Abilities
In this section we will be looking closely at
Zyra's abilities and their uses as well as which of her skills to level first and why.
Abilities
|
SPACE |
Rise of the Thorns |
SPACE |
|
Quoted:
Upon death, Zyra returns to her plant form. After 2 seconds, she can press any ability to fire a vengeful thorn, dealing 99 (+25*level) true damage to each enemy it strikes. Lasts 8 seconds.
This is
Zyra's passive and as far as passives go this one is pretty good. One last burst of true damage can really help prevent those lucky escapes and score you a bunch of extra kills. There are a few downsides to this ability though: Firstly, it can be difficult to get used to the skill shot as you don't get to use it that often meaning sometimes you will miss due to unfamiliarity with the delay or the travel speed of the projectile. Secondly, as far as Riot and their awful hit boxes go, this has to be one of the worst.
It will miss when it really shouldn't and hit when it really shouldn't meaning it can be somewhat unreliable.
Deadly Bloom |
SPACE |
Deadly Bloom |
SPACE |
Deadly Bloom
|
Quoted:
Thorns shoot from the ground, dealing 75/115/155/195/235 (+0.6 AP) magic damage to enemies within the area.
Rampant Growth: If Deadly Bloom hits a seed, a Thorn Spitter grows, dealing (+0.2 AP) magic damage. Lasts 10 seconds.
This is
Zyra's Q and the ability I like to level first. Deadly Bloom deals more damage than her
Grasping Roots and scales the same as it with AP. There is a short delay between placing the template and the damage being dealt. However, this is a pretty short period and you should have no problem catching enemies within the template. The plants summoned by this spell if you hit one of your
Rampant Growth's really do pack a punch and have greater range than the Vine Lashers summoned by your
Grasping Roots.
|
SPACE |
Rampant Growth |
SPACE |
|
Quoted:
Passive: Grants 4%/8%/12%/16%/20% cool down reduction. Active: Plants a seed, lasting 30 seconds. If an enemy steps on a seed, it will be destroyed but they will be revealed for 2 seconds. Zyra stores a seed every 17 seconds (max: 2 seeds stored, 4 seeds planted).
Rampant Growth: Spells cast on seeds grow plants. Plant damage is based on Zyra's level. Extra plants striking the same target deal 25% less damage.
This is
Zyra's W and is essentially the glue that binds all of her abilities together. The laying of these seeds enables you to create lethal combinations of plants that can really wreak havoc in lane and in team-fights. The bonus cooldown reduction is pretty great too.
One of the best things about this ability is that it can safely be leveled last; you only need 1 point in
Rampant Growth to really get the use out of it. This means that you can level your
Grasping Roots sooner thus maximising your damage output. Later in this section I will try to demonstrate how to effectively combine
Rampant Growth with the rest of
Zyra's abilities.
|
SPACE |
Grasping Roots |
SPACE |
|
Quoted:
Sends forward vines dealing 60/105/150/195/240 (+0.5 AP) magic damage and root enemies for 0.75/1/1.25/1.75 seconds.
Rampant Growth: If Grasping Roots hits a seed, a Vine Lasher grows dealing 24 (+6*level)(+0.2 AP) magic damage and slowing enemies by 30% for 2 seconds. Plant lasts 10 seconds.
This is
Zyra's E and the ability I like to level second.
Grasping Roots is a medium range skill shot that roots all enemies it passes through. It does slightly less damage than
Deadly Bloom. This ability is exceptionally useful for poking at your opponent in mid, chasing down fleeing enemies or covering the retreat of yourself and allies. The plants summoned by
Grasping Roots when you hit one of your
Rampant Growths are shorter range than their counterparts but the slow can be excellent at enhancing the previously stated functions of this ability.
|
SPACE |
Stranglethorns |
SPACE |
|
Quoted:
Summons the Fury of Nature, growing a twisted thicket at target location which deals 200/300/400 (+0.7 AP) magic damage to all enemies in the area as it expands. After 2 seconds, the vines snap upward knocking enemies into the air.
Rampant Growth: Plants within the thicket are enraged, increasing their attack speed by 50%.
Stranglethorns is
Zyra's Ult and also one of the best team-fighting abilities in the game. First of all,
Stranglethorns does an immense amount of damage in a huge area of effect (I'm talking similar to Galio's ult area!) after 2 seconds it knocks enemies in the air interrupting abilities such as
Katarina's
Death Lotus or
Nunu & Willump's
Absolute Zero. And to top it off,
Stranglethorns increases the attack speed of
Zyra's plants by 50%! Kicking her damage into the borderline overpowered scale.
Ability Combinations: Tips and Tricks
Correct and effective use of abilities is key to playing all champions. For
Zyra this is more true than most. With such a variety of combinations available due to
Rampant Growth I've decided to list a few of the ways I've found to work pretty well.
Basics
Basic Damage Combo: W->Q->W
1.
Rampant Growth has a very short cooldown so it is possible to place one followed by your
Deadly Bloom and then place another
before your Q detonates. This will summon two ranged plants. This can be used after landing
Grasping Roots to maximise damage against the immobilised target, or just to push the lane.
Basic Root/Snare Combo: E->W or W->E->W
2. Using your
Grasping Roots well is all about confidence; using the same principle as before we can place a plant within melee range of an enemy, cast
Grasping Roots and place another
Rampant Growth before the skill shot lands. In doing this we not only snare our pursuers but also summon 1-2 plants that will continue to slow them after the snare was worn off.
This is one of your
most important survival tools as
Zyra's lack of mobility makes it essential to use your plants intelligently. This can be tricky as often you will have to predict the path of your enemies and landing the skill shot is essential; if you don't you're likely to get stomped.
Advanced
Snare, Slow, Nuke. W->E->W->Q->R
This combo is probably one of the best for scoring kills in a 1v1 situation. The idea behind this combo is to place a plant within melee range and land your
Grasping Roots snaring your opponent and summoning a Vine Lasher. Whilst you do this, place another
Rampant Growth near your opponent and then place your
Deadly Bloom. This combo will snare your opponent, slow him, nuke him. If you need to; use your Ult to score the kill
Stranglethorns will make your plant damage go into overdrive and can turn this single target nuke into a
team killing manoeuvre.
There are a huge number more ways to utilise
Rampant Growth but these are some of the most reliable. Placing plants behind enemies and using
Grasping Roots to cut off their retreat is a possibility to consider for example. So get creative.
Using Bushes and Luring Opponents
There are very few champions in League of Legends that can utilise bushes as effectively as
Zyra can. Luring pursuers into a death trap can be very easy; just place two
rampant growths in the bush and time your
Deadly Bloom to hit opponents as they enter. Then use your
Grasping Roots to pin them in range of your plants whilst you make your escape or drop your ult to secure the kill.
Similarly, you could use the bushes to set up a snare trap; place two
rampant growths and then do the same as before but turn the plants into Vine Lashers instead. This can be an excellent tool for shaking of pursuers or weakening them so that you can score a kill later.
Essentially, chasing
Zyra is a big risk and whilst she is squishy she can be a nightmare to tower dive. Try to use how squishy you are as a way of tempting enemies into chasing you when they really shouldn't!
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.