How to get better at zed?

Trogmar·Dec 14, 2015·1 votes·1,114 views

I really love zed, but I'm not great at him. I'm planning on practicing with him. Do you have any advice on zed. Maybe some training techniques. Also I'm not sure on runes to run on him.

6 Comments

deJasper36Dec 14, 20153 votes

Just play him a lot. Try different combos and see what works best for you. I had this problem with riven but after getting 40k mastery (pls no hate) i am finaly making small plays.

Edyr420Dec 14, 20152 votes

-play osu (i heard that improves some mechanical skills in league) -watch some plays on youtube and watch every step. -redmercy has a advanced guide to zed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F5C_xGIbH4 but its not up-to-date. but some important techniques are still included. -practice alot -always try to predict the enemy moves.

Pie OtterDec 14, 20152 votes

Armor Yellows, Magic Resist (or scaling magic resist) blues, Armor pen Reds, Flat AD Quints. Combos in lane you should use are W-->E, which will slow them if the shadow hits them, and then you want to Q and try to hit with both Zed and his shadow's Q. I def suggest 12/18/0 with thunderlords as your keystone. If you land you W and two Qs, thats an easy flat amount of damage from a range. Normally what I do in lane, is I try to get the enemy weak, somewhere below 50% health, maybe less, maybe a bit more. If my WEQ combo hurts them enough, I'll shadow in and ult them, E them when my ult lands, AA them 1 or 2 times or more if possible while trying to get a Q in. That should be enough to kill them or have the death mark finish them. In the end, I notice it takes a lot of practice. Understanding how your combo works. Constant practice allows you go throughout many scenarios of success and failure so you know for the future when is a good time to go in, when you shouldn't go in. What will be enough damage to kill a target. What are ways to bait a target, etc. This is especially important for teamfights, which can be even more difficult for Zed. You're squishy, and you're an assassin. You really don't want to be the one initiating or be the one in your team's front lines. Wait for an ally tank/bruiser to initiate and try your best to go for the enemy squishy (Mage/ADC). Or, you can try to be sneaky and go behind them and pick them off. Best way to go in?? Depends. Do not try to initiate a fight with W-->W-->R, try your absolute best to start with R. Once you R in, use your W-->Q-->AA Combo and from there, you need to think, and think fast (which is why practice helps)-- "Do I stay in and keep AAing my target? Is the Death Mark going to kill him/her? Can he/she avoid death with a heal, lifesteal, hourglass, or should i keep attacking until the deathmark pops and I actually kill the target? Does the enemy have hard CC, making my time here more dangerous by the second? Can I kill other targets now that the death mark should finish off target X, and target Y is right here and open for attack?" Now why initiate with R? Because W is your escape if R cannot be trusted for escape. W also allows you to chase after a target. If you're up against someone that can jump away, or flash away (basically anyone), then they will try to run/jump away as soon as you ult in on them, making your ult a waste unless you burned flash, but even then-- YOU WANT THE KILL. So once you ult in, and combo, they flash/run out, they may live, chase them with you W-->W and finish the job and then R to jump back to position. Or, if you're jumping into a team, you can try your best to R in, use your combo as FAST as you can, and W-->W out. This is where you can to pay attention, your second R and your first W shadow is still there and can do damage to enemies around them. Choose to use your Q and E while those shadows or there, or take a chance and R back in if its safe, to finish off a target. I just want to stress how important it is to SAVE your W when initiating with R. I know a lot of people say throw your W out as soon as you land so you can get extra damage with your Q, but it's not worth it if your target jumps out of the combo or one of their allies comes in to save the day. In which case, there goes your escape, and there goes your chase potential. You do NOT need that extra W if you're going in on a squishy in order to finish off the target with your simple combo with that death mark on them, assuming you're not 1/9/0 or something, in which case, hell, you WANT to save that W to escape b/c we don't want you to be 1/10/0, now do we?

In terms of build, lots of AD and armor pen is great. Zed's W passive gives him additional AD based off the bonus AD you have. So the more AD you build, the MORE AD you will get from his W. Try to start with a Yomuus-- nice armor pen, nice AD, great active to chase or escape. Black Cleaver is great now-- a bit of HP, good CD reduction, and honestly the best %armor pen in game since last whisper only does %BONUS armor reduction now. From there, you really gotta use your head, but still build AD. I really like the new Maw since it gives armor pen now, its new passive has saved me many times tbh, and its really good def against some bursty mages. Blade of the ruined king is up to you, used to be part of his core build. I honestly don't like it, for something with such low AD (only 25 AD). Although it's active is okay, it has been nerfed, and so has the passive, i feel that there are better items out there now that fit Zed much better. Death's dance is really nice, also a total life saver. Death's Dance is the spell vamp that AD champs have been asking for, and Zed can heal very well from it with how many blades he has throwing and spinning about. And the damage from his death mark can heal him A LOT. Not only is the passive bleed live saving, but so is that AD spell vamp, plus, it's usually my source of the remaining 10% CD i need to reach 40%. You choose the boots according to what you need.

Like i said, Zed can take a lot of thinking to use him 100% proficiently. Practice, practice, practice. And watch videos! Watch what the pros are doing! Check out how they bait. How they build against troublesome enemies. How they use their shadows. I only gave you an account of how I play, which i assume to be correct since things have been very successful for me, but even I'm not right 100%! See what works best for you!

dangopeeDec 14, 20151 votes

git gud

TrogmarDec 14, 20152 votes

{quoted}

git gud

Wise advice.

TrogmarDec 14, 20151 votes

Thanks a lot ice otter! A great read with sound advice. I'll try out the cleaver and death dance next time. I felt very weak with botrk last time so I'll try your suggestion.