LoL Zoe Guide for New and Returning Players

Range plays a big part in any kind of MOBA game. These types of characters are picked by players or teams to kite out faster or more powerful melee heroes. When it comes to games such as Dota 2 and LoL, having the ability to kite out bruisers is a step towards victory. One of these ranged heroes from LoL is Zoe. In this guide, you’ll learn how to play Zoe and her ideal item build when you play LoL.

Who Is Zoe in League of Legends?

Unlike other Aspects, Zoe’s appointment wasn’t traditional. She didn’t sacrifice herself for something noble. She didn’t even climb Mount Targon. Nor did she win against odds uncounted. She was, instead, a mere girl that the Twilight Aspect chose at random.

Zoe’s teachers praise her for being an incredibly imaginative child, full of wonder and excitement. Sadly, they also don’t like her because of her willfulness and distracted nature. She’s very mischievous and constantly thought of her lessons as boring, walking out of her studies near constantly.

It observed her, even as she skipped out of studies to roam around. Watched as she mocked the cries of rage from priest scholars that chase her. That is until she was finally cornered in a sheer cliff. Before the scholars could seize her, the Aspect created six items in front of Zoe. Five of these items can help her escape, or mayhaps lighten the situation, like a bag of coins, a sword, or a silk rope. The last item, however, was a measly toy ball, useless, and only fit for play.

Zoe took that over everything else and threw it in a building, singing with glee as it ricochets wildly.

Delighted by her exuberance, the aspect created a portal in the apex of Mount Targon and gave her an offer: See the universe, learn what lies beyond, or stay. Zoe chose the former, diving back into the portal while sticking her tongue out on her dumbfounded teachers as she vanished.

Zoe is unconcerned with time, she’s beyond it now as she’s fused with the Aspect of Twilight. She can go wherever she wills and meet whoever she wants. Her unpredictability gives people pause, and no one knows what she’ll do next, least of all her.

Zoe’s Abilities in LoL

More Sparkles!

This is Zoe’s innate passive ability. When she casts any of her spells, her Spell Thief missile or Attack that’s done within 5 seconds turns into a non-projectile. It might be a ranged attack, but it won’t be affected by things like Yasuo’s Wind Wall or Braum’s Unbreakable. This attack also deals additional magic damage based on Zoe’s level, plus 20% of her current Ability Power.

Notes:

Based on Zoe’s Level, More Sparkles! can deal 16 to 130 base magic damage.
An example calculation of More Sparkles!’s damage would be like this:
Zoe is Level 18, which means she deals a base of 130 damage using More Sparkles! She also has around 400 Ability Power thanks to items. This means she gets an additional 80 damage from her Ability Power as 20% of 400 is 80. In total, she deals 210 bonus damage using More Sparkles!

Paddle Star!

Paddle Star! is an active ability that can be recast to do a different effect. First, Zoe shoots a star that detonates when it hits an enemy. This deals damage based on Zoe’s level plus 60% of her current Ability Power. In addition, the farther the star travels, the more damage it deals, from 0% to 150%.

If it doesn’t hit an enemy, the star lingers at the maximum range of the spell for 1 second. After .25 seconds have passed, Zoe can recast Paddle Star! again. This allows her to redirect the star to another target area. This resets its distance-based damage multiplier and can travel beyond 800 units from Zoe.

Notes:

Zoe can use Paddle Star!’s recast even when affected by Crowd Control.
The length of Paddle Star!’s travel distance depends on where Zoe is. Usually, the star travels 800 units away from Zoe. However, this can be extended through the creative use of Teleportation, and Portal Jump.
Based on Zoe’s level, Paddle Star! can deal 7 to 50 Magic Damage. With each level on Paddle Star, it gains +05/+80/+110/+140/+170 damage. The damage can also be amplified by 60% of Zoe’s current Ability Power. In addition, depending on how far the star travels, the total damage of the ability is increased by 0%/25%/50%/75%/100%/125%/150%.

Spell Thief

Spell Thief has 2 Passive components and 1 Active component.

Passive 1: When enemy Champions use Summoner Spells or any Item ability, they drop a Spell Shard of said Spell/Ability. This Spell Shard stays for 40 seconds and gives Sight in a 100-unit radius. Some minions spawn with random Spell Shards that drop when they’re killed by Zoe. In that case, these Spell Shards remain for 20 Seconds.

Active: When Zoe gets one of these Spell Shards, she gains the ability to use Spell Thief. This allows Zoe to use the Spell/Ability inside the Spell Shard. This ability can be used within 60 seconds and can be replaced by Zoe moving to another Spell Shard.

Passive 2 – Wheeeee: When Zoe uses Spell Thief or any of her Summoner Spells, she gets extra movement speed for 2 to 3 seconds. This additional movement speed depends on Skill Level. In addition, she summons 3 bubbles that orbit around her for 10 seconds.

She then throws these bubbles towards any enemy that’s not affected by the Sleep debuff. She prioritizes the enemy that she’s currently attacking and deals 25/35/45/55/65 Magic Damage plus an additional 13.3% of her Ability Power per orb.

Notes:

An example calculation of Wheeeee’s damage would be like this:
Zoe is Level 18, which means she deals 65 base Magic Damage using Wheeeee. Like previous examples, Zoe has 400 Ability Power. This means she gets 53.2 extra Magic Damage as 13.3% of 400 is 53.2. Thus, she deals 118.2 damage per orb for a total of 354.6 damage.

Sleepy Trouble Bubble

Zoe kicks a bubble in a direction of the player’s choice. This bubble then explodes when it hits an enemy, damaging them, making them drowsy, slowing them, and then putting them to sleep. Either that, or it explodes after it reaches maximum range and bounces for 1 second. The explosion will then create a 5-second trap that immediately arms itself. When an enemy hits the trap, they’ll be hit by the effects of the ability as if they’ve been hit initially.

While asleep, a hit from any enemy attack or ability will immediately wake them up and deal bonus true damage.

Notes:

Bubble Damage is 60/100/140/180/220 depending on level plus 40% of Zoe’s Ability Power. The slow when units are drowsy is 10%/15%/20%/25%/30% depending on Zoe’s level. The bonus True Damage dealt by attacking the sleeping enemy is 120/200/280/360/440 plus 80% of Zoe’s Ability Power.
An example calculation of Sleepy Trouble Bubble’s damage would be like this:
Zoe is Level 18, which means she deals 220 base Magic Damage using Sleepy Trouble Bubble. She also deals 440 True Damage when the sleeping enemy is attacked. Like previous examples, Zoe has 400 Ability Power. This means she gets 160 extra Magic Damage on the Bubble as 40% of 400 is 160. In addition, she also deals an extra 320 True Damage when the Sleeping enemy is hit as 80% of 400 is 320.
In total, this means she can deal a maximum of 1140 damage from Sleepy Trouble Bubble without Damage Mitigation.

Portal Jump

Zoe jumps inside a portal and reappears 575 units away from her in a target direction. She’ll stay there for .75 seconds before going back to where she cast Portal Jump.

This is Zoe’s greatest tool in utilizing her abilities, as it allows her to zone around enemy attacks and abilities. It’s also used to give Zoe enough range to slingshot her Paddle Star! ability, as well as confusing enemies on her general location.

Overall, it’s one of the main things that a Zoe player needs to master to do well with her. However, once that happens, she can do miracles.

Suggested Rune Builds for Zoe in LoL

Zoe’s usually built with a focus on Domination with a few runes from Inspiration. Here are the runes in question:

Domination

Electrocute – When Zoe hits a Champion with 3 attacks or abilities, within 3 seconds, she deals extra adaptive damage. The ability has a 25 to 20-second cooldown.
Taste of Blood – When Zoe damages an enemy Champion, she’s healed by a set amount. This ability has a 20-second cooldown.
Eyeball Collection – Every time Zoe takes down an enemy Champion, she gets an additional 2 Ability Power as she collects their eyeballs. Zoe can collect a maximum of 10 eyeballs, giving her 20 Ability Power. Once she maxes out though, she then gains an additional 10 Ability Power.
Ravenous Hunter – Gives Zoe 1.5% Omnivamp every time she takes down an enemy Champion. This only works once per Champion, meaning the maximum amount of Omnivamp that Zoe can get is 7.5%.
As an addendum, Omnivamp is a stat that heals Champions based on a percentage of Physical, Magical, or True damage dealt.

Inspiration

Biscuit Delivery – Every 2, 4, and 6 minutes, Zoe gets a Total Biscuit of Everlasting Will. Eating said Biscuit regenerates 50 Mana in addition to increasing Zoe’s Mana pool permanently by the same amount. She can also benefit from the mana increase when she sells the Biscuit for 5 Gold.
Note: If there’s no available slot in Zoe’s inventory, she gets the Biscuit when there’s one available.
Time Warp Tonic – Zoe using Biscuits or Potions immediately restores 50% of HP and MP that they’re supposed to restore. This has the drawback of reducing the HP/MP regen of the Potion or Biscuit by 50% of the item’s regular duration. In addition, she also gains an extra 50% Movement Speed increase when affected by a Potion/Biscuit.

Suggested Item Build for Zoe in LoL

Zoe art — Photo from League of Legends’ Twitter page

Start of Game

Corrupting Potion – Gives Zoe extra HP and MP regen alongside the Biscuits while also giving her extra damage for a few seconds.
Stealth Ward – A great trinket to have for Mid Champions like Zoe as it allows her to see through the bushes. Mid has 2 bushes that flank the center of the map, which is the prime place for gankers to camp to kill her. Thus, having wards there for 2 minutes helps in Zoe’s chances.

Early Game

Boots – A pretty simple addition to Zoe’s early game purchases. It gives her movement speed and is part of the items needed to build Sorcerer’s Shoes.
Lost Chapter – Gives Zoe additional ability power and MP. In addition, it’s one of the items that create Luden’s Tempest, one of Zoe’s core items.

Mid to Late Game

Sorcerer’s Shoes – Aside from giving movement speed, its main use is the extra Magic Penetration that it gives to Zoe. This allows her spells to deal even more damage as it goes through Magic Resistance.
Horizon Focus – Gives Zoe a whopping 115 Ability Power as well as Hypershot. Hypershot is a passive item ability that increases the damage enemy champions take when attacked by Zoe by 10% for 6 seconds. To get this, Zoe needs to hit an enemy champion with a non-targeted ability (That means Zoe’s Paddle Star! or Sleepy Trouble Bubble) beyond 700 units of range.
Luden’s Tempest – Gives Magic Penetration, more Ability Power, MP, and some Ability Haste passively. In addition to this, it also gives Echo, which deals even more damage to the enemy hit by Zoe’s spells. The item will also hit 3 additional enemies around the one that was hit by Zoe’s spells, damaging them, while also slowing down everyone hit by Echo’s effect.
Rabadon’s Deathcap – Provides Zoe with additional Ability Power. This item also gives more Ability Power based on how much Ability Power she’ll have in general.
Zhonya’s Hourglass – Allows Zoe the ability to freeze herself in time, making her invulnerable to attacks. It also gives some Ability Power and Armor.
Void Staff – Gives Zoe additional Magic Penetration and Ability Power.

Situational Items

Mejai’s Soulstealer – Grants a base 20 Ability Power and 100 HP as well as the Glory and Dread Passives.
- Glory: Champion kills and assists give Glory stacks, 4 stacks for kills, 2 for assists for a maximum of 25. Dying loses 10 stacks.
- Dread: Gives 5 Ability Power for every Glory stack a champion has. At max stacks, this gives the user a whopping 125 Ability Power for a total of 145 Ability Power when combined with the base 20 the item gives.
Morellonomicon – Gives Health, Ability Power, and the Grievous Wounds Passive which reduces HP Regen effects.
Banshee’s Veil – Gives 80 Ability Power, additional Magic Resist, and Ability Haste. It also gives Zoe a Spell Shield that blocks enemy spells every 40 seconds.
Archangel’s Staff – Gives Zoe extra MP and Ability Power as well as the Mana Charge unique passive.
- Mana Charge: Gives the user a Charge every 8 seconds with a maximum of 4 Charges at a time. Affecting allies or enemies with spells takes out a Charge and gives Zoe 3 bonus MP. This increases to 6 MP when she hits an enemy Champion. Zoe can gain a maximum of 360 MP from this. When that happens, the item is transformed into Seraph’s Embrace that has 2 unique Passives.
- Awe: Zoe’s Ability Power is increased based on how much Bonus MP she has.
- Empyrean: Gives Zoe additional MP that increases by 2.5% per 100 Ability Power. The base increase is 5%.
Cosmic Drive – Gives Ability Power, HP, and Ability Haste as well as the Spelldance Passive.
Spelldance: Gives additional Move Speed and Ability Haste if Zoe has at least 160 Ability Power.

When to Pick Zoe and How to Play Her in LoL

Zoe is one of the Champions in LoL that requires a lot of mechanical skill to play. Her Paddle Star! is a skill shot that requires a lot of knowledge in positioning and timing. Combined with her Ultimate, she can be an annoyance to enemies, allowing her to pick them off one by one.