Hello everyone!
My name is Sarah and my summoner name in League is BreadyToCrumble. I'm currently Silver V in Solo/Duo and usually play normals actually; so if you only want help from a high ELO player then this guide is definitely not for you!

I am making this guide to help beginners to Zoe, and by no means is this a really advanced guide. Please remember that the best guide is practice.

My current winrate in Normals as Zoe is 83%, and I have 65k~ ish mastery points if any stats matter to you.

I have made a beginner's Camille guide too if you're interested! Go check out my profile to find it :)

Pros:

+ Amazingly strong in the early - mid game
+ Very fun to play!
+ A lot of burst damage, can one shot squishies
+ Super slippery in teamfights.
+ Low cooldowns, can output tons of damage very frequently
+ Strong wave clear



Cons:
- Hard to fully master (entirely skillshot reliant!)
- Falls of slightly in the late game, although she can still one shot squishies.
- No true escape (her ultimate doesn't count!)
- Fairly mana hungry in the laning phase
- Depends on items to output more damage
- Very weak against tanky teams
- SUPER squishy. She can one shot people, but she can get one shot just as easily.

These are the spells that I recommend to take as Zoe.



Overall the best spell to take on any champion. You can engage, disengage, use it offensively/defensively and so on. It's great on Zoe because she doesn't have an actual escape, and using it will proc your W movement speed, allowing you to escape from almost any situation.



Ignite is great for extra kill pressure in lane. However if you need to, you can always take something more defensive such as Barrier or Heal. I usually go a defensive item actually, as nowadays, everyone will play assassins in the midlane.

I am not going to go too advanced into these, just give you an idea on what each ability is!
Play Video
Above is a preview of all of Zoe's abilities. Unfortunately I couldn't find individual videos, sorry about that!

More Sparkles!(passive) :

A REALLY simple passive. It's basically just a sheen. After an ability cast, Zoe's next basic attack will deal bonus magic damage. Small tip: this functions with both casts of your Q! So on first cast, before you re-cast it, make sure to auto attack for extra damage. Then, you can cast your Q again and still use your passive!

Paddle Star (Q):

So her Q is where things get slightly complicated. Zoe casts a missile on first cast, which deals AoE damage to enemies. Very straightforward, right? However, Zoe can re-cast the missile to another direction shortly after the first cast. Additionally, the missile deals more damage the longer it flies - meaning you can fire the missile directly behind you, then recast it back towards your target for massive damage!

There are so many tricks you can pull off with her Q. Here's a small tip for you: Zoe's Q range is 800 units. But this range isn't from the initial cast location, but around Zoe herself. This means that you can walk during the cast to increase its range, dealing wayy more damage!

Paddle Star is actually pretty hard to land. It all comes down to practice!

Spell Thief (W):

This is the ability that makes Zoe especially annoying. Zoe can pick up used enemy summoner spells and item actives, and cast them once for her own. Additionally, she gains a burst of movement speed whenever she casts a summoner spell, along with three little missiles which deal damage to enemies (prioritising her last enemy hit).

If you don't understand it, let's say you're fighting an Ashe and they pop their heal. The heal icon will drop as a little bubble on the ground that you can pick up - and cast heal once yourself. At this point, you're super speedy and have little missiles shooting at Ashe - so she flashes away. You can then pick up that Flash and use it yourself to chase after her!

Also, lane minions will sometimes appear with little balloons. If you last-hit this minion, the minion will drop an item active or a summoner spell. It could be something good like Flash or a Hextech item, maybe even Redemption - but it could also be Cleanse or Exhaust. It's all down to RNG.

Something you should know - if you picked up an exhaust, and there's a flash in front of you, if you stand on top of the flash for a little while Zoe will drop the exhaust and pick up flash instead.

Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E):

Zoe's E is pretty simple. Zoe fires out a bubble that makes the enemy drowsy for a few seconds. Then, they will fall asleep. The next source of damage that hits the enemy will deal double damage as well as some bonus true damage!

If Zoe does not land her bubble, it will linger as a trap on the ground - and anyone who steps into the bubble will go drowsy and asleep as usual.

Small tip: Zoe's E range extends when it's fired through a wall. This means you can fire the bubble through terrain on Summoner's Rift, and it'll fly a super long distance! I recommend using the Quick Cast with indicator so you can see how long the bubble will fly.

Portal Jump (R):

Zoe's ultimate is a tricky one. Simply put, it's just a range extender; you blink to a nearby location for one second, and then you go back.

Something important you should know - this is not an escape! You can use it to dodge abilities, but you can't use it to get out of situations. This is why you should bring Flash for a proper escape.

What you should be using her ult for is for snipes with long-range Paddle Stars. Remember the longer your Q flies, the more damage it does.

Portal Jump has a really low cooldown, so don't be afraid to use it whenever you want to.

Levels 1-3 At level 1 you'll always take your Q, Paddle Star. It's your bread-and-butter ability, and you can use it to proc your passive in the laning phase. And this is definitely what you should be doing! Don't be wasteful with your mana. Use your Paddle Star's AoE damage to help push the lane. What I like to do, especially against a melee midlaner such as Diana or Talon for example, is use my max-range Q (meaning I fire it all the way behind me, then fire it back forward) to hit both the minion wave and the enemy laner. I can also use More Sparkles! for extra poke damage in lane - it's very effective in the laning phase! At level 2 it's your choice. If your opponent is a strong level 2 duelist, such as Talon, I'd recommend taking Spell Thief second. If they decide to all-in onto you, you can pick up whatever summoner spells they casted, and also gain the bonuses off of your own. The missiles from the W cast should not be underestimated! They do quite a lot of damage. Alternatively, you can also take your Sleepy Trouble Bubble. If you land it on an enemy and combo it with a max-range Paddle Star, the total combo will deal insane damage! After that, keep repeating what you did in level 1. Use a health pot if you need to. Remember to cast your Paddle Star at long ranges to deal extra damage! At level 3 take your E, Sleepy Trouble Bubble. This is the point where you can cast your full combo onto an enemy. If you land your Sleepy Trouble Bubble, and then combine it with a long-range Paddle Star, you might be able to kill your opponent if you managed to poke them down enough during the earlier levels. What you want to do is first land your Sleepy Trouble Bubble. If you miss it, back off a bit, as the enemy will know you are vulnerable and will try to engage onto you. If you do manage to land it, walk backwards a bit and cast your Paddle Star. Once it reaches max range, walk back towards the sleeping enemy and fire the Paddle Star back at them. Then, proc your More Sparkles! AFTER the Q has landed, and finish with an ignite and More Sparkles! again. The full combo will most likely kill the enemy. The reason why you should use More Sparkles! after your Q, is because if you autoattack them, the extra damage bonus off of Sleepy Trouble Bubble will go to the autoattack rather than your Q, meaning less damage overall. Make sure you don't mess this up!

Levels 4-6 At level 4, it's time to start maxing your Paddle Star. Put a point into your Q and continue as usual during the laning phase. Normally, when I play Zoe, what I do is play normally until I back. After I back, I like to go into lane, and look for a roam into the bot lane if they need help. If they don't, I just farm in the midlane normally. Be careful for junglers! Buy control wards. Although she does a lot of damage, Zoe is incredibly squishy, and has no escape - making her really vulnerable to incoming ganks. As long as you have secure vision on both bushes to the side of the lane, and can react accordingly you should be fine (although I often find myself not looking at the minimap enough, and I end up dying to their jungler because I was too focused on last-hitting)! At level 6 take a point in your R, Portal Jump. This is a good moment to look for a roam, usually to bot lane. If the honeyfruit is up in the river, eat a few of the fruits before you go down. Once you're there, do what you can - usually the enemy team's bot lane will blow some summoner spells which you can pick up using Spell Thief. The best case scenario is that your team picks up a kill or two. The worst case is you all die somehow. Do your best to make sure you don't mess up the gank!

The Mid to Late Game Roaming/Ganking other lanes Zoe has great potential for roaming especially if you're coming from fog of war, because you can fire the Paddle Star behind you and then run back down to bot lane (for example) with a fully charged Paddle Star that will deal a ton of damage. Additionally, you can fire your Sleepy Trouble Bubble through terrain for its range to be drastically increased and if you land it, it will be an almost guaranteed kill, or you might get some summoner spells out of them. Splitpushing and team fights Zoe should be played sort of in the back line during teamfights. Zoe is really squishy and she has long range too, so it makes sense that she should be played relatively safely. Make sure you have Flash up before doing something you think is risky, just incase you need to get out of there. Zoe does well in teamfights, as everyone will be using their summoner spells and item actives, so you can just pick them up and use them all for yourself! You can even use the enemy ADC'S Heal to give your teammate more HP, or you could pick up the enemy support's Redemption to heal back all of your team's health! You should be looking not to focus the tanks. Zoe's speciality is one-shotting, so obviously she does weakly vs tanks. Try to kill off the enemy carries, then work on landing bubbles on the tanks to make things easier for your teammates.

This item is good on any mage really. The magic penetration is just brilliant! This will be your go-to boot option most of the time, but if you need to you could go for Ninja Tabi's or Mercury's Treads instead.

I like to get this as my first item, with Lost Chapter on first back. After its rework I like it more than Morellonomicon actually because of how much burst it gives! It gives nice AP too, some CDR and mana as well, making it fit in great with Zoe's kit.

This is the item that I'll take after Luden's Tempest and my boots of choice. It synergises really well with your passive, More Sparkles!, and it's overall just a good item on Zoe, with it's AP, CDR, mana and bonus movement speed.

After two core items, I like to buy a more defensive one before I build more AP. Zhonya's is a good item because of it's armour, and the Stopwatch active is useful if used properly.

If the enemy team is more AP based, then banshee's is a great item for the spell shield and also the bonus magic resist it gives.