Hi, my name is Atlascrower, im a Viego jungle main on EUW since years. Today i want to tell you my secrets to dominate Runeterra with Viego, the ruined King. We will begin with the Pro's & Con's of the Champion, followed by some raw data and gameplay information afterwards. Enjoy your time learning!

So first, i want to talk with you about Viego's Pro´s and Con´s:

Pro´s + Strong duelist + Strong snowballing & scaling + Steamrolling teamfights + Camouflage, Immunity, Untargetable, mobility + Healing + High autoattack range + Fast Jungle clear + Mixed damage sources (Flat damage, current health damage and missing health damage) Con´s - You have to get kills first to reach your full potential (resets) - Weak CC - Relatively squishy - Weaker earlygame - Unusual, unique Playstyle (harder to learn as "casuals") - difficult teamfighting Although Viego has some weaknesses, you will be able to minimize them while playing out his strengths. He is harder to learn and definitely hard to master, as you have to learn basically every other champion in the game to utilize your passive very well, besides his unique playstyle. Take one step at a time while learning Viego, as there are many things to consider, and you probably wont be able to learn everything right at the start. It is worth the process!

Flash is the best Summoner Spell in the Game, which is also fitting as the best one out of all for you. You can also use it offensively (channel W, then flash to your target if you need to).

You want to play jungle, smite is a must have.

Main Path: Duelists dream

Conqueror: Its easy to stack as you are a melee champion, gives stacking AD and you heals when you have max stacks. The best rune you get as a duelist, syngergizing well with your kit.

Triumph: Extra gold and healing when you kill someone? The best one to pick up for you.

Legend: Alacrity: The attack speed increases your strengh in duels and your jungle clear speed. You usually take this rune with you.

Legend: Tenacity: You can also take the tenacity, if the enemy team has many hard CC spells, its up to you to choose.

Coup de Grace: It supports your chances to execute enemy champions through increasing your damage to low health enemies, a great addition to provide possessions.


Other option:

Press the Attack: You could also take PTA to increase your burst damage dealt to the enemy target, but its usally outclassed by Conqueror. Still, an available option if you want to take it.


Secondary Paths:

The Inspiration Path: Its the usual path you want to take in most of the games.

Magical Footwear: Free better tier 1 boots with minute 12, reduced by 45 seconds whenever you get a kill or assist (and you will get some as a jungler). Very good for you, as you dont need early boots (E movement speed, W dash, R blink) and you save 300 gold.

Cosmic Insight: Not only reducing the flash timer, but also for SMITE. You get many additional smites with the lower cooldown, affecting your clear, objectives and combat smites! Also, reducing the GA cooldown is very good.


The Domination Path: An aggressive alternative.

Sudden Impact: Gives you lethality after using your E, W and R.

Eyeball Collection: The other option to take instead of Sudden impact. Scaling Ad with killing enemies is also worthy.

Treasure Hunter: You have chosen this rune path to be aggressive, so kill them and take your money to snowball even further!


The Resolve Path: The defensive oriented option.

Conditioning: Some additional resistances after minute 12 are always great.

Overgrowth: Clear your jungle, help your lanes push out and you will collect the souls fast. Additional health is always good.

Unflinching: The option if you want even more tenacity against enemy teams (Although tenacity doesnt stack that well anymore).

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Skill your Ult whenever you are able to, max your Q first, E second, your W last.

Sovereign's Domination : Your passive is one of the most unique abilities in the entire game. It grants you the ability to posess an enemy, when you participated in killing them, for 10 seconds. Possessing them heals you based on their max health, makes you untargetable while the process is running, and grants you access to their abilities afterwards. BUT, as you become that champion, you also get their stats and items. This means, it could also be a disadvantage if you make a bad decision to do so. I'll talk about it in the mechanical chapter later.

Blade of the Ruined King: The passive of this ability lets you deal current health physical damage with your basic attacks. It also has an effect which lets your damage abilities (Q, W and R) mark the enemies. You can attack the marked ones for a double atuoattack which deals extra damage and heals you.
The active ability is an AoE Stab(scaling with AD & crit), which deals physical damage.

Spectral Maw: A dash and stun ability, which you can channel and increase the distance of the projectile aswell as the stun duration with it. It deals magic damage and also resets your Autoattack if you cast it short. Another note: You cant cast abilities besides your E while channeling, but you can cast other abilities while dashing.

Harrowed Path: Summon the mist! It gives you the ability to camouflage, increases your attack speed and movement speed. You can recall in the mist and get camouflaged (Safe recalls). If you hit a wall, it spreads around it (highly recommended to increase the area you are influencing).
The spreading is also great for mindgames and to set a potential risk upon the enemies. Dont use it at the raptors wall when you clear them, as it revelas your position there (use it near the redbuff wall and drag the chickens down to it).

Heartbreaker: An AoE Gapcloser Execute spell, which makes you immune to cc and slows the enemy. It deals damage based on the enemie's missing health (scaling with AD & crit), so try to use it to finish them off. It knocks other enemies away, blinks you to the location (so also usable as an escape), can be cast over walls and also gets extended by walls (if you cast it further away). It gets resetted for 10 seconds if you posess and enemy with your passive. And if that wasnt enough, it also damages enemies with your on hit effects.

Starting Items:

Mosstomper Seedling: You usually want to get this jungle item, as most of the enemy teams have some sort of CC, where the tenacity helps a lot. The shield also has great impact, as you live longer, increasing your chances to get a reset with your passive.

Scorchclaw Pup: Get this item if the enemy team doesnt has reliable CC AND is squishy, the extra damage helps you to burst them down faster for your resets.

Health Potion: Get it when the enemy jungle champ is stronger early (Like Xin Zhao), if you plan on dueling the enemy jungle early or want to take a 2v2 fight at the scuttle crab. Otherwise, save the 50 gold.

Stealth Ward: Always pick up the stealth ward and try to get into the enemy jungle for a deep ward (Red, blue or raptor area). As this is risky, make sure you get escorted by at least 1 teammate. Other option is a ward before your raptor area or behind the blue, so you can track eventual enemy invades.

Oracle's Lens: I usually liked to place a ward into the enemy jungle, then go back to base to pick up an Oracle's. I dont like to pick it up anymore after the nerfs, which were pretty hard. Get it later in the game.


First back:

Hearthbound Axe: Relatively cheap with 1100 gold cost, providing nice stats for dueling & clearing your jungle. Get this if you have the money for it.

Sheen: The other very strong item you can get after your first back if you didnt get 1100 gold. You can activate it regularly with your Q and increase your aa damage by a decent amount. If you've got more than 1400 gold, get sheen & double long sword.

Control Ward: Its usually good to pick up a control ward with your first back, as the drake spawns after you went base, so you have an advantage in terms of vision around the objective. Consider not buying it when u are already behind, but otherwise get it if you've got the extra 75 gold.


Core Item:

Trinity Force: THE mythic you want to get. A variety of basestats which increase your offensive capabilities aswell as 300 hp, which get you incredibly tanky, and we didnt even spoke about the passives yet. As you are a strong duelist, the combat stacking AD & MS synergize well with you, aswell as the Sheen effect, which you can regularly proc with your Q to increase the damage even further. (Isoldes favourite)

Divine Sunderer: It was a really good item, but got nerfed very much. Its still good, but gets outclassed completely by Trinity force. Why is it up here? Well, you can still buy it if the enemy teamcomp has 2 or 3 tanks, and you think Cleaver isnt enough. The basestats are fine, aswell as the effect, which is a decent sheen against tough targets while also prividing some heal for you.


Boots:

Plated Steelcaps: They give you some armor besides the movement speed, and a really nice effect which blocks 12% of enemy Champions AA-damage, very good defense against most adc's and a good amount of AD jgl/top/mid (Also, against jungle camps besides Lord Grompulus).

Mercury's Treads: Get these if the enemy team got much Crowd control, as you want to stay active & mobile to deal damage and stay alive until your resets are available.

Berserker's Greaves: An offensive one synergizing well with on hit builds. You are gonna be a glass cannon, high damage, but dead after burst and/or a little bit of CC. I wouldnt recommende buying them, although they are an option.

Boots of Swiftness: Some teams have so many slows (like Ashe AAs, Rylais-Singed) that you want to get these to stay mobile. You will still be squishier tho. They usually dont affect you that much as you have a dash, teleport and your E, but against teams overloading with slows consider them as an option.


Followup:

Black Cleaver: The usual item you want to get right now, it provides you with 50! AD, 400! (Gets you really tanky, what you will need to be, as enemies try to focus you) health and 30! CDR. You get, besides the abnormous basestats, on-hit armorpen up to 30% AND movement speed. The efficiency of this item is absolutely insane.

Blade of the Ruined King: Well, why dont you want to get literally YOUR blade? The synergy is very good, as you can utilize every basestat well and have a natural harmony with its effects. Buy it when you are ahead and want to be a real strong duelist, or the game is expected to get long.

Kraken Slayer: This item synergises well with your Q Ability, as you get the double aa which stacks for Krakens passive (Damage effect after only 2 aa's). You can also utilize the basestats well (even crit scales with your R), but you will be very squishy. Get this as 1. or 2. item if you like to be more aggressive, but never when you are behind.


Last Items:

Death's Dance: Deaths dance synergises well with sustaining & healing champions. You get 30% of the damage taken as DoT, which isnt only making you tough, but also gets time to heal back up and stay strong until you can get resets. The base stats with Ad, armor & CDR are fitting well, too.

Guardian Angel: GA provides you with some AD, armor and the ressurrection passive, which can give you the edge of surviving for resets. Enemies fear when they realise they have to kill you twice to get rid of you.

Maw of Malmortius: The usual offensive magic resist you want to get against AP Champs. The lifeline shield blocks additional execute damage like Last Caress, Primordial Burst or Unleashed Power.


Situational:

Wit's End: On offensive item, which you can buy if you dont want to get Maw. Gives at least 40 MR (not much, but some), AD and AS. The passive is also nice as you can utilize on-hit effects well, but you have to care about not getting too squishy when u buy it (Only consider it when u have a good frontline and/or maybe some Carry protection, Lulu or Shen, for example).

Sterak's Gage: A defensive oriented item which gives you health and AD (as the AD scales with your Base AD, dont buy it until you got your first 2 items). The shield should help you to stay alive until you are able to get resets with your passive.

The Collector: You can utilize the stats good, and the execute effect fits well into your kit of execution & possession, but it makes you very squishy. Just consider buying it when you are really far ahead. Otherwise, dont.

Edge of Night: An item you could get if you want the initial spellshield. Usually other items outclass this one on Viego.

Spirit Visage: A defensive item, providing a massive hp-pool & regeneration, magic resist, some CDR and the passive works well with your healing (and also supports the Mosstomper or Steraks shields). Get this if you feel squishy and want to tank more.

Immortal Shieldbow: You could opt in for this crit item as it is one of the better fitting ones for Viego, but u usually dont get it. Its not that good.


Consumables:

Elixir of Wrath: The best elixir for Viego as it gives AD and physical vamp, both very good to utilize.

Elixir of Iron: The option if you think you still need more tenacity after the green jungle item and mercs. Sometimes its a game where you need ninja tabis (plated steelcaps), but the enemy composition still got many cc spells, then this elixir fits right into your build path.

Control Ward: Alyways get them before important objectives (Drake, herald, baron) or if you play vs Evelynn (They detect her in her camouflage), for example.


Some Notes:
WHY didnt i talk about antiheal ( Executioner's Calling): Viego is really worse at using antiheal, as he cant apply it on enemies easily due to your role in teamfights, and you also LOSE it when you start to possess enemies. Thats why i highly DONT recommend buying it.

Sovereign's Domination :
So, back to the Possessions. It is not always good to overtake an enemy, there are many things you can consider if it is worth or a mistake.
The positive ones are:
+ You receive healing
+ You can dodge huge damage bursts because you get untargetable
+ You get spell "resets" (as you can use their ones while yours are on cooldown)
+ You receive an Ult reset when you have skilled it

The negative ones are:
- You cant get back to your Viego form pre level 6 (healing is weak early, too)
- You can get yourself into bad positions
- You can overtake a weaker champion and be weaker as in your Viego form
- You can posess a squishy enemy and get oneshotted afterwards
- You cant instantly re-use your Ultimate after it

As you can see, there are some things you have to consider in different situations. You should definitely think about possessing an enemy when you didnt hit level 6 yet, as it can easily seal you for 10 seconds into a bad form. Its also not worthy to choose a weak opponent, if its not for some important spells you could use (Like the Wind Wall or important CC like Dredge Line). And the most important thing: Can i die after possessing one, or will i be safe? This takes a quick thought about enemy positions, which champions you will possess, where your team stands, and what kind of dangerous or protecting spells are still up.


Spectral Maw: I already told you that you can aa reset with your W, which is quite nice as it increases your burst damage and doesnt "channel-lock" you for long. This speeds up your jungle clear if used properly, and also surprises some opponents with the sheer force you are damaging them in such a short time.
As flash doesnt cancel the channel, you can flash to your target and then release your W.

Harrowed Path: Small, but nice while being midfight: You can cast E with your other abilities, which cancels the little animation.
- You can use it to walk through enemy vision while still being unseen (Using it at the drake pit wall to cross the river without getting detected by the scuttle vision, for example)
- You can use it for pressure: Whereever the mist may be, you may be there, too, as long as they dont know your position. That can create some mental pressure onto enemies as they have to respect that. So dont save this ability for fights, use it here & there!
- You can also scout a bit deeper, as you will reveal everything you see to your team, but wont be detected that fast due to your camouflage.
- You can backport within your mist to get camouflaged while it.

Using your Heartbreaker as a Tool to "dodge" important enemy CC is also a nice mechanic you can use, so the cc gets buffered and you arent useless and unable to do things.

Your main goal in the earlygame is to get level 6. You are relatively weak without it, and thats why a plan about decent jungle clear is important. And your clear is fast. But dont think you are too weak to play proactively, Viego is strong enough to look for invades or ganks, too! Both should be coordinated with your team. For the ganks, choose the lanes with CC (Like Nautilus), as a successful gank is more likely there, or help your lanes to push out when they need to recall, which provides you with extra experience. Invades are more difficult, as you need to have your lanes pushed in for that, and the enemy jungler shouldnt be a strong duelist (Not Trundle, for example). You are also decent at 2v2 fights for the scuttle crab, especially considering a good possession there after the first kill.

On the other hand, all that can the other team do, too. Especially if they have a strong early jungler, like Kindred, for example. You have to watch out for them invading you, as they can easily threaten your life. So have a look where the enemy could have started, how the lanes are doing & play properly according to it.


First Clear:
You can start either Red, Blue or Raptors, go 3 Camps into gank/invade or fullclear into scuttle fight. I recommend to start red right now, then path for a fullclear and opt in for a gank if their is a very good opportunity, but otherwise dont cancel your clear and go lvl 4 before the scuttle spawns. Other cheesy option which i use quite some time is red->kruggs->raptors into an invade, forcing a fight at the enemy redbuff if my lanes pushed the enemy in.

You deal decent damage to objectives as drakes & the herald have huge HP-bars, which increase your Q passive damage. Never do the first drakes solo, especially the first drake, as it takes too long (especially when its a mountain drake). Only consider it doing solo when the enemy jungle got spotted toplane, the time invested doesnt take too long and your botlane can react to eventual moves of the enemies.

The mid- & lategame is more based on fighting, where you can excel or fail really hard. Go and try to ambush people who try to rotate around the map, 2v1 the enemy sidelaner when they walk up, get objectives and play teamfights with your team, besides farming the jungle. How much you can do and how many options you have, depend on which team is ahead and can pressure/push.
You can ambush enemies really good with Viego, roam fast around the map and catch them to increase your lead and get number advantages (Really good before objectives or important fights).
Teamfighting is a difficult kind of thing for you. DONT run in first, only initiate them when you can catch someone offguard, running into you. Otherwise, wait a bit until someone steps up into your team (usually frontline engager), or you are able to flank the enemy backline and finish them off. This doesnt mean that you should stand by and watch your team fighting, but consider the right timings & positionings to stay alive & get your resets. You can easily carry the fight afterwards and collect even the last living soul.

To finish it off and repeat it: Take one step at a time while learning Viego, as there are many things to consider, and you probably wont be able to learn everything right at the start.

So, this is the end, my fellow friend, i hope you enjoyed to read my guide about Viego and will start to rule Runeterra as a real Viego main, spreading the black mist and terrorizing your opponents! FOR ISOLDE!