This build has been archived and is for historical display only

This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

We recommend you take a look at this author's other builds.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

Zed Build Guide by

Daki || AD Caster Zedward Scissorhands

6,755 Views

0 Comments

Zed Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion More Zed Guides

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Ability Order

Zed Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

Zed is an incredibly high mobility assassin. He has plenty of escapes and ways to chase an enemy with his seemingly countless shadows. In this build we want to take advantage of his mobility and shadows, doing the most damage we can from afar, while still having the CD and burst potential in close encounters. Overall, this build sacrifices the balance of Zed in order to maximize his burst potential.

Pros / Cons

PROS

+ Incredible Laning Phase
+ Strong all game
+ Gap-closer/escape
+ High skill cap
+ Fits into most team comps
+ Flexible item build

CONS

- Weak burst when behind
- Squishy
- Little to none AOE
- No CC aside from slow
- can be easily countered

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

For runes you either want to go with Flat AD runes, Flat Armor pen runes, a combination of AD and Armor pen runes, or AD runes with 2 life-steal quints. I prefer flat Armor pen runes since they are more effective after first buy-they just simply scale better. I would also like to mention that if you are going against an AD champ, then scaling magic resist would be better than flat MR.

Items

Ravenous Hydra
Increases Zed's burst, sustain, and overall damage.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
The cool down helps harass your enemy if you primarily focus on using your Q. Keep track of your energy, because running out of it could be what kills you.

Youmuu's Ghostblade
Adds even more cool down to the build. It makes managing energy more difficult, but makes using abilities more accessible. The amazing active can help secure turrets, escape from bad situations, increase chase potential, and aide in 1 v 1s. It also offers crit chance, which may very well win you an unlikely fight.

Last Whisper
For how good the item is, on top of it's gold efficiency, there is no reason to not get this item. Don't bother with the . This build does not synergize with it's stacking mechanic.

Mercurial Scimitar
If you can get accustomed to using this item, then you will be open to so many more opportunities to outplay your opponents. You can use it to save your life, or bait out ultimates and other abilities. On top of the active, the item also provides decent magic resist as well as insane damage.

Bloodthirster
Once you buy this item, the enemy squishes should be ****ting their pants, if they all ready aren't. It offers more insane damage to add to your burst, a little shield based off of damage, and a whopping %20 lifesteal.

Buy Order

The ideal build path would be to buy the first, then and then . These items will continue on to build into the , youmous ghostblade, and . After you got your first three items, build into the for an insanely cheap power spike. Follow it up with the and . The buy order of these two items is situational.

The can be replaced with a defensive item like the , , or . is another good situational replacement.

Zed does not build in this build. The crit isn't necessary when half the time your doing damage with your shadows. If you get into a close encounter, then the will provide you with sustain, and possibly a small shield.

How to Play Zed

Laning/Roaming

With this build, focus on farming. Don't sacrifice lane pressure for lost farm. I'm not saying don't apply any lane pressure, but read the game, and know when it's plausible. If you're close enough then last hit with basic attacks, if not, then use your shurikens. Once you get your 1st back items and have reached level 6, you should have enough damage to kill almost anyone you desire. Buy yourself wards and a scanner on 1st or 2nd back. Having vision and denying vision is essential when playing any assassin. Grab blue buff when you can. Consistently check whats going on around the map. When roaming, focus on ganking bot lane, unless top lane is a squishy target or a target with limited escapes. Don't ever roam before level 6! Stay in lane to get your farm and experience.

Teamfights

Like all assassins, your goal is to take out the carries, generally the mid carry or ADC. Do not ever use your ultimate as an engage. Examples of when you want to use it is when an enemy is caught out of position, when enemies have use crowd control which may of prevented you from getting the kill, or simply just several seconds after a team fight starts. Basically, be patient and know when to strike - don't force it.

Mechanics/Tactics

It would be almost impossible for me to dish out all of the mechanically related tips for Zed. There are key tips I could mention, but I'll leave that for another build, possibly the build I actually used when playing ranked, even if the playstyle that goes along with this build is quite different, most of the mechanics are still applicable. It's just a matter of what to use and when.

Conclusion/Summary

Thanks guys for for taking a look at my first Mobafire, build-guide! I've been making this guide for several months, and have only now completed it. Some things have changed in League over such recency "COUGH" - Zed AS Nerf, but that just makes this build even more volatile. Keep in mind that this build is to be played as AD Caster Zed. And while this is a perfectly viable route, there are still better, more balanced builds in the competitive scene. But if you want to be heavy on the damage while still having plenty of escapes, then this build is great. On top of that, it's also exceptional at play making. The main downside is that your squishy and consistently running out of energy. Overall, if you like playing with Risk vs. Reward, then this is the build for you. I'll be updating this guide as this is my first one, and would want like it to be an example for future guides. Thanks for reading! :D