Zed, the Master of Shadows
Overview:
Zed may not be the most popular master of the shadow clone jutsu, but that doesn't stop him from delivering his own, sinister twist on it. Mechanically speaking, however, the execution of this thematic hook
feels a bit un-ninja-y in gameplay - as these clones act more like turrets than the sort of doppelgangers that ninjas would use to outmatch and overwhelm their foes.
There's also the issue of play-patterns - with Zed's standard in-lane poking gameplay creating a zoning pattern that is a bit too reliable for a manaless champion, and his assassination pattern being similarly reliable for how lethal it is and how easily it allows Zed to back out once the deed is done. The renegade ninja could do with a bit more variety in his moment-to-moment gameplay, as well.
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To make Zed's shadows feel more dynamic (and more like a forbidden ninja art), Living Shadow has been redesigned to instead allow Zed to modify his other abilities in ways that add a layer of deception and flexibility - while coming at a cost that encourages ambushes over overt dives. His Innate now ties in with all of this, rewarding skilled ability use rather than only attacking enemies at low health.
In exchange for this newfound flexibility and power, Zed's laning and assassination patterns are a bit less reliable. While he may no longer be able to zone out enemies with Living Shadow or guarantee a full combo with his ult, his Razor Shurikens are more dangerous, he no longer has to sacrifice offensive pressure to access his mobility, and he's even taken Kayn's ability to briefly jump into enemies mid-teamfight.
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Assassin
Recommended Positions: Solo Midlane
Complexity: Medium
Innate: Shadowflre
Basic attacks against targets below 50% health inflict Shadowfire, dealing 6/8/10%
(based on level) of the target's maximum health as physical damage over 3 seconds.
Damage is capped against monsters at 200/350/500 (based on level).
Zed's basic attacks can only inflict Shadowfire the same target once every 10 seconds.
Q: Razor Shuriken
PASSIVE: Zed stores a charge of Razor Shuriken every 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds, up to 2.
ACTIVE: Zed throws a shuriken in the target direction, dealing 80/115/150/185/220 +
(100% bonus AD) physical damage to the first enemy hit and silencing them for 1 second.
While Zed has any stacks of Living Shadow, Zed can re-cast Razor Shuriken while the shuriken is in flight to expend one, summoning a Shadow at its current location that catches it and throws it in the target direction, causing it to additionally apply Shadowfire to the first enemy hit.
Range: 800 (range), 400 (redirect range)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 2/1.75/1.5/1.25/1
Cost: 41/37/33/29/25 energy
W: Living Shadow
Zed performs a forbidden jutsu, splitting his shadow and gaining a stack of Living Shadow. This ability can be re-cast up to 2 additional times within 5 seconds before going on cooldown, but re-casting it a second time will briefly overwhelm Zed, silencing and disarming him for 2 seconds.
Zed's other abilities can expend stacks of Living Shadow to summon a Shadow that persists for 5 seconds, before returning to Zed and restoring 30/35/40/45/50 energy.
Range: Self
Targeting Type: None
Cooldown: 22/20/18/16/14 (first cast), 0.75 (re-cast)
Cost: 40 (initial cast), 20 (re-cast)
E: Shadow Dash
Zed dashes in the target direction. Upon colliding with an enemy champion, Zed will backflip 300 units away from them, dealing 70/95/120/145/170 + (80% bonus AD) physical damage and slowing them by 20/25/30/35/40% for 1.5 seconds.
While Zed has any stacks of Living Shadow, Zed can re-cast Shadow Dash while dashing to backflip 300 units in the opposite of the target direction and send a Shadow the remainder of the dash's distance in the target direction, dealing Shadow Dash's damage and applying its slow to the first enemy in its path before applying Shadowfire.
Shadow Dash's maximum distance is increased by Zed's bonus movement speed, capped at a 450 unit bonus at 100 bonus movement speed.
Range: 450
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12
Cost: 75 energy
R: Death Mark
Zed calls all nearby shadows to dive into the target enemy for 3 seconds, refreshing Shadowfire's duration and increasing its damage dealt by 25/40/55% for each shadow.
After 3 seconds, all Shadows will emerge from the target, extinguishing Shadowfire and dealing physical damage based on 25/40/55% of the pre-mitigation damage they suffered from Zed over the duration.
While Zed has any stacks of Living Shadow, Zed can re-cast Death Mark within 2.5 seconds to leap into the target as an additional Shadow, becoming untargetable for the duration and
re-emerging 625 units in the target direction at the end of Death Mark's duration.
Range: 625
Targeting Type: Targeted
Cooldown: 120/90/60
Cost: None