Hey everyone! Welcome to my Zac Guide! Now, as he is new, this is a preliminary guide to help give players some basic tips to playing/learning Zac, and I will be updating it as I go along (including a guide for Jungle Zac once I learn an optimal build/route for him). This is my first build so please bear with me. I am open to criticism; if you have a better item that should be included in the core build for example, let me know so I can test it out for myself and update the guide accordingly.

Also, I will work on making this guide look all pretty and fancy, but right now, I just want to get the basics out there to help newer players.

Thanks!

Pros

Great sustain
Tanky items allow him to trade very well
Versatile
Great passive
Awesome Escape
Good initiator
Very fun to play

Cons

Somewhat weak in lane early
Can be denied his passive (and therefore denied sustain)
Easy to overextend with ult in teamfights
Farming against range or 1v2 is tough due to melee/close range abilities
Takes a while to get used to

For marks, I go with magic penetration because, as an AP-based champ, you just can't go wrong with magic pen. It scales well going into late game while still helping early on and, let's face it, there's really no other good option to use here. Given the kit, magic pen is as good as it gets.

For seals, I run armor because a lot of the time top, you will be up against an AD champ so having a bit of extra armor always helps. Even if your lane opponent isn't AD, it will help in teamfights as you will be in the middle of everything.

For glyphs, I generally go magic resist per level but I could definitely see using flat magic resist too. It's really preference when it comes to that.

For quints, I tend to take movement speed because, as a melee/close range champion, having a bit of movement speed to help get in close and get out before taking much damage is essential. It is also extremely important to get to your blobs as quickly as possibly because your opponent CAN walk over them to destroy them. You could also run flat AP quints if you really want that early damage so you can build tanky right from the start without sacrificing too much damage. You just have to be more careful with your positioning.

I really like the S3 masteries. Took me a bit to get warmed up to them but I'm very happy with how it turned out. For Zac, I run a 9-21-0 mastery page, focusing on getting magic pen in offense (you could sacrifice one point in CDR for ignite mastery, it's up to you) and maxing out the defense tree, making sure to get Veteran Scars and Juggernaut since they work so well with his passive. Block and Tenacious are phenominal defensive masteries as well.

I will update this, but, generally, go for flash and ignite. Pretty standard combo, though I could see running teleport or ghost. Anything else is a no-go.

I usually startand three , but should you find yourself against a high-damage AD champ, and five isn't a bad way to go. Also, if you happen to be up against a high-damage AP lane, and two works pretty well. It's all about looking at your opponent and building to counter them; you can't just follow a concrete build.

Basically, the items in the core build should be bought at some point as they synergize so well with Zac. What you build when is solely dependant on your lane opponent as well as the other team as a whole. You may need early MR but their team has decent CC and a fed ADC, so you would want or maybe even a to build into a or then get your . REMEMBER, build for their team! As Zac, the Secret Weapon, you must adapt to all situations to counter whatever they throw at you.

Situational Items
-- If you need some more MR and could use a little more damage, this item is a really good way to go since you will usually be in the middle of the enemy team during teamfights.

-- This is a good item if someone on your team hasn't built it and you need the general survivability. If you don't want this fully upgraded item right away, is strong, but don't build it if someone else on your team is going for it.

-- This is a great items for Zac, especially if you built earlier. I tend to go more towards tanky items, but this is a very good item if you want more damage. The health works nicely with his passive too.

-- On Zac, it's just phenominal. It depends on preference. Not too much else to say about it.

-- One of my buddies recommended I try this on Zac. Now, I haven't yet, but I can see how it would be good despite not utilizing the mana. I'll test this out and update this.

-- If you do happen to buy this, do not buy it till you only need one more items. Frankly, with his passive, this shouldn't be necessary, but it's got great armor and magic resist. It's also pretty intimidating to see that white wisp floating around a champ. Also, if you're at end game with a decent amound of gold saved up and your GA is popped, sell it and buy something else. It's stats are good sure, but without it's revive, you're much better off buying something else in the meantime.

-- Stomping the other team? Want tons of damage? LOL Rabadon's.

***COMING SOON***