I've been running vi top quite a bit at around 1500 elo, and I tend to max E for one big reason
It doesn't require you to be in melee range to harass. I find darius, jax, etc, being a lot easier to deal with due to this. It also lets me clear through caster minions when i'm behind without putting me in any danger.

To be completely honest... Vi sucks (kind of) She is countered by 80% of the top laners you will see, she is good/easy versus AP based or all around non threat champs. So just play someone else...

By the way, Esthasolyte. One thing I think your guide should cover is getting E at 1 but still maxing Q against early game people for poke back potential such as Vs. Pantheon. I found E had great early game damage and the shield instantly negated at least half his spears.

Wtf? Whymax Q !?

May take a look into that soon.

Thats not a lot of text, havent tested Atmas much yet, but I suppose if you rush avarice for the gold, it could be useful.

Came on here and made an account specifically to make contact with the author here and ask a bit of back and forth about Vi defensively.

In a couple games I have been placed in the not too uncommon lane pairing of Vs. Darius and found that defensively focusing in health/armor really helped against him, granted focusing in defense neutered offensive play, but I found that Atma's Impaler really kicked me back into the game mid-late game no sweat. Would you be willing to look into some mathematics as to how often this may be optimal?

Sorry for the brick of text, mobile phone doesn't show typing interface all too well.

If you choose your trades carefully, you can abuse your shield to devour some of his E damage, and you can outrun him by using Q against his slow.

Also I'm really dumbfounded that people actually level E over Q. Let them stay bad.

Olaf counters Vi hard. His ult negates your knockbacks, and he can win every trade with his true damage. Furthermore, his chase game is significantly better than Vi's