TO START

Vora is an undeniably strong flanker, but her complex kit, relatively low dps, and high learning curve might prevent an aspiring Vora main from getting used to and excelling with her. In this guide, I will detail (from an experienced masters player with 60%+ WR with Vora) her playstyles and what makes her one of the strongest flankers of the realm.

ABILITIES

Primary Fire - Slash out with an agonizingly slow combo chain that goes medium (470), light (300), light (300), heavy (680). This combo resets back to the start after 3 seconds of not firing, and will not be interrupted by the usage of another ability.

(Passive) - Upon hitting an object with your primary fire, gain a darkness stack. You can store up to 5 darkness stacks, that each heal for 100 when used.

--Important-- The DoT from the primary fire does not proc Terminus's siphon nor Androxus's reversal. Spam your attacks on those champions with no mercy.

Obliteration - Jump forward a small distance, becoming crowd-control and damage immune while airborne. Upon landing, deal 500 damage in a small area around you. After landing, remain stuck in an idle animation for ~0.5 seconds
(Passive) - Consumes all stored darkness stacks when used. If used at full darkness stacks, this ability does 300 extra damage and slows enemies hit by 30% for 2 seconds.

Dark Siphon - Launch a vertical projectile that does 600 dmg. If you successfully hit an enemy with it, you will heal for 300 hp.
(Passive) - Consumes all stored darkness stacks when used. If used at full darkness stacks, this ability also cripples the enemy hit for 1.5 seconds.

--Important-- Make sure not to save this ability purely for the cripple. The damage is extremely important for securing a kill, and you gain stacks incredibly fast.

Tendril - Become spiderman, but with a 12-sec cooldown.

Harbinger's Wrath (ARMAGEDDON APPROACHES!!!) - Yell out at the top of your lungs and gain an extra 60% movement speed (Nimble 8) during the duration of the ult. You are completely invulnerable while screaming yet unable to execute anything while doing so. Once you shut your mouth, your character has 30% damage reduction and can slash at something, provided you adjust for the weird-ass camera angle when doing so. The slash executes anything under 66% hp (except invulnerable targets) and deals 1100 dmg + stuns whatever is hit by it for 1 second. Keep in mind the initial activation of the ult consumes 50% of the ult charge, while the rest of the ult charge is used over the duration or after executing something. This means you can retain ~50% if you use the ult purely for the invulnerability and speed to get yourself out of a sticky situation and then cancel it.

PICKING TALENTS

Unyielding Pressure - Your dark siphon now deals an additional 10% of your target's hp in damage.

(When to use) You should use this if the enemy team is running double support, if your team is lacking in damage against high hp tanks, or if you're playing on a small map like Jaguar falls or Brightmarsh. The extra dps is extremely impactful towards securing a kill or general poke, and allows you to hybrid really well as Vora. Play in your backline and poke until a target becomes isolated or a tank is low, then ult a tank or dive their backline.

Relentless Presence - Spiderman intensifies.

(When to use) You should use this if the map is very large, and the potential utility from your vine is too much to be ignored. Fish market, Serpent beach, Timber mill, all really good for this talent.

Deafening Silence - Obliteration now silences enemies hit for 1.5 seconds.

(When to use) Never

TECHNIQUES

Vora is not the standard get-in and blow everything up kind of flanker. With Vora, you have to use your brain and know what you're doing to be effective. I detail some useful techniques below.

How to kill:

Standard - This one is nice and simple. Slash out the first hit of your primary fire, use your dark siphon, and finish the combo with your primary fire. This will deal 2350 damage and kills most squishies. If the bastard is getting healed or uses one of those pesky hp cards, just vine straight above them and use your obliteration to shut em up for good (2850).

The Trap - Dealing with a pesky enemy like Seris who will be able to run away before you can kill them with the standard combo? Wait until after your 2 light hits finish, and then use your dark siphon. Because your damage trickles in slowly rather than bursts out all at once, most players won't even notice they need to escape until it's too late. After they're crippled, finish them with your heavy hit. Very useful for Vora on Vora crime as well.

The Cycle - Dishing out damage to a frontline? You probably don't want to immediately use your siphon. Wait until after the heavy hit and then use it. You'll slash out right after with your medium hit, dealing 1750 damage in a very short amount of time and keeping the frontline from being able to escape. This way of using your dark siphon also maximizes the damage per second you do as Vora.

The Solo Ult - Tanks don't win the 1 v 1 against you, not if you have your ultimate. If you're dueling a tank, try and figure out where their team is while continually poking and sustaining off them. They have help? Use the Cycle and then stop peeking. Isolated and below 50% hp? Show them who's boss; laugh in shrill screams and invulnerability as they fall before your scythe.

The Solo Ult (2) - If you're ulting a squishy, it should only be because you would lose the 1 v 1 scenario without it and probably lack an easy escape. Vora's ult is best used on tanks or as a jailbreak card - this scenario shouldn't be a common occurrence. You're probably panicking and using it as a last ditch effort. It wouldn't be unbelievable to consider that the enemy doesn't actually die from your ult in such a situation because you misjudged their hp. If so, you aren't out of tricks yet. Slash out once with your primary fire (470), then immediately use your obliteration (500). Since the ult itself deals 1100 dmg when not executing, you should be dealing at least 2070 (2370 with max stacks) dmg. If they have any level of resilience and you were 1 shot, this will not work. Try to avoid this situation in the first place.

Spidey Stuff:

You must know how to use your mobility to be an effective Vora. Map knowledge is very important and knowing where to vine is very helpful. I won't (and probably can't) tell you about all the really insane vine spots, but I can give you a general idea on how to truly become Spiderman.

General - Always jump right before you Tendril, and try and gain max distance out of your vine. The momentum carries, so vining further out means you move faster, cover more distance, and become much more of a threat.

Bootleg Master Riding - Your tendril can often get you places significantly faster than your horse can by default, so using your vine early creates a significant space advantage for your team if done correctly. Try to find and recognize early vine spots in order to get dismounts, or obtain an advantageous position.

Positioning - Your tendril offers you insane potential in terms of being where you can be most effective and choosing all of your fights. Be on the lookout for abandoned high ground on the enemy team, exposed supports, etc. Make sure to make the most of your vine as a mobility option, rather than simply an escape.

Diving - Never fly straight at the enemy. Use your vine lateral to their sightlines and try to get behind them if you can before attacking. This often means the difference between getting a pick and feeding your brains out.

In Combat - The most basic usage of your Vine in such a scenario is looking up at a nearby wall and vining upwards. It makes you a bit harder to hit, procs related vine cards that give you an advantage in your fight, and can set you up to use obliteration as a finishing move.

Vining in such a way that you sail above your target's head is usually more effective, however, as it makes you much, much harder to hit. Keep in mind it is comparatively much simpler to aim at your target and attack them while vining in such a manner than it is for them to hit you. You know what way you're going to vine and already know you need to rotate around 180% to hit them. They likely don't have the huge-ass projectile that you do, and vining over their head will catch them off guard.

Running Away - There will be times when you get caught off guard and get hit with some initial damage. Unless you panic ult them, you're not going to win such a duel, not with Vora dps. You need to be a p*ssy and get the f*ck out. Make a full 180-degree turn and be quick about it; look for walls at a 90% angle that you can vine to and out. Alternatively, if your ult is ready and you're near a corner, use your ult, turn the corner, cancel it, and vine away. Avoid making the team fight a 4 v 5 at all costs.

Poking:

Vora has the best poke potential out of all flankers. Her trickle damage reveals enemy champions around walls for a short period of time and hitting her Dark Siphon gives a free 300 - 1300 hp, depending on your loadout cards and how many darkness stacks you have stored. This means if you use your Siphon as you turn a corner, you're likely getting full out of caut heals without needing a support player to get you back on your feet. Her projectile often also clips through the edges of walls, meaning you can very easily hit another player for free around a wall, without exposing yourself at all. Make sure to take advantage of this.

This is where Nimble and The Maw's Embrace comes in handy. Having the ability to angle someone in a superior fashion to what they'll ever be capable of means you can easily trickle away most of their hp without getting hit back at all. This translates into extremely effective poking capability, and it wins you games.

Obliteration Usage:

Escape - This is probably the most common thing Vora players f*ck up, so I had to make a section dedicated to this one ability. DO NOT, under any circumstance, use Obliteration right after you take a bunch of burst damage in an open area. The trickle heal will do nothing because the attack put you under cauterize, and the usage of Obliteration will lock you out from doing ANYTHING for about a second after. You will die, and you will look like a total idiot. Vining out, using your ult, anything would be better than using your Obliteration in such a scenario.

You can, however, use your Obliteration to escape if and only if you are right next to a corner you can hide behind with the small forward distance the ability provides.

Finish Him - Using your Obliteration as a finisher is what you should be using the ability as in the majority of scenarios. It's often faster to deal that last important damage with this ability rather than your primary fire, and you're invincible for the windup part of it. Keep in mind however that if you miscalculated the amount of damage you need to finish an opponent, Obliteration will usually result in your death. Vining in above the target before using obliteration is also a very good way to output a ton of free dmg.

Disruption - Obliteration can also often disrupt the enemy and save your life. Timing the ability into important enemy burst, like a Sha Lin crippling arrow, a Cassie blast shot, a Lian ult/eminence, will deny the enemy important damage. The best part is if timed properly, the enemy likely won't be able to take advantage of the window where you can't do anything, meaning there is no downside to the ability usage.

Positioning- There are a lot of single vine areas, where you just need a little bit more movement forward in order to land on the platform you want. Using your obliteration to cancel your momentum and landing on that high spot is often extremely helpful. Never do this in full view of the enemy team however.

Damage- After the obliteration lockout change from ~0.75s to 0.5s, using your obliteration for extra damage becomes a viable strategy, especially on ambush and super close range fights. The key here is having max darkness stacks means your obliteration does an extra 300 dmg and slows. This means that when entering a fight with max stacks, using your siphon immediately may not always yield the best results, especially when considering that extra 300 dmg might have won you the duel.

This should generally be considered against hitscan champions lacking in burst (tyra, viktor, lex, etc). If you can use your obliteration in a range that will switch your position from in front to behind the enemy, you'll likely disappear from their field of view and the knock-back will disorient your opponent. The extra damage will make something like a siphon unnecessary, and the reduced lockout means it's much harder to actually punish the play. It's definitely a niche usage of your obliteration, but it does get a ton of value in the scenarios that fit its use. Its worth keeping in the back of your mind, at least.

Crowd Control Immunity - Lastly, Obliteration can be used as a cc counter. Inara, Bk, Seris, Maeve, Pip, etc, all have ults that you can cleanse or stop with intelligent usage of your Obliteration. Make sure to time it correctly.

Ult Usage:

Vora's ult is incredibly useful when used correctly. It is both a way to attack the enemy and a get out of jail free card. The key factor is knowing you can cancel your ult. Pressing E (or whatever your ult is bound to) again after the ult is used will cancel the ult - giving you a maximum of 50% of your ult back. The movement speed (nimble 8) also really helps you get in close to execute or retreat.

When to execute: Generally the idea is to one, make sure they're below 50% hp. Too often you'll see someone you think you can execute but your ult won't kill. Two, they're under the effects of cauterize. Three, if you have a good chance of surviving after you execute your target. You may not need to survive if executing a Nando or something that just won't die, the trade is generally worth it when executing tanks. Do not execute a damage however if you aren't sure you'll survive the aftermath.

When to run away: You suddenly get jumped on by a flanker, you need to immune an ult and you don't have your obliteration, etc. The invulnerability, cc immunity and speed will get you out from most scenarios - combined with your vine, you should live. Make sure to cancel the ult by pressing the activation key to keep a large percentage of it.

ITEMS

Best Buys:

1: Cauterize - Vora needs Cauterize, just like yo mamma needs my - ahem. Buy it, max it as soon as you can. Having Cauterize 3 makes such a huge difference in all your fights as Vora, especially with such low DPS

2: Nimble - Nimble really helps enhance her advantage in poke fights around walls. Superior movement speed to the opponent you're fighting means you can angle the enemy into your shots while they can't see you much more effectively. This translates into a huge advantage when you're playing around any wall or obstacle.

3: Life Rip - This item enhances the ease at which you can gather Darkness stacks without losing too much of your hp, and it acts as a pre-emptive heal during duels if you're able to pull off an ambush due to the trickle damage. This is a great item to have on Vora.

4: Haven - You know the drill, damage reduction is always good.

5: Chronos - If you're running a damage reduction vine build, this item will be your 2nd best friend (after cauterize). Having the extra vine cooldown reduction often translates into 3 vines per duel, which makes you much more mobile and tanky! This is a great item to invest in.

Good Buys:

1: Master Riding - Your vine offers insane mobility, generally more than having a faster horse can provide. However, when playing unyielding pressure, you may want to save your vine initially so master riding becomes really good for getting touches for point or a good flank.

2: Morale Boost - Your ult is a very powerful tool, having it more often can make the difference between a point fight win, or loss. You should use this item instead of life rip if your supports are pretty good.

3: Veteran - This item is always gonna be worse than haven, but if you already have haven 2 and are still getting bursted down really fast, this item is worth buying due to its low cost and synergy with haven

Ok Buys:

1: Kill to Heal - You already have plenty of self-sustain, healing after kill/elim is really overdoing it.

2: Wrecker - Against Torv/Ruckus/Fernando, consider it. Anything else, no.

3: Resilience - If you can't Obliteration the cc reliably, this should be considered

4: Bulldozer - Because your projectiles are so huge, when fighting against an enemy team with a Ying, often the deployables get in the way and deny important dmg. It may be worth the credits since its cheap, but it's probably not.

Never Buys:

1: Illuminate - You can already see invisible targets with your huge ass projectiles and tick damage.

2: Rejuvenate - 2000 hp flanker and you want 5% extra healing from others per level? Bullshit.

LOADOUT CARDS:

Here I will rate Vora's loadout cards to try and give you an idea of where you're getting the most 'bang' for your buck. A good loadout should always have at least one of these cards.

Best Cards:

A Dance with Fate - Best tendril cooldown option

Sharpened Resolve - Extra healing on Darkness stacks = better dueling and poking potential

The Maw's Embrace - Extra speed after hit really impacts your poking and hunting capability

What May Come - DR on tendril extremely impactful in Vora's dueling and fleeing capabilities

A Broken Path - Extra Healing on hitting your Dark Siphon, situationally better than A Sharpened Resolve but requires more from the player

Good Cards:

A New Resolve - Hp is always good

A Change of Faith - Less reliable but potentially more impactful tendril cooldown option

Crimson Ascent - Pretty good dark siphon option if you're playing unyielding pressure and on a long range map. Having this will make your poke much more reliable and impactful.

Elegant Pairing - Synergizes well with pretty much any vine build, useful no matter how many points are put in

Ok Cards:

OtherWorldly Tether - The extra shielding on vine gives more buffer than DR normally would (except when the DR is stacked), but the internal cooldown of 8 seconds restricts this card to 1 vine loadouts.

Ruthless Elegance - Good for dueling buck. Otherwise, terrible.

Unified in Purpose - The DR isn't enough to make much of an impact on its own, and it's not worth investing points into. Has some use as a filler card though.

NEVER:

False Idol - Too little, too late. This will never help you.

Deadly Dance - Weak amount of ult gen on a long-ass cooldown... Next

Broken Promises - With 5 points into it, this card is kill to heal lv 1. Absolutely worthless