Zac Build Guide by

Zac, Carry w/ New Items

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Zac Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (8) More Zac Guides

Runes: Snowball

1 2 3

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Nimbus Cloak

Transcendence

Waterwalking

Resolve

Conditioning

Revitalize

Bonus:

+8 Ability Haste
+6 Armor
+65 Base Health

Spells:

Flash

Smite

Items

Start

First back

Mythic

Example build (mixed AD/AP)

Adapt

Post-build

Full Builds

(3 AD) (1 AP)

(1 AD) (3 AP)

Heartsteel (BONK!)

Farming God (test)

Tenacity (test)

Import item set in-game

Active item default key binds

Ability Order

Zac Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Kayn

Extreme

His insane amount of healing and generally slipperiness makes you a walking heal-stick. Hard to hit with CC and is hard to stop late-game.

Yasuo

Ideal

Your long range enage knockup is perfect for yasuo R, especially as you'll continue the CC chain a while after the ult.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Yasuo

Ideal

Your long range enage knockup is perfect for yasuo R, especially as you'll continue the CC chain a while after the ult.

Champion Build Guide

Intro

Welcome!

This is my personal build/guide that i use for most of my Zac games. I'm a otp zac player with about 1,200,000 mastery points, and have been playing him since he was released. I used to be Diamond, but don't much care for ranked anyone due to toxicity, among other things.
In general, i found this build / playstyle to be highly effective both when you need to carry randoms or play with people you trust. So whether you want to climb or just have fun, i hope this guide can be of help to you. Feel free to ask questions and i'll answer to the best of my ability.

Keep in mind that this guide is based on my preferred playstyle. It favors ability haste (AH) and tank stats, and useful actives/passives for baiting and controlling fights.
This may not be the way you like to play, so don't take this as an ultimate source of truth.

NB! This guide is a work-in-progress for the new season and will be updated regularly as i figure out what works and not.

Why Ability Haste Zac?

If you want to play a versatile, unpredictable and fun champion that can be both tanky and bursty at the same time, zac is your guy. By building tank items with Ability Haste, you'll be able to gain an XP and Gold lead by simply farming, roaming and ganking more efficiently than traditional tank builds. Your potential to carry also increases, as you can dish out more damage in fights while still being tanky.
Although this philosophy applies to many champions, it has some extra advantages for :

Picking up blobs heals zac. More blobs = more healing.
Each blob pickup reduces Unstable Matter's cooldown by 1 second, which deals percentage hp dmg. This means you can fight both tanks and squishies once you get enough Ability Haste.
Lower CD on Elastic Slingshot means faster map traversal. You're also harder to catch.
Shorter cooldowns = faster clearing (not unique to Zac). An Xp and Gold lead is essential for being able to snowball and carry games, so efficient farming is key.

Runes

You might wonder why this build recommends . The main reason for this is to improve some of the weaker sides of Zac.
is a great engage tool that can be used from unexpected places, but he's very reliant on hitting it. When this doesn't happen, isn't triggered because it needs hard CC and you're stuck in the middle of the enemy team with few tools left to escape or further engage properly. be used to deal with this.

It's worth noting that aftershock still is a great choice, and it really depends on your preferred playstyle.
If you're used to it might also take some time get comfortable with , it sure did for me.

Phase Rush

This rune has great synergy with Zac, and can be useful for both escaping fights and stronger engages.
It needs three hits to trigger, which can be basic attacks, abilities, smite, and so on.

The increased move speed has many advantages for Zac:
After a successful hit, the speed lets you get to the opposite side of the enemy so you can knock them towards your teammates with .
After a failed , you can quicly trigger and use the move speed to escape. This is especially useful when confronted by enemies early when Zac can't really duel.
In fights you'll be able to pick up more blobs with the extra speed, which means more healing and more activations of . The extra %hp dmg makes a big difference, especially when building an AP item.

Pro's

+ Easier to engage
+ Easier to escape when missing
+ Easier to position yourself for CC chains
+ Extra damage from uses
+ Deals with 'typical' counter picks that abuse Zac's low mobility when E is down
+ The slow resist counters slow-based champions
+ Zac benefits greatly from the Sorcery tree

Con's

- Hard CC is still an issue, especially late game.
- Still need three hits to activate, can be hard if CC'ed
- Less room for error without the initial aftershock tankyness

Aftershock

Still a really good choice for Zac. I would recommend going this if you're not that experienced with Zac and Phase Rush. With aftershock you can tank more damage after engaging and deal some extra damage when it ends, which often can be game changing.
When using aftershock you should be aware that missing your E leaves you very vulnerable. Unless you're able to apply CC by hitting two different targets with or one enemy with , you can be burst down pretty fast.

Pro's

+ Harder to be burst down if hitting CC
+ Extra dmg when it ends

Con's

- Mising leaves you vulnerable
- Less mobility in fights
- More easily kited / harder to escape

Items

BOOTS

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Good in general. Has everything Zac needs and is really cheap. Also has summoner spell haste, which means faster clears () and better teamfighting ().
I buy this first most games, and it can often be bought after 1st back.

Mercury's Treads
Get it if the enemy team is full ap and/or have high amount of CC that's not knockup. You trade away some AH which means less dmg and clear speed

Plated Steelcaps
Get it if the enemy is AD-heavy and/or auto-attack focused. You trade away some AH which means less dmg and clear speed.

MYTHIC

Jak'Sho, The Protean
Currently one of the most suitable item for Zac, but not a perfect fit. Has great stats and the extended fight passive can be really useful. This item is most useful when ahead, as you need to survive long enough to get the passive online. If you do though, it compliments his playstyle as he has to survive long enough to pick up blobs and heal enough in fights.

Radiant virtue
A good fit, especially if you like to play around your team in a more supportive manner. The extra HP and AH when ulting + the HP from the passive is great for Zac. The stats and healing it grants your teammates is also great.

Iceborn gauntlet
Against AD teams or a really fed carry. The single-target cripple is great if you need to shut down a single AD target, and the tenacity/slow resist Mythic Passive is a great addition as Zac can be countered with hard CC late game.

Heartsteel
The massive HP gain and max-hp damage can be good, but it's hard to proc as you can't AA during when ulting. Is powerful if you can consistently proc it. Works best with aftershock due to the playstyle, and because it increases your size which makes you a bigger target.

LEGENDARY

Warmog's Armor
The health stats is enough to justify this item, but the passive can also be really useful. Even though Zac doesn't need the passive, it lets him engage over and over again as long as he doesn't die. Since his playstyle revolves around engaging from darkness, warmogs also makes the enemy feel like nothing is safe unless they know where Zac is.
I build this most games.

Gargoyle Stoneplate
Expensive, but perfect for Zac. The active helps you survive burst lategame, which is a problem Zac has even when going . You can also bait enemies with the active and Zac's .
I build this most games.

Spirit visage
The improved healing from the item passive makes Zac really hard to shut down when ahead. Pick this item if the enemy have AP threats, and the enemy doesn't have too much grevious wounds.

Randuin's Omen
A really strong item if the enemy goes crit, and gives a good amount of armor and hp.
The passive is also really useful if you need to prevent enemies from escaping / kiting you, and with the new smite slow nerfs it's even more useful than before.

Sunfire Aegis
A good 5th/6th item for Zac as it enhances his damage and fits well with . Pick this item if you feel tanky enough, and want more damage in teamfights. Don't pick this if your team has enough damage and you need to peel or survive.

Thornmail
A good item, but only worth the gold if you need to prevent enemy healing. Remember that many bruiser will heal a lot off of tanks, so you should also consider changing your playstyle if this is problematic.

Force of Nature
Not a great item on Zac, but useful in some situations. Good as a 2nd mr item if the enemy is full ap, or if the passive conters the enemy well.

Early game

Starting red is good as you end up close to scuttle after the first clear and it reduces the chance of the enemy jungler stealing your buff camp.

Your main goal is to farm 3 rotations as fast as possible. This is an essential part of being able to snowball because XP is at least as important as gold for getting ahead.
You can typically get in one gank each clear, possibly two if you're fast. Try to be at krugs for the next rotation when it spawns. The third rotation will then spawn at the same time as blue/red, making it a really efficient clear, and putting you in a good position to control the game.

You can either back after one clear for finished boots, or two-three clears to get kindlegem as well. Remember to always have 1-2 Control Wards on you as you need it for objectives and map control.

Take dragon if you're close and you spot the enemy jungeler topside. Zac can solo drake because of the healing from his passive, just make sure it's not warded as you're i trouble if enemies appear as you will be low and you're weal alone.

Combos

Standard Combo

This is what you'll be doing most engages. After hitting a successful , you can hit two targets with before ulting (), or ult right away if you're worried the enemy will CC you.
Once you've ulted, your main focus is to spam while hitting your enemies with each bounce and picking up blobs at the same time. This is a bit tricky, but practice makes master.

If you have enough Ability Haste, your and is up soon after your ult ends, which means you can either escape or keep up the CC/dmg.

Instand CC with Stretching Strikes and Flash

If you're in flash range of a key target, you can use on an enemy unit, then CC the target without giving them time to react. You can then follow up with and for an extended CC chain which means you can get your entire combo on the key target.

Even better, you can get two key targets if you manage to hit one each with and aa. This is one of the most powerful tools Zac has in teamfights, so save your for this if possible.

Charging Elastic Slingshot during Stretching Strikes

You can start channeling at the moment you grab your second target with . If you time it right, you can charge for 1s before the CC from is completed for a longer CC chain.
To ensure the chain is unbreakable, the target must end up close to you after is done dragging them because of the travel time.

Use Elastic Slingshot to Reach 2nd Target

After hitting a target with other actions won't remove the tether. You can use this to hit two key targets with by using to reach the 2nd target.

This move is kind of situational and it's often better to use first and then , but sometimes due to where targets are placed this combo is most suitable.

Flyby Smite

This is one of the most powerful tricks Zac can pull off. Not only does it let you smite objectives without putting yourself in danger, the enemy does not know you're engaging before it's too late as they won't see the shadow where your land since it's outside the pit.

It's a bit hard to pull off and requires practice as you need to start charging at the right moment, but get good at this and you'll be stealing lots of objectives.

Instant vs charged knockup duration

Instant: Tap right above you to instantly CC nearby targets.
This gives enemy no time to react, so also useful against anti-CC abilities like fiora's

Longer: Charge for at least 1s, and the knockup duration is doubled from 0.5s to 1s.

Skins

Everyone knows that skins = wins.

S+ Tier
The best zac skin. The color palette and smooth sound effects help calm the mind and reduce tilt.
Also it has ducks.

S Tier
Smooth sound effects and visuals. Satisfying to use and also the splash art has two Zacs.

S- Tier
These skins look kinda mean so only pick them if you want to play agressively. Useful when going AP Zac or for more Spicy games.

God Tier
No need to explain this one

How to get this ingame

This guide is made with the thought that it can be imported into the LoL client.

By doing this you can see this build in the ingame shop when playing. You can also bind items to specific slots, so you don't have to move them each game to get the correct key bindings for active items.

How to import this guide to the LoL client

Copy this guide's link
Go to the build copier site
Type a title, paste this guide's link, and click 'Submit'
Paste the results into the client (go to COLLECTION -> ITEMS -> "import item sets")

Your item set will now be available in-game in the shop under the "items" tab.