Yeah, I read the wiki, but was fuzzy. **** damage agreed, leveling shadow last ? missed your combo ? Try again in what, 22 seconds ? Considering that his combo is centered around his shadow, I'd consider maxing Q and W first with a point in E for the slow util and going Lucidity+Ghostblade first for max initiate/escape and combo spam.

I don't understand how they gave an AD caster a better version of Riven's ult as a passive and still managed to make him feel meh on Dominion. He'll probably be a monster if building pure AD becomes a reasonable possibility.

As far as I see, since his shadow is a somewhat benign ability, I don't see how anything but pure AD and pen is viable for him, Unless they make a Blackfire Mace or something

Riven's ult is an aoe ranged execute that will kill you instantly in almost all cases if you are below 25% hp, on top of the damage steroid it passively gives after you activate it

Zed's ult depends on him being able to do damage AFTER he ults, which makes it suck in some situations

I wouldn't say Zed's ult is a better version by any means, other than the fact that he gets a gap closer/small window of invuln from it... but I would trade that away for ranged+aoe+passive damage steroid any day

Underwhelming.

For a guy who is all about teleporting around, it's really hard to properly engage with him. If you use the Shadow to close, it's behind you now and doing nothing useful. If you have your Ult, you can open with that... but that means you need to rely on your Ult being up.

So if you close with the shadow... you aren't hitting with it and regaining energy, which means you won't have the energy to spam E in order to cast another Shadow. You'll be engaged, but relying on AA and the occasional E.

Not enough damage to justify how difficult it is to do anything of value with him. His mechanics are FUN, but ineffective.

I meant that pure AD isn't an option because the itemization for it doesn't exist. You can only build so many BF Swords.

Her ult is the 20% bonus AD. Wind Slash is just this extra thing that you can do that does a little more damage than your autoattacks in an AoE with a really long startup that could actually make you lose DPS if your AD is high enough. If it is killing you at 25% health, you should probably consider buying a little health or armor.

Zed has 25% bonus AD as a passive on his W when it is maxed.

I wish Zed's W moved faster, the slight delay between hitting W and teleporting to it is annoying.

I like Zed, a lot. He's definitely not one of the easier champs to play.

One person stated earlier that we'd see how he is after people stop maxing Q first. My response to that is, why? What are you going to max first? E? Then you have no poke (or no useful poke). Your Q and E are going to do nearly the same amount of damage, the question is, do you want to poke for it or do you want to be face to face? The only time you should becoming face to face with people is when you plan on killing them, which you're going to be launching both your Q and E.

Yes, the E has a shorter CD, but again, read the previous paragraph.

Your W is not meant to be used as a gap closer, unless you can kill the champion escaping in one hit. It's used to set up positioning around your enemy to land your skills twice.

Examples:
Use W to set up a crossfire for your Q.
Use W right on top of you to land an easier Q.
Use W on the other side of your enemy when your enemy dives you to land E/Q combo, slowing them. While running away from your shadow, if you can win the fight, fight. If not, you can use W to get back to your shadow, further away from enemy for a safe escape.
Use W to escape over a wall when running for your life.

His burst damage is amazing mid-late game. Usually after you reach level 11. You can ult into team fights, land 2 E's a Q, and use your W to escape while taking very little to no damage. Usually killing the champ you ultied and leaving the surrounded ones low. It is for this reason I like him more than other assassins. He has the power to do a lot of AOE damage. (Dangerous, but amazing when done right.)

But, I am in no way saying he is the best. As previous posters have stated, there are other champs that are way easier to play that have better and/or constant damage output without using any skill at all. But Zed is still way more fun.

Cauldrath, I'd consider Ghostblade, IE, Maw, Sanguine, LW to Itemize a 'pure ad' build, but then you're squishy as ****, and inserting something like Entropy or Frozen mallet just seems like nerfing yourself.
Dunno about this champ.....Liked the concept, but with no shield or stun and a delayed gap closer, that if used as a gap closer nerfs your combo, I just dunno.

Doesn't feel assassiny as theres no engage and escape because the shadow's really long cd, the assassiny aspect only works with his ult which isn't on a short cd either. Gets really high AD from his W passive late game leaving you to wreck a target but you need to get in there first (W range is also short).

Has potential but feeling his W gimmick is a little lacking if you mess up but the reward is there for the risk and is fun to play nevertheless. Other champs especially khazix does the job better and has better engage and escape.

He's alright against some bot matchups with shadow poke but isn't going to dominate against some of the versatile laners.

Definitely an advanced champ to play to get the most out of him.