Introduction

Good Evening all!

My name is Heyth, and i have been playing league of legends since the start of 2011. A little background on me, I was stuck in the 1200 region of ELO until i got serious, currently middle ranged 1500's-1600's, feel free to add me to duo or just to chat, always up for it.

I main AP carries or AD ranged, in the past i've had my eye on champions like Xerath, Brand or Cassiopeia, and mained all three. Other AD's include Vayne, Corki and Tristana.

Possible questions you may ask
Why should i read you're guide and listen to you?
That's a fair question. Personally i believe i have enough experience to be of worth to the people who read my guides, i also believe that i am a decent player, and there's always something to learn from other players. I suppose you could just give it a read, if you don't like it, you don't have to come back! :p Plus i made that awesome pun in the title...

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Introducing: Viktor, The Machine Herald.

Who is Viktor?
At the present time of this guide, Viktor was the newest champion to be released. Infact, i would go as far to say, he is the strangest champion to be released and one of the hardest to master.

What is Viktor's role?
Victor can perform a number of different roles, really any champion can perform every role. It's a matter of whether they are good or specialise at the role that matters the most.
Viktor has very good AP ratios on his abilities, so i would focus him around AP Carry/Support AP, which is what i'll be doing in this guide.

How strong is Viktor compared to other AP carries?
I believe that he is on par with other AP carries, such as Brand. He provides great CC with his , has a silence to interrupt channeling abilities with , A long range poke with and has a single target nuke with an additional shielding affect ( ).

Throughout the guide i'll explain more about his abilities, including his passive. But for now, let's take it slow.

Pros / Cons

Ability Explanation

Ability Sequence Order

Summoner Spells

For Quintessences, i use:

Greater Quintessence of Potency ( )
Reasoning is as follows:

It takes til level 11 until the per level quintessences match up to the flat quintessences, in terms of Ap amounts. If Viktor is going to dominate a game, i feel that he needs the edge before that time. Hence why i use the Flats.
Other possibilities include:

[*] AP per level ([icon:greater quintessence of force size=20]) If you want the late game boost instead of the early game boost, kicks in around about level 12.

[*] Magic Penetration ( ) If you prefer these over Ability Power boosts.

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As for Marks

Greater Mark of Insight ( )

as standard, i use flat magic penetration for both early game and late game boost. Don't really need to reason for this choice.

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For Seals, it's probably the hardest choice and most variable.

Greater Seal of Replinishment

I have put Mana regen/5 ( ). This is only because i feel he can spam alot early game and win his lane, especially since he has a very strong poking power.
Other possibilities include:

[*] health per level (greater seal of vitality) | for a boost in max health later in the game.

[*] Gold per 10 ( ) | If you feel you just wont make the money ingame/will probably lose you're lane. Although i'd leave this role to items such as Philosopher's Stonephilosopher's stone or Kage's lucky Pickkage's lucky pick.

[*] Armor Flats ( ) | in the case that you'd be taking a few hits from minions, and you want that damage reduced. Also helps when tower diving but it's easily avoided.

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For Glyphs[/b]:

Greater Glyph of Force ( )

I like using ap per level. My reasoning is as follows: Ap flats are great, however i believe that Viktor's damage revolves around the burst from his ultimate included. AP flats give .99 Ap, thus the .17 AP from the per level glyphs will be on par with flat runes at level 5-6, around the time that he levels up his ultimate. But it's very justifiable, if you prefer to go for an early kill with his basic abilities, you can use the flat runes instead.
Other options are:

[*] Greater Glyph of potency ( ), if you want the early game boost instead of late game.

[*] Greater Glyph of Focus ( ) in the event that you prefer cooldown reduction over AP bonus.

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This is a basic format, includes:
In Offense
[*] improved ignite [!]
[*] 3/4 AP [!]
[*] 4% Cooldown Reduction [!]
[*] 10% Magic Pentration [!]
[*] 1.5% increased damage dealt
[*] +18 AP at level 18 [!]
[*] AP increased by 5% [!]
[*] Damage dealt increased by 6% when the opponent under 40% health [!]

In Utility
[*] Improved flash [!]
[*] +216 mana at level 18 [!]
[*] 3 mana regen per 5 seconds [!]
[*] -1 second on recall timer
[*] Buff duration increase [!]

[!] = Important/Stronger mastery spells for Viktor

You can also put 9 in defence if you like having then extra sustainability.

Okay so i've left this discussion to be performed on it's own little chapter because i feel it has a massive effect on his gameplay. Early game it doesn't really matter much, as i do not upgrade his Hex Core until later on.

Now i've read alot of guides on Viktor, and i think that hardly any of them discuss this, and it's importance is extremely high.

Viktors passive, is .
Taken directly from the Wiki: Viktor starts with a Hex Core that provides him with stats and can be upgraded into one of the three augments, that benefit one of his abilities each. The Hex Core can only be upgraded once and cannot be sold back to the shop.

At first glance, it looks like a great passive which can help your champion a ton!

Although like all things, it has it's cons.

Now the Hex Core is also only available to Viktor, if you didn't already know.

Anyway back to the Hex Core.

Straight out, it gives +3 Ability Power per level, which is actually pretty cool for a free item that you're given at the start of every game!

The trick with the Hex Core is knowing WHEN and TO WHAT do you upgrade it.

I'll start with the when.

in the short time that i'v played Viktor, i have seen some Viktor's upgrade their Hex Core as their first item, as their last item, sometimes even not at all. I have seen some complete and utterly useless viktors, then again i'v seen some complete dominant ones.

In my opinion, it depends on what you're upgrading it to, which decides when you're upgrading it.

Lets run through the three available augments.

Each one clearly has its plus and minus sides.

Augment of Power is more for survivability, and if anything, should be built early in the game. Specifically for it's extra health and regen, but also because it gives the extra 30% movement speed when you cast .

Augment of Gravity tends to be my favourite, because i really like the additional 30% cast range on his . With the additional range, it allows me to cast the field on the area around the unit being hit at MAX RANGE of . I find this augment best upgraded after purchasing .

Augment of Death is more for the players who like damage! 30% additional damage on his poke is insanely good, infact it's a toss between death and gravity when choosing the augments in my opinion. The flat ability power works great, but i honestly believe it comes down to the ability buffs which decides this. Now when you think about it, if your deals 200 damage, an additional 30% of that is 60 extra damage over 4 seconds. Even if it deals 500 damage, it's still 150 extra damage over 4 seconds. So really, like Gravity, this augment can be upgraded anytime from mid game - late game. However i strongly think that it's best to upgrade it once you get some decent ability power, otherwise the bonus damage is just going to waste.

Mostly i think it is just Personal liking, but i'd leave the augments to be upgraded a bit later in the game, mid to late game ideally.

Bare in mind!
And i've done this before, You cannot sell them back! So don't do what i did, buying Gravity intending to sell and buy death later in the game, then come to a big surprise when you were not able to sell back to the shop.

When it comes to items, i'm going to do farming/items/stages of the game in one big chapter.

Early Game

Farming with Viktor, i haven't found any trouble. Aside from the low damage, i've found it easy to last hit with him. His attack animation is rather fast, and smooth, so you shouldn't have trouble. If you find yourself missing a few creeps, you can always use to last hit with, since it's low mana cost and it gives a nice shield with a small cooldown.

If you're still having trouble, you can always practice in a custom game to get used to his last hit motion.

I start, with either or and 3 . I then farm up enough gold to get either a total of 3 or a , around 1600 gold. I then upgrade my to .

If i start with , i'll build into straight away, so i'll have it by midgame, otherwise i'll build and hope to have it by midgame.

Mid Game

By this time, you should either have and either and 3 , or a . At this stage, i'd buy one of the above items, that you're missing. So if you bought , then get . And vice-versa.

If the opponent starts stacking magic resistance, i'd then move onto , if they have a lot of magic damage you can consider for the magic resistance and it has a handy passive which will aid your ability damage.

If you're doing really well, you can also consider , but i wouldn't recommend it.

Concider your hex core at this time

Late game

By this time it's all about team fights.
Stay with your team, and don't get out of position, because it can cost the game for your team.

Your job in team fights is to basically blow your entire kit on the enemy team, focusing mainly on either their AD carry, Support or Ap carry.
Focusing their tanks is a waste of time.

By this time you should have , , , .

At this point, items become very situational.

If you are getting targetted by a single CC, you can get a .
If you are getting suppressed by a move like , then you can buy .
If you are simply getting targetted by every of their champions, or mainly thier AD carry, get a . You're ultimate will still be moveable while you're in the invulnerable form aswell!
If you are dying too quickly and need a way to avert their targetting, grab a .
If you haven't yet got it, and you are getting targetted by magic damaging enemies, you can grab .

Here i will describe in detail the ideal build:
: Give 20 magic penetration, meaning 20 of their magic resistance becomes worthless. combined with your runes of magic penetration, it will make your damage very high.
: Gives a flat 140 Ability Power, and also increases your overall Ability Power by 30%. Best Ability Power item in the game, hands down. However it comes at a high price, but makes the best out of it's passive once you hit a high amount of ability power.
: A great item for your abilities, since you have relatively long pokes with your , you can slow your opponents down to land your easier incase you didn't have the hex core upgrade for it.
: Best item to ruin the opponents magic resistance. 40% magic penetration means that 40% of their magic resistance, becomes useless. This in addition to you're boots and runes, makes a lot of their magic resistance useless! Great item!
: A perfect item in the event that the opponent is stacking Health without getting much magic resistance, such as Vladimir or Cho'Gath. Deals a % of their current health in magic damage, so it's best to use it at the start of the combination.
Concider your hex core at this time, if it isn't already upgraded.