This guide is outdated, thanks to the pre-season 3 patch. I am working on a revamp on the whole build, however it will take some time, due to exams soon. Also, will probably need to spend some time to find good masteries, since I dont find the offensive tree good anymore.

If you would like a quite updated guide, please have a look at http://www.lolking.net/guides/34411 and if you bother to take a look at it, I would be very happy. The basics is on that site.

Hello, my name is Freezealone and this is my first guide on mobafire. I have tried Zed a lot in the past few days, and I must say, I do like him a lot, and the fact that I enjoy energy champions like Shen and Akali made it a positive experience.

How well is your build working?

This is my statistic for the last seven(7) days so far, not mention I have spent some time in custom games to test things


Remember, this is my prefered way to play him and you may play him in any way you like, though reading this guide should help you understanding the champion and his abilitys. And if you like this guide, please vote, and if you downvote, please leave a comment no why. (Your build sucks is not comments I would like to see, if you think so, please tell my why atleast)

I have created this guide following mostly JhoiJhoi's guide, THANKS A LOT!

Going to insert argument about mastery choices later.

9xGreater Mark of Armor Penetration

Summoners normally take armor seals on their rune page, that's why we choose some armor penetration to deal higher amount of damage, and it is handy through the whole game.

9x

Flat armor is always a good idea, and if you are (solo)top you will find 13 armor handy. If you are going mid, you can always swap them for 9x since you are more likely to meet a AP champion, Seal of Vitality will grant you +175 bonus health @18.

9x

+Magic resist per level will always be handy, the reason why I suggest you use per level glyphs is because of a eventually mid/late game where they matter the most. 9x of them gives +24 magic resist @18.

3x

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed gives you a nice amount of extra movement speed, and it makes it easier for you to dodge skill-shots. Being up against a Dr. Mundo or Olaf is not fun if you are slow at dodging skill-shots.

Contempt for the Weak is Zed's passive, and when Zed auto-hit a target below 50% health, he will deal extra damage as magic damage, and it is a usefull function to last hit minions. If you are well known with last hitting, this passive will just make it easier. Remember: It can only happen once every 10. secound on the same target


Razor Shuriken is Zed's poke ability, and with a relative low cooldown. You can use it to get last hits on minions, thats how you can solo top. Even if it is you against 2x champions, just avoid over-extending and DO NOT PUSH YOUR LANE.
If you are going to last hit a minion with your Razor Shuriken, try to position yourself so you can hit enemy champ at the same time, make them scared being too close to their creeps.
Remember, Razor Shuriken's first hit is the one who deal the most damage.


Living Shadow can be used in various situations, lets take a look at the ability itself first. Its passive grants you 5/10/15/20/25% bonus attack damage When you use Living Shadow you make a shadow clone of yourself, which stand idle where you sent it, and it stands there for 4 secounds, and it copy your Razor Shuriken and Shadow Slash, as long as you use those abilities while the clone is out. It refunds some energy if both his abilitys strike the same target, try to do so to avoid energy starving.


Shadow Slash is Zed's AoE ability, and a great tool mid game to clear minion waves with, and if Living Shadow is out, and it hit something, it will slow. If it overlaps with your Living Shadow's Shadow Slash, it will slow even more. Thats why you use right after triggering Death Mark


Death Mark is Zed's ult, and it is a powerful ult. The AD scaling is 1:1 ratio, which means that if you got 100 attack damage, the ability got 100 attack as well. And, the best part is: 20/35/50% of the damage you did while the mark is active will be dealt after 4 seconds which gives a nice end-burst.

Skill leveling

Razor Shuriken is the first ability you want to max first
On level 2, get a point in Living Shadow
then second you max out Shadow Slash
Get a point in Death Mark Whenever you can.

BURSTING

When you are going to burst someone, make sure you have more than enough energy. And this is the moment you are really gonna burst, so I will not mention you eventually poking before using your ult.
Start with Death Mark once the ult have connected, you will be close to your target, and there is a shadow behind your target. Quickly use your Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken, be close to your target, and get in a last Razor Shuriken then, if the target is dead by now, but are close to it, either Ignite him/her and finish him/her off, or just finish him/her off.

Starter Items

and 3x
This is what I prefer to start with, together with the movement speed quints I have a nice speed, wich makes it easier for me to dodge skillshots, and with 3x Health Potion I can stay in lane longer.
What you enchant it with, is your choice, I prefer either +15 movement speed or homeguard.

On first recall

+ (If you can afford it)
Zed is squishy, that why I prefer to get him a phage as soon as possible You can chose whatever boots you like, though I prefer boots of swiftness, because I can quickly get into position. Though this is totally up to you.

Later in the game

and
I chose to build my Phage into a Frozen Mallet because it gives attack damage, health and slow on hit. If the game goes well, I usually obtain Bloodthirster before Frozen mallet, so I can get a full stack early. The reason I use Bloodthirster instead of Infinity Edge is because its cheaper to obtain, and it got higher + attack damage at full stacks. Remember, Zed's ult got a 100% AD scaling




Black Cleaver no longer contain attack speed, which is why I have addded it to the build, the neat thing is that the passive is not unique, so I prefer to obtain 2x of it. So, with a full stack on a champion, you will just from the Black Cleaver have 60% armor penetration!



This is a new, awesome item. When you are having your ultimate up, include its use function in your burst rotation: R-E-Q- Ravenous Hydra - E. In most cases it will be a huge overkill on the target (assuming you are taking out the squishy ones)



With the items I have listed and a fully skilled W, you will have about 500+ attack damage.(remember Living Shadow's passive)

Here is a list over items you will HATE if the enemy champions got it.

I know that for most of you guys, this is common sense, but still it seems like people normally do not think about it.

This item is annoying, a champion with it can either
1. Use right after you have used Death Mark to avoid the huge damage tick after 4 seconds
2. Use right before the huge damage actually ticks.
(Will add a video on this later)


This item is just as annoying as Zhonya's Hourglass if you have putted Death Mark on a champion on it, and he hit the use function on this item, you wont get any damage tick after 4 seconds. Though, this item let the champion still freely move.
(Video will be added here as well)

I made a quick video showing me going solo top in a normal game, I used LoL recorder, then sat it on 4x most of the time during the whole video. Play Video I am going to obtain some better footage after preseason 3 patch, and I will try to keep it in 2x speed [/color

Add videos and pictures with more explaining of his abilities.(Including burst videos)

Get it in better English.(English is not my native language)

Get a more detailed item list, and more choices.

Choice of masteries

10th December 2012
Changed items to use
Changed masteries
Started to update item list and why I am using them

19th November 2012
Added the two(2) last items in the build, just for the sake of it.
Removed the need to comment to vote, though seems like no one likes this build :P
Changed a bit on the masteries.
Added items Zed would hate to see enemy champions having.

18th November 2012
Added information on why I have chosen Trinity Force
Fixed some grammar mistakes
Added a youtube clip