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Viktor buffs for 8.3/8.4 don’t address viktor’s current problems

Biotic·1/15/2018, 8:56:49 AM·5 votes·3,561 views

Its good to know that riot is communicating wih the community at this level but their ideas about viktor not only do not help with his lack of relevance in the early game but also take away from Viktor’s identity as a burst mage.

For those who don’t know, the new Viktor buff that is being proposed states that : ——— “Siphon stike[Q]: Discharge reapplies siphon power’s shield(non-stacking)”———

The problem with viktor currently is not that he is not impactful early game(he is a late game hypercarry similar to kassadin, he should have a limited early game impact compared to that of talon or ahri), but that it is too easy to make him unable to reach the mid game where his influence increases greatly.

The problem with viktor is that one death, lane camping, early game roams(in cases such as Aurelion sol and skip), cs denial, and some other situations put Viktor at a massive lane disadvantage in terms of gold allocation and reaching his augment. An experienced player will have the knowledge to get through these situations at times but they are so easy to induce that it is impossible to overtake all of them

The nerf to manaflow band also gets rid of much of his trading protential as he is a mana monster and will make previously bearable lanes, such as katarina and orianna, near impossible to manage trading-wise. Additionally adding this new shield interaction only rewards situations where he unable to use his empowered AA. Some argue that his shield will allow him to outplay situations such as a lux ult or maybe a talon, but in some cases it will have no impact(fizz and zed ult it isn’t doing shit) and in others it will take away from his burst potential(you want the shield to poke brand and mitigate his passive——didn’t empower AA him so you lose half the dmg).

The obvious way to fix his problems is not by number changes or affecting the delay(main function is for csing : / ) but by decreasing he hexcore costs even if it’s just by 100 or 150(although a revert is preferred) because it will not punish viktor for not being able to buy his first augment 350 gold after most champions purchase their first item(building to Morelos or roa or rylais or lichbane). Anyone who is a fan of viktor should already know that he is next to worthless post-6 without his first augment and one death can ruin the entire early and mid game. Because it is so easy to onset this delayed upgrade, viktor loses all lane pressure, csing power(his main strength) and roaming potential. The only way to address his problems is to decrease the risk of him not being able to build his first augment.

Thoughts on current viktor ———————————————————— After 800+ games of viktor in gold and plat elo(sorry not a 2% god but I have some experience at least——— in between plat 4 and 5 for the past week) I’ve gone against every viable midland matchup and of the common one I have found only some champions that have trouble taking advantage of his early game weakness to an extent that makes him completely useless.

These champions are: lux, twisted fate, Annie, ryze, taliyah, Gallo, chogath, brand, Morgana, malzahar, veiger, zilean ****these are off the top of my head so I might believe others are he as well(same applies for below)

Champions easily able to ground viktor and keep from buying hexcore: Azir, ekko, Diana, xerath, talon, fizz, orianna, syndra, Corki, velkoz, ahri, wukong, alkali, Zoe, kassadin(the worst), leblanc

(Did not include zed, ahri, anivia, and some others as there pressure is not stressed until past the point where Viktor should have enough gold for augment)

This is not to make rioters look bad(this whole post and this next comment) but I also want to address this talk of Viktor being “not that weak”. At a 2% play rate and a win rate that fluctuates between 46 and 47%, he is very weak. Nunu might be on a different level, however this does not detract from viktor having the 3rd lowest win rate behind ryze and the now off meta Lucian(a trend that has been relative to now since patch 6.24). If he is losing 8 more games than winning per 100 games on average and it is not somewhat attributed to frequent new users “first-timing” said champion(zed, azir(as of new buff between 7 and 8% pr), Zoe, and Syndra before preseason) then he should be considered very weak.

Additionally those talking about viktor being able to 100-0 players making him fine, then those people are facing a viktor that has done is job well in surpassing the early game augment denial situations and even gone beyond that and outmatched there opponent. His functionality is to one-shot players with the likes of Annie, Akali, Zoe, katarina, Syndra, veiger, orianna, kassadin, Azir, lux.

Wouldn’t care so much but for me it’s playing my fair share of viktor or quitting the game as I just can’t find the fun in trying new champs(already tried orianna, talon, malzahar, xerath, and Anivia———all of them are just not the same) ——————————————————

Thank you for reading this long long post and hopefully considering changing the buff to address his problems rather than changing his identity.

EDIT **an additional comment I feel free to make: I think I would go as far to say I would rather have his costs changed and have a discompensation for it(even to the extent of getting rid of the shield) as I value the mid game relevance more than increased character attributes

Noo one thinks of the shield in the late game with hyper carry adcs and the shield will never help if you have velkoz or Leblanc or someone else always outdmging it——along with a jg like the flash rammus q to confirm the setback

18 Comments

Ahris1/15/2018, 9:04:00 AM4 votes

Viktor is a lane bully.

The Anagram King1/15/2018, 9:47:58 AM2 votes

I'm a Viktor player. I've been playing Viktor since like 3 months after release. I joined because I SAW Viktor, saved up my IP, bought him second (after Kayle), and have 'Mained" him ever since.

I still totally remember what he was like back then; and what hooked me on his kit. It wasn't cheap augment costs - it was his weird (but effective) kit flow, and the reliability of the tools at his disposal. The ability to buy the augment that increased you movement speed made you terrifying in top lane (even though the stats were kiind've lame). The ability to buy the augment that caused your laser to burn enemies over time made you a monster in mid lane.

The tools did it. Not the stats. Not the related costs (you earned lots of gold anyways, being that you pushed down waves and respectably picked up kills). You thought about the matchup and the stuff you had at your disposal; and you devastated the enemy through superior lane presence. I loved that.

Viktor reapplying shields gives you a tool SPECIFICALLY for poking out your enemy. It makes Q-maxing a viable choice again. You can now choose whether to bully an enemy, or pressure the lane. It gives him options.

OPTIONS.

And this is a good direction, since the Mage Update where he was shoehorned into being a Rylai rusher with low damage.

This is something I really like the look of. I worry it might be overtuned---but lane tools and cool ability perks are exactly the kind of stuff I want to see in Vik's arsenal.

Shatter the Sun1/15/2018, 11:49:55 AM2 votes

I agree. This is a terrible direction they are taking his buffs and it doesnt fix his main problem which is reliability. He does enough damage to be feared late game but whats the point of this damage if you cant hit it? This could be buffed in the form of making his E aftershock faster or having his augments augment his abilities further to make them more reliable to use but only under certain circumstances.

Void Baboon RF1/15/2018, 4:08:31 PM2 votes

You think riot knows anything about viktor. I'm surprised meddler didn't give janna a buff and call it a viktor buff.

LordSauron223/11/2018, 3:36:48 PM1 votes

Agreeded. I mention this multiple times in my Youtube videos with Viktor that his first item is too expensive. Sure once he gets that first item he bullies lanes. But if he can't get his 5000 gold item he is screwed. I have had it where i was so cs denied that I had to buy a support item to even afford the second tier of his staff. (I was against a Xerath)