Vel’Koz, a champion in the League of Legends, has received a new look in the public beta environment of Riot Games. Nearly five years after the enormously successful MOBA’s debut, Vel’Koz was introduced to the roster in 2014. Riot has identified him as the next champion to undergo an update due to his apparent advancing years.
He is an artillery mage in League of Legends, which means that he is designed to leverage his greater range to keep the opponent team at a permanent disadvantage.
With his heavy damage and long-range, Vel’Koz has become a popular choice for both mid-lane and support roles. Vel’Koz hasn’t quite found a place in the current game meta with the recent flurry of adjustments to League of Legends’ items during Season 11 and Season 12.
The Eye of the Void has been planned for a visual upgrade on the League of Legends PBE due to his low popularity and Vel’Koz’s visual clarity concerns. According to a post on the League of Legends PBE subreddit by RiotSirhaian, Vel’Koz will be receiving a number of visual improvements during the PBE, including the addition of hitbox indicators. Vel’Koz’s Plasma Fission ability will change direction, making it difficult for players to target and land, therefore these improvements are very critical. All of Vel’Koz’s abilities look to have a somewhat broader hitbox, with more contrast between his straight-line skillshots, according to Reddit screenshots.
The improvements have received a great response from players thus far, and they have been applied to all of Vel’Koz’s skins as well. It’s not as extensive as a full visual and gameplay update, which fully retools a character’s entire kit, but it’s still a significant improvement. Only minor visual changes will be made to Vel’Koz, the champion, in this release. That being said, it’s still a good update to one of the game’s most venerable heroes.
If everything goes according to plan, these new visuals will be implemented in the next patch in a few weeks. The most popular MOBA in the world, League of Legends, is now in its second decade of existence. League of Legends’ enormous success can be attributed in part to Riot’s willingness to update classic characters like Vel’Koz with the most recent additions.