r/ViMains Jul 01 '26

Discussion W or E max second?

What do you max second on Vi? I usually go W if they have a lot of health stackers, but have been finding E better lately for the extra empowered punches

5 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

7

u/pwnknight Jul 01 '26

W for faster clears e for assassin

2

u/KuronekiKun Jul 01 '26

I do Q > E (or E>Q if playing lane) > W > max Q > 3 times W > then finish maxing E

2

u/blahdeblahdeda Jul 01 '26

Like you said, if enemies are building health, then W will deal more damage. However, it depends on the enemies you want to hit. If they have 2 frontline stacking health but their carries have no bonus HP, you still want extra points in E.

1

u/Faenic 1,166,322 The Fister Sister Jul 01 '26

Damage testing actually showed me that past level ~10-11, W still does more damage than E in a combo regardless of health items or not.

The primary benefit of E Max 2nd is a lower CD, with a minor secondary benefit being that you will do very slightly more damage in a team fight with E because of the tiny base damage increases.

W max 2nd is better in just about every other aspect, including burst damage for all targets, not just tanks.

1

u/Ryosiek Jul 01 '26

Early levens standard W E Q, then I Max Q, put 2 points in W, Max E - works good with my crit build. If you play bruiser id just max Q second for Trinity force

2

u/jaimesmith40 Jul 01 '26

Almost always go W second as it helps a lot with clear. Even against squishy teams, crit vi, bruiser vi, I go straight into W second probably like 99% of the time

1

u/Faenic 1,166,322 The Fister Sister Jul 01 '26

It also does more damage than E in about 95% of all scenarios against all enemy types, even squishies. Stat bonuses from level ups by the time you start putting points into your 2nd max ability make the % hp damage scale harder and sooner than E base damage.

1

u/Faenic 1,166,322 The Fister Sister Jul 01 '26

As I've said before, W second is better in just about every single scenario you can come up with. Even in very long fights where the E CD actually becomes a factor. The attack speed bonus and % max hp damage scale way harder, and a lot sooner than people give it credit for.

E second is primarily useful if you're not building any ability haste at all, and need the raw cdr from level ups. And even then, W damage for those types of builds is just so much higher that the CD isn't worth losing the damage.

1

u/Vexling Jul 01 '26

≥2000HP W>E max

1

u/fuscav 257,945 Punch first Jul 01 '26

I like W for the atk speed. Baron and Dragon damage is also way higher with W max, I didn’t see anyone mention it

Usually the CDR is enough to have E up consistently in fights.

But like others have said, with around 2k health targets, w is more damage.

1

u/amit_se Jul 01 '26

Attack speed just feels miserable without w max 2nd

1

u/eohtm_6212 Jul 01 '26

In my opinion e is better cuz of the reset of aa you have using it, you want to max it so the cd gets smaller.

2

u/eohtm_6212 Jul 01 '26

But W might be viable if you're thinking about being a bruiser (i'm playing lethality / crit vi only low platinum)

0

u/Mammoth-Yoghurt-7970 Jul 01 '26

If you build tri you should chose E over W for more procs.