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Zed Build Guide by

The walking Zed - An In-Depth Zed Guide (still not finished)

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2 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Akimee

Zed Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (2) More Zed Guides

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

STARTING BUILD #1

STARTING BUIILD #2

OTHER STARTING ITEMS

LANING PHASE - MID GAME

BOOTS

against fed ap

mid - late

6th item - defense

Example full build

Other great items

Ability Order

Zed Passive Ability

Introduction

Hey, my name is Akimee and I am currently Gold 2. This is my first Mobafire guide and it is for my most favourite mid champion: Zed
Zed is an awesome, fun and challenging champion who excels at assassinating squishies, split pushing and doing some awesome plays with his shadow *o*
In this guide I will tell you everything I know about Zed, the small tips and tricks, which items to buy and what is really important when playing him.
Enjoy! ;)

Pros/Cons

--- --- --- --- ---PROS
--- --- --- --- --

Awesome Burst
Snowballs very hard
Great Split Pusher
No Mana (Energy)
Awesome Mobility/ escapes
Low Cooldowns
Easy Last Hits with Contempt for the Weak
Very Fun to play
He is a flippin' Ninja

--- --- --- --- ---CONS
--- --- --- --- --

Hard to master
Squishy
Bad Teamfighter
Countered by Zhonya's Hourglass
Nearly no cc

Summoner Spells

Always take Flash. Always. It is the spell that you will need to dodge that or get in range for your ult. To escape if you get chased and your is on cooldown or to survive when you positioned yourself poorly in a teamfight. Always take it. Always.

As Zed, most of the time you are the aggressive Laner, you want kills and you need Ignite for it. In addition it synergyizes well with your and helps you securing kills with the dot and the healing reduction.

I rarely take Teleport but that does not mean that it is bad. Teleport is awesome if you know that you will get bullied in lane and that you have no kill potential. The reduced cooldown on turret-tp's helps you to sustain in lane and if your opponent roams you can push the lane and then follow up with teleport. It's also an excellent roaming spell.

Masteries and Runes

I do take the two points in and because I think it is very effective on Zed since you do a lot of damage with both auto attacks and abilities and you need both in a normal kill-combo (especially because of your passive )
If you do not agree with me, set the two points in and , they are both awesome ;D.
Always get three points in to maximize the damage with the last tick of your . It also fits well with your passive. The rest of the offensive tree should be self-explanatory.
and help you to sustain in lane, especially against a ranged mid laner.

For runes I take the standard runes with some armor pen. flat AD and resists. Some people take for the three greater quintessence of armor penetration which can be very effective, especially in an AD-heavy team but I think that normally and a is enough armor pen. So I prefer the flat AD for the early game.
For the Glyphs the is more effective and more awesome if you know that you are against an AD Laner. But in most cases you will play against AP so you normally need the .
I still always take the because of the Auto Attacks of your lane opponent and their AD Carry when you roam bot early.

Skill Sequence and a closer look to all your spells

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

>>>
Always max R>Q>E>W

Your basic attacks to a target below 50% health deal extra % damage. This only occurs to one target once every 10 seconds.
Zed's passive is very strong if you make use of it (especially early game), it is very underestimated but it can help you in a lot of situations and the damage of it never really falls off.
Tips and Tricks:

Last hitting is very easy with this passive because it works on minions and the 10s cooldown is only on one same target, like Jarvan's Martial Cadence or Yasuo's Sweeping Blade . So it will work on every new low-health minion.
- Most mid laners (even some ad mid laners) need two hits to kill a mage minion after it got hit by a turret. Your Passive does enough damage to kill them.
- Be careful not to push because of the slightly faster wave-clear. (More about pushing your lane in the Laning-section
This passive is a very important part of your full Death Mark combo. Remember to make at least one auto attack after you used all your spells to proc it.
This is very important late game when you are dealing with tanks since it does % health damage.
Your Passive is your only ability that deals magic damage. So it is still very strong if the enemy got armor. The new mastery Devastating Strikes fits very well with this passive because it gives you both armor and magic penetration.

Throws a shuriken that deals damage, simple and effective. Your 's shuriken deals half of the damage.
This is your main damage ability, you use it to poke, wave clear, check bushes and for the awesome thunder sound effect in the shockblade skin <3
Tips and Tricks:

The damage of the shuriken is reduced when it already hit a minion so you want the shuriken to hit the enemy laner first.
- This is also very important when you want to avoid pushing your lane, don't just throw them through the whole wave.
Your Shuriken does a sound when you hit something in a bush or in the fog of war. So you can use it to check bushes.
- If you are still unsure or if relying on one small shuriken is too risky in your situation, you should check with your Living Shadow
Both your and your Living Shadow's shuriken aim towards your cursor but the mimicked shuriken only deals half of the damage.
Leveling this ability lowers the energy costs.

Places a shadow that mimics Zed's abilities. Reactivate the ability to switch positions with the shadow.
This ability is what makes Zed Zed. It is an unique ability which can be used in a lot of situations.
Tips and Tricks:

Double Tap Living Shadow allows you to immediately switch positions with the shadow. This helps you when chasing, escaping, dodging spells or to reach the lane faster.
The shadow gives vision for an area. You can use that to check the area behind a wall before you switch positions with the shadow.
You can only switch positions once. Once you did that aggressively, you have no other escape spells (except Flash)
The shadow lasts for 4 seconds. If you are unsure how long it will last check it above your abilities. There will be an icon showing you when your Living Shadow will disappear. It is often rewarding to switch in the last second and then immediately Death Mark to close a big gap and do an awesome kill combo. (more in the combo section)
Practice: Always remember the position of your shadows (both of your Living Shadow and of your Death Mark's shadow). It can and will happen (for Zed beginners) that you misposition yourself because you unnecessarily switched with that Living Shadow that is placed near their team instead of yours.
- Do not switch positions when it is not necessary. You will often run into skill shots. Many Zed beginners (I did it too ;D) switch in the last second even if it is not necessary just because it looks awesome.

Slashes, hitting all nearby enemies. Your shadow's shadow slash slows.
This is your only cc ability and a very important damage-ability in both melee fights and pokes.

Remember that only your Living Shadow's shadow slash slows! (Try to spell that 3 times ;D)
Shadow Slash has a very low cooldown, so remember to use it often in long fights early.
When you and your shadow both hit an enemy with your shadow slash, it does no additional damage but the slow is increased.
Every time you hit an enemy with your shadow slash, the cooldown of your Living Shadow is reduced by 2 seconds. This is very important.
- If you have to escape or chase someone, try to hit them with your slash as often as possible since it does not interrupt your movement.
- The cooldown does not get reduced if your shadow hits an enemy.
As already mentioned shadow slash does not interrupt your movement, not even your auto attacks! So you can shadow slash together with an auto attack. This can help when you are last hitting.
If you have Tiamat you can possibly activate it together with your shadow slash but just when you activate the active of Tiamat first!

Oh, the Death Mark <3. This is your juke, all-in, burst, dodge ability.

You dash to an enemy and get untargetable for half a second.
In addition you mark the enemy with the DEATH MARK which will explode after 3 seconds and you place a shadow behind you.

As mentioned in the part with the Living Shadow always remember the position of your ult's shadow.
Your ult can be interrupted by Zhonya's Hourglass, Playful / Trickster, Sanguine Pool and removed with Quicksilver Sash. If possible, avoid engaging on someone who has at least one of these items/abilites!
Your ult positions you right in front of your enemy. If they use a gap-closer like Flash while you are in your ult, you will follow them.
- Be careful because this move can be very predictable and allow the enemy to easily hit you with something like Cassio's Petrifying Gaze, Viktor's Gravity Field or even Anivia's Flash Frost!
Every kind of damage you deal while the mark is active is added to the last epic tick. This includes magic damage (your passive), physical damage (your whole combo), the damage of your shadows and the damage of activated items!
Your ult has multiple uses, it is not just used to kill someone. There are lots of ways to use your ult just to escape -> here :3.
It is risky but very rewarding if you hold on on your ultimate as long as you can to bait and dodge spells like Ki Burst or Counter Strike.
- Do not just randomly ult your lane opponent. If possible wait for important cc spells that you can dodge with your ultimate. You need to do as much damage as possible while the mark is active, so in this time you are very vulnerable to any kind of cc!

Combos

Doran's Blade represents and auto attack

Ninja Combo

+++(+)

You are an evil ninja - make use of it!

This is your main damage combo in lane and also a great way to clear waves. You place your shadow next to an enemy or in the creep wave and immediately press e to slow the enemy. Don't be afraid of executing this part too fast, the e will work on the shadow even if you use it while it looks like the shadow is still dashing to the enemy and not yet being placed (unlike LeBlanc's +).
When you did that the enemy should be slowed and you can easily hit them with one of your q's.
Now you have a shadow next to the enemy which will allow you to dodge a skill-shot and/or hit the enemy with a surprising auto attack. But be careful and don't do this if your lane is not warded because you are very vulnerable to ganks and skillshots after you switched positions with the shadow.
You can also switch positions before you use your q if this allows you to hit that perfect q.
Once you switched you can either all-in (e and auto attack them to death) or retreat, depending on the situation.
Executing the combo very fast gives you awesome burst, especially together with . Make use of it!

Lazy Ninja Combo

+++

Being a ninja does not mean to take unnecessary risks... or does it?

Same as above. The only difference is that you stay behind your minions and only harass the enemy with a second e. As mentioned, be fast with your because the cooldown is just as long as the duration of your (+5% Cdr through )
Do this if you cannot risk the aggressive positioning of your second if your lane is not warded or if the enemy laner can kite you easily while you retreat.

Unicorn Combo

You get away like a fancy unicorn hitting the enemy with a graceful shadow slash!

This is your main escape combo. You get away with your double w and slow them with the e of the remaining shadow to ensure your escape. If you believe that you are save, throw a last q at them to punish them for being so naive to chase you!

Magician Combo

+
You shall not pass!

You just throw your shadow and hit the enemy with a shadow slash to slow them. Very easy to execute, not a very good slow but it can save your teammates life. You can possibly switch positions to commit suicide but I would not recommend it.

Police Officer Combo

+++(++++)
No one escapes the law!

This is one of your normal kill combos. You ult and try to deal as much damage as possible with your , , auto attacks and maybe item actives. The key is to save the as a follow-up when the enemy uses an escape spell (like ). If you need the extra damage your provides, do the sprinter combo. But I would recommend the Police Officer Combo in most cases.