Riot August advises players to avoid items like the Collector and the Lord Dominik’s Regards on Zeri, despite the fact that she is an ADC
If you focus on playing an ADC, you should be familiar with the armor penetration indications and the item that gives them. This is an effective stat for ADC champions to destroy opponents, especially near the conclusion of a fight when all champions have a similar amount of armor due to leveling. Even armor-piercing items like Lord Dominik’s Regards have such a high-power level that many players acquire it as soon as possible.
This justification, however, did not hold true for the recent Marksman Zeri. League’s character designer, Riot August, even advised players to avoid armor-piercing and lethality items on his Twitter. The reason for this is that, according to Zeri’s skillset, 40% of her damage dealt will be converted to AP damage.
With the introduction of Zeri, players can see from her gameplay that this champion can deal hyper damage. The amount of damage increased by the ultimate is AP, which is added to the damage done by her basic attack.
To be sure, her gameplay is somewhat similar to that of a type of hyper-damage ADC (much like Kai’sa) but with strong mobility and a focus on assaults for damage. As a result, armor-piercing and lethality items aren’t necessary for Zeri.
As a result, it’s probable that Zeri will have a completely different build from other ADC once players have figured it out. After her debut, she will quite likely become another version of Corki or Kai’sa, who can both build AP and AD.