Hey there! You want to talk about Vel'koz?

Hello!

As was hinted by several rioters, Vel'koz will be one of the main six champions to be featured in the immobile mage update. I want to try to talk about some of my opinions on the champion, and what should be focused on for when his kit is tweaked.

For some background about me/why should you care about what I am saying, I'm a Vel'koz main, and have been pretty much been playing him since I had the IP to do so. Right now I am sitting at around 200K Mastery on Vel and achieved Gold last season almost exclusively using him. In addition, I am also an indie game designer, which I know in this industry is basically the equivalent of "Wait until my mixtape drops", but I am, and I have been able to work with some pretty neat people in the past because of that.

But lets talk Vel, starting with what Vel'koz is, both in terms of gameplay, mechanics, and lore.

Vel'koz is a creature of the Void that scours Runterra for knowledge through disintegration; The more Vel'koz disintegrates, the more he learns. Vel'koz puts whatever he encounters to the test, and makes them suffer greatly should they fail, not that Vel'koz would care however, seeing as their failure (NOT being disintegrated by a floating eye in armour) is his success. In gameplay terms, this is most noticably reflected in his passive; Organic Deconstruction, representing Vel'koz gaining an understanding of his foes. This three hit passive (do groan if you must, but I adore it), is applied in varying degrees by each of his spells, once by his Q; Plasma Fission, twice by his W; Void Rift, once by his E; Tectonic Disruption, and 5 times by his ultimate; Lifeform Disintegration Ray.

Previously, Rioters have discussed why they want to focus on Vel'koz, one comment coming from Riot BelugaWhale, noted this;

> [{quoted}](name=Riot BelugaWhale,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ZadVZBdQ,comment-id=001e,timestamp=2016-01-07T21:17:23.229+0000) > > We understand the concern around Vel'koz/Roster updates. Personally I've seen multiple threads and posts specifically on Vel'koz - so here's a bit of clarity on our current thought process on him: > > Any change we implement on Vel'koz will almost certainly not be a major shift on his character or play - think Caitlyn scale rather than Graves. He IS under consideration however, because it is wrong to say that he is ideally designed as he is currently. For example, two such problems he currently has are: > > * All he does for his team is damage, which is hardly unique to him - there's no specific reason to want to bring Vel'koz onto a team > > * Many of his abilities don't quite feel right - for example laning mid involves spamming W down the creep wave repeatedly instead of focusing on creative Q play. > > Potential changes will likely be aimed at addressing these kinds of issues.

(This was taken from this thread; http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/ZadVZBdQ-legitimate-request-for-the-immobile-mage-update-leave-velkoz-alone?comment=001e)

I want to focus on the two issues highlighted. The first being "All he does for his team is damage", and the second being "His abilities don't quite feel right".

It's true, Vel'koz's main objective is to do damage, and a lot of it. This stems from the true damage on his passive, and his high base damage abilities (encouraging you to buy magic penetration to do even more damage). These lead to why I loved picking Vel'koz and playing him throughout season 5. If Vel'koz has any identity beyond do damage, its this; Vel'koz is a tank buster. Vel'koz should be the guy you pick to work your way through all of that magic resist to help weaken your enemy's front line. He's the champion you lock in when you start seeing Juggernauts, because his kiting and poking abilities can help make sure Darius gets dunked on by your team before he can go in for the dunk. The dreaded counter-dunk, if you will. Is it the way Vel'koz plays right now? Not entirely. Is it the direction I would want to see Vel'koz take in the coming immobile mage update? Yeah. When I play Vel'koz, I stack Magic Penetration. I work to land three hit combos, and if I am against an especially tanky team, the dreaded Rylandries can make even your Q tear away at an enemy tank.

As for the second point, Vel'koz abilities not feeling right, I simply disagree. The primary example given is how Void Rift is used in lane predominantly more that Plasma Fission, an opinion I agree with. But to say that that discourages creative Q play would be like saying Orianna fast clearing the minions with her ball prevents creative ball play. Both Orianna and Vel'koz look to clear the lane exceedingly fast. That way they can focus on making their enemy laner's life a living hell of split projectiles and balls until they return to the respawn pad. Even then, that is not to say that I never use my Q in lane. Whether I push my opponent in, face a stagnant lane, or get pushed in myself, I still regularly need to fire plasma fission in order to apply pressure, especially if I am against a ranged champion. Against a melee champion Vel'koz W-E combo works wonders.

Do I think Vel'koz should be updated? I don't really want him to be, because change is good scary, but at the same time, I also think that he stands a lot to benefit. My primary concern as a Vel'koz main is losing the cohesiveness of his kit. His abilities and passive just seem to naturally glide into eachother, and the tweaking of an ability or his passive could damage that cohesiveness.

If I was to break down why I play Vel'koz, I would narrow it to this;

1. It feels extremely satisfying to land abilities. Both in terms of splitting his Q or proccing his passive.
2. His abilities mesh well with eachother, allowing for some neat wombo combos should you have passed your geometry classes.
3. Oh Darn

I know I'm not the only person who plays Vel, and I'm also certainly not the best person who plays Vel, but to lose those attributes would be devastating to me. Really I just want to hear more opinions, from community members, rioters, and anyone inbetween. What do we want to get out of a Vel'koz update, and is whatever we are gaining worth what we are potentially losing? I personally think Vel'koz is in a great spot, and even with the issues noted to draw him into consideration for the immobile mage update, there are other champions that need this update more (Such as Birdman Swain, or Galio).