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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
The 2020 Victus Nox is a hybrid bat that comes in BBCOR and, in May of 2021, a drop 10, 8 and 5 USSSA. The Nox complements the Victus Vandal—which is the premiere Victus bat and a light swinging single-piece aluminum. Of all the data we gathered on the different versions of the NOX, we found the swing weight lighter than we expected. Our measurements on the Nox put it on the lighter side of balanced—which is a bit different than other takes which consider a bit heavy. But, we’re confident in our swing weight scales and think the Nox should be considered a balanced bat—not heavy, not light but just right.
Generally, mid-range swinging two-piece hybrid bats perform much like the Voodoo or, these days, The Goods. The Nox also uses the same tapered barrel wall found in other bats like the Vandal, CAT 8, Axe Hyerwhip, Rawlings VELO, and 5150s.
Victus added weight to the barrel to give it a heavier MOI. In BBCOR, we find the bat to be an average swing weight—not end-loaded. It is more balanced than it is end-loaded or hand-loaded. The drops 10, 8, and 5 in the USSSA allow you to dial in what kind of swing weight you want. The 29-inch drop 10 is quite a bit light. The 32-inch drop 5 is a log. As such, you can dial in where you want it. Compared to competing bats with the same length and weight categories, the swing weight is about the average in the industry.
By way of general recommendations, the bat is built for the player that wants the reliability of an alloy barrel, the smooth feel of a two-piece, and a price point that’s reasonable compared to other high-end bats. Although it’s year one, feedback so far has been very, very good in all its models.
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| 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
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If you want a balanced hybrid bat in BBCOR, the best place to start looking is at DeMarini’s Voodoo Balanced. The Voodoo has dominated the light swinging two-piece hybrid bat space for going on a decade. Now, as the Voodoo morphs into The Goods, and as the Voodoo name gets shelved, we look forward to seeing how a bat like the Nox works out.
For USSSA bats, the most comparable hybrid is Marucci’s Cat Connect series of bats. You can also check out The Goods or the Select series from Slugger.
There is no version of the NOX from 2019 or 2020. 2021 NOX will be the first time Victus releases a two-piece hybrid bat to the market. They claim they have been working on it for eight years—and that might be true considering they were purchased by Marucci at that time as well as, now, Marucci getting purchased by a more prominent conglomerate.
The Victus Nox is a two-piece hybrid bat. Meaning, the handle of the bat is composite (plastic), and the barrel is aluminum. Hybrid bats are typical. Unique to the NOX, though, is its variable wall design. The inside of the barrel has different levels of thickness. The variable wall thickness, as they call it, allows to spread out the length of the sweet spot, keep the swing weight down, and extend the length of the barrel. Several other bats do this, too, including the Marucci CAT 8 line of bats as well as the VELO from Rawlings.
Oddly, the NOX claims to have added more mass to the barrel. So, it intends to be an end-loaded bat, not a light swinging one. We will be able to tell better when we get one in hand here in the coming weeks.
The overall rating uses seven different weighted metrics to determine our overall score. Half of total rating comes from the player and our exit speed tests (Player Rating: 25%, Performance: 25%).The other categories are Relevance (20%), Demand (10%), Durability (10%), Resell Score (5%), and Tech Specs (5%).
*: When a bat is denoted by a star (*) it is a preliminary rating. Expect it to be updated as we learn more about the bat and gather more data.
(PlaRa) Player Rating: We measure player rating from user reviews. Those users include our own hitters that we test at the lab as well as reviews we find online.
(ExVe) Performance: Performance measures the exit speeds and distances we capture in our hitting lab with HitTrax using these bats.
(Relv) Relevance: We measure the number of sizes and the MOI of the bat. Bats with a wider range of options get a better score.
(Dmnd) Demand: Demand is measured by consumer sentiment and the buzz around the bat.
(Drb) Durability: A bat’s durability is measured by user reviews as well as feedback from manufacturers.
(ReSl) Resell Score: Based on the price the bats go for used. Higher prices mean greater user demand which means, generally, a better bat. A resell value closer to its original price means a higher score.
(Tech) Tech Specs: We rate the bat on its technological advancements from previous years and compared to the industry at large. This is our chance to reward companies who are trying to innovate.
MOI
MOI or Mass Moment of Inertia is a measurement of bat swing weight. This quantifies how difficult it is to swing a bat. The industry often refers to this as things like End Load or Balanced but those words have been overused to the point of meaninglessness. We measure the actual swing weights of each bat we test using the industry-standard pendulum period, balance point, and scale weight. You can read more about that here.
Price
The price is the original MSRP price of the bat.
Type
The types of bats are single-piece alloy (SPA), two-piece composite (TPC), single-piece composite (SPC), hybrid (Hyb.), and wood (Wood). Hybrid bats are made of composite handles and alloy barrles.
Date
The estimated date the bat began distribution.
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