Bel’Veth is League of Legends’ first Void champion to be released in over four years. With a menacing presence on the Rift and a relentless kit of damage-focused abilities, she can make for a scary pick in any team composition.
Bel’Veth is primarily played in the jungle role. Most of her kit has interactions with minions and monsters, so making the most out of Bel’Veth’s abilities to consume and gain powers from jungle camps shouldn’t be ignored. Her damage comes mostly from her auto attacks, which is good considering she scales incredibly well with attack speed.
Bel’Veth has a unique playstyle that sits in line with most modern champion releases. But experienced players could find that she plays similarly to other auto-attack-based melee junglers such as Master Yi and Olaf.
From runes, ability usage, itemization, and more, here’s everything you need to know about mastering the basics of playing Bel’Veth in your League games.
Runes
Bel’Veth is strongest when she’s using her rapid auto attacks as her most effective source of damage. Because of this, you’re going to want to take Lethal Tempo as your keystone of choice when playing the empress. The attack speed you gain from the rune is too strong to pass up when combined with Bel’Veth’s infinitely stacking passive.
Beyond your keystone, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, and Last Stand make for solid follow-up options in the Precision tree. You’ll also want to take Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight from the Inspiration tree as your secondary options to give yourself more sustain and survivability options.
Abilities
Passive: Death in Lavender
When Bel’Veth takes down champions and large monsters, she gains permanent stacks of attack speed. There is no cap to how much attack speed Bel’Veth can gain from her passive. To make the most of this ability, be sure to clear your side of the jungle as often as possible while emerging for ganks whenever enemy laners are in a position to be taken down. As an additional bonus, Bel’Veth gains even more temporary attack speed applied to her next two basic attacks immediately after casting an ability.
Q: Void Surge
Void Surge is Bel’Veth’s mobility ability. It allows Bel’Veth to dash in four different directions, with each of the four dashes having a separate cooldown. The ability’s cooldown scales with attack speed, making it work effectively in concert with Bel’Veth’s passive. Bel’Veth can’t dash through walls with Void Surge unless she is in her ultimate form.
W: Above and Below
This ability gives Bel’Veth a bit of crowd control. It slows and knocks up all enemies in a line in front of her. If an enemy champion is hit by the ability, it will refresh Void Surge’s cooldown in the direction of the enemy.
E: Royal Maelstrom
Royal Maelstrom is Bel’Veth’s main defensive ability, but it allows her to sit down and deal damage to champions around her as well. The ability gives her a burst of self-damage reduction and lifesteal for a brief period of time, while also dealing damage to enemy champions, minions, and monsters around her. This ability is best used when you’re surrounded by enemies and need to wait for backup to arrive, or when you’re low on health during the course of your jungle clear and need to get yourself back on track.
R: Endless Banquet
Endless Banquet allows Bel’Veth to passively deal true damage with every other basic attack, as long as she’s attacking the same target with consecutive auto attacks. Actively, Bel’Veth can consume Void Coral left behind by champions and epic monsters to take on the form of a giant manta ray. While in her alternate form, Bel’Veth gains extra attack speed, attack range, maximum health, and movement speed. Taking down more champions and consuming more Void Coral will extend the duration of Bel’Veth’s ultimate.
Itemization
Bel’Veth’s core build is focused around boosting her auto attacks. Since she’s a champion who revolves around basic attacks and stacking up the extra damage that she deals with them, most of her items will directly enhance her already relentless attack speed.
Related: The best Bel’Veth build in League of Legends
Bel’Veth’s core Mythic item is Immortal Shieldbow, which gives all of the stats she needs to effectively transition into the mid-game. Beyond Shieldbow, items such as Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Blade of the Ruined King, and Death’s Dance will also be effective in keeping Bel’Veth alive throughout the course of a teamfight, while still dealing as much damage with her auto attacks as possible.
Early game
In the early stages of the game, be sure to clear your jungle as often as possible. In comparison to her late-game effectiveness, Bel’Veth is incredibly weak in the early stages of games. A lack of stacks on her passive and inability to access her ultimate form make Bel’Veth pale in comparison to other champions on the Rift throughout the early game. To get yourself up to speed, try to focus on completing the first portions of your build while working on gaining the infinite stacks of Death in Lavender (P) that you need to be a late-game powerhouse.
Mid-game and late-game
Once you have a strong enough foundation of attack speed and innate damage, you’re ready to start looking for opportunities to effectively secure kills around the map. Bel’Veth’s ganking potential is much stronger in the mid-game than it is in the early game, so try to find opportunities to catch enemy players out of position. Players who are extending the laning phase or trying to splitpush in a side lane make for optimal targets.
Related: Best Bel’Veth counters in League of Legends
While Bel’Veth’s teamfight damage is respectable, her ceiling in chase-down and catch-out scenarios is impeccable. Her ability to stick onto enemy champions with Void Surge is an incredible tool. Try to find enemy players who are off on their own and pick them off so that your team has a numbers advantage in a potential ensuing teamfight.
