With Riot Games limiting the entire ADC meta to champions like Jinx, Miss Fortune, and Aphelios, it is nice to change up the pace a little from one time to another. To populate the Bot lane pool, Riot has created Zeri as a brand new marksman addition to the game. As it is going, she might just be the very first ADC that is legitimately playable.
Who are we kidding? Bot lane is a fly-or-die role that has its moments of shine. However, losing to a support Nautilus can certainly feel bad. But what if you could outrun his Q?
Zeri has brought a lot of innovation to the Summoner’s Rift. She builds like a top laner while dealing damage in multiple digits. Her trusty gun makes for a fine tank shredder. With all those factors in mind, it’s no surprise for Zeri to be this dominating in the Summoner’s Rift.
Needless to say, optimizing your Zeri build is the key to having a good time. While every new champion is subjected to experimentation for a decent few months, it seems that the Green Pikachu has settled in rather smoothly.
Zeri Runes: Patch 12.23
Zeri has seen quite a lot of success in pro play and solo queue. Her use of Lethal Tempo is immaculate and provides a lot of venues for outplaying. You can’t go wrong with a little bit of healing that the domination tree provides. With that said, here are the best runes in terms of win rate for Zeri that will help get your Elo right back up:
| Precision |  | Domination |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lethal Tempo |  | Taste of Blood |  |
| Triumph |  | Ravenous Hunter |  |
| Legend: Alacrity |  | – | – |
| Cut Down |  | Attack Speed |  |
| Win % | 50.7 % | Adaptive Force |  |
| Pick % | 51.1 % | Armor |  |
However, this is not all you see. If you want to increase your movement speed to become a target that’s extremely annoying and almost impossible to chase, you can do so with these additional Zeri runes:
| Precision | | Sorcery |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lethal Tempo | | Celerity |  |
| Triumph | | Gathering Storm |  |
| Legend: Alacrity | | – | – |
| Coup de Grace |  | Attack Speed | |
| Win % | 52.2 % | Adaptive Force | |
| Pick % | 5.6 % | Armor | |
What are the Best Summoner Spells on Zeri?
Since spells are highly conditional and always subject to change, I would recommend you go for situational choices rather than a set pick when it comes to Summoner Spells. Therefore, the spells, along with their use cases, are mentioned below:
Flash + Heal
Zeri has the highest win rate on Flash and Heal in the Bot Lane. However, picking heal against a CC-heavy comp can be akin to suicide. If your team has decent peel for you, then getting a little cocky won’t do you any harm.
This spell is also great for baiting champions with guaranteed executes. Nothing can beat the grin that naturally forms on your face when you press Heal against a Pyke’s Death from Below and vice versa.
Flash + Cleanse
In the late-game team fights, a single misstep can cost you the game. Therefore, it is better to pick Cleanse if they have a potential dive threat on you. As a highly mobile ADC, anything locking you down can be deadly.
Not only will you lose your only means of escape, but the enemy team will also eliminate you within a fraction of a second while you’re unable to retaliate. In that circumstance, no spell can top Cleanse.
Also, P.S. If you are yet to be sure how roles work in League of Legends, check out our convenient guide that will help you figure it out!
Flash + Exhaust
Assassins are the worst enemies of an AD carry. They can jump into an ongoing team fight and jump on you while ignoring everything else. The most frustrating part about all of this is that there are always no consequences for their actions.
You get to see your health bar evaporate like a magic trick while they walk away seemingly unscathed. Luckily though, Exhaust can lower their kill potential, but you need to time it at the exact time they unleash their combos unless you wish to end up like a ragdoll.
Flash + Ignite
While Ignite Zeri hits like a truck, the Ignite still doesn’t seem to be that good on her due to the exceptional range that she possesses. However, it is much better than farming like a pacifist against a Sona Yuumi bot lane.
If you have the proper safety and kill pressure on the opposing laners, then, by all means, go for Ignite to garner that early-game advantage. But bear in mind that you will be much more vulnerable to ganks and dives because of the lack of defensive countermeasures.
Also note that if you’re matching up against an ADC that destroys you because of the sheer amount of life steal, like Samira or a support Soraka, you might also want to pick Ignite. Nothing tops the Ignite when it comes to anti-heal. Plus, it’s a great way to punish them early and late.
Flash + Barrier
The Barrier spell, in general, doesn’t seem that good on champions. The presence of a single Serpent’s fang can render the spell useless. Therefore, I would recommend you go for the other options instead.
The spell’s return to meta seems to be quite far in the future, so we wouldn’t count on it to be a good spell pick for Zeri. However, if you’re matching up against a very bursty ADC, it’s not that bad of an option to pick Barrier.
Mythic Items for Zeri
Unlike conventional ADCs, Zeri can work with multiple builds and items. You can choose to build her like a conventional AD carry or you can try going the bruiser route. Either way, you will have to settle on a Mythic item first.
With that said, here are the Mythics that work well with your Zeri build:
Trinity Force
The Trinity Force Zeri build is by far the best one out of all, at least currently. The item’s passive transforms Zeri into a late-game juggernaut. However, the late-game prowess isn’t the only reason that this build has seen such widespread success through and through.
The Threefold Strike passive lets Zeri gain a total of 20 movement speed per auto-attack. Furthermore, this is quite similar to her passive that grants charges per ability used. These charges can then be translated into movement speed, and you get to see the following spectacle unfold on the map:
The Spellblade passive is also similar to Zeri’s auto attacks, thereby amplifying her periodic auto damage.
Kraken Slayer
The Kraken Slayer’s passive allows every third auto attack to deal bonus true damage. Unfortunately, there is no sustain attached to this item. However, an activated Lethal Tempo with Kraken Slayer makes one hell of a nasty combination.
The Kraken Slayer is currently the second-best item you can purchase for your Zeri build. However, it becomes the best against tanks and enemies with high armor. Therefore, you can use it in place of the Trinity Force whenever you have to face tanks like Sejuani or Dr. Mundo.
And since the current meta is tank-oriented and almost every team comp you will see will feature more than one tank, Kraken Slayer shouldn’t be a guess in those dire situations.
Immortal Shieldbow
In League of Legends, life steal directly accounts for survivability. The more you have, the better! If you manage to gain a certain amount of life steal, a single auto-attack will be enough to heal you back to full HP.
Considering all of that, the Immortal Shieldbow is a good item for a Zeri survivability build. It provides a shield if your health drops below a certain threshold and protects you from getting one shot. The last one is a bit of a stretch since no amount of defenses will protect the ADC from the hands of a bot laner.
Overall, it is a good item to have, but it doesn’t unlock the total damage potential of a Zeri. Therefore, we recommend you use it only if you need to sustain yourself to survive in your lane.
Galeforce
This item can be a useful purchase once your team is ahead. It is great for its execution damage and chase potential. However, you will not need any executions if you can’t melt the enemy down to that point.
In simpler terms, Galeforce is a useful item for extending your marginal lead. However, it should not be taken before the flow of a match bends toward you. Furthermore, with that said, stealing some kills by using the Galeforce active does have a nice ring to it.
Divine Sunderer
For Zeri, Divine Sunderer feels like a discounted variant of the Trinity Force. However, its viability shines in a tank bruiser Zeri build with Grasp of the Undying as your main rune. The percentage health damage is certainly attractive, but it is not as perfect as it sounds.
With that said, this build does not have nearly as much DPS as a regular Zeri build, but it will do a fine job traumatizing any assassin who tries to lunge at you.
Zeri Build: Item Order
While putting together your Zeri build, your main aim should be to reach your power spikes as soon as possible. Therefore, feel free to introduce variations in the build path to gain a slight advantage against the enemy.
With that said, the following Trinity Force build seems to be working well for Zeri as of yet:
| Icon | Item | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 | Doran’s Blade | The Doran’s Blade is a good early-game item that provides decent life steal to carry you through the laning phase. You also gain additional bonuses in the form of Health and Attack Damage. |
 | Sheen | Your main intention is to go for Triforce. However, your auto attacks lack damage. Therefore, ignore the Hearthbound Axe for now. |
 | Boots | Reaching an objective didn’t hurt anyone now, did it? At least you managed to escape with your life intact, unlike your Jungler and Support. |
 | Dagger | More attack speed means more Qs. Since Q is practically your auto attack, you get to scale harder. |
 | Berserker’s Greaves | Start preparing for your power spike. Attack Speed works great on you along with Movement Speed. |
 | Hearthbound Axe | Keep on stacking, it’s fine if you lack damage at this point, the attack speed will more than make up for it. |
 | Kindlegem | This component is mandatory before buying Trinity Force. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to have more health. |
 | Trinity Force | Your first power spike is here. Celebrate it by taking some foes down near the second Drake. |
 | Dagger | Your second item should be Runaan’s Hurricane for more attack speed and multi-target damage. The bolts scale well from the multiple bullet projectiles in a single Q. |
 | Dagger | More Daggers! |
 | Zeal | Every AD carry needs crit to deal damage. Going Lethality is also a path but Crit provides reliable damage against any champion whereas Lethality is only limited to squishy targets. |
 | Runaan’s Hurricane | You would be at the teamfights stage of the game. This item is your call to start taking such fights. However, don’t act rashly and only take a fight on your terms. |
 | Tiamat | What happens when you mix Oil with Fire? AOE damage is the name of the game. |
 | Ruby Crystal | As weird as it sounds, you are going for percentage health damage from here on out. |
 | Doran’s Blade | There is no merit in holding onto Doran’s blade any longer. Therefore, sell it to earn more than half a kill’s worth of gold. |
 | Giant’s Belt | You will be needing this component for Titanic Hydra. It will also make you tankier in the process. |
 | Titanic Hydra | We have reached the point of perfection. Each and every enemy will be melted in the splash damage galore. Once the Lethal Tempo kicks in, it will be really hard to survive Zeri’s burst. |
 | Pickaxe | It’s time to pick up on the damage threshold. This build focuses on percentage-based damage. Each bullet from the gun will be able to apply such effects. |
 | Vampiric Scepter | A little sustain is fine, right? |
 | Blade of The Ruined King | Damaging an enemy for a percent of their health bar while slowing them down sounds enticing, doesn’t it? |
 | Long Sword | You have the option to build a lethality-based item here. But if their team has tanks then you can’t go wrong with Black Cleaver. |
 | Black Cleaver | Ideally, you won’t be reaching this far. However, the solo queue experience is a wonderful place. Therefore, go kill some enemies! (P.S. You might want to chuck some red potions just in case) |
Zeri Build: Secondary Item Options
League of Legends is a dynamic game, therefore, there is no set-in-stone formula for success. You will need to add alterations to your build according to the game state and vice versa. With that said, the first three items should remain the same no matter what.
The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth tiers hold the option to be changed accordingly. Here is how it works:
Fourth Item Options
- Titanic Hydra
- Wit’s End
You have a total of two choices to pursue here. If the enemy team has a lot of magic damage then going Titanic Hydra will be non-optimal. Instead, you can opt for a Wit’s end to apply bonus on-hit effects while having higher magic resistance.
The value of this item becomes evident once Malzahar fails to kill you even after flash-ulting. Similarly, it becomes harder for the enemy team to lock you down to deal a lethal blow. However, there is no AD equivalent item for this other than the Titanic Hydra.
Fifth Item Options
- Black Cleaver
- Wit’s End
- Blade of the Ruined King
Blade of the Ruined King is a great addition to the mix, but going for the earlier Wit’s End might make you alter your path slightly. You won’t be sustaining your way throughout the team fights this late in the game. Therefore, you can choose to go for the Black Cleaver a bit earlier than intended.
Either way, Blade of the Ruined King is not a bad item and can still carry you in the Wit’s End build route. Once again, try to understand the current state of your game and decide accordingly.
If you weren’t able to purchase Wit’s End as your fourth weapon then now is the time to do so. It is a really well-rounded item that can be substituted anywhere in the later portions of your build.
Sixth Item Options
- Guardian’s Angel
- Wit’s End
- Black Cleaver
Black Cleaver is a generally great addition to your build and helps in lowering the overall enemy armor values for your attacks to last a penetrating effect. Needless to say, the extra health makes you tankier than ever before while you can’t go wrong with armor penetration.
The Wit’s End is a good finishing item against late-game AP carries. Ideally, you would want to be surviving throughout the team fight. However, the 1600 AP Veigar has other plans in store for you. Wit’s End helps you survive a second longer to accept your inevitable in-game death.
There are times when an enemy is knocking at your door but you just need that one extra boost to win the team fight. That’s where the Guardian Angel comes in. The enemy Zed one-shot you? Why not let him do all of it again? Your mighty peel might finally become useful, the possibilities are endless.
Zeri Ability Rundown
Staying true to the general ability format, Zeri features an oppressive set of four abilities. Her passive is the core of her kit and lets her channel her abilities in perfect harmony. Furthermore, she is a constant DPS carry that gets stronger the longer a fight goes on.
Passive – Living Battery
Zeri gains movement speed whenever she receives a shield. She receives shields whenever she damages an enemy shield to absorb its power.
Q – Burst Fire
- Passive: Zeri’s basic attack deals magic damage and stores charges whenever the active part is cast. The energy is stored in her Sparkpack and this charge can be launched to deal damage and slow the enemy down. Zeri’s auto attacks scale with Ability Power and are treated as an ability.
- Active: Zeri shoots a total of seven bullets in a targeted direction that deal damage to the first structure hit. They are treated as basic auto attacks and deal physical damage on hits.
The Cooldown for this ability matches the basic attack speed and the first bullet round will apply on-hit effects.
W – Ultrashock Laser
Zeri launches a pulse that goes forward and slows down any enemy hit. Upon hitting a wall, the pulse will fire a wider long-range laser starting from the point of impact. The resultant laser will carry the same effects as the base variant.
E – Spark Surge
Zeri dashes a short distance in the given direction. Doing so energizes her next 3 casts of Burst Fire that causes them to pierce through enemies. Upon dasing into a wall or a piece of terrain, she will Vault over or grind along with it till she reaches back on the ground.
The cooldown of this ability can be reduced by hitting a champion.
R – Lightning Crash
Zeri discharges a nova of electricity while damaging the nearby enemies in a circular radius. She becomes overcharged for a small duration and gains increased damage, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed.
The Overcharge duration can be refreshed by hitting enemy champions. You will also gain stacks of Movements speed while hitting. Burst’s fire damage also concentrates into a faster triple shot that chains lightning between enemies.
Zeri Skill Order
Since Q is considered as her basic auto attacks, it is vital to max it first out of anything else. With that said, you also need to take care of your E and then W. Make sure to Level up R whenever possible.
In simpler terms, the skill order will go like this:
| Passive – Living Battery | Q – Burst Fire | W – Ultrashock Laser | E – Spark Surge | R – Lightning Crash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |
| 1 | Q | – | – | – |
| 2 | – | – | E | – |
| 3 | – | W | – | – |
| 4 | Q | – | – | – |
| 5 | Q | – | – | – |
| 6 | – | – | – | R |
| 7 | Q | – | – | – |
| 8 | – | – | E | – |
| 9 | Q | – | – | – |
| 10 | – | – | E | – |
| 11 | – | – | – | R |
| 12 | – | – | E | – |
| 13 | – | – | E | – |
| 14 | – | W | – | – |
| 15 | – | W | – | – |
| 16 | – | – | – | R |
| 17 | – | W | – | – |
| 18 | – | W | – | – |
Playing Zeri: Tips and Tricks
New to Zeri? Read the tips mentioned below to get better at her:
- Keep on Moving: Most AD carries are not blessed with this much movement speed. While staying at a single spot is fine, you should practice your Q-click movements to get better at team fights using her.
- Don’t take Solo Fights: We know it might be tempting to dash in the middle of 5 enemies using your E but refrain from doing that as much as possible. Instead, try to maintain your distance as much as possible.
- Use Enemy Shields to Your Advantage: You had a shield? It’s mine now! Zeri’s passive lets her take enemy shields by damaging them. Therefore, it can be extremely useful against clumped-up shielded opponents.
Simply press R and E to make the bullets pierce through each shielded enemy.
Ultimately, you will need to invest time into practicing her before flexing her first time in a ranked match. Her auto-Q can take a little time to get used to. However, she is a real menace, if played to perfection. Therefore, it might even be worth having her as your main.
