Hi! I’m iSaido. I ended Season 4 at Platinum 1 and I play Both Mid & Support Vel'koz.

I also play :

AD Jungle Marksman indent] ahri & indent]tresh
Mid indent]

I also take people's suggested playstyles, optimize them, and then make guides on them!



Keep in mind this is not meant to be an exhaustive guide. It is meant to outline the basic principle, items, runes, and playstyle of Support Vel'koz. As such, I won't be delving into why certain customization choices were made. However, my hope is that I will have explained Support Vel'koz enough that my rationale will be a self-evident extension, and to also allow you to make personal customizations as well.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. I always answer promptly!

Pros

Powerful, constant lane poke
Incredible mana sustain while laning
Extreme kiting power and self-peel
Always relevant damage

Cons

Difficulties against gap-closing supports
Immensely fragile
Few power spikes
Lesser peeling power for the ADC

Do not Stare Into Beam

Support Vel'koz is more popular than its intended mid-lane purpose, meaning it doesn't require too much introduction. Because Vel'koz gains ranged true damage from the passive, their damage easily remains relevant regardless of the resistances enemies build.

This true damage lends itself well into the support role. True damage allows Vel'koz to buy relatively cheap CDR early to maximize damage output before transitioning into heavier raw AP later into the game.

This also puts Vel'koz in support role that they largely occupy alone: a sustained damage backline support. Vel'koz is different from the likes of other AP supports like Annie and Fiddlesticks, who prefer throwing the AP out at mid-close range and in a huge burst instead. This also means Vel'koz never really does huge instant damage nor has many meaningful power spikes. In return, their damage will at least always matter, even if it's not an instant KO kind of mattering.

However, due to lacking AP, it's necessary to hit with more spells instead of harder spells. Needing more spells makes reaching the 40% CDR quite crucial for Vel'koz and marks one of the only real power spike they get, but they also need to rush damage ASAP as well. Because of this, the runes and masteries attempt to make up whopping 20% of the CDR, allowing for much faster itemization into the heavy AP items

Eye See Death

Vel'koz likes having time before fights. They want time to shoot at enemies and whittle away instead of going too close to the fray except to clean up. In teamfights, Vel'koz wants to stay as far as possible and focus on blasting opponents instead of worrying about survival. However, because Vel'koz lacks dashes, it's necessary to get faster movement speed to kite most opponents forever.

Support Vel'koz also has relatively low mana costs except in the early game. This means Vel'koz doesn't need a huge mana item to retain potency, though it's still necessary to have at least some early mana regen to help until reaching infinite ability spam from a far enough distance that getting hit is impossible.

Finally, Vel'koz rarely dies from being whittled down or barely escaping. The nature of being so fragile makes Vel'koz' deaths largely all or nothing, making most defensive stats wasted.

Beam Better

All of these strengths are what lead us to this guide's setup.
Cheap magic pen and mobility
Minimizing the gold necessary to reach 45% CDR.
Preferring options for sustained damage over burst damage
Avoiding close-range options (Exhaust, Ignite, Frostqueen, etc.)
Avoiding raw survivability tech such as armor, health, or HP pots
Extreme emphasis on movement speed and additional team utility
Early mana for lane spamming

Do not Stare Into Beam

Support Vel'koz is more popular than its intended mid-lane purpose, meaning it doesn't require too much introduction. Because Vel'koz gains ranged true damage from the passive, their damage easily remains relevant regardless of the resistances enemies build.

This true damage lends itself well into the support role. True damage allows Vel'koz to buy relatively cheap CDR early to maximize damage output before transitioning into heavier raw AP later into the game.

This also puts Vel'koz in support role that they largely occupy alone: a sustained damage backline support. Vel'koz is different from the likes of other AP supports like Annie and Fiddlesticks, who prefer throwing the AP out at mid-close range and in a huge burst instead. This also means Vel'koz never really does huge instant damage nor has many meaningful power spikes. In return, their damage will at least always matter, even if it's not an instant KO kind of mattering.

However, due to lacking AP, it's necessary to hit with more spells instead of harder spells. Needing more spells makes reaching the 40% CDR quite crucial for Vel'koz and marks one of the only real power spike they get, but they also need to rush damage ASAP as well. Because of this, the runes and masteries attempt to make up whopping 20% of the CDR, allowing for much faster itemization into the heavy AP items

Eye See Death

Vel'koz likes having time before fights. They want time to shoot at enemies and whittle away instead of going too close to the fray except to clean up. In teamfights, Vel'koz wants to stay as far as possible and focus on blasting opponents instead of worrying about survival. However, because Vel'koz lacks dashes, it's necessary to get faster movement speed to kite most opponents forever.

Support Vel'koz also has relatively low mana costs except in the early game. This means Vel'koz doesn't need a huge mana item to retain potency, though it's still necessary to have at least some early mana regen to help until reaching infinite ability spam from a far enough distance that getting hit is impossible.

Finally, Vel'koz rarely dies from being whittled down or barely escaping. The nature of being so fragile makes Vel'koz' deaths largely all or nothing, making most defensive stats wasted.

Beam Better

All of these strengths are what lead us to this guide's setup.
Cheap magic pen and mobility
Minimizing the gold necessary to reach 45% CDR.
Preferring options for sustained damage over burst damage
Avoiding close-range options (Exhaust, Ignite, Frostqueen, etc.)
Avoiding raw survivability tech such as armor, health, or HP pots
Extreme emphasis on movement speed and additional team utility
Early mana for lane spamming


As the laning phase ends, you will start roaming more and helping around
Continue maintaining strong vision control of the map
Try to be near areas of potential conflict to ult enemies down
Use Ghost to kite and chase better during teamfights
Chase down lonely opponents and kill them

Your role before fights remains straightforward. Your mana regen is also now sufficient to spam wildly. Don't intentionally miss, but it's often sufficient to just present the threat of Plasma Fission even if you don't hit it.

When enemies get closer, get yourself farther. Try to stay close to the tip of your spell's range and make sure the areas around you are warded well.

Don't be afraid to use Ghost to arrive to fights several seconds earlier. It's on an impressively short cooldown, so be liberal with its various uses.

Keep an eye on your ADC and see if you can help them out against melee enemies by using Tectonic Disruption.

Your ult is on a relatively short cooldown. Don't feel afraid to use it to gain even small advantages.