Evolving Technology

History and Overview

About two years ago, Solcrushed created a thread concerning Viktor and asked the community what they enjoyed and disliked about this champion. The general consensus was that Viktor is an overall healthy champion, but his passive ability, Evolving Technology, is lacking in the late game where it is not up to par with other late game items, but cannot be sold to make way for a more appropriate item. A vote was taken and the community agreed that the best way to remedy this would be to allow Viktor to combine augments. Unfortunately, this caused some technical problems in that doing this would require a fair amount of redundant coding, multiple identical items, and just general headaches for the Riot team. Since this time, all talk of tweaking Viktors passive has gone dark. What I am proposing is the ability to combine augments without the worry of technical issues, make Viktor's game play reflect his theme more accurately, and overall, provide a more satisfying late game experience for The Machine Herald while mechanically keeping him identical to his current iteration.

Passive - Evolving Technology

Viktor starts with a Hex Core that provides him +3 Ability Power per level and will provide extra effects to each of his active abilities once requirements are met. Once all requirements are met, the Hex Core can be upgraded in the store. The Hex Core cannot be sold. Requirements are as follows:

• Upon securing (X) objectives (towers, inhibitors, capture points): Power Transfer increases Viktor's Movement Speed by 30% for 3 seconds.
• Upon obtaining (Y) champion assists: Gravity Field has an additional 30% cast range.
• Upon obtaining (Z) champion kills: Death Ray sets fire to enemies, dealing 30% additional magic damage over 4 seconds.

Hex Core + 3000 gold = Chaos Core

• Health: +220 hp
• Health Regen: +6hp/5
• Mana: +200 mp
• Mana Regen: +5mp/5
• CDR: +10%
• Ability Power: +45 ap
• UNIQUE Passive: Holds 1 charge and refills upon visiting the shop. Charge is consumed upon use of Chaos Storm and provides +30% area of effect and maximum movement speed regardless of proximity to Viktor.

Reasoning and Explanation

The first big change that jumps out is ability augments are achieved by meeting benchmark conditions in a manner similar to Rengar's Bonetooth Necklace as opposed to buying them. This allows the combination of augments while maintaining a single item and avoiding redundant coding.

The second is that stat increases are no longer tied to the ability augments, but rather to the upgraded Chaos Core which unlike the ability augments, is bought at the store. I believe that this will provide a healthier experience than a sudden influx of stats after achieving a certain benchmark on the battlefield and without having to spend any money.

Lastly, in an attempt to keep with Viktor's intended theme of improving his machines, The Chaos Core would give Viktor's Chaos Storm help in the area that it needs it the most: sticking to targets and continually applying it's DoT. However, it would only consistently provide this upgrade if Viktor can find the time to return to the shop between uses meaning that he would not be overwhelming in prolonged sieges.

Anticipated Arguments

Q: Won't this change have an adverse effect on Viktor's laning phase; an area where he already struggles?

A: Yes and No. He'll definitely see a drop in raw power during the laning phase especially as a burst mage due to the extremely cost effective stats that are provided by the current Death Augment, but keep in mind that Viktor will also have an extra 1000 gold that he would normally be spending on an augment during the laning phase to spend on other items while gaining the ability to secure an ability augment for no cost. It should also be noted that at the moment, an early 2 kills is usually all that Viktor needs in order to secure a mid game in which he can burst down carries with almost no method of counterplay from the carry which, as much fun as it is, is a rather extreme amount of snowballing which Riot has made clear is a form of toxic gameplay that they are trying to combat.

Q: Won't this make it difficult to ensure that the proper augment is achieved first for the particular role that Viktor is playing in any given match?

A: Yes, it probably will. It's very possible that a mid lane burst build would get his gravity augment first due to acquiring more assists than anything else, or a top lane bruiser build would get the death augment first for acquiring kills, but this would in no way set the player back, I believe it would simply encourage a form of teamwork to make sure that Viktor is getting what he needs early on in order to more quickly fulfill the role that is intended e.g. the jungler allowing the apc to secure kills, the support locking down targets and securing kills for the adc, and the bruiser pushing the lane and laying siege to objectives. Viktor is a high skill cap champion, and I believe that this will emphasize that while rewarding plays that fall in line with whatever role he may be in.

Q: Why is there only one upgrade that doesn't seem to emphasize any particular role rather than three different branches that support each role individually?

A: The Chaos Core is meant to be a late game item, likely the last item purchased, that provides a boost to Viktor in every facet. In my experience, Viktor falls into the same role during late game no matter which role he started in. This being providing a strong teamfight presence through multiple AoE abilities and strong disengage, while not necessarily needing to pick up any of the kills. I believe that combining all of the stats into one will help Viktor to apply the unique teamfight presence of each individual augment at the same time which will open doors to new and exciting plays.

TLDR Summary

Viktor's passive is currently the only one in the game that actually ends up holding the champion back. By late game, the stats given by the Hex Core are much lower than any other late game item, leaving Viktor to fall behind the rest of his teammates and enemies and without the option to sell it to make room for something more appropriate. I propose to remedy this by making his current Power, Gravity, and Death ability augments obtainable by securing a benchmark number of objectives, assists, and kills respectively. Once all of these augments are obtained, the Hex Core can be upgraded at the store for 3000 gold into the Chaos Core which gives all of the current stat boosts of each individual augment plus boosts his ultimate ability's potential. I believe that this will solve current issues with Viktor while maintaining all of his current mechanics, improving the execution of his theme, maintaining his current skill cap, and opening new doors for possible plays.