Viktor felt really good for one or two patches after his Q buff. I've been struggling a bit with him again, though. It feels like every other mage got buffed in lane with the item changes. But Viktor can't really enjoy the new items, since he's still forced to spend his first 2250 gold on augments. If you take Viktor and any other mage, and compare their items at 3300 gold, the difference is just nuts.
or
vs. hexcore level 2 (which gives about 60 AP maybe at that point) plus a blasting rod. The difference is even worse if you compare first back (hexcore mk1 vs 1250 gold spent on any other items).
I get the logic of scaling teamfight champions needing to have weak early games, but I don't feel like this paradigm is applied fairly. There are lots of mages who scale well, and also have great team fight presence, but who aren't saddled with a crap early game.
with
and
also scales incredibly well, and has many of the same strengths as Viktor (wave clear, zoning), but she enjoys an infinitely safer and smoother laning phase and build path.
is a hyperscaling mage, and he can straight up bully in lane.
maybe doesn't scale quite as hard, but she's strong at literally every point in the game (she definitely doesn't fall off at any point) and can basically perma-zone other mages off creeps.
I'd love to see Viktor get some base stats back on his augments. Or lower the mana cost a bit on either his E or his Q, since he is one of the only mages in the game who doesn't get to rush a mana item.
Or, hell, just tie the damn augments to his ult, khazix-style. The whole hexcore system is an interesting gimmick in theory, but in practice, all it does is restrict his builds and make him incredibly gold dependent. Which is maybe important to his balance, IDK. Maybe viktor would be broken if he had more item flexibility, that's a real possibility.
But just to be completely clear, the hexcore system certainly isn't a fun feature. I don't enjoy being forced to spend gold on items that give nothing but scaling AP. It feels worse and worse with every new season, since Riot is moving more and more away from items that just provide stats. Every item now has a fun and interesting unique passive or active. Meanwhile, Viktor is lashed to his huge AP stat stick.
This is coming from a long-time Viktor player, btw. I have 250k mastery on him, and I've been playing him very avidly since season 3, way before his rework. I consider myself a very dedicated fan of the champ, and I don't really enjoy the hexcore system, and I can't imagine how any person could. It's one of the only passives in the game that feels like a limitation more than a strength.