I've recently started playing Zed more, and most streamers I watch tend to rush BotRk. I follow mainly the same build path, usually Cutlass-Brutalizer-boots-botrk-ghostblade-t2 boots--3 situational items. I've been wondering, what are the merits of Hydra over BotRK? What situations is one better against what types of team comps, and when is it viable to build both?
Botrk and ghostblade in conjunction on Zed makes me want to disable shadows.
Pick one or the other, you and your team aren't good enough to finish the game in 30 minutes.
Hydra is perfectly viable, giving more AD and a AD AoE cast. What it lacks is the soft CC botrk provided when chasing after targets. I prefer Hydra always, but botrk is better if there is time to continuously stick to your target.
IMHO, a Botrk + Ghostblade combo is too reliant on autoattacks and once the game gets past 25-30 minutes, there will be less and less timeframes where you can safely DPS the enemy carry. Then, what you need is high burst - provided with raw AD / Crit, with Hydra's AoE cast helping out a bit.
I think a choice between botrk and Hydra is best. It's too expensive to build both and brutalizer should be a must in mid lane, especially for ganking armor-less ADCs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrLbNnl4FQU all you need for zed itemization, try them out. (watch the 2nd video also)
I've been wondering, what are the merits of Hydra over BotRK?
Hydra is better in team fights. AoE, more AD for insta-gib burst. AoE is better the more opponents you face, insta-gib potential is really nifty when you're looking at a very small time-window.
Kingblade is better in 1v1 situations. More mobility, more %AS, more sustained damage. 3 things that are significantly less useful in a team-fight as a melee champion.
Basically, if you get Zed in ARAM there's 0 reason to get Kingblade over Hydra. If you can pull off a lot of isolated pick situations, Kingblade's probably better than Hydra.
hydra is strictly for PvE split push/jungle clear botrk is always better for 1v1 duels or assassination
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1CLbAevPqo&list=UU9F1zQlakBV3zBzXypAbtWg Hydra based build with gameplay demonstration and guide.
