The League of Legends community has recently found itself embroiled in a discussion surrounding the state of assassins, with Zed taking center stage by being overpowered.
Zed’s current state in League of Legends
A Reddit thread that surfaced on October 2nd boldly asserted that Zed is the primary issue within the game. The argument pivots on Zed’s exceptional safety, formidable scaling, and a skill ceiling that contributes to his pick rate compared to other assassins. The claim is that Zed, unlike other assassins, can navigate the laning phase with a flexibility playstyle to mages rather than the traditional assassin playstyle.
Zed’s ban rates in ranked underscore the community’s concern, with bans ranging from 30% in the Master tier to a staggering 36% in the Bronze tier.
This discussion builds upon previous threads from the last week that ignited passionate debates within the community. The discourse initiated on September 29th with a thread delving into the potency of Zed when adopting a Haste build.
Phroxzon, the lead gameplay designer at Riot Games, responded on October 2nd, shedding light on the developer’s philosophy regarding assassin balance. However, the response did not explicitly address Zed’s current state. The community has been vocal in their plea for Riot Games to address the imbalance, either through nerfs or a more nuanced distribution of power across the game phases.
In response to the ongoing dialogue, a forthcoming change is slated for Zed in Patch 13.20, anticipated for release on October 12th. The alteration involves an increase in the cooldown of Zed’s W ability, shifting it from 20-14 seconds to 20-17 seconds.
This adjustment is a direct response to concerns about the ability being too easily spammed. While this change has been welcomed by the community, lingering doubts persist as to whether it will effectively rein in Zed’s dominance in the meta. The League of Legends community remains eager to witness how these changes will influence the dynamic of the game and the perceived prowess of the Master of Shadows.