07-02-2012: BUILD POSTED.

First of all sorry if my English is terrible :)

Well let's get down to business!:D

Welcome to my guide and build of Ziggs - The Hexplosives Expert.
This is just a regular AP *pew pew* guide, so if your looking for the AD or Tank Ziggs guide, have you come to the wrong place :3

Some of you may wonder; "Why pick Ziggs to be AP carry for this team?"
I mean, it's not like he is underpowered or such so. But some may favorite other Champions like: Brand, Annie or Kassadin.

Well.. to be honest... I don't know, they are all good picks in my opinion. But well, I like Ziggs and by you reading this guide, I can guess you also like him ;)
All I can say about him right now is: He is a lot of fun to play and can still be good.

As a follow up on the previous chapter it might be a good idea to see on some Pros and some Cons.

Pros:

Bouncing Bomb have a long poking range and damage.
Good kite skill with Satchel Charge and Hexplosive Minefield.
Insane damage and range on Mega Inferno Bomb.
Short Fuse gives you lane dominance.
Overall Great Damage.

Cons:

All skill shot Champ.
You can kite, but if they get close to you, is it game over.
All the skills are tricky to use and take some practice to master.
Not 100% Blue buff depended, but without it you can sometimes have a hard time.

Note: These Pros/Cons are a 50-50 combination of the Champion himself and the Champion with this build. So if you disagree with me, please mind that.

In this chapter will I explain each skill. They will be rated in three categories: Offensiveness, Defensiveness and Utilityness (Yeah that's real words in my world). Those categories will be rated from 1-5 where 1 is terribad and 5 is ground zero.



Type:Offensive Passive.
Offensiveness: 3.
Defensiveness: 1.
Utilityness: 2.
Well, what to say? Great poking ability. It scales with level 13+(7×level) and AP (+0.35 per ability power) and every time you cast a spell 1/3 of the cooldown is removed.



Type: Q mini nuke skill.
Offensiveness: 5.
Defensiveness: 1.
Utilityness:2.
Ok.. ok... To be honest.. I ****ing LOVE this spell!
Great damage, low cooldown and the bounce-A-bility (Yeah another word of mine)! I can't count how many times my enemy have tried to outrun a bouncing bomb in vain. I pick this skill in level 1 and tries to max it out first.
NOTE: The bomb can't bounce over walls, they will detonate on impact. Keep that in mind.



Type: E escape skill.
Offensiveness: 3.
Defensiveness: 2.
Utilityness:4.
Well, I don't use this ability that much to be honest. It have a rather long cooldown (30/27/24/21/18) and the damage from it ain't that great. But it have a great Utility use. You detonate it for launching you in the air and (hopefully) away from your enemies if needed to. You can also launch yourself over walls, tho I don't know if that works on enemies too. I pick one point in level 4 and max it out last.
NOTE: If you launch thru you will get stunned. I don't know if that's the same with other such abilities.



Type: E escape skill.
Offensiveness: 2-4(5).
Defensiveness: 2.
Utilityness:3.
You might be confused about the Offensiveness on this skill, please allow me to explain.
The damage output on this skill really depends how dumb/unaware your opponent are. If he walks on one mine will he receive 140 damage witch ain't that great. If he walks on 2-3, will he receive 210-280 damage, witch is okay. If he walks on 4-11 will he receive 350-840 damage, witch is total overkill!(Please keep in mind the damage is the base damage in rank 5, without any ability power calculated). So it have potential to deal HUGE amount of damage, but it's very unlikely.. But it also provides great utility, with the slow and long range for zoning. I pick one point in level 2 and max it out second.
NOTE: It provide vision when deployed, so you can use it for scouting bushes.



Type: R Huge badass long ranged nuke!
Offensiveness: 5.
Defensiveness: 1.
Utilityness:4.
Well.. What to say? This is THE BOMB!(No pun intended..) It have a huge range: 5300 and huge AOE radius: 750. Tho I must admit the damage output of the non-primary blast zone is a bit low sometimes, but it's still a badass ability! What to say? huge damage, long range and a fair cooldown.
NOTE: It takes the Bomb some time to travel when thrown (even at short range), keep that in mind.

Do I really have to explain this? I mean... it's just standard AP Runes! *sigh* ok, here we go.

MARKS:
I go for the Greater Mark of insight for a early and overall better damage output. I wouldn't choose any other runes than these.

SEALS:
Here I choose Greater Seal of Clarity cause well, they really helps the mana-sustain.
You could choose Greater Seal of ReplenishmentGreater Seal of Replenishment, they give you even better early game. But I do more prefer to scale into late game.

GLYPHS:
For glyphs do I pick Greater Glyph of Force. Once again I pick them over Greater Glyph of Potency, cause I like more to scale into late game. Another viable choice could be Greater Glyph of Celerity, but my items/masteries/blue buff kinda do the same for me.

QUINTESSENCES:
I grab Greater Quintessence of Potency, you might think why I don't grab Greater Quintessence of Force when I had said I like to scale into late game. Well, I get a lot of early game strength with Greater Quintessence of Potency and the the difference of AP between those two Quintessences ain't that huge.

I must say, there is a lot of nice Spells for Ziggs, but frankly we can't choose all of them. So here is the why and why not overview of Summoner Spells for Ziggs.

Spells I would pick.


Good for offensive, but also for defensive play. The 75% AD damage reduction and 30% Ability damage reduction help if you always find yourself focused by one of the enemy champs and the slow is good for chase/escape. So overall flexible spell. Also this spell always makes the Trynda player qq. Fun time :D


Like the Exhaust spell this is also good offensive and defensive. And with the Flash nerf, it might be just as good. I haven't tried it, but a reasonable choice in my opinion.


I haven't tried this spell yet, but a teleport is alway nice, but I personal think teleport is more for the heavy pusher or support. Ok, yes Ziggs is a heavy pusher, but the Mega Inferno Bomb have so long range, so if you really need to clear that wave, use that instead :P


This is good amount of damage. nothing much more to add.. Oh and if you hate mundo and vlad then take this spell for sure :D


Well, I like this spell and pick it for many champs, so why not Ziggs? It have great flexibility and can save your *** a lot of times. Even after nerf, it's still a strong choice.

Spells I wouldn't choose but might be ok.


Well, if you are a CC hater then I guess this spell would do, but would choose Mercury's Treads instead. But well what do I know ^^


Well, the passive and well a little AP boost might be okay, but wouldn't count on it.

Spells I wouldn't choose.


I don't like this, it might give a decent heal, but is kinda a defensive spell and well.. It just ain't worth it.


Not much to say, just that I don't expect to die to start with. I know its very likely that I do, then still not good enough.


Map awareness is awesome, but leave that to your Support, you don't need to look what the enemies is doing next to their nexus.


Well, I don't find the it needed... So.. well.. no?


I really don't see how this one could be a good choice..

In this chapter will I do a little briefing on why I have chosen these items.
But also introduce you to the one dilemma: one or two Doran's ring? But don't think about that for now.


Well, I usually choose this for my first item and normally pick another one later in the game. It gives you good amount of AP, HP and Mana pr. 5 sec. What's not to like about it?:D
Tho if I'm against Brand or Xerath, do I pick Boots of Speed.


The time I upgrade my Boots of Speed is kinda random, sometimes before I get my second Doran's Ring, but usually after. But well it's a question of knowing the right time. and well, do I need to tell you why I pick this item?


I pick a Needlessly Large Rod relatively early game (in fact when I can afford it). But I first upgrade it to a Rabadon's Deathcap after I got my Hextech Revolver and Fiendish Codex. I don't think it worth it until then.


Well.. I got my Hextech Revolver and for only 900G; can you give a nice sustain buff for yourself and your team +40 AP for yourself.


I like this item and I think people find it underrated! It gives a good Cooldown reduction, decent Mana pr. sec. and great amount of ability power of a cheap price. Plus I don't feel so underpowered when I don't have my blue buff.


Good HP and AP boost with a great passive! I think it's a must for all Ziggs builds. The slow really is a help for your survival, and that's not to be denied ;)


Well.. This item can be whatever you want, but I think Void Staff is good for the overkill, but really if you like Lich Bane or Abyssal Scepter, then go for it :)

And now for the Question, the Dilemma, the Struggle!

One or two Doran's Ring's!

Well.. It's kinda hard to explain, but here goes:
As you have read I normally start out with a Doran's Ring and hit the lane, after some farming (and hopefully some killing] I head back to buy some more items. Boots of speed is always a first buy, but if I have enough gold for a Needlessly Large Rod I have a dilemma: Shall I buy that and forget the extra Doran's Ring or buy the ring and Sorcerer's Shoes? Well.. It have some pros/cons and I will try to set them up for you.

If you buy a second Doran's Ring:

PROS:
Even better sustain with more Mana pr. 5 sec.
Even faster movement speed.
More Magic Penetration.
More HP.

CONS:
Not as much AP.
Later in the game you gonna struggle with limit space in your inventory.
You need to farm about 2900G for exchanging to a Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Well, there I might be me think way too much, but well think about please?:P

Well... That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it. I know this guide ain't that complex, but you still learned a thing or two.

Please comment and rate if you liked/disliked this guide.

BOMBS AWAY - Gobomania.