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Recommended Items
Spells:
Smite
Exhaust
Items
Ability Order
Cell Division (PASSIVE)
Zac Passive Ability
Introduction

Hey there. I'm lithargoel and this is my second attempt at a guide on Mobafire. Since Zac is a brand new champion, I'm writing this as a tool for players who want to pick him up, and later I hope to expand the scope of the guide as we see the full potential of the goo-monster. Please don't down-vote just because you didn't like a rune or an item, the guide is meant to be used as inspiration, not as a strict path to follow, and I have put a lot of work into testing these things before I write about them. As to the guide itself, I lean towards the opinion that you readers are smart enough to know what the items and abilities do, so I will focus more on the logic behind picking certain items / runes / masteries, and what to do with your skills once you have them. Finally, since Zac is so new, this will be a work in progress. Check back later for top lane builds, mid lane builds and advice on specific match-ups. So, without further ado... Welcome to the World of Goo! |
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Some Zac gameplay
Pros / Cons
Pros
+ VERY Unique skillset
+ Fun to play + Percent of health damage + Unique gank paths with Elastic Slingshot + Incredible sustain and Anivia like passive + OP joke |
Cons
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At this point it's too soon to say much about what champions Zac will be strong or weak against, so in this section we will look at our own team composition. Zac has a lot of utility. He can slow, knock back and knock up - so I would consider him if your team needs more CC. His skill set also invites to build tanky, which means if your team composition is looking a little squishy, adding a Zac will help out with that. Finally, if you lack someone who can dive at the enemy back line, Zac's
Elastic Slingshot is pretty amazing at getting to just about anywhere.
I wouldn't pick Zac if your team needs a jungler that can deal a lot of damage. Zac could be built damage heavy, but so far my experience is that he's a lot more efficient in a tanky / disruption kind of role.

I wouldn't pick Zac if your team needs a jungler that can deal a lot of damage. Zac could be built damage heavy, but so far my experience is that he's a lot more efficient in a tanky / disruption kind of role.

Runes




Runes are always a hot topic, and arguably many different configurations can work. What is optimal though? I have tried and tested many different options and currently keep 2 rune pages reserved for Zac, but the ones listed are what I find to be the all-round best runes for him:

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After many more games with Zac I have had to change my opinion about Spell Vamp runes. They do give great sustain, but Zac already has great sustain, and I must say I really love the ganking power that comes from swapping to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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These are really no-brainer marks for any champion that primarily deals magic damage. I wouldn't trade these for any other mark on Zac (or any other AP champion for that matter). |
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I have also revised my opinion on seals. Earlier I would use ![]() ![]() |
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There are only a few options I think are really viable for glyphs on Zac. You can go flat or scaling MR to help with you tanky role, but personally I like the ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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CDR has more power on Zac than AP, let's you spam that ![]() |
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With all the health stacking items we are getting, this mastery will net you between 150 and 200 HP at full build. |
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Also reduces clear time, so you have more time to gank the enemy. |
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We mostly take this to get to
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This mastery is simply a must have for anyone who tanks. |
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You do percent of health magic damage. Spell pen is your friend! |
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10 free gold whenever you use your smite, what's not to like? |
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Bonus health fuels ![]() |
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Again, good for ![]() |
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Take less damage from jungle creeps early. We take it instead of
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Don't really need more sustain, so this will help when we fight champions. |
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Same as
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Item Sequence






Rylai's Crystal Scepter
2600

Warmog's Armor
3300

Liandry's Torment
3000

Spirit Visage
2700

Spirit of the Spectral Wraith
2000
Zac isn't that item reliant early on, because the bread and butter skill

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Different junglers have different ideas, but all junglers need to be in the right place at the right time, and these boots will help you get there. If you are being hurt badly by an AD or AP champion you can always go for ![]() ![]() |
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We all know Zac is made of goo, but with a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Zac is a health champion. He uses health to cast abilities, his passive heals based on percentage of max health and when he is "killed", he will return with a percentage of his max health if any of the goo survives. All of these factors make a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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With two slows and needing to build both health and AP, ![]() ![]() |
All in all, basic considerations for Zac is that you want health, CDR, AP, and mobility, most often in that order, but advanced considerations include the enemy team composition, what type of items are they building, who is targeting you most, etc.

We max out




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Zac's passive is both unique and powerful. This is where you get much of your sustain in the jungle from, but it will take a little getting used to, to be able to both land auto-attacks on the jungle creeps, spam your ![]() ![]() |
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This is probably the least effective ability in Zac's kit. You get it for the slow and because it let's you proc your passive faster, which will let you heal more in the jungle, but later it combines nicely with a ![]() ![]() |
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This is your bread and butter skill. It does a decent base magic damage and on top of that a percentage health damage (max 200 to creeps). Spam it as often as you can in the jungle, to clear the camps and to proc your ![]() ![]() ![]() |
let's bounce |
About one of the funniest ultimate abilities in the game!! Zac turns into a gooey blob of pure awesome and bounces around on top of the enemy team. Think of yourself as a slimy version of Brand's ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Remember that this is the skilling order when you jungle. If you are laning with Zac you might want to build differently and this guide does not yet cover that path, but I can imagine that the poke from





As with everything, summoner spells should be picked to fit the situation, but if you are playing blind pick, the safest option is to go with






If you are one of those people who think you can jungle without smite, then I'm afraid you and I don't see eye to eye on how the jungler is played, and this guide will likely be useless to you.

This section is still a work in progress. I will try to update with some youtube video of a standard jungle route and early gank, so this is more general jungler information. Where to start? What to do? Where to gank? I will outline some basic routes for Zac here. If you have jungled with any other champion most of it will be familiar, but Zac has different options for ganking, because his

One good tip to jungling with Zac though, is to draw the creeps away from walls. If you fight the creeps inside the camps, your goo will often land annoyingly close to a wall or underneath the creeps you are fighting. Instead, get the jungle creeps a few units out in open terrain, so you can move around them and pick up the healing goo that will sustain you.
Standard blue path is: wolves -> blue (smite) -> wraiths -> wolves -> red (smite) -> golems.
Zac doesn't need the mana-regen, but the CDR from blue can really help with clearing times and is also valuable in ganks. If you have a mid-laner that is blue buff dependent, such as


Standard red path is: wraiths -> red (smite) -> double golems -> wraiths -> wolves -> blue (smite)
If you start red you have two options. If your team knows how to help the jungler without stealing all your XP, you can go for a level 2 gank in bot lane. Put a point in

If you don't feel like ganking that early, or the lanes aren't open for it, continue the route into wolves, and blue buff - and again consider giving the blue buff to your mid-laner if he needs it.

The power of Zac's ganks lie in the slingshot and it's ability to land him right on top of the enemy, but this is not gonna help you one bit if you always gank from the same direction. The enemy will quickly learn to ward there, so try to alternate between regular gank movements and the slingshot. It will force the enemy to put down their normal wards, and will make them unsure of where you are coming from next. If they try to ward against your slingshot, the lane might even be completely ward-free from just walking into it.

1: |
This spot is shown in the champion spotlight for Zac, and it works really well. If you do it from your own side of the map, this place will rarely be warded, and if you do it at the enemy side, you can stay out of the tri-bush ward range until you are ready to dive, then quickly rush in and slingshot into position. The knock-back followed by the slow can secure a kill before they reach the tower. |
2: |
When ganking mid, instead of sitting in the bush which is often warded, try and stay on your own side of the map, in the small lane between mid and river, and outside of vision of any nearby enemy minions. From here you can launch yourself onto any enemy that pushes out too far. If you want complete obscurity, you can try to do this from your own or the enemy wraith camp, but this will only work if the enemy mid laner is pushed all the way to the relevant tower. |
3: |
This third gank lane takes a little while to set up, but is very useful for suprise tower dives when your team has pushed the lane pretty far. To set it up, you can slingshot yourself from the river or baron pit and into the enemy jungle, and then taking care to avoid the tri-bush ward, position yourself behind the wall facing the enemy turret. Slingshot, dive, take the tower damage for your team mates and if necessary reassemble yourself after you've secured a nice double kill for your team ;-) |
The level 3 gank
So, after many games and extensive testing, I believe one of the strongest ganks with Zac is abusing the magic penetration runes early. Ideally, what you want is going from wolves, to an assisted smite-less blue, then wraiths and finally clear the red buff. Once you use your smite to kill the red buff, you will be level 3, and have a point in each of your 3 basic abilities. Now preferably, you want to gank the closest lane, depending on which side your team is on that can be bot or top, but if that lane is pushed up and there's no opening you can also try mid. Just remember mid is harder to gank, because the distance from minions to tower is pretty short. Move as fast as possible into position in the lane you have chosen and wait for an opportunity to slingshot on to an enemy. Try to use the knock-back effect of






I have now won and lost enough games with Zac to give a little advice on team fighting with our friendly flubber. Team fighting is one of the hardest things to do with any champion, as you have to consider your own position, enemy zoning ability, what enemy champion you have to focus on and a number of other factors, and you often only have split seconds to make the right decision and carry it out.
- Zac is a great initiator with his
Elastic Slingshot and let's bounce combo, but your combo can be interrupted if the enemy team lands a stun or knock-up, so try to come from a surprising angle (from behind a wall for instance).
- If you build more damage heavy and your team is on the ball, you can always try to dive for their carries, use let's bounce and pop a
Zhonya's Hourglass to survive until back-up arrives. The level of co-ordination required for this tactic means you need to communicate what you will do before the fight breaks out, instead of complaining about it after it is over.
- Remember, there is a big difference between defensive and offensive team fighting. If you are fighting offensively, then you are often diving on a team that is grouped closely together and the enemy team will be inclined to dis-engage and run away, which means you can benefit greatly from landing right on top of them and start bouncing.
- On the other hand, in a defensive team fight, you are often grouped together, around a tower or objective and the enemy team is coming at you in formation with tanks first and ADC + APC in the back. If you slingshot in here, you may be able to reach the ADC or APC, but you will be very far from your team and looking two of the scariest champions on the enemy team right in the eyes. So, in a defensive teamfight you are often more useful if you stay in front of your own carries, in a protective role and maybe even use your ulti on their front line. If you built tanky, you can soak up tons of damage from their carries and if you built damage heavy, then you should have an hourglass that can keep you alive after your initial combo.
Zac is a fun and different champion and we haven't begun to scratch the surface of what he will be able to do out on the battlefield. This guide is meant as a source of inspiration for players who want to pick up jungling with Zac, but I could easily see him go top lane or even a bursty and annoying AP mid. There's a ton of potential not yet explored in this champion! If you found my guide useful, feel free to press the little green arrow ;-) |
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- 3/30/2013 - Guide published
- 3/31/2013 - Adjusted masteries and runes sections with more detailed explanations
- 3/31/2013 - Changed the boots of mobility from core to optional.
- 1/04/2013 - Added a team fighting section to the guide.
- 4/04/2013 - Modified runes and items - added
Rylai's Crystal Scepter to core items
- 4/04/2013 - Added a lvl 3 gank description
- 4/04/2013 - Added some pretty pictures :-)
- 5/04/2013 - Added some video footage of Zac in action.
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