Pros + Amazing Ganker + Very good at picking off carries, ie - good burst + Good jungle clear time (If done right) + Very mobile + Good poke with passive, Q and E + Best joke in the game imo + Looks BA

Cons - Very squishy - Generally targeted quickly in team fights - Takes a while to get used too - Can be energy starved after full burst - Shen's rival :(

• greater mark of Desolation: I personally take ARP (Armor pen) marks for the extra burst on tanks, the Armor glyphs that most AD's will take and the base armor of pretty much everyone else, starting off with 15 armor pen is quite a lot when you think about it!
  
• Greater Glyph of Armor: Naturally I take armor glyph's when jungling to give me that defense against the jungle creeps themselves, also good to have when ganking those nasty AD carries.
  
• Greater Seal of Scaling Magic Resist: Magic resist for those pesky mid champions and the odd solo top such as Singed, Vladimir or Elise
  
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: AD Quints for that extra damage.
  
  
  
  Other available runes:
• Greater Mark of Attack Damage: More attack damage can be good for clearing the jungle that tiny bit faster, and can help you nuke down unarmored targets, better early game, not so great mid - late game.
• Greater Mark of Attack Speed: Same as above, can help you clear quicker.
  
• Greater Seal of Health: If you'd rather have health than armor. (but health is no good if you have nothing to defend it with)

I take a standard 21 / 9 / 0 AD mastery set when jungling with Zed, both for that Survivability and the extra damage when ganking lanes / clearing your jungle, naturally masteries can be spent however you please, but I strongly recommend this setup.

Offense:

- To reduce their resistances even more.
- More AD never hurts.
- More AS Never hurts!
- More AP for those gank's on bot!
- More AD as you level.
- To give those crit's more of a punch!
- This can be swapped to something different if you prefer for example Havoc or Butcher as this just gives you a tiny tiny bit more sustain in the jungle.
- A tad more ARP to make sure we get those kills!
- I don't really need to explain this, do I?


Defence:
- For that extra gold when smiting.
- For more defense against those jungle creeps.
- If you're jungling you should know why you take this! More defense.
- Little bit of health regen never hurt anybody, can also be swapped for 2 points in Durability .
- To make those little creeps thinks twice about hitting you!

Smite: A jungler's bread and butter, this spell not only deals increasing true damage (as you level) to creeps it also grants you a gold bonus. (Assuming you have taken Summoner's resolve)

Exhaust: I personally prefer to take Exhaust over flash as Zed, due to his high maneuverability, this can however be risky if the enemy team decides to invade, you find yourself in a bad spot or have taken one too many tower hits, HOWEVER this spell will help you easily secure kills along with the slow from your E, and is very beneficial later game against the enemy teams ADC.

Flash: Flash, flash flash... one of the most annoying and most helpful skills in the game for either setting yourself up for a gank, getting yourself out of a bad spot, or diving onto the enemies summoner platform when you've got a sure victory! I won't go into anymore detail about why flash is a valid option to take.

Other valid options:



Ignite: Good for shutting down champions with a heal such as Soraka, Dr.Mundo, Sion and the like, also fantastic for getting that last bit of damage onto those champions who have just retreated under their tower.



Teleport: This spell can have amazing gank potential if you've got a very well organised / coordinated team, from teleporting to wards to get behind your minions to defending a tower from those backdooring scum to jumping to a ward near baron to help your team finish it off, the possibilities are endless with this spell, however, it doesn't give any benefit in fights other than the shock factor when ganking.

Right this is where i'm expecting to get the most controversy, first off let me make it clear, you're an ASSASSIN built to get in get the kill / remove their carry from the fight and deal some damage then get out again, not stand around looking pretty with thousands of life!

Also, this is only a cheat sheet on how I roughly build, depending on how their team setup is, or how other lanes are going you may want to swap items around, add in new items and so on.

• : I personally take Berserker's greaves for that extra AS damage to nuke the carry or whoever you're focusing down quicker, other options are available below.
  
• : Good bit of early game damage and builds into your Youmuu's Ghostblade, gives good ability cooldown reduction and some more armor pen, I also recommend building the Avarice blade alongside this to make use of that extra GP5 for a short time.
  
• : I absolutely adore this item, it has saved me on so many account from a lux ultimate, an Ez ultimate or even a dot from a champion such as singed after getting a kill, naturally this builds into Maw of Malmortius which is a beast of an item with good damage, a really nice passive and of course a better version of the spell shield.
  
• : This item is down to you, I personally like Ionic spark on Zed due to the crazy AS it has on it, and a nice bit of added aoe damage with the passive.
  
• : This item will allow you to be bursting people down in no time, with your AS from the previous items even their tank won't stand a chance.
  
  Your last item is entirely down to you, however I recommend one of the following:
  
• - GA for that extra life and defense if you find yourself getting focused in team fights too quickly.
  
• - A nice bit of health along with a really nice passive which will shut your opponents down completely with both your E and exhaust they will NOT get away, also comes with a splash of extra damage on the side.
  
• - If you can get this item to max stacks you will be unstoppable with both your AS keeping you up, and the increased damage allow for massive burst potential.
  
• - I've seen a few other Zed's i've played against take this item, naturally the AP and mana doesn't benefit you much / not at all, but the passives from phage, sheen AND zeal all add up into one nice item, however if you plan on getting a Trinity Force I recommend getting it earlier so that you can get all 3 items at once, as saving up the money for it up front can be quite demanding, and in a number of cases impossible.
  
  
  Alternative boots:
  
• - The standard jungle boots, naturally these allow you to get around faster and get ganks in easier, however your damage output will be reduced.
  
• - If your enemy team is CC heavy or has a fed AP carry these boots can be a lifesaver.
  
• - For a constant speed increase take these, however they give no other advantage so I wouldn't recommend them on Zed.
  

• Contempt for the weak: This ability is what makes Zed one of the best champions in the game to finish off a team fight, this ability is almost like having an extra 2 Madred's Bloodrazors! At top level this ability will deal 10% of your targets health if they happen to be below 50%, this ability also has no cooldown against different targets, (however attacking the same target incurs a 10 second cooldown) so if you find yourself at the end of a fight against a very low enemy team, with a bit of luck and skill you could finish them all off in one go.
  
• Razor Shuriken (Q): This ability is your main damage along with your auto attacks, when used in conjunction with your Living shadow, both Zed and his clone will throw a shuriken dealing almost double the damage, getting both shuriken to land however in the middle of a fight can be quite tricky and comes with time and practice much like all skill shots, however landing both shuriken will restore energy to Zed.
  
• Living shadow (W): This ability is what makes Zed such a mobile champion, for example you can send the shadow over a wall and quickly tap W again to swap positions instantly, much like flash, this ability is also good for initiating fights duking your opponent and catching people up / getting away, Living shadow will also mimic Zed's abilities dealing additional effects if he hits with both abilities, however, Living shadow has a fairly lengthy cooldown at 16 seconds max level, so be careful with how you use it. Living shadow also grants additional AD as it is leveled, from 5% at the first level upto 25% max.
  
• Shadow Slash (E): This is Zed's AoE and slow, when used in conjunction with Living Shadow if the target is hit by both the clone and Zed's Shadow slash they will be slowed considerably more and also restore energy to Zed.
  
• Death Mark (R): Zed's ultimate is what makes him one of the best Assassins in the game, with the mark active Zed becomes untargetable and teleports to his opponent where he will summon another shadow which in turn will mimic his abilities much like Living shadow, after 3 seconds the mark will detonate dealing damage equal to 20 / 35 / 50% of the damage dealt by Zed and his shadows (this includes the damage from Living Shadow) to the target plus 100% of Zed's total AD.

Quick rundown, start at red / blue, kill both wolves and wraiths, kill other buff, make sure to use Living shadow to get around the jungle quicker, and be sure to hit with both shuriken for increased energy regen. More will be coming along with video's / screenshots and a solo top guide if people want it, but right now i'm tired as i've typed this whole thing up in one night, thanks for reading though, I hope you've enjoyed this guide as much as i've enjoyed writing it, GLHF summoners.