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League of Legends: Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void Preview – StrategyZero
Feb 132014
 
Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void
Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void

Intro

A Classic Look

Vel’Koz is both a refreshing addition to the League of Legends and an unoriginal incorporation to the ever-expanding alien realm. On the one hand there’s nothing like it amidst the myriad of champions on the Fields of Justice. In fact, it may be the clearest example of an underwater creature spawning a champion. Although, at times it seems like it’s fighting its personality.

Specifically, its distinct cephalopod physiology is understandably allowed to float but also interpreted as humanoid appendages. That is, the front tentacles become the arms while the remaining one takes the role of the body or tail. As such it becomes more approachable but also diminishes its one unique trait: its exotic nature. The fact that its long-range mage role has some overlap with Xerath’s doesn’t help its identity either.

Classic Vel'Koz
Classic Vel’Koz

On the other hand, cephalopods and other underwater creatures have long been a source for unearthly beings. In particular, the Starcraft universe has largely based the Zerg Swarm on them and it’s just one of many occasions where the depths of the oceans have fuelled the imagination.

An Incorporation to the Battlecast Line

Battlecast Vel'Koz Concept Art
Battlecast Vel’Koz

Vel’Koz’s release skin switches the cephalopodan figure from organic to mechanical and thus generates a robot which has regularly starred as an exterminator drone. To an extent, it’s practically a Sentinel from the Matrix films. Again, that makes it an interesting addition to the League but hardly remarkable in the greater scheme of things.

Conclusion

Vel’Koz is an attractive champion that instils a breath of fresh air among the multiple human warriors and mages present in the Fields of Justice. Unfortunately, it also suffers from a nature that doesn’t stand out among the many iterations it has received in other media. Ultimately, it’s a welcome incorporation but lacks a defining trait that makes its particular identity unique.

What do you think about the Eye of the Void?

  4 Responses to “League of Legends: Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void Preview”

  1. Im a bit disappointed overall. You already have too many mids in the game and adding another mid from the Void to compete with Malazar isnt needed and Xerath seemingly had to be reworked so that he didnt compete with the long range of this new champion. And I liked Xerath as he used to be. Im a bit upset they reworked Xerath to fit Vel’Koz into his “role”.

    Kassadin is from the Void and its not unheard of to play Cho’gath as a mid. So how many voidling mids does the game need. Rumble and Kennen are really the only 2 Yordle mids and most play them as tops so it would seem a Yordle or Pirate or other offshoot race would have made more sense than more voidlings. If you have to make a voidling then make an adc or support so you can have a voidling team and one that compliments each others skills. Nobody is going to play Cho, Malazar, Kass, Vel, Khaz, Noct, and Kog together. The voidlings needed a support. And come to think of it when was the last time a good support hit the ground running. Of 117 champions maybe 15 are used as supports and really only about half of them as viable supports as champions like Lux, Nidalee and Morgana are used as mids more often than support.

    I like the idea of more battlecast skins. Chos, Xeraths, and Urgots are arguably the best skins for their characters. Nunu bot seems like a battlecast skin and could use a freshening and rework as its a sad skin and very overrated for its price with reallly bad jokes that are more appealing to the design team than the end user. Nobody cares how much food the riot designers eat. If Riot could wreck great skins like Rugged Garen and some of the Nasus and Sivir skins then maybe they would be better off fixing the Nunu skins.

    Im guessing that the champion will release at 6300 ip and the skin 975 rp. They better pull a 5 star zero rated skin out of their hat if they expect me to buy both for 1500 rp. I could farm enough ip to buy the champion with 6300 ip and therefore the skin would cost 1500 rp plus a bit of savings on farming ip which doesnt matter to me anymore.

    I would like to see riot get creative again. Yasuo was a disappointment to me and Lucian and Jinx were good but how many adcs do you really need, Theres plenty of mids and we saw introductions of Zac and Aatrox into the library.

    I would like to see more supports or perhaps a really innovative jungler.

    But the battlecast line is awesome and Im happy to see another. Still, Id rather they fix some skins, or add more skins rather than designing new champions we dont need or really want.

    Riot has close to 40 champions most frequently used as mids and you cant log in and play a game without people screaming mid.

    Do we really want or need more mids to play ?

    However, one thing that would be nice and innovative would be if they buffed certain items and put them in the store only for the champions that used them.

    For instance, only void based champions could use the void staff. And only Frejlord champions could use the Frozen Mallet. Additonally it would be interesting if they would have unique auras to help other champions of their type. For instance, a void staff might offer 3% spell vamp as an aura for all other voidlings in range. It might be fun to inspire void vs freljord team battles or Demacia vs Noxus.

    Certainly that would give riot an excuse to make 7-10 champions of each type and have 10 champions from the Void and 10 pirates and 10 Demacians and 10 yordles. And perhaps even a few like Rumble that could be either a Yordle or a Pirate if you bought his bilgewater skin.

    Id like to see more creativity rather than just throwing more junk to buy and muddle up the mess when they already have 40 champions pretty much just like each other.

    People fight for mids way too much already. More are not needed.

    Battlecast line needs some more friends… I like the skin.

    Thanks Zero

    • No problem, what is one is designing an innovative champion after more than one hundred have been released. There are so many champions in the game that without great ideas and careful execution we’ll end up with simply more of the same. The size of the cast has become an issue.

      Something that could help add variety would be new game modes that introduce new mechanics and rules; instead of simply adding an extra member to each team. Dominion seemed like an interesting direction to follow. Having a game mode that emphasised factions or that had unique items for champions would be quite attractive.

      In fact, they don’t even have to be balanced to precision. They only need to be fun as casual players outnumber professionals in all probabilities. That way different champions would rise in popularity as they would be better suited to each game mode. However, pro-tournaments help with visibility and advertising and so casual options are unable to compete.

      For instance, Showdown was a nice experiment that could have stayed. It had problems but was addressing them worse than simply shelving the mode? League of Legends needs to expand its gameplay. The large cast adds variety but more often that not you end up always doing the same. The fact that there are only two game modes doesn’t help much either.

      Something else that could be explored is alternate lore like the futuristic realm of the Battlecast and Pulsefire. League of Legends isn’t a good conduit to tell stories but they can show the world it takes part in. What if game modes had different maps, sort of like skins, which could be steam-punk, sci-fi, etc. A team of Battlecast champions lead by Creator Viktor against the Pulsefire resistance in sci-fi Crystal Scar would surely turn some heads.

      Add to that an event that shows the struggle between both factions and the release of some new Battlecast and Pulsefire skins and you have something interesting even if not revolutionary. The thing is that there’s a lot that can be done as there’s a firm base but more often that not it seems like Riot prefers to stick to the tried and true. At this stage, experimentation is essential to keep the product fresh.

  2. Why isnt Vel’Koz skins updated?

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