Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page
x
x

Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment.
You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment
I liked this Guide

I didn't like this Guide




Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order
Contempt for the Weak (PASSIVE)
Zed Passive Ability
Introduction
Zed is an awesome, fun and challenging champion who excels at assassinating squishies, split pushing and doing some awesome plays with his shadow *o*
In this guide I will tell you everything I know about Zed, the small tips and tricks, which items to buy and what is really important when playing him.
Enjoy! ;)
--- --- --- --- ---PROS
--- --- --- --- --
--- --- --- --- ---CONS
--- --- --- --- --
--- --- --- --- --

- Awesome Burst
- Snowballs very hard
- Great Split Pusher
- No Mana (Energy)
- Awesome Mobility/ escapes
- Low Cooldowns
- Easy Last Hits with
Contempt for the Weak
- Very Fun to play
- He is a flippin' Ninja
--- --- --- --- ---CONS
--- --- --- --- --

- Hard to master
- Squishy
- Bad Teamfighter
- Countered by
Zhonya's Hourglass
- Nearly no cc
Always take Flash. Always. It is the spell that you will need to dodge that
![]() ![]() |
As Zed, most of the time you are the aggressive Laner, you want kills and you need Ignite for it. In addition it synergyizes well with your ![]() |
I rarely take Teleport but that does not mean that it is bad. Teleport is awesome if you know that you will get bullied in lane and that you have no kill potential. The reduced cooldown on turret-tp's helps you to sustain in lane and if your opponent roams you can push the lane and then follow up with teleport. It's also an excellent roaming spell. |
I do take the two points in
Spell Weaving
and
Blade Weaving
because I think it is very effective on Zed since you do a lot of damage with both auto attacks and abilities and you need both in a normal kill-combo (especially because of your passive
Contempt for the Weak)
If you do not agree with me, set the two points in
Warlord
and
Devastating Strikes
, they are both awesome ;D.
Always get three points in
Executioner
to maximize the damage with the last tick of your
Death Mark. It also fits well with your passive. The rest of the offensive tree should be self-explanatory.
Block
and
Recovery
help you to sustain in lane, especially against a ranged mid laner.
For runes I take the standard runes with some armor pen. flat AD and resists. Some people take for the
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage three greater quintessence of armor penetration which can be very effective, especially in an AD-heavy team but I think that normally
Black Cleaver and a
Last Whisper is enough armor pen. So I prefer the flat AD for the early game.
For the Glyphs the
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist is more effective and more awesome if you know that you are against an AD Laner. But in most cases you will play against AP so you normally need the
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist.
I still always take the
Greater Seal of Armor because of the Auto Attacks of your lane opponent and their AD Carry when you roam bot early.



If you do not agree with me, set the two points in


Always get three points in




For runes I take the standard runes with some armor pen. flat AD and resists. Some people take for the



For the Glyphs the


I still always take the


Your basic attacks to a target below 50% health deal extra % damage. This only occurs to one target once every 10 seconds.
Zed's passive is very strong if you make use of it (especially early game), it is very underestimated but it can help you in a lot of situations and the damage of it never really falls off.
Tips and Tricks:
- Last hitting is very easy with this passive because it works on minions and the 10s cooldown is only on one same target, like Jarvan's
Martial Cadence or Yasuo's
Sweeping Blade . So it will work on every new low-health minion.
- Most mid laners (even some ad mid laners) need two hits to kill a mage minion after it got hit by a turret. Your Passive does enough damage to kill them.
- Be careful not to push because of the slightly faster wave-clear. (More about pushing your lane in the Laning-section
- This passive is a very important part of your full
Death Mark combo. Remember to make at least one auto attack after you used all your spells to proc it.
This is very important late game when you are dealing with tanks since it does % health damage. - Your Passive is your only ability that deals magic damage. So it is still very strong if the enemy got armor. The new mastery
Devastating Strikes fits very well with this passive because it gives you both armor and magic penetration.

Throws a shuriken that deals damage, simple and effective. Your

This is your main damage ability, you use it to poke, wave clear, check bushes and for the awesome thunder sound effect in the shockblade skin <3
Tips and Tricks:
- The damage of the shuriken is reduced when it already hit a minion so you want the shuriken to hit the enemy laner first.
- This is also very important when you want to avoid pushing your lane, don't just throw them through the whole wave.
- Your Shuriken does a sound when you hit something in a bush or in the fog of war. So you can use it to check bushes.
- If you are still unsure or if relying on one small shuriken is too risky in your situation, you should check with your
Living Shadow
- If you are still unsure or if relying on one small shuriken is too risky in your situation, you should check with your
- Both your and your
Living Shadow's shuriken aim towards your cursor but the mimicked shuriken only deals half of the damage.
- Leveling this ability lowers the energy costs.

Places a shadow that mimics Zed's abilities. Reactivate the ability to switch positions with the shadow.
This ability is what makes Zed Zed. It is an unique ability which can be used in a lot of situations.
Tips and Tricks:
- Double Tap
Living Shadow allows you to immediately switch positions with the shadow. This helps you when chasing, escaping, dodging spells or to reach the lane faster.
- The shadow gives vision for an area. You can use that to check the area behind a wall before you switch positions with the shadow.
- You can only switch positions once. Once you did that aggressively, you have no other escape spells (except
Flash)
- The shadow lasts for 4 seconds. If you are unsure how long it will last check it above your abilities. There will be an icon showing you when your
Living Shadow will disappear. It is often rewarding to switch in the last second and then immediately
Death Mark to close a big gap and do an awesome kill combo. (more in the combo section)
- Practice: Always remember the position of your shadows (both of your
Living Shadow and of your
Death Mark's shadow). It can and will happen (for Zed beginners) that you misposition yourself because you unnecessarily switched with that
Living Shadow that is placed near their team instead of yours.
- Do not switch positions when it is not necessary. You will often run into skill shots. Many Zed beginners (I did it too ;D) switch in the last second even if it is not necessary just because it looks awesome.

Slashes, hitting all nearby enemies. Your shadow's shadow slash slows.
This is your only cc ability and a very important damage-ability in both melee fights and pokes.
- Remember that only your
Living Shadow's shadow slash slows! (Try to spell that 3 times ;D)
- Shadow Slash has a very low cooldown, so remember to use it often in long fights early.
- When you and your shadow both hit an enemy with your shadow slash, it does no additional damage but the slow is increased.
- Every time you hit an enemy with your shadow slash, the cooldown of your
Living Shadow is reduced by 2 seconds. This is very important.
- If you have to escape or chase someone, try to hit them with your slash as often as possible since it does not interrupt your movement.
- The cooldown does not get reduced if your shadow hits an enemy.
- As already mentioned shadow slash does not interrupt your movement, not even your auto attacks! So you can shadow slash together with an auto attack. This can help when you are last hitting.
- If you have
Tiamat you can possibly activate it together with your shadow slash but just when you activate the active of Tiamat first!

Oh, the Death Mark <3. This is your juke, all-in, burst, dodge ability.
You dash to an enemy and get untargetable for half a second.
In addition you mark the enemy with the DEATH MARK which will explode after 3 seconds and you place a shadow behind you.
- As mentioned in the part with the
Living Shadow always remember the position of your ult's shadow.
- Your ult can be interrupted by
Zhonya's Hourglass,
Playful / Trickster,
Sanguine Pool and removed with
Quicksilver Sash. If possible, avoid engaging on someone who has at least one of these items/abilites!
- Your ult positions you right in front of your enemy. If they use a gap-closer like
Flash while you are in your ult, you will follow them.
- Be careful because this move can be very predictable and allow the enemy to easily hit you with something like Cassio's
Petrifying Gaze, Viktor's
Gravity Field or even Anivia's
Flash Frost!
- Be careful because this move can be very predictable and allow the enemy to easily hit you with something like Cassio's
- Every kind of damage you deal while the mark is active is added to the last epic tick. This includes magic damage (your passive), physical damage (your whole combo), the damage of your shadows and the damage of activated items!
- Your ult has multiple uses, it is not just used to kill someone. There are lots of ways to use your ult just to escape -> here :3.
- It is risky but very rewarding if you hold on on your ultimate as long as you can to bait and dodge spells like
Ki Burst or
Counter Strike.
- Do not just randomly ult your lane opponent. If possible wait for important cc spells that you can dodge with your ultimate. You need to do as much damage as possible while the mark is active, so in this time you are very vulnerable to any kind of cc!

You are an evil ninja - make use of it!
This is your main damage combo in lane and also a great way to clear waves. You place your shadow next to an enemy or in the creep wave and immediately press e to slow the enemy. Don't be afraid of executing this part too fast, the e will work on the shadow even if you use it while it looks like the shadow is still dashing to the enemy and not yet being placed (unlike LeBlanc's
Sigil of Malice+
Distortion).
When you did that the enemy should be slowed and you can easily hit them with one of your q's.
Now you have a shadow next to the enemy which will allow you to dodge a skill-shot and/or hit the enemy with a surprising auto attack. But be careful and don't do this if your lane is not warded because you are very vulnerable to ganks and skillshots after you switched positions with the shadow.
You can also switch positions before you use your q if this allows you to hit that perfect q.
Once you switched you can either all-in (e and auto attack them to death) or retreat, depending on the situation.
Executing the combo very fast gives you awesome burst, especially together with
Contempt for the Weak. Make use of it!
This is your main damage combo in lane and also a great way to clear waves. You place your shadow next to an enemy or in the creep wave and immediately press e to slow the enemy. Don't be afraid of executing this part too fast, the e will work on the shadow even if you use it while it looks like the shadow is still dashing to the enemy and not yet being placed (unlike LeBlanc's


When you did that the enemy should be slowed and you can easily hit them with one of your q's.
Now you have a shadow next to the enemy which will allow you to dodge a skill-shot and/or hit the enemy with a surprising auto attack. But be careful and don't do this if your lane is not warded because you are very vulnerable to ganks and skillshots after you switched positions with the shadow.
You can also switch positions before you use your q if this allows you to hit that perfect q.
Once you switched you can either all-in (e and auto attack them to death) or retreat, depending on the situation.
Executing the combo very fast gives you awesome burst, especially together with

Being a ninja does not mean to take unnecessary risks... or does it?
Same as above. The only difference is that you stay behind your minions and only harass the enemy with a second e. As mentioned, be fast with your
Shadow Slash because the cooldown is just as long as the duration of your
Living Shadow (+5% Cdr through
Sorcery)
Do this if you cannot risk the aggressive positioning of your second
Living Shadow if your lane is not warded or if the enemy laner can kite you easily while you retreat.
Same as above. The only difference is that you stay behind your minions and only harass the enemy with a second e. As mentioned, be fast with your



Do this if you cannot risk the aggressive positioning of your second

You get away like a fancy unicorn hitting the enemy with a graceful shadow slash!
This is your main escape combo. You get away with your double w and slow them with the e of the remaining shadow to ensure your escape. If you believe that you are save, throw a last q at them to punish them for being so naive to chase you!
This is your main escape combo. You get away with your double w and slow them with the e of the remaining shadow to ensure your escape. If you believe that you are save, throw a last q at them to punish them for being so naive to chase you!



Magician Combo


You shall not pass!
You just throw your shadow and hit the enemy with a shadow slash to slow them. Very easy to execute, not a very good slow but it can save your teammates life. You can possibly switch positions to commit suicide but I would not recommend it.
Police Officer Combo








No one escapes the law!
This is one of your normal kill combos. You ult and try to deal as much damage as possible with your





You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.