Haven’t really posted on this subreddit before, but I’ve lurked for a long time. While I doubt this will get any real traction or lead to any significant change, and I do not know if RIOT has already made plans for Vel’Koz (aside from the statement about bringing mages like Xerath back to mid), I still feel the need to speak up for my favourite champion. Us Vel mains have literally nothing to lose. So, here goes.

I started playing League back around the end of S4, very casually. One of the very first things I remember seeing on the old-old Login screen were the words:

“Sate the Void’s thirst for knowledge with lasers and destruction as Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void.”

I was immediately hooked and decided that, no matter how much time it took, I would own that purple eyeball champ and make him my main (I didn’t even know what a main was). It took a few months, and I dabbled between Annie, Veigar and my newly-acquired Xerath but eventually, eventually, I had him. I had Vel’Koz.

Vel’Koz was literally the reason I got into League at all, and though it took some time, I realised that his glass-cannon playstyle was exactly what I wanted. Plus, purple is my favourite colour- how perfect could this be?

Since S5, I have been a Vel’Koz onetrick and main. While I sometimes venture down botlane as support, I have stubbornly stayed mid as my main role for the squiddy boi. I take great satisfaction in playing Vel’Koz, and he really is that one champion for me that I know I can always fall back on and always do at very least decently well with.

Which brings me to this post. I believe it is time that RIOT took a look at Vel’Koz and made some quality-of-life changes to bring him up to modern League standards. Vel has been virtually untouched since 2017, and it’s starting to show. Some points of note:

-Vel’s primary weakness, as intended in his design, is that he is a glass cannon with low mobility and virtually no defenses. You dash past his E, dodge his Q, and you’re golden. He’s calamari. This isn’t a problem when you consider that assassins are designed to be the typical counter to a mage like Vel’Koz. The problem arises when virtually every single new champion added in the last few years sports either a dash or a significant movement speed increase- even the non-assassins. Meaning that every champion boasts higher mobility than Vel. This becomes a serious problem since it means that virtually every champion now has the tools to deal with Vel.

-So what is his selling point then, if his weakness is a dash? Well, Vel’Koz was always supposed to be the tank melter. All that true damage from his passive and ult was designed to turn tanks to ash. And in the past, Vel could reliably do this… but not anymore. Champs have never been tankier, even assassins and burst mages. Healing is rampant, and Vel doesn’t have the firepower to outpace them anymore. Mind you, Vel’Koz does not boast any % health damage on his abilities either, preventing him from truly achieving his role as the tank shredder he was meant to be. While I’m thrilled to see that Vel is on the list of mages getting an AS buff, I think he needs a little more than that.

While I would highly suggest taking a look at r/Velkoz for some excellent suggestions on how to adjust Vel’Koz, here are a couple of my own that I think could bring Vel up to power without changing his niche or making him overpowered:

​

Passive - Organic Deconstruction

Vel’s pseudo 3-hit-passive ends with a burst of true damage. Why not add either a burst of % health damage (to push him more into tank shredding), or a brief burst of movement speed (to help him reposition)? This further incentivises using the passive to combo his abilities.

​

Q - Plasma Fission

I think this ability is honestly in a very good position. I don’t have any ideas for changes here.

W - Void Rift

Void Rift has a notoriously low AP ratio as it is primarily a tool for proccing his passive as quickly as possible, especially for waveclear. A couple of suggestions:

1. A movement speed burst (if not included in the passive) after the second detonation. This rewards Vel for successfully pulling off the E-W or W-E combo and helps him reposition.
2. Grounding while the Rift is present. This helps Vel mitigate his weakness to dashes while also playing into Vel’s nature as skillshot-based artillery mage. This is similar to Cassiopeia, who shares a lot of weaknesses with Vel.
3. Maybe don’t have a rift in the ground be blocked by Yasuo’s Wind Wall…?

E - Tectonic Disruption

This is the big one.

1. As it stands, if E is cast while Vel’Koz is dying, the field will not detonate even if the projectile has already been fired before death. This should be priority 1: allow the E to detonate safely even after Vel has died, if the projectile has been fired off.
2. Perhaps do not even count the E as a projectile, allowing it to not be stopped by Yasuo’s Wind Wall which currently blocks 3/4 of Vel’s abilities.
3. The E needs an actual buff. Perhaps either a range increase, a slight increase to the stun duration or an increase in the field size. This ability is Vel’Koz’s only way of survival. Once it’s gone, Vel is vulnerable, so using this ability should be high-risk and high-reward.

R - Life Form Disintegration Ray

Words cannot describe how much I ADORE this ability. It really doesn’t need much.

1. I’d suggest increasing the slow (maybe increasing if enemies walk towards the beam), and proccing the passive stacks sooner, which would combo nicely with the aforementioned passive buffs. Other than that, this ability is golden, in my opinion.

​

And… I think that’s about it. With all the talk of bringing mages back to midlane, and with Vel being one of the very few artillery mages in the game, I truly implore RIOT to take a look at some positive changes for Vel’Koz. Even if none of these changes go through, even if this whole post gets ignored, I owe it to my favourite champion to at least try. This is the champion that got me into the game in the first place- I wouldn’t be a midlaner today if not for Vel’Koz. And I hate to see him tossed by the wayside because of his very low popularity. If you’ve read all of this… uh, congrats! And thanks a bunch! Thoughts welcome.