WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS GUIDE Top
I am a scrub who just started playing VG (Karma level 15), however I have previously attained challenger in League of legends in both seasons 3 and 4, making me somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to MOBA's. Despite being inexperienced about how Vainglory SHOULD be played, I am consistently being the X factor in my wins, consistently obtaining Kill-death ratios of over 5. I believe that VOX, when played right, can be one of the most powerful, damaging as well as difficult-to-kill heroes in the game.
Read my guide if you want my view on how to play Vox. Obviously there is really no "OPTIMAL" build, however I think that this build covers all of Vox's needs and the playstyle and items really compliment Vox's kit.
On a side note, skip this guide if you dislike reading chunks of text. I didn't bother learning how to make my guide fancy; I am here to address my point of view quickly and in plain text.
Playstyle~~~~ Top
Obviously, as with any hero, you should be playing towards that hero's strengths, rather than weaknesses. Vox excels at dealing damage from safe distances, being relevant in the late game, as well as being a solid, safe damage dealing hero. However, issues will arise when you are matched with high mobility, "cheese" heroes, such as Taka, Blackfeather, Glaive, or if you are being shut down heavily by relentless ganks. Here are a list of Do's and Donts:
DO:_______
- Farm well early, avoid ganks(stay away from enemy bushes), stay safe. Know that if you are ahead or even in farm, YOU HAVE WON LANE.
- Buy more potions if you are getting harrassed in lane!
- Keep distance from enemy threats, while still being close enough to do relevant damage
- Buy flares if the enemy has repeatedly ganked you. Occasionally use a flare in the enemy's lane bush to scout
- In teamfights, NEVER go all in (aggressively using boots and A ability) unless you know where damage threats are. It is never fun to go all in to have a Koshka and Catherine waiting in a bush.
- Wait for key abilities to be used in fights before committing to the fight
- Always keep an eye on your character's health and understand how much punishment you can take
- Understand enemy cooldowns. Common example of this is a CP Taka or Koshka, whose cooldowns are <10 seconds, yet they are extremely dangerous
DONT:________
- Try and "win" lane during the early game. This includes going for excessive harrass and pushing the enemy laner out. This can often result in you mispositioning and being susceptible to ganks.
- Facecheck any enemy bushes without knowledge of where they are. Always try and use your pulse to see ahead. Exceptions to this include when key members of the enemy are in lane, just respawning or dead. Your judgement.
- DO NOT FORGET TO USE YOUR ACTIVE ABILITIES. Includes pots, boots, reflex blocks
- Initiate a fight. You have no stuns or crowdcontrol effects (except for a minor slow on your pulse). Wait for the fight to erupt then deal damage.
- Overestimate your mobility. Doing this can cause you to make silly decisions and being caught. Remember, enemies can also have lots of mobility mechanics.
- Tower dive. Generally not a good idea unless you have a team to back you up, or the enemy is low enough for you to score a kill. A 1 for 1 kill trade is generally not worth for a VOX player, unless there is a large shutdown bounty
Abilities Breakdown/How to use them Top
Hero Perk - Julias Song
You get an extra base amount of damage + 35% of your Crystal Power as bonus damage. Who doesnt like free damage?I always build CP because of this. Also, the extra bounces off your attacks on enemies marked with Resonance makes you have AOE in teamfights and killing waves of creeps. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOUR BOUNCE DAMAGE WITH YOUR SONIC ZOOM ABILITY.
A ability - Sonic ZOOOOOM
Bread and butter ability that defines VOX as a hero. Extremely low cooldown when combined with a Clockwork and Aftershock can devastate teams. The mobility is often underestimated, as the cooldown is extremely short. Aftershock item cooldown = 1.5 seconds. Sonic Zoom ability cooldown with reduced cooldown from item build = <2 seconds. You can see how that works.
You can also dash through some small walls. Go youtube it.
B ability - Pulse
Can be used to check bushes without facechecking it. Can be used to clear waves in addition with auto attacks from your hero perk (Julia's song). Can be used in teamfights to tag all enemy heroes with Resonance then do damage. Relatively low CD when you consider how long enemies can be tagged with Resonance for.
Ultimate - Wait for it
Yes you will need to wait for it, and as a result, the second part of the ability is somewhat hard to land. This ability is actually not as important to Vox's kit as his A and B ability, however it is still worth maxing second. The silence can be used in some very specific situations, however it is still only a 0.7 second silence. Use this ability to enter the fight with a bang. Ult --> A --> auto attack --> pulse --> A.. etc.
Combos? Top
Harrassing in lane.
Hide in bush, or just stay in lane --> Tag enemy with pulse --> auto attack --> Sonic Zoom AWAY from enemy, still tagging them with it(be in range) --> repeat.
Pulse --> Sonic Zoom
Entering a fight unseen:
Ult --> Sonic zoom(If out of range for a pulse) --> Pulse --> Auto attack(s)--> Sonic Zoom(should be a relatively short cooldown) -- More auto attacks and stuttersteps.
Bursting someone solo
Sonic Zooms/Boots active to catch up --> Pulse --> auto attacks --> Ult --> Sonic Zoom (Should take a huge amount of single target damage)
Later game with enough attack speed, a lot of your damage comes from auto attacking in between your Sonic zoom Cooldowns.
Item Breakdown Top
CP VS WP.
If you are still unsure between whether to build CP or WP on Vox like I was when I first started playing him, I highly recommend CP. The only REAL advantage with WP Vox is that it makes last hitting a tiny bit easier in the early game, as well as being stronger early-mid game. Otherwise, CP Vox outclasses WP Vox in every other aspect. Always go into a game with Vox thinking you are playing as a low cooldown, highly mobile CP hero.
Frostburn - Debateable whether to rush this item first. In my opinion, it is extremely cost-efficient and provides a lot of utility. If you are getting chased you can Pulse --> Sonic Zoom, increasing the distance between you and the enemy as well as slowing them (Your Zoom tags whoever is hit by pulse). This also applies in reverse, when you are chasing down an enemy. Late game the slow is very noticeable and you can often kite or chase down enemies quite easily.
Alternating Current - A must for Vox. Gives attack speed, CP, on hit effects. Pretty much a must have for Vox. I do not recommend rushing this item by itself though, as without any other CP items, the item is not strong.
Aftershock - The key difference in my build when compared to others. Although item itself gives some pretty irrelvent stats for its cost, the cooldown reduction, when combined with a clockwork is definitely noticeable. However, the main reason on why you should get this item on Vox is the passive on hit effect. As I mentioned earlier, Aftershock item cooldown = 1.5 seconds. Sonic Zoom ability cooldown with reduced cooldown from item build = <2 seconds. You can see how that works. :):):):)
Shatterglass - A luxury item, should only be considered after obtaining atleast a frostburn and alternating current. Adds a large amount of damage through alternating current and your passive. Get this if they dont have much shield, otherwise opting for a Broken Myth may be better.
Clockwork -- Alot of other builds do not recommend this item for Vox, however I think that this item is a MUST. The energy regen from this item allows you to constantly dart around with you A ability, as well as reducing a huge portion of your cooldowns, meaning you can dash alot more, hence having more mobility and avoid dying. Mana regen/cooldowns = more ability spam = what Vox likes.
Boots rush? - I find that prioritising travel or even journey boots in games can be a great decision. The boots themselves give nice stats (Health/health regen), however the active cooldown reduction from the upgraded version helps a lot with the mobility part of Vox. In the mid game, 3-4 second cooldowns for Vox's small dash may not cut it in terms of survivability. Having the huge burst of movespeed in your back pocket can save you from death or snatch kills on multiple occasions
Defensive item - Reflex block, Armor items, 2 defensive items.
Normally in most games you will have to have a reflex block, not only for the small amount of extra health it gives and the shield, it can protect you from some devastating stuns if used properly. Abilities to look out for include: Catherine stab, Koshka ult, Ringo ult, Joule jump, save you from a taka burst. Not only that but reflex block in general is quite a cost efficient item, a mere 700 gold can save you from a lot of trouble.
I have experimented with games where I run 2 defensive items, however I feel as if 2 defensive items heavily decreases your DPS. It's up to you whether you want to sacrifice some damage in order to have more survivability. Understand that Vox is quite a slippery hero anyway.
Against heavy WP teams without any stuns, get an armor item(Atlast Pauldron, Metal Jacket. Against Heavy CP teams, Aegis for sure. A mix of both CP/WP, build defensively according to what will most likely deal more damage to you, otherwise you can opt for a Crucible.
Pros? Cons? Top
PROS:
- Extremely mobile champion
- High, sustain dps, meaning you specialise in cleaning up fights
- Late game, can burst a single target down extremely quickly with B+A
- Low cooldowns, especially combined with a Clockwork
- VERY strong 6 item hero
- Extremely hard to kill if you kite/use A ability well
- High Skillcap, meaning you can always improve
- Sick ability animations!!!
CONS:
- Requires somewhat decent lasthitting ability
- Needs a good stutterstep(Attack, move, attack, move) user
- Can take a while to "master"
- Needs good teamfight awareness to 1v3
- Weak earlygame
Common Questions Top
- CP or WP?
Always CP
- Why not prioritise a heavy CP item like Broken Myth or Shatterglass?
I think that Vox excels at darting around the rift with low cooldowns and attacking quickly, applying the bonus damage from Julia's Song, Alternating Current, as well as Aftershock. Though definitely being a viable option, I find that the other items are much more useful. I would say you should only consider a shatterglass as a 5th or 6th item, as the other items are much more cost-efficient on VOX. Same goes for Broken Myth
- Jungling or laning Vox?
Always lane. No questions asked. Lane vox is extremely strong as you can avoid ganks with your A ability, whilst farming and cleaing waves quite easily with your range and Pulse. Though I have tried Jungling as Vox, I think that the jungle can be occupied with someone more useful than Vox. Not only that, I think that Vox can very quickly rotate from lane to join a jungle skirmish with your jungling members, giving your team the innate numbers advantage. Remember, you are a late game hyper carry, you need as much farm as you can. Jungle Vox only works if you somehow manage to cheese and dominate their jungle.
- How do I be good at Vox?
Understand how stutterstepping works and how to improve on it. Understand what abilities from certain heroes will have a big impact on your role in a fight (stuns, silences, etc). Play to improve.
- Why should I pick Vox over other laners such as Ringo, Kestrel, Saw?
Vox has quite a unique playstyle, in which you are a high DPS hero with extremely high mobility. Though Vox cannot 1v1 out-dps any of the above heroes, his playstyle involves kiting, picking a good moment to go in, and consistently dealing a lot of damage while staying untouched, which is a playstyle that no other ranged carries have. With these unique features, you can be the game changing factor in some games. You will die less, and in turn have more playing time in the game.
Leave your questions in the comments, I will try my best to get back to ya. Also, any feedback is much appreciated.
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