Guide started on 2/1/2012

2/03/2012 Changed starting items & first major items build.
2/03/2012 Changed Seals to ability power per level.

2/04/2012 Big change gonna have to wait, another day or so, house was kinda hectic today & didn't get around to playing much ziggs, let alone finalizing the guide.

2/05/2012 Revamped the Runes section & finished the skill order on the cheat sheet. Revamped items & skill sequence chapters coming soon.

2/05/2012 Removed Fiendish Codex & Morello's, changed purchase order to include Lich Bane

As per jhoihoi's Making a Guide, I realized the build I was so proud of was actually pretty bad. Thus, my Ziggs build is currently under construction. Should be at least presentable, if not finished, by the end of this coming weekend (the one immediately following the 2/1/2012 "Ziggs" patch).

That being said, I'm putting the bare-bones info on how I've been building him, and what has & has not worked. If you really need some guidance regarding Ziggs, read on. Otherwise, come back in a few days.

These are really the only runes I've had recognizably consistent success with. I say recognizably consistent because this is the only rune setup that I found myself saying "thank goodness I used those" while in-game. For good measure, I'll list some other possibilities, but I only really recommend the rune page listed above.

• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration or Greater Seal of Replenishment for sustained mana, though I never found these to help enough to be worth using.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Armor for defense. Fairly standard for almost any build, but Ziggs is so naturally squishy that +13 armor isn't going to help enough to be worth it in the end.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Ability Power if you really feel like you need more AP early game.

• Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction or Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction for CDR.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist or Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for defense. These can be helpful if the other team has another burst AP champ like LeBlanc or Kassadin.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration or Greater Glyph of Replenishment same as the seals.

• Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration for added magic penetration.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp for Spellvamp. These are useful especially should you decide to rush Hextech Revolver
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Gold if you feel like you struggle with securing kills or last hits. Not highly recommended, better used on a support champ.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Health for bonus HP. Helps to keep another burst champ from pressuring you too hard.

Most of these masteries should speak for themselves. Some that may not:




• Havoc I've been told this does boost AP some. Even if it doesn't, it still adds nicely to Ziggs' passive, so I suggest this.
  
  
  
• Scout Wards are extremely important, especially if you are doing well in your lane, or if the enemy team has a jungler. I like the idea of having more vision with wards. If you don't, this point could also go to Swiftness , Improved Recall , or Good Hands
  
  
  
• Runic Affinity The blue golem buff works wonders for Ziggs, with awesome mana regen & cooldowns that he can make great use of. Most junglers are nice and will let you have this after their first few runs. If they don't offer it, ASK NICELY.
  
  If you don't have a jungler, I wouldn't recommend trying to get blue buff without help until after you get AT LEAST Catalyst the Protector
  
  
  
  If you wanted to, the 9 points in Utility could also be used in Defense if you wanted.
  
  For this I would take:
  
  • Hardiness x3 - For nasty melee attacks
    
  • Resistance x2 - Most mid champs will be AP.
    
  • Durability x4 - HP is always a plus, especially for a squishy mage like Ziggs.
  One major issue with doing this is you sacrifice having Summoner's Insight and thus, the nice cooldown reduction on Flash. To avoid this, you could take one point away from anything on the defense tree and add it to Summoner's Insight .
  
  
  
  
  9-0-21
  
  
  This is another common build for AP mid champions. I use this with Kennen, and have tried it on Ziggs. I still feel like 21-0-9 is the better way to go.
  
  This build looks a bit like:
  
  
  Utility
  
• Summoner's Insight For the CDR on Flash
  
• Expanded Mind & Meditation For the mana
  
• Scout or Swiftness Like I said, I prefer the ward buff, but it's only one point. Spend it how you will.
  
• Greed I love this mastery. As someone who plays the support role frequently, this mastery has a special place in my heart. Nice for games with low amounts of kills/farm.
  
• Transmutation Works great for some champions/players. I find that it does help with Ziggs, but doesn't quite provide the sustain he needs. This is interchangeable with Greed in my opinion.
  
• Runic Affinity Blue buff can make a huge difference at any point in the game for Ziggs. If your jungler is nice, he will let you have this after his first couple runs.
  
• Awareness Helps you level up faster. Also put a point in Sage if you want.
  
• Intelligence Don't think I have to remind you how awesome CDR works with Ziggs.
  
• Mastermind Should really speak for itself.
  
  For the 9 points in Offense, I go with Summoner's Wrath , Mental Force , Sorcery, and Arcane Knowledge

Just keep in mind that you want to maximize you magic damage output, but it's also a good idea to have some survivability as well.

You want as much AP as your furry midget butt can handle. Pretty standard to open with Doran's Ring, after that is usually based on individual need. Many Ziggs players I've seen who rushed Catalyst the Protector did well for sustaining, even in solo top or bot. Other post- Doran's Ring-rush items could be Tear of the Goddess, Hextech Revolver, or even Glacial Shroud if you're having a problem with enemy AD.

I saw an enemy Ziggs take Hextech Gunblade instead of Will of the Ancients, claiming the damage, lifesteal, and spellvamp would work well with Ziggs' passive. I haven't tried it, definitely not endorsing it, but figured I should put that out there.

R > Q > E > W . I didn't finish the cheat sheet because my actual sequence changes from game to game, but that's the general approach I take, especially at levels 1-10

In short:

Q = poke, farm (SORT OF), burst, main non-ultimate source of damage. Think of Barrel Roll, but with slightly shorter range and an annoying bounce mechanic. Grab this first, max it second to your ult.

W = It's meant to be an escape/disrupt. I thought it would be more like Explosive Cask, I was wrong. It launches you a tiny bit, barely enough to get over the thinnest of walls in the jungle. To enemies, it does almost nothing. It works to disrupt something like Absolute Zero or Idol of Durand, but other than that, it doesn't move them very much. Max this last

E = main source of cc, works well with his Q to farm MID-LATE GAME. the minefield is pretty small, and it doesn't last very long. Each individual mine does about as much damage at once as Nidalee's trap does over time. Sometimes this takes priority over Q if the enemy team is smart enough to focus me or if I'm getting ganked frequently, otherwise max Q first.

R = Does surprisingly less damage than you would think, and takes some practice to aim. It's one explosion, all damage dealt is instant after projectile lands. Thankfully, it has a range limit on it, but that doesn't limit it much. For overall damage dealing, Q is far more useful, use this to catch runners or during team fights when all their melee champs are all standing near each other.