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Veigar Build Guide by

Veigar, The Terrible Terror

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5 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author runnerman93

Veigar Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (5) More Veigar Guides

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Normal Start

First Back

Next Step

Late Game Items

Situational

Example Final Build

Ability Order

Veigar Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Talon

Extreme

Really tough to go up against as Veigar. A good Talon will bait out your stun or wait till you push a little too far, and then Cutthroat behind you. His kit ensures that when he does, he'll do an insane amount of damage relatively early. The nice thing about it is that he's relatively mana hungry early game. Most Talon's will start Crystalline Flask to get the extra sustain- both health and mana- to spam abilities and make your life miserable as all hell. The best thing to do would be not to push out too far and q farm. If he initiates on you, try and get a stun off on him and trade back. Don't be afraid to toss in a few autos and your q. It does a fair amount of damage even at early levels. You probably won't kill him before first back, unless he disrespects your damage, or you get a really good gank. Just farm up, burn through his pots, and survive until back. Grab Seeker's Armguard as fast as you can and then rush Morellonomicon. Play it safe, q farm, and only initiate if you have good vision and know you can secure a win in the trade. With the changes from patch 5.4, it's even more important to stay back and farm with your Q, as your stun is harder to land.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

Hi all,

My name is VeigodTheVeigar and this is my guide for one of my favorite champions- Veigar. Veigar was one of the first champions I played in League of Legends. I played him pretty much exclusively for almost a year, and I'm currently playing him a lot in ranked solo queue. He's a really fun champion to play and has quite an interesting kit. I hope this guide will give you an insight into how to play Veigar and make you want to play him!

This is always a work in progress, and I will do my best to update this guide as changes to League of Legends are made. Please comment and provide feedback so that I can continue to make this guide better!

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

+Good damage output late game
+Infinite Q stack- really satisfying to qq someone to death
+Very good at bursting down carries
+Box stun is great initiate, or zoning tool
+Ult is phenomenal tool against any AP building champion
+Mana regen passive allows for a bit more sustain early game

-Pretty squishy
-Not a lot of mobility
-Relatively high mana costs early game
-Relatively high cooldown on box
-If you're playing with any skin but final boss- a pretty annoying voice

Veigar is a burst mage champion. His ability to infinitely stack AP with is the thing that distinguishes him the most. This combined with his high damage output from and makes him a prime candidate for taking down AP mids and AD carries.

provides a great deal of utility to Veigar. It is a large AOE stun, that at max rank last for 2.5 seconds. However, targets are only stunned if they walk into the edge of the box. More often than not, you have to ensure that is placed so that you hit champions with the edge of it. It also functions as a good escape tool for Veigar. The downside of using it is the relatively high cool down. What separates good Veigar players from bad Veigar players are the timing and placement of

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Dark Harvest

Phase Rush

: These are standard for any AP mid laner. The flat AP they provide is great for early game poke and help you CS with your more easily. Take 3 of these.

: These help a great deal with your early game poke. Chances are people will take some form of magic resist runes against you. The magic penetration these provide helps you to bypass that and to allow for your spells to hit for greater poke. Take 9 of these.

: These are also fairly standard. If against an AD mid, these are a must as they provide you with more early-game sustain. If against an AP mid, you can swap them for hp/level seals. Take 9 of these.

: I like these better than scaling magic resist runes for the most part as I generally work magic resist into my item build. These help you take more early game poke from an enemy AP mid. I take 6 of these generally.

: This is a personal preference. I like taking the extra AP as I usually work in magic resist. It's overall not a huge tradeoff, but it does make CSing easier early game and gives you a higher AP base to poke with. I take 3 of these.

Masteries

These are the masteries I like to run. It's a standard 21-9-0 set-up. Take 4 points in for the cooldown reduction and invest points in and for flat AP increase. helps you burst down the enemy laner a lot more easily. and help you to really optimize your damage output, while helps you poke more with your auto attacks and to absolutely shred towers and inhibitors late game due to the amount of AP you'll have. Your defensive masteries give you more health to survive the early game and gives you more utility out of your defensive items.

Abilities

Equilibrium: As far as passives go, this one is not hugely game-changing. However, it can be very useful. Your mana regen is increased by 1.5% for every 1% of your missing mana. This is crucial early game. You'll want to be stacking AP with your Q as much as possible, while at the same time conserving mana for a stun should the need arise. The passive allows you to regenerate your mana quickly and stay in lane to Q farm and harass longer. However, you shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security by this. While you do get a decent amount of mana regen, it is only that good when your mana is extremely low. You want to try and leave enough mana for a stun if you can- just in case you need to zone for an escape. When your mana is low, your mana regen is high, but you are also vulnerable. It's something to be aware about.

Baleful Strike: Your bread and butter as Veigar. Never stop Q-farming at any point in the game. The rewards are too good not too. With patch 5.4, Veigar's Q has changed a bit. The range on it has increased from 650 to 850 and it's now a skill shot. Additionally, it can pass through up to two targets- essentially providing the opportunity to get 2 Q stacks from one Q. With the patch 5.5 and 5.6 updates, it now travels faster and farther as well. You still get a permanent increase of one AP from killing melee and caster minions with your Q, as well as get a permanent increase of 2 AP for killing a large monster, siege minion, or an enemy champion. Keep this in mind in lane. Every time a siege minion comes into lane, do your best to Q it. 2 AP makes a lot of difference early-mid game. Additionally, you get 1 AP more per level of your Q for every champion kill or assist. So at level 5 Q, you get 5 AP for every kill/assist. The increased range on this ability means that Veigar can farm much more safely with his Q from a distance. As your box now has a delay on it and can't be reliably cast with a stun guarantee, your emphasis in lane will be geared more towards farming than trading- at least in the early game. This ability is what turns Veigar into a monster. No magic resist wins out when you have that much AP endgame.

Tips and Tricks

Try and line up this ability so it hits 2 minions for double Q stacks. If your minions are doing damage to one minion, do damage to an adjacent minion with your auto attacks so you can more easily get 2 minions with one Q. Timing is everything!
You can use your Q to scout for enemies. Before walking into a bush where you don't have vision, send out your Q to check for enemies. You'll hear it if it hits a target.
Always try to Q siege minions! They provide two AP on kill with your Q. Too good to pass up!

Dark Matter: This ability is a very strong damage dealer in Veigar's kit. After you cast it at a target location, a meteor will fall doing the damage at the rank you've scaled your W plus 100% of your AP. Late game, if you have 700 AP for example, this translates to 1020 total damage. Kind of mind-boggling. It's also a nice tool for clearing waves late game. However, the weakness in this ability is the delay. You see the outline of the meteor before it drops, so it's fairly easy to juke. With patch 5.4, the mana costs and cool downs have been reduced, so it's become a slightly more spammable ability. That being said, you should still try to be wary of using it too much early game. In the early game, this skill should predominantly be used for trades, not farming.

Tips and Tricks

Early-mid game, dropping your W on the back line of caster minions generally leaves them at low enough health that you can execute them with your Q for AP farm. Late game, your W will most likely kill caster minions, so you can drop it on the melee minions instead for easy Q farm. In general though, late game is more focused on wave clear so this isn't as big an issue.
Your W can be used for scouting purposes. When cast, your W will reveal a small area before dropping. It's a great tool for scouting bushes that you don't have vision in and it can be cast at a far enough range that you're relatively safe in doing so.

Event Horizon: This skill is phenomenal. At max rank, this ability results in a 2.5 second AOE stun- the longest stun duration in the game. It's great for initiating a fight, catching someone out of position, and zoning. However it has a few weaknesses. The target is only stunned if they walk into the edge of the box. If they don't walk in, they're free to move around-albeit in the closed confines of the box. With the introduction of patch 5.6, an enemy that tries to dash through the walls will be stunned at the wall of the box, not after their dash is complete. Landing the box so that it immediately stuns a target is much harder now. After patch 5.4, there is a .75 second delay and particle effect before the box appears. The delay and particle effect make it so that the target can easily dodge the sides of the box. It's turned into more of a zoning tool against the enemy laner- forcing them into a position where they can't freely juke your other abilities. In patch 5.5, the delay on appearance starts on cast, not after the cast delay. This means, on a whole, that the box appears .25 seconds faster than it did during patch 5.4. This should make the stun easier to land, but it's still not a point-click-stun like it used to be.

Tips and Tricks

If you are smart casting this ability, there's a nifty trick you can do. If you are sieging a turret, start out of the field of vision of the turret. If you click the area that you want to cast, Veigar will walk up and cast right away. This will allow you to cast the spell in a way that gives the enemy less time to react
Running towards an enemy to stun can tip them off as to what you're about to do. Before casting, try and bait the enemy forward and then cast the spell.

Primordial Burst: Veigar's ultimate is pretty straight forward. It was made to one-shot AP carries. With patch 5.4, it deals a relatively high base damage PLUS 100% of your AP PLUS 80% of your targets AP. The AP scaling went down from 1.2 to 1, but it's still a large amount of damage. Let's put it in perspective. If you have 700 AP, and your target has 700 as well, Veigar's ultimate at max rank will deal 500 + 700 + 560 for a grand total of 1760 damage-from one ability alone. This is a wonderful, wonderful tool. Make sure you try to use this on AP champs and AD carries- the former because of the added damage from your opponent's own AP and the latter due to their inherent squishiness. It's generally not a good idea to use this on a tank, even if they are AP, unless you are sure it can result in a kill.

Tips and Tricks

Try to use this ability predominantly on AP champions to get the full utility from its damage output. That being said, prioritize your targets. If your choice is a full tank Maokai, or an Ahri, pick the Ahri. It's not guaranteed you'll kill the Maokai.
This ability has your shortest cast range. As you do your burst combo, you should keep moving towards your target so that they don't get out of range.

Skill Sequence

> > >

As with any champion, prioritize your ultimate first. That means that you should invest a point in whenever possible- at levels 6, 11, and 16. After your ultimate, prioritize , followed by , and finally . Take a point in at the start of the game to maximize your ability-stacking potential. You don't need to worry about having a point in until level 5. Here's why. You want 2 points in for reduced cooldown and damage output. Keep in mind, that with every point of , you get an additional 1 AP on champion kill or assist. You want at least 2 points in for reduced cooldown and increased stun duration. To get your full combo off (, followed by a chain of your other abilities) in time, you need the extended stun duration from 2 points in . Max for minimal cooldown time on AP-stacking, then for lower cooldowns and increased stun duration, then finally for late game damage output.

Spells

Ignite

Flash

-Ignite will help you secure kills against the enemy laner. A full nuke combo should go box stun, dark matter, baleful strike, primordial burst, and then ignite to secure. If you get a gank from your jungler that looks promising, it might be a good idea to ignite early so that even if the enemy flashes, the damage keeps ticking.

-Flash is essential for Veigar. The only disengage you have is your box stun, and it's on a hefty cool down early levels. Utilize this summoner spell carefully. Never flash to try and finish a kill unless you're sure it'll be worth something. It's also not a good idea to flash secure if you don't have vision in the side jungle. If you get baited to finish a kill, and the enemy jungler chooses that moment to attack, you're in a really difficult spot. TLDR, try and utilize flash as a mainly defensive tool.

Farming

Farming with Veigar is different from how it used to be with the changes in patch 5.4. The changes to his add a little bit more complexity to the process. You can now Q farm from further away due to it's increase range. Additionally, can pass through up to two targets. This can potentially allow for 2 Q stacks with one Q. However, the ability is now a skillshot. You have to position it correctly so that it hits your target(s) of choice. Ideally, you would want to get two adjacent minions low enough that you can throw out a Q and execute both of them for 2 AP. However, this is something that will take a bit of practice to achieve. Additionally you can Q a minion directly in front of the enemy laner to both farm and poke. With the increased range on your Q, you can stay at a comfortable distance and farm with it if you're worried about being bullied by the enemy laner. Additionally, take the time to see how much your auto attack does. He has a low-damage, slow auto attack, so timing is key when you decide to auto. You have to work past your minions as well. The goal should still be to try and farm with your as much as possible to increase your AP gain. Make sure to practice with the changed mechanics and figure out the best way to farm with your Q. Remember, if you don't execute a minion with your , it goes to waste. Prioritize your Q's on siege minions as they provide 2 AP when executed.

Once you have , farming will become a little different. Drop a dark matter on the back line of caster minions to start. They have less health, so it will do more damage to them. Once you do, they should be low enough that you can secure the CS with your Q our an auto attack. Ideally, Q as many of the minions as you can. Mid-late game, your dark matter becomes a very useful wave clearer. One dark matter, if placed properly, should take care of the majority of one wave.

Your Single Target Nuke Combo

-> -> -> ->

This should be your full burst combo. You have to worry about some new things with the changes in patch 5.4 however. You start off with to stuns your target. As soon as your target is stunned, drop your . Quickly follow that up with , , and . You have to make sure that your will connect with your target. So try not to have it whiff or hit minions more than champions (lol). This ability chain is something you have to do pretty fast. That's why I mentioned that you should have 2 points in your by level 6. Before you do this combo after your first back, try and get the enemy laner down to about half health. When you're level 6 or 7, you need your enemy to be at about half health to get a kill from the full combo. A lot of people will flash as soon as they get unstunned, which still leaves you winning the trade Just wait until your mana is up again, and then repeat. It's a little harder to land your and , so make sure you practice landing them consistently. Your full combo at level 6 takes 345 mana. Wait until you have that much before starting the combo. Late game, you will probably be able to take out a few members of their team with just W,Q or Q,R. You should be able to tell based on how much damage your abilities put out.

Team Work

As a mid laner, it can be very easy to get lost in your lane and not pay attention to things going on everywhere else on the map. That's a habit that you need to break to really succeed. Make sure you're constantly checking your minimap to see where everybody is. Ward constantly in the river to provide vision for both yourself if a jungler ganks and for top and bot lane. Additionally, wards will give you an idea as to what objectives the enemy team is seeking. If you see the jungler, ping on the map. If your enemy mid-laner is missing, ping missing. Keep pinging missing if they're not around. If you get the chance, type MIA in the chat. Communication is key to any teams success.

In terms of your abilities, your job in the team is to provide a single target nuke for the squishy people on the enemy team. This is more often than not the mid laner or the ADC. Your box stun is a great disengage, but you have to time it right. If your team is escaping through the jungle, you can place the box down in the path and block off an entire jungle path. Positioning is everything. If a teammate is trying to escape, and you're not in danger trying to help, drop a box so that your teammate can get out safely. Ultimately, good teamwork is dependent on reading the situation at any given time, and to do so involves you being aware of more than just the mid lane.

Closing Comments

So yeah! That's my Veigar guide in a nutshell. With this latest version of the guide, I've made some formatting changes so hopefully it looks better aesthetically. I've added a Masteries section, but I will most likely be reformatting it soon to make it a little more readable. My next step will be formatting an items section. I've updated the guide to include some more champion matchup information. I'll continue to keep adding to this section as time goes on. As I get further insight into Veigar play, I'll make sure to add it to the guide! As mentioned above, please give me feedback so I can continue to make this guide better!

Have fun being an evil mastermind!

Change Log

4/16

-Introduced change log
-Added masteries section- still a work in progress
-Changed format of Runes and Abilities Section
-Added Ezreal to the Champion Matchup Section.
-Made minor grammar corrections and corrected misinformation regarding passive (had mana regen increased by 1% for every 1% mana missing instead of mana regen increased by 1.5% for every 1% mana missing)

3/27

-Included new champion match ups
-Added more information regarding patch 5.6