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The hidden power of Zoe's W

Grimm Howl·11/27/2017, 12:21:34 AM·37 votes·2,802 views

I just finished losing a match against a Zoe. Eh, it happens. How my team and I ended up being utterly obliterated into finer pieces of dust than the village Zoe accidentally nuked in her lore is the real focus of this post.

To get straight to the point. The issue is a result of her W's Spell Shards. I don't have a problem with the ability itself, the fact that she can pick up enemy summoners or get active items off minions fine, new and cool. No, my problem is her ability to see the Spell Shards drop through the Fog of War.

In the match, I was playing Lee Sin jungle. Just going around clearing my camps, everything is the usual. Failed my first gank against the low health Talon as he jumps over walls, leading me on a goose chase until Udyr can pin me. My bad.. After that though, I went back to clearing camps, and that's when it all started to spiral out of control. It took me about 2 or 3 more deaths at the hands of this Talon to really grasp what was going on. You see, I'm the jungler and of course carry Smite and enemy team has a Zoe support, who can see where I use Smite ANYWHERE ON THE MAP. For example this is the result of her being able to endlessly track me. I just used smite on the Murkwolves, time to get Blue and... Talon leaps over the wall and guts me. (Weird, maybe it's warded) Alright lets smite the Krugs and.. Sion blast cones into the camp over the wall. (Okay...) Smites Blue for health, heading bot lane to gank and... Talon leaps over the wall again.. then again at my Raptors.. (They can totally track my Smite can't they.)

There was nothing I can do to counter this. Again, I'm Lee Sin. I'm dropping wards left and right to begin with so vision on my end wasn't an issue. The fear instilled in me to not use smite or I'll die felt very unfair. Of course perhaps this was only really effective with the Talon being able to jump over walls to quickly close in on me. As smart as I thought this tactic was once I caught on, it's an unfair gameplay advantage. I was shut down so hard, the match was a 4v5 and I couldn't do anything to help my team other than provide vision.

All in all, Zoe should only be able to have vision of Spell Shards if the area is warded and her team can see me to begin with. Getting jumped wherever I go just for using Smite.. it just feels bad. Sorry for the rant, but I feel this is rather important to call out.

33 Comments

V The Support V11/27/2017, 2:05:48 AM21 votes

I believe you may be mis informed.

Zoe can NOT see a dropped enemy spell UNLESS a teammate or herself can/has see(n) it.

Wards also grant vision of the spell bubbles.

Maybe next time build a sweeper. Their deep wards are probably what were getting you killed.

LightIsMyPath11/27/2017, 1:50:20 AM9 votes

I've been spamming her all the evening and I 'm pretty sure I wasn't able to see enemy jungler position on the map

Call Me Nana11/27/2017, 2:42:42 AM6 votes

these posts are garbage.

it was already confirmed Zoe CANNOT see spell shard drops unless there is vision present.

Naalith11/27/2017, 1:39:36 AM5 votes

I thought that Zoe summoner spells were like plants, you can see them through fog of war but only after someone on your team or a minion saw them? I've never seen a smite drop in the jungle unless my jungler was in there fighting them as Zoe.

SeaChange11/27/2017, 6:11:32 AM5 votes

Yeah no, you just didn't adapt to an invading talon. Zoe has to gain vision of the bubble through anyone on her team to see them on the map. Whenever I play her, I NEVER see any smites around the jungle.

Psyrix11/27/2017, 1:47:55 AM4 votes

You might be experiencing a bug... That or ur jungle was just warded quite well by the enemy :/ Zoe can't see the summoner spells unless she had previous vision of them (i.e. the shards don't give vision alone, something else had to give vision of the shards before Zoe is able to see them)

KennysDreamGirl11/27/2017, 6:31:28 AM4 votes

But you can't see spells until you or your team gets vision on the area the spell was cast in

Teridax6811/27/2017, 12:52:27 AM4 votes

Agreed, global detection via summoner spell drops doesn't seem right on Zoe. It definitely doesn't seem intended, and if it is, it's not really the most visible kind of power to anyone on either side. I think it would be okay if Zoe had vision of summoner spell and item drops across the map, but only if the active was used when she could see the champion using them. Otherwise, the shards should only become visible once Zoe gains vision of the area where it dropped. This way, she could still track those actives from a distance, but wouldn't be able to gain secret vision over her opponents.

Troll for Trump11/27/2017, 4:21:10 AM4 votes

I've played a couple games of Zoe, and I have never been able to do that

Wimbledofy11/27/2017, 8:55:31 AM2 votes

That doesn't even sound humanly possible. There is no way they can immediately collapse on you just from the time when you used smite. Generally when you smite a camp it's to finish it off right? So even if it did grant vision (which it doesn't unless there is a bug that only happens like half the time) you should already be not near where you smited. Enemy team probably just had your jungle warded, or had a good idea of the general jungle path you would take. Zoe being able to see your smite was a nonfactor.

Ariel the Cruel11/27/2017, 8:07:05 PM2 votes

Need a smiteless jungler?

Ivern I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!

PhantomPrankster11/27/2017, 4:05:28 AM2 votes

jesus christ thats broken LMFAO

BubbaV11/27/2017, 7:19:57 PM2 votes

she does NOT gain vision of the stars UNLESS SHE ALREADY HAD VISION WHEN THE CHAMPION USED IT! this is easily tested by going into a game and starting W. you wont see a single smite star dropped unless u have vision of them first.

Succubús GF11/28/2017, 1:42:29 AM1 votes

Delete this for misinformation please.

kasfas11/27/2017, 4:01:22 AM1 votes

there are quite a few things that are wrong with that champion, but this tops them all. that is really bad.

Azadethe11/27/2017, 12:30:26 AM1 votes

I think it's semi fair. I'd be okay if non-team visible summoner bubbles were not map visible (ie, seen by minions, champs, towers, wards). Having played Zoe, I know what you're talking about.

Btw, I have a request of my own. Zombie Ward. Lee. It's broken as heck. Not only can you reliably have your place-able wards, now they also turn into Zombie wards, which effectively double the amount of wards you can have out at a time, AND you can Duskblade to turn other people's wards into yours, AND you can run a radar for even more. That's kind of BS, to be able to have about 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 wards active at one time. Lee is abusing it hard; As Evelynn I often have 3 Zombie wards telling Lee exactly where I am 100% of the game, and 3 wards I don't see also helping on the other side of the map. He can effectively ward more than anyone else, and more than anyone can detect, and there's nothing you can really do about it, because even if you kill the zombies, He still knows your whereabouts, and can do the rest with his tracker wards. I don't see an out with that much map coverage, unless you're shaco or an outright Lee counter (shaco can counter jungle and has stealth level 2, where he can just invade your jungle, where you aren't using your wards, while you invade his).