League of Legendsis constantly adding more Champions to its already expansive roster of choices. It seems with each new reveal, developers try to bring something new and interesting to the table, but some Champions seem to spark more interest than others. A great example of this is Vex, a new Yordle Champion that was recently released for League fans to master. The pint-sized purveyor of doom and gloom is a far cry from the Yordles that players are used to seeing trounce around the battlefield.
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Vex isn’t a sunshine-and-rainbows type and would much rather see the world cloaked in an endless sea of darkness. In fact, she’s so in-tune with the shadows that her own has manifested into its own living thing thanks to the cataclysmic event, The Ruination. The miasma that created the Shadow Isles gave Vex a place to finally call home, where she could embrace the darkness that she’s always felt so comfortable in.
Those looking to pick up and play this small package of hate inLeague of Legendscan benefit from the following tips.
10Utilizing Doom ‘N Gloom
Vex’s passive ability is pretty unique, giving players access to a powerful mage that can escape aggressive players and punish those that run away. Periodically, Vex will gain something called “Doom,” which alters her next auto attack into a buffed variant that will knock down, fear, and slow enemies for a short duration depending on her level. This can be a great way to bait a dash, blink, or dodge from a character as well as a good tool to pursue opponents as it causes them to lose control of their character for a moment.
Gloom is a bit more complicated but downright punishing in the right hands. Any enemy that dashes or blinks, or is hit by Vex’s E ability (Looming Darkness) becomes marked. This mark will last for 6 seconds. During this time, if Vex hits the enemy with an auto-attack, Mistral Bolt, or Personal Space, she will consume the mark and deal additional damage. This is great for applying pressure to fleeing enemies that have attempted to dash away.
9Save Personal Space To Mitigate Damage
Personal Space (Vex’s W ability) acts as both a damage mitigation and a damage-dealing ability. When players activate this ability, Vex will emit a small shockwave around herself that will dish out damage to all enemies or units caught within its blast radius. The potential damage output scales with ability power, meaning it can dish out decent numbers later on, but the real magic of Personal Space lies in the shield that Vex gains afterward.
Once the shockwave procs, Vex will obtain a hybrid resistance shield (against physical and magic damage) that scales much higher than its damage potential with ability power. Those that are speccing into AP will find themselves with a handy survival tool that should help them live through most heavy enemy attacks. It’s important to only use this shield when Vex will take a large amount of damage as it only lasts for 2.5 seconds and has a 20-second cooldown (12 seconds when leveled up fully).
8Focus On Dashing Or Blinking Enemies
This tip is a bit of an enigma because players should always be careful in “chasing enemies.” Players that have a good grasp on team communication can end up leading unaware players into skillfully set traps and one-sided team fights, so players should always be careful and aware of their surroundings before chasing down any enemy Champion.
That said, Vex’s damage boost on Gloom can be downright punishing. Players should always prioritize attacking an enemy that uses a dash or blink and becomes “marked,” as the window to consume the mark and deal additional damage is only 6 seconds.
7Don’t Panic Spam Personal Space
Vex can be quite the bursty damage-dealer when built and used correctly but she’s definitely a bit “squishy.” Players will take hefty damage from heavy-hitting enemy attacks, especially during the early game (and even more so against Champs that excel during the beginning stages of a match).
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Because of this, many new Vex players will find themselves popping their Personal Space ability whenever they engage in a fight out of fear of being nuked. This can be a big mistake considering Personal Space has such a heavy cooldown in the early game (20 seconds). It gets better as time goes on but players will still want to hold on to their W ability until they’re absolutely sure they’re going to take a hefty amount of damage. Activating this ability too soon will allow enemies to simply wait out the timer before hitting Vex with a damage-dealing ability. Players will need to pay attention to their opponent’s movements and “estimate” when they’re going to attack them with a heavy-hitting strike.
6Use Personal Space To Avoid Or Combat Melee Champions
Continuing from the previous point, players should keep their Personal Space available whenlaning against a Melee Championand only activate it when the Champion is actually in range to do damage to Vex. The Shadowy Yordle has a decent range, allowing her to dodge away from and weave through ranged enemy attacks but it’s much harder to effectively avoid Melee Champions, since they deal damage up-close-and-personal.
Popping Personal Space will help Vex “trade” with these types of Champions and can also be used as additional defense to survive a rush down attack, allowing her to escape back towards teammates or under the safety of a tower.
5Pursue Weaker Enemies With Shadow Surge
Vex’s ultimate ability can be incredibly difficult to avoid, as it allows her to essentially pursue an enemy Champion no matter where they are, so long as her initial ability skill shot connects. When activated, Shadow Surge will send Vex’s Shadow companion out (wherever player’s aim it), dealing damage and marking any enemy Champion that it connects with. Once Shadow collides with an enemy it will mark them and reveal them for four seconds. At any moment during this window, Vex can recast the ability and pull herself towards the target.
This ability is great for pursuing weaker enemies, or those that dance on the edge of Vex’s range.
4Use Looming Darkness To Set Up Shadow Surge
Although Shadow Surge has a pretty large hitbox, it can be pretty easy to miss a target Champion, especially if players are at a considerable range away from their opponent. In order to make it easier to land a Shadow Surge ultimate on a given enemy Champion, players should combo into it by using Looming Darkness first.
This quick AOE attack will slow any Champion it connects with for two seconds, making it easier for Vex to cast and strike them with Shadow Surge. This also works well for Vex’s skill shot ability, Mistral Bolt, which is capable of dishing out a large amount of damage in the latter half of a match.
3Shadow Surge Will Pursue Enemies Anywhere
One of the unique (and incredibly entertaining) parts of Shadow Surge is that it will pull Vex towards a marked Champion no matter where they may go. So long as players activate the recast within four seconds, they’ll be tugged through walls and terrain towards their target.
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This even works against enemies that have map-transitioning ultimate abilities, like Twisted Fate or Shen. If a Champion is marked and ends up transporting to an entirely different part of the map, Vex can still instantly pursue them if players are quick enough.
2Always Target The Lowest Champions First With Shadow Surge
Shadow Surge is a straightforward ultimate, but it does come with one interesting caveat that can help players score multi-kills if they’re paying attention. When a player hits an enemy with Shadow Surge and it does lethal damage (slays the enemy), then Shadow Surge becomes free to use once again for 12 seconds before it “ends” and begins its cooldown. This works if the first hit from the cast kills the enemy or if they are slain when Vex strikes them during her recast and pull.
Players that watch from the fringe during a team fight and pick off the weakest enemies can effectively attack and teleport between foes, dishing out tons of damage with a “refunded” version of Shadow Surge.
1Use Mistral Bolt and Looming Darkness To Clear Minions
Although many players will want to conserve their mana for early-game scraps, Vex is actually pretty Mana-friendly as the match drags on. Players that spec the right items will rarely find themselves running out of Mana in the mid-to-late game.
Because of this, players shouldn’t be afraid to use their damage-dealing abilities on minion waves. Vex has great minion-clearing capabilities thanks to Mistral Bolt and Looming Darkness having AOE properties.
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