League of Legends champion profile: Viktor, the Machine Herald

Ability Description

"Passive (Glorious Evolution) – Viktor starts each game with an exclusive Prototype Hex Core, which permanently occupies one of his item slots. For some additional gold, Viktor can upgrade his Hex Core to increase its bonuses and grant him one Evolution point, which he can use to augment one of his basic abilities. Once he augments all of his basic abilities, Viktor automatically augments his ultimate ability, Chaos Storm Chaos Storm."

A very unique passive that gives Viktor one free item in his inventory that cannot be sold or replaced, only upgraded. When buying an upgrade, each of his basic abilities will gain a new effect, empowering them.

Each upgrade also grants Viktor some extra AP and mana, so it’s not merely that upgrading them upgrades your kit. You at least get some stats for the purchase.

A strategic choice, therefore, faces every Viktor player, whether to upgrade the Hex Core or buy his AP items. Generally, though, you want to upgrade the passive item as soon as you can, as the improved abilities can be a massive improvement.

"Q (Siphon Power) – Viktor shields himself and deals magic damage to the target enemy. He also modifies his next basic attack within 3.5 seconds to deal magic damage. AUGMENT – TURBOCHARGE: Viktor instantly gains % bonus movement speed for 2.5 seconds after using Siphon Power, while also increasing the shield’s value by 60%, up to 12.8% of his maximum mana."

Siphon Power is Viktor’s best ability for trading, as it gives him not only a damage nuke, but also an empowered auto-attack. The shield is most critical in helping Viktor trade, as he can do all this bonus damage without taking any in retaliation.

As for the upgraded ability, Viktor will get bonus movement speed on casting his Q and the shield will be much stronger. This is why top lane Viktor tends to max Q first, as the bonus movement speed and survivability tends to be much more important in a long lane.

"W (Gravity Field) – Viktor deploys a gravitational imprisonment device at the target location which arms after a brief delay. For 4 seconds, the trap slows all enemies that pass through its field, persisting for 0.25 seconds after leaving. Whilst under the trap’s effects, enemies generate a stack every 0.5 seconds. At 3 stacks, enemies are knocked down and stunned for 1.5 seconds. AUGMENT – IMPLOSION: Units stunned by Gravity Field are dragged into the center.."

The only real form of hard cc in Viktor’s kit, this is not only a good way to lock up enemies but also to control a zone. The only problem with the Gravity Field is that it takes a fair bit of time to arm, enemies can walk off of it before they’re stunned, and it is a target ability. Because it’s so easy to use incorrectly, make sure that you are judicious with where you place it, trying to cut off key choke points.

The upgrade to the Gravity Field, though, is far less impactful than the others, which is why most Viktor’s upgrade it last. Having a bit of extra zoning and crowd control is nice, but it’s not really too much of an “upgrade.”

"E (Death Ray) – Viktor uses his synthetic arm to fire an energy beam down the target path, dealing magic damage to every enemy it hits. The arm can fire in any direction from any point within range, and does not interrupt Viktor’s previous orders. AUGMENT – AFTERSHOCK: An explosion follows Death Ray’s wake after 1 second, dealing additional magic damage."

This is Viktor’s primary form of waveclear, a line skill shot with a ton of AP scaling. In team fights, you’ll want to use this to zone and cut the enemy’s ranks in half. This ability to stop sieges is what keeps Viktor viable in mid lane and it’s generally maxed first.

The upgrade doesn’t add any unique aspect to the ability, it just does extra damage in that same area. It’s not exciting, but that extra damage to clear waves or in team fights will definitely be noticeable.

"R (Chaos Storm) – Viktor conjures an arcane singularity at the target location, dealing magic damage to every enemy it hits and interrupting channeled abilities. The singularity remains active for 6.5 seconds afterwards, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies every 2 seconds. After the initial cast, Viktor can direct the singularity to a target location. Once the singularity damages an enemy champion, it automatically follows them until the target dies or escapes it. The singularity moves faster depending on its proximity to Viktor. AUGMENT – VELOCITY: Chaos Storm moves 20% faster."

Viktor’s big team fight ability, this is an AoE damage over time ability that can easily damage two or three enemies at a time. Unlike the Gravity Field, Viktor can move the Chaos Storm after he casts it to chase down and damage fleeing or engaging enemies (just recast the ability in a different target location).

The upgrade is nice, but there is no ability to prioritize it over any of the others since you’ll only get it once you have the other abilities upgraded. Still, it’s generally a good idea to finish off all the upgrades just because slot efficiency will take precedence.

Types of Scaling

Passive – level
Q – AP and AD (on empowered auto only)
W – ability’s rank
E – AP
R – AP

Crowd control

Slow, then stun (if hits), then pullback (once upgraded) on his W