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Ziggs Build Guide by Re4XN

Middle Up Your Arsenal! ☠ Ziggs Guide

Middle Up Your Arsenal! ☠ Ziggs Guide

Updated on January 1, 2018
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Re4XN Build Guide By Re4XN 17 0 512,294 Views 41 Comments
17 0 512,294 Views 41 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Re4XN Ziggs Build Guide By Re4XN Updated on January 1, 2018
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Ziggs
    Caffeine-Addicted Squirrel
  • LoL Champion: Ziggs
    Twisting The Strangle Grip

Runes:

Sorcery
Summon Aery
The Ultimate Hat
Transcendence
Scorch

Inspiration
Minion Dematerializer
Biscuit Delivery

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Barrier

Barrier

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Guide
Table of Contents
By Re4XN
Introduction Before battle Gameplay Conclusion
About me
About Ziggs
Pros & Cons
Runes
Summoner Spells
Ziggs' Abilities
Items
Early game
Roaming
Grouping
Credits
Changelog
My other guides





About Me

Hey there!, my name is Re4XN (pronounced Rex) and I want to welcome you to my Ziggs guide! This is currently my 3rd guide on MOBAFire and I hope I can provide you with an easy to read experience. I've been playing League of Legends since the end of Season 4 and I like to think I know a few things when it comes to playing the game :)
Ziggs was the first Mid Laner I ever bought when I started playing League. Although tricky to play, I always found him an extremely fun and addictive champion, growing fond of him and his maniac personality/playstyle over the years.


About Ziggs

In a team, Ziggs' role is to blow everyone up that of a poke mage/sieger. He can dish out big amounts of damage to several members of the enemy team thanks to his AoE kit. However, lacking any meaningful means of escape and/or Crowd Control , Ziggs is susceptible to all-ins by enemy divers, heavily relying on good positioning to survive.
Without further ado, let's jump straight into the guide. Warning: it is quite lenghty as it explains pretty much everything you need to know about Ziggs. If you wish to tell me I did a good job, an UPVOTE or some +rep would be truly appreciated. If you have any questions, feel free to post it in the comments!

Pros & Cons

Pros
Cons
+ High burst damage!
+ High (effective) range!
+ Everything's AoE!
+ Strong waveclear!
+ Semi-global ultimate!
- Mana junkie...
- Immobile...
- Everything's a skillshot...
- Squishy...
- Lack of crowd control...

detailed explanation




Runes



With the new Rune system introduced in Patch 7.22, Ziggs' options have vastly opened up and he's not tied down (although he might be into that, hehehe) to one specific path. The page I present you with is the one I use and think is best on him; however, these choices don't invalidade alternative Runes you might be considering.

Kicking off, we go with Sorcery as it benefits mages like Ziggs the most. Between the three keystones, we have Summon Aery, Phase Rush and Arcane Comet. The latter is pretty much sh*t on Ziggs, there is no other wording for it: you have no reliable way to hit it and you benefit very little from its cooldown reduction considering all of Ziggs' spells are AoE, meaning that idea dies right there. Although Summon Aery's AP ratios are somewhat low, so is its cooldown, making it a great poke tool that can be proc'd with every single cast of Bouncing Bomb, adding to both your kill and lane pressures. Phase Rush is still a great alternative and deserves consideration, simply due to the fact that Ziggs is an immobile champion and this Rune offsets that by granting you a burst of movement speed that can be used for chases and escapes alike.

Next up, we have The Ultimate Hat. This doesn't require an entire wall of text to explain, as it is quite straightforward: your ultimate has a long f*cking cooldown, this cuts it by 15% when fully stacked, in addition (terrible wording, as it stacks multiplicatively, math jokes hahahaha) to other sources of cooldown reduction you might have. Simple!

The alternative to the above mentioned Rune is Manaflow Band, which helps tremendously during the early game, but falls off somewhat after you acquire the Morellonomicon. The Ultimate Hat is more impactful throughout the game.

Transcendence provides Ziggs with 10% CDR at Level 10, which is great, as it allows for more hexplosions! Moreover, it converts any extra CDR you might have into bonus Ability Power, although this might not come into play too often (but it is still a nice bonus).

The only alternative to Transcendence is Absolute Focus, which gives you extra Ability Power for as long as you stay above 70% health. This isn't a bad trade-off, since Ziggs has a super safe laning phase and can stay relatively healthy. Nevertheless, I find the CDR invaluable.

Lastly, Gathering Storm is taken to turn Ziggs into a Mid/Late Game monster, providing you with free Ability Power every 10 minutes. After just 20 minutes of play (a time that will be reached most games), you'll be getting +24 AP, which significantly boosts your damage output!

Scorch is a good alternative and provides you with additional kill pressure in lane, but keep in mind it has a long cooldown and won't be nearly as useful as Gathering Storm as the game progresses. Waterwalking is garbage, because you won't be roaming much as Ziggs.

As far as the secondary tree goes, Inspiration is the best of the bunch. Biscuit Delivery provides Ziggs with invaluable sustain in lane and Minion Dematerializer allows you to kill off either Melee or Cannon Creeps (make sure you only dematerialize one type) and quickly shove wave after wave, keeping your lane pressured, ensuring that an enemy roam would result in not only lost EXP, but also a lost tower. Later on, the extra damage against the Creep you chose will help you clear the waves in one swift combo: Hexplosive Minefield + Bouncing Bomb and off you go!

Summoner Spells


These two summoner spells are what I most often run on Ziggs. Flash speaks for itself, being THE spell of League of Legends. With your rather low mobility, it is invaluable for escaping, chasing and dodging key abilities.

Despite being a purely defensive spell, Barrier is nevertheless a great tool to add to your arsenal. It allows you to block big chunks of damage which often means the difference between dying a shameful death and escaping without looking back at the explosion. It is very effective against burst champions like Syndra or LeBlanc.


These are the alternatives, presented in descending order of relevance from left to right. The immediate alternative to Barrier is Heal. On paper it might even seem better, given that it permanently restores part of Ziggs' health and grants a burst of movement speed which can be used to escape. Moreover, it can be used on two people. In practice however, things must be taken with a grain of gunpowd... salt. Keep in mind that Heal is severely affected by Ignite, which is the go to summoner spell on the vast majority of your opposition, cutting the healing in half. It is also affected by Morellonomicon's Grievous Wounds passive, again cutting the healing factor. On top of this, it has a cooldown of 240 seconds as opposed to Barrier's 180. It also heals for less than what Barrier blocks. Despite all this, Heal remains as the best alternative and is a more useful spell during team fights.

Second alternative is Exhaust, which reduces incoming damage by 40% and slows the enemy by 30%. This is amazing at countering high burst/high mobility champions like Zed or Yasuo, denying them a key part of their combo and giving you valuable seconds to escape.

Ignite is a viable, although very questionable choice. It increases your kill potential in lane (which, I might add is not great) while leaving you prone to all-ins yourself. It is great at countering healing factors however, proving a good choice against champions like Vladimir or Swain.

Finally, we have the super situational Cleanse. It should only be taken when you absolutely, positively have to dodge (failing miserably) that incoming enemy Crowd Control or you die to their burst. Fortunately for you, there aren't a whole lot of situations like these where Barrier doesn't prove superior. However, it still is a good alternative against someone like Ahri, whose Charm may dictate your sentence in a matter of seconds.




Abilities

(P)
Ziggs has an amazing Passive. Every 12 seconds, his next basic attack will be empowered, dealing extra magic damage that scales with levels and Ability Power. Not only this, but Short Fuse also deals 100%
bonus damage to structures, allowing Ziggs to quickly demolish towers/inhibitors during sieges.
This ability is an amazing source of extra poke in lane that only requires you to click on the enemy, so you should take advantage of this whenever possible.
If you have difficulty farming ( Ziggs isn't known for his amazing base Attack Damage), you can use Short Fuse on minions in order to be sure you'll get them, particularly the Cannon Creep.
NOTE: Short Fuse's cooldown is reduced by 4/5/6 seconds whenever Ziggs uses an ability. This is extremely important during sieges, allowing you to take towers faster by rotating between Bouncing Bomb (Q) and Hexplosive Minefield (E). Save Satchel Charge (W) to either hexplode the tower or escape.


(Q)
Good range and Area of Effect damage make Bouncing Bombs an effective poke tool. Combined with Short Fuse, it'll be the source of your early game burst, allowing you to easily proc Thunderlord's Decree with a swift AA + Q + AA combo.
Don't even bother trying to hit a 3-bounce bomb while laning. The odds of hitting it are rather slim and so is your mana pool. What you should be doing instead is either throwing it in their face or taking advantage of its AoE, aiming at the minions while the enemy champion is near them, hitting both in the process.
Honestly, Bouncing Bombs are somewhat of a telegraphed ability. To avoid wasting precious mana, you should be constantly moving around the lane, throwing bombs from several different angles, forcing the enemy to do some math in order to avoid them. Make them work out, do what Ziggs does best: be an annoyance.
These bombs are also the source of your amazing waveclear! After you complete one item, two Bouncing Bombs are enough to clear a wave of caster minions and in conjunction with Hexplosive Minefield (E), you can easily clear an entire wave. You won't be getting a lot of kills in lane, so do your best to out-farm the enemy, because you have the better tools for the job. On a final note, Ziggs' waveclear is so good that you can stall games indefinitely by repeatedly clearing minions under tower. Unless the enemy team is really far ahead, this'll buy you enough time to scale and possibly turn the tides.


(W)
Being the only ability you can use to escape sticky situations and having a ridiculously long cooldown, Satchel Charge should be used with extreme consideration. It can be used to Crowd Control the enemy mid laner, but failing to kill them or force them out of lane will make you a sitting duck for 24 seconds, which is more than enough time for the enemy jungler to show up. Think twice (or thrice) before committing to use Satchel Charge. Nevertheless, this isn't to say you should abstain from using it if an opportunity rises or if your ADC needs peel during a team fight, for instance. Use your brain, it'll help you tremendously.
An important thing to take note of is that Satchel Charge knocks back/forward enemies and Ziggs himself. The most effective way of escape is when you and your pursuer are on opposite edges of the Area of Effect. After the detonation, the distance between both of you is maximized this way. It is also important to mention that you (and enemies) can fly over walls thanks to this ability, allowing you to use Satchel Charge quite creatively.
There is a myth surrounding Ziggs' W + Q combo that goes: throwing a Bouncing Bomb mid-air will extend its effective range. This is false, since Bouncing Bomb's range stays the same whether you are grounded or airborne. HOWEVER, detonating Satchel Charge will bring you closer to fleeing enemies a little bit faster than if you chased them on foot, allowing you to throw a Bouncing Bomb that will hit them well within its original range.
The last piece of advice regarding Satchel Charge use is its "passive". It will hexplode towers that fall below a certain health threshold, making Ziggs an invaluable asset during pushes (and split-pushes). You should be walking back-and-forth hitting towers with Short Fuse while rotating your abilities as previously mentioned and watch for the little icon ( ) that'll appear above a tower when it becomes structurally unsound, giving you green light to hexplode it to kingdom come. It is also frequent that Ziggs can sneakily blow them up on his own without minions, because the tower is already in this weakened state.
NOTE: Throwing Satchel Charge inside a bush will give you vision! Also remember that displacement cancels channels like Karthus' Requiem or Miss Fortune's Bullet Time!


(E)
Hexplosive Minefield is a priceless ability you can use to clean up waves, zone enemies, block choke-points or deal insane amounts of AoE damage and Crowd Control during team fights. Its slow allows you to easily chain the remainder of your abilities, often resulting in huge bursts of damage.
A quick E + Q combo is often times enough to clean up a minion wave with Ziggs (after you buy one item). This allows you to exert a great deal of pressure mid lane and with some help from your jungler (or a noob enemy team) you might take first tower and second, and third and inhibitor AND THE FVCKING NEXUS TOO thanks to Satchel Charge and Short Fuse.
NOTE: Hexplosive Minefield will give you vision inside bushes if an enemy detonates a mine.


(R)
The most satisfying ultimate in the game, not only because it deals a ton of damage (with its incredible 1.1 AP scaling) and has an extremely long range, but also because it is a huge f*cking hexplosion; you don't even have to look at it to know you'll be making someone's day miserable when you throw it.
You can use Mega Inferno Bomb to single-handedly win team fights by landing it on as many people as you yordle-ly can (which is easily accomplished thanks to a generous hit box), clear minion waves that are threatening allied towers, steal important objectives like Dragon and Baron Nashor or simply to make picks on a lonesome target. It's a multi-tool, much like a pocket knife or the word kurwa in Poland.
The ultimate's main drawbacks are its long delay (which increases with distance) and damage reduction on the periphery of the blast zone. Unless they are CC'd (which is the main reason Ziggs has so much synergy with champions like Amumu or Sejuani), landing an accurate shot on someone is nearly impossible thanks to the amount of existing abilities/spells they can use to dodge the central area.

Items

Doran's Ring and 2x Health Potions is arguably the best start on Ziggs. The ring provides him with 15 AP, slightly boosting his damage, 60 health points that help with early survivability and 50% base mana regeneration. Additionally, it restores 4 mana on kill, which ensures Ziggs is able to maintain a stable mana pool for quite a while.
The new Morellonomicon is core on Ziggs because it gives him everything he wants: 100 AP to skyrocket your damage output, 20% CDR allows for moar hexplosions and 400 mana, in conjunction with the passive, pretty much fixes your mana addiction. The icing on the cake comes in the form of Grievous Wounds, which is tremendously helpful against healing factors.
By far the best boots a mage can have. 15 magic penetration is yuuuuge and will help you combat any magic resistance the enemy team might build for quite a while. In conjunction with Void Staff and Greater Mark of Magic Penetration, these boots are devastating to anyone not smart enough to stockpile magic resistance.
The AP cousin of the Statikk Shiv, Luden's Tempest is a weapon you'll definitely want to add to your arsenal, as it increases your damage output tremendously thanks to the 100 AP and a fantastic passive that allows you to instantly burst squishy targets (or clear minion waves). 10% movement speed is also very helpful for a low mobility champion like Ziggs.
Although uncommon, Lich Bane is a great item on Ziggs. It increases his burst quite significantly, not only against enemy champions, but mainly against enemy structures, often times allowing you to destroy them in 2-3 Short Fuse empowered attacks. Its main drawback is that you have to be in AA range in order to fully take advantage of it.
The enemy is stockpiling magic resistance? Don't worry, just get a Void Staff and you're settled for the rest of the game, as it helps you penetrate those thick enemy skins and it scales with enemy magic resistance, meaning that the more they build it, the more damage you deal to them. And if they are fools who don't stockpile MR, you'll pretty much deal a load of true damage.
Rabadon's Deathcap is the ultimate fvck you damage item. It provides you with nothing but a ton of pure ability power and is priced accordingly. Excellent for dealing with weak targets such as AD Carries or other Mid Laners (or people who, once again, don't pile up magic resistance). Note that if the enemy IS building some MR, Void Staff is a vastly superior (and cheaper) choice.
Banshee's Veil is a great item that combines offense and defense. It excels at dealing with pesky mages who might be kicking your yordle arse as it provides you with 60 magic resistance and a spell shield that will block the next incoming ability, potentially disrupting a sure-kill combo. If you are being focused by enemy Crowd Control , this item is often a must.
Tank-killing-business proving difficult? Liandry's Torment's got your back! In addition to great stats that give you extra damage and survivability, the passive is the reason why you'll buy this item. It burns enemy champions for 6% of their current health each time they take magic damage. Last I checked, Ziggs was a mage, so... burn baby, burn!
One of the few anti-AD items mages are able to build, Zhonya's Hourglass is a must if you're facing an attack damage oriented team. 45 armor is invaluable against the likes of Zed or Talon and the stasis effect WILL save your life if you use it. 10% CDR and 70 AP are very nice supplements, but ultimately not the key reason for purchasing this item.


Early game

Before you even start playing, think. Who are you going to face and what are their strengths? Is it a burst mage like Syndra, who can 100-0 you in the blink of an eye if you misstep? Is it an immobile champion like Karthus, whose bones should hexplode with little effort? You might be thinking right now: "I'll figure it out as I go!", except you see kid, by the time you realize you've made a mistake and didn't build that Seeker's Armguard against Zed because you thought he's a f*cking Silver V noob, or because you thought throwing Short Fuses at Talon was fun until he gutted you, it'll be too late. No no no, you must think about your game plan in the loading screen.


A reasonable early game plan should sound something like this: "I'll walk into lane, throw a couple Short Fuses and/or Bouncing Bombs at the enemy and look at their reaction. Then I play accordingly." Easy! By their response alone you'll be able to figure out what kind of trouble you're in for. Are they trading back? Don't poke as hard and focus on farm. Are they unskilled apes? Keep poking them, but with one eye open. In some match-ups, you don't even need a complex plan. If the champion is super mobile like Yasuo or LeBlanc, you stay the f*ck away and farm! You won't out-trade them, so focus on where the money's at: creeps.

You've now learned how to discern whether you're facing apes or real people in lane. But what should you do in each case, you might be wondering. I'll be honest with you: Ziggs' kill potential against real people is mediocre at best, and early game isn't his forte. You should focus on farming creeps and getting money and b*tches, because your time to shine is yet to come. This isn't to say that you shouldn't poke them when you see an opening. AA + Q + AA is a very effective poke tool Levels 1-3; you can use it to harass or zone your opponent from your own minions. Your Bouncing Bombs might be hard to hit, so your best bet is to throw them directly in the enemy's face when he's coming for farm, or throw them slightly behind a creep so that it hits both with the bomb's AoE.

Depending on your opposition, you'll want to position yourself accordingly and manipulate the minion waves in your favor. However, every match-up is different and I can't cover everything you need to do in every single one of them. That is something that'll come to you with experience (and a lot of common sense). So, I am going to generalize and say that usually the lane is down to skill. In this case, you should always strive to hit Level 2 first. With abilities such as Short Fuse and Bouncing Bomb this is easily accomplish-able and will give you a tremendous advantage in lane, allowing you to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL play the lane on Ziggs' terms. It takes seven minions to level-up, meaning that you must clear the entire first wave and kill an additional creep. The way you're going to win this race is simple: as soon as you walk into lane you're going to start attacking the creeps and pushing the wave. If the enemy laner tries to contest, remember to throw your early game combo on them and walk away to take off minion aggro. If you reach Level 2 before your opponent, stop pushing immediately and proceed to last-hit only (the act of prolonging suffer... killing creeps only when they are about to die). This will allow you to control the minion waves and zone your opponent, denying them valuable gold and experience. There are several advantages to doing this and I could write an entire guide on it. Instead, I'll leave you with this small video by an Asian (believe me, those guys know what they're up to):



Hold on a second... what if the bonobo I'm facing has the same plan as myself and has a champion better suited for the job, say for instance, Zed or Fizz? Well, in that case, it is still possible to attain early lane dominance, although you are bound to lose it eventually (often times when they hit Level 6). If you see you're not able to out-push them or that you are losing the trade wars, the better choice is to back off. Remember what I said earlier about Ziggs having a safe laning phase? It wasn't bull! These champions might try to zone you, but you will not lose significant gold and experience because you can safely keep up in farm with Bouncing Bombs. Don't be afraid to use them in such manner, although your mana pool will take a hit, your life will not.

The final scenario you might encounter is this: you walk into lane, start pushing. You decide to test the waters by throwing an AA + Q + AA combo at the enemy Karthus. The guy takes it all like a man and miserably misses every single Lay Waste. You think to yourself "Wow, this guys sucks!". Does the above mentioned plan change? NO! You still try to out-push him and zone him from farm, except this time, you have an extra source of gold: the enemy champion. Ziggs excels against immobile, squishy targets and our friend Karthus is but one example. They cannot really dodge your abilities if you're good at aiming them and evading their abilities means you'll be effectively kiting them: dealing damage while avoiding it yourself. It'll come to a point where the difference between your health pools is so significant that you can safely all-in them. The way to do this is simple: press that f*cking TAB button you never use and look at who the hell the enemy jungler is and how well he's doing. Second, take a look at the bloody map and check if your surroundings are warded. These two factors are super important because they will decide what you do with your Satchel Charge. If you have no wards, don't even think about using it offensively (except if you're comfortable to part ways with Flash, Barrier or both) and if the enemy jungler is fed/mobile/Faker you better think twice about using it. So, hexploding people! You start by throwing Short Fuse at them and immediately throw Hexplosive Minefield (with some luck the enemy will find themselves in the middle of the field). Next, you'll want to throw a Satchel Charge slightly in front of them, so that when you detonate it they will be knocked towards you (and dragged across the remainder of the minefield). Lastly, you can finish them off with Bouncing Bomb and another Short Fuse. If you have Mega Inferno Bomb and they are still alive, do not hesitate to hexplode them! If you killed them, awesome! If you did not, you've most likely forced them out of lane, so push the hell out of the remaining minion wave and either back off, take their tower or roam.


Roaming

So, you and your opponent are both standing mid lane, idly farming and (maybe) poking each other from time to time until the enemy says "F*ck it!" and goes base. Either because they were low on health thanks to your outstanding performance with Bouncing Bombs and Short Fuses or because they felt like it. Either way, you are healthy and your mana pool is by no means depleted. You're left alone in lane, what should you do?

First thing you're going to do is take a look at the enemy tower to check its health and assess whether you'll be able to single-handedly take it down. If the answer is yes (and it should be if the tower is around 40-50% health), the second thing you're going to do is, you guessed it, press that bloody TAB button and look at the f*cking map, because we don't like cheesy junglers and we're also scared sh*tless of the dark. Save Satchel Charge for the final nail on that tower or to escape if you see the jungler coming. Shove the hell out of the minion wave (if there is one remaining) and start whittling down that tower with Short Fuses. Remember to rotate between Bouncing Bombs and Hexplosive Minefields to proc your passive more often, as it deals 200% damage to structures! Got the tower? Congratz, you just brought your team one step closer to victory!

But what if you can't take the tower alone and your idiot Lee Sin refuses to help? If this is the case, you have two choices: shove the wave and go base to up your arsenal or roam (the latter option only being feasible after Level 6). The enemy champion will waste around 30 seconds getting back to lane (or more if you hexploded them) which is more than enough time to get Ziggs near the Dragon pit and throw a Mega Inferno Bomb Bot Lane. This can help your team tremendously if someone dies or wastes summoner spells. Don't stop with Mega Inferno Bomb however! The odds of you hitting the enemy and killing them with it alone are slim. If you throw it and see the enemy bot out of position, don't be afraid to go down there in person. Go from behind, throw a Hexplosive Minefield slightly behind them (so they have to go around/through it). Look. At. The. F*cking. Map. If the coast is clear, throw down a Satchel Charge and knock someone back towards you or your team mates. Short Fuses and Bouncing Bombs should finish them off. And if not, you just made their life miserable and that's worth a few points already. Good job!

When roaming, there is but one thing you must acknowledge. Well, two actually, the first being DON'T FORGET to look at the bloody map. I know I'm pressing on the same key over and over and over again, but map awareness is what makes or breaks good players. And I want you to succeed while making other people question their poor life game choices! The second thing to know is that YOU'RE NOT F*CKING RAMBO! You can't take a bazooka shot to the chest or an arrow to the knee and keep fighting like it's but a scratch! You're playing Ziggs, a bloody squirrel on way too much coffee who decided that strapping a ticking bomb to his back'd be a good idea. You can't take 9999 damage and carry on fighting. You need to be smart about your choices. Don't force roams if the enemy is entrenched in a good position. Don't force roams if your team mates are not able to back you up. Don't f*cking throw maximum range Mega Inferno Bombs, hoping to snipe that Caitlyn; not only will your bloody ultimate travel ~3 seconds, she'll spit on your face after using 90 Caliber Net and running away unscathed. You have a brain, don't be afraid to use it.

Another I need to mention about roaming. Enemy roams. What if you were the one pushed against your tower (Lord knows how this happened, since you are playing Ziggs and shoving people is your job) or what if you were the one who went base and the enemy decided it'd be a good idea to gank someone? Remember the #1 rule: look at the map. If the enemy decides it's a good idea to roam, more often than not it means someone on your team is balls deep in enemy territory or out of position. By looking at the map, you'll be able to figure out the most likely target, top or bot lane. After you realize which lane is the most likely to be ganked, you do but one thing, you spam the sh*t out of the danger ping on your team mates' lane. After you're done with that, you are allowed to spam M.I.A.'s on your own lane. People can be f*cking blind sometimes, and that is why pinging DANGER! on their lane is far more effective than pinging enemy is missing on yours. Next order of business, should you follow your laner? Short answer is, no. However! You are always able to assist your team mates from across the map with Mega Inferno Bomb and if it'll help them escape or turn the gank around, don't even hesitate using it! Aside from that, do not bother following the enemy. You will be leaving the safety of your lane and might be ambushed, you will lose gold and experience and potentially your tower. It is often not worth it. If the enemy roams, you push the wave and attempt to take their tower, forcing them to lose gold and experience themselves. That is how you'll be helping your team.

Last, but not least, objectives. They may seem small and insignificant, but if you look closer, they are rather nice to grab if you have the opportunity. I am of course talking about Jinx's brea... the enemy towers, Dragon and Rift Herald. If your roam is successful, take a look at your collective health, glance at the map and figure out if you are able to take an objective, anything that will help your team get an edge over the enemy is tremendously helpful in the long run. Thanks to Short Fuse, taking towers with Ziggs is incredibly fast and usually no one is able to contest them in a 3vs1 situation. If your jungler is nearby and the enemy bot lane is dead/base, don't hesitate to take a free Dragon !


Grouping

When grouping with his team, Ziggs shines the brightest. He is able to deal loads of damage from a safe distance, he is invaluable during sieges and can frequently save people's lives with his limited Crowd Control . After the laning phase is over, your team should group up in order to repeatedly contest objectives because in an ideal scenario, what they want is a victory. If they won't come to you, it's your job to come to them. Ziggs' only goal in this game is to blow everything that belongs to the enemy team up. You can seldom accomplish such a task on your own, force your team to help you!

I've already explained what you should do in order to take down towers as Ziggs, but to reiterate once more, you walk back-and-forth while chuckling Short Fuses at the structure, rotating between Bouncing Bomb and Hexplosive Minefield to reduce your Passive's cooldown. When you're laying siege together with your team and the enemy is defending, try to use these two abilities as zoning tools and avoid landing them. The reason for this is to avoid tower aggro. Also, if the enemy is getting defensive, take a step away from them, stay behind your team and poke them until they go away. Rinse and repeat until you hexplode that tower to kingdom come with Satchel Charge.

Avoid face-checking bushes as Ziggs or you're in for a world of pain. This is the reason you should get Farsight Alteration Level 9, it'll make traversing the map a lot safer. When in the jungle, remember that you are able to block choke-points and narrow passages with Satchel Charge (which, also allows you to jump walls) and Hexplosive Minefield, so if you or your team mates are ever in a sticky situation, try to block the pursuers.

We now come to the topic of team fights. How exciting! There is one single thing you must remember and surprisingly, this time it's not to look at the bloody map, but to stay the f*ck away from the enemy team. Your poor caffeine-addicted squirrel bones will not withstand the damage output of a 5-man team. No, you stay the hell away from them. Remember: you have the range advantage, it's not worth putting your life on the line if there is a safer solution that accomplishes the same goal.

So, aside from staying away from bad people, what else should you do as Ziggs during a team fight? The answer is once again simple! Before the fight starts you press that bloody TAB button that's probably broken from so much mashing (/s) and take a look at the enemy team composition. Do they have divers like Zed or Renekton? Are there any fed champions? How beefy is their vanguard and how much Crowd Control does it have? After you mentally take note of the answers to all these questions, you must decide how you will position yourself when the fight starts. They have a Zed? Either he's going for you or your ADC, so better be prepared for that Death Mark and have your finger on Zhonya's Hourglass. Even better, stay the hell away from him, because you have no idea whether his Flash is operational or not. Don't die, for Christ's sake, that's half your job! Is there a Zed and he's fed? Well, guess what, the stay the f*ck away distance just increased! Seriously, against super mobile champions who can 100-0 you, often times it is better to not even risk getting caught. Just walk away and force him to put abilities on cooldown, letting your own vanguard peel them away from you. When they realize that they wasted key abilities, you can turn around and hexplode them to bits. If they're going for the ADC, remember that you can hinder them with Hexplosive Minefield. Restrain from using Satchel Charge, unless it will (and by will, I mean 100%) save someone's life, yours included. Next question, the enemy vanguard is too strong for you to attempt to kill their carries? Well, you have but one option, which is attack the closest person to you without stepping in the you're dead/CC'd distance. It is the best thing you can do, as it ensures you stay safe behind your team's tanks and are still able to deal constant damage.

Million dollar question, when do you use Mega Inferno Bomb? I am so glad you asked! There are three scenarios you must consider in order to get a full answer: our team is ahead, their team is ahead, both teams are even.
  • Our team is ahead - give the enemy a false sense of security by using it after they have seriously committed to the fight. This way you maximize the number of people hit;
  • Our teams are even - in this situation you can either throw it preemptively to force the enemy to retreat (if you fear odds are against you) or use the strategy from the bullet point above;
  • Their team is ahead - if the fight is going to happen and you have no way to disengage, use it preemptively to try and scare them off, otherwise save it for clearing strong minion waves under the inhibitor towers;

The above bullet points are a generalization and should be taken with a grain of salt, because they do not trump the power of common sense! Again, use your brain, if the enemy Jinx has no magic resist, is 12/5/8, full build but sitting at 40% health, throw that Mega Inferno Bomb directly at her booty, because you are Ziggs and don't give a single sh*t about front lines. This ability alone allows you to overcome that obstacle effortlessly, ensuring you take out priority targets like the one mentioned above without ever having to get close.

Outside of all the life saving advice given above, use your abilities to their best according to the situation you're in. If that Orianna is in range of your Hexplosive Minefield + Bouncing Bomb combo, throw it. You deal tons of damage and she'll most likely be taken out of the fight, either in a coffin or on a hammock. Spam the sh*t out of your abilities, trying to hit them on more than one person and remember to stay safe. If that Jax is coming for your yordle fur, start retreating. If he's coming through the jungle, block his path with Hexplosive Minefield or Satchel Charge. And never forget the golden rule: GO FOR THE EYES! This means go for whoever's weakest, be it that immobile Orianna or that useless Teemo who has used up his Flash and is now trying to run away. You have the tools, all that remains for you to do is use them.


Match-ups

This is the match-up section of the guide. The goal here is to give you general pointers and tips/tricks that'll make your life as Ziggs easier and their life harder (or slightly annoying). Always remember that what follows are suggestions and by no means should you cut your head open and throw your brain away. When in-game, use your judgement!

Karthus, the Rockstar


DIFFICULTY: DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION/10


Rush: Lost Chapter > Morellonomicon
Summoner spell: Ignite, Barrier or Heal
Helpful items: Banshee's Veil, Zhonya's Hourglass

how to dance your way to victory


Veigar, the Deleting Expert


DIFFICULTY: PRISON BREAK/10


Rush: Lost Chapter > Morellonomicon
Summoner spell: Ignite, Barrier or Heal
Helpful items: Banshee's Veil, Zhonya's Hourglass

how to prison break your way to victory




That was my Ziggs guide, if you read all this way down, congratulations! I really hope I taught you something valuable in the midst of so much obscene language and hexplosions. A very big THANK YOU for clicking this guide! If you realized after reading this that Ziggs is not your type of champion and you'd much rather prefer a 'balls deep' approach, take a look at my exquisite Pantheon guide: >> Click Here <<


CHANGELONG:
changelog


SPECIAL THANKS TO:

* Everyone who clicked this guide, I hope my experience with Mid Lane furthered your skills and I also hope you have as much fun playing Ziggs as I do. For a caffeine-addicted squirrel thingy he's a blast!

* jhoijhoi for her amazing Guide On How To Make a Guide!

* utopus for his time and in-depth review of the guide!

* My gay roommate (you know who you are if you're reading this) who pushed me forward with the idea of writing a Ziggs guide, unlike my other gay roommate who did the opposite. Thank you very much!
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