PROS

CONS

STEP ONE: SKILLS

STEP 2: ITEMS AND ACTIVES

STEP 3: LANING

TIPS AND TRICKS

Hello there, I am Scatterbug! As a Zhong Kui main, I would like to tell you how to play Zhong Kui, particularly in the solo lane.So mostly standard stuff until you see that I level my Exorcism 3 times before starting to level my Expose Evil. Why is this? Because when leveled 3 times, your Exorcism is enough to clear the smaller creeps with a card on them, so with that, you start leveling your Expose Evil up to get more poke damage onto your opponent, letting you be more aggressive early and opening the door for more kills early on, which are huge for the fat man. Then I go and level my ult whenever I can, before finishing up Exorcism. The rest is standard, leveling your Book of Demons and your Recall Demons whenever you can.Now there are plenty of variants of building Zhong Kui, since there are plenty of viable items on him, so making a choice on only 6 items can be a bit difficult. So what I am going to do is list the vital items, before listing off the items you can build and when to choose them.These three items are required on any(or most) Zhong Kui builds, and the fact that people don't get these items on Zhong is baffling. Warlocks Sash is just amazing on the fat man because A.) It's in general a good item, B.) His passive. Zhong Kui's Demon Bag gives him up to 40 protections, so combine that with I believe 600 HP(my math may be off), and you got a super tanky mage who also gets a lot of damage. Shoes in general are really needed on any God, and Shoes of the Magi are the best for Zhong Kui, as early pen helps a lot when applying your dot. And Spear of the Magus is just a perfect item on Zhong Kui, since two of his abilities deal damage over time, Expose Evil and Recall Demons. This allows you to have more burst damage, as well as help your magical teammates in teamfights, and give you some more pen.The choice between these two as your starter items is really up to preference. Vampiric Shroud + Uncommon Sash is generally the better choice, as it gives more sustain, as well as 10 more power. However Golden Sash can be bought if you really want to start stacking early.You could also build Tiny Trinket over Uncommon Sash as your second item, but I only really do this when faced with the following gods in lane: Aphrodite, Chaac, Chang'e, Hel, and Ra, simply because of Divine Ruin stacking well with Expose Evil. However you would want to get Shoes of the Magi and then Warlocks Sash before you get Divine. Same applies to Lost Artifact, Chornos Pendant is a nice item to buy on most any mage, and is the usual start for most mages.Since Warlocks, Shoes, and Spear are usually the first 3 items you get, we will go into mid-late game items.Gem of Isolation stacks well with Zhong Kui, thanks to his dot and ult, slowing everyone in teamfights, as well as giving you 75 power, and additional health and mana. Book of Thoth can be used if you want to be greedy and double stack, giving you a solid amount of power, as well as plenty of mana, and since your health items also give mana, you gain additional power. Ethereal Staff can also be used to take advantage of the fact you are going to be in the center of teamfights and take a lot of damage, so you get more tanky and gain more power with more health you build. Chornos Pendant is also a decent pick-up for Zhong, giving you a lot of flat power, as well as significant cooldown and MP5. Divine Ruin is a pretty underrated item on Zhong, letting you take on healers such as Aphro and Hel easier, though should really be bought if the opposing team has a healer. Hide of the Urchin finally stacks well with Zhong Kui, as he should be getting a lot of assists and kills, plus gives him even more protections along with his Demon Bag stacks.Rod of Tahuti is your standard late-game item, giving you tons of power and is pretty expensive, so you can really afford to get it only late, And Ethereal can also be bought late-game if you decide to get an early or mid-game defensive item, or another offensive option.Hide of the Urchin, as mentioned before, is a very solid option if your team plans on fighting a lot. As is Mail of Renewal, because Zhong is going to be in teamfights a lot, so he should be getting lots of assists and kills, so combined with Renewal's passive, the two are a solid combo. Stone of Gaia can be used if their mage gets a bit out of hand. Mystical Mail has been added since it combos well with Expose Evil, DPSing very well and being tricky for physical gods to break through. Void Stone is nice to help your magical gods in teamfights, lowering their magical defense, while giving you some, as well as pen and power. Spirit Robe is also a neat item on ZK, giving you some more overall protections and CD, as well as making you even more tanky when CC'd, helping a ton in teamfights.Beads should be very obvious, but with a god like Zhong Kui, having a way of escaping from CC is very much appreciated. Shield of the Underworld is just lovely to pop while ulting in a teamfight, since you are going to be taking lots of damage, returning the damage along with your ult can be the key factor in winning a fight or not. Greater Sprint helps Zhong Kui's mobility a bit, while letting him catch up to others while ulting. Aegis Pendant can actually activate while you are ulting, so you can try and lure out your opponents' damage while ulting in a teamfight, only to be immune to it. And Shielded Teleport is nice to return to lane quickly, while mid-late can be used to gank and get to teamfights.Zhong Kui's early game is when he is at his worst, as his skills are low powered, he is pretty mana hungry, and if caught out, can ruin him for the rest of the game. So with that in mind, make sure you are playing safe and not to be over aggressive. Don't chase kills under tower or into the opposing team's jungle unless you have it warded and/or a teammate is with you. Wards are extremely important as well, as Zhong Kui can be ganked pretty easily early on by gods like Serqet, Thor, and Bastet, so getting vision in the jungle is vital in order to not be ganked. And of course, FARM. Zhong Kui needs farm in order to be relevant at any point in the game, his passive requires farm, one of his key items requires farm, and the amount of gold and EXP Zhong needs in order to start getting online is pretty big, so you will need to farm to get that.This is arguably where Zhong Kui is at his most potent, but it could very well be a tie. Usually when you get your Warlocks and your Boots and maybe even your Spear, you start to get pretty powerful, and this is where you can start to play less passively and much more aggressively. Start and try to engage fights with your solo-laner(if they are even or behind with you), as to gain a lead on them in the mid-game leads to much more freedom in lane to let you gank mid-lane and secure mid-camps and even GFs. If the opposing god has a dash or a jump, try and bait that out before engaging and ulting, as with your other skills, squishy enemies in lane can usually not be able to handle all the damage you deal. And of course, mid-game is usually where you should start to rotate and gank mid lane, be it for mid-camps or towers or just because the enemy mid-laner is out of position and your jungler is busy. Make sure you have out-pushed the solo-lane however, as ganking when the minions are fighting can result in the opposing solo-laner taking objectives ore stealing buffs. The most important part of Smite, make sure you try and take towers and even Gold Furies when you rotate mid, as the gold and EXP they give are very appreciated, as well as letting you be more aggressive and lead to stolen buffs. And finally, if you didn't get it the first time,Just because you got stronger doesn't mean you stop the farm, it is still very important and needed towards being successful with Zhong.Again, this could be argued for Zhong's best time in the game, as it is the most teamfight heavy, where Zhong can dominate. Firstly you should your mid game items and even your late game items, depending on how long the game is. Once mid-game is over, you shouldn't be in solo-lane too much unless you need to split-push or the team is pushing that lane. With Zhong, again, your strength lies in your ability to be a huge nuisance in teamfights, so you and your team should be trying to engage in teamfights, either at towers or at FGs and GFs. Of course, you should be taking objectives as well, be them towers, phoenixes, Fire Giant, or Gold Fury, you should be taking those, with the latter two being with a teammate, as you can't really solo those like a hunter or an assassin. And finally, again,Even late-game, you want to farm, if solely for stacks on your passive, as the bonus protections you get when you ult are really important once everyone has their damage online. If everything goes right, you should be able to win the game.So that should be it. Hopefully my guide to Zhong Kui Solo will help you out in your future games, and feel free to criticize and add on onto this. Bye!