When should I use one over the other and why?
I've always been partial to Hydra being a big Lee Sin and Riven player, and as a Top Lane main (Secondary Role after AD Carry which is my Primary main role).
Example Build (Top Lane): Ionians, Randuin's, Hydra, LW, Maw, BC.
EDIT: Or does it really just come down to personal preference and what works best for me?
Rustling Bush1 votesbotrk, it pratically gives every stat zed needs, and the active is really useful as well for chasing people down. you usually get hydra on bruiser champions so you can split push and be bursty, i haven't seen it on mostly any zeds so im going to assume its trash on him.
ABlueQuaker1 votes[{quoted}](name=Summoner Grey,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWe19cGq,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2014-12-19T04:44:14.731+0000)
bortk, it pratically gives every stat zed needs, and the active is really useful as well for chasing people down. you usually get hydra on bruiser champions so you can split push, i haven't seen it on mostly any zeds so im going to assume its trash on him.
But then why do I have more success with Hydra on Zed than BotRK? I think personal playstyle impacts this decision at least somewhat.
Rustling Bush1 votesBut then why do I have more success with Hydra on Zed than BotRK? I think personal playstyle impacts this decision at least somewhat.
i'm not a zed player, i do know that zed benfits from bortk alot because i see alot of zed rush that item and i know that active lets him chase down players, and a boost to his attack speed, hydra doesn't give that attack speed boost or that active, hydra is made for bruisers because they have a heavy reliance on their basics, and they generally can survive longer then assassins. but if you have more success with hydra then this thread is pretty pointless
GhostOfShrimpmas1 votesIt's just personal preference. Hydra is good for bursting and pushing, and gives more raw AD, whereas Bork is better for chasing and killing very high health targets. I prefer Hydra, but either is very good.
disregardable1 votesI've never played Zed before, but isn't he an AD Caster? I mean Bork's active is infinitely more useful, but as a non-crit, melee champion, why would Zed pick an item designed for autoattacks? He should pick raw stats for maximum burst, right?
Rustling Bush1 votes[{quoted}](name=The AFK Farmer,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wWe19cGq,comment-id=00000001,timestamp=2014-12-19T04:55:28.092+0000)
I've never played Zed before, but isn't he an AD Caster? I mean Bork's active is infinitely more useful, but as a non-crit, melee champion, why would Zed pick an item designed for autoattacks? He should pick raw stats for maximum burst, right?
zed does use his basic attacks alot, from what i've seen and they hit hard, according to builds he also gets last whisper (35% armor pentration) and black cleaver, +10 armor pen + 25% armor reduction after 4 hits, after he w+q and maybe e then hes going to jump with his w and start chasing down the target with his basics.
additional according from this guy http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/zed-now-you-see-me-now-youre-dead-updated-for-s4-333663
"On a successful first back, you should be rushing straight for your Bilgewater Cutlass and from then on be working towards your Blade of the Ruined King. This is a huge item on Zed because it is the only item that can add guaranteed damage to Death Mark's detonation. This ups his assassination power significantly when he completes the item."
it basically sync's with his ult
Kuroi861 votesBork is great for dueling, though if pure assassination is your thing, then the AS on Bork may feel wasted as you're more interested in the on hit damage and active for your ult. That said, Bork is often a Zed core item due to how strong it makes his dueling while still allowing him to assassinate with extreme prejudice.
ABlueQuaker1 votesI tend to look at it this way - Hydra scales with your AD, it deals physical damage so it works will with your armor pen, it is AoE so it makes Zed better in team fights, the AoE also applies BC stacks so if you use an auto then its active you've already got 2 stacks of BC on anyone you hit with the AoE.
Most importantly, the damage is shifted from auto-attacks to abilities meaning that you're in melee range less.
SparrowPriest1 voteshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1CLbAevPqo It's personal preference, Hydra is like having two shadow slashes or an extra burst ability on a 10 second cooldown. I never use botrk.
X8ViEhkPS01 votesThink of it this way. If the 10% of the target's HP is greater than Zed's AD Bork is stronger. But factor in that with Hydra Zed can hit pretty close to 400 AD. Mostly every scenario Hydra is stronger than Bork.
Also think about what you need. Bork lets you pump out damage to towers faster, while Hydra gives you unmatched wave clear.