League of Legends: Zeri Ability Guide

Zeri, Riot’s 158th champion in League of Legends, will be released with patch 12.2 on January 19. As players prepare to master or deal with this champion, it may prove useful to understand her complex abilities. Like most new champions in League of Legends, Zeri will likely be very strong when released, allowing players to capitalize on that power to climb the ranked ladder. Also known as The Spark of Zaun, Zeri is classified as a marksman, but it is still unclear in which lane she will add the most value.

Marksmen in League of Legends are most often ranged characters with incredible damage potential that are more dependent on items than on levels and abilities. For this reason, the meta for marksmen has almost always been to go to the bottom lane with a supporting character. A good support character will have a strong ability kit and will not be very reliant on gold, since it is the marksman’s goal in League of Legends to farm as much CS as they can to buy the items they need to eventually carry the game. The reason this duo goes bottom and not top is most likely due to the lane’s proximity to the dragon, a low-level map priority.

As a marksman, Zeri will most likely benefit from being played in the bottom lane alongside a support champion who can help her through the early game and provide shields, which synergize well with her kit. That being said, Zeri’s abilities also make her a decent solo-laner and a powerful roamer, so players shouldn’t be too surprised to find her in the mid-lane, similar to other League of Legends marksmen such as Jhin or Corki. In either case, it seems clear by Zeri’s ability kit that she will most likely shine during team fights, as most of her abilities are designed to deal high amounts of damage to multiple targets.

How Zeri’s Abilities Work in League of Legends

Zeri’s passive will give her the ability to shield herself for 60% of the damage she deals to enemy shields. This shield lasts for three seconds and will allow her to counter enemies that rely on absorbs either with their abilities or through popular items such as Immortal Shieldbow. Whenever Zeri gains a shield, either through this passive or from some other source, she will also gain 10% movement speed.

Q – Burst Fire

Burst Fire sets Zeri apart from any other champions in League of Legends, as it significantly changes the way auto attacks usually function. The passive portion of this ability gives Zeri a bar that can be charged by moving or casting Burst Fire. When the bar is full, Zeri’s next auto attack will inflict extra damage and slow the target while consuming all the charge. This passive makes Zeri’s auto-attacks deal magic damage and function as an ability, so it cannot crit or apply on-hit effects but will proc items such as Luden’s Echo.

The active part of Burst Fire will fire a burst of seven rounds in a medium-ranged straight line that will deal physical damage to the first enemy hit, similar to Ezreal’s Mystic Shot. This ability is essentially a castable version of standard basic attacks and can therefore crit and apply on-hit effects, but only once per target. It can also hit towers, structures, and wards. The cooldown of Burst Fire will scale down with attack speed and convert 50% of excess attack speed beyond 1.5 attacks per second into attack damage. This ability fires seven projectiles, so if used to kill a low-health enemy, part of the burst will likely hit anything behind it.

W – Ultrashock Laser

Ultrashock Laser is similar to League of Legends‘ Jinx’s Zap! ability. It fires a medium-ranged laser in a straight line that will damage and slow the first enemy hit. If the laser hits terrain, it will expand into a long-range ability with a wider area that will damage and slow all enemies hit. This expanded area is created at the point of impact between the laser and terrain, so the initial distance between Zeri and a wall will not affect it. Building attack speed on Zeri will lower the cast time of Ultrashock Laser, allowing players to more easily weave it between her other abilities.

E – Spark Surge

Zeri’s Spark Surge is one of her longer cooldowns and will allow her to dash a short distance while gaining a buff that causes her next three abilities to pierce targets. The pierce will deal 80% damage and can critically strike, but it can’t apply on-hit effects. Hitting an enemy League of Legends champion with an attack or an ability will reduce Spark Surge’s cooldown by 1.5 seconds. Spark Surge can also be used on terrain to vault over it, similar to Bard’s Magical Journey.

R – Lightning Crash

Zeri’s ultimate is a medium-sized area of effect around her that deals magic damage and gives her 6% movement speed for each enemy champion she hits. This effect is called Overcharged and will last six seconds, but hitting enemy champions with attacks or abilities will extend the duration by two seconds and provide 2% more movement speed per hit. While Overcharged, Zeri will also gain 30% attack speed and on-hit magic damage, and her Burst Fire attack will fire three shots instead of seven, all of which will deal bonus damage to nearby enemies.

Some good support choices for Zeri will probably include characters who can get more value out of her passive by shielding her, such as Lulu, Rakan, and Lux. Lulu is versatile support in League of Legends who is very good at keeping others alive, and she shines during team fights, in which Zeri is likely to be most effective. Rakan offers very mobile support and would be a good pick because he is one of the few that will most likely be able to keep up with the movement speed Zeri is expected to gain. Finally, Lux is a good mage support with a very high burst that synergizes well with Zeri due to Prismatic Barrier, which can shield her twice with just one cast.

Regarding item choices in League of Legends, Zeri can get a lot of value out of Trinity Force, as her Burst Fire ability will constantly be used and has no mana cost. Alternatively, because her kit also provides attack speed, she can make good use of Kraken Slayer and focus on a more crit-oriented build. Lastly, Immortal Shieldblow is a good option when facing enemies with a lot of burst damage, as it will help Zeri survive longer in team fights so she can deal more damage.

League of Legends is available on PC.

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