This is going to be a basic guide to the newest champion, Vel'Koz. It's not close to being completed, but for anyone who is interested, here are some basics to consider! I hope it helps some!

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Pros

+ Huge poke potential + Long ranged abilities + Low mana cost combos + 3 forms of CC: 2 slows and a knock up + Great kiting/ chasing potential + Passive deals massive true damage + Great in team fights due to area of effect spells

Long ranged abilities combined with low mana costs means it's hard to stay in lane against this champion. You can constantly poke and grind your opponent down and force them to play defensively or base a lot. Either way, that means they lose a ton of gold and experience. His team fight potential is one of the best in the game. Every single one of his abilities has the potential to hit multiple enemies. He has a combination of high damage and good CC which makes him a nightmare come late game. The true damage passive makes it easier to fight off those annoying tanks and bruisers as well.

Cons

- Lack of mobility - Very skill dependent - All skill-shot abilities - Ultimate can be easily interrupted - No built in escapes - Void Rift is very dependent on other abilites - Timing is everything

Unlike a champion such as Ahri or LeBlanc who have amazing mobility, you have to be very careful with Vel'Koz. He does have good CC, but that will not protect you for very long if you have poor positioning. It's important to always keep in mind where you are relative to your team and your enemies. Your positioning also has a huge impact on how useful your skill-shot abilities are. During team fights, it's crucial that you wait until most, if not all, of the enemy CC is on cooldown before attempting to ult. More than likely, someone will be waiting for you to use it so they can interrupt.

Pretty standard rune setup here:




If you're laning against aggressive early game champs such as Ziggs or Cassiopeia, you may want to consider 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist in place of extra ability power.
These champs have very good poke and it may be worth it to have more lane sustain.

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The first thing to consider here is whether or not you want use Runic Affinity or something else to your preference. Personally, I feel that Vel'Koz has enough innate mana regen. If you start with a Doran's Ring and work your way into a Chalice of Harmony, you will have plenty of mana sustain and no need to take blue. This is why I prefer to have a point in Vampirism over the buff extension.

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The second thing to consider is if you want to go the 21-9-0 route. If you are predicting that staying in lane will be a problem, start with this master set-up in combination with the flat magic resist glyphs:

When it comes to Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void, he has plenty of damage and burst. The summoner spells I prefer to run on Vel'Koz are Flash and Barrier.

I prefer barrier mainly because of his ultimate. Life Form Disintegration Ray roots Vel'Koz in place. Because if this, you suddenly become extremely vulnerable. This is where the extra survivability of Barrier comes in.

Ignite is never a bad alternative. It provides a more aggressive play-style and threat in lane. Ultimately, that may be better for some match-ups.

Skilling Order

Organic Deconstruction
After 3 stacks of this passive, the next ability triggers a burst of true damage
This is one of the abilities that separate him most from other mid laners. At level 1, this passive can grant you an extra 35 true damage, which is huge. The damage increases as the game goes on, so scaling is never a problem. This is what makes your combos so lethal and gives you an advantage over most of the competition.

Plasma Fission
Vel'Koz shoots out a skill-shot beam that splits into 2 branches and slows.
To be more specific, it splits into two 90 degree beams upon hitting an enemy or reactivation. This is your main source of poke, chasing, and kiting. You will always max this ability first. With a relatively low mana cost you can use Q to consistently poke your opponent down before the all in. Plasma Fission will be the setup for most of your combos. This ability also serves as an amazing kiting tool. This is possible do to the very low cool down and the fact that multiple enemies can be slowed at once.

Void Rift
Deals initial damage in a line, and after a short delay deals another round of damage.
This is your follow up ability. As it provides no form of crowd control , is a skill shot, and requires some time to deliver it's full damage, you'll want to wait until your opponent is slowed by Plasma Fission or knocked up by Tectonic Disruption before casting this ability. That will give you the best chance of dealing maximum damage. You can store 2 charges, but you have to wait until the first cast is completely finished before casting again. Keep this in mind when calculating your all in potential.

Tectonic Disruption
Cause an area to explode, knocking enemies up and away from Vel'Koz
This is the most important ability when planning an all in. Immediately after knocking up your opponent, you can land other abilities for a proper combo or start to channel Life Form Disintegration Ray for maximum damage. As with Plasma Fission, this also serves as a great kiting tool, but do to it's longer cooldown time and relatively small area of effect, it's not something you should rely on. The cooldown is also the reason you want learn how hit Plasma Fission to start your combos rather than Tectonic Disruption. If you rely your E, your harassing combos will be few and far between, although this is a better setup for your other abilities.

Life Form Disintegration Ray
Roots Vel'Koz in place channeling a beam of energy in the direction of your cursor
This ultimate has great synergy with your passive, Organic Deconstruction. It applies up to 5 stacks and if followed up by another ability you'll be allowed 2 extra bursts of true damage which can be the difference between life and death. It's very important to keep in mind that this ability is channeled and can be interrupted by a lot of things. Always keep note of the enemies team composition and what abilities have the potential to interrupt your ult. It's always best to wait until most, if not all, of the enemies CC abilities have been used.

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Your most consistent all-in combo is going to be this:

Plasma Fission > Void Rift > Tectonic Disruption > Void Rift > Life Form Disintegration Ray

As I stated in the Skill Explanation section, Plasma Fission will be what you use to set up most of your combos. Immediately after, you will use your follow up ability, Void Rift, and then again after Tectonic Disruption. This insures that both casts of Void Rift land the initial and delayed damage. If you are running Ignite, try to use it before you ult, as you will become stationary and your enemy is most likely fleeing in fear. After the channel, it will be difficult to catch up and finish with ignite..

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As for harassing, it can be the all-in combo minus your ultimate:

Plasma Fission > Void Rift > Tectonic Disruption > Void Rift

Depending on the situation, enemy positioning, creep positioning, etc., you may not be able to land your Plasma Fission, in which case you can start with:

Void Rift > Tectonic Disruption > Void Rift

OR simply

Tectonic Disruption followed by your Void Rift

It's important to note that you want to cast these abilities in rapid succession. Since you are beginning the combo with Void Rift you want to land your knock up as quickly as possible to ensure the additional delayed damage.

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If your opponent is low and you want to finish them quickly, use this:

Tectonic Disruption > Void Rift > Life Form Disintegration Ray

Notes:

If you notice your opponent has poor positioning, try to catch them out with Plasma Fission almost every time it's off of cool down. If your opponent has relatively good positioning, hiding behind creeps, etc., start your combos with Tectonic Disruption. Try to recognize as soon as possible which kind of opponent you are facing. It's important to harass and be aggressive, but if you are simply wasting mana, you're only putting yourself in a worse position to be killed or useless when your jungler ganks.

Vel'Koz is generally going to have a tough time against champs with high mobility or can interrupt the ultimate. These champs include:

Ahri
Diana
Fizz
Gragas
Kassadin
LeBlanc
Talon
Yasuo

Champions who you should be strong against include champs with low mobility and/or the inability to easily interrupt your ult:

Akali
Anivia
Heimerdinger
Karthus
Katarina
Lux
Ryze

This list is far from complete, and when I have more experience against more champs, I will update this list to include specific match up information.

Farming with Vel'koz is easy. His auto attack animation is sharp and clean.

If you want to push the wave fast:

Void Rift > Tectonic Disruption > Void Rift in that order is a great wave clearing combo. Make sure you line up as many creeps as possible with your Void Rift and you want to hit the melee creeps (the front line) with Tectonic Disruption. Depending on the position of the creeps, you might be able to hit some of the back line as well.

The most significant trick to mention has to do with his Q, Plasma Fission.

Depending on the angle that you fire, the branching bolts can gain significant distance, and even hit opponents hiding behind minions or other allies as shown here:





Tectonic Disruption can be used to scout over walls, revealing buffs and possible enemy champions. In the picture below, it was just used on crest of the ancient golem aka blue buff:

If you read all, most, or even some of my guide, thank you! And if you learned something, I'm glad I could help! I am up for any suggestions to improve this guide, just leave them in the comment section! Even though it's in the very early stages of development, the sooner I know what to fix the better. Thanks again!

3/4 - Slight changes to the Item's section
3/4 - Team Builder section became available for Vel'Kez - added it.