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Vel'Koz Questions

Laraso·12/16/2014, 10:47:43 PM·1 votes·797 views

QUESTION 1: Magic Penetration

(This is technically two questions) I like to rush maximum penetration on Vel'Koz (he's a tentacle monster after all), and I take 15 magic penetration in runes. I see most people take 8 magic penetration and like 20-ish ability power, but I think having double the magic penetration is more powerful. Am I wrong?

Anyways, my normal build path goes item 3028 > item 3020 > item 3136 > item 3135 , leaving me with this much magic penetration before I get anything that give me AP:

http://i.imgur.com/tBYRJ04.png

Am I overdoing it by getting that much magic penetration so early?

QUESTION 2: Split Pushing

Is it a good idea to split push by yourself as Vel'Koz? He's super squishy and has zero escapes, so I feel extremely vulnerable when I'm pushing by myself. However, people sometimes get mad at me for not doing it.

QUESTION 3: Bush Checking

When out of wards, I like to check bushes with my Q, as you can use it from a very safe range and it covers the entire bush. This is how I usually check bushes:

http://i.imgur.com/ucO5ktC.png

However, for whatever reason, I've been told by two different people recently that this is a dumb way to check bushes. They say it's better to check bushes this way, because you can follow up with a W if someone is inside:

http://i.imgur.com/9aoSeq9.png

Is using your Q's split pattern to check the bush actually a dumb idea? I wouldn't be asking this question if it wasn't for two different people telling me it's dumb.

4 Comments

Pryotra12/16/2014, 11:04:30 PM1 votes

I'm not a velkoz player, but I do tend to play lots of immobile mages, so I will do my best to answer your question.

So, for question one, what you are doing is effectively negating most of if not all MR the enemy team would have unless you stack it. You might even push it into the negatives.

That said, if they build health you will feel the tankiness still as you don't have much to buff your actual damage burst. I would recommend building AP as a priority, and pick up pen if they start stacking the MR.

For Question 2, this really goes for any immobile mage with wave clear. Push so long as you know where the enemy is. If you see 4 of the enemies bot and 1 recent died, go push top/mid if you aren't at bot yourself or aren't already helping your team take another objective. It really is circumstantial, but generally if your enemies are grouping in another lane and your team really isn't over there or taking objectives, shove whatever lane you are in until you either lose track of the enemy team or your team start getting grouped around an objective or teamfight.

For question 3, I guess it depends on where the lane is and where you are. If you are wanting to push on the enemy tower, and you just want to check a bush you don't have warded, the first way should be fine. If you know or beleive that someone is in the bush, then the second way is better.

Manwad12/16/2014, 11:36:23 PM1 votes

Vel'Koz has godly base damage and almost nonexistent mana costs, so magic pen is the way to go. His scalings are shitty though, so buying spell effect items, like Morello's, Rylai's, Liandries Torment, etc would be best.

Magic Pen, CDR and Mana are the main stats you want on Vel.

For pushing, generally you want to just not extend past the river. Sure, mages get bonus damage to towers based on their AP, but Vel has no reason to build AP, only getting it as a result of his items.

Using the split is not a bad idea, because if it hits you can still follow up with a W. They'll be slowed and will need to get away unless they want to get half health'd.

Edit: Shen'd