Hydraulics, Lasers and Actuators! A Unique idea for Viktor's Inventory

Y'know - I might get a little heat for this, but I've always thought Viktor's Augments were a really cool idea. I mean, the passive bonuses they gave you; the unique abilities you could learn with them; and the colours! (The colours!) They were presented in such a way, that picking which augment to buy felt like it really mattered. Well, kinda. One was clearly stronger than the other two. But at least Viktor was trying to evolve.

"!?"

Don't take it too hard, Viktor. It's not your fault.

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Shameless Advertisement! If you catch yourself enjoying my idea pitch, maybe check out my Augment suggestion thread, at Viktor - The Terror of the Meta Game!

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So let's cut to the chase: A little over a year back, Solcrushed talked about a potential Viktor rework.

While others were quick to point out the augment's slot dependence, I personally found it odd that the Machine Herald - the guy who created Blitzcrank before secluding himself in a lab and converting himself into a robot - would spend his time window shopping at someone else's stall for weapons. Here's a man/android/mandroid who has an unparalleled gift for invention and innovation, and he's scrounging together funds to rent amplifying tomes.

"How much for all your Faerie Charms?"

So I got to thinking: what if Viktor had his own 6-item inventory? Please, no - don't leave! Hear me out!

Viktor would have 6 pre-set "items" in his inventory. Each "item" would be themed after a piece of his machine design; and would be upgradeable. Still with me? Great! Because here is where it gets fun...

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So let's say Viktor is getting ready to head to lane. The first thing he wants is to increase his movement speed, so Vik opens up the store, and clicks on his Hydraulics item slot. The item's upgrade path is shown, just like a normal item: Instead of upgrading into a new item, however, Viktor can purchase pure movement speed, and add it to the item's current values.

So he does. He spends 300 gold, and viola! His Hydraulics now grant him 25 MS. Wait a minute, though... Something's changed. It now costs an additional 100 Gold to purchase another 25 MS. That can't be right, can it? The price of purchasing MS has increased.

Alright, whatever then, thinks Viktor. Maybe he can't stack unlimited movement speed until he hits the high 1000s. Not yet, at least. So he turns his sights to his early laning phase. Viktor selects his Central Processing Unit (CPU), and, like before, a list of options open up for him. He needs some potions now; so he burns 120 gold to buy 3 Liquid Polymer Charges, that he can consume at any time to restore a little bit of health and mana, then heads to lane. Being the main character of the story, Viktor then proceeds to get an early kill on his opponent, and backs to base. With a more reliable income, his options really begin open up; and he takes another look over his inventory:

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Hydraulics: Can be upgraded to increase Movement Speed, Attack Speed.

• Boot upgrades (such as homeguard) can be purchased.
• Slow resistance can be stacked, up to 40%

Central Processing Unit: Can be upgraded to increase Heath, Mana, Health Regen p/5, Mana Regen p/5, Cooldown Reduction%.

• Liquid Polymer Charges (consumable) can be purchased to restore hp and mana over 15 seconds.

Pneumatic Actuator: Can be upgraded to increase Ability Power, Attack Damage, Magic Pen, Armour Pen.

• Passive Offensive Effects such as 's DoT effect can be purchased. Limit 1 passive effect.
• Slow on Hit% effects can be purchased for spell and/or physical damage, up to 40%(single target), 20%(AoE/DoT).
• Magic and Armour Penetration% effects can be purchased and stacked, up to 40%.
• Active Offensive Effects such as the 's active ability can be purchased. Limit 1 active effect.

Visual Sensors: Can be upgraded to increase Spell Vamp, Life Steal.

• Proximity Sensor Charges (Consumable) can also be purchased, and act like wards. Pressing the relevant activation button a second time will alternate between stealth and vision wards.

Dermal Plating: Can be upgraded to increase Armour, Mag Resist.

• Tenacity% can be purchased, up to a cap of 40%.
• Active Defensive Effects such as 's untargetable active ability can be purchased. Limit to 1 active effect.

Augment: Viktor's goes here. :P

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With the exception of things like tenacity, CDR and mag pen, Viktor would have no real 'cap' to his upgrade potential. However, each upgrade Viktor purchases would immediately result in an increased Gold cost of future upgrades of the same kind; allowing the player high build versatility, while still maintaining a progressively hardening damper on his potential growth.

Turning his greatest perceived weakness into a strength, Viktor would now boast a potential advantage late game, in that he could continue to develop his offensive/defensive capabilities. Albeit, at exponentially increasing gold costs. In comparison to champions like Nasus and Veigar, however, Viktor would benefit just as much from contributing to team objectives as he would minion farming; and would remain relevant to the pace of the game.

A Plea to Riot: Give Viktor a single forced item, and it becomes a nuisance. Give him too large a selection, and it'll probably end up redundant (why not just use a standard inventory?). But give him his very own method of upgrading his stats during a match, and not only will he be able to compete with the standard meta' itemisation, he'll be one of the single most unique things this game has to offer.

The best thematic solution to an augment that 'falls off', is a personalised inventory to match it.