Champion Guide

Vel'Koz Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Vel'Koz is a long-range control mage who isn't mechanically demanding but needs a lot of game knowledge: plays are planned in advance like chess, trades revolve around Organic Deconstruction's true damage, and you survive by counting every enemy dash and Flash.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Vel'Koz build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The scaling poke page is First Strike with Magical Footwear, Triple Tonic and Cosmic Insight, plus Presence of Mind and Cut Down; Arcane Comet, Electrocute and Dark Harvest pages are alternatives. Take Flash with Ghost for teamfights, Teleport for lane, or Exhaust against assassins; support Vel'Koz takes Heal. The aggressive one-shot build is Sorcerer's Shoes, Blackfire Torch, Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap, Cryptbloom and Banshee's Veil. Other mid builds use Liandry's Torment and Horizon Focus against tanks, Malignance for efficiency, Archangel's Staff for safety, or a tanky Rod of Ages version. Support builds revolve around Imperial Mandate, Zaz'Zak's Realmspike and Horizon Focus. Take Q at level 1, put three points in W by level 5, then max Q, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Long range, high damage and built-in true damage from Organic Deconstruction.
Plasma Fission's split angles create plays from difficult positions.
Excellent at sieging towers and winning fights with poke before they start.

Weaknesses

Immobile and very vulnerable, especially while channelling his ultimate.
Tectonic Disruption is his only hard CC and disengage — missing it is costly.
Weak before level 3 and demands strong game knowledge and positioning.

Laning Phase

You're fairly safe early and rarely ganked before three minutes, so pressure your opponent. Against strong pushers like Azir, Aurelion Sol, Taliyah or Orianna, start W instead. Use your level 2, 3 and 6 spikes: by level 3 you have Tectonic Disruption to set up ganks. Near level 6, zone the enemy toward the wave with Plasma Fission, then drop your combo on the wave to level up instantly and ult them. Use lane priority to ward deep and look for long-range picks on junglers or roams to side lanes.

Mid & Late Game

In teamfights Vel'Koz plays a role similar to an ADC with more range. Your first rule is not to die: know who can kill you and how close you can safely get. Focusing the frontline is fine thanks to your true damage. Ideally, you dance just outside the enemy engage range and keep poking — under their tower they either engage at low health or lose the turret.

Key Tips

Use Life Form Disintegration Ray right after the first Organic Deconstruction proc so the whole channel deals true damage.
Even one stack of Organic Deconstruction can enable a play.
Don't waste Tectonic Disruption against assassins — you're vulnerable for 10–15 seconds without it.