Viego of League Of Legends might at first glance seem like a high-skill Champion with his timing-intensive rotations and hero-sensitive builds. Being the Ruined King of League Of Legends, Viego’s toolkit greatly reflects his backstory - that of a corrupted king hell-bent on embracing darkness itself just to revive his queen.
As a Skirmisher, Viego thrives in the mid-late game, with his toolkit giving him vast outplay options, build diversity, and killing potential. Players who want to capitalize on Viego’s skill set will need to take note of how best to manage his rotations while balancing out his rather crucial weaknesses.
10 Jungle Conqueror Viego
On top of his overwhelming skill ceiling, Viego is tailored as a pure carry Champion. To avoid being left behind in the early game, Jungle Conqueror Viego uses the Press The Attack Rune to dominate 1v1. This not only scales damage to enemies but also leaves opponents open to increased damage. Augmenting this is the Inspiration Secondary Rune, where Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight provide boosted CDs and free boots that definitely save Viego time on farming.
Build-wise, Immortal Shieldbow provides necessary emergency shields, with Guardian Angel providing a handy resurrect. Blade of the Ruined King, albeit situation, is such a flavorful item deserving of Viego’s attention. Its health-based damage bonus fits just right in with Viego’s toolkit. Cap this build with Death’s Dance, and Jungle Conqueror Viego can take care of assassins before they become a significant threat.
9 Bruiser King Viego
Considering Viego’s true potential relying heavily on his mid-to-late game performance, the Bruiser King build banks on the Conqueror Keystone for that sweet lifesteal and physical damage boost. Viego can even rely on Legend: Alacrity for that necessary speed boost, particularly for crowd control scenarios.
Item-wise, Goredrinker has a nifty lifesteal specifically tailored for team fighting - something Viego is already built to handle. Sterak’s Gage and its passive gives Viego necessary shielding without the need to build resistances. If the Bruiser King has built more than enough defenses, Bloodthirster can convert excess healing into damage, which makes encounters with Viego hurt even more.
8 Kraken Slayer Viego
Being a pure carry Champion, Viego has always been associated with risk-versus-reward plays, and the Kraken Slayer trades in pure attack speed at the risk of losing relevant defenses. Conqueror once again becomes the Keystone for that physical damage boost, whereas Second Wind provides that nifty healing during combat.
As with the name itself, Kraken Slayer becomes Viego’s key item for its attack speed bonus for other Legendaries as well as its per-third-attack bonus damage. This syncs well with lifestealing Sterak’s Gage and health-based damage of Titanic Hydra and Blade of the Ruined King. For the boosted resistances, Viego can rely on Plated Steelcaps for basic damage reduction.
7 Challenger Lane Viego
Viego’s ability to tap into almost any Champion’s toolkit makes him a deadly opponent in Challenger Lane, and the quick-stacking boosts of the Conqueror Keystone with the nifty heals of Second Wind make him extremely viable for Jungling at any point in the game. To capitalize on his strength in Challenger Lane, Blade of the Ruined King is a must-have first item to augment his health-based damages and the movement speed steal.
Even the Challenger Lane build relies on synergies that turn a long battle into a disadvantage for the opponent. For instance, Divine Sunderer not only boosts armor and magic penetration for other Legendaries but also boosts damage whenever skills are used. This synergizes well with Wit’s End for the basic attack damage boost, and Spirit Visage for the overall boosted healing. When paired with Death’s Dance, even a 1v4 encounter in Challenger Lane can leave Viego up and running, thanks in part to its active damage mitigation.
6 Initiator Viego
Due to this nature as a pure carry, it’s imperative that Viego always strikes true whenever he attacks - be it to farm, to gank, or to secure the kills in a confrontation. This Initiator Viego capitalizes on Conqueror for the physical damage boost, with the Sudden Impact Keystone giving lethality and penetration boosts every after mobility move - quick nifty for Viego’s stalking nature. Initiator Viego’s path to kills begins with the Blade of the Ruined King, which provides the necessary speed debuffs to foes.
The Blade synergizes well with other items built specifically to increase damage in a confrontation. These include the scaling damage boosts of Chempunk Chainsword, the shielding reduction of Serpent’s Fang, the basic attack enhancements of Essence Reaver, and especially the instant-execution of The Collector that ensures guarantees in clincher fights.
5 First Strike Viego
Just because Viego is a carry doesn’t mean he always has to stick with conventional build patterns. For this First Strike build, Viego taps into the First Strike Keystone to get bonus damage and part of their bonus damage as gold. When paired with Legend: Bloodline that grants lifesteal depending on Viego’s performance, this Keystone build already incentivizes Viego going for that aggressive build.
Aside from the Blade of the Ruined King, Divinity Sunderer is easily a must-have for its health-based damage. This First Strike build is further augmented by the bonus physical damage from Lord Dominik’s Regards, and particularly from the critical strike bonuses of Infinity Edge. Lastly, the Collector can give this First Strike build executions for clutch moments, further triggering the Legend: Bloodline lifesteal that essentially serves as Viego’s sustain.
4 Speed God Viego
Similar to the First Strike build, Speed God Viego taps into the First Strike Keystone to gain the necessary bonus damage and gold to get ahead of the game as a carry. However, this time he also has Legend: Alacrity for the bonus attack speed based on his performance, essentially transforming him into an assassin-bruiser. Kraken Slayer is easily the best pair for this Keystone choice, thanks to its attack speed bonus.
When paired with the Blade of the Ruined King, the Kraken Slayer can enjoy more of Viego’s health-based damage toolkit. This works well for Sterak’s Gage that grants bonuses under the same premise. With Death’s Dance that slows enemies down, Viego can easily position himself for the kill. And with the Collector as the piece de resistance, an execution is almost always guaranteed with the right rotation.
3 Eclipse Swordsman Viego
Players who want to capitalize on Viego’s health-based damage will appreciate the Eclipse Swordsman build, as this precisely relies on Viego’s consistency in dealing damage to ensure victory. Keystone-wise, Eclipse Swordsman relies on Conqueror for the physical damage boost, with Second Wind as backup healing in crucial situations. Aside from the Blade of the Ruined King, the Eclipse Swordsman build needs Eclipse, which not only grants bonus damage based on the opponent’s health but also gives Viego shields and movement speed.
This approach synergizes greatly with its heavy damage items. Wit’s End can augment basic attacks further for added lethality, while Black Cleaver can provide constant armor debuffs to targets. Even magic users aren’t safe, as Maw of Malmortius gives a shield that absorbs damage from magic damage.
2 Galeforce Ranged Viego
As players may already notice, Viego lacks a lot of firepower from the ranged department - which means his damage thresholds often come as a result of being up close and personal against opponents. Galeforce Ranged Viego changes this, as Keystones Conqueror and Second Wind will rely on using Galeforce to give Viego a set of homing attacks alongside giving the Champion additional movement speed.
This build comes with its risks, though, as Galeforce Ranged Viego may only benefit from the Blade of the Ruined King’s health-based damage if Viego wants a heavy build. In terms of ordinary builds, Galeforce is paired with Sterak’s Gage and Titanic Hydra for health-based damage, with Wit’s End to ensure even basic attacks get a damage boost. Moreover, the Collector paired with Galeforce ensures that even homing missiles can score executions in crucial moments.
1 Stridebreaker Capture Viego
Considering Viego’s lack of ranged attacks, chances are opponents would want to stay as far away from his as possible. Unfortunately for them, this isn’t always possible - especially if Viego uses a Stridebreaker-based build. When combined with the Conqueror and Second WInd Keystone, Stridebreaker allows Viego to capitalize on physical damage bonuses with the former’s slowing effect. Not to mention, Stridebreaker will also give Viego a speed boost, ensuring he reaches enemies before they can escape.
Accompanying Stridebreaker is the usual health-based damage combo of Blade of the Ruined King, Titanic Hydra, and Sterak’s Gage, ensuring Viego’s toolkit gets the necessary damage boost. Perhaps more appropriate is the inclusion of Death’s Dance, which also mitigates overall damage towards Viego. This incentivizes Viego to perform a capture role for team fights - starting the battle and finishing it.
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