Champion Update: Viktor, the Machine Herald

Viktor’s augments offer him unique ways to tailor his kit towards specific playstyles and situations. If the enemy team’s built for skirmishing, Viktor can augment Siphon Power to speed him out of combat, or Death Ray to create zones of denial around his or the enemy’s team. On the other hand, if his team has the makings of a wombo combo comp, Viktor can augment Gravity Field to cluster the enemy team together, opening the door for his team’s successive cycle of violence. Most importantly, these augments can be used together once Viktor has spent the required gold, giving him plenty of extra ability power, mana, and utility. Finally, once Viktor augments all three of his basic abilities, he automatically augments Chaos Storm with the Velocity upgrade.

Viktor’s a sustained damage mage who thrives in the solo lanes of Summoner’s Rift. He trades effectively with Siphon Power, taking advantage of the shield to absorb his lane opponent’s assault as he deals his initial salvo. Crucially, Viktor wins hardest by staying close to his enemy following Siphon Power, triggering the Lich Bane-level boost on his next basic attack to inflict further damage. With clever positioning, Viktor can follow up with Death Ray to last hit minions and whittle down the enemy champion even more. However, the ability’s raw power often pushes the lane, forcing the relatively immobile Viktor far from his tower. If this attracts the enemy jungler’s attention, Viktor has another hex-tech trick up his sleeve in the shape of Gravity Field, which he can place along his escape path to deter his aggressors.

Chaos Storm thrives once teams start grouping together, giving Viktor the chance to wreak en masse carnage. Though unleashing it after an augmented Gravity Field offers ideal conditions for maximizing its damage output, Chaos Storm dishes out enough area of effect damage on its own to deny Viktor’s enemies zone control and end enemy chases. Death Ray gains huge power in clustered teamfights, too – with accurate casts, Viktor can send its withering line of destruction across the entire enemy backline, dealing scathing damage to multiple enemy squishies.

Viktor, gameplay design by Solcrushed

So, why Viktor? Seems pretty clear, right? He’s not League’s most popular champion, and his unique tools aren’t great. But before we started tinkering, we set out some clear problem areas and goals for the update. Here’s what we ended up with.

First, we wanted to update Viktor so he fundamentally achieved his design fantasy of an evolving and customizable creator. Old Viktor frankly failed at this fantasy: he had one solid upgrade path, two crappy ones, and could only augment himself once through the course of the game. We wanted to recreate the creator’s creative side, and decided to take him back to the drawing board for a fundamental update to his augment system.

So where did we start? Well, instead of just making each augment equally viable, we decided to overhaul the entire system and allow Viktor players to augment each of his basic abilities through the course of the game. There’s no level gate – only gold, so while you could theoretically augment all of his abilities before buying a single item, it’s down to the player to decide when, how and even if they’ll spend their hard-earned gold on augments.

And what about those augments? Well, first off, each upgrade gives flat AP and mana, so they most definitely improve the big metal man. Secondly, the ability improvements aren’t all “ermagerd ma ferce ers meltin” powerful - but that’s not the point. They’re situational, so you can tailor your abilities to press your advantages or relieve your team’s weaknesses as the game ebbs and flows. Essentially, you can customize your Viktor when and how you see fit.

Our second goal with the update was to create a better sense of flow between Viktor’s abilities. Old Viktor’s abilities made very little sense when used in conjunction with each other. Siphon Power, for instance, had the shortest range and gave Viktor a speed boost and shield, letting him... run away after dealing damage? To help remedy this, we gave Siphon Power (and Gravity Field) extra range, so he can now use his abilities together and better define the range at which he fights. We also added an on-hit effect to Siphon Power, so Viktor players can now choose what to do after using their Q! Maybe you’ll want to play safe by staying back, or maybe you’ll want to head into dangerous territory, risking the enemy’s attacks so you can punish your target with your empowered basic attack. Ultimately, by standardizing the range of Viktor’s abilities and giving him more reasons to cycle in his basic attacks between ability casts, we’re hoping to create a more cohesive and interactive champion.

That’s about it for now! New Viktor should have smoother gameplay, a compelling unique item, and feel more like the improvable being he was made to be. Give him a go and let us know what you think of him! Otherwise, head over to the Soraka Update article for more news from the Champion Update team! If that doesn’t scratch your itch, then hang tight – we have some pretty... big... news coming.