Ruin Sage here to bring you: Viktor, the Machine Herald. This guide is designed to illustrate the major points of League of Legend's newest champion, Viktor. I find that Viktor is currently WAY OP, as I have yet to lose my lane or a match with him! In this guide, I want to cover every situation that you will have to account for while playing this high-rev Mage! The Cheat Sheet is in no way definitive, and you should read my walls of text for all the information you need to have:
FLAWLESS VIKTORY!!


A note: Mobafire doesn't appear to have the coding down for the Hex Core or the Augments, so don't be put off by not having pretty pictures or links there. I put coding in, so as soon as they get it in, my guide will be complete! I'll take this note down when they do. :)

High damage capacity Variable style to counter your enemy Spamable damage that provides a shield High range Hextech Ray AOE stun AND ultimate! Awesome Voice!

Hard to master Hextech Ray Limited escape mechanisms Mediocre ultimate damage- saved by silence and that it's AOE

I take Greater Mark of Magic Penetration for the penetration that EVERY Mage needs.
I take Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power for the extra AP that builds as your Hex Core builds.
I take Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power for the same thing.
I take Greater Quintessence of Ability Power for the early game advantage.

This set up really lets you push around your opponent; it gives you great damage and a decent shield too. This banks on having an enemy that you can avoid skill shots, or that you know takes a few levels to build up.


Another choice, providing you with more MP5 to harass with, as well as MR to deal with the return harass. I take this only on lanes where I can't avoid the damage and I know that the enemy has a great early game.


Other always great choice for your quints are Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration as more penetration is always helpful!

Flash is a must. Viktor has no hard escape mechanisms, so having this to fall back on is wonderful.
Ignite is my second pick, because the extra damage it deals can go a long way when you are trying to kill someone.

Other spells you can take include:

• Teleport for getting back to lane quickly.
• Ghost for positioning yourself/chasing/escaping.
• Cleanse if the enemy team has some pretty heavy CC.

Less Viable choices:

• Clairvoyance will let you see the map. However, if your support has this and you ward, you will be fine without it.
• Clarity if you are not good at watching your mana.
• Exhaust can save you, but Ghost/ Flash are usually better suited for Viktor.

Don't take any others!

This is typically the best path to take. It provides you with sustained damage and a sustained shield through Power Transfer. This path is taken when you find your self against someone like Nidalee or Morgana, where you can dodge most of their damage. You stand behind creeps, hit with Power Transfer, run back before they can do anything.


This path allows for greater harass with Hextech Ray through the early stages of the game. I use this path if I am facing someone like Annie where I can't dodge her long range CC. This path relies on being able to hit Hextech Ray at its max range and being able to throw it down accurately while moving. The trick is to harass in a way that you won't take return harass, to as much extent as possible. Hextech Ray costs more Mana than Power Transfer though, so you will have to be careful not to waste the shot.

- Doran's Ring is my preferred start. It gives everything you need to start the game strong. If you find you are falling behind a bit, stacking another one or two of these can give you the boost you need to catch up.
- Meki Pendant and Health Potion are also good, as they will let you spam more and build right into Tear of the Goddess.
- Boots and Health Potions are for laning against someone who has heavy harass that you have to dodge, like Karthus or Cassiopeia


- Sorcerer's Shoes and Tear of the Goddess are very important for Viktor at this point. You need to be able to move and you need to be able to keep hitting them. Skipping either of these items is a mistake, as you need everything they provide to survive and stay in lane.

- Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Rod of Ages can be a hard choice. Both provide Health (RoA is more, after buildup), both provide AP (the same amount, after buildup), one provides Mana and the other gives a slow. I prefer Rylai's Crystal Scepter because slowing the enemy with Power Transfer makes hitting with Hextech Ray very easy. Having the extra HP/MP isn't a bad thing, but I find that having the slow outweighs those.

-As mentioned by Gawdzila, having Hextech Revolver early game can be a huge help! With it, your Power Transfer recycles a full 50% of the damage dealt, 30% to shield and 20% to health. Even if you don't want to get Will of the Ancients later, this item will improve your lane sustainability dramatically.


- Rabadon's Deathcap is an integral part of Viktor. All true mages NEED this and Viktor is no exception. This will significantly increase the damage you do, and will let you farm up everything else much faster. With this item, Hextech Ray should 1-shot the caster minions, if not the melee minions as well. Having this also increases your survivability, as your Power Transfer shield gets bigger!

- Augment: Power, Augment: Gravity or Augment: Death should have been decided by now, and you should move forward with your decision, as the basic Hex Core really isn't all that useful by itself. See the next section for more details on what your decision should be.


- Archangel's Staff and Void Staff are logical progressions at this point in the game. Finishing what you started with Tear of the Goddess will boost your MP and AP by quite a bit at this point! To counter you, people will be building MR. To counter THEM, you build Void Staff. This should round out your build nicely, giving you heavy damage, and enough survivability to be plenty useful to your team.


Each of these items should be fairly self explanatory. Each item has its own place, and using one of them should always be in the back of your mind.
- Abyssal Mask for MR and MR reduction. This is useful instead of Void Staff if the enemy team isn't stacking MR and you could use a survivability boost.
- Deathfire Grasp is to give that huge extra burst, mostly for high health targets.
- Haunting Guise for the early edge against some lane opponents. I grabbed this when I went against another Viktor, and the advantage was overwhelming. Sell this later for a late game item. I prefer this item to stacking Doran's Ring as all the stats are better for the early game pressure.
- Will of the Ancients is like Haunting Guise. You want it early against some lane opponents. It helps you sustain though the harass so you can win your lane. Depending on the enemy team comp, this may be sold after the mid game for a higher AP item.
- Zhonya's Hourglass is mostly for the active ability. Enemy Karthus got you down? Zhonya's Hourglass and block his ult any time you want. The armor is also a good boost against DPS champs.
- Morello's Evil Tome gives you better stats than the Deathfire Grasp, but without the active. I would suggest this over DFG if they don't have more than one high health target that you desperately want to use the active on as you are more sustained magic damage than total nuke.

The Hex Core- +3 AP Per Level. By itself, this will give you a total of 54 AP.
Augment: Power- +3 AP Per Level, +220 Health, +6 HP5. When Viktor uses Power Transfer he gains 30% move for 3 seconds.
Augment: Gravity- +3 AP Per Level, +200 Mana, +10% CDR, +5 MP5. Gravity Field has an additional 30% cast range.
Augment: Death- +3 AP Per Level, +45 AP. Hextech Ray deals 30% additional damage over 4 seconds.

How you upgrade this depends on several things.

• What ability path did you chose?
• Is your enemy letting you easy harass with Hextech Ray?
• Do you specifically need more survival, Mana or AP?
• What will your team need you to do?

-Choosing Augment: Power means you know that you will be focusing on Power Transfer more than anything. You also pick this one for the survivability, as it is the only one that gives health. This choice has the greatest survivability and gives you a good positioning tool. This also fits best with the first ability sequence.

-Choosing Augment: Gravity means that you want to be able to spam your spells and help break up fights with Gravity Field most. This provides you with great early Mana/ MP5 so you can spam more. This is best with the second Rune set, where you will be giving and getting heavy harass. This is my least favorite Augment, as I prefer the damage/survivability of the others.

-Choosing Augment: Death means that you want raw power. This gives more AP than all the others, (99 total) and is the only one that increases the damage factor of the spell it upgrades. Getting this, along with the first Rune set and the second ability sequence will DEVASTATE any enemy hit with Hextech Ray and it will allow you to clear creeps very fast. Get this one if you are dominating your lane and you want to bulldoze through to late game quickly.

Right when you start the game you should know who you are facing. That tells you which item/s you should begin with. You should work your way through your early game items as quickly as you can, always remembering to buy what Health Potion, Mana Potion and Sight Wards that you need. WARDS SAVE LIVES! I pick up AT LEAST Boots and Amplifying Tome on my first trip back. I usually finish Rylai's Crystal Scepter before Sorcerer's Shoes and then move on to everything else.

Last hitting with Viktor is pretty easy, you should get it down in the first 10 minutes of your first game. The trick is to learn to last hit while moving around to harass the enemy with Power Transfer and Hextech Ray. Remember that Power Transfer won't miss, but Hextech Ray deals a lot more. As outlined above, which you focus on depends on your opponent. You need to be aware of how your opponent moves, so that you can nail them with any part of Hextech Ray- it doesn't decrease in damage for any part or for hitting minions. At this phase of the game, you probably won't get kills against a smart enemy because you have only 2 damaging spells. However, pushing them out of lane is likely. If your lane opponent disappears, call the MIA- even if he is gone because you killed him. MIA's SAVE LIVES! Enjoy your free farm!

Once you get your boots, you should move right on to Rabadon's Deathcap. This item will DRASTICALLY improve the damage you deal, and your survivability from the Power Transfer shield. This is one of the only items in the build that is non-negotiable. Any earlier and you sacrifice survivability, any later and you are giving up too much damage to harass/kill/farm. Your Augment should be purchased as early as possible, but not before you know what is best for your situation. You should know fairly quickly, but you do want to make sure they aren't baiting a specific purchase from you. Usually, it will be purchased after Needlessly Large Rod and before Rabadon's Deathcap.

This phase of the game, people will be trying to invade your lane and kill you. This is the phase where map awareness is of greatest necessity. Often, if you had a good early game, you can repel any gank and still stay in lane. With coordination from your jungler, you can even counter gank and get a kill or two. During this phase, you should have blue buff almost all the time, so you can be a little more reckless with your mana. You still need to be careful with yourself though! Watch the champion spotlight and watch the use of Gravity Field, as this is the phase where knowing the placement makes or breaks your late game. You should be focusing on farming, unless you just had a successful gank on the enemy mid, in which you should pretend to recall and gank a lane. With the jungler, you go in after he does so his CC locks the enemy in Gravity Field. Without the jungler, you should go after the jungler has made his presence known elsewhere, to make the enemy relax the defenses a bit.

You should be finishing off all your items now. You need to be aware enough to counter build, as you have a whole list of items that you can choose from. As outlined above, choose what you should be building based on the enemy team. If you have an item with an active, like Zhonya's Hourglass, DEAR GOD USE THE ACTIVE!! That is half the reason you get those items!

In this phase, you need to be sticking with your team, picking off who you can before team fights happen. You are not the best choice for any split pushing because the team needs you and your ult to disrupt the enemy team. Always be careful not to be between your tank and the enemy team, as that leads to you dying REALLY FAST.

• Aim Hextech Ray through as many people as possible. It has fairly low CD, so hitting only 1-2 each shot is ok.
• Wait to use Arcane Storm till most of the enemies have grouped up, or you see something like Crowstorm that you HAVE to stop.
• Power Transfer has a low enough CD that you can hit a low priority target just to gain the shield, giving you protection to hit a high priority target. This works especially well if you get Augment: Power.

Here are a few of my screen shots. Give me some of yours and I'll post them and credit you!
In the top game, I played against another Viktor who built funny. I dominated him!
Second game, I was against a Nidalee. The only reason my deaths were so high was a lucky skillshot from their jungler put me a bit behind early.
Bottom game, I played against a Vlad. It was a bit tough and I couldn't really kill him, but I farmed enough to still be quite useful to the team.

I hope this guide has given insight in to how to dominate with Viktor: The Machine Herald! Any questions, comments or concerns- place them in the comment section and I'll get to them as fast as I can! Please try before you vote and EMBRACE PROGRESS!

2/13/2012- Fixed the BBCode for all the Augments.
1/3/2012-Edits recommended by Gawdzila and better explanation my inclination to Augment: Gravity
1/2/2012-Guide Released!