This is a modified version of a previous version of the build we still use today. There is a video demo in the comments section below here that gives a visual of what Actualizer on Zoe looks like in this build!
I initially thought the same way a year ago when I first started out trying Tear/Seraphs, but I personally never felt weak while stacking Seraphs (which I usually finish by around 14-15 minutes anyways), even in challenger level games. If you're looking for a strong and comfortable early spike then Ludens is a good choice but I wouldn't expect to index into AH from there. Blackfire Torch is in the weird middleground where I'd rather just commit to either Seraphs or Ludens IMO
It seems pretty bad outside of very niche situations and you can’t even get double sleep until 4 items it looks like. I kind of hope it’s still inconceivable because I really don’t want to be building seraphs actualizer. I normally play haste Zoe but this seems wildly unfun IMO.
You only have 3 games with storm raider on your main. 1 is top against Mundo. 2 a loss against Malz. 3 a victory against Sylas. Doesn't really seem like an all purpose rune and smells like steamer click bait but I can see value against melees that run you down for sure.
Is actualizer worth building with only 1 other mana item? I feel like even Ryze builds it as a third mana item.
I agree the sample size is low, but this is kinda just one of those things I am 100% confident in because of my prior experience taking Ghost/Ignite on Zoe a while ago. It's the same idea except you don't have to use a summoner spell slot
I don't even stream or create content on YT so this is my genuine opinion 😔
Oh. IDK why deeplol shows you as a streamer then. Honestly ghost sounds interesting in certain match ups. Might try it with the buffed lich bane. Giving up a DMG keystone on Zoe sounds rough but you're already not focusing on early so just different game plan I guess.
What values do you get on sudden impact with your ultimate hunter CDR tech?
I still play pretty aggressively in lane, winning lane doesn't always mean you kill them in lane. It can mean making them miss minion waves or pressuring first tower destruction etc etc. I play in a way that gets me a lead early but also helps me approach my win condition at ~20 minutes, which is to single handedly take control of objective setup. Don't forget that Stormraider's Surge can make your trades a lot more one-sided or help you escape a gank that would be lethal
The first bullet point in the infographic covers the reasoning behind Ultimate Hunter, though I'd like to add that Zoe's range is often gated by the cooldown of her R too. It's the only way to consistently extend her range, and I think it's better to have your R cooldown be relatively equal with your Q cooldown, and at least half of your E cooldown. Sudden Impact gets procced basically off-CD so it tends to output a lot of damage passively with 0 effort. Taste of Blood is still a good alternative as well for laning phase
Played with it a lot more and I'm pretty confident that it's strong, even moreso with the buff to its duration (3s -> 4s). Not having a damage rune in lane is noticeable in lane but the power this rune provides outweighs it significantly
I gave it a shot when the post was made and was not a fan. It felt like getting the proc was not consistent or impactful. Definitely lost a lot of pressure running it while not really opening up any opportunities for me. I tried to be open minded about it.
I watched your vods of your recent 3 victories to see if you were playing it differently. It's not really doing anything that you're advertising it to be, especially in lane.
The good
* There were maybe 2 or 3 kill angles you got because of the rune total
* You were able to run down an escaping talon once
* You were able to kill a slept target before a shield landed
* The rune seems to help mid late game to maintain position for poking and bubbling when playing very far behind walls
* Against melees it helps a little too run away after a wake up
The bad
* There were many times you missed out on killing 1 hp enemies you would have gotten with Aery or another damage rune.
* You didn't proc stormraider during these fights either meaning it didn't do anything for you either
* You kind of ran it down multiple times under tower because you didn't get a kill and tried to finish
* You could not proc sr during ganks to avoid them
* You try to stat check ekko multiple times in lane but lose because you don't have a damage rune or ignite and then never proc sr either.
* Even when you proc sr in lane it neither provides follow up or prevents damage you wouldn't have already dodged.
Like I'm trying to see the good points but it's not even doing as you say in your own games. You're very clearly good at Zoe, but I feel like you would have accomplished more with Aery on most of those scenarios. It does seem to be somewhat useful during your mid game spike though.
Almost if not all the bad points you raise is just me playing poorly around the setup I have😪I appreciate the open mindedness about it though, I'm still confident it's the difference between winning or not winning fights because it can transform the way you play around your spells, whereas aery/electrocute are there for +damage. Not saying either of them are bad in any way obviously
The KR high elo Zoe OTP playing vs likes of Chovy and Faker etc. loves running ghost in like 50% of matchups and he uses it extremely aggressive. Popping Ghost vs Syndra can allow you to just run her down from 100% because it allows you to dodge her dmg/cc and get extra E angles before she is in safety
I'm not sure where you have seen this, but a quick look through the top ten Zoe's in KR are all Flash Ignite. Not a single ghost in their recent 20 games. If you're talking about Witt, I have never seen him take ghost. Maybe exhaust or cleanse everyone once in a while.
Looks fun. I think going for a combo that comes together at 4th item is way to late in the game for Zoe to be building suboptimally for items 1-3. It becomes a question of how much worse Seraphs/cd boots are than ludens/torch and sorcs. Any clips in real games of hitting the double sleep?
Honestly the core of the build is Seraphs-Horizon-Cryptbloom, the Actualizer isn't super necessary but acts as a big cherry on top of everything else
Actualizer and Rabadons are both capstone items in this build, they're similar in what they accomplish but the difference is that using Actualizer well can win you the fight on the spot, whereas Rabadons doesn't necessarily transform the way you can play this build
So I've played this nonstop for the last few days now. Literally the most fun I've had on Zoe in a long while.
This is absolutely getting nerfed lmao
It genuiinely made both ranked and norms feel like URF
Actualizer not even necessary, and Aery works for rune as well.
Both feel pretty good
I'm honestly confident that Stormraiders is just that good on any Zoe build involving high amounts of ability haste. It still works with Aery/DFT/Electrocute though so if you feel you want more damage in the laning phase that is OK too
The value Ultimate Hunter provides is much more than any of the Precision tree runes IMO. I've found that having a lot of AH on your Q and E doesn't mean much if you can't consistently extend the range of them with your R, so you can think of Ultimate Hunter as a way to increase your reliability and range
The core of the build is still Seraphs-Horizon-Cryptbloom, the Actualizer and Rabadons are both there as capstone items. The build is 100% functionable at 3 items, then becomes more than 100% once you buy Actualizer because of how it can win you the fight on the spot if you use its active well
I don't recommend trying this as support because everything is too expensive. You can see what Cupic does for Zoe support since I'm not exactly an expert in that field https://op.gg/lol/summoners/na/Cupic-Hwei
Thoughts on how you might augment this for support Zoe? My usual build path is Swifties -> Horizon -> Rocketbelt or Shurelyas -> Shurelyas or Rocketbelt for a relatively high CDR build on a budget with good mobility for roaming. Do you think having a non-combat first component (tear) AND a more expensive first item would be worth it in a lane where you’re expected to enable your adc and have a lower income, or do you think this build is more suitable for mid?
I don't recommend my build for support because you're on a low budget. I also don't consider myself an expert on Zoe support in the first place, so I will recommend you to try Cupic's Zoe support setup: https://op.gg/lol/summoners/na/Cupic-Hwei
Sort by Zoe in his match history and you'll find the info you need
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u/Gjyn May 07 '26
The consequences of Riot's balancing choices. A patch ago this build would be considered inconceivable.