Hi everyone, I'm Ableton, and this is my complete Viktor Guide. I main this champion since season 3 and have plenty of games with it. I'm at the moment diamond V, and i'm writing this guide because the last I did was season 4 and is kinda outdated. I have thousands of games with Viktor and felt like it's time to share my experience with him.

Pros

+ Strong laning with 1250 gold + Very good burst + Aoe Damage and CC + Godlike wave clear + Skilled champion + Strong late game

Viktor is a solid midlane pick that can deal with most of the matchups decently. It is a champion that can easily carry games when he's fed because of his teamfight abilities. Viktor is a late game monster that synergizes very well with AoE champions like Sejuani, Amumu .. but also a strong duelist. The champion isnt played that much in the current meta, leaving you an advantage since most of the players don't know your exact damage or abilities.

Cons

- Squishy - Easy to gank - Having hard time to get back into the game if far behind - Mostly skillshots - High learning curve

However, Viktor can easily be denied by ganks due to his lack of mobility or counter-picked. If you fall behind you'll have a hard time to get back into the game. You get fine when you have Lich Bane and Hex Core MK-1 but not before. He's also hard to master, I have 1500+ games with it and still can feel that I can improve.

Keystone Summon Aery: Gives you extra poke in lane whenever you spam your Q. Check at the end of the game the extra damage dealt by this rune it's pretty impressive. The best keystone for Viktor, way better than Electrocute. Tier 1 Manaflow Band: Allows extra mana and extra mana regen. You'll find yourself sometimes low on mana, this rune is necessary on Viktor for better laning and greater mana pool. Tier 3 Scorch: Extra damage in lane and best tier 3 rune. The extra damage of Summon Aery and Scorch can sometimes surprise your opponent and grant you an unexpected kill. Gathering Storm is also playable but to me the game is decided mostly in the 20 first minutes and I won't recommend you picking this.

TRANSCENDENCE

VS

CELERITY

Best choice in my opinion. It allows you to reach 40% CDR and it works very well on Viktor, especially with Siphon Power to kite and gain a lot of mobility.

The rune that many people will tell you is the best but I would recommend you to try both and make up your own mind. If you feel like you can go 30% CDR (40 if you have blue buff) go ahead, it's still very good.

DOMINATION

VS

PRECISION

It's my recommended choice for Viktor. The Ravenous Hunter rune is a solid way to get sustain for Viktor in team fights, I love to play with it. The second rune is what you personally prefer, I used to go for Zombie Ward to get better vision around the midlane since you're very weak to ganks, but other choices are fine since the recent nerf. Taste of Blood is good against heavy poke lanes, Ghost Poro is a recommended choice against ganking junglers.

I used to play precision, with Presence of Mind to solve mana problems after long teamfights and Coup de Grace to gain extra burst. I would recommend those runes if you go for the precision path as secondary.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: The basic summoner spell, Viktor weakest point is his lack of mobility. Flash allows to escape ganks but also access targets in late game team fights IGNITE: I always go for Ignite as 2nd summoner spell because VIktor is a champ you really need to snowball with. Getting Hex Core MK-1 early in the game will make your laning phase very smooth and easy EXHAUST: An alternative to Ignite, very useful against AD assassins like Talon or Zed. TELEPORT: This summonner spell isnt that good since the last 8.14 patch. I wouldn't recommend going Teleport as Viktor, maybe in further patches. HEAL: I don't really like this for the simple reason that you mostly want to play aggressive as Viktor to profit of its ridiculouse snowballing. I'd rather go Exhaust in tough match up, way more efficient in 1v1.

Skilling Order

The basic skill order that you want to do at every game. There is almost no alternative to this skill sequence.

Abilities

Siphon power - A very good ability in laning phase in 1v1. This is your main tool to harass your opponent, it works very well since it provides a shield and makes you win most of the trades. A very similar spell to Null Sphere. This is the spell you have to abuse against melee/mid range champions such as Fizz, Diana, Talon ... in early game.
Gravity field - A very powerful AoE CC that slows ennemies before stunning them if they stay too long in the area. This ability makes you really decisive in small fighting areas such as jungle or baron/drake pits. You can't engage with Gravity Field, you have to wait until the fight is set up to place the best field you can. It's also your only way to escape ganks, put it into the jungler and you for maximum efficiency.
Death ray - This is Viktor's main ability. This is where your main dps comes from, and since it's a skillshot you better train it in order to be efficient. Hextech Ray has no casting time meaning you can move while using it ! Abuse this in lane by casting in while you're walking towards or backwards so your opponent can't predict it and dodge it. It also reveals brushes, it might be useful sometimes.
Chaos storm - A very strong ultimate, tons of damage in AoE. Arcane Storm can interrupt ennemy channels like Death Lotus or Requiem and deals most of its damage over duration. Don't forget you have the ability to move your ultimate, this is a little bit tricky at the beginning but you'll get used to it.

CDR Shoes Best choice for Viktor because you really want to get maximum CDR. Recommended in almost every game.

Alternative boots Solid boots as well, but not as efficient that lucidity boots. Pick them if you can play without capped CDR or if their team is very squishy.

Core item The first item you want to build. Gives extra mana, CDR, AP, MS and an even more enpowered auto-attack. Perfect item for Viktor.

Very good on Vik Very good item on Viktor. The slow synergizes very well with Hextech Ray and Arcane Storm and the HP pool is very enjoyable. I usually build it after Lich Bane.

Extra AP boys Can be good on Viktor, but definetely not the best item imo. Void Staff is better according to me (tons of magic pen and way cheaper) and the slow provided by Rylai's Crystal Scepter is better than extra AP. Still good in some situations.

The magic pen we need Very good item in late game, almost reduce enemy's magic resist by 2. You need this in most of the games, except if they dont build MR at all get Rabadon's Deathcap but it seems very unlikely to happen.

Soraka pisses you off ? The item you get if they have champs like Dr. Mundo, Vladimir, Soraka ... Get it instead of Zhonya or Rylai, let your feelings decide.

I told you to ban zed A must-have against ad midlaners, but I end up buying it in almost every game. Guarantee you extra CDR and a very good active as a mid-range mage. 2 main cases when you don't buy it : if they have a heavy ap team you might switch to Banshee's Veil, or if their team doesn't present any danger for you, get extra damage with Rabadon's Deathcap.

Heavy ap team ? Get it when they have a heavy ap team with jungler like Zac or Evelynn. If you build it with Zhonya's Hourglass don't forget to switch your boots or you'll get extra wasted CDR

Here are my tips to have a decent laning phase :

- Get the first upgrade of Hex Core MK-1 as soon as possible. You will clear minions in a single Hextech Ray and it'll make you outpush your opponent or break hard pushers like Twisted Fate or Malzahar.

- Buy a Control Ward at your first back and put it in the river brush (middle one or the one closer to your blue buff). You really don't wanna get ganked as a Viktor.

- Overuse Siphon Power. If your opponent doesn't play with Teleport you can force him to back pretty easily. You probably have the best lvl 1 on the midlane and you need to use it. Don't forget this spell resets your auto-attack, so you can go for AA -> Siphon Power -> AA

- Play aggressive. You have a powerful snowball champ and most of the matchups in the current meta are in your favor. You can easily surprise your opponent with Flash + Hextech Ray + Siphon Power + Ignite. This is a combo I can do really fast and 90% of my mid first blood are done with this technique before level 6.

- With Hex Core MK-1 you can clear a wave very fast. What I recommend you after level 6 is to clear the wave fast and roam botlane. Your opponent will be pushed under tower and probably won't follow you. Roam only if you have advantage on lane, otherwise you might get 1v1'ed in the river and fall even more behind.

- Always use Hextech Ray while moving or when you or your oppoent goes for a minion. This creates a surprise effect making the spell almost impossible to dodge. Don't use it in a predictable way because it is very mana hungry and you'll get mana trouble if you miss some.

T E A M F I G H T S

How to teamfight in most games // As a carry, your first role is to deal damage. In this purpose you need to first STAY ALIVE in fights because you won't deal much when you're dead. Wait for the teamfight to set up (do not engage), once it's done : - Your goal is to kill what's in your range. If you can't get the ennemy carry, damage the tanks it's fine. Try to land the best Hextech Ray on multiple champs if possible. - Land Gravity Field if they are grouped or use it to split up the fight by separating their front and back lane. - Kite and get mobility by spamming your Siphon Power. - Use Arcane Storm early in the fight so you are sure that you use all of its damage. When someone in their team needs to be shut down //If you're fed enough you have the damage to one shot most of the carries if they don't have magic resist. If the enemy Ezreal is 11/0 and is the only target in the game, you can pretty much delete him with Flash + Arcane Storm + Hextech Ray. The no-casting time on your lazer allows you to combo ridiculously fast. You still have to wait the fight is set up to do this, mess and confusion reduce his chances to get saved or to have time fo Flash + Heal away.

How about siege ?
Your role in siege is very crucial.
- If you are sieging, your E is a very strong poke that can get squishies mid life in 1 or 2 hits. You can force a dive if you get the ennemy team mid-HP or make them fall back and get towers.
- If you are being sieged, don't forget you have one of the most powerful wave clear in the game. You really need to stay alive to clear all the minions with your Hextech Ray.

Hope you guys enjoy this guide, thanks a lot for reading till the end. I used the tutorial on making guide by jhoijhoi, it helped me a lot. Any suggestions would be really helpful and i'll answer questions if you have some in the section.