Viktor, The Machine Herald 1st Impressions

Hey guys I feel kinda dumb for posting the sneak preview only a couple hours before the champion spotlight came out but...a sneak preview is a sneak preview right? :P Anyways, now that the hero is actually out I'm gonna talk about how he actually plays out in a game. Watching the spotlight and reading the article should give you a pretty decent feel for the champion. Is this hero a 6300 Dump? Or is he the up and coming flavor of the month?

Background: So it's 4AM, and was doing some 1v1's against a few friends. I click on the store to see how I can spend my Riot points. Sure enough I notice Viktor in the store. Being as tired as I was, I just bought him without even watching the Summoner Spotlight like a boss. Let me warn you that this 1st impressions will be done in a very blunt and unprofessional manner.

With that being said, wow what a terrible investment. If hero purchases came with receipts, I'd return the shit out of this guy.

Skill Coverage: 

• Power Transfer: Viktor blasts an enemy unit for magic damage, returning 40% of the damage dealt before reduction as a shield for 3 seconds.

So on paper this skill sounds great right? Deals damage and I get a shield? Awesome. Nope! Turns out the range on this thing is pretty small, any half-decent player will be able to move back to avoid getting harassed with this. It's easily telegraphed in the sense that people will most definitely see it coming when Viktor is moving straight towards you past his creep set. "Hmm, I wonder what he wants to do?"

Not to mention the fact that even if it does land, it doesn't trade well against the other nukes that other AP's bring to the table. The reason being that the shield just comes up too late. Most of the time the damage is done to you before the spell bounces off your opponent to shield you. Pretty worthless.

• Gravity Field: Viktor conjures a gravitational imprisonment device in an area near him, slowing all enemies that pass above it. Whilst under its effect, enemies generate stacks every 0.5 seconds; at 3 stacks the target will be stunned for 1.5 seconds.

This is Viktor's only saving grace in my eyes, this stun, if placed correctly is really amazing. However, without augmenting it, the range on this spell is also very short making it difficult to cast safely in team fights and making it too easy to avoid in the laning phase.

• Death Ray: Viktor uses his robotic arm to fire a chaos beam that sweeps across the field in a chosen path, dealing magic damage to every enemy it hits.

The damage on this is pretty good, and even better when augmented. However it's not very user friendly. Think of the aiming mechanic on this skill to be like Rumble's ultimate. Also, like his other two spells, the range on it is fairly short so before you get used to it, you'll find yourself wanting to cast it slightly further than it can go. I can see how Riot wanted you to use this in succession with "Gravity Field" as a full combo. But in lane, its rather awkward to use the first few times.

• Chaos Storm: Viktor conjures a chaos storm at the target location, dealing magic damage and silencing enemies in the area for 0.5 seconds. As it churns, the storm deals magic damage every second to nearby enemies for 7 seconds. Activating this ability again while the singularity is active will redirect it. The storm moves faster the closer it is to Viktor.

So the idea behind this is really cool. It definitely fit's inside Riot's plan of making Viktor a more sustained damage mage as opposed to the generic burst style that's been popular. However, to really make this skill viable, I feel as though you are somewhat forced to augment his "Power Transfer" to get movement speed increases so that you can keep the cloud moving at a decent pace. Casting this at long range makes it fairly easy to walk out of until you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

• Evolving Technology (Passive): Viktor starts with an item that takes up one of his item slots, the Hex Core ,that provides him with stats and can be upgraded in the store to augment one of his abilities and improve its stats. The Hex Core can only be upgraded once, for 1200 gold, and cannot be sold back to the store.

At max level, this provides you with a different variety of stats. In terms of cost efficiency I'd say it's definitely worth investing 1200. However, it does take up a spot in your inventory only allowing you to purchase 5 items as opposed to 6. Also, it's only strong throughout the mid-game. It's clearly not stronger than a big AP item. To have the item last you, I'd say his Death Ray: Augment will definitely carry you the longest. The concept behind this is really cool but feels like Viktor really does need the augmented extras to his skill set. Without it he'd obviously be even weaker than what I see him as right now.

Wheres his Place in the Meta? Can he Jungle? Can he mid? Can he go top? At this moment in time Viktor is having a hard time finding his niche. In mid he will be out laned due his lack of sustain, poor trading capabilities, and lack of burst to really pose a threat against the high tier APs.

At top, he may have SOME success, but ultimately he'll have the same problems as a Viktor going mid just in a different form. Most heroes will be too tanky for him to burst down and his lack of sustain is once again going to be a problem. Top laners usually have gap closers and theres no way that Viktor can fight hand to hand against a majority of the champions you will see in top lane. He'll pretty much be forced to "Gravity Field" any time a champion gets on top of him.

As for the jungle, this is something I'm going to have to try...actually I'm gonna try it right after this post and give you guys some more insight. However, off the top of my head, it doesn't seem it it'd be that bad. His jungle clear time may be rather slow in comparison to the more pronounced junglers, but his skill set can definitely be dangerous when ganking.

UPDATE: Tried jungling, his shield doesn't prevent enough damage and you're just too weak. Also, like I predicted, his clear time is very slow. Only good for trolling lol.

Final Thoughts: At this current moment in time Viktor is most definitely, DEFINITELY, weaker than he is strong. His skills aren't bad in their own right, but they definitely need a little tweaking. If they increased the range on his spells by a bit, and increased the projectile speed of his shield (or made it instant), I could see him being rather good. To those who have their heart set on trying out the new hero, I'd recommend a tanky build like you would Rumble. Stick true to his sustain damage roots and play him in that style.