Vel'Koz MID/SUP
Quick Vel'Koz Mid Build
Summoner Spells
Starting Items
Best Overall Build
About me.
Just a random squid to help you on your ranked journey with Vel'koz. My summoner name is AFKRenegade and here's my take on Vel'koz.
Why play Vel'koz?
If you like playing mid to long range with consistent damage and scaling with pretty good all in pressure compared to other mages, then this character is for you. I am trying to not be biased but I would say that out of all the mage characters, Vel'koz's damage is possibly the most consistent due to it being True Damage and one of the best mage champs you can 1v1 due to that consistency.
Pros
I have said his strengths but lets go further into detail.
-Mid-Long range poke/burst.
-Great waveclear for roams, objectives, and or defending
-Decent all in potential against enemy mid.
-Consistent damage throughout the game.
-Good teamfighter
-Due to the durability update, he has good overall damage and tankiness.
Weaknesses
Can't have it all.
-No mobility outside of flash or any other cirumstances.
-Skill shot reliant. Meaning you have no guarantee hitting everything on your own.
-Has few "get-off-me tools."
-Lacks utility for team since hes mainly raw damage.
-Cannot peel for adc as well as other supports.
Runes
As you saw on the top and what you will see here again is the runepage I ran with for most of my games Vel'Koz. It gives scaling, a bit of sustain in lane, gold efficiency with bootsThe second page is for when you find that you're going to get bursted hard. Especially if you try to run him as a support in the bot lane when you're against bot comps such as Samira-Nautilus or Kaisa-Blitzcrank.
- Rune Page
- New Group
Summoner Spells (Loadout)
These are the summoner spells I commonly use. All are matchup dependent and can vary.
- Barrier against Assassins such as Zed, Qiyana, and Fizz. Or burst mages such as Lux, Syndra.
- Teleport for people running enchanters such as Seraphine or Zilean (or macro champs such as Twisted Fate and Galio).
- Cleanse against those with all in combos relying on hard cc to win lane or to get you ganked by their jungler (EXs: Lissandra, Annie, Ahri).
- Exhaust, Ignite, and Heal are for your support games where you have to counteract what the enemy adc or support will run or use for their champs. Exhaust for burst heavy or sup champs with hard cc to lock you or your adc down (EX: Trist-Leona). Ignite for healing enchanters or all ins. Heal for when your adc wants to run ignite or exhaust.
- (*NOTE: This is fairly niche and not recommended for new players). For me I also run cleanse bot if for example their all in is very dependent on a hard cc combo or ult that they will use to dominate the lane or to catch you off gaurd (Leona kit, Ashe ult). I recommend for that situation that any other summoner spell is better if youre trying this out because I run it for when I need to put a lot of pressure against bot comps with heavy cc that is cleansable so that I can provide the pressure I need to bring as a support.
- I am thinking of ghost as a positioning spell or to help you kite against people that you need to try to outrun to get to your team, get in a better position, etc. (*NOTE: also very niche. It's to help react and counteract people that run thinks like Singed mid. Please try this in norms first before you feel comfortable to try it ranked. I am not responsible for any lost LP).
- Spells
Skill Path
This skill path is what I run the most when playing mid or support.
The Mid Path gives you good wave clear and poke. I find that you need the W skill to CD to decrease to help you clear better and get roams off. It also makes it where you're not soley relying on the Q to deal damage.
The Sup Path is to grant you enough damage for you to pressure the enemy bot with.
- Mid Path
- Sup Path
Vel'Koz
Vel'Koz
Item Builds
Doran's Ring is a good starter item for the extra health, mana regen, and AP. I would most definitely get Dark Seal to help with scaling while also getting the extra AP when you win 1v1 duels mid or roams off.
For Mid, I would trade in your ward for Farsight so that you can get far range vision and helps you not face check any lurking threats in bushes or dark vision. Get Oracles when your support to deny vision.
The Mythic I usually run is Liandry's because of its consistent burn damage and CDR. You can sub out Liandry's for Luden's to get great burst and for the burst of movement speed. Crown is good against champs like Rengar, fizz, etc. Everfrost to lockdown, reliably cc champs that dash into you or are chasing you, and gives you some decent utility for yourself or your team. I do like purchasing Rylai's to make it harder for them to run away or chase you while giving you some needed tank. Synergizes real well Liandry's. If enemy comp heals alot you can sit on an Oblivion Orb and purchase later Morellonomicon to build Rylai's. Or can buy Morello's right away.
Banshee's or zhonyas can also be bought secondly if their comp requires hard CC to win engages (IE: Malphite Mid). Helps you put pressure by actually not being able to get cc'd off the gate in a fight. Makes it harder for the enemy team to fight when one of squishies they need to target is harder to kill. The 4th line of items below also add to it as you will see Frozen Heart and Force of Nature. Again, these are niche situations in where they call for you to get tanky instead of more damage so that you can be threat that cannot be easily blown up. It's a similar reason to why ryze or kassadin build those items. (*NOTE: I suggest zhonyas or banshees as they are better safety tools. I only do those builds when I notice their only damage threat is ad or ap heavy. IE: Fed Rengar, Twitch, Syndra, etc.) If you do want to build these items, make sure your damage is enough to the point where those items matter. Just because you have true damage doesnt mean you should sack the AP scaling that the True damage is tied to.
Like a lot of the other AP champs or mages, Vel'koz is versatile with his build path. Run him however you want, just make sure it's suitable for you or your situation. The itemization will get easier as you learn matchups and know what you think is best against the enemy Comp.
- Liandry's
Bans
Below you will find what I usually ban to make sure you can have a better time with your gameplay. The first page entails what I ban for mid and the second for support.
- Mid Bans
- Sup Bans
TIPS:
You have decent poke early and can farm from afar if you are getting pressured. Once you get a kill or cs lead make sure they do not get kills from you or from roams. It gives them a better chance to snowball. This is especially relevant to mid assassins.
Starting from lvl 4, your waveclear is pretty good compared to other midlaners. Whether you level up q or w twice, you will one shot the castor minions. You can get roams off when you shove the minion wave against your opponent's turret and or help your jungler more often.
For me, I am more aggressive due to my mentality being that I want to make more plays when the game is becoming stagnant and nothing is happening on the map. It gave me a higher death ratio compared to other Vel'koz players. So keep in mind of these basic things you want to remember if you want a play. Vision, positioning, and followup. I dont always follow this advice so I do not want you to get yourself a grey screen. Follow these, and you'll climb higher
If worse comes to worst, whether it be early game shenanigans, getting ganked and dying, and such, you always have the option to just farm and scale before its too late. Get roams off solo or with a jgler and or help your team with objectives. Much of this segment is basic advice but I started following it to make sure I increase my chances to win.
Thank you for reading up to this point and make sure you have fun.
You can add me on discord: Squid #7623 for any further advice or questions. I am willing to help.
3 Comments
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Hi, thanks for this! I am a completely new player and I've tried a bunch of champs but for some reason Vel'Koz appeals most to me. Do I take Dorians Ring even if I go support?