I have been playing Ziggs since he was released and I have learned a few things that I felt would be beneficial to the LoL community if passed on. I read many posts on the LoL forums that I think are somewhat bogus. Many people believe that Ziggs is weak on the the ap carry side of things. This is mainly due to the fact that he relies on his skill shots to do 95% of his damage output. I am here to tell you that regardless of this, he can still be extremely dangerous and very effective through all phases of the game. Early game he is quite mana hungry, however, his harass and damage output put him in a class of his own. The key to playing this champ is to learn how to bait your opponent as well as how to predict where he/she will be.
I will cover how to aim your bouncing bomb later in this guide as it is your main source of damage output and deserves its own section due to its importance in your success.

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Pros
- Great early/mid game damage
- Good escape/ initiate ability with his w
- Has a nice slow that deals decent dmg once leveled up.
- Global ult with great range and very nice damage at skill lvl 3
- just soooo damn fun to bounce those bombs over walls for kills

Cons
- Very squishy early
- His escape requires skill and timing to pull off
- fairly easy to shut down if an ad carry jumps on you
- Requires time and space to get off his full rotation
- Enemy team can mitigate the majority of his damage if they are spread out

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Brief section, maximize your damage. For the utility tree I go with mana regen as well as speccing into the increased buff duration . Any smart jungler will be feeding you blue buff seeing as you are a carry. The longer you have it, the more dmg you can put out, the more useful you are for your team. Remember, this is a team game. You can go 20-0-0 and still lose. Work together, and do what is best for the team and you will win more than lose, which should be your goal lol.
Edit: I have recently started taking the 3 dmg from brute force over the 3 ap in the first tier of the offence tree. The reason for this being, Ziggs has a very large auto attack range, so it helps your harass a lot and, it makes early game last hitting much, much easier.

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For runes I take ; for Magic pen , greater seal of replenishment for Mana regen, (not per lvl), for Ap per lvl and for flat ap. Reason being that getting maximum amount of ap out of this champion is they key to his success. In addition to this, getting as much ap as possible helps your early game more than anything else can. Ive seen people try to build Ziggs like a tanky ap dps, and it is simply not the way to go. By the end of the game you are obsolete and no one on the other team will care if you live or die simply because you wont put out enough damage to be of any importance to them. The only other viable rune choices that you can substitute for what I have recommended are to change out your glyphs for magic resistance and quints for flat health or flat magic pen. I don't recommend either, but they can work depending on your play style and experience with this champion. After all, I've read some guides that suggest going 0-21-9 with ziggs so I guess anything is possible lol.

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There are plenty of viable options for your summoner spells.
Personally, I go with using Teleport and Flash. Many of you will ask why I take tele instead of Ignite. The answer is simple, If i see a heavy regen team ie: Vladimir, Warwick, Dr. Mundo, Swain etc., I will take ignite, if not then I will always take Teleport. The reasons that I do this are simple enough. I want to have mobility all game long, I want to be able to screw up and not have to pay for it by losing exp and CS and, if I do end up dead, I want to get back to help my team as soon as possible.
I generally do not get over zealous and try to get first blood above all else. Also, I dont really want to ever be in range to use my ignite. I easily outrange most common mids such as cassiopia, ezereal, vladimire, Ryze etc. Being in range of those players is often a recipe for disaster.
Which is one more reason that as an ap carry, its generally safer to survive and concentrate on upping your cs than to worry about killing the person opposing you in the lane.
A quick example for those of you that will skip to the highlights, You can go 20-0 with 80 cs and make 12k gold, or you can go 6-0 with 190 cs and make 14k gold. Ive see it many times, don't get consumed by the meta, last hits are almost always worth more than strictly going for kills.
Other spells to consider are ; Cleanse, if you are playing ranked then this is never a bad choice, you don't want to get cc'd in the first place which will be heavily dependent on how well you position yourself, but having an oh ****! button is always nice.
Ghost You have a kind of flash in your W and the speed on ghost is arguably a much safer escape than Flash. Also, the cooldown is shorter and the speed is long lasting.
Heal Most people will laugh at you for taking this, but they wont laugh when they tower dive you for an easy kill and you pop heal and finish them off. Also, a well timed heal can change the outcome of team fights. This spell is definitely not just for supports anymore.
NONE of the other summoner spells are viable, dont waste your time
Ive seen a few Ziggs take Clarity, its a total waste, you shouldnt be all out harassign in the first place and if you are really hard up for mana you can blue pill and Teleport back.
**EDIT** I've recently started taking ignite a lot more when facing very mobile champs in mid or ones that are hard to finish off, when facing Ahri or Morgana just as two examples, I definitely lean more towards Ignite than Teleport

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- This is the wonderful passive that Ziggs has been blessed with. Short Fuse - Every 12 seconds, Ziggs' next basic attack deals bonus magic damage. This cooldown is reduced whenever Ziggs uses an ability. Great for harassing and last hitting minions.

- Your main harass, great range and decent damage early.
Bouncing Bomb -Ziggs throws a bouncing bomb that deals 75/120/165/210/255 (+0.65) magic damage.

Cost
60/70/80/90/100 Mana
Range
850

- Your only escape, also great for stopping the enemy from getting away from you or an ally and great for jumping over walls.
Satchel Charge - Ziggs flings an explosive charge that detonates after 4 seconds, or when this ability is activated again. The explosion deals 70/105/140/175/210 (+0.35) magic damage to enemies, knocking them away.
Ziggs is also knocked away, but takes no damage.

Cost
65 Mana
Range
1000

Great for slowing and setting up ganks. Also for an AoE ability that sits on the ground, it does a surprising amount of damage.
Hexplosive Minefield - Ziggs scatters proximity mines that detonate on enemy contact, dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+0.3) magic damage. Enemies hit are slowed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 2 seconds.

Enemies triggering a mine take half damage from additional mines. Mines disarm automatically after 10 seconds.

Cost
80/90/100/110/120 Mana
Range
900

this single ability is what makes people rage about Ziggs. Massive range, great damage if you can hit them right in the center and when you spam all of your abilities close range, people die. Fast.
Mega Inferno Bomb - Ziggs deploys his ultimate creation, the Mega Inferno Bomb, hurling it an enormous distance. Enemies in the primary blast zone take 250/375/500 (+0.9) magic damage. Enemies further away take 75% damage.

Cost
100 Mana
Range
5300

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Never have a set build going into a game if you want to succeed. Now, you can always choose between taking adorans ring or boots if you prefer to have the potions, but I personally prefer to have the extra hp, AP, and MP5. I will however tell you, that I start by rushing Rabadons(obviously after starting items).
If I am having a rough time in mid or if the game is progressing very slowly, ie: not much ganking, very passive enemies or am getting harassed too much I will instead build ROA first. Even if I go this route, it is important to note that I still take a Blasting wand as my first purchase after the dorans. This will give you quite a bit of harass and options if you decide to take a different item as your first major purchase, seeing as Ziggs abilities scale quite well off of every bit of AP he scrapes together.

Now that we have our 2 core items out of the way, next up, obviously depending on the enemy team comp, I will either build a Zhonyas OR a Void staff. Zhonyas is great for mitigating incoming damage as from my personal experience, once you are 5-0 most of the other team will focus you non stop. Popping that golden fountain will help your team get them off of you as well as buy you some time for your abilities to come off cooldown and possibly escape or help finish off the enemy. Not to mention that the bonus armor is extremely valuable.

Once your RoA starts adding up, combined with the armor will really help you survive getting jumped in team fights, if you decide not to get RoA, Zhonyas is still a great pick. After these core items, I really never stick to the same picks. If I am constantly in range of my enemies then a Lich bane is a solid pick, as I said earlier though, I prefer to sit in the back and nuke the other team. Rylais is also a solid pick to round out your build as is the good old guardian angel. Not only a tank item especially if you cant stay alive long enough to put out the dmg that your team is counting on you to doll out.

Please remember before bashing the items, these are suggestions, not a sure fire way to play this champion that guarantees a win. With the last 3 core items listed (void staff, rylais, zhonyas, there is no specific order for these. Take what will suit your situation best!!

EDIT ** Just added Banshee's Veil. I know I know, took me long enough, but I just put it to full use for the first time. Buildign the veil and a Zhonyas literally won the game for my team. Def worth a buy. I've started to notice that 600 ap doesnt win games, 450 with defence does.

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One great tip for upping your CS (and I am ALWAYS tops in cs in any game, as you should be!) is to constantly steal your enemies wrath camp. Just toss your E over the wall followed by a Q right in the middle. Even at level 2, 2 auto attacks will finish off the blue wrath and make you some easy money, not to mention, denying the enemy jungler the added creeps. In your average 30 minute game there is no reason whatsoever that you should get less than 200 cs. This includes time spent ganking other lanes ( i do this quite often after level 6) and going in and picking up your blue buff. Also, ask your jungler if you can take their wraths, with the new jungle set up, they spawn so quickly that most times you can take the wraths while your jungle is ganking top or bottom and they will respawn before he/she returns.

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Let's be honest. When you're taking mid, there is always enough money to get some wards. Maybe not at level 1-3, but once it starts to count, you should always have some wards up. Not only for your sake, but for the safety of your jungler and top and bottom lanes.



Now, the GREEN Lines that I drew above and below the middle lane, are obviously the bushes that most junglers will try to gank you from. You will also probably notice that I placed two RED stars and that neither one of the stars are in the bush. The reason for this is simple. No jungler is going to sneak up the side wall and flash into that bush, I'm trying to see as much useful area of the map as possible with my wards. Having them placed behind the bush allows me to see if the enemy is coming into our jungle, trying to sneak up the side to gank me from behind, etc. Much more useful than a ward in a bush eh? It ALSO, gives bottom/top lane that extra notice of where the jungler is heading or coming from should he step in range of my well placed wards.

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Chaining or "combo'ing" your abilities will maximize your damage output. When properly utilized you should be able to bring any non tank down with 2 bouncing bombs and 1 cycle of your other abilities.
(All credit for this image goes to a moron from teamSoloMid)



From what I have seen from many games both with and against Ziggs is that using your passive is essential to your success. Ziggs actually has a massive range on his auto attack and when used properly it will deal tons of damage.

Now a few things to note, if your passive is active (as in ready for use) make sure to auto attack before you cast your initial dps rotation. Every cast you make reduces the cool down on your passive by 4 seconds, meaning that if you cast 3 spells, you get a free auto attack which generally, by mid game will do no less than 200 additional damage for free! No wasted mana, no cooldown wasted, and ALSO, it WORKS on turrets!!

Now, one extremely important tip for when pushing down a turret only, is that, if everyone is dead (from the enemy team) or at the very least you have mana to burn and KNOW where your enemy is, make sure to drop all your abilities in order to bring up the proc from your passive faster.

Next topic, how to zone your opponent using your e . With this ability you will be able to cut off a large portion of the lane from your opponent. This works in many ways, it can prevent them from attacking, prevent them from retreating and also keep them in a smaller area of the lane to set them up for your bouncing bombs and set them up for your jungler to come in and take them down. Limiting their movement will make your mana usage on bombs much much more efficient. Missing gets you nothing but a lack of mana, make sure to make your bombs count. One trick I love to use will be to set up my bombs in front of my enemy, then throw my satchel charge behind them and blow them into my minefield. As they take damage from the minefield i drop another bouncing bomb on their face and either watch them die or scurry back to their turret after burning flash to blue pill. Remember, the center of your minefield will show up just short of the center of the cast circle, if you have someone coming to assist in ganking your lane, be sure to get this behind the gankee or at the very least get a knock up on them with your W.

So, aside from the obvious that your w can be used to get over walls, something that I see a lot of new ziggs players do, is when they are getting ganked, they drop it right where they are standing. Bad idea, it takes about 2 seconds before you can proc your ability. Always throw this bomb in your escape path so that as soon as you step on it you can proc it. This will A) ensure that you get up and away, and B) ensure that the person/persons chasing you are sent in the opposite direction. Please dont forget that if you are using this ability in fights, even if you dont proc it manually, it will go off on its own after roughly 5 seconds, this can inadvertently launch you either away from your team or into the enemy team. Also, don't be afraid of "wasting" your ult.
If i see someone scurrying back to blue pill, I will often take a guess and launch my ult. Way too many people start shopping before they are back in their bases and don't look at the screen. I generally pick up at least 2-3 kills a game doing this alone. Most people Just hit b as soon as they are behind their turret. Either way, experiment with it and have fun.

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Well aside from the title of this section, I think we all know how to press R.
I will try to take it a little further than that here though. One big thing that you should know and probably already do, is that the farther you are from your target, the longer it will take for your ult to land and thus granting the enemy more time to dodge it. Seeing as it is not like GP's ult where it will slow you, once they get that warning its a 50/50 chance of hitting from max range.
Now, what most of you wont know just yet, is that I have timed it. At max range, your ult takes exactly 4 seconds to hit your target location. This also allows 2 full seconds for your enemy to move out of the way. This may not seem like much, but it is plenty. It is more time than is allowed on Pantheon's ult and we all know how devastating that can be. So enough about the ability itself.






How should we use it? When should we use it?
To answer both those questions, when it is needed. you can use your ult to clear a minion wave that is about to take down your turret, or use it to last hit that pesky champion that just tried to sneak away with 50 HP. Rule of thumb, if you are going to get a kill, hamper the enemy, assist in an escape, steal dragon or baron or any other buff or if there is even a chance of doing one of these things, then it is always a good time to use your ult. Your ult comes back up after 70 seconds. Your turrets do not.
Now, when assisting in ganking a lane, always see where they are positioned, check their health, look around for mia's or possible bait scenarios and always always!! let your team know what you are about to do. Personally I don't care if i get the kill or even an assist, I will use my ult to cut off an escape route, intentionally putting it between the enemy and their turret. They can choose to eat the dmg or to stay and fight.

Another thing I always do, is I follow my bomb. most people don't expect me to run in right after my massive range ult and start spamming abilities on their faces. This is due mostly to the range, people think that im still sitting in middle lane when i toss that on them. While in reality im on my way down to make sure there are no survivors.

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Play Video
Your basic Riot released Champion spotlight. We're all still surprised that Phreak doesn't play him as a jungler.

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Play Video
A nice little video of a Ziggs pentakill. Nothing too special, no one focused him. This is what happens when you allow someone with 600 ap to sit there and free cast on your team.

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Play Video
A very nice example of how useful Ziggs ult can be. Stealing baron like a boss.

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All in all, I have had tons and tons of fun with Ziggs so far and I'm sure you will too. This guide was written in the middle of the night for the sole reason that I didn't like the other guides out there, they made ziggs seem too one dimensional. Free week with ziggs is almost over, and if you haven't bought him yet, I strongly recommend doing so and picking up the mad scientist skin (sooo badass).
I will try to update this guide if it gets decent reviews and will include pictures and examples of how to position and bomb appropriately in the near future. But yea, once again, written at 5am while watching tower heist lol. Enjoy the guide and feel free to add any questions or comments or criticisms at the bottom. Thanks for readingand Bombs Away!

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Now, dont judge, but I still dont know how to load screenshots onto this build. Another thing to keep in mind, and I also have a picture of this too, is that all of these scores I have achieved with only 2 fingers. How is that possible you might ask? Well, me left hand has been broken and in a cast since february 7th and I broke the 5th metacarpal bone in my hand. So all in all, given that I misclick with my abilities quite often, these score seem amazing to me and I cant wait to play with the cast off in another 4 weeks. (btw, these are real scores and I will post my bad games as well. Pics will match up once someone teaches me how to link to photos) Unfortunately, most of my games played were on my little brothers account cuz he bought ziggs first so I only have a few available to me to show you guys and girls.






So I finally decided to go back to playing Ziggs cus hes so damn fun. This is my first game with Ziggs in over a month. Guess I didn't lose my touch. Btw, if you like Ziggs, give Viktor a shot. Once you start smartcasting and master his lazer you will hurt people. A lot.

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2/21/2012
Over 8000 views, I thank you all for stopping by and perusing my work. To date I've spent about 6-7hours adding colors, changing sections and items around as well as adding new content.
Please feel free to post your in game experiences using this guide as well as any questions, comments or complaints. I thank the first poster, Paradox99 for introducing me to the BB code and helping me make this guide easier to navigate and read.
Also, if anyone can pm me with a basic how to for posting pics to this guide it would be much appreciated.
** Coming soon, youtube videos including tips for ganking and how to successfully use your bouncing bomb and how to zone your opponent. Check back soon for more improvements! **
Latest update, getting in as many games as I can with Ziggs, Changed some item orders around, and updated my recent games.
2/23/2012 - Updated summoners and reasoning, implementing more frequent use of summoner spell Ignite


2/29/2012 - Fiora Patch Has made a small change to Ziggs' Hexplosive Minefield.
Hexplosive Mines
Mana cost reduced to 70/80/90/100/110 from 80/90/100/110/120
Slow duration reduced to 1.5 seconds from 2
Damage from 2nd and subsequent mines reduced to 40% from 50%
Despite this "change" I dont consider it a huge nerf. It costs less mana now and still does 40% for each mine hit after the first. Drop this on someone's face and watch their hp drop after having to hit 5 mines just to get out of it.

March 2 - updated items to include banshees veil. Didn't do a big storey about it. We all know what it does. I'm slowly tweakign the defence/ap ration to where I feel it is optimized

March 7 - Banned for 15 days cuz I got trolled by a premade. If you're one of those people that do tribunals, please dont spam punish and actually read them.

March 29 - Finally had someone stop by and properly criticize my guide. Special thanks to Music Lion for directing me to JhoiJhoi's guide on guides( http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506 ). I added pictures, lots of new coding to sections and reorganized the order of the guide and tbh, it looks way better now.
- Also, finally was able to upload the screenshots of recent games (although I'm a traitor and now play Viktor almost exclusively, what these pics show, is that an even an average player can have great success with this amazing lil bag of bombs.
Once again, hope this guide helps and thanks for stopping by. You stay classy San Diego.

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No new real updates, they havent changed ziggs in a long time now.
Still perfectly viable and hits like a truck.
Enjoy!