The small Yordles have always been looked upon as creatures of intrigue, danger, and being so gosh darn annoying! Joining the ranks of League of Legends lovable half-pints is Ziggs, the Hexplosive Expert. He enters the battle with bombs strapped to any part of his body that he could find space, and flings them non-stop to deal crazy damage to any unlucky enough to be in his range. Thanks to his ultimate, Ziggs’ range is considerable and one must always practice caution when there is a Ziggs on the enemy team. How does this maniacal little ball of destruction do it? Let’s take a look.
Abilities:
Short Fuse (Passive):
Ziggs’ auto attack deals additional magic damage. Cooldown every 12 seconds and 4 seconds is reduced if an ability is used.
Bouncing Bomb (Q):
Ziggs tosses out a large bomb that bounces in a straight line, exploding on enemy contact or until it stops moving.
Satchel Charge (W):
A bag of bombs will land where Ziggs chooses, and when explodes, will bump enemies away from its center, as well as Ziggs himself (dealing no damage to him). Detonation can be triggered by reactivating ability.
Hexplosive Minefield (E):
Another skill shot AOE where many small bombs are scattered and any that walk on them take damage and a slow that builds as they walk over multiple bombs.
Mega Inferno Bomb (R):
A crazy powerful targeted explosion with a devastating range; Its landing zone will give a brief warning to any bystanders who happen to be inside.
Summoner’s Rift Overview
At a glance, Ziggs makes sense. He is an AP mage caster who tosses bombs to do damage. At his core though, he is much more than a typical caster. The ability to strategically align all of his abilities makes him a champion that specializes in tactical warfare. Cutting off entrances to chasing or fleeing foes, using satchel charge to pop himself over short walls, and effective lane zoning are just a few examples of the tricks his play style has to offer.
Ziggs works in mid lane against a good number of champions as his harass and poke damage are among the highest (granted you can land his abilities). His sustain is not the greatest, and grabbing spell vamp may be tempting, but the AOE penalty doesn’t really pay off as an early game item. Ziggs also has the luxury of taking top lane, and can handle his own against even most melee champs due to his Satchel Charge and Hexplosive Minefield giving him escapes plus surprise damage outs.
Unfortunately, Ziggs is a very difficult champion due to all of his abilities being skill shots. He shines early game to mid game, but once you start facing late game teams, they should have Magic Resist by then, and your damage will not be as stellar as one would like, but you can still give your team much needed utility from tactical ability use.
Dominion Overview
Ziggs is a blast in Dominion, all puns intended. He makes for a great team asset in those early fights to establish top lanes, and can defend points considerably well. Most foes will want to rush him, but a quick reflexed Ziggs will always escape, and leave the enemy champions dazed and at half health (or dead). Building slightly defensive in Dominion is advised, because of Zigg’s initially squishy nature, but stacking that AP will definitely bring on the hurt.
In this mode, Ziggs’ kit really comes to light, as he has many options out the gate, and with an ultimate that can reach halfway across the map, he can be a force to be reckoned with. I recommend Ziggs to any Dominion player that wants to unleash devastation from afar and really make an visible impact in the game’s direction.
Summary
With the slew of AP champions out there to choose from, what does Ziggs have to offer? For one, an extremely fun gameplay experience that experts of the skill shot will undoubtedly love. For two, he brings a fresh bucket of new strategies and tactics that give you more variety in your everyday LoL battles. He does have his weaknesses such as being pretty squishy and his damage tapers off after a certain point in the game, but overall, I have had tons of fun personally, dealing tons of damage, with this megaton sized champion. Well, at heart at least.
Tips and Tricks:
1. I cannot stress enough how important it is to practice skill shots if you want to be an expert Ziggs player. Placement is key, as well as trial and error. Learn from every mistake, and if you need to, don’t be afraid to play bot or custom games to really hone those tricky bouncing bombs.
2. One thing to note is the longer distance that you cast Mega Inferno Bomb, the longer amount of time the enemy has to react to avoid its damage. Try to cast it from a somewhat close range to cut down the timer, or cast if you are SURE your team has your targets locked in place for a while.
3. Simply placing down a Satchel Charge or a Hexplosive Minefield can be enough to ward off danger. Ziggs is hard to gank because of the nature of these abilities, as they even grant him sight in bushes. Use them to facecheck brush at all times.
4. While Ziggs can be a One-Yordle-Army, he really benefits from allies with good Crowd Control effects. Anyone with stuns or slows can be pretty much instant KO’d by Ziggs. Make an effort to coordinate with your team, and watch your enemies crumble.
5. Ziggs is a fantastic farmer, as his passive makes last hitting easy peasy, and later on a single bouncing bomb / minefield combo can take out whole creep waves. If you can’t farm early game, grab blue buff and start killing any creatures you can. You would be surprised how fast you can clear a jungle or push a lane.
Comments