"Zoe only has 1 damage spell"

DeusVult··7 votes·971 views

Except that this really isnt true. Her Q may be MOST of her damage, because it has a low cooldown, high base damage and doesnt cost much mana, but her E has good damage on it as well, her W has magic damage when she uses it, and she gets a passive proc from every spell.

If Zoe buys a Lichbane, even her ult can deal good damage. Her E sleep proc deals double damage because the bonus portion deals true damage equal to what was dealt post-mitigation by the original spell that proc'd it.

I know that Zoe nerfs just went through and Riot is waiting to see how they do, but they expect that it should bring her in line, but IMO Zoe has too many one point wonders.

Her W gains damage on the active spell orbs when it is leveled, as well as movespeed and duration of movespeed upon activation. Why not increase how long Zoe can hold onto shards per skillpoint, or what types of actives minions can drop per level. So you dont get an exhaust/ignite/gunblade at level 3.

Her E gains slow %, damage and CDR on hit per level. Which is OK because the bonus damage on the sleep being proc'd is capped at what E's maximum damage is at that time. (There is literally nothing that tells you this in game, or the true damage portion, which is why her E proc seems to burst so hard, you have to look that up on a third party site.) Yet getting 1 point of E still lets the bubble sit on the ground for 4 seconds, still has sleep be 2 seconds long, still sends it 650 extra units though a wall. You could make it less of a one point wonder by making sleep duration scale 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds, making sleep proc for 20/40/60/80/100% bonus damage, having the bubble last for 2/2.5/3/3.5/4 seconds. Literally not having such a loaded spell that it almost matches Jhin passive at level 2.

Forcing Zoe to take more of a risk with her ult by allowing displacements/grounding to halt her from porting back to her original spot when she ults. There is no risk with this spell at the moment, if someone understands how to use it.

All in all, still waiting to see how the Zoe nerfs in 7.24 impact her, but saying that she only has one damage spell is misleading. 3/4 of her spells have damage portions, her passive adds damage per spellcast (auto/spellweaving), and every spell but her ult is overloaded in terms of what it can bring, and what it brings with just one point placed in it.

13 Comments

I Am No 0ne2 votes

stop whining, she got nerfed, play zed, tis all.

Salron2 votes

The absolute vast majority of her damage comes from Q Lich bane can be bought by any ap technically so don't bring that into your argument

W's uptime is very unreliable and most of the time you're not casting it for the damage, not to mention the fact that it's maxed last so it'll do little damage most of the game

E does have decent damage but it is single target and the second sleepy true damage portion requires another damage source to proc, and you cast E primarily to set up Q or allied CC, not because it's a high damage skill

Fact of the matter is, Q is her only consistent damage spell and Riot needs to be very careful when tuning it because if it gets overnerfed even a little bit she'll instantly become very subpar

Vapor Wave Vibes2 votes

I would've commented sooner but her stunn last 100 years

Pus1 votes

its only 2.3s

Gives No Lux2 votes

I really want to make Lichbane work on Zoe but it's very niche at best. She is just too exposed to make proper use of it. It's an ok icing item but as a core item it exposes you to CC too often.

It is a great top lane item vs melee though.

DeusVult1 votes

its like lux, where Riot wants you to weave in autos, but Zoe has so much damage loaded into Q or E-Q, that she doesnt need to ever really risk getting into auto range to make use of it. If missing Q hurt her more (longer CD/higher mana cost) than she might be forced into risker play patterns to deal damage. Maybe take damage off her Q and add it to her passive.

Gives No Lux1 votes

Yeah, it isn't a bad item it just doesn't perform enough to qualify as a core item except in specific scenarios. If you're pretty far ahead it's even better but given her play style and AP ratios it's extremely hard to justify over Morello's, Luden's, Void Staff, Deathcap, Soulstealer.

Most often when I consider it a really strong buy is when I feel move speed is going to be critical. I'm addicted to move speed mid with all the assassins running around now so it's not an uncommon buy for me but just as often I'll just buy the wisp and maybe finish the LB 5th or 6th.

Zerenza2 votes

She's supposed to be a Burst Mage, if you get hit by certain abilities on any burst mage, with 0 MR and your Squishy. You die, simple.

Syndra is the same, Lux is the same, Ahri is the same the list goes on.

If zoe hit's you with her E(while agree it's not too difficult on someone who's not very good at dodging) she deserves to get her damage in just like every other mage in the game. Not to mention there's a sizable delay before you get Stunned by zoe's E, it's enough to run behind minions and out of her range, it's enough to flash far away from her and make it harder for her to hit you. It's normal range is actually really short and the skillshot moves slow enough to, if you see it, you should be able to dodge it then run away from it when it plops on the ground.

While i agree the Duration should scale, so should the time it lands on the ground, i don't think the damage amp should scale because her Q is her only REAL damaging ability. She has to max it, if she doesn't she's loses 60% of her damage, where 10% is her W, 20% is her E and 10% is her passive.

Pus1 votes

your %'s make no sense whatsoever. her e is a bulk of the reason why she can burst so well and another factor is that the size of the bursted bubble trap is not telegraphed well before it pops. in chaotic teamfights it creeps up on you and shouldn't be the primary objective in a teamfight-- dodging a basic ability.

hazerddex1 votes

does no one build mr any more?

Gives No Lux2 votes

Thankfully no. It also takes about 30 min into a game before the enemy mid laner realizes that Banshee's might be a good idea vs. Zoe.

Also, Morgana.

Pus1 votes

the only two that are worth building against her is spirit visage and adaptive helm

SaturnSC11 votes

Her passive do bonus damage on basic attack, her Q do a good chunk of damage, her W as well, her E do by itself a bit of damage, conbined with an AA or another spells, deal a good mixed damage. So Zoe having only 1 damage ability is wrong.

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