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How Can Vel'Koz Mid Be Made Viable?

Candel·4/19/2015, 11:00:54 PM·1 votes·2,594 views

So I've been playing a lot of Vel'koz recently since he is free this week. I find him very satisfying to play once I get later in the game, but in the early and mid game he just feels horrible IMO (Specifically talking about him as a mid laner, not a fan of support Vel). I feel like his abilities just don't do enough damage on their own. I can land all 4 of his basic abilities on a single target and it just feels like it barely hurts them compared to the kind of damage other mages do with a full combo. I feel like the only real damage he does comes from his passive. His complete lack of mobility combined with his (Once again, in my opinion) weak damage early just makes him feel like a really weak champion, and I can never see myself picking him in ranked unless some changes are made to his abilities. However, this is just how I personally feel about him as a mid laner at the moment. Let me know what you think about Vel'koz and any changes you would like to see made to him.

TL;DR I think Vel'koz is a really weak mid laner, what kind of changes would you like to see made to him?

17 Comments

Truly Prideful4/19/2015, 11:22:04 PM6 votes

He's perfectly fine as is, especially as assassins become less popular.

Drakzul the Dark4/19/2015, 11:20:33 PM1 votes

It is viable

WarlockLaw4/19/2015, 11:28:37 PM1 votes

I actually played vel'koz a lot when he came out and I always thought his damage was fairly high with little counterplay when everything lands. I max his w first and hitting a lane opponent with both parts and an e (which confirms the second part of the w) takes like half my opponents health while all I have is a dorans ring and chalice. His major weakness is his cooldowns when you miss and his utter lack of an escape when caught/ganked.

Hard4Hamsters4/20/2015, 12:45:51 AM1 votes

Penistration; get some. item 3136 item 3020 item 3135. His damage is actually really high if you combo your abilities. They're all skillshots so it can be more difficult than other champions but he has so much damage when he hits his abilities. His Ult is SOOOO good. It does insane damage AND slows all enemies it hits. Bottom line is that Vel'koz has high base damages and low scaling (which is why many people play him support) but if you get some early pen items as a midlaner he can deal a lot of damage. If you are behind, Vel is one of the best farmers under tower with his W and E. His midgame is potentially his strongest for him. He will fall off late game as his scaling isn't the greatest, but with an early Haunting Guise, his ult will nuke so hard. Liandry's is actually really good on Vel due to his slows and near constant damage output potential. Try it out. Luden's Echo may be another good early item on him if you got some early kills.

Good luck .

Renaille4/20/2015, 12:57:52 AM1 votes

How Can Vel'Koz Mid Be Made Viable?

Give him actual AP ratios.

GaleWinUnleashed4/20/2015, 1:01:33 AM1 votes

He's already perfectly viable, he's just not the easiest to play.

BeatzBoyFTW4/20/2015, 12:47:25 PM1 votes

Rows of true damage = not strong? Dafuq?

vfactor954/20/2015, 11:59:16 PM1 votes

I just got to plat 5 maining Vel'Koz if Riot buffs him he's gonna become FotM and get nerfed, he is perfectly balanced the way he is right now.

If you want to get the most out of Vel'Koz make sure you're rushing mpen items (sorcs, haunting guise, void) as well as an athenes or morellos for cdr sustain. His bases plus passive are more than enough to melt basically everyone mid game with a few mpen items so you might be building him wrong if you think he has weak damage.

Conalll4/21/2015, 12:11:25 AM1 votes

He's quite viable, but can be hard for some to shine with. As someone else said, really he's 90% skill shot. Thus, like Nidalee, if you can't land skill shots, he's worthless. You also need to go hard on AP and Magic Pen. Generally, I get the Chalice for mana (he can be a mana hog if one is not careful), then it's all damage from there. Void staff, Leandry's Torment, Deathcap of course, Luden's Echo isn't bad as it further improves his poke AND his move-speed.

He's not easy, but with practice, he can be quite lethal. I'm starting to main with him now, and loving it!

D1rtFarmer4/19/2015, 11:06:19 PM1 votes

up his base move speed... maybe speed up the knockup...

DynasticMule8/2/2015, 7:42:58 PM1 votes

I have been playing Vel'koz in the mid lane since his release. I have tried every build on him (full ap, ap pen, even tank in ARAM), and I have to say AP Pen is by far the best. At the moment I have an 83% winrate in ranked with him. He fits in many team comps, and does extremely well no matter how you like to play him. ADVICE FOR PRE 6: What I like to do is start Q, and test how easy it is to hit my opponent. If they dodge it well, don't max Q, max out W. If you can land your Q easily on them, max Q instead. When you level up Q, the slow has a longer duration. When you land your Q, it's a 70% movement speed reduction, which means you will have an easier time landing WE, which amounts to INSANE burst damage. When you max W, it becomes deceptively strong . For example, the enemy laner is hiding in his minions. Throw W to push, and if you can tell he's going to get hit, throw your E quickly. If you have a clear shot, throw your Q straight at him or at an angle. Granted this it's easier said than done, but I have been playing Vel'koz for a long time, and I have great reactions/predictions with Vel. Once you have your ult, it's pretty much a guaranteed kill. You can casually poke them down THEN ult, or you can combo with Q-> WER or WE->Q + R, it just depends. When it's time to roam or teamfights, Vel'koz excels in the jungle, but does well in lanes too. He is a kiting beast, and has a ton of AOE burst. Vel can single handily turn a fight around. Just play like any other squishy, and you'll do well. Oh, if I am winning in lane, what I like to do is shove the minions under their turret. If you do this, you HAVE to ward! Once the minions are under turret, and can harass with Q's and W's. If the jungler comes, I sure hope you have map awareness. If not, then predict where your enemies will move to, and throw Q's and W's to slow them down. Remember, he can kite very well. Sorry if that's a lot to read, I am very passionate about this squid. I am a silver 1 right now (climbing at a rather fast rate, considering how little I play), but in lane I can beat high plats with Vel'koz. I can't do that with any other champion.