What is Wrong with Omega Squad Veigar, and How to Fix the Skin

So, I've been thinking about this for a long time. Considering I play a lot of Veigar when I'm trying to climb, and I just love the character... I like to keep an eye on skins. And, I really want the skins to be great - especially the ones that have potential for greatness.

Now, enter Omega Squad Veigar.

I had really high hopes for this skin. I really did, because Viegar has a lot of potential, along a similar line as the original Omega Squad member, Teemo. While Teemo is generally considered to be a happy character with dark undertones, Veigar has a dark story that's prime for something you could fit into an Omega Squad skin.

I really would have loved to see Omega Squad Veigar have some kind of prisoner-of-war type dialogue. Where Teemo had some kind of "kill or be killed" or survivalist mentality, I thought it would be great to give a similar sort of mentality to Veigar in some new voice lines, maybe mention things about, "If they get you, you'll wish you were dead," or "You don't know what real pain is..." something like that, alluding to being captured and tortured until he basically went insane.

At least, I'm pretty sure that is the lore, unless it's been changed like other champions' lore have been recently.

Either way, when Omega Squad Teemo came out, it was really cool to see a skin exploring that dark, demented, sociopathic side of Teemo being explored, and it really set a high bar for Omega Squad skins, and this round of them was pretty weak.

I mean, really? This is just talking about the voices. I mean, it was probably super easy to just put a radio filter over the existing audio, but, really? As-is, most of the particle effects aren't particularly impressive, either...

And, speaking of, I'm really not into the direction taken on Veigar's skin. There's really no cohesion to it. The mortar strike effect for Dark Matter is the biggest offender, where none of his other abilities are any kind of standard explosive. His auto attacks, Primordial Burst and Baleful Strike almost share particle effects are just kind of look like plasma I mean, Baleful Strike is kinda neat because it looks a little different, but it's still plasma. And, finally, Event Horizon is an electric fence.

Yeah, each of the new skins usually have one particle effect that I'd say is pretty cool, and Event Horizon's new effect is it on Viegar's skin. However, that doesn't mean that I like that it is on this skin.

The design, in the end, has nothing holding it together. It's a lot like Mafia Jinx - barely anyone has that skin because it's too busy, and the unifying theme isn't all that cohesive. In this case, you have Veigar in a military outfit, with an electric fence, a regular old explosive, plasma, and some kind of stun baton. While the blue on the particle effects mostly match, that still leaves his W as the odd one out, and his E looks strange with its green laser effects.

And, finally, that back animation? For shame. Most skin series are pretty consistent in tone and quality... why should Omega Squad be any different? This skin turned out far too silly for an Omega Squad skin, in my opinion. Because, not only am I a fan of Veigar, but I also love the Omega Squad skin line, and I would love to see someone make something great out of it.

While I don't think one person's opinion is going to completely change the team's mind and cause them to revamp or fix a skin, but, hey, maybe it'll happen. If it catches on with Veigar mains, maybe someone will see the thread and maybe that someone will do something about it.

And, I'm not one to just complain and not offer any kind of solution for it. Because, while I'm probably not the person to ask about balance, I can talk aesthetics.

And, I think that a lot can stay. If you just focus more on the plasma/electric effects, it could be a great skin.

First of all, I'd reduce the size of the rifle/stun baton/whatever that thing he's holding instead of a staff is. It further degrades the silhouette of Veigar's model, and looks too silly. Right now, it looks like a toy. Secondly, I'd change the effects on his Event Horizon to have more blue, like in his other effects, to better unify it with the predominant theme.

After that, I'd probably set my attention on Dark Matter. I think the targeting reticle effect can stay, but I'd change the explosion to a big lump of plasma, kind of like a cross between the ultimate particle effect, and the Baleful Strike visuals. I would imagine that it would kind of disperse on the ground as it lands. Maybe it would kind of splash a bit as it lands or something.

And, I like the blue effect when killing a minion with your Q. But, what I think would really elevate the skin is to change a bit on the character model. That little pack on Veigar's back. At the moment, it doesn't do anything, but what if it were some kind of way to collect power? Like, some kind of soul absorbing tech that powers all of his abilities. Maybe put a glass tube on it like on the plasma rifle thing, and make it glow a little when he kills a minion with his Q.

Finally, what I assume is the biggest step, that audio and backing animation needs reworked. I feel like it's a major contributing factor to why this skin isn't that great. If you just write up some dialogue about the theme I mentioned earlier, with the whole "prisoner of war" thing, I think you can get plenty of mileage out of it, and make this skin just as good as Omega Squad Teemo, if not better. And the back animation? I think that the extraneous missile-launching thing isn't necessary at all. If you just have Veigar use his remote to call in a helicopter, that would make the skin a lot more in-line with the theme. I know some artist out there probably had something really specific in mind for this skin, and that backing animation is part of their dream, their big idea, but... sometimes not everything belongs. Sometimes cutting something is part of the process, and sometimes the project is better for it, in the end.

I don't care if it has to be bumped up to Legendary skin status and price. I'd pay for it, even if the price were higher if the skin got fixed. Because I really wanted to like this skin, I really did, but in the end there was just too much bugging me about it for me to put money down on it.

Well, here's to hoping.