Winning Guide to be a Godly Zeus

Introduction

Zeus is a hero that is extremely powerful with more levels. That is why most people who play Zeus will go into the middle lane. When you first start with Zeus he is very squishy and many of the guides don't address his low health and defense appropriately. This guide is to give you an alternative build that lets Zeus be the damage and still live in the middle of a battle with everyone focusing on him by giving Zeus lots of armor and health, and mana regen so that he can keep casting every second.

Pros vs Cons

Pros Incredibly powerful nuker (Anti-)Pushes very well Global presence with Thundergod's Wrath Arc Lightning and Static Field is an effective team fight spell combination. Scales well with items High base Intelligence Allows some vision of invisible units when casting Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath

Cons Very Squishy Early Game No reliable escape mechanism Mana-starved Early Game Slow Base Speed

When do you pick Zeus

Zeus is not a hero I pick right away. He is easily countered and depending on your team can really be quite useless.

If your team picks any heros with global presence or Heros that are dependent on lower enemy Health. Zeus is a great hero to pick.

If the other team picks heros that have high health or certain heros with invisibility he is great.

Avoid picking Zeus if the other team has heros that stun or silence especially if they can get the jump on you. This includes heros that tend to get Orchid Malevolence.

If your team hasn't picked any crowd control support. Please don't pick Zeus.

This is how I roll

Zeus is one of my favorite heros. I have played him many different ways. This build I am giving you lets you play Zeus not only middle but also on the side lanes solo and if you must with another hero. If your team doesn't have another middle lane hero that scales well late game then Zeus should take the middle lane. Zeus should never be played in a tri lane.

To start things off you might notice that I use Arc Lightning and actually put 2 points into this before Lightning Bolt. The reason is Arc Lightning is meant to harass the enemy heros. I use it to last hit when an enemy hero is near. Not only is it fast at getting the last hit but it also will do damage to anything it can jump to. Combined with Static Field this is a major annoyance for the other team. If you are dual laning use it when the other heros come close to the creeps trying to get last hits and to deny. Do not worry about denying their creeps.

Initial

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Cost: 450 gold This allows you to still pick 1 of 3 more items

The initial situational items are dependent on how your team picked their heros and if a support bought Animal Courier or Observer Ward. If the support did buy them already then I would upgrade to the Ring of Basilius right away.

If you are the middle lane hero I recommend buying the Void Stone before Boots of Speed to help you mana regen faster so you can get the last hits with Arc Lightning more often. If you are in the side lanes I really recommend getting Boots of Speed first as Zeus is really slow. If you are dual laning get the Arcane Boots before Void Stone to help your team.

Once you have both Arcane Boots and Void Stone your farm should be really good with Arc Lightning. I really don't recommend ganking with Zeus until you at least get a Point Booster. When you get the Vitality Booster break down the Arcane Boots and get Soul Booster. Lastly upgrade to a Bloodstone.

Bloodstone is the cheese for Zeus. Not only does it help you get great farm by allowing you to constantly cast Arc Lightning but you will always have enough mana for a teamfight now. Every time you cast you will be doing at least 11% damage to their health from Static Field. Lastly if by some chance you die in a teamfight you will heal your team and respawn quickly to rejoin the fight. Buy Tranquil Boots and upgrade to Ring of Basilius if you have not done so. The extra armor, speed, and low-cost is what makes this great. Platemail comes right after. This will help Zeus be a god in teamfights.

Situational Items

Here is where you are going to have to use your skills and assess what you need depending on how teamfights are going.

Shiva's Guard:
You should already have the platemail with my build so building shiva's is nice for the extra damage and slowing effects.

Vladmir's Offering:
You already have Ring of Basilius but I would only upgrade it if you have a melee carry who is not surviving teamfights and no one on your team has it yet.

Refresher Orb:
Really great item for teamfights as it lets you cast your ultimate twice. Downside it is very costly.

Veil of Discord:
Lets team do more magic damage. Adds armor, health regen and cost effective.

Aghanim's Scepter:
Do more damage with your ult and get some more stats.

Boots of Travel:
If your team has taken down a Barracks and tier 3 towers. It could win you the game when it is close.

Linken's Sphere:
I would only get if you find you are getting stunned or silenced.

Final Words

Don't lead the way with Zeus. Stand with your team or slightly behind. Zeus has incredible range with his casts and you don't need to be in the front.

If you are worried that someone is invisible use Lightning Bolt on a creep.

Always keep a Town Portal Scroll if you need to get back to defend. With Arc Lightning you will farm that Town Portal Scroll back on the large mob of creeps.

Have fun