What Viktor Really Needs

So, I used to main Viktor. Uhm. I kinda had to give that up this season, he's not in a great spot. Why though? Obviously he is a tough to balance champion, as his Hex Core means any itemization nerf indirectly buffs him. I'm going to break down his REAL problems (none of which are addressed by this PBE garbage).

• Too much power shifted onto E. This is obvious. I love E's power, but it's too centralizing and any nerfs to it just trash his kit entirely, since it is 75% of his kit. The addition of the 1.2 second delay I guess is just to make it seem like you can counterplay his E, instead of "E Upgrade = 40% damage boost". The upfront Nerf is too big however, and the delay is too long with the crazy mobility champs have. I would make it a 0.8 to 1.0 second delay and make the damage split evenly instead of 35% first tick 65% second tick.
• Q feels useless. I don't mean Q damage is useless, that's a common misconception. The range is too short and the delay before the auto is too long. It's "mana to damage" ratio is WAY worse than E, so in lane when mana is precious you are better using that mana to get an extra E cast off. I like how they are buffing the shield and initial Q damage, but the range needs to be increased on the empowered auto and decreased on the initial Q. This creates a realistic scenario of "they walk up too close, so you tag with Q and land auto because of extra range as they walk back". With the current ranges the Q has more range than the auto, so you cast Q they walk back, and you end up using the auto on a creep.
• W doesn't deal damage. I know it doesn't make sense, but they have reworked quite literally every mage but Viktor to have 4 damage/damage buffing abilities. This results in Viktor's combo being too fast as it only has 3 spells, but leaves you with nothing to do when they are down. Either add damage on the stun, a DOT while inside it, or add some damage when you upgrade it. This leads into my next point......
• Hex Core upgrades are too linear. Players will buy damage before utility 90% of the time, which means they always buy E first. Viktor's first rework did a good job giving you choices on WHEN to upgrade, but the ORDER in which you upgrade shouldn't always be the same. Viktor's kit shouldn't also use E upgrade like a crutch, he should be viable without it. This prevents the scenario of "if you get E first back you win lane, if you don't you are screwed".

So Yeah. RIto pls help.