Why Vel"koz rework is a dissappointment

First, I would like to thank riot for putting together a wonderful, fun and compelling game. You guys work hard and I want you to know I really appreciate your efforts.

I have over 359 K experience into Vel-Koz and I really wanted to get into this forum and voice my opinion regarding his re-work. I view myself as an average LOL player. I’m no LOL genius and I don’t play any ranked. I’m no expert, but I believe I have a clear grasp on Vel’koz and what made him so satisfying to play, so here goes:

IMHO the reason the Vel’Koz rework is a disappointment is because the big “payoff” for playing Vel’Koz was eliminated.

Why did I enjoy playing an immobile ultra-squishy mage? Why did I suffer through Yasou, hopping up my minion line to dump me in my own turret? Why did I put up with talon, disappearing, only to reappear and gut me like a pig? Why did I suffer having Zed appear out of the smoke to splat me, or fizz hopping at me because I’m a sitting chummsicle; or rengar popping out of thin air to slaughter me, or Khaz jumping half way across the lane to squish me? Why did I do all this? Because, there were going to be those glorious moments during the match when Two, Three or maybe the whole enemy team was going to come into alignment for that slpit second, and …….BAAMMM…..I WOULD MELT THEM WITH MY PASSIVE SLAMMING LONG RANGE SLOWING ULT. Melting multiple champions at a time so my team could mop them up and we could advance on an important objective and/or win the game. I would melt TANKS…adcs……mages….bruisers….all at once. That was the counter balance to my immobility and squishiness. All that immobility and slaughter I endured…..here was my pay-off. Here was my moment of glory. This was the reason I loved Vel’Koz. Now that is gone. Sadly, Vel’Koz has been re-worked to melt a single tank if you can land the four hits needed (three to pop the research and one for the ult).

This is how my team fights used to go: Poke, Kite…….Poke…….Kite……..SLAM-ULT melt multiple faces at once. – Nice.

This is how my team fights go now: Don’t poke or kite cause you need to save your combo for research…….waiting, waiting, waiting…..no chance……waiting, waiting, waiting, Ohhh here is my chance…..OK EVERYONE STAND STILL PLEASE (like a family picture) I have to land 4 hits to make this work. Please don’t use your built in flash or real flash…..hold on, this is going to take some time. I am immobile and squishy so please don’t kill me while I take the time to line up 4 hits….DEATH for Vel, but yay, I may have significantly damaged that one tank……Rest of team in chat “please focus Vayne not Braum, noob” – No Fun. And that’s if your lucky and nailed the research.

My payoff is gone. No melting multiple champs at once.

I could pull my old ult off spontaneously when everything aligned; but now to much has to happen to get that satisfying melt-down and just on ONE champ? By the time I’m able to land a few hits (remember I need 4) the opportunity is gone. Other reasons this is so disappointing: 1 Everyone agreed (even Riot) that Vel’Koz was one of the most, if not the most, balance champ in the game.

2 Vel’Koz changes were supposed to be fine tuning. This fundamentally changed his purpose and most fun payoff in the match.

3 It is really really really difficult for a immobile squishy mage to get into position to land FOUR hits and survive. Its like you have to be all-in and die (hopefully after you completed your ult) to just unload on one champ? Also, taking the boot enchantments away really hurt Vel in this respect as well. Getting into position and escaping much more difficult now.

4 I used to melt tanks along with whole teams before. The rework didn’t provide anything new. Just took something away. Like I said I could melt tanks before the re-work.

SOLUTION IS SIMPLE. – Please integrate passive back into the ult. That’s it. That’s all. That’s all he needs IMHO. Easy fix. The new research concept is redundant. His passive was his research. That’s the idea behind his passive. You hit 3 times? Your researched. Bang passive popped extra true damage. Taking that away from his ult fundamentally changed his play experience. Now all the research mechanic does is make it less likely you’re ult is going to damage.

Thanks for reading guys....

Dorion44