Zed

An Order Forged in Conflict

Zed did not ask anyone’s blessing before reshaping Ionia’s customs. He founded the Order of Shadow on his own, aiming to draw on the region’s magic and martial disciplines and sharpen them into a force capable of driving out the Noxian invaders, even though doing so meant setting aside the self-restraint those disciplines had been built upon.

What Victory Demanded

His readiness to cross lines is the core of who he became. Wartime desperation drove Zed to master a forbidden shadow technique that corrodes its user just as surely as it harms those it is aimed at, and he has practiced it ever since with no sign of hesitation. The price has been personal: his former brother Shen refuses to regard him as family, and his own pupil Kayn absorbed both his instruction and its hazardous edge. None of this has made him pull back. Whatever he regards as a threat to his homeland, or to the order he founded to defend it, becomes his next target.

Every part of his kit grows out of that shadow magic. Razor Shuriken sends Zed and his shadows hurling blades that hit each enemy they cut through. Living Shadow generates energy whenever he and a shadow land abilities on the same target, and its active sends a shadow dashing ahead, which he can later switch places with. Shadow Slash has him and his shadows strike every nearby foe, with a shadow’s version slowing whoever it hits. Death Mark, his ultimate, renders him untargetable as he dashes toward a marked enemy, then detonates a few seconds later to reproduce part of the damage he inflicted during that span. Contempt for the Weak, his passive, adds extra magic damage to targets that are already injured, which suits a fighter who sees every battle in Ionia through to the end, whatever it takes.

A full combo rewards some preparation. Saving energy and ability cooldowns until he commits to Death Mark tends to get the most out of it, and dropping a Living Shadow just ahead of the engage, or tapping it twice to blink back to it instantly, gives him an escape route before the enemy can retaliate. Foes stacking armor blunt him more than most, because much of his bonus damage scales from attack damage items rather than ability power. The window right after he throws a shadow out is when he is most vulnerable, since his damage, slow, and mobility all depend on that shadow staying in play.