Zeri Build Guide by

[14.2] Lightning Strikes the Mid Lane: AP Zeri Unleashed!

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Zeri Build Guide By Updated on

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Runes: Electrocute Scaling

1 2 3

Domination

Electrocute

Sudden Impact

Eyeball Collection

Ultimate Hunter

Sorcery

Absolute Focus

Gathering Storm

Bonus:

+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

1 2 3 4

Standard Option

Flash

Teleport

Items

Electrocharged Mayhem: AP Zeri

Starting Items

First Back Options

Core Items

Farsight and Control Wards

Full Build Example

Boots for Cosmic Drive. Many other situational options.

Ability Order Max W, then E, then Q

Zeri Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Ziggs

Extreme

Ziggs is a nasty matchup for Zeri in lane, as he can push and poke well from level 1. When you roam he pushes hard and can siege turrets extremely well. You have to try and avoid his abilities and hope he runs out of mana in lane. Given its hard to roam, you may need to stay in lane and get all ins on him with the help of the jungler.

Jarvan IV

Ideal

Jarvan IV is a fantastic jungler for Zeri, he has good cc. And his ultimate locks them down and allows you to lineup a W through the walls of his ultimate to get an easy burst of damage.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Jarvan IV

Ideal

Jarvan IV is a fantastic jungler for Zeri, he has good cc. And his ultimate locks them down and allows you to lineup a W through the walls of his ultimate to get an easy burst of damage.

Champion Build Guide

Introduction

Hello my name is Rarnetto and welcome to my in-depth guide on playing AP Zeri in the mid lane! While Zeri is commonly known for her ADC role, her exceptional AP ratios on abilities such as her ultimate and empowered zap auto attacks make her a formidable bursty AP assassin. Coupled with her incredible mobility and the ability to traverse walls with her E, Zeri thrives in the mid lane as a champion capable of unleashing devastating bursts of damage.

In this guide, I will delve into the intricacies of playing Zeri as an AP mid laner, sharing valuable insights gained from my extensive experience and countless hours of testing and theorycrafting. Whether you're a seasoned Zeri player or new to this exciting playstyle, I aim to provide you with the knowledge and tips to optimise your build, dominate your lane, and snowball games into the favour of your team.

With AP Zeri, your playstyle revolves around pushing and farming your lane while remaining vigilant for opportunities to roam and secure advantages for your team. Utilising her ganking potential and the element of surprise offered by her wall engages, you can swiftly eliminate unsuspecting opponents, leading to advantageous outcomes and overall team success.

Are you ready to take your Zeri gameplay to new heights? Let's dive in and discover the path to success with AP Zeri in the mid lane and revel in the excitement and enjoyment this unique pick brings!

Laning Phase

In the laning phase as Zeri, your primary objective is to excel in farming while aggressively pushing your lane with your Q ability and empowered auto attacks. This strategy proves highly effective, especially at level 1, as very few champions can match your early game pushing prowess. By doing so, you gain a significant advantage at level 2 when you unlock your E ability, allowing you to push even more efficiently and create opportunities for roaming.

Once you've reached your opponent's turret and cleared the minion wave, it's the perfect time to assess potential roaming opportunities. Surprisingly, even as early as level 2, you can utilize your E ability to navigate through walls and explore other areas of the map. This opens up the possibility of surprising your enemies or providing assistance to your teammates in different lanes.

Here's an example of a level 2 roam in action:

When you reach level 6 and have acquired some starting items like Hextech Alternator, you have the option to pursue different strategies depending on the situation. In lane, one approach is to consider going all-in on enemies with your ultimate when they are around half health or lower. In this scenario, skillfully weave in empowered auto attacks onto your opponent while simultaneously pushing the minion wave with your Q ability. Additionally, take advantage of poking opportunities by firing your W ability through walls, dealing significant damage. Once your opponents are sufficiently weakened, you can initiate an all-in.

Alternatively, you can choose to focus on ganking bot lane with your ultimate. This strategy involves heading towards either of the two long walls in the bot side: one near the tri bush and the other connecting dragon and blue buff. Utilize your E ability to swiftly traverse the wall and catch your enemies by surprise. Execute your engaging combo by aiming your W ability at the anticipated escape path just before completing the wall traversal. Follow up with your ultimate to hit them and prioritize your best single target using the passive empowered zap auto attack. Finally, finish them off with a barrage of Q auto attacks.

By presenting both tactics as viable options, you can adapt your gameplay to the specific circumstances of each match. Whether you choose to go for direct all-ins in lane or prioritise ganking bot lane to assist your teammates and secure objectives like dragon, the choice is yours to make based on the evolving dynamics of the game.

Example gank bot lane:

Mid Game

During the mid-game, you have the greatest opportunity to snowball and shine as Zeri. This is the phase where you should actively seek out roaming opportunities and make impactful plays whenever they arise. Be relentless in your pursuit of kills, ensuring that you take down turrets and secure important objectives like the Rift Herald and Dragon after successful ganks. It's during this thrilling stage of the game that AP Zeri truly comes into her own, traversing walls with agility and obliterating enemies with her devastating bursts of damage. Prepare to unleash your full potential and leave a trail of destruction in your wake.

Example mid game gank opportunity:

Late Game

In the late game as Zeri, your focus should be on effectively pushing out lanes and actively contesting objectives such as Baron and late-game Dragons. Ideally, you should be ahead of your opponents in terms of items, allowing you to maintain your teamfight dominance. Look for opportunities to secure kills by utilizing your abilities to catch enemies off guard, especially when fighting near walls. Capitalize on the element of surprise and coordinate with your teammates to secure crucial picks.

However, if you find yourself struggling in teamfights, it might be worth considering splitpushing as a strategic option. When your teleport is available, you can leverage your exceptional pushing power and utilize your E ability to traverse along walls, ensuring a quick escape route into the safety of the jungle. I recommend splitpushing the top lane when Baron is up, as it enables you to easily rotate for a Baron fight. On the other hand, if Baron is down, prioritize splitpushing the bot lane to apply pressure in that area.

Remember, the late game is a critical phase where strategic decision-making and effective macro play can heavily influence the outcome of the match. Stay focused, communicate with your team, and adapt your strategy accordingly to secure victory.

Here is an example of splitpushing on Zeri:

Here is an example of my playstyle in the lategame:

Tips and Tricks

Throughout my time playing as Zeri, I've developed a deep understanding of the champion and honed my skills. Here are some helpful tips that I've personally found to be quite effective while playing as Zeri. These insights might not be widely known, so they could give you an edge in your games.

When dealing with enemy wards, try incorporating passive zap auto attacks between your Q abilities. This clever technique allows you to swiftly dismantle wards. See an example here:

Resetting your Q auto attack timer can be done by quickly following up with your E ability then recasting Q. By doing this, you can seamlessly continue your attack sequence and keep up a consistent offensive or kite enemies with ease.

Your passive zap uncharged autoattacks execute threshold actually scales with ap, so with this build you can use a zap passive auto against very low health enemies to finish them off. This can be extremely useful in certain situations.

During wall traversals using your E ability, you are able to cast your W skill mid ride. Launching your W near the end of the traversal maximizes its range, as the projectile will be fired from the precise point where it was initially cast. Your R can also be cast during wall traversals so if there is an opportunity look out for this too!

When bursting down an enemy, engage from cover and surprise them traversing over a wall with your E, while traversing cast your W where you expect your enemy to run towards and then as soon as you get in range cast your R and then target them with a passive zap auto attack followed up by nashors tooth auto procs. Here is a real example of Zeri's full burst combo. Note if the opponent had not died the passive zap auto would also come out.
These tips demonstrate the intricacies of Zeri's gameplay mechanics. By implementing them, you'll have additional tools at your disposal to elevate your performance. Experiment with these strategies and discover the full potential of this dynamic champion.

Champion Overview

Zeri Ability Overview

Living Battery

Innate: Zeri generates 1 charge for every 40 units she travels by any means and 10 charges every time she casts [ability=Burst Fire]. She can store up to a maximum of 100 charges. Her basic attacks consume charge to deal modified damage. Zeri starts the game and respawns with maximum charge.

Basic Attack: Zeri zaps the target, applying spell effects as [ability=Disintegrate] spell damage and triggering on-cast effects. This attack cannot critically strike or trigger on-hit and on-attack effects.

At full charge, Zeri's next attack is empowered to consume all charge, dealing [stat=90 − 200 (based on level) (+ 110% AP) (+ 1% − 15% (based on level) of target's maximum health)] magic damage. The damage based on the target's health ratio is capped at 300 against monsters.

While not at full charge, Zeri's attacks deal [stat=10 − 25 (based on level) (+ 3% AP)] magic damage and have a critical strike effect against targets below [stat=60 − 150 (based on level) (+ 18% AP)] health. Each attack consumes 10 charges if she has enough already.

Burst Fire

Cost: None
Static Cooldown: 1 ÷ ZERI'S ATTACK SPEED
Range: Range center 750 + 100% BONUS ATTACK RANGE
Width: Range model 80
Angle: 5° / 2°
Speed: 2600 / 3400

ACTIVE: Zeri fires a burst of 7 rounds in the target direction, with each round dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit.

TOTAL PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 15 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 23 (+ 104 / 108 / 112 / 116 / 120% AD)

Burst Fire's projectile is treated as a basic attack: it hits any enemy unit a typical basic attack can, deals basic damage, can critically strike for (75% + 35%) bonus damage, and applies on-hit and on-attack effects at 100% effectiveness to the first enemy hit. Burst Fire's cooldown and cast time are reduced with attack speed, up to a maximum of 1.5 attacks per second. 70% of attack speed in excess of the cap is converted into bonus attack damage.

Ultrashock Laser

Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 Mana
Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8
Cast Time: 0.55 − 0.3 (BASED ON BONUS ATTACK SPEED)
Range: Range center 1200 / Range model 1500
Width: Range model 80 / Range model 200
Speed: 2500

ACTIVE: Zeri fires an electric pulse in the target direction, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit and slowing them for 2 seconds.

If the pulse hits terrain, it transforms into a laser in a line that grants sight of the area for 1.75 seconds and fires after 0.85 seconds, applying the same effects to enemies hit and critically striking for (75% + 35%) bonus damage against champions and monsters.

PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 20 / 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 (+ 130% AD) (+ 25% AP)

Spark Surge

Cost: 90 / 85 / 80 / 75 / 70 Mana
Cooldown: 22 / 21 / 20 / 19 / 18
Cast Time: None
Range: 300
Speed: 600 + 100% MOVEMENT SPEED

ACTIVE: Zeri dashes in the target direction. She will dash farther across terrain if Spark Surge was cast within 50 units of any, gaining unobstructed vision of the surrounding 800 units and revealing herself while there are enemy champions within 1500 units of her.

Afterwards, she gains Lightning Rounds for 5 seconds, empowering Burst Fire to deal bonus magic damage to the first enemy hit, increased by 0% − 85% (based on critical strike chance), and pierce through enemies, though dealing modified damage after the first and not applying attack effects or lifesteal to secondary targets. This damage is affected by critical strike modifiers.

Burst Fire BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 20 / 22 / 24 / 26 / 28 (+ 12% bonus AD) (+ 20% AP)
Burst Fire MODIFIED SECONDARY DAMAGE: 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100%

Spark Surge's current cooldown is reduced by 0.5 seconds for every champion Zeri hits with charged basic attacks or abilities, increased to 1.5 seconds if she does so with a cast of Burst Fire or Ultrashock Laser that critically strikes.

Spark Surge's Bladework resets Zeri's basic attack timer and Burst Fire's cooldown. Ultrashock Laser and Lightning Crash can be cast during the dash.

Lightning Crash

Cost: 100 Mana
Cooldown: 100 / 85 / 70
Cast Time: 0.25
Effect Radius: Range center 825

ACTIVE: Zeri discharges an electric nova that deals magic damage to nearby enemies. If this hits at least one enemy champion, she enters Overcharged for 5 seconds. Hitting an enemy champion with an ability or charged basic attack will extend the duration by 1.5 seconds, up to its original duration.

MAGIC DAMAGE: 175 / 275 / 375 (+ 85% bonus AD) (+ 110% AP)

OVERCHARGED: Zeri gains 30% bonus attack speed and 10% bonus movement speed. Burst Fire is empowered to have a 20% shorter cast time and instead fires 3 rounds that travel with increased speed and chain to the nearest visible enemy within 650 units of the target, up to 4 subsequent targets, dealing 25% AD physical damage. This damage can critically strike for (18.75% + 8.75%) AD bonus physical damage.

During Overcharged, Zeri can generate stacks of Hypercharged from enemy champions that last 1.5 seconds. She generates 1 stack for each one she hits with an ability or charged basic attack, increased to 3 on abilities that critically strike. Subsequent hits refresh the duration of Hypercharged. Burst Fire grants stacks only against the first target hit.

HYPERCHARGED: For each stack, Zeri gains 0.5% bonus movement speed.

Zeri exclaims, "Lightning crash!" upon activating the ability.

Synergy Clips

Jarvan and Zeri Synergy:

Conclusion and Author Notes

In conclusion, playing as AP Zeri offers an exciting and rewarding experience that is unorthodox but can be very effective in skilled hands. With her unique abilities and playstyle, she can dominate the laning phase, make impactful roams, and unleash devastating bursts of damage in teamfights. It's crucial to master her mechanics, such as efficiently using her Q and weaving in empowered auto attacks, utilising her E to traverse walls for surprise attacks, and getting used to her burst combo and timing when to all in.

Throughout this guide, we've covered various aspects of playing Zeri, from the laning phase to the late game. We've discussed optimal itemisation, skill order, and strategies for different stages of the game (Hover over notes in these sections). Remember, flexibility and adaptation are key when playing Zeri. While the guide provides a solid foundation, don't hesitate to experiment and adjust your gameplay to suit different situations and team compositions.

As you embark on your journey with Zeri, keep in mind that practice and perseverance are crucial for mastering any champion. Take the time to understand her strengths, weaknesses, and nuances. Stay patient, learn from both victories and defeats, and continuously refine your skills.

Author's Notes:

Please note that this guide is constantly being updated to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information. Stay tuned for updates, new strategies, and potential changes in the meta.

Experimentation is key. While this guide offers recommendations and optimal strategies, don't be afraid to try out different item builds, skill orders, and playstyles that suit your preferences and playstyle. Adaptability is a valuable skill in League of Legends.

Have fun! League of Legends is ultimately a game, and enjoying your time on the Rift is essential. Embrace the thrill of playing Zeri, experiment with her abilities, and savor those satisfying moments when your lightning strikes true.

Happy gaming and may your lightning always crash with devastating impact!
Rarnetto