Zed Build Guide by Navy Blue Fire
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Starting Items
Opponent is AP
Situational
Ability Sequence
Masteries
12
Ferocity
18
Cunning
0
Resolve
Threats to Zed with this build
| Threat | Champion | Notes | |
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1
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Karthus | This match-up is definitely in your favor. When he ults, you can unleash your burst damage onto him to save your teammates from getting dealt some magic damage. Karthus has no mobility spells so he won't escape your ultimate. |
Introduction
Hello! Welcome to my 
Zed guide! My Summoner Name is Coded. I play on the North American server. This is my very first guide ever on Mobafire. I will try my best to always have this guide up-to-date. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know!
Zed is an AD assassin with enough burst damage to take out a squishy target instantly while staying alive by teleporting to the location where he cast Death Mark. His Living Shadows are what makes himself unique because they give him more damage, is Zed's only form of crowd control, and is his main source of mobility. He is most vulnerable when his Living Shadow is on cooldown.
This guide will include two Zed builds: Duelist and Assassin.
Duelist Zed is a Zed that focuses more on auto attacks to deal damage. He is more focused on split-pushing rather than team-fighting.
Assassin Zed is a Zed that focuses more on abilities to deal damage. He is more focused on team-fighting rather than split-pushing.
Pros and Cons
Pros• High Burst Damage • Uses Energy and not Mana • Ultimate can Kill a Priority Target Easily • Can Easily Farm with Razor Shuriken• Can Teleport to Ultimate Shadow from Anywhere on the Map • Easy to Farm because of Contempt for the Weak
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Cons• Ultimate Reliant • Not that Great at Teamfights • Abilities have High Energy Costs during Early Levels • Barely any Crowd Control • Countered by  Zhonya's Hourglass,  Quicksilver Sash, and  Mercurial Scimitar
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Summoner Spells
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You'll almost always want to get
Flash on almost every champion because it gives some mobility, distance over walls, and the ability to reposition in a fight.
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Ignite gives more offense and applies grievous wounds on an enemy, therefore, it will almost ensure that your enemy won't survive your Death Mark combo.
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Alternative Summoner Spells
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Runes
| Runes | |||||||||||||||
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage 3 |
Greater Mark of Lethality 9 |
Greater Seal of Armor 9 |
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction 9 |
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| Runes | |||||||||||||||
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Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage 3 |
Greater Mark of Lethality 9 |
Greater Seal of Scaling Health 9 |
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist 9 |
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These runes are essential for AD casters, especially
Zed. 9 Greater Seal of Armor or 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist will help Zed live during the laning phase, 9 greater mark of armor penetration will help Zed deal more damage to enemies with armor, and 3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage will help give Zed more damage overall.Swap your 9
Greater Seal of Armor for 9 Greater Seal of Scaling Health if your enemy lane opponent is AP.Swap your 9
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist for 9 Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction if your enemy lane opponent is AD.
Masteries
| Masteries | |||||||||||||||||
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1/5
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4/1
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3/5
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1/1
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1/1
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3/5
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1/1
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3/1
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3/
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1/
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1/5
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2/5
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2/1
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3/5
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1/1
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OFFENSE
Double-Edged Sword
is for more damage. Sorcery
is for cooldown reduction.
Brute Force
is for scaling AD.
Martial Mastery
is for flat AD.
Warlord
is for more AD overall.
Spell Weaving
is for more damage for your abilities when you basic attack an enemy.
Blade Weaving
is for more damage for your basic attacks when you use abilities on an enemy.
Executioner
is for more damage when Death Mark detonates.
Devastating Strikes
is for hybrid penetration.
Havoc
is for more damage overall.DEFENSE
Recovery
is for more health regeneration.
Enchanted Armor
is for more armor and MR.
Veteran Scars
is for flat health.
Block
is for proceeding to the next mastery row.
Juggernaut
is for more maximum health. You can switch this mastery to
Hardiness
for armor or
Resistance
for MR. This depends on your enemy lane opponent.
Ability Details
Contempt for the Weak
PASSIVE
If
Zed basic attacks an enemy with 50% or less of their maximum health, Zed will deal bonus magic damage based on the target's maximum health. This cannot apply to the same target for a short duration.Razor Shuriken
Q
Zed throws his shurikens in a target direction, damaging enemies that they pass. His shurikens deal full damage to the first hit and less damage to enemies after the first. If his shurikens hit an enemy already struck with Zed's shurikens, it will deal 50% less damage.Living Shadow
W
Zed places a shadow at target location. This shadow will mimic Zed's abilities. It will not mimic abilities from items or Death Mark. If Zed and his Living Shadow both use an ability on the same target, Zed will be refunded some energy.Reactivating
Living Shadow will cause Zed to switch places with the shadow.Passively,
Living Shadow will grant bonus AD.Shadow Slash
E
Zed slashes targets around him, dealing damage to them. Zed's Living Shadow's Shadow Slash will slow enemies. If Zed and his Living Shadow both slash at the same enemy, the enemy will be slowed more than just Zed's Living Shadow slow but will not take double Shadow Slash damage.Death Mark
ULTIMATE
Zed dashes towards an enemy champion, becoming invulnerable for the duration and leaving a Living Shadow at his cast location. He places a mark on that enemy champion for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds, the mark will detonate, dealing damage and even more damage based on how much physical and magical damage Zed dealt to the marked target.Reactivating
Death Mark will cause Zed to switch places with this ability's shadow.
Ability Upgrade Sequence
| Ability Sequence | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
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Take
Death Mark at levels 6, 11, and 16. You'll always want to max Razor Shuriken besides Death Mark (unless your jungling) because it is your main damage ability. Max Shadow Slash after Razor Shuriken because that's your secondary damage source. Max Living Shadow when both Razor Shuriken and Shadow Slash are maxed.You can alternatively upgrade
Razor Shuriken at level 3 for damage instead of Shadow Slash.
Items (Duelist)
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You always rush a
Blade of the Ruined King after getting  The Brutalizer because it gives some AD, lifesteal, attack speed, makes your basic attacks scale off of an enemy's current health, and an active that scales off of an enemy's maximum health. With this item, you can deal a great amount of damage!
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Getting
Youmuu's Ghostblade will help Zed catch up to enemies and destroy structures faster because of Youmuu's Ghostblade's active effect. It also gives flat armor penetration so Zed can deal more damage to enemies with armor. Youmuu's Ghostblade also gives AD and cooldown reduction, allowing Zed to cast abilities more often that deal more damage.
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OR
OR
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The Bloodthirster is core on Zed, as it gives a massive amount of AD and a shield to protect Zed when he goes in the fight with Death Mark. Infinity Edge also gives the same amount of AD as The Bloodthirster. It also allows Zed to deal a critical strike that does a lot of damage! Get The Bloodthirster if you're against AD enemies. Get Infinity Edge if you're fed. Get Maw of Malmortius instead if the enemy team is AP.
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Last Whisper helps Zed deal more damage to enemies with large amounts of armor.
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Randuin's Omen helps Zed live during a fight. Get Banshee's Veil instead if the enemy has a dangerous AP champion. Get Guardian Angel if your enemies are a mix of AD and AP.
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WITH
OR
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Mercury's Treads gives Zed movement speed and tenacity, allowing him to get around the map faster and shortening the length of crowd control on Zed. Enchantment: Alacrity can also help Zed get around the map quicker. Exchange the enchantment to Enchantment: Homeguard if you need to guard your base often. You can get  Boots of Mobility during the early game for roaming around the map.
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Items (Assassin)
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Infinity Edge isn't really a good choice on this Zed build as you don't build any critical strike chance. The Bloodthirster or Maw of Malmortius will protect you when you go into fights and give you a massive amount of AD.
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The Black Cleaver will give Zed a bunch of armor penetration as his abilities procs The Black Cleaver's passive, making Death Mark ignore a massive amount of armor. This item also gives cooldown reduction, which allows Zed to cast abilities more often.
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Ravenous Hydra gives Zed a massive amount of AD and lifesteal. The passive and active effects of Ravenous Hydra will give Zed more power in teamfights. The active also deals a great amount of damage, making Death Mark do even more damage.
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Last Whisper helps Zed deal more damage to enemies with large amounts of armor.
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OR
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Randuin's Omen helps Zed live during a fight. Get Banshee's Veil instead if the enemy has a dangerous AP champion. Get Guardian Angel if your enemies are a mix of AD and AP.
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WITH
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Ionian Boots of Lucidity gives Zed movement speed and cooldown reduction, allowing him to get around the map faster and use abilities more often. Enchantment: Alacrity can also help Zed get around the map quicker. Exchange the enchantment to Enchantment: Homeguard if you need to guard your base often. You can get Boots of Mobility during the early game for roaming around the map.
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Alternative Items
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This item would replace
The Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge, and Maw of Malmortius only if the enemy team has a lot of crowd control. I would prefer one of the thre items mentioned above because a shield, a magic damage shield, or a humongous critical strike would be more useful than Mercurial Scimitar's passive.
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Replace your boots with
Zephyr if you are fed and you absolutely don't need boots with Enchantment: Homeguard.
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Laning Phase
Because Zed is a champion that uses energy, farming isn't hard since you don't have to worry about running out of mana since you don't have any! You can use your Razor Shurikens and Shadow Slash to help you farm, though this may push the wave. If your enemy lane opponent is denying you some CS, just farm with your Razor Shuriken. If your enemy lane opponent isn't standing behind a minion, throw a Razor Shuriken at him or her, therefore dealing a decent amount of poke damage. If the enemy jungler ganks, use your Living Shadow, teleport to it, and when your enemies come near the Living Shadow, use Shadow Slash to slow their pursuit.
Team-Fights
Every assassin's job in a team-fight is to take out a priority target. For Zed, this is a considerably easy job. Use your Death Mark along with your basic abilities and passive to take down the target. Using the active of Blade of the Ruined King or Ravenous Hydra will also help take down the target.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading my Zed guide! If you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment on this guide. You can also message me. I'm always listening to new ideas other Summoners have!
You can also add me! I play on the North American server! My Summoner Name is Coded. I am formerly Navy Blue Fire.
If you liked my guide, please give it an upvote!
I'd like to thank these Summoners for their help on this guide based on the order they helped me in:
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• PotatoPoweredPC (formerly known as "Derpasaurus" and "TitanToaster")
• Hamstir (formerly known as "HyLazer")
• Satans Wingman (formerly known as "Sock SHame")
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Guide Discussion (6)
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