Zed is not meant to stay in combat too long. He goes in does damage and gets out. So the things you need to get comfortable with is his W to get in and out of risky situations. Good placement on of his w will save your life especially if you are getting chased. You just w back and e at the same time. That way you slow them as you are running away. Another good tip is to realize that when you ult a champion you can always press R again to get out. So for example if you are in a fight mid and you decide to ult an enemy champ, lead them away from where you ulted. That way if you are about to die you can just Press R to get out safety. Also save your W before you ult. That way when you press R a second time you can escape quickly with a W and be out of site. Last thing there are two types of play styles with zed. You can either use your W and Q to poke constantly or use your W and E to slow enemy champs to either go in for the kill or farm comfortably. Must have items are Blade of the Ruined king and Black Cleaver.