Veigar Build Guide by XXStone

Introduction

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Hey Mobafire, I'm a veteran Veigar player and I've decided to share my build for him as a guide. When I first started playing League of Legends, I knew I wanted to be a glass cannon player. Veigar's stats are what brought me into him - maximum Ability Power with minimum defense and offense. He was the first champion I had gotten, and I've been playing him ever since.

But sometimes, glass cannon isn't enough. After trying a few of the build guides here (such as Veigar, the Tiny Master of HOLYGODSOMUCHBURST by FreeStyleKneePad) I realized that I would always be put as #1 on the enemy's hit list. Every time a teamfight came along, it was stun/silence, then insta-death for poor Veigar. What if you could have that nuking power, and still have to have the entire enemy team to focus you before you die? This is where the legendary top-tier uber-fed pentakill TANKGAR comes in.

Pros / Cons

Pros +Massive damage +Good against AP-stackers +Takes a while to kill +Farming your Baleful Strike gives you more AP +Champion kills gives you more AP

SPACE

Cons +Squishy early game +Useless until level 3 +Weak against Madred's Bloodrazor +Magic Resistance shuts him down +He's too strong, expect nerfs

Rune and Mastery Discussion

These are really up to your personal preference. But I'll give suggestions of which I would pick. I'm not gonna say "GO ALL DEFENSIVE STUFFS" because Veigar still needs to do damage.

Runes

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - In my opinion, the only Marks worth getting on Veigar. Lets him bypass some Magic Resistance.
Greater Mark of Ability Power - A little AP is always nice. However, this is very little and would only help in the beginning.
Greater Mark of Health - 9 of these adds up to 31 extra health. Again, only helpful in the beginning.


Greater Seal of Armor - I take these runes because I feel that Veigar has more trouble against AD characters. Personal preference.
Greater Seal of Health - 9 of these makes 48 extra health. Nothing to scoff at in early game.
Greater Seal of Vitality - Adds 175 to your endgame health. Better than the above option, but meh.
Greater Seal of Replenishment - I wouldn't take it unless you're having mana problems. Veigar has no problem with mana regeneration thanks to his passive, Equilibrium.
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Almost nothing in early game. Not as viable as the above option.
Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power - Same as the Greater Mark of Ability Power.
Greater Seal of Mana - Don't even give enough mana to be able to use Baleful Strike. I would take Clarity or Expanded Mind over wasting rune spots.
Greater Seal of Gold - No. just no.


Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction - Helps with spamming Baleful Strike to farm AP. It could save your life.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - 9 of these adds 27 to your endgame AP - or 9 extra at level 6. Preferable over Greater Glyph of Ability Power.
Greater Seal of Mana - Definitely would help early game.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - You are an anti-mage. Taking these could seriously demoralize your enemy casters.


Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - I love these. 15 extra AP helps you secure last-hits with Baleful Strike and poke enemy champions.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - Hey, the movement speed bonus is useful in all situations.
Greater Quintessence of Mana - 3 of these adds 113 to your mana pool. Could be useful actually.
Greater Quintessence of Health - 78 health is nice early game, but the 15 AP is probably more beneficial for you. You need that early damage.
Greater Quintessence of Cooldown Reduction - At only 1.64% reduction, take Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction over these.
Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp - Let's say that you have 3 of these, and Transmutation maxed out for 9% spell vamp. Even if you do 2000 damage with a nuke from all of your abilites, that only gets you 180 health back. Not viable on Tankgar.
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration - 2.18 Magic Penetration isn't worth wasting a Quint.
Greater Quintessence of Knowledge - You need mana early game, the situation's not bad late. Waste of a rune for Veigar.
Greater Quintessence of Gold - You don't need this, trust me.

Masteries

I go 9/0/21 for the 10% Magic Penetration and utility bonuses. 21/0/9 is viable for the additional damage. I wouldn't put points in Defensive masteries on Veigar.

Skills

Equilibrium - Veigar's passive ability. It increases your current mana regeneration by 0.75% for every 1% that you are missing. For example, if you have 10 mana regeneration/5 seconds and have 0 mana, this passive would give you 17.5 mana regen/5. It doesn't completely solve Veigar's mana problems (well, late-game it does) but it seriously helps. Not a bad passive.

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Baleful Strike - This is your Q ability. With 3 Greater Quintessence of Ability Power, points in Mental Force , and a Doran's Ring, it does 100 damage at level 1. At level 1 though, you're not going to be using it to hurt enemy champions. But if you are, you're either wasting your mana or in an early teamfight. You need to save your mana for this ability's strong point: killing minions.

Baleful Strike is Veigar's power-up in the game. Every time you kill a minion with Baleful Strike, you gain 1 AP. Kill 100 minions with this? You've just gotten 100 extra AP.

Also, it gives you AP whenever you kill a champion, equal to the skill level. For example, if you have 2 points in Baleful Strike and kill Kennen with Dark Matter or something, you gain 2 AP. 3 if you killed him with Baleful Strike.

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Dark Matter - This is the bane of minions. Huge damage and an area effect. What's that? 40 minions are attacking your turret? Well, drop these for the 1,000 gold you're about to get.

This is a major part of your combo when nuking enemy champions. It's downside, however, is that it acts similar to Kog'Maw's Living Artillery. It's extremely obvious when you're using this, and only stupid people are going to walk into it. Use Event Horizon before trying to hit someone with Dark Matter.

It also sucks up mana like crazy.

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Event Horizon - This is Veigar's one and only defensive ability - you drop this massive ring on the ground with E, and anyone that walks into its edges will be stunned. You can use it to trap people in the center, save a teammate that's running away, lock someone in a turret, set someone up for your Dark Matter, etc.

This ability has the potential to stun the entire enemy team, and can make or break team fights. Everyone gets mad at you if you miss... so practice with this ability a lot. And 2.5 seconds makes it almost as unfair as Malzahar's ultimate.

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Primordial Burst - The mage-killer. If it weren't for this ability, you couldn't call Veigar an anti-mage. If you are fed, you can kill someone with this ability alone. It's so overpowered it's hilarious. (Also, I'm pretty sure this is the name of a monster truck.)

Let's say that you have 500 AP - not too hard to get when you're farming your Baleful Strike. You have 3 points in Primordial Burst, and you're using on a Lux that has 400 AP and 40% magic resistance.

Since Primordial Burst does 500 damage + 120% of your AP + 80% of their AP, let's do a little calculating.

(500+500x1.2+400x0.8) x 60% = 852 damage after resistances!!!

Obviously that's not enough to one-shot Lux, but if you're super-fed and have over 1000 AP, then it could happen.

The point is: every time you use this, someone should die.

Items

Core Items:

You should get these items every game.

Deathfire Grasp - I love this item. Since it was reworked recently, it adds even more damage to Veigar's combo. The 15% CDR is nice, and if you have 500 AP this does 45% of their health in magic damage to the target. Deathfire Grasp is basically Madred's Bloodrazor for mages.

Sorcerer's Shoes - I used to take Ionian Boots of Lucidity on Veigar, before i knew any better. 20 Magic Penetration is a big deal, especially early on. I have enough CDR from Deathfire Grasp, Sorcery , Intelligence and my Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction.

Rabadon's Deathcap - What's that? A massive amount of AP? That's perfect for Veigar, and really any AP character. Even Soraka.

Before I went Tankgar, I would follow up these items with an Archangel's Staff, a Rod of Ages, and a Void Staff for maximized damage output. Sometimes I would even replace the Void Staff with an Abyssal Mask. But unless you're the king of dodging CC, you're going to get killed - fast.

My new build adds these items to my list.

Rod of Ages - This is an all-around good item. A bunch of HP, mana, and a decent amount of AP. There's a reason why I've always built it on Veigar.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - Normally I wouldn't get this item, I would get another Rod of Ages to procure more AP from Archangel's Staff's passive. But this is Tankgar. We're going for good damage with great survivability. The 500 health is massive, and the 80 AP helps too. I never seem to notice the slow though. Maybe it's because they die too fast?

Warmog's Armor - This gives you more HP than any other item in the game. Do you know how demoralizing it is to see a 4000 HP Veigar nuke two of your champions at the same time? This is the overkill. A fully-stacked Leviathan would probably be more beneficial, but similar to the Mejai's Soulstealer effect, it magically makes everyone target you.

So the full build is

but you can substitute Warmog's Armor for a Void Staff or something if you really feel that it's necessary.

Summoner Spells

Exhaust

I always take this on tanks, but Tankgar is not a true tank. There are better options for you, I believe. There may be a time when you wish you had this though.

Ghost

There's an ongoing debate about whether to take this or Flash. I would say Flash, since it gives you better juking opportunities, but it's just my personal preference.

Heal

You are not the AD carry, it's not your job to rush into team fights and deal damage to everyone. You run in, do your combo, then back up. I can see it being used early game, or to bait someone, but I don't use it on Veigar.

Revive

Only viable if you want to take Teleport and Guardian Angel, and are part of a team with Tryndamere, Kayle, Anivia, and Karthus or Zilean.

Smite

I have heard legends about Junglegar, but that's not what you're going for.

Surge

Why is this even an ability? I would only take it on someone like Katarina or Kog'Maw who benefit from both AP and attack speed.

Teleport

Allows you to protect your lane forever. Go back to heal/buy stuff, then just tp back. Can also be used for an instant gank. If no one else on your team is taking this, then go for it.

Cleanse

Meh. I've never cared for this one. I can see its uses, but Flash is better in my opinion.

Clarity

I take this on Veigar in 90% of the games I play as him. There is nothing more satisfying than luring a half-dead Akali out, using this, then instantly stunning and nuking them. Isn't as useful in late game, but gives you a strong start.

Ignite

This is a good summoner spell. I don't take it because I have confidence not to nuke unless I'm sure I can kill, but I have lost a few kills because I haven't had it. Also good against Dr. Mundo and Volibear.

Promote

No no no. You want to use Baleful Strike on minions, not murder them with a siege tank. Better on Heimerdinger for maximum tower pushing.

Clairvoyance

It's nice to have this on the team, but it's not for you.

Flash

Everyone seems to use this, it can save your life. I personally don't use it on Tankgar, but I probably should. I'm just sick of seeing Flash/ Ignite noobs everywhere.

Tactics

You start the game with a Doran's Ring, or Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions, or maybe an Amplifying Tome.

You are going mid lane as Veigar, of course. Unless you're laning with a friend or something.

I'm going to make this very clear: the less your opponent harasses you, the better. You do almost no damage ta level 1, and your main objective early game is to farm your Baleful Strike. Best case scenario is that you're against a Kennen - you stay behind minions, and he's useless. Ahri is also a decent enemy, since she only has skillshots and pushes the lane to your turret.

If you're unlucky and against a Heimerdinger who keeps spamming his Hextech Micro-Rockets, you will probably be unable to attack him because a good Heimerdinger will stay by his H-28G Evolution Turret. Other bad opponents are Ryze because of his abilities not using AP, LeBlanc because she can beat the **** out of anyone, and Kassadin because Veigar can't stop him EVER.

If you are against one of these champions, or someone who you think is better then you, play defensively and only worry about farming your AP. Maybe ask for a gank from your jungler.

The most important ting is to keep building up that Baleful Strike. I usually feel good if I have 50 AP from it at the 10-minute mark, 100 at the 20-minute mark, etc. Later on it will be harder to farm because your teammates will be greedy and try to split farm with you, so do it while you can.

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At level 6 you can start trying to nuke your enemies. Weaken them with Baleful Strike, then unleash this combo on them:

Summary

You start out as the glass-cannon that Veigar is known for, then build him into an unstoppable force. Squishies will run from the sight of TANKGAR, because they know that one Event Horizon and it's all over.

If you try Tankgar, give me a comment on how it works out. I'm interested in seeing if other people will enjoy playing Veigar the way I do.

-XX Stone

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I want to play Tankgar?
Playing Veigar without defensive items leads to him being focused and killed almost instantly. This build gives him a lot of survivability while still being able to nuke.

What if I don't want to play Veigar as a tank?
Then don't.

I don't want to use Warmog's Armor on Veigar. Can I change it to something else?
Go for it. If you have more success with a different set of items, let me know.

What would happen if two Tankgars played against each other?
An unstoppable force would meet an immovable object.

I play Kennen, and I can't ever seem to beat Veigar. What can I do to fix this?
Don't play as Kennen.

Did I enjoy this guide?
I hope so.