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Hello, I am Rudolph and welcome to my guide! I reached diamond last season and promptly reached diamond again this season, playing Vel'Koz quite a bit. The Eye of the Void is a really interesting and extremely powerful champion. He excels at poke and can deal massive amounts of damage, turning the tide of the battle if managing to land all of his abilities. Important to remember that this isn't necessarily how you have to play Vel'Koz, but this is how I play him and have found much success.

This guide has been updated to contain both a mid lane build as well as a support build.

As always, in this guide I will cover as much as I can, but if I miss something or if you would like to see something added just let me know. I will move on to the guide now, but remember; any form of criticism is welcome and encouraged. I hope you find it helpful!

Pros + Organic Deconstruction rewards players for landing abilities in succession. + Has really strong poking ability. + Has a fairly strong farming ability with Void Rift and Tectonic Disruption. + Scales well into late game. + High potential burst with Organic Deconstruction. + Decent AP ratios on all abilities. + Can kite fairly well if abilities are landed. + Life Form Disintegration Ray, enough said.

Cons - Fairly immobile. - Vulnerable to gap closers. - Long cooldowns. - Life Form Disintegration Ray is a channelled ability, which means it can be interrupted. - Lacks hard CC, excluding his Tectonic Disruption - All of Vel'Koz's abilities are skill shots, making passive more difficult to activate. - Is a high priority target, and will likely get focussed down quickly.

_	(Passive) Organic Deconstruction

Vel'koz's passive causes enemies hit by his abilities to gain a stack of Organic Deconstruction for 7 seconds.. Upon reaching 3 stacks they detonate - dealing additional true damage equal to 25 + (10 x Vel'koz's level). Landing basic attacks onto the target will reset the duration.

_	(Q) Plasma Fission Cooldown: 7 seconds Slow Duration: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2

Vel'koz's Q is a low mana cost, long range poke. Fires a bolt of plasma that when it reaches its maximum range, splits off into two separate bolts that shoot out perpendicular to the original. Plasma Fission can be activated again to preemptively split it at its current location. Enemies hit are slowed by 70%, and the duration scales with skill rank.

_	(W) Void Rift Cooldown: 1.5 seconds Recharge Time: 19/18/17/16/15

Vel'koz's W deals aoe damage in a line, and after 0.25 seconds detonates - dealing another wave of damage to all enemies standing on it. This ability is able to add two stacks of Organic Deconstruction, assuming enemies are hit by both waves of damage.

_	(E) Tectonic Disruption Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12 seconds

Vel'koz's E is a medium range knock up that lasts for .75 seconds. Enemies close to Vel'Koz at time of impact are slightly knocked back. It has the shortest range and a longer cooldown, but is also the only hard CC available. Strong for both engage or peel.

_	(R) Life Form Disintegration Ray Cooldown: 130/110/90 seconds

Vel'koz's R is a long range, high damaging laser than lasts for a duration of 2.5 seconds. Enemies hit by the beam are slowed by 20% for 1 second and can have up to a total of 5 stacks of Organic Deconstruction applied to them during this time. The major downside to this ability is that while channeling, you are rooted in place - becoming vulnerable.

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Marks

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration is by far the most important mark you could use on Vel'Koz. With 9 of them, it gives you a total of +7.8 flat magic penetration. This increases your early game damage by a good amount and it carries over into late game.
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Seals

Greater Seal of Armor is a strong option. Vel'Koz is already extremely fragile, and these allow you to take a few more hits while in lane, increasing survivability. Also helps a lot against AD mid champions such as Yasuo or Jayce. These have more of an impact than the mana regen seals in the late game.

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration is a viable option for aggressive play. Between these runes and an early Chalice of Harmony, you shouldn't have any mana troubles at all. Vel'Koz is already slightly mana starved, so I feel these have a decent impact and help you in the early levels of the game. The one problem I have with these is that I don't feel they have much impact late game.

Greater Seal of Scaling Health are the strongest seals for late game. They give +216 hitpoints at level 18, which is a fair bit more health than a free Ruby Crystal. This can come in handy on Vel'Koz because of how fragile he is. Though against AD I feel like armor seals would be ideal, these runes would be more effective against mixed damage.

Greater Seal of Magic Resist is a possible choice if you don't feel comfortable starting without MR. However I don't recommend it as much, because getting an early Chalice of Harmony gives a good amount of MR already.IIII

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power is what I recommend because Vel'Koz is a champ that is based off of Ability Power. While the flat AP glyphs might seem better at first glance, these scaling ability power runes start to outclass the others at level 7.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power is something that wouldn't recommend. As I said, while it may give you more ability power initially, the scaling ability power runes become stronger at level 7. These runes would be acceptable if you want to gamble for an early lead and try to snowball.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist is a possible choice if you don't feel comfortable without starting with MR. However I don't recommend it as much, because getting an early Chalice of Harmony gives a good amount of MR already.

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power is what I prefer and highly recommend. These 3 runes alone give you a whopping +15 extra AP, equivalent to a Doran's Ring. This gives your early game damage a huge boost.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed is a viable option. All together they bring +4.5% more movement speed to the table. Combined with masteries, that adds up to 6% bonus movement speed. Mobility being one of Vel'Koz's biggest weaknesses, these runes can really help compensate.

Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration is yet another viable choice, since Vel'Koz has high base damage on his abilities. I personally feel that while these are a viable choice, stacking ability power is more efficient, especially at early levels.

I've found that ranking up W( Void Rift) first is usually best, as it allows Vel'Koz to push the lane effectively while increasing the damage on both instances. Not to mention it decreases the cooldown rate of the charges, allowing better harass and able to pull off a combo more often. If hit by both instances of damage, Void Rift applies 2 stacks of Vel'Koz's passive Organic Deconstruction. Therefore, its best to either his Q( Plasma Fission) or E( Tectonic Disruption) before or afterwards activates Organic Deconstruction. This can potentially cause devastating damage to the enemy champions.

Maxing out Plasma Fission second is ideal because really strong poke because of its low mana cost as well as its high damage output. It has a decent cooldown time that becomes incredibly short once some cooldown reduction is added. Another perk to Plasma Fission is that it is also able to be projected around minions if aimed properly. Choosing to increase the rank of this ability increases the duration of the slow up to 2 seconds, increasing kiting ability and making it easier for Void Rift to land both instances of damage. I choose to max out Tectonic Disruption last because the only difference between levels is a minor increase in damage and reduction in cooldown.

Naturally, any time you are able to put a point into your R( Life Form Disintegration Ray), you should. Over the full duration it can apply 5 stacks of Organic Deconstruction. Knocking them up with Tectonic Disruption and then using Life Form Disintegration Ray is enough to activate Organic Deconstruction twice, causing devastating damage.

Recommended Summoner Spells

This is your get out of jail free card. If you get caught out of position this spell can teleport you instantly to safety, or you can use it aggressively if you so choose.

Teleport mid is pretty common these days. It gives potential to gank other lanes, or teleport back to lane if you had to recall. Very easy to come out even (or ahead) in lane with this summoner spell.

Can add extra damage to Vel'Koz's burst to help secure kills. Due to the short range however, it may put you at risk if you try to use it. Early kills can lead Vel'Koz to snowball, and ignite can assist with that.

Unlike Barrier, gives permanent health and a strong temporary speed boost. This can help get you out of sticky situations, especially if paired with Flash. Outscales Barrier late game.IIII

Viable Summoner Spells

I think this summoner spell is really effective on Vel'Koz, since he's a huge target in a teamfight and its fairly easy for him to get caught. Due to the frailty of Vel'Koz, I feel that it is relatively easy to bait enemy champions using this spell.

I feel like Clarity is a good spell for people new to league. Its easy to run out of mana quickly, and it may take time to adapt. Experienced Vel'Koz players may want to take a different spell.

This is a shorter cooldown than Flash and gives increased mobility for a decently long period, which is one of Vel'Koz's biggest weaknesses.

Exhaust in my experience can be effective against AD midlanes such as Yasuo or Zed. It greatly reduces attack speed, damage, and movement speed. This spell becomes extremely strong late game.IIII

Not So Viable Summoner Spells

I personally don't feel revive is a strong pick in most cases. If you did revive, there still isn't much you can do unless you have a global ult such as Karthus.

I think Barrier would be a better option than Cleanse, because barrier tends to give a good amount of - although temporary - health.

I would just recommend Farsight Orb.

I don't feel Vel'Koz is an ideal jungler. A lot of aoe, but really long cooldowns and little ganking potential.

Core Items

give an extra +15 magic penetration. This combined with your magic penetration marks gives you a total of +22.8 magic penetration. In my experience, most mid champions don't run magic resist runes, so they will usually have between 30-40 magic resist. If that is the case then with these boots you will be ignoring more than half of it.

is, in my opinion, a core item on Vel'Koz. It has everything that he needs. A high amount of ability power for more damage and faster wave clear, and massive amounts of mana regeneration, and isn't too expensive. Not to mention the 20% cooldown reduction, which allows you to kite more easily and (hopefully) activate Organic Deconstruction more often.

is, in my opinion, a core item on Vel'Koz. Since he has high base damage, especially on his ultimate, the magic penetration comes in extremely useful. Vel'Koz also has a lot of poke, making it easy to take advantage of the unique passive that burns % of current health. This passive alone greatly increases poke potential, and combined with the other stats makes it invaluable.

is, in my opinion, a core item on Vel'Koz. It makes it extremely easier to kite the enemy, as well as landing any of his combos. It becomes harder for the enemy to escape from Life Form Disintegration Ray and/or the second instance of Void Rift. If a Liandry's Torment is purchased as well, it will burn for double damage on all of the abilities.IIII

Offensive Options

is the ultimate AP item. It straight up gives 120 ability power, and its unique passive increases your total ability power by 30%. Even though Vel'Koz doesn't have amazing ap ratios, I still highly recommend this item.

Brings a lot to the table. It gives you 10% movement speed, which helps negate one of Vel'Koz's biggest weaknesses (mobility) as well as offering 100 ability power. In addition to this, it also has a unique passive acting very much like an ability power based Statikk Shiv, as it charges up as you move/cast spells and at 100 stacks it increases your burst a decent amount. Increases poke potential.

is an excellent item on Vel'Koz because of his high base damage on his abilities, especially his ultimate. Life Form Disintegration Ray has a whopping 500 damage at rank 1. Void Staff gives +35% magic penetration, meaning you ignore 35% of the targets magic resist. If you combine this item with Liandry's Torment and Sorcerer's Shoes, you'll be nearly doing true damage with all of your skills regardless.

is a risky item on every champion, but especially Vel'Koz. His lack of mobility makes it easier to get caught. However, if you want to take the risk to take your lead even further, Mejai's Soulstealer is a good choice. Not only does it give the most ability power in the game but it gives 15% cooldown reduction as well at 20 stacks. Once again, this is a risky item and I only recommend if you feel confident in your survivability.IIII

Defensive Options

is a viable option if you want both magic resist and ability power. While it gives both of these things, it wouldn't be my first choice for a defensive item on Vel'Koz simply because he is a long distance mage. A lot of the gold spent on Abyssal Mask is due to its unique passive, which Vel'Koz wouldn't get to take advantage of because of this.

adds a bit more utility to Vel'Koz and is a completely viable option. It has a high amount of ap and gives a decent amount of cooldown reduction, but the active can be pretty handy to either catch enemies out of position or to slow them while trying to retreat. Not to mention the increased movement speed that it gives adds a lot of mobility, helping to negate one of Vel'Koz's greatest weaknesses.

can be a valid replacement for Morellonomicon if the situation calls for playing more defensive. This item gives slightly less ap, but more mana regen and some magic resist which comes in handy. This item is strong on Vel'Koz because of the amount of mana regen and the cooldown reduction.

is an amazing defensive item, especially against a heavy AD team. It gives high stats for both armor and ability power, as well as an amazing active ability, which can make Vel'Koz invulnerable for 2.5 seconds. This can be used defensively, or offensively, similar to Barrier.

offers a lot of survivability. A good amount of health and magic resist which can help against bursty mages. The real important part about Banshee's Veil is the spell shield. While Life Form Disintegration Ray can be interrupted, Banshee's Veil spell shield can prevent the first displacement ability - prolonging it. Every 25 seconds without taking enemy damage will revive the spell shield.

gives you a second life and adds a lot of armor/magic resist, greatly increasing durability.

Vel'koz Works Well With

Vel'Koz is really strong with other champions that have potential to crowd control the enemy.
This is due to the fact that all of his abilities are skillshots as well as aoe, it makes it a lot easier to land them if the enemy is impaired. Some examples of this would be:

Vel'koz Is Strong Against

has a fairly hard time farming under tower. Pushing the lane with Void Rift and keeping side bushes warded would be ideal to help deny a lot of farm safely. After level 6, Anivia will be able to push the lane just as hard with Glacial Storm. As Anivia is a really slow/immobile champion, it is relatively easy to land abilities on her. If she ever attempts to use Frostbite then she leaves herself open for Tectonic Disruption. While Anivia has potential to interrupt your ultimate with her Flash Frost, you simply outrange her. She is extremely vulnerable while an egg and you could likely kill her.

like Anivia, has a really hard time farming under tower. Pushing the lane and keeping it warded will help deny a lot of farm and grant you the lead. Rune Prison is just a snare, meaning he has no way interrupt your ultimate. His short range also makes him vulnerable in a fight, but be warned - his ultimate Desperate Power gives 80 movement speed. Against an experienced player it can be harder to land abilities with that speed boost.

is becoming quite popular lately and is a fairly strong champion. She has equal, if not slightly stronger wave clear than Vel'Koz, and Black Shield which causes her to be immune to CC and shields a set amount of magic damage. Organic Deconstruction, however, is true damage. This as well as the fact that Vel'Koz severely outranges Morgana's only interrupting ability - Soul Shackles.

has most of his strength come from his ultimate, Destiny. What a good Twisted Fate wants to do is push his lane, and then use Destiny to gank another one. With Void Rift you can push much harder than he can, threatening the tower if he leaves lane. You also straight up do more damage if you fight, and it could be difficult for him to interrupt Life Form Disintegration Ray due to his short range.

is a monster late game, but in lane phase you should have a good time. Swain has low movement speed and far less burst. Landing a Tectonic Disruption --> Void Rift to burst him down early shouldn't be hard. Vel'Koz also has a massive range advantage since Swain has fairly short range on most abilities. The only thing that you must be careful about is Nevermove, because it has long range and Vel'Koz's lack of mobility makes him extremely susceptible to the snare.

Vel'koz Is Weak Against

is possibly the strongest counter in the game to Vel'Koz. A well placed Wind Wall has potential to block all of your abilities, thankfully excluding Life Form Disintegration Ray. Not to mention he amount of mobility that Sweeping Blade gives can make it hard to land abilities, as well as being used as a strong gap closer. Rushing a Seeker's Armguard and going for an early Zhonya's Hourglass isn't a bad idea.

is a really scary champion in laning phase. Taking Barrier isn't a bad idea because it can negate some of her Mimic burst. I recommend keeping the lane pushed so she can't get too much farm, and keeping wards up so you wont get ganked. Chalice of Harmony is an excellent item to rush, because it gives some magic resist and some mana regen to help push the lane.

is really strong against most mage champions due to his extremely high burst and damage amplifying gap closer. I like to save my Tectonic Disruption for after he uses Cutthroat, that way it gives me time to retreat while I lay down Void Rift. An early Seeker's Armguard would be ideal.

can be really annoying to deal with as Vel'Koz. He has Playful / Trickster which allows him to avoid anything you throw at him. Urchin Strike is a strong gap closer, which is extremely effective against Vel'Koz. After level 6, Chum the Waters can interrupt your ultimate, so use it sparingly. As usual, rushing a Chalice of Harmony would be ideal. Play safe.

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Once Plasma Fission reaches the end of its range or hits a target, it detonates - shooting at a 90 degree angle left and right. Activating the ability again mid air can also detonate it. This mechanic actually increases the range of Plasma Fission if you shoot it just right. This unique skill show allows you to hit enemies even if they're behind minions, like so.IIII
This is Vel'Koz's main damage combo. Tectonic Disruption to knock the enemy up, and then Void Rift while they're knocked up. This causes them to take both instances of damage, and does bonus true damage due to Organic Deconstruction. If you manage to land a Plasma Fission first, then it becomes much easier to land Tectonic Disruption.IIII
Life Form Disintegration Ray is an extremely powerful ability that can apply up to 5 stacks of Organic Deconstruction. This means, if you hit the enemy with an ability right before it, or shortly after it, you are able to do bonus true damage twice. In order to guarantee this, I find that knocking them up first with Tectonic Disruption and then following up with Life Form Disintegration Ray does the trick. Bonus points if you can land Plasma Fission and Void Rift for a third instance of true damage.

In my opinion, Vel'Koz is fairly easy to last hit with due to his fast auto-attack animation. Farming under tower can be difficult, so freezing the lane or keeping it pushed would be ideal. If pushing the lane is your goal, using a charge (or two if early game) of Void Rift should clear all minions in its path. Later in the game, only one charge should be required to take out an entire wave.

This guide will always be updated, and I will continue to add more. If you learned something - anything, then I feel I did my job. Like I said in my introduction, any form of criticism is welcome and encouraged. Thank you for reading! Leave a comment and lemme know what you think!IIII