Welcome to my second guide on Mobafire. This time I'll be covering Ziggs, the Hexplosives Expert.

I like to take:
x9 Magic Pen Marks
x9 Ability Power per level Seals
x9 Ability Power per level Glyphs
and
x3 Flat Ability Power Quints

I feel this gives Ziggs a strong early game, as well as a solid late game, and it has worked for me quite well.

I take the standard 21/0/9 Masteries on Ziggs, making sure to include some attack speed in there, as Ziggs does use his basic attacks fairly often against enemy champions.

I always start with a Doran's Ring, as it gives me the best possible starting stats. I find that when I'm facing a difficult lane opponent, I grab a second Doran's Ring.

I try to stay in lane as long as possible so that I can pick up my Sorcerer's Shoes. My damage output becomes deadlier once I have the extra Magic Penetration from these. However, in the worst case scenario, you may find yourself buying your Boots of Speed, and a few Health/Mana pots, which is fairly common. Best case scenario, you can push your lane opponent out of the lane, farm up 1100 gold, and proceed to get your Sorc Shoes. Naturally, this requires you to be able to land Bouncing Bomb, and zone your lane opponent enough that they retreat, allowing you to free farm until they return. If this is the case, you're already beating them.

After Sorc shoes, I instantly beef up my explosive arsenal by throwing a Blasting Wand into the mix. This should tie you over for awhile, as long as you keep farming well, and keep pushing your lane opponent back to their base.

I work towards an Archangel's Staff early, so that I can add to my mana pool. The more you cast spells, the more mana you get, hence why I prefer this item over a Rod of Ages, although that could also work if you're so inclined to use it.

After Archangel's Staff, I start going for the big guns (so to speak), by picking up a Needlessly Large Rod, and a Blasting Wand if my funds allow for both in the same trip. The boost in AP will send your lane opponents running home, while you can sit back and farm away.

By the time I even get close to Rabodan's Deathcap, the game is usually over. In the event that your opponents are more durable by this point, invest in a Void Staff to cut them back down to size. In any other case, I like to take a Lich Bane next, as it provides some great stats, mostly in the AP department. Also, the passive on it allows Ziggs to decimate targets with basic attacks, as well as bring down towers even more effectively than before. It's a great item that should not be ignored.

Lastly, if the game is still going on, you can invest in anything you want really. I like Rylai's for the extra slow on your abilities, but you can really take whatever you'd like for the last slot.

Important Note: When you have gold that can't really be spent on any items, buy an Elixer of Brilliance, or the Green Elixers. Both with help Ziggs greatly, as Blues will grant cooldown reduction, and up to 40 AP for 4 minutes. Likewise, the Green Elixers will also help, but increasing Ziggs' attack speed for 4 minutes. Whenever you find yourself in a bit of a bind, or low on gold, don't be afraid to buy these on your retrun trips. They only cost 250 gold, and last for 4 minutes. Very helpful little items for when you don't have the extra "oomph" that you need.

First, I'll explain the basics of Ziggs' abilities:

Passive: Short Fuse - Every 12 Seconds, Ziggs throws a basic attack bomb that glows orange, and does magic damage once it hitsa target. You can reduce the 12 second timer by casting his other spells. I believe it's reduced by half, but I'd have to check to make sure.

Q Ability: Bouncing Bomb - Ziggs throws a bomb that bounces in a straight line. It bounces up to 3 times max, and each bounce reduces the distance it travels. On the third bounce, it explodes, dealing magic damage.
Note: Bouncing Bomb will detonate on minions, as long as they're in the path it travels, however, you can potentially bounce it over the minions to hit a champion behind their minion wave.

W Ability: Stachel Charge - Ziggs tosses a small square explosive on the ground that will explode after 4 seconds. You can detonate it early by pressing W again. Stachel Charge can launch Ziggs over most walls, as well as knock enemies away once it explodes. The closer Ziggs is to the center, the farther he'll fly.
Note: Stachel Charge grants vision when tossed in brush.

E Ability: Hexplosive Minefield - Ziggs tosses a patch of bombs on the ground that when stepped on by enemy champions, will explode, and slow them and deal damage. Each additional bomb they step on will deal less damage however.
Note: Hexplosive Minefield can grant temporary vision in brush, but only for about a second or so.

R Ability (Ultimate): Mega Inferno Bomb - Ziggs tosses his biggestand baddest explosive at a huge distance. Upon landing, it deals a huge amount of aoe damage. The biggest downside to Ziggs' ultimate, is that:
1. It shows an obvious warning marker that it's about to land. (Circle with a skull inside)
2. The outer edges of it deal 75% of the total damage.

Bouncing Bomb is your primary damage skill, as it's on a nice short cooldown, and deals great damage. It's also a tricky skillshot to land, which can throw enemies off when you manage to kill them behind their turret even though you were out of view. I max Bouncing Bomb first for this reason.

Satchel Charge is both an escape and displacement skill on an obnoxiously long cooldown. I recommend only using it during teamfights, to throw a number of enemies around, or as a last ditch escape when things start looking unpleasant. It becomes a major waste of mana otherwise. You want to level this up last. It's the least useful spell, and has a long cooldown. To avoid wasting it on a trivial situation, I take it much later on, and level it last.

Hexplosive Minefield is your aoe and cc skill which is on a fairly long cooldown. It's deadly in 1v1 fights, and is great for dispatching an enemy minion wave quickly. Likewise, you can use this to make incoming ganks more effective for your team, and less effective for the enemy team. The slow, combined with Bouncing Bomb, makes for a brutal combination. You want to level this up second, as it's your second most useful ability, and combos well with Bouncing Bomb and Satchel Charge.

Mega Inferno Bomb is your ultimate ability. It has a decent cooldown (not too high, not too low), and has a wide radius in which it can be cast. (About 1/3 of the map, give or take.) There are some issues with it however:
1. It shows an obvious warning marker that it's about to land. (Circle with a skull inside)
2. The outer edges of it deal 75% of the total damage.
3. The farther away Ziggs is from the cast area, the longer it takes for Mega Inferno Bomb to land at its' destination.
You want to level your ult every time it's available. At levels 6, 11, and 16, just like every other ultimate in the game.

For Summoner Spells, I always use Clarity and Flash.

Clarity I find to be underrated, even though it allows you to lane for much longer, and is useful throughout the game. Ziggs doesn't have outrageous mana costs, but you may find yourself needing mana more often than not. Clarity, combined with Archangel's Staff will help you greatly if you have trouble conserving your mana.

Flash is your primary escape tool. The secondary being Satchel Charge. Ziggs is slow, and squishy, and needs a reliable escape like most casters. Flash can save him from a bad situation.

Some other spells I've seen fellow Ziggs players use are:

Ignite - While I like Ignite on some of my casters, I find that Ziggs is far too squishy to use it at close range. It's a close range spell, that doesn't fit in Ziggs' arsenal.

Teleport - This I can see as a viable alternative because Ziggs is so slow. It'll help him jump back into lane, or support an allied lane quickly. Personally, I feel I can move quick enough to not need teleport, but the choice is up to you.

Pros:
- Solid damage output
- Excellent harrasser
- Excellent farmer
- Spells are all Aoe
- Yordle !

Cons:
- Standard Glass Cannon mage
- Low movement speed
- Unreliable escape ability
- While in brush, his passive animations/laughing can be heard by the enemy team

Ziggs is a great farmer, with good farming skills.

- Land Bouncing Bomb on a trio of caster minions to get gold quickly
- Drop Hexplosive Minefield in the enemy minion's path to slow their movement, and deal damage
- Use your passive's bombs to guarantee last hits

A few things:

- When you see enemy champions fleeing, try to drop your Hexplosive Minefield in the enemy's escape path to allow your teammates to catch up

- Toss bouncing bombs at enemy champs often to whittle down their HP, and help your team get kills easier

- If possible, try to predict enemy movement, and toss a Bouncing Bomb a tad further ahead of them. If predicted well enough, you can land easy kills/assists just by estimating where they'll run.

- Just like the above point, try to predict where an enemy champion will run, and cast Mega Inferno Bomb just ahead of their path, in order to guarantee theenemy champ gets hit by it. Generally speaking, most players will actually keep running backwards, instead of trying to escape your ult's radius, resulting in a much easier kill for you.