Hello all future and current Zeri mains! This guide will be changing a lot as new builds are created and theory crafted. Zeri has not been out for a long time so much of this guide is subject to change. Let me know if you have any recomendations in the comments and leave a like if you enjoyed!

Max R:Q:E:W
Some people say that you should max E first, but I believe that a Q max feels much better to lane with.


Passive: Living Battery
Zeri's passive gives her movement speed whenever she is shielded. She also absorbs shields from the enemy, including scuttle crab, and gives it to herself. It's important to note that she does not "steal" the shield, she just gains a shield whenever she hurts one at a diminished ratio to the max shield of the enemy. This makes Zeri very good with supports that can shield her, as well as being good against shielding champs.

Q: Burst Fire
This one is hard to explain but basically, her Q is her auto-attack, and her right-click is an ability. Her Q auto-attack fires a burst of 7 shots that are blocked by minions. This burst counts as auto-attacks for runes like lethal tempo. The attack indicator won't shows it, but the range is increased by both lethal tempo and RFC. Her right-click does not proc these runes.
Her right-click Zap his built-up whenever Zeri attack moves with her Q. Once it is fully charged it will do bonus damage to low health targets and slow them. This will be your main way of poking early game. ALWAYS USE THIS ON CD, once it is fully charged always zap the enemy if you have the opportunity.

W: Utrashock Laser
Zeri's w is an AP skill shot that slows on hit. This shot is blocked by minions and neutral monsters if fired normally. When fired through a wall it becomes a large, AOE laser, like a lux ult. Note: you can use Zeri's W in the middle of your E to leave a laser in a particular place.

E: Spark Surge
Zeri dashes a short distance. If she dashes into a wall, she will dash over the wall in its entirety, in the same places that Bard E works. Once you use the dash her next 3 Q's will pierce targets, doing 100% dmg to the first target and 80% to everything else.

R: Lighting Crash
Zeri will create a burst of energy around her like a Blitz ult that deals aoe AP dmg. For each target she hits she gains stacks for her ult. Zeri gains a portion movement speed for each stack of her ult. If she hits an enemy champ she gains more stacks of her ult's passive and extends the duration of her ult. When she is ulting she also gains a static shiv passive that does AP dmg.

Early Game:
Zeri's early game is primarily focused around just farming. It is difficult for Zeri to take trades early due to her Q being blocked by wave and her relativly low damage output. What you should be doing is hitting the enemy ADC with your right click whenever it is fully charged. All-ins should be avoided until at least level 3, but 9/10 you want to wait for level 6 and a JG to go in. It is important to keep moving while you are farming. By constatly moving you will be charging her passive on her autos faster.

Mid Game:
The mid game is where Zeri can really start to shine. Once she has first item her dmg output increase by a large amount. these are the stages where you can really start to get aggressive, especialy if you've built a minor gold lead in farming. 1-3 items is where Zeri is at her best, and where you shod be trying to snowball as hard as possible.

Late Game:
Zeri's late game is much shakier if she is unable to get ahead. Champions like Aphelios and Vayne outscale her hard in this sense. If you are ahead you can tke very aggressive team fights, otherwise just play slow and for objectives.

There are three main builds that I believe stand out: Crit, On-Hit, and Hybrid. Unlike a champion such as Jinx, Zeri does not have one build that will be good every game. If you want pure DPS, crit is the way to go. Crit shows the largest dmg numbers over time, but not always. Due to the way that her Q works, champs like Leona and Amumu will take next to no dmg from a crit build. The next build type is on-hit. On hit in my opinion feels the best to play. Not only do you still do large amounts of dmg, but you are also much tankier. The last type is hybrid. Hybrid is a so so build style. This build focuses more on the burst with her W and R.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT go Rageblade with Lethal Tempo. You will be exceding the max attack speed on her Q by a considerble amount. It is ok to take it with Conq, but to me it feels really bad compared to IE and Lethal Tempo.
Now into a further breakdown of each build.

Mythic: For mythic items you only have 2 options. Due to Zeri being very far up in fights, it is usually best for her to go sheildbow. In games where there are not many assassins and rather tanks, Kraken slayer will prove to be better. Galeforce just does not feel nearly as good on her as the other two mythics.

Boots: Berzerker Grevies are the best for this build. Some people say that swifties are the best for her due to the scaling on her E, but for this build, the attack speed can help us hit the max on her Q without rageblade.

1st Items: Buying sheen early is a big Dmg boost, but it is also ok to buy it after mythic. Always build ER second, it's her best item in this build. You could rush ER if you are very ahead, but I find that the sheildbow passive is more important.

Last Items: IE is a big boost in dmg if you want to focus on pure crit dmg. This item is usually the best 3rd item. After IE Runans is a very good choice due to its procs off of her ult. She can easily shred through a group if they are standing close enough. For the very last item, it's pretty much up to you, any crit item. I like to use this slot for RFC, the range feels nice.

Mythic: For a mythic we want to pick one that is a sheen item. Tri-force has proven to be the best of the two, but Divine Sunderer can also be a good option. Tri-Force is the best because of the raw stats it gives as well as the movement speed is very useful in fights. The main downside is it costs a large amount of gold. In games where you are behind Divine Sunderer may prove to be better for you.

Boots: For boots Berzerker greives are the best option. Swifties just do not feel nearly as good as the attack speed gained early from the boots. You can also build armor boots if need be, they are just as viable but more situational.

First Items: There are two paths you can take at this point depending on playstyle. If you want to spam your E and W then buy an early tear before mythic and build Manamune 2nd item. Regardless of whether you build Manamune or not, the next item should be Wits End or BoRK. Build the Wits End if into a lot of AP.

Last Items: Black cleaver is usually a good item to follow BoRK or Wits End depending on which one you choose. Zeri can instantly stack it with her Q on all targets hit, including the penn with her E. Following Cleaver build whatever item you did not build earlier from BoRK and Wits End.

Mythic: For this build you will be building your mythic 3rd item. This is a lot like the current Ezreal and Kaisa builds. For what mythic you will be building I believe that Crown is the best item. Crown allows you to enter into fights more aggressively, as well as protecting you from being one-shot. If you want more dmg you can opt for Ludens instead.

Boots: For boots you have two main options. The first option is penn boots. These boots allow for your W and R to do more to champs with MR. If you want to use your Q more then Berserker Grieves may feel better to you.

First Items: For your first two items rush Manamune into Nashors. Both of these items proc on-hit dmg onto your Q. Once you finish these two items you will see a big spike in your power. After this, you build your mythic.

Last Items: Lich Bane is one of the best items to follow your mythic. Lich bane procs on your Q with Nashors. Death cap is also a good item, as well as Cosmic Drive.