Combos · Mid

Zed combos

the Master of Shadows

3 Zed combos explained key by key: in which order to cast the abilities, when to use them and what each step does. The main combo is W › Q › AA. Further down: every ability's cooldown, cost and range, and the skill max order measured over ranked games.

Zed combos

Harassment

W › Q › AA AA

When: An enemy is within shuriken range.

Living Shadow sends the shadow forward, Razor Shuriken is thrown by you and your shadow, and your attacks use the bonus from your passive against low-health targets.

The assassination burst

R › W › E › Q › AA AA

When: A carry is within range of the ultimate.

Death Mark makes you untargetable and teleports you; strike with your shadows and abilities. After 3 seconds the mark explodes and deals a percentage of all the damage you dealt during the mark.

The escape

W › W

When: You need to get away.

Reactivating Living Shadow swaps your position with the shadow: place it far away first, then swap.

Common mistakes

• Attacking with the ultimate without finishing within 3 seconds: the mark explodes and its explosion depends on the damage you dealt.
• Spending all your energy without landing anything: your passive only refunds it if the ability hits.
• Using Living Shadow without planning the position swap.

Cooldowns, costs and ranges

A combo only comes back once its abilities are off cooldown: these values (rank 1 to max rank, in seconds) tell how long to wait between two combos. Source: Data Dragon 16.19.1.

Ability	Cooldown (s)	Cost	Range
Q · Razor Shuriken	6	75/70/65/60/55 Energy	900
W · Living Shadow	20/19/18/17/16	40/35/30/25/20 Energy	650
E · Shadow Slash	5/4.5/4/3.5/3	40 Energy	290
R · Death Mark	120/110/100	—	625

Official ability descriptions

PassiveContempt for the Weak

Zed's basic attacks against low health targets deals bonus Magic Damage. This effect can only occur once every few seconds against the same enemy champion.

QRazor Shuriken

Zed and his shadows throw their shurikens.

Each shuriken deals damage to every enemy hit.

WLiving Shadow

Passive: Zed gains energy whenever he and his shadows strike an enemy with the same ability. Energy can only be gained once per cast ability.

Active: Zed's shadow dashes forward, remaining in place for a few seconds. Reactivating Living Shadow will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

EShadow Slash

Zed and his Shadows slash, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Enemies hit by a Shadow's slash are slowed.

RDeath Mark

Zed becomes untargetable and dashes to an enemy champion, marking them. After 3 seconds the mark triggers, repeating a portion of all the damage Zed dealt to the target while they were marked.

Skill order

Max order: Q > E > W54.8% · 135 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W		●												●	●
E			●					●		●	●		●
R						●						●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 150 games).

Riot's official tips for playing Zed

• Saving energy and spell cooldowns until you use your ultimate will maximize Death Mark's damage.
• Quickly double tapping Living Shadow will teleport Zed to his shadow immediately for rapid escapes.
• Placing a Living Shadow before using Death Mark can give Zed a safe escape from combat.

How to play around Zed's combos

• Zed receives bonus effect from Attack Damage items he purchases, so Armor is super effective against him.
• After Zed uses his Living Shadow, he is at his most vulnerable as his damage, slow, and mobility are both dependent upon it.
• Zed's Shadow Slash can only slow you if his shadow hits you with it.

Frequently asked questions

Build, runes and counters: full Zed guide · every champion's combos · tier list