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Thank you for making Vel'Koz, Riot

PlasmaPuffball·8/19/2014, 12:57:48 AM·34 votes·7,733 views

I just wanted to thank you guys for creating Vel'Koz. He is by far my favorite champion, and I greatly appreciate his addition to the game. He feels so satisfying and I love his personality, animations, ability visuals, kit, and playstyle. The Void creature champions have always been my favorite due to my interest with the Void as a whole and how they feel when you play them. Cho'gath feels like he is really evolving when you play him when you reach levels 6, 11, and 16, allowing him to become bigger and gain more health. Kha'Zix feels the most adaptive and evolution heavy Void creature, for reasons I probably don't need to say. Kog'Maw is not only adorable in his own way, but the higher levels of Bio-Arcane Barrage really feels powerful and the growing range of his Ultimate over the course of the game also gives a feeling of power, especially AP Kog'Maw. Vel'Koz's passive feels like he is learning his opponents movements. Because he is all skillshot based, the more he learns his opponents movement patterns and playstyle, the easier it is to hit his opponents with his abilities, rewarding him with more damage and "knowledge" (for Vel'Koz himself, of course). They just all feel like they really are creatures coming into a completely new world and adapting to it as they go along and grow stronger through evolving. Kha'Zix is probably the epitome of it though, with his unique evolution mechanic and lore that really made him sound like an alien invader to Runeterra and evolving through his hunting of native creatures.

But the primary reason Vel'Koz is my favorite is how different he is to the other Void creatures. Rather than being obsessed with eating stuff, he doesn't care much for it at all. When I play him, he doesn't feel as "overpowering" as the other Void creatures. What I mean by that is Kha'Zix kinda wants to just destroy you through assassination, Cho'Gath is many times your size and just devours you, and Kog'Maw melts you face with stomach acid then explodes on your face. Vel'Koz feels more like he is trying to outsmart and learn his opponents than just overpower them. I also favor him because his kit is amazing. The passive feels powerful and rewarding, Q is unique with the splitting and you can really be tricky with it, W is good damage and farming, E is good disruption and setup for comboes. His R though...that ability is just incredible. The sheer power of it feels amazing to just melt you enemies with. The sound effect it also makes when you make contact with enemies really sounds like disintegration. It's so threatening at all stages in the game and I love it so much. Especially when an enemy team is doing Baron or Dragon and are stuck in those pits trying to complete them, then they just eat Vel'Koz's laser and just melt before him. Or when a teamfight occurs in a tight space in the jungle, the same feeling happens. Another thing I like about him are the sounds effects of all of his abilities. They all sound kinda alien-y and I already went over his ultimate sounding like true disintegration. I also love his ability visuals though. I dunno why, but I really like how they've made the Void purple based. Kha'Zix, Vel'Koz, and Malzahar's abilities all look cool and really out of place in Summoner's Rift, cuz they're from the Void and all, so they're supposed to look like they're out of place and alien-y. Oh, and another thing I like that Riot has been doing is the respawn animations. When Vel'Koz respawns after death, he comes from a portal from the Void and it just looks cool. Not sure about other people, but I really like small things like that. I take note of a lot of small things that champions do because they add a lot to their character. Kinda like how Braum just does this gigantic jump back to base that no normal person can really do, other than Pantheon maybe. Probably the last thing that I'll mention is his model. I love the look of it and the animations it does. Riot hasn't really worked with tentacles and stuff before, but the Homeguard animation and the way he moves just look amazing to me. He really looks like he is out of place, like he's supposed to. I kinda hope Cassiopeia gets the kinda treatment Vel'Koz got with her tail and stuff.

Only thing that kinda bothers me about Vel'Koz is how he doesn't have any champion interaction quotes unless they're in his Battlecast skin, which I don't really like or have. Why couldn't he have his Kassadin quote from the Battlecast skin on his Classic one? And why doesn't he have quotes for Kog'Maw, Cho'Gath, and Kha'Zix? I know he doesn't really care much for Kog'Maw, Cho'Gath, and Kha'Zix since they're the type of Voidborn to just eat and destroy everything, but I mean, they're still Voidborn just like him and they're all at the League for similar reasons, and I'm sure Vel'Koz are familiar with them to some extent, especially Kog'Maw cuz of his "daddy". And I find it odd that he has a quote for Kassadin, but not Malzahar. They're both humans influenced by the Void in some way, so why only Kassadin? I guess because he didn't get brainwashed like Malzahar did, so that one makes sense. I dunno, I just find it odd that all the champions recently have special interactions with other champions in their classic skins, like Jinx, Yasuo, Braum, and now Gnar, but Vel'Koz doesn't have any in his classic skin, but they're on his Battlecast one. I mean, he doesn't even have a quote for Zilean, and that is the guy he is hunting down. It's a minor problem, but still kinda bothers me. One of the things I like most about League is the champions and their stories and interactions with each other, so Vel'Koz and his lack of interaction with the other Voidborns and Zilean kinda feels like he was left out to dry when Braum and Gnar get quotes with people like Garen, Gragas, Tryndamere, Annie, among others. Older champions like Jinx and Lucian got quotes with their respective rivals/enemies as well.

Anyways, thanks again for creating such an awesome champion! I really hope another Void creature is on it's way soon (looking at you Battlecast Vel'Koz splash art with that thing beside Viktor). I love them all so much and I always have fun playing as them, whether it's mid or jungle Kha'Zix, mid or support Vel'Koz, AP or AD Kog'Maw, and AP or jungle Cho'Gath.

17 Comments

RiotRiot Baconhawk8/19/2014, 5:29:15 PM12 votes

mfw reading your post (also The Bravo Ray's...YOU MADE HIM SMILE WTF) http://i.imgur.com/2OFsi9d.jpg

RiotTroyzi11a8/21/2014, 12:14:39 AM5 votes

Thanks for the kind words. I'm really glad you like him and he adds to your enjoyment in League. Makes it all worth it. :)

Wheatloaf8/19/2014, 4:38:41 AM4 votes

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Vel'Koz is too underrated for the kind of long-range mindgame/facemelting he brings to the table. IMO he's probably the most fun champion in the game, when played well, at the moment.

For special interactions, I imagine Riot's reasoning was that he's supposed to be a rather recent arrival from the Void, and so on entry into the League, doesn't yet have knowledge on other champions. Battlecast Vel'Koz has had information provided to him by his Creator. Perhaps Riot can start explaining canceled champions by saying Vel'Koz disintegrated them before they could join?

Fun Fact: Did you know his tentacles were hand-animated, because Riot couldn't get them to move right by algorithm?

JungHai08/19/2014, 4:49:36 PM2 votes

I had liked burst mages for a long time. I had a stint where I played Veigar, I still love Brand to this day, and Xerath is always a pleasure to play. (Well, not before his rework.) I had also liked Void Champions, like OP. Cho'gath is one of my favorite champions of all time, Kog'maw is super cute with his gurgles, while I can't play Kha to save my life, I own him in the hopes of getting better, and having tried both Malz and Kass and liking them, I hope to add them to my pool someday.

So when Riot told us about Vel'koz I was undeniably happy. Both mage and from the Void? This is too good to be true I said. But it was true. And so I instabought him. The first thing I noticed as I played him was the smoothness of his kit. His abilities flowed together like water, and combos were fun to pull off, like Varus. Then I used his laser. I could write a five-page essay on how good the laser is. It feels good to use. It sounds good to use. It looks good to use. It cemented Vel'koz as a good job well done by Riot in my mind.

Now unlike the OP, I do enjoy the Battlecast series. (unless he just doesn't like Battlecast Vel'koz?) I play Viktor, he is another burst mage I like, and have an amazing total of two Battlecast skins. (Cho and Vel) I am completely onboard the Evolution train going to the future now, and hope to see more Battlecast from Riot. (Kog'maw pls?)

Kekt N Rekt8/20/2014, 2:26:22 AM1 votes

Aah the Death Beam pentas... Vel'Koz is by far my favorite APMid. I feel like he got a bad rap when he first came out cause of the whole 'no escapes' thing, but he doesn't even need them. He kites like such a boss, and his passive is just super op. Having good cc like that and small cooldowns on a maxed out Q makes ganking bot lane so worthwhile.

Love goin out to my favorite flying tentacle monster <3

ChroniclerC8/21/2014, 7:25:50 AM1 votes

I just gotta second everything said here. I always have a blast when I play Vel'Koz; everything about him just feels right. His movements and abilities are all very fluid, his autoattacks are responsive and easy to read, and his idle chatter has that perfect tone of alien curiosity. ("Human melting point remains... inconsistent.") It all just makes me want to see more creature design from Riot; champions who aren't entirely humanoid.

Dr Corico2/16/2015, 8:32:50 PM1 votes

I feel like I wrote this post and don't remember. I agree 100% with everything Velkoz

Wînter Fox2/16/2015, 9:00:56 PM1 votes

I'm not gonna lie, I was reading through this waiting for the sarcastic "JK Vel'Koz is toxicancer; delete immediately"

I'm disappointed OP

SleepyLionCub4/24/2015, 5:00:29 AM1 votes

I started using him a while ago. And I have to say. He is one of the funnest champions in the game, not only to play as, but to go against.

pickle piper6/22/2015, 12:22:59 AM1 votes

I finally came to the forums just to discuss things about my favorite champion Vel'koz. He is such a great champion and until about today I thought he was the most balanced in the game, or so I thought. I want to keep this short. Basically, I would like to see testing where his Ultimate gets a damage reduction early game, which is where at lvl 6, I can almost always guarantee a kill just by ulting along with the true damage. But with that said, I would like to see his ult get a buff late game at it's upgrade 3, because I find it scales terrible into the late game since everyone is much more healthier. I say this because I always feel like it's my fault we lose because Vel'koz just doesn't bring the heat late game in team fights. Vel'koz has no carry potential, and I began seeing this when I lose games where I went 18/6/15 - 11/6/5 - and so much more. Oh, one last thing that is the most important Riot, please fix his arclight Vel'koz skin!!! If you try taunting, jokes, laughing, or dancing it will either not do it and just hear him, or not do anything at all :c

Khodexus8/19/2014, 5:03:42 AM1 votes

I main Vel'Koz. He's the champ I play when I just want to win. I think the thing I love most about him, aside from everything you mention above, is how his ability/kit makes for really unique builds. He's the only mage I play that I don't build Deathcap on. His ratios aren't the greatest, and I just get more out of mana regen/cooldown reduction. Endlessly spamming his abilities to make the most out of the true damage on his passive and Liandry's is insanely powerful. With Liandry's and Void Staff (how can you NOT build a void staff on Vel?) he melts even the tankiest tanks amazingly fast. And, for as awesome as he is, I think alot of people are turned off by his creepy appearance (along with the other void creatures I assume), and that just makes it that much more surprising to your enemies when you show up and dominate the game.

Vel'Koz was also the only champion they've ever released that I knew I had to buy even before trying him out on his first free week.

A Superb Villain8/19/2014, 1:32:42 PM1 votes

Only thing that kinda bothers me about Vel'Koz is how he doesn't have any champion interaction quotes unless they're in his Battlecast skin, which I don't really like or have.

This bothered me to no end when he was released. Everyone assumed Vel'Koz would have interactions since the appropriate quotes were in his Battlecast skin. And then he didn't.

Interactions bring some liveliness to the game world without having rivalry mechanics (The Hunt is On!) or special events (Battle for Freljord). Trundle is a beautiful example, with all of his taunts aimed at champions associated with Freljord, and even some that are not (Leona, Garen - TROLLMACIA!, Traditional Trundle), but the most important interactions are all there. Vel'Koz does not have any despite clearly being made with some and mind, and those quotes happen to be on a 1350 skin.

Is it so difficult to remove the filter from Battlecast Vel'Koz's voice acting and reintegrate the taunts to Classic Vel'Koz?

The Reanimated8/19/2014, 7:02:18 PM1 votes

I have to agree with you on the special interactions thing. Champions have been getting a lot of them recently, and while Vel'Koz dose have just a small few, I always thought it was strange to only include them on the Battlecast skin, as they seem to be completely appropriate for the base skin as well. Was this a decision made to increase the quality of the skin or just an accidental oversight?