nice guide :P sometimes i like to get tanky item(s) after athene's, just because late game q damage is worthless, even with ap items.. randuins is good item to stay alive and have little bit of durability against crits, also early frozen heart is nice too, even thought you throw away 10% cdr, but mana and armor is pretty nice after long fights.

Thank you!

I don't like using Clarity because, in the early game, 40% of your maximum mana is a really small amount of mana; its not nearly enough for a full QWQ combo for sure.

By the time we get a Chalice of Harmony, our Time Bomb harassment increases drastically due to our main limitation(lack of mana) getting removed. If we were to get something like a Rod of Ages or a Tear of the Goddess first, then we would definitely have a bigger mana pool and our Clarity would replenish a lot, but then once that is used up, we're basically worthless, and we can't use Clarity again for another three minutes. Due to Rewind, we can eat up a whole lot of mana in a really short amount of time. Clarity isn't good enough to keep up with our resource demands.

The Chalice of Harmony is the best choice for keeping our mana as high as it can be, and getting a kill or an assist with Athene's Unholy Grail basically replicates Clarity's effect anyway since Zilean is an assist magnet.

Clarity isn't a bad summoner spell - don't get me wrong - but if you take Clarity, then that means you aren't taking Flash or Exhaust, which both are invaluable in the bot lane as a support. Do you play Zilean in the mid lane?

in depth indeed lots of information ^^;
why dont you like clarity? I love to use it on zilean because then i dont have to get athenes so i dont waste my cdr when I buy something else

Thank you very much! Another friend of mine and I love the Ashe/Zilean setup - lemme know how your matches go!

Great Guide! Got Zil to support with a friend who likes to play Ashe, and after reading this I'm chomping at the bit to get it in!

As long you build the Athene's Unholy Grail and you start with a mana/AP-friendly item (that doesn't exactly mean an AP or mana item, just something that allows you to stay on the lane an ok amount of time), any other thing you can build on Zilean must be brought depending of the team and the situation and your playstyle. Note that the Grail CAN be swaped with the Rod of Ages or the Frozen Heart, but I really suggest putting a lot of CR on those runes and masteries if do so and I don't like that path of actions, anyway.

In the passive build, because I generally buy the Crystalline Flask, I won't be benefiting from the mastery Culinary Master so I don't get it.

Zilean doesn't always have an end-all be-all item build- you have to tailor it to whatever your team needs. If you're supporting a hyper carry, go for a zeke's herald; if your team needs extra pushing power, get a Banner of Command; etc. stuff. It would be hard for me to outright suggest something- especially if you end up mixing and matching build types. When it comes to going all-out aggressive, I focus on AP items and the like; when I focus on the passive build, I like to build surviveability on top of utility items like Twin Shadows and maybe even an Ohmwrecker if the team is having trouble taking down towers. I don't like Guardian Angel on Zilean that much because it costs a lot and only gives armor and magic resistance- that is completely worthless unless you have health to back it up, and Zilean does not.

Just remember that Zilean needs AP and CDR items to be effective, so if you want a last item to build, consider something that gives one of those. Otherwise, go for health, I suppose. Maybe a Rylai's Crystal Scepter

I hope I answered your question- what are your thoughts on it?

I want to thank you for your guide is really usefull, i have just one question, i see your passive and agressive builds i kinda mix em in just one, i want to know based on the passive way of zilean, what could be the last item i should buy, not the Will of the acients but something else to help my team as much as i can, also in your passive build the masteries you haven't selected the culinary master, maeby you want to change that or maeby not, anyway in late game those cookies are unnessesary

i love to activate Twin Shadows then Frost queen do my e and see how he runs xD maeby some activating item that helps more or just a guardian angel

I found the guide informative and helpful.

The guide is well done. I just tried this build as passive support and I liked it.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Doran's Shield only gives us some resistance to damage, and doesn't offer any offensive possibilities. The flask gives both health and mana, which we can use to mitigate harass, and poke back with Time Bombs.

I dislike Doran's Shield on Zilean. Why? Just simple because you will never receive an autoattack apart from a gank or on a teamfight if for whatever reason you got focused (bad idea for the enemy, anyway). Zilean's work range is a lot higher than any AA range apart from Caitlyn, Kog'Maw and Jinx (he is still superior, but if you time wrong, you'll got harassed). As it has been nerfed, you'll not get too much sustain at all from skills harass.

The thing is, if you want sustain, the Crystalline Flask will give you more, and if you want power, the Spellthief family already gives that. Doran Shield is an ok option for more-close ranged less-mobile supports like Sona who needs to AA often to being 100% useful or Leona and Thresh.