*Wiggles tentacles in a wave-like fashion*

Welcome to my Vel'koz support guide!

My in-game name is snu***z and I've been playing league since season 2. I'm currently in Platinum Elo on the NA server, but I will be in Diamond very soon ;)

I've played a few hundred Vel'Koz support games in the past few months, I've watched many challenger level solo que games (link to Challenger Vel'Koz support video), and read all the good Vel'Koz guides on Mobafire and decided I should make a guide of my own and share the insights I've picked up from playing and what I've learned from others.

The reason I love Vel'Koz support is because he does absolutely insane damage (once he gets a few levels and items), and from a safe distance. He's super annoying to play against (dodging his Q's is mentally taxing) and he can carry games as a support!

My mission with this guide is to cover the most important bits of information that will help you succeed when playing Vel'Koz support. The early, mid, and late game sections will tell you exactly what you should be doing at all points during the game in order to win.

Let's get on with the rest of the guide!

Play Video

"It is unclear if Vel’Koz was the first Voidborn to emerge on Runeterra, but there has certainly never been another to match his level of cruel, calculating sentience. While his kin devour or defile everything around them, he seeks instead to scrutinize and study the physical realm—and the strange, warlike beings that dwell there—for any weakness the Void might exploit. But Vel’Koz is far from a passive observer, striking back at threats with deadly plasma, or by disrupting the very fabric of the world itself."

"His insatiable hunger for knowledge has led Vel’Koz across the world, to its highest peaks and darkest depths. Cunning and methodical, he has quietly watched entire civilizations rise, stagnate and decay, spent centuries combing the ocean floor for its secrets, even scrying the movements of the stars in the heavens above him."

"He carries all of this knowledge back to the great rifts in the fabric of Runeterra—so that the Watchers might know what he knows—and will annihilate, without hesitation, any mortal who stands in his path."

"For the Void is eternal, and it will consume us all."

https://lol.gamepedia.com/Vel%27Koz

Pros

+ Absurd poke with Q (High damage, low cooldown, & low mana cost) + Ridiculous range and kill potential with Q and Ult + Super high damage (can melt tanks with passive true damage) + Super annoying to play against! + Good CC, if you land skill shots + Can go Glacial Augment and offer a ton of utility to the team, and still do tons of damage

Cons

- SUPER squishy - Weakish pre-level 6 - No heals - Unreliable pop-up (less peal for ADC than other supports) - Runs out of mana early if you use all of your abilities - Bad against assassins and high damage champs with gap closers

* Arcane Comet is the best primary rune choice for Vel'Koz support in my opinion. It lets you do a ton of extra poke damage throughout the game, and you're going to land it 90% of the time due to the slow on your Plasma Fission.

*Take Manaflow Band for the extra 250 mana pool it gives you and the extra mana regen.

*You can take Transcendence or Absolute Focus as they are both good. In my experience though, Absolute Focus makes you come online sooner in terms of doing lots of damage, while Transcendence takes a long time to kick in. 10% CDR is better than a little extra AP, but you don't get 10% extra CDR until you reach level 10 (not 10 minutes), by which time it's often too late to make a big difference in the game, and laning phase is usually over.

* Scorch is nice for the bit of extra poke it gives you on your Plasma Fission while in lane, but Gathering Storm makes you a beast once late game comes around.

*I typically take Magical Footwear for the free boots and extra 10 movement speed they give. You can also take Perfect Timing when you're playing against a Zed/ Rengar when you'll 100% want to build a Zhonyas later in the game.

*Take Cosmic Insight for the extra 5% CDR and the fact that it increases your CDR cap by an additional 5%. This makes your ability to spam your Plasma Fission much better, and ensures that you'll always have your ult up for team fights.




*You may want to try out the Domination secondary path as this will give you a lot of additional out of combat movement speed from Relentless Hunter, you get Ghost Poro's when your wards die providing you extra vision and safety from ganks, and extra AP, however this is at the cost of extra CDR, increased CDR cap, free boots, and 10 in-combat movement speed.

*Another benefit of this path is that you can get boots before 12ish minutes, which in my opinion is huge, as this will let you outmaneuver your opponents and land skills shots (most importantly your knockup) if they don't rush boots as well (which they often won't)

**Try each out for yourselves and decide which you like best :)

PASSIVE ABILITY

ORGANIC DECONSTRUCTION (Passive): Organic Deconstruction is Vel'Koz's passive ability, it does true damage to enemies for each three abilities of yours they get hit by (each ability hit we call a "stack" of your passive, you'll notice little white triangles above the enemy when they have stacks on them). Your stacks last for 7 seconds, each new ability that lands will refresh the timer to 7 seconds, and each auto attack will refresh the timer, though auto attacks don't apply stacks. Your Q can apply 1 stack, each W can potentially apply two stacks, your E can apply 1 stack, and your ultimate can apply 3 stacks. Typically you'll be able to apply your passive once or twice to an enemy, or enemies, during a fight (multiple people can be hit by your passive at the same time!). Though unlikely, Vel'Koz has the maximum potential of applying 9 stacks (3 procs) of his passive with his full combo.

Play Video

Q

PLASMA FISSION (Q): Plasma Fission is Vel'Koz's main poking and damage ability. It has very long range and you're able to recast it while it's in mid flight to change change its trajectory (shooting at a 45 degree angle will give you maximum range from this ability, and often times makes it much harder for the enemy to dodge). The recast portion of this ability is much faster than the original cast, you can use this to your advantage and it makes dodging this ability much harder. This ability has the capability to hit 3 enemy champions, or minions, as once it hits a target 2 additional Plasma Fission's will spawn and fly off in opposite directions. Each unit killed by Plasma Fission will refund 50% of it's mana cost, which means, if you kill 2 units with it you'll get all your mana back, and if you kill 3 units with it this ability actually lets you regen mana!

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W

VOID RIFT (W): Void Rift is a relatively speaking low damage ability, but one cast of Void Rift can potentially yield two stacks of your passive. This is because Void Rift has an initial damage portion when it's cast, and then an additional damage portion after a delay. There are two ways to help ensure you land both portions of its damage. #1 is to land your knock up and then immediately use your Void Rift, this is the most guaranteed way to land both of the damage portions and ensure you proc your passive true damage. Way #2 is to land your Plasma Fission and then immediately use your Void Rift. This way is less reliable since the enemy will just be slowed and not knocked up but it can & does still work. In summary, the main function of this ability is to get stacks of your passive, and not necessarily do damage by itself.

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E

TECTONIC DISRUPTION (E): Tectonic Disruption is Vel'Koz's only form of hard CC and it's very important you get good at landing it. This ability is often the difference between life & death for you &/or your ADC. The reason this ability can be difficult to land is because there is a delay between the time it is cast and when it actually lands. With practice you will get the hang of it though. Most of your kills in the bot lane will come because you've landed this ability, which allows you to land your combo, and for your ADC to do their damage and/or land their CC.

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R

LIFE FORM DISINTEGRATION RAY (R): Life Form Disintegration Ray is Vel'Koz's most powerful ability and is possibly the longest named ability in the game xD. This ability does a ton of magic damage and is what gives Vel'Koz a ton of kill pressure once he reaches level 6, and beyond. The beauty of this ult, and a lot of people don't know this, is that once you proc your passive one time your ult will do entirely TRUE DAMAGE instead of magic damage. For this reason you'll want to try to proc your passive at least once before using your ultimate. (This ability makes melting tanks much easier due to all the true damage you can do with it). Your ult by itself can apply three stacks of your passive, so even if it only does magic damage, at the end of its cast it will apply a proc of your true damage passive. (Be careful when using your ultimate as you can be disrupted by CC after using it, so try to position somewhat far away from the enemy before using, one thing you can do after landing your knock up and other abilities is to take a quick step backward and then use your ult so that they can't retaliate with CC and stop your ultimate). The last tip about your ultimate is that you're able to move up to 90 degrees after casting your ultimate (90 degrees is 1/4th of a full circle for you non-geometryers).

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*If you're close enough, and quick enough after landing a Q, you can follow up with a quick W and proc your passive for a burst of true damage (this is hard to do though). Generally speaking you only want to be using your Q to poke and not use your W, but if the opportunity arises you can use your W to proc your passive and hit them with a burst of true damage.
*Vel'Koz doesn't really have good combos until level 4 because his pop-up makes proc'ing his passive much easier. Also, because of how mana hungry Vel'Koz is I don't recommend using W/E very often until you get Frostfang. Try to only use Q so that you always have enough mana to use it, and save your E to save you/your ADC from enemy engage and/or a gank. You can try to go for aggressive E's before Frostfang, especially if you have an aggro ADC like Draven/Lucien (if they're good/duo with you) when the enemy goes for last hits, but you will run out of mana VERY quickly if you use your E/W often before getting Frostfang. Once you run out of mana the pressure you apply on the enemy support and ADC becomes basically 0 and they can have their way with you and your ADC, so be careful not to waste your mana.

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Spellthief's Edge is the best support item for support Vel'Koz because it gives him AP, gold over time, and gold every time he lands an ability.

Sorcerer's Shoes are my favorite kind of boots for Vel'Koz support because it's going to jack up your damage quite a bit. Before your enemy laners build any magic resist Socerer's Shoes will increase your overall damage by about 10%.

Mobility Boots can be a great option for Vel'Koz support instead of Sorcerer's Shoes because Boots of Mobility will allow Vel'Koz to get in range to land his Q/E more often, as well as run around the map to help other lanes more and plant vision, but this comes at the expense of some damage.

Luden's Tempest is a fantastic item for Vel'Koz support. Luden's will make sure that Vel'Koz always has enough mana to spam all of his abilities, and use his full combo once his ult is up. It will also increase his CDR by 20%, which is huge for a champion like Vel'Koz that relies on spamming abilities and poking. Luden's secondary passive gives you extra damage and will also proc Liandry's once you've finished Liandry's, which means Luden's really beefs up how much damage you're able to do.

Liandry's Torment is one of the best items for Vel'Koz support because it will allow you to do a ton of damage, even if you aren't fed. Whenever you land your Q, E, or R you will apply the increased percentage damage to the enemy that Liandry's does due to them being slowed/immobilized. Also, Liandry's will give you extra HP so that you don't get deleted as easily or as destroyed by poke.

Morellonomicon is a great item for Vel'Koz if the enemy isn't building too much magic resistance, or if the enemy has high heal/sustain champions like Soraka/Vladimir/Etc. Building Oblivion Orb, and waiting to finish Morello's, is also a great option because it gives you extra AP, HP, and Magic Penetration for only 1600 gold. If you suspect the enemy will be stacking MR, or is going to have 2+ tanky champions, then consider skipping Morello's and getting Void Staff instead.

Void Staff isn't always necessary to build on Vel'Koz support but it is a very nice item to grab if you think the enemy will be stacking magic resistance, or if they have 2+ tanky champions. You'll often want to skip Morello's and go straight for Void Staff if your team has 3+ AP champions (since they will/should build MR to counter your team comp), or if the enemy has 2+ tanks on their team.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a great item that will save you in a pinch. This item is not always mandatory, but it is required when you play against high AD burst damage champions like Zed/Rengar. This item is also nice versus high AP burst champions (LeBlanc/Evelyn), or champions with long duration CC where you'd likely get killed before being able to move (Morgana/Lux).

Banshee's Veil is not always mandatory, but it is necessary when playing against high AP burst damage champions like LeBlanc/Fizz/Malphite/Etc.

Rabadon's Deathcap can be an incredibly good item on Vel'Koz support because it is going to give you way more damage on all of your abilities, and make your passive do way more true damage. The downside with getting Rabadon's is that it costs a lot of money and thus takes a long time to build. Within the time it takes your to build Rabadon's you might have already finished a whole item and picked up a piece or two for a different item, which could have been the difference between you/your team winning fights with your opponents. The other disadvantage of Rabadon's is that it doesn't give you any defensive stats or offensive stats other than AP, so you might not want to build it if the enemy has assassins on their team that can delete you. Generally speaking, only get Rabadon's when ahead and/or when the enemy can't easily delete you.

Twin Shadows can be an excellent item to pick up on Vel'Koz support because it offers a lot of utility & pick potential to your team. The spooky ghosts this item spawns can help you chase down an enemy so that you can land your combo and delete them, or it can help slow down enemies that are diving you or your carries and save their lives.

Your job during the early game (aka laning phase) is to try to poke out the enemy's ADC and/or support with Plasma Fission. I recommend focusing on whichever is easier to kill, or whichever of the two keeps getting within range of your Q and is making it easy for you to land your skill shots.

I recommend using your Q often as you can pretty much indefinitely spam your Q during the laning phase without running out of mana. That said, I also recommend to not use your Q unless you think there is a good chance of it landing (don't be afraid to hold it until you have a good shot). Also, try not to use your Void Rift (W) & Tectonic Disruption (E) (unless you have a good chance of landing your E, like after you've just landed your Q) as you will run out of mana very quickly if you use them in addition to your Q spamming.

Save your pop-up until you've landed a Q so that you can be pretty sure you'll be able to land it (often times you're too far away to follow-up with E, after landing Q). Otherwise, save your pop-up so that you can save yourself or your ADC if the enemy tries to engage a fight onto you (especially during a gank). Hold your pop-up as long as you can until you're damn sure you'll be able to land it (like right after/as someone uses their gap closer to get on top of you). Landing or missing your pop-up is often the difference between life and death of you &/or your ADC.

Another good time to try for a pop-up is to wait until the enemy ADC goes to last hit a minion, especially a cannon minion, as they will almost certainty try to last hit the cannon minion, which makes predicting their movements and landing your pop-up much easier. This is one of the most guaranteed ways to get kills in lane, be sure to try to use and abuse this strategy (landing abilities/CC when the enemy goes for last hits) to win your lane. When Vel'Koz lands his pop-up his combo will disintegrate the enemy. (You can also abuse the support if they have targons, take note of when the support has stacks of targons and is going for a last hit)

The last tip I have for landing your pop-up is that you can use your Plasma Fission to force the enemy closer to the minion wave which then gets them in range of your pop-up and combo. When you use Plasma Fission the enemy will often times try to avoid getting hit by moving closer to their minions, which also means closer to you, with this information you can predict their movements and much more consistently land your pop-up. Try it out and set up way more bot lane kills for you and your ADC!

Vel'Koz has pretty low kill potential (if they have full HP) until level 6 and get Life Form Disintegration Ray, but once you get level 6 (if you have enough mana) you should instantly be looking to all-in the enemy laners with your ADC. Be sure to type &/or ping so that your ADC knows you are level 6 and intend to engage the enemy in a fight. Your first ult is usually a guaranteed flash burn or kill of one of their laners, and since your cooldown for your ult at lvl 6 should be around 1.5 minutes, and flash's cooldown is 5 minutes, you should be able to kill that player when your ult comes back up.

Warding: Make sure you always have vision of Tri-Bush if you're blue side (blue side is the team that spawns on the bottom side of the map), or vision of the river bush if you're red side (red side is the team that spawns on the top side of the map).
Ping your ADC to ward river bush if you are out of wards. Always get at least 1 control ward on your first back and every time you back after that.

So in summary, early game for Vel'Koz support is about poking the enemy laners low, looking for opportunities to set up plays with your pop-up (usually based around the enemy last hitting), keeping good vision to avoid ganks, and then looking for kills once you and your ADC get level 6.

Keep spamming Q and doing tons of damage from a distance to the enemy team. It's very important that you stay as far back as possible as you are very squishy and easy to kill, but if you're able to stay alive you will probably out damage everyone in the game, as a support!

Get your team good vision with your Frostfang, and clear out the enemy's wards (I highly recommend you always use Q to clear bushes before you ward or face check the bush, with Arcane Comet you will almost always know if the enemy is trying to bush gank you)(you can also look to see if you get 11/22 gold when you Q check a bush, as you will get gold if you land an ability, even if you don't have vision of them). Additionally, your knock-up will give you vision wherever you use it, this is very helpful to destroy the enemy's blasting cones over walls, or to give you vision of the baron/dragon area if you don't have any wards.

You should always have a control ward up somewhere on the map. Also, Vel'Koz is incredibly good at getting solo kills if he can full combo an unsuspecting target (even if they're a tank & not too fed). A tactic you can use to get a pick is to use your sweeper to clear a brush, place a ward over a wall, and wait for a champion to come along and fall into your trap. Watch my montage video for examples of this. (You can even place a Control Ward out in the open which will often bait the enemy into clearing it which gives you a great opportunity to land your full combo on them)

Always be looking to get wards into good positions in the enemy's jungle so that your team can more effectively take towers. If you know their top laner is rotating to mid because of a ward you placed in top side jungle your team will have the time it needs to fall back, and thus not die when trying to push and take turrets.

Siege towers with your team and poke out the enemy as they hopelessly try to defend without taking tons of poke damage. Don't be afraid to use your ult to force back enemies so that your teammates can take the turret, not getting the kill is fine as long as your team is able to get the turret. In the mid-game your ult's cooldown will be around 1 minute, use liberally. (Also, don't be afraid to use your ult on Dragon to secure the Dragon kill, or on the enemy to scare them away from your team as they are getting the Dragon)

Be wary of assassins now that you are roaming around the map, they will be eyeing you (no pun intended) like a snack.

Vel'Koz's mid-game and late game objective are very similar, except that you now do even more damage & will be in bigger 4v4 & 5v5 fights (Vel'Koz is an exceptionally great late game champion because of the insane damage he puts out, especially with Gathering Storm). Your main concern is not getting deleted by assassins, or getting caught out. You do tons of damage, but if you're dead you won't be. Always be spamming brush with your Q before warding or face checking bushes.

It's very easy to get caught/flanked by an assassin once a big team fight starts and pulls all of your attention, so try to always keep an eye on your mini-map and play very very safe if you don't see the champions that can dive and 100-0 you in .32 seconds (Rengar/Evelyn/Talon/etc).

Don't be afraid to ult Baron/Dragon as your ult will have a very low cooldown at this point, and does tons of damage. Make sure you apply 3 stacks of your passive before using your ult on Baron/Dragon, as this will cause your entire ult to do true damage! Also, Vel'Koz is quite good at stealing Baron/Dragons, from a safe distance, due to his very long ult range, so don't be afraid to go for a steal when you can, you'll have your ult back in ~45 seconds.

Stick with your team as they push turrets, continue to poke down the enemy with your Plasma Fission, at this point your Q's will be doing 25-50% of the HP of their squishy champions (if you're somewhat fed), but do be wary of them trying to dive you!

Stay safe, do tons of poke damage as your team sieges, take the objectives (Barons/Dragons/Towers/Inhibs), and win.

*As the enemy ADC is trying to last hit, shoot off a Q at an angle. This will usually cause the enemy ADC to run closer to his minions in order to avoid being hit by your Q (which puts him in closer range to you). As he runs closer to his minions instantly throw down your E + W combo for a ton of damage. If you have level 6 then this is often a good time to use your ult and go for a kill or burn his flash.

*Your E grants vision in bushes and over walls so you can use it to check bushes before entering them, or hit blasting cones/vision orbs.

*Your ult does the same damage, even if you hit multiple targets, so try to hit more than one person with it when you can. This is why it's so powerful in team fights.

*Use your W against enemy's that are chasing you, either to discourage them from chasing you, or to do damage and get stacks of your passive. Your W has no casting animation, which means you won't slow down when you use the ability, so there's no reason not to use it when you are running away from someone. Often times people will angle away from your W to not take damage, which allows you or your ADC to get a bit farther away and get to safety.

*If an enemy uses Zhonya's, and you get the timing correctly, you can cast a Q and re-active it right as their Zhonya's wears off. This allows you secure a kill from very far away, and makes it practically impossible for them to dodge it.

*You can shoot Q's into/over the terrain and make it very hard for the enemy to dodge them.

That's it! Thanks for reading guys!

Don't forget to hit that like button at the top of the page if you learned some useful information here :)

Try out Vel'Koz support for yourselves, he truly is a gem, and a great champion to carry your team with, as a support!

If you have any additional questions, or want to see me play live, come join us on the stream.

That's it guys, peace!