Zed Build Guide : [D4] 5,000 games played as Zed in KR server (videos)

Intro

Hi everyone,
I’m “어쌔신 제드,” meaning “Assassin Zed,” from the Korean server. I’ve played about 5,000 games on Zed since Season 3 and finished Season 6 on Diamond III (ELO verification will soon be done). I’d like to use my experience to help Zed players out there with in-depth laning guides that will be updated frequently.

I’ll embed a lot of video to make sure my guide is also very friendly to beginners. “Seeing is believing,” they say after all. Why not take a look at my highlight reel first?

I have a YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSw5fN0l4sw9_XyvHej8TwQ, though I make videos and broadcast only in Korean. This guide is provided here with some help from translator DarkIrel.

On Runes, Masteries, and Spells

Runes

Armor pen was reworked and became Lethality. Basically this new stat means the penetration is weaker than before in the early game and stronger in the late game. It’s okay to assume the new stat as similar to per-level Armor pen.

Masteries

is super nice. It helps you harass with W-E-Q in lane because it’s important to quickly move in and out of position to do that. You can also evade skillshots better and roam faster.

You can choose between the offensive and the defensive . Bonus dmg on Fresh Blood is only useful against melee champions or someone you can autoattack a lot. Zed will be using more skillshots than autoattacks against ranged opponents.

Both and became a lot stronger. I really like both of them but slightly favor D.E.S. because it's useful from the beginning while Bounty Hunter is good for mid & late game and is conditional. It goes without saying is not for Zed whose strength is burst damage not sustained.

has a condition that’s too restrictive and for Rengar only.

Summoner Spells

- is the best combination in most cases. If the enemy mid and/or jungle have hard CCs that could kill you when landed, consider .

Ability Rework (S7) + My Opinion

First, let me summarize recent changes.

Q – No change.

W – Passive removed: no attack dmg. More energy gain when Zed and his shadow hit the same target (+10 at all ranks). Can switch places with the shadow from farther (1,100 -> 1,300)

E – Cooldown changed from 4 sec at all ranks to 5-3 sec. Damage is stronger early and weaker late. Levelling the skill up reduces cooldown but the damage goes up less.

R – New feature. You permanently gain a portion of target’s attack dmg when you kill them with R.

Many asked me whether these changes are a nerf or not. My view is:

1) W lost its passive but is buffed otherwise.

2) E hits harder in the early game, but you can’t cast it as frequently. In the late game, you can cast it more but the damage is lower. Overall, this didn’t change much.

3) R’s new passive is a replacement for the removed W passive, so let’s compare the two passives: W’s old passive became always more useful whenever you ranked the skill up. But the new R passive is only effective when a) there is an enemy with high attack dmg b) and you’ve killed her. That sounds like it’s harder to gain attack dmg with the new passive than the old one, but depending on situations and the player’s skill, it’s also possible to gain even more attack dmg than the old passive would’ve given you.

Further analysis: the new R passive

To gain attack dmg, the target must be killed while it’s marked or with the detonation of the mark.
It should be noted that the stat gain increases with not just the target’s itemization but also temporary buffs from skills that Zed’s victim was using at the moment he died.

(Sorry, the video is in Korean. Summary: you get more dmg from killing Darius if he had five stacks on him when he was killed.)

Ability Sequence + Combos

Skills to Learn First

At level 1, learn Q in most cases. But against Fizz, for example, it’s not bad to harass him with E from the beginning. If the lane is being pulled, your level 2 skillset should be Q and E. If you’re pushing, it should be Q+W or E+W.

Skill Combos

W-E-Q: Zed’s most basic damage dealing combo. W-E’s slow makes Q easier to land.

R: It’s true that Zhonya can block Zed’s ult, partly (the mark dmg). But the detonation dmg is not everything of Death Mark. It can serve various needs other than damage. You can use the R shadow. You use the skill as a gap-closer or spell shield. It’s very versatile.

When using your ult, DON'T W-W before R to move into range. If you do that, the target can easily run away with their dash or . You might chase him burning your own but it’s very inefficient because you miss the damage from the W shadow. (The exception is when the target doesn’t have a means to flee and low in health.)

When the target is out of R range, don’t hesitate to just -R. Then the target would try to run. That’s when you follow with W-E-Q and apply the slow and hit him with three shurikens (from Zed, W shadow, and R shadow). Add the active and there you are, it’s the maximum burst damage you can deal on Zed.

In conclusion, Zed’s ult combo is R-W-E-Q.

The Other Uses of the Ult

1. Skill block

Use your ult to block enemy skills.

In the video, I got stunned by ’s ult AND Zed ult was activated. In my opinion, Zed’s ult should have been cancelled if the stun had landed; the stun should have been ignored if Zed’s R had been successfully cast. It seems to me ’s interaction with other skills is sometimes a bit buggy.

Zed’s ult makes you untargetable when it’s activated until you approach the target. But it doesn’t remove or prevent from activating the effects of skills you’ve already been hit, like ’s R, ’s E, ’s R, etc.

TIP: If you’re tethered with ’s chain or ’s ult and unable to move out of range in time, cast R exactly when the tether triggers. This minimizes the stun duration by overlapping it with your untargetable duration.

2. Chase

Cast R at the same time as the enemy’s dash to follow a fleeing target.

Itemization

Things to remember about items

Only the first and the second are fixed; the rest is always situational. Every item has its pros and cons. Build anything you’re most comfortable with in a given situation. The best item is an item that you feel suits you. The items I listed here are all good on .

Offense is the best defense

For Zed, offensive items are always better than defensive ones.

Consider your damage as your defence. The more quickly you can kill someone, the less damage he can deal to you. Except when your opponent is so ridiculously well-fed that it deals lots and lots of damage… maybe one defensive item in that case.

But other than that, always go for the offensive.

Starting items are almost always and three s. The LS can be upgraded after your first . Three potions provide the sustain you need for early laning.

At first Recall, your should be upgraded into either or . I recommend building Dirk first because of its new UNIQUE Passive: +20 Movement Speed out of Combat.

– Now 300 gold cheaper and allows ignoring unit collision, instead of giving 40% attack speed. (20% attack speed is still there.) Many asked me whether Youmuu became no good, but it’s now better!

I build Youmuu for movement speed and it lets you run even faster now because of the unit collision ignoring effect + the UNIQUE Passive (+20 MS out of combat) from Dirk. So, now it allows you to feel even better about chasing enemy and run away (but while it’s better for assassination, it’s less so for taking down towers). So, I think Youmuu is still the best item for Zed.

– Good against champions without dashes or escapes like and . The item allows you to deal full damage to them once they’re slowed. It’s also useful in doing your regular job of slaying ADCs. Slow them, and your Q shurikens will be more accurate and you can hit more autoattacks. Upgrade to if you have enough gold. ’s active really goes well with Zed’s kit, but now the upgrade cost is greater (with Cutlass cheaper and more expensive). It’s really good but a bit too expensive.

– The armor pen stat was updated to Lethality and became weaker early and stronger late. But BC’s shred remains the same. It’s another great item, almost as good as the must-have Youmuu.
(Don’t build . It’s inefficient to have alongside BC.)

– It’s completely different now.
First all, the famous “mimi Death Mark” passive is now gone.
Attack damage is 10 lower (75 -< 65).
Also removed is 5% movement speed.
And has the following new effects:
1. If you autoattack after being not seen by the enemy for 1 second, you deal a lot of FIXED damage IMMEDIATELY, instead of a few second after.
2. Now has the effect – when a ward is nearby, detects and disables it.

In my opinion, this item is not bad. Give it a try and pick up as you see fit.

– A new arrival. I find this very promising as a Zed main. Channel for 1.5 seconds and gain a Banshee-style spell shield. This effect will be useful in a lot of situations but most obvious examples would be when you go after ADCs like or and need to get through their traps.

– Pick up when the enemy team has a lot of CCs or two or more Exhausts.

– Efficient against AP champions.
But don’t upgrade to the unless the enemy team is heavily AP-focused. Stop at the and build other items first. If you get Maw first, it hinders your damage potential.
If you’re playing against an AP mid, an AP jungle, and an AP top, then Maw is a must. But otherwise, even when you’re playing against champions against whom the is effective (who? see laning guide against champions below), stop at it and rush Youmuu. It’s good for damage and the overall assassination capability.
Of course, when your teammates are absolutely smashing the opponents so that you don’t have to do much, Maw wouldn’t be so bad (what would be?). But otherwise, pick Youmuu after the .

– I pick up the DMP when the opposing team is all AD or their AD champs are well-fed. The unique passive suits Zed really well.

– Get this when it looks difficult to get back out alive after picking off an enemy dealer.

Want some insane split-push potential and autoattack damage above all?

Pick up the and the . Their synergy is crazy. See the video below to taste the insane damage.

Champion-by-Champion Laning Guide #1

Difficult opponents

– Zed’s ult is less than good against Ekko’s.
– neutralizes Zed’s ult, and can be annoying in teamfights.
– make teamfights hard for Zed.

Zed can lane against pretty much anybody, but laning is not just about 1:1. Junglers gank and laners roam around. Keep in mind: Zed’s not about countering or being countered by a single enemy champion. Zed is a champion who should play different roles depending on the composition of your team and the enemy’s.

Laning against champions

In general, play it safe until you’re level 3. Move forward and harass when the opponent’s skills are down; back off and stay there while yours are down (until they come back up, obviously). It’s better to cast your R when your W is up (See ult combo above).

– Build the as the first item and then it’s unlikely for Zed to lose against him.

– She has been reworked. The mark is now in her passive, which means now all skills of hers mark the targets hit. Her old burst is gone, but she’s tougher than before to lane against. Be careful and keep the right distance in the early stages so you’re now hit with her Q and W. If you’re hit with any of her skills, pull back until the mark expires. Fight after the mark is gone. As to post-level 6 laning, we used to focus on blocking ’s Q (and therefore the mark from triggering) with Zed ult before her rework, but now you need to watch out for each of her skills. Many LeBlancs use W to mark you and Q or E to trigger the mark, so it would be nice if you could ult her at the moment she’s dashing in with her W. It’s still okay you couldn’t block W, if you could nullify either her following Q or E with your ult. After that, land the W-E-Q combo and kill her.

– She’s one of the best dueller, so you don’t want to fight her in melee range. Once you hit level 3, use W-E-Q to win trades one-sidedly. If your W is down, don’t step into Riven’s Q-E dash range.

If Riven dashes in with Q or E , step back with your W on time and throw E -Q . And you can one-sidedly damage her.

The outcome of post level 6 duels will be (of course) depending on the result of previous trades. But assuming and are both full, Zed will win if he could block her skills with his ult and he will lose otherwise.

– her Q gains range when the skillshot hits a minion. So if you stay in the area where there’s no minion, it will be easier to dodge her Q since it’s shorter there. Trade when her Q is down. After level 6, Lissandra can ult herself to block Zed’s R damage. In that case, wait a bit and land a W-E-Q combo.

When you’re behind in lane against , she could one-shot you with her R-E-Q-W combo. Pick up the Hexdrinker to withstand her aggression one time, before you use your R-W-E-Q combo to turn the table on her.

– his poking makes it very painful. If you try to dodge when he’s already charging his Q, it’s too late. Keep a safe distance as much as you can. When his Q is down, trade with your W-E-Q. Zed can one-shot Varus after level 6. But if you're not good at evading his poke, he will totally smash you.

One more thing: be careful when you towerdive Varus. You’ll be doomed if you’re hit with his ult.

– Block his E with your ult and he won’t be any difficult.

– he gets harder and harder for Zed to kill over time. But in the early game, you can get enough kills from him. Every time Vlad farms with his Q and E and therefore these skills are down, you can one-sidedly damage him with W-E-Q. When he is below half health, rush in with W and autoattack and . Then Vlad has to use his W and , which you can follow up with -Q-auto. After level 6, don’t use the ult first. Do W-E-Q-auto- plus Bligewater or BoTRK active first, which will force Vlad to use up his W. Rapidly press the R button on his head in the pool and he’ll be gone.

– after using his Q, Viktor’s autoattack is empowered. So, even when you’re hit with his Q, make sure you dodge the following autoattack. And obviously do your best to evade the laser. When his Q and E are down, aggressively go in and use W-E-Q. It won’t be so hard.

If Viktor picks up , consider using .

– it’s a good idea to rush the against him. The item makes your laning against Swain safer. And if you rush in with your ult after level 6, it will be ult vs. ult duel and the Hexdrinker will let you endure Swain’s damage output and win the fight. Remember Swain’s ult has a spell vamp effect; him right away when you go in with your ult. Even when your Ignite is down, you can see an opportunity to kill him if Swain’s low on mana (rather than health). So aggressively ult him if he doesn’t have enough mana.

– the should also be your first item against her for a safer laning. Above all, her ult damage is just ridiculous. Even a favorable situation (in terms of health) when you go in with your ult can be turned into a mutual kill. But the Hexdrinker lets you endure her ult damage. And your ult should block her E stun or be cast when it’s down; this will make it easier.

– against Ahri, it’s important to not get hit with her E. And that’s easy; stay behind your minions. Remember she can harass you with E-Q and prevent you from farming safely when you’re pushed back into your turret. You need to push the lane or keep it neutral very carefully. After level 6, block her with your ult and she’ll be an easy kill.

– even when you did okay against her, you’ll be less effective in team fights once Orianna builds the . Therefore, you need to kill her as many times as possible in lane. If you let her push, you’ll be endlessly harassed with her Q-W under your turret; so push the lane or keep it neutral. Remember you can do a one-sided trade with her; at the moment Orianna attempts Q-W combo, go in with W-E-Q. She won’t be able to do anything but back off using the E shield.

After level 6, you can block her ult with your ult. When she’s low on health, ult first and swap with the ult shadow before you pick her off with W-E-Q.

– playing against him is similar to playing against . Go in with W-E-Q at the moment he pushes his soldiers forward. It won’t be hard at first. But over time as Azir’s soldiers gain range, he might be able to one-sidedly damage you while you try to land your W-E-Q. Buy a and place it in either of the side brushes; wait in the brush until his soldiers are down and do W-E-Q. Azir is squishy, so it won’t take long for him to be low enough. Finish him off with your ult.

Champion-by-Champion Laning Guide #2

– Play it safe as much as possible until level 3. Do nothing but farm with your Q. And make sure you dodge Yasuo’s Q. If Yasuo has , it won’t be easy to kill him but he’ll also have a hard time trying to kill Zed with the defensive spell—and it’s not impossible to kill him if you whittle down his health enough. After level 6, he’ll be an easy kill if you can block Yasuo’s Q whirlwind (which comes after stacking Q) or his E-Q dash combo with your ult. To reduce unexpected factors, start fighting when few minions are around.

– similarly to , try to dodge his QAlcanopulse poking as much as you can. You may want to W-E-Q when his QAlcanopulse is down, but he can counter with his E when you go in with your Q. So, it’s wise not to step in unless Xerash is considerably low. After level 6, you can always kill him if his E is down or you block the skill with your ult.

– She has been reworked, too. Her old W (slash) became her passive. The passive slash comes out automatically when she picks up a dagger she throws. In the early phase, stay in the general area where no minion is around so that you don’t get hit with her Q daggers. Always stay away from her daggers because they are the main source of her damage. She can use E on her dagger and E cooldown is significantly reduced when she picks up a dagger, which means she can Shunpo once again if she did it on a dagger. However, she’ll be an easy kill once you hit level 6 when her Q and W are both down and E has just been used on a minion.

* Tip: when Q dagger hits someone, the dagger will fall behind the target. Therefore, it’s wise not to step back when you’re hit with Q; move forward so you don’t get slashed with her passive.

– Some say Kayle counters Zed, but laning against her isn’t so difficult. Kayle uses her E to farm; wait until right before the E duration ends and launch a W-E-Q-auto combo. You can hit her as much as you can and she won’t be able to hit back at all. Repeat that pattern to score kills before level 6. After hitting level 6, if you’ve traded and lowered her health quite a bit, don’t hesitate to throw the full W-E-Q-auto- combo. Kayle will be forced to use her ult; you can finish her off with your ult once her invincibility expires. Just remember, don’t ult her first. She will be easy.

– he has been reworked, too. His new passive is very powerful, so avoid getting hit three times with his skills. His basic three-stack combo consists of landing both hits of W and gapclosing with Q, before autoattacking. This means if you dodge either of two W hits, Talon can’t easily rush in with Q. Stay out of W range and trade with W-E-Q and Talon will be helpless. You won’t be able to see Talon when he ults after level 6. Land a W-E-Q-auto- to take a big chunk of his health off and finish off with R-E. Also be on the lookout for Talon’s roaming his new E. Ping your teammates to warn them whenever he goes MIA.

* Tip: in case Talon comes in with Q and fires W, use your W to back off and throw E and Q. You’ll win that trade.

– he can easily be defeated if you just block his gold card with your ult. However, once TF completes the , he begins picking off your teammates. TF is one of those champions whose power varies wildly depending on how good his player is. If he’s bad, it would be so easy; if he’s good, you might lose the game even when you win the lane.

How do I kill the ADC in Twisted Fate’s team?

– once he completes , he has two means to block (the other being his E ). So you need to absolutely crush him in lane if you want to secure a smooth win. From level 1, Learn E and slash him whenever Fizz attempts to farm. Check whether the enemy jungler can pull off a level 2 gank. And if he can, learn W. Otherwise, learn Q and harass even more. Keep denying Fizz CS and push him into his turret as soon as you hit level 3. Land a W-E-Q combo and the low-health Fizz will be forced to recall or be killed. Like when you fight Vlad and Kayle, spare your R until the last moment when you can finish him off.
(I will update this soon once I get to play against the reworked Fizz.)

– as long as you don’t get hit with her Q early on, you’ll win the lane easily. If you’re hit with Q, the subsequent E will do a terrible damage. Make sure you dodge her Q. After level 6, her staple is the R-E combo. You can nullify almost 100% of her damage if you can block her E in the R-E combo with your ult. She’ll try to stun you with Q if you do that—dodge with W. Even if you couldn’t evade Q, don’t worry. You are already winning the trade from the moment you blocked her E and you can surely kill her. Whenever her Q is down, you can consider it as an opportunity to kill. Don’t hesitate to ult her.

– in most cases, Nidalee will be played in the jungle. But someone asked me how to lane against her. Nidalee can defeat almost anybody in lane if she’s good enough with her Q, and will lose to anyone if she’s not. So, stay behind your minions to protect yourself from the javelin. Trade with W-E-Q when her Q is down. Then you’ll win the lane easily. She’s so squishy that you’ll see the chance to kill quite often. Once you hit level 6, you can score a kill every time your ult comes off cooldown (until she gets a ).

– you’ll see two types of Malphites in the mid lane; Armor-only and AP. Your first item should be the ; pick up the Youmuu and the afterwards. It will be easy to kill both of the two types in the early game, trading frequently with W-E-Q. Malphite’s passive shield will come up if he has not been attacked for 10 seconds; so it’s important to keep hitting him with your Q so that he doesn’t gain the shield. AP Malphite is quite squishy and he’s an easy kill; trade as usual with W-E-Q and finish off with -auto when he’s low enough. Transition to the bot lane and begin to split-push when he builds the . As to armor-only Malphite, though you can surely kill him in the early laning phase, you’ll find it harder and harder to deal damage to him over time. So, you’re advised to push the lane and roam instead. Remember you can block Malphite ult with your ult (if you focus enough); once you do, you may be able to turn the table on him.

– she’s all about poking all day from far away. Remember you can’t do much before level 3, as usual. Stay safe and focus on dodging her skillshots. Her E is a skill that is quite annoying to dodge, but fortunately its damage is not so strong early on. But be careful about her passive, which empowers her autoattack on targets recently hit by her skills. Try not to get hit with her E-auto combo. You can win trades if you just don’t allow her passive-empowered autoattack. She also has a root effect, Zed's eternal enemy, on her Q. But her Q won’t reach you if you stay behind your minions. When her Q is down, step forward and throw the W-E-Q! And once you hit level 6, block her Q with your ult and she’ll be an easy kill. Make sure you deal your full combo damage to her because she sometimes manages to run away alive using her shield.

– she's just nothing but her Q. Dodge her Q and you'll win. Get hit with that and you'll lose. Stay behind the minions as much as possible until level 6, so that you don't get rooted with Q. Once you learn your ult, block her Q with your R and she'll be very easy.

Teamfight Tips

1. Pick one of them off with R before you begin

2. Wait and W-E-Q, before dashing in with W and R

Finally, I have a YouTube channel. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSw5fN0l4sw9_XyvHej8TwQ for more videos. I hope this guide helps.

[D4] 5,000 games played as Zed in KR server (videos)

[D4] 5,000 games played as Zed in KR server (videos)

Recommended Items

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Ability Order

Contempt for the Weak (PASSIVE)

Razor Shuriken (Q)

Living Shadow (W)

Shadow Slash (E)

Death Mark (R)