Zed Wild Rift Build & Guide

Innate: Contempt for the Weak

Zed deals bonus magic damage on enemies with below half health. The damage dealt is based on the enemy’s maximum health. It has an internal ten seconds cooldown for each enemy hit.

Contempt for the Weak helps with your last hitting in the early game as the bonus damage applies to all enemies: Minions, jungle monsters, epic monsters, and champions. However, it doesn’t work on turrets.

Zed’s passive gives you a good chance to steal jungle monsters or drakes using a simple ability + basic attack combo because of the passive’s damage output.

Make sure to last at least one auto-attack when trading and going for an all-in because your passive contributes a large amount of damage to your combos.

Q | 1st: Razor Shuriken

Zed and his shadows throw their shuriken which deals damage to enemies in its path. The shurikens deal damage separately but it deals more damage to the first target it hits.

Razor Shuriken is Zed’s main source of damage as multiple shurikens deal a serious amount of damage.

Each Shuriken has a separate counter for the Keystone Rune Electrocute which makes it easy to proc it with Zed when trading.

When facing a ranged enemy in the lane, do not hesitate to use the shurikens to last hit the minions and try to hit the enemy champion as well. Yes, it will deal less damage but it is hitting two birds with one stone.

Some enemies will underestimate your range with the shadow’s shuriken throw. Use it to snipe down the enemy as they recall under the tower.

You can use Razor Shuriken twice in combination with Living Shadow before the shadow dissipates in the late game which can catch the enemy off guard.

W | 2nd: Living Shadow

Living Shadow allows Zed’s shadow to dash forward and remain in place for a short duration. During this duration, Zed can reactivate the ability to switch places with the shadow.

Living Shadow also grants the passive ability to restore his energy when his ability strikes the same enemy twice.

Living Shadow is mainly used offensively to multiple your other basic abilities.

It can also be used to escape. Re-tapping the ability button will switch you with your shadow the moment it arrives at its target location.

A better way to use it for escaping is by casting it towards the opposite direction you are running to which gives you the option to switch to it if the enemy over commits on following you.

Cast living shadow in a safe location before committing to an all-in so you can kill an enemy with your ultimate then return to safety in a blink of an eye. You can potentially kill the enemy carry in the midst of the enemy team and return safely if executed well.

Since Living Shadow is your main source of mobility, do not use it offensively if you are not aware of the enemy jungler’s position.

Arrows appear beneath Zed which only he can see. It turns a different color when it is nearing its expiration.

Zed cannot switch places to his shadow if he is too far away from it. This restriction does not apply to the shadow produces by his ultimate.

E | 3rd: Shadow Slash

Shadow Slash is a melee AoE ability that damages and slows enemies near Zed and his shadows.

Each enemy champion hit with Shadow Slash reduces 2nd, Living Shadows, cooldown by two seconds.

Shadow Slash does not interrupt your auto attack pattern so it does not matter if you use it before or after your auto attacks.

Shadow Slash’s damage stacks unlike in LoL PC which just increases its slow amount so you can also deal a lot of damage with this ability with enough practice.

R | Ultimate: Death Mark

Death Mark targets an enemy champion and marks them. After a short duration, the mark triggers which deals base damage plus a portion of all damage dealt while the mark was active.

The more damage you deal, the more damage the mark will deal which makes it a potent assassination tool.

Zed becomes untargetable the moment Death Mark is cast so it is a great way to avoid targeted abilities. It doesn’t mean you are invulnerable, though. You will still be damaged by damage over time effects like Ignite.

After being untargetable you will appear at the back of your enemy. Experienced players know this and they will use that window to hit you with their crowd control spell so that you’ll be unable to cast the rest of your abilities. You can outplay this by casting your 2n, Living Shadow, before using your ultimate. There is a delay before you can re-cast Death Mark but you can immediately re-cast Living Shadows so it is imperative that you do so.

A shuriken mark will appear on top of the enemy if the damage that the target will receive is more than their HP. It’s not a 100% guarantee that they will die, though, because of shields or healing that they may receive before the mark expires.

Basic Zed Combos: 

Basic trade combo 1: 2nd + 3rd + 1st

Basic trade combo 2: 2nd + 1st + 3rd

Basic trade combo 3: (Melee)  2nd (away) + 3rd + AA + 2nd + 1st

All-in burst: 2nd (towards the target enemy champion) + Ult1 + 1st +  3rd + AA + Ult2 (Place the 2nd, Living Shadow beside your target enemy so you can hit them with three 1st, Razor Shurikens and three 3rd, Shadow Slash. This is best for early game 1v1s which will ensure the enemy will die even with the lack of damage items)

All-in safe: 2nd1 (towards a safe location)  + Ult1 + 1st +  3rd + AA + 2nd2 (Ensures that you survive a dive. In the late game, even if you only land two 1sts and 3rds, you’ll most likely kill the enemy champion.)