Released at the beginning of Season 11, Viego: The Ruined King is one of the latest additions to the world of League of Legends. What makes this new champion so good is the flexible opportunities between top, mid and jungle. Viego is arguably one of the strongest champions in the game… if you know how to play him correctly, hence why we’re making this Viego jungle guide, because some professionals don’t even know how to play this champion.
Even though Viego was released in January, he officially made his competitive debut 6 months later in the LCS 2021 Summer Split, and he performed pretty well. Statistics from the first week of the split by gol.gg show that Viego had a presence of 46.7% during the first weekend. You’re practically trolling your games if you don’t learn this champion.
Table of Contents
Skill Orders
To begin, you level his stun, Spectral Maw, to make killing red buff easier. Then you choose Q, Blade of the Ruined King, because it is his main source of damage and also procs it’s passive to provide more damage and healing. You level his W, Harrowed Path, third because it provides a generous attack speed buff while also giving him movement speed and camouflaging him.
You max your Q first because it is his main source of damage and healing. The E is maxed next because the attack speed buff it provides is powerful enough that it can change the outcome of a fight, while also letting you close in on an enemy or escape. His W, a stun, is pure utility and is to be maxed last.
Runes
This Viego jungle guide shows aggressive I like to be. I choose Predator to allow me to move quickly while also charging my W so I can easily stun my gank target. The W is also a dash, which procs Sudden Impact and provides a good spike in damage. You’ll be wanting to go for as many ganks as possible with this build, so Eyeball Collection is a good choice so you can be rewarded for taking part in killing opponents. Ultimate Hunter is a good choice because Viego’s ultimate is a big burst of AOE damage, and getting good resets can turn the tide of a fight in your favour, so naturally, you’d like to use it more.
Font of Life is great when combined with a Predator and Sudden Impact empowered Spectral Maw engage, so while you stun and burst the target, your allies also get some health back. Revitalize makes his Q’s passive just a bit stronger so you can bring your health back up faster after a good ol’ slap fight.
I tend to choose +8% ability haste over adaptive force and attack speed because his abilities and their effects are more impactful than either attacking faster or having them do a tiny bit more damage. The defence option is fairly situational, but I tend to choose health because it’s already chosen and I’m lazy.
Item Build
Starting Items
This build, and Viego himself, provides him with quite a bit of movement speed, so the Emberknife is the better option because you don’t need the slow active ability of the Hailblade.
You’ll also want to pick up the Stealth Ward and a Reffilable Potion, obviously. I’ve always valued a Stealth Ward over the Sweeper in the early game, as vision achievement is easier to accomplish than vision denial at such an early point.
Core Items
Viego needs some help in his builds. If you build pure damage, he is VERY squishy. Building a pure tank means no damage. Building bruiser, however, lets him deal quite a bit of damage while also being able to take some punishment. Kind of like the A-10 Warthog.
The first item you want to complete is the Immortal Shieldbow. It provides a good amount of attack speed while also healing and shielding, which are further buffed by your choice of the Revitalize rune. Your next two items, depending on the situation, should be either Sterak’s Guage or Death’s Dance. They both have a very high win percentage on Viego jungle, while also providing tankiness and damage at the same time. If the enemy has a lot of healing, then Chempunk Chainsword would be a decent replacement for one of these two in order to apply Grievous Wounds.
Now, if your opponents have hard cc in their kits, which they should if they aren’t noobs, then you should build a Mercurial Scimitar next. Damage, magic resistance, and the QSS active are all good reasons to buy it. If they don’t have hard cc, then the best option would be either Maw of Malmo- hahaha. Hahaha. I couldn’t finish typing that without laughing. That item is hot garbage.
Your last item should pretty much always be a Guardian’s Angel. It gives him more armor and attack damage while… being Guardian’s Angel…
Your boots are as always, situational. Mercury Treads against a comp with CC, Plated Steelcaps against a heavy AD team, or even the Ionian Boots of Lucidity if you’re feeling ballsy. I prefer the Boots of Speed, as they reduce slowing effects by 25% and are a constant movement speed buff for your engages.
Jungle Path
A Viego playing jungle should start red buff so you can get the health regeneration. Upon levelling up and choosing your Q, you go to the raptors. Hit as many of them as you can with your Q so you can proc the healing effect of your Q’s passive as much as possible, keeping your health nice and high.
After that, I like to go for the scuttle crab. Your W will break its shield and your damage is high enough to kill it fast enough to where you won’t be in too much danger. Head to blue buff to get the CD buff, and then gank the appropriate side lane. Even if you don’t end up with a kill, the combination of your double buff and Predator move speed empowered W gank should at least get a Flash from an enemy or two. If you’re feeling confident, you can even flash during the W charge to try and land it.
