Guide · Mid

Viktor Guide

the Herald of the Arcane

Mage

Tier A Mid

Viktor, the Herald of the Arcane, is a mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1660 analysed ranked games, Viktor is mostly played in Mid (70% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (27%), with a 48.9% win rate in that role: tier A among Mid champions (#10 of 42, ranked by win rate). Viktor's damage is mostly magic (96%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate stays steady whatever the game length (48.1% to 49.5%): a reliable pick in every phase of the game.

Averages measured over 1166 Mid games played with Viktor, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Viktor is a mage who gets stronger as the game goes on: every takedown earns him Hex Fragments, and every 100 fragments he permanently upgrades an ability. Once all four basic abilities are upgraded, he can upgrade his ultimate. His strength is area control: slows, stuns from Gravity Field, and an Arcane Storm he can redirect.

Harassment

Q › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within Hextech Ray range.

Siphon Power deals damage, shields you and empowers your attack; follow with the empowered attack, then Hextech Ray, which hits every enemy on its line.

Area control

W › E › Q

When: Enemies are grouping around an objective or a turret gate.

Place Gravity Field: enemies who stay in it too long are stunned. Hextech Ray and Siphon Power add damage while they try to leave.

The ultimate in a team fight

W › R › E

When: A team fight is underway.

Arcane Storm deals periodic damage and interrupts enemy channels; you can redirect it to follow targets. If a champion dies after being damaged by it, it grows and lasts longer (upgraded version).

Laning phase

Siphon Power gives you a shield and empowers your next attack: use it to trade safely. Every takedown counts double for you, since it brings you closer to an upgrade: prioritize last hits.

Common mistakes

• Neglecting last hits: your Hex Fragments, and therefore your upgrades, depend on takedowns.
• Casting Arcane Storm without redirecting it: it can follow fleeing enemies.
• Placing Gravity Field without trapping anyone: it only pays off by keeping enemies inside its area.

Riot's official tips for playing Viktor

• Hextech Ray is a powerful poke and a strong area of denial tool. Use it in combination with Gravity Field to control your enemy's position.
• Make sure you choose the right augment at the right time.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Blackfire Torch, Hextech Rocketbelt, and Zhonya's Hourglass (116 games, 54.3% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (49.6% over 508 games).

Blackfire Torch+Hextech Rocketbelt+Zhonya's Hourglass

116 games · 54.3%

Blackfire Torch+Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass

73 games · 53.4%

Blackfire Torch+Zhonya's Hourglass+Shadowflame

52 games · 55.8%

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes49.6% · 508 games

Crimson Lucidity50.8% · 331 games

Chainlaced Crushers45.8% · 155 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Teleport47.1% · 889 games

Flash + Ghost54.2% · 203 games

Flash + Ignite54.5% · 33 games

Exhaust + Flash60.9% · 23 games

Most-played runes

Deathfire Touch + Resolve

49.3% · 672 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band99%

Transcendence67%

Scorch98%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Bone Plating94%

Shield Bash91%

Shards

Attack speed97%

Adaptive force72%

Health scaling59%

Deathfire Touch + Precision

47.7% · 342 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band99%

Celerity80%

Scorch93%

Secondary tree · Precision

Cut Down96%

Legend: Haste92%

Shards

Attack speed94%

Adaptive force49%

Health80%

Summon Aery + Resolve

52.8% · 72 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band100%

Transcendence89%

Scorch96%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Shield Bash97%

Bone Plating93%

Shards

Attack speed92%

Adaptive force93%

Health scaling82%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Viktor's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team50.9% · 330 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 51.3%

Hextech Rocketbelt 54.8%

Zhonya's Hourglass 52.3% ▼

Shadowflame 50.0% ▼

Lich Bane 64.2% ▲

Liandry's Torment 60.6% ▲

The item that stands out most is Lich Bane: 64.2% win rate, +10 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team51.3% · 296 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 52.9% ▲

Zhonya's Hourglass 62.8% ▲

Hextech Rocketbelt 56.8%

Lich Bane 53.6%

Shadowflame 60.7% ▲

Liandry's Torment 55.6% ▲

The item that stands out most is Shadowflame: 60.7% win rate, +8 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team46.3% · 540 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Blackfire Torch 45.9% ▼

Hextech Rocketbelt 53.0%

Zhonya's Hourglass 53.3%

Lich Bane 47.2% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 41.8% ▼

Shadowflame 51.5%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Viktor in Mid

Twisted Fate Viktor: 26.9%26 games

Twisted Fate has the edge in 73% of the 26 Mid duels against Viktor. See the Twisted Fate guide.

Galio Viktor: 38.1%21 games

Galio has the edge in 62% of the 21 Mid duels against Viktor. See the Galio guide.

Hwei Viktor: 40.0%20 games

Hwei has the edge in 60% of the 20 Mid duels against Viktor. See the Hwei guide.

Syndra Viktor: 46.0%37 games

Syndra has the edge in 54% of the 37 Mid duels against Viktor. See the Syndra guide.

Xerath Viktor: 47.1%17 games

Xerath has the edge in 53% of the 17 Mid duels against Viktor. See the Xerath guide.

Who Viktor is strong against

Sylas69.0% · 29 games

Akali68.0% · 25 games

Lux63.2% · 19 games

Yone60.0% · 35 games

Ahri56.2% · 32 games

How to play against Viktor

• Be careful about how close you let Viktor get to you. Viktor's control of the battlefield increases with his proximity to his opponent.
• Be aware of how many augments Viktor has upgraded by looking at the color of the light on his staff (purple, yellow, blue, red).

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Viktor's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveGlorious Evolution

Viktor gains Hex Fragments whenever he kills an enemy. With every 100 Hex Fragments he obtains, Viktor permanently augments an active ability. After upgrading all of his basic abilities, he can gather 100 Hex Fragments to augment his ultimate ability.

QSiphon Power

Viktor blasts an enemy unit with magic damage, which grants him a shield and empowers his next basic attack.

Augment: Siphon Power's shield is increased by 60% and Viktor gains bonus move speed after casting the Ability.

WGravity Field

Viktor conjures a heavy gravitational field that slows enemies caught within its radius. Enemies who stay in the field for too long become stunned.

Augment: Viktor's spells apply a slow to enemies.

EHextech Ray

Viktor uses his biomechanical arm to fire a Hextech Ray that cuts across the field in a line, dealing damage to all enemies in its path.

Augment: An explosion follows in the Hextech Ray's wake, dealing magic damage.

RArcane Storm

Viktor conjures an Arcane Storm on the field, dealing magic damage and interrupting enemy channels. The storm periodically does magic damage to all nearby enemies and can be redirected by Viktor.

Augment: The Arcane Storm moves 25% faster, and whenever champions die after taking damage from it, the storm grows and increases in its duration.

Frequently asked questions

Full Viktor page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides