerath, and Kog'Maw right now. Ziggs brings much more reliable waveclear/poke/AOE damage than Velkoz. It's hard to land Vel's Q in crowded teamfights, and his W requires enemies to stand on it to proc both instances of damage. Xerath is bugged right now which is why you don't see him that much but he is similar to Ziggs in that his damage is more reliable/easier to land. Sure, Velkoz has true damage to shred through health, but reliable damage is better than potentially no damage.
As I said, Scarra covered Kog'Maw vs Vel'Koz. His damage is also arguably unreliable, but once he hits 16 he's unarguably the best midlaner in the game because of how stupid his range becomes (which really makes up for its unreliability since its so stupidly spammable) and how hard it is to get to him if played well. There is just no reason to go with Vel'Koz when you can pick Kog'Maw and rush Luden's.
I think Vel'Koz is a fine midlaner to pick right now (and I love playing him!), but, when you are in a situation to pick him, and Ziggs, not bugged Xerath, and Kog'Maw are open, it is very hard to justify picking him over them.
Reworks Are OP1 votesThanks for the response maybe it's because I'm a silver, noob alert haha I find his skill shots so easy to land if you initiate with your e, and are you talking kog maw mid? Love that too I thought you rush magic pen on ap not ludens echo
RiotRiot King Cobra1 votesThanks for the response maybe it's because I'm a silver, noob alert haha I find his skill shots so easy to land if you initiate with your e, and are you talking kog maw mid? Love that too I thought you rush magic pen on ap not ludens echo
I think Vel'Koz's kit lends itself to a strong lane - his combo, when set up with E, is pretty easy to land, but in teamfight scenarios and whatnot you won't always be able to string together abilities in an ideal manner which makes him have to play things out a little differently.
To clarify, yes I'm talking about Kog'Maw mid. The standard build on him now is Tear -> Luden's rush. Assuming one farms well on Kog, Luden's is acquired right around the time he hits level 11 which results in a massive powerspike in his ability to poke. The increased movespeed he gets from the item allows him to kite much more effectively and the passive proc really makes his R's hurt and help him with waveclear.
Reworks Are OP1 votesAwesome thanks I'll have to try ap kog again so is the build tear , ludens, sorc boots , liaments, void staff, rylias? Sorry for bad spelling
RiotRiot King Cobra1 votesAwesome thanks I'll have to try ap kog again so is the build tear , ludens, sorc boots , liaments, void staff, rylias? Sorry for bad spelling
I think ideally you rush Ludens into Sorcs + Seraphs then Void + Deathcap. Stack up the AP and run Flash + Ghost.
Reworks Are OP1 votesBump
Terff1 votesI love him in mid, and honestly hate him supp.
qetzel1 votesQuestion from a noob. Doesn't true damage do less against tanks due to their large health pools?
DatPikachuTho1 votesIt will still do more than non-true damage, for the most part.
BluePolarizer1 votesVel'Koz is actually pretty good right now. The thing to note is that his spell cast animations are extremely short, so with the typical blue Vel'Koz build
if you don't get burst down, you can kite the enemy team indefinitely after Rylai's. That's not true for Xerath and Ziggs who, if caught, die pretty easily due to the slow missile speed/long cast times of their spells. Also helps that he's actually not that squishy with Rylai's and Liandry's.