This is my first ever guide, and it is for Zilean, the Chronokeeper. He is the first Champion I got 'addicted' to on LoL, so much so that I stopped playing him for a long time, recently I started up again, and thought I should impart my Zilean 'wisdom' onto the internet.

I think that Zilean is an underestimated champion who is very versatile when known how to play, hopefully this build helps you play him your own way.

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Pros + Has a great speed buff/debuff + Can lower his cooldowns + Stops APC/ADC needing GA + A global XP passive

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Cons -To Play effectively, uses a lot of mana -No CC (speed debuff is not counted) -Hard to time ult correctly

Heal

I usually take Heal as Zilean has no healing abilities (apart from his Ult) - so laning at low levels is very hard without it

Flash

I nearly always take Flash as, even though Zilean can speed buff himself or speed debuff an enemy, CC will wreck him, so a jump over a wall to escape; or place a critical bomb, will be perfect for Zilean

Other Spells

Clairvoyance

I will take this instead of Heal if I do use it.
Note: Only use CV if you know how and when it is useful (obviously you need practice if you haven't used it before)

Clarity

I don't usually take it, but if you notice that your AD carry (or team, if thinking late game) is mana hungry or know from experience that they are always oom, this is great for you. Especially as Zilean is mana hungry too

1. Switch Vampirism with Runic Affinity .
This is only for Zilean's with very friendly junglers, or a good premade team
2. Switch Phasewalker with another point in Vampirism .
This is for Zilean's who want to stick to their ADC's - this will result in equal backing time, and a teeny bit more sustain - and who doesn't want more sustain?
3. Switch to 9/0/21!
This will give Zilean some starting damage and carry him through to mid game, while dropping off parts of his supporting ability (sometime recomended)
For example:

• Greater Quintessence of Gold: Zilean Needs gold to work basically, so the 3 gold per 10 comes in very handy
  
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: The Mage Pen Marks may not be very supporty, but you need them if you are going to turn a fight around, remember, in a team fight, a qwq could turn the game
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Mage Resist is a must against those pokes you will succumb to
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: A little more armour in the laning phase is needed against those pesky ADC’s

Switch out with....

You could switch out the Marks with some AP to get an edge if you wanted – only recommended with AP Zilean
You could change Glyphs with Mana Regeneration
You may want to change Seals with Mana Regeneration, but only if you feel the ADC isn’t usually doing that much damage to you

Heightened Learning: This is Zilean’s passive. It gives the entire team 8% increased experience gained. This gives a great advantage early game as your team can get Ult’s first and push the enemy’s out of lane quicker


Time Bomb: This is Zilean’s Q. This allows Zilean to place a bomb above an enemy or ally head lasting 4 seconds; after this time, the bomb will go off and deal damage to the surrounding area and it (if it is an enemy).
This allows for poking enemies away from their team mates (don’t want to get hurt) and putting bombs on your team mates while they run into the fight (no friendly fire with it)

You're going to want to max out Time Bomb before Rewind and before Time Warp.

• Try placing a bomb on an enemy when they are low health and near their turret, it might push them out of lane
• Put a bomb on a team mate’s head when they enter a fight, you could help deal some critical dammage
• It uses a lot of mana early game, make sure to conserve it

Rewind: This is Zilean’s W. This lowers the cooldowns of all his abilities (except this one) by 10 seconds. This cannot be learned at level 1 for obvious reasons.
As Zilean’s Q has a 10 second cooldown at all levels, this allows for double bombing

You're going to want to max out Rewind after Time Bomb and before Time Warp.

• As Zilean’s Q has a 10 second cooldown at all levels, use the combination: q > w > q to insta-bomb
• When your Ult is on cooldown, use Rewind as much as possible – especially when at base
• Using Rewind with your Time Warp means late game you can buff yourself and an ally before the first buff is gone

Time Warp: This is Zilean’s E. This allows Zilean to either give himself or allies a speed buff or enemies a speed defuff that changes in duration as level increases


You're going to want to max out Time Warp after Rewind and after Time Bomb.

• Use Time Warp To get into lane quicker, or run away from enemies
• If an enemy has the Boot enchantment Enchantment: Furor or maybe Boots of Swiftness/ Mobility Boots, you want to use Time Warp on them, not yourself
• If you chose to go with the enchantment Enchantment: Captain, speed buff yourself, so your allies still get the general buff for following you

Chrono Shift: This is Zilean’s R/Ult. Once activated, this allows Zilean to put him or his allies in a position where for 7 seconds they are ‘safe’ from death. If they get killed while Zilean’s Ult is active, they will go into stasis for 2 seconds and come out of it with base health plus double Zilean’s AP at the time.

You're going to want to max out Chronoshift at 6, 11 and 16 as with all standard Ult’s

• Use Chronoshift On the main damage dealer on your team (if they are in danger of dying)
• If your Ult is down, make sure your team knows. (This is easier in Season 3, as the green sign on the profiles to the left tells who’s Ult is up)
• Remember your Ult lasts for 7 seconds, so don’t try and hit it in the last second, you might fail with it

Not much can be said about the Skill sequence apart from this:

Q

Dem bombs.... Get a point early for poke, then at level 4 and then at 7, level it up when you can

W

This resets your cooldowns by 10 seconds (all levels), so getting a point at level 2, to get a qwq combo going (see Unique Skills), save it for the odd level up when you can't get your q

E

Get this at level 3, even though it is your support skill, it is not needed until harassing is happening (in a perfect world, this is around level 3). Max this last

R

Of course, always get a 6, 11 and 16 – it’s a life saver.... Literally
NOTE: When on cooldown, your w will lower it, so use it as much as you can

Although it may not appear so, Zilean is a great asset in a team or with one person

Laning with and AD Carry

Pre Level 6

All you can really do until you get a philo is wander around the AD Carry, potentially taking hits if unmissable, or placing bombs to poke the other carry and support/tank (If against a lane with a support, I highly recommend, if possible, bombing the support – it forces them away from xp and may make them recall)

Post Level 6

Once your Carry and the enemy lane has level 6, it becomes harder for you.
If you are pushed out of lane with your Carry, use your E on him to get him into lane as soon as possible
If you are left to defend while the Carry buys and/or heals, just use your bombs to kill minions and don’t use your w unless the enemy lane is also out (you may be there some time and mana is needed)

Team Fights/Pushing

Team Fights

In Team fights, try the qwq combo (q to place a bomb, w to reset cooldown of bomb, q to place another bomb). It is also recommended to place the two bombs on different champs, to sustain the fight for the cooldowns of your team.
Basically: If your two combs are on 3 second delays, rather than one go off instantly and one on a delay, then other champions can deal damage while enemies either stay in or run away, then you can either get the critical damage to get them killed by allies or while they are running away your bombs can kill them (depending on luck and timing – practice is needed)

Pushing

When pushing (after an ace maybe), use Shurlyas if you have it, and give a good dps or aoe champ, the speed buff to get the minions out of the way first. Anything else is up to you

Whilst your Q is amazing for farm, your ADC won't appreciate the stolen farm.
In season 4, with the Relic Shield, killing some minions your ADC might miss are good for both of you, just be careful you actually have a Spoils of War stack

17/05/2013
-Added update log
-Removed Liandry's and added Wota
-Changed Notes on item build
-Added APC section

25/11/2013
-Changed support Build for season 4
-Added Matery page
-Changed Mastery Justification
-Changed Farming

Coming soon:
Change Teamwork section
Add section explaining what season 4 has done to Zilean
Carry page for season 4
Lower page information for season 4