Unbiased Opinion of Zed's Current State
Zed is my favorite champion, and by far my best. When I think of playing League of Legends, I don't think of playing "Mid" or "Top" or "Jungle." All I think is Zed. Honestly, the LoL button might a well be "Play Zed." Seriously.
I have been with this guy through thick and thin. With all this time under my belt, and with all the experience I have in this game, I feel that I am ready to give an unbiased opinion on his current state.
I can make the following suggestions fairly thanks to two years of experience with this champion, high overall knowledge of the game, and a large amount of time since the last change to the champion, enough to turn away arguments of needing to "adapt."
Zed is the best designed champion in the game. Clearly defined play and counter play. He is the EPITOME of what an assassin should be. He also used to be the most balanced character in the game, before they nerf-buffed his ult and wrecked his W's projectile speed.
The ult was a nerf-buff because you lose a great deal of damage from not having the 2nd Q (as if Zed didn't already have enough counterplay?) but right when the shit hits the fan, you can just hit R and suddenly GG you're safe. With this change, Zed's skill cap went down, along with potential damage.
What needs to happen: Change the ult back to where it was.
The nerf to his W is probably the most aggravating thing about this game. Even disregarding the bug where he still gets hit by melee attacks even when he dashes out of range, the speed reduction of the shadow was so, so very unnecessary. It totally ruined the feel of being a speedy, dashy assassin, and it got reduced to the point where you gain nearly no ground at all if you're moving towards the location.
What needs to happen: Bring the speed of the shadow back to where it used to be.
I don't really understand the nerf to the cooldown of his E. Zed's an energy champion right? He needs to value his energy and know when to spam it and when not to. When you nerfed his E cooldown, not only did you make it significantly more difficult to get 2 E's during Death Mark's duration, but you also made his shadows nearly useless as zone control tools. People are no longer punished for being so close to them. This COULD have been an acceptable nerf had you increased the damage it dealt. Only the base damage.
What needs to happen: Either increase the base damage, or reduce the cooldown back to 3 seconds. DO NOT DO BOTH. Both will send him over the edge. Only one or the other.
The change to his Q a long time ago seems good on paper. It'll do less damage to you if you're hiding behind minions, right? Well. It's also going to do less damage if you hit two champions. You do not get rewarded for skillful play. Since the nerf to the pass-through Q damage, I've lost a LOT of double kills from well-aimed shurikens. When you guys talk about skill and mastery so much, you don't seem to want to reward it very much.
What needs to happen: Keep it the way it is. HOWEVER. If the first target hit is a champion, the shuriken will do 70% damage to other targets it passes through. If it hits a minion first, keep it the way it is now.
