Talk:Vel'Koz/@comment-26489540-20151022142524/@comment-9048637-20151023041959

Pen is always preferable to raw AP on Vel. Liandry's and Void are your core damage items. Luden's is probably the next best choice for raw damage, and the move speed helps you kite better; you can consider rushing it after your CDR option if you're getting ahead in lane, since the proc is strongest in the early to mid.

That said, I do often wind up getting Rabadon's as a final item. The reason is basically that Vel'Koz is, against teams without strong diving power, so absurdly safe that he's one of the few mages I feel comfortable foregoing Zhonya's or other defensive choices on, so at that point you may as well go the full mile and get Hat. That said, if they do have good divers, never feel afraid to get Zhonya's instead. The difference in damage is not so significant that it's worth trading the stasis active out if the latter's at all useful to you. If you're just getting into Vel'Koz, I'd say default to Zhonya's (or another defensive choice, like Banshee's) over Rabadon's; as you grow more confident and experienced, you'll get a feel for when you can safely omit it in favour of raw damage.

The other reason I wind up getting Rabadon's, mind, is that I cap out my CDR through runes (scaling CDR blues), masteries (all four points in Sorcery) and Morello's/Athene's (usually Morello's, though if you're up against a hard AP lane like LeBlanc then consider Chalice into Athene's). If you're not running a runes/masteries set up that gives you 20% CDR, I urge you to buy another CDR choice if you're looking for more damage; Twin Shadows, as mentioned above, is a good one that I used to run myself when I was running flat CDR blues rather than scaling. Hitting max CDR is more important than your AP; and remember that CDR scales cumulatively, meaning that the last point is far more valuable than the first. It's not that you *need* max CDR, but it is more valuable than anything else besides your pen options.

One final note: I continue to argue that Rylai's not a great item on Vel'Koz. Especially now that it's being reworked, the only ability you're getting anything out of it on is your W. Which, sure, is better than nothing, but I will always that if you need to kite better, an MS option like Luden's is stronger. I won't say it's outright bad, because it's difficult for Rylai's to be outright bad on anyone with AP scalings at the moment, but I do hold that it's suboptimal.