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Mid and Solo Zhong Kui: It's in the bag!

27 0 266,009
by Technotoad64 updated January 18, 2017

Smite God: Zhong Kui

Build Guide Discussion 34 More Guides
Choose a Build: Build Matrix (Conquest)
Build Matrix (Conquest) Build Examples
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Zhong Kui Build

Recommended build

Build Item Warlock's Staff Warlock's Staff
Build Item Shoes of the Magi Shoes of the Magi
Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus
Build Item Hide of the Urchin Hide of the Urchin
Build Item Polynomicon Polynomicon
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation

Core items

Build Item Warlock's Staff Warlock's Staff
Build Item Shoes of the Magi Shoes of the Magi
Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus
Build Item Hide of the Urchin Hide of the Urchin

Fifth/sixth Items (pick two)

Build Item Polynomicon Polynomicon
Build Item Rod of Tahuti Rod of Tahuti
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation
Build Item Bancroft's Talon Bancroft's Talon
Build Item Ethereal Staff Ethereal Staff

situational

Build Item Divine Ruin Divine Ruin
Build Item Telkhines Ring Telkhines Ring
Build Item Winged Blade Winged Blade
Build Item Magi's Cloak Magi's Cloak
Build Item Spectral Armor Spectral Armor
Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe

Recommended Relics

Build Item Frenzy Frenzy
Build Item Magic Shell Magic Shell
Build Item Cursed Ankh Cursed Ankh
Build Item Cloak of Meditation Cloak of Meditation
Build Item Scout Scout
Build Item Teleport Fragment Teleport Fragment

Penetration Items

Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus
Build Item Spear of Desolation Spear of Desolation
Build Item Obsidian Shard Obsidian Shard
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone

Starting items/consumables

Build Item Sorcerer's Staff Sorcerer's Staff
Build Item Vampiric Shroud Vampiric Shroud
Build Item Soul Stone Soul Stone
Build Item Dynasty Plate Helm Dynasty Plate Helm
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
Build Item Multi Potion Multi Potion
Build Item Ward Ward

Zhong Kui's Skill Order

Expose Evil

1 X Y
Expose Evil
2 8 11 12 14

Exorcism

2 A B
Exorcism
1 4 6 7 10

Book of Demons

3 B A
Book of Demons
3 15 16 18 19

Recall Demons

4 Y X
Recall Demons
5 9 13 17 20
Expose Evil
2 8 11 12 14

Expose Evil

1 X
Zhong Kui pastes a card on all enemies in front of him, marking them as a demon, Slowing and damaging them each second while they are marked. If the card is removed, 75% of the remaining damage is done instantly.

Ability Type: Line, Slow, Damage
Damage Per Tick: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Slow: 20%
Card Lifetime: 5s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 12s
Exorcism
1 4 6 7 10

Exorcism

2 A
Zhong Kui drives out the demons of his enemies, dealing damage as they leave the body. Demons exorcised from Enemies marked by Expose Evil will be absorbed by Zhong Kui, healing him per demon (up to 3), and will remove the card.

Ability Type: Cone
Damage: 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Heal: 15 / 40 / 65 / 90 / 115
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 10s
Book of Demons
3 15 16 18 19

Book of Demons

3 B
When fired, the Book of Demons deals damage and Stuns enemies, stunning marked enemies for 2x the duration and removing the card. Once this ability has been ranked, the Book of Demons flies nearby Zhong Kui, firing for 50% of Zhong Kui's basic damage.

Ability Type: Circle, Stun, Damage
Damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Stun: 1s (2x for marked targets)
Radius: 20
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 13s
Recall Demons
5 9 13 17 20

Recall Demons

4 Y
Upon activation, demons pulse out from his bag at nearby players every second for 5s. They chase and accelerate over time, doing damage to enemies as they enter the body. Zhong Kui is immune to Knockback and Slows for the duration.

Ability Type: Circle, Buff, Damage
Damage: 80 / 95 / 110 / 125 / 140 (+25% of your Magical Power)
Radius: 40
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 90s

Guide Start




I'm Technotoad64, call me Techno. This is my Zhong Kui guide. This guide is meant for solo or mid lane Conquest, but some information is also given for how to play Zhong Kui in other modes. The goal of this guide is to teach you how Chinese Ghostbuster works, how he is played, and how to build him.

If you find any errors in my guide, PM me or leave a comment. I want to be as accurate as possible.
Also, if you want to see some of the numbers behind my thinking, the Math section contains a free Algebra lesson!
*



*Please do so at your own risk. Technotoad64 is not affiliated with the Texas Education Agency, or any government-related organizations. Technotoad64 does not condone Mental Abuse To Humans. Technotoad64 is not a licenced mathematician. Algebra lesson contains excessive amounts of nested parentheses and asterisks, which may be harmful to some readers. If you experience nausea, migraines, or blurry vision, please stop use, and call a doctor, as these may be symptoms of brain overload. Warning: math is highly addictive. Math, not even once.


Pros / Cons

Zhong Kui - Pros & Cons

........ Pros ........

- Decent burst damage.
- Decent harassment/poking with Expose Evil.
- Good waveclear.
- Can attack an entire team by just being near them.
- Tanky with enough stacks of Demon Bag.
- Great sustain.
- A small amount of CC is always nice.
- Can heal from pets, such as Cat Call.
- Stronger basics than most mages.
- Awesome beard.
....... Cons .......

- Burst damage requires getting in close.
- Generally low range.
- Building stacks can be difficult early game.
- Vulnerable to ganks.
- Book of Demons is his only escape.
- Recall Demons leaves you vulnerable.
- Virtually no mobility.
- CC can't combo with main abilities.
- Sustain relies on passive.
- Needs to lay off the donuts.


Skills



0 (Passive) - Demon Bag
Fill it up.

Demon Bag is the passive that gives you most of your survivability and is what sets Zhong Kui apart from the other mages. Each stack gives you two protections, both magical and physical, maximum 20 stacks, for a total of 40 protections once the bag is full. All of your stacks are lost after using Recall Demons and on death.



1 - Expose Evil
First you tag them.

Expose Evil does damage over time, and buffs your other two abilities. It's also your highest-scaling ability. See the other abilities and combos section for information on how this works with the rest of your kit.



2 - Exorcism
Then you bag them.

Exorcism is Zhong Kui's main burst damage, and fires in a short, but wide cone. In spite of being a cone attack you don't necessarily need to set it instant casting, because the targeter is helpful for making sure you will hit all the minions in a wave.
Not very much to remember about this ability other than that.



3 (Passive) - Book of Demons
A man and his Book.

This part is about the pet you have when Book of Demons is off cooldown. The little scroll fights by your side, copying your basic attacks at half damage, shooting where you do, but a little off to the side. The extra projectile applies on hit effects, and is affected by items. This means that it will get the same benefit from Demonic Grip, Telkhines Ring, Hastened Fatalis and Polynomicon, et cetera that your regular basic attacks get. You can use this to your advantage when you end up with a team comp with no ADC or pusher, and desperately need to make yourself more effective against objectives. Even without items to make it stronger, having your book up gives your basics a little more power.



3 (Active) - Book of Demons
Shake it off!

Book of Demons is your only form of Crowd Control, and by itself, it's somewhat weak, since the damage is only moderate and stun is short. Short as the stun may be, it's still a stun, which means you can use it to interrupt channeled abilities. A small detail to note is that the stun is not applied to the entire area of effect instantly. As you can see, when Zhong Kui rotates his brush, he spins it around clockwise. Enemies in front of you and a bit to the right are hit first, then enemies behind you, and enemies in front of you and to the left are not hit until after a small delay. So, if you are aiming to thwart Ares and keep him from Searing Flesh, it helps to have him on your right. Book of Demons is also the closest thing you have to an escape ability.



4 (Ultimate) - Recall Demons
Open the Ark of the Covenant!

Knockbacks and slows are nothing, and silence and disarm can't stop you. However many protections you were getting from stacks of your passive is doubled, until it ends and you have nothing. You can consider it to be a combination of Destruction and Empty the Crypts, because it makes small bursts of damage in a constant area around you. At full stacks, you can gank a team fight and, on rare occasions, cause a deicide with the giant mobile AOE of death. The best thing of all, though, is that channeling the ability is independent of your actions once you've pressed 4. What that means is that you can still use your other three abilities and your relics, even Sanctuary, while ghosts go... all over the place. (Couldn't think of any alliteration.) Recall Demons is good for chasing down kills, sort of. The demons will target all enemy gods within the green ring, and if a demon has already targeted an enemy, it will still chase it if it leaves the ring. However, this ability can not wave clear. The demons completely ignore minions, so you can still be stopped dead in your tracks by their body blocking, and, if at very low health, even get killed by minion archers. Your ult also does nothing to jungle bosses, so unlike Kukulkan or Ra, you can't press 4 to steal the Fire Giant.




Combos

►►
Main Combo

When Exorcism hits an enemy that was tagged with Expose Evil, it removes the tag, and gives you another stack of Demon Bag. You are also healed based on the rank of Exorcism and your Magical Power for each enemy up to a maximum three. This does not mean it will save you from bad positioning. The heal has a slight delay, making it more of a sustain bonus for clearing waves. An important thing to remember is that Expose Evil is your highest-scaling ability, but it's a fairly slow damage over time, and if Exorcism or Book of Demons is used to remove the tag, only 40% of the remaining damage is applied to the target. It's usually better to let Expose Evil tick a few times, then use Exorcism at the last moment for another demon in the sack. The most efficient way to wave clear and build stacks is to go in front of the wave, cast Expose Evil to mark the minions, wait a second for the DOT, then go around to the side of the wave and cast Exorcism, making sure that all minions are hit. The reason for all this is that the cone is significantly wider than it is long.


►►
Crowd Control Combo

Book of Demons is Zhong Kui's only crowd control, and you are unable to use any other abilities while casting it, but it can be fairly strong if used correctly. At maximum rank, it stuns for 0.9 seconds; if the target is marked, the stun is doubled to 1.8 seconds, comparable to Ymir's Frost Breath. You can use this combo offensively, to set up your teammates, or you can use it defensively to interrupt a channeled ability like Nox's Shadow Lock or Bellona's Bludgeon. You can also use it to create more space between you and a foe.


►► ►►
Ultimate-Trapping Combo

Book of Demons is not very good at setting up for your other abilities, because you are unable to do anything while casting, which takes as long as the stun itself unless the target is tagged and you have ranked the ability sufficiently. However, Recall Demons doesn't require you to be able to take action further than activating it, so you can activate the green ring of death, then stun anyone next to you--it helps to tag them with Expose Evil first--and the poltergeists persist pulsing out of their prison, getting your enemies more time in the ectoplasmic whirlwind.



Items Explanation


Warlock's Sash

Starter Items
Answer the call

Option 1
Golden Sash
Golden Sash provides magical power, health, and mana. The main reason to go with this as a starter is to slightly reduce the time you need to farm the lane before you can start building stacks of Warlock's Sash, helping you get ahead. This start is what you'll default to if you don't want to decide between the other two. Golden Sash is pretty cheap considering that it isn't technically a starter item.

Option 2

Vampiric Shroud is the safer start option, letting you stay in lane longer than Golden Sash or Soul Stone. Shroud's passive gives you extra health and mana from killing minions. Use this option in Joust if you expect the match to be a bit longer than usual, and in Conquest for sustain in solo lane. In Conquest mid lane, you can be outpushed if the enemy has bought Soul Stone.

Option 3

Soul Stone is the most aggressive starter item, favoring burst damage instead of sustain, so you should get this in mid lane Conquest to help balance out your comparatively-low base magical power, and increase your chances of securing first blood and early lane dominance. Soul Stone's passive gives you a stack of four MP5 for landing a basic attack, up to a maximum of five stacks. At full stacks, your next ability consumes your stacks, and packs a surprise 60 additional magical power. Be careful when you use this start, because not having any extra health makes you vulnerable to the enemy jungler.



Warlock's sash
Core Items
Essential Gear

Item 1
Warlock's Sash
Warlock's Sash is the core item of choice for all mages needing some survivability, and the king of ghosts is definitely no exception. At full stacks, this item gives you a total of 110 magical power and a vital 600 maximum health. Pretty much any mage build that isn't a complete glass cannon you see will include Warlock's Sash, so if you're new to Smite, please take a moment to adjust yourself to the sight of it.

Item 2

Shoes of the Magi Gives you early magical penetration, and can be put before Warlock's Sash if you really need the movement speed. Which, mostly in mid-lane mode, may make merrily m***acring many enemies more manageable. In other words, you should buy a pair of shoes before buying a belt if you're too slow to juke the opposite mid lane mage's attacks.

Item 3

Spear of the Magus Gives a stack of flat protections shredding after each tick of ability-based damage you do to an enemy, up to three stacks. Since its nerf, Spear has gotten a lot of flak (people said that it's useless now). I partially disagree. What I believe is that Spear is a niche item for use until you need a different kind of penetration. You will not keep Spear of the Magus the entire game. I have Spear of the Magus listed here as a core item because, in Conquest and long gamemodes, you should start with Spear a while before buying whatever penetration you'll be using later. Why? Short answer: Spear is flat shredding, which is most useful when the victim target has less than 90 protections. Long answer:Check the Math section. Information on deciding what item to replace Spear with when the time comes is in each penetration option's description.

Item 4

Hide of the Urchin is a stacking item, but is best purchased around mid game, because you don't obtain stacks by getting kills on gods and minions, but instead on god kill or assist, which you will be getting much more often in team fights, which is what mostly happens late game, than while farming lane, which is done early game. Also because stacks are gained on god kill/assist and not minions, Hide of the Urchin can be bought in Assault. Fun fact: it's the only item here that isn't glowing. Maybe it has a Uranium deficiency.



Penetration Items
Making a Breakthrough

Option 1

Spear of the Magus Gives a stack of flat protections shredding after each tick of ability-based damage you do to an enemy, up to three stacks. Spear of the Magus can reduce a mage's inherent protections to null. Like I said earlier, Spear is a niche item for use until you need a different kind of penetration. However, sometimes the other team goofs up and none of them buy defensive items. This is most likely to happen in Joust. In such case, you can keep Spear of the Magus, as it is the most efficent penetration against targets with low amounts of protections. Remember to let three ticks of Expose Evil hit the enemy you target before your next ability for maximum efficiency. Three hits from Recall Demons also works.

Option 2

Spear of Desolation's passive gives you the ability to completely wreck a teamfight if you manage to get a kill without taking too much damage. It's a an item best bought if your team is ahead in gold, because of its extremely high price. It can help Zhong Kui be more effective late game.

Option 3

Obsidian Shard is normally best when late game rolls around, and you want to attack a few tanks. By this time, they will have a large amount of protections, and the flat shredding from your Spear of the Magus won't do much good. The solution is to add Obsidian Shard, for percentage-based penetration that will make sure you can take on the tanks and still be efficient. In solo lane, you should skip Spear and either go straight into Shard, or you should start with Dynasty Plate Helm and then Shard.

Option 4

Void Stone reduces the protections of all enemies within 55 units by 20. The best thing about this item is that you can help the rest of your team without doing a thing. You don't have to basic attack, wait for stacks of DoT, or even fork over a ton of gold. All you have to do is stand near the other team, and your mages and guardians get more penetration! Great, right? But there is a downside to this. It's only 20 reduction, and you don't get any actual penetration, so it's useless against towers. What's more, 20 reduction isn't that much. You get more from Spear of the Magus. The best time to use Void Stone is when you're going for full support, so you can take advantage of the 50 added magical protections. Also useful in gamemodes where you're in teamfights a lot, like Arena and Assault. Remember: auras don't stack, so don't buy this item if someone else on your team already has it.

Option 5

Dynasty Plate Helm is a cheap item with an odd set of stats. 45 Magical Power, 15 Magical Penetration, and 30 Physical Protection. Da Nasty Plate Helm also has no passive and does not build up to a tier 3 item. This item's best use is as early penetration in solo lane, where you are most likely to be against physical gods.



Fifth/Sixth Items
The finishing touches

Option 1

Polynomicon has its fans and critics. Some people prefer a different lifesteal option, and don't like the change to gameplay necessary to fully utilize it. Zhong Kui's Book of Demons adores it. They're both magic books that glow green. More importantly, Polynomicon adds 75% of your magical power to your next basic attack after using an ability, which is more scaling than Exorcism. And, what's more, I might have mentioned earlier that your Book of Demons pet is affected by items, including Polynomicon. That means that you'll be churning out ~112% of your magical power after each ability through basic attacks if your aim and timing is good enough.

Option 2

Taken at face value, Rod of Tahuti is a fairly straightforward item. You get a truckload of magical power. Yes, I know this is a short description, but if you want the exact numbers on this, check the Math section.

Option 3

Gem of Isolation's passive gives you extra control in a teamfight, as it will proc on each hit of Recall Demons, allowing you to slow entire teams at once. It's also a great item because of its power, health and mana, all of which help Zhong Kui be more effective late game. Buying a relic like Curse on top of this can be kind of overkill, resulting in the other team counterbuilding items like Winged Blade.

Option 4

Bancroft's Talon is a good pick in solo lane or assault as part of a moderately tanky build, because the passive gives you extra power based on missing health, and if you're solo lane or assault, you might spend a lot of time at half health or less. Keep in mind that it's generally not a good idea to run around the map at low health with a full damage build, as you are extremely enticing to execute for the enemy jungler, unless you have sufficiently substantial skills. In other game modes, Bancroft's Talon can turn the tides in a frantic one-on-one. You might also want Bancroft's Talon if you want a bit more lifesteal than Polynomicon and 25 more magical power than Polynomicon. Or if you really hate green glowing books, and would rather have a purple fingernail from some unknown bird-animal.

Option 5

Ethereal Staff gives you more health and magical power, and more magical power again depending on your max health, providing roughly the same stats as Warlock's Sash without stacking. I had math here, but I moved it. The gist of it is that Ethereal Staff gives you ~100 more magical power once the recommended build is complete. Therefore, the best use for the magic stick is basically as a second Warlock's Sash, or in Assault, a replacement Warlock's Sash.



Situational Items
For the Unexpected

Situational Item 1

Divine Ruin is usually a good buy when laning against with enemies like Aphrodite, Hel, or Ra, in mid lane, or Chaac, Guan Yu, or Bellona in solo lane so that you can better out-sustain them by reducing their healing. Also note that this item also gives you more lifesteal than either Polynomicon or Bancroft's Talon at a significantly lower price.

Situational Item 2

Telkhines Ring adds a set amount of extra magical damage to your basic attacks. This is to be used only in dire circumstances, such as when your team comp is so bad that all of you are guardian or mage, and nobody can do a thing to objectives because towers and phoenixes only take damage from basic attacks. Remember, this also helps your plucky papyrus pal properly pillage pylons.

Situational Item 3

Winged Blade Gives you immunity to slows every once in awhile. This item is generally not recommended as a core item, because you can noramlly get by with the slow immunity from your ultimate instead. But if the entire other team has either Gem of Isolation or Frostbound Hammer, and you are always at a snail's pace, you may not have a choice.

Situational Item 4
Magi's Blessing
Magi's Blessing grants you CC immunity when hit by hard CC or a root, but only once every 70 seconds. You might need this if the other team is very heavy on the crowd control, like an Ymir with a deep love for deep freezing. Or an Ares/ Zeus/ Hades combo, the cheap dreaded chain gang.

Situational Item 5

Statwise, Spirit Robe is similar to Hide of the Urchin without stacking and should be used to replace Hide of the Urchin when you find yourself in a match that is 50% staring contest, and you are having problems getting god kills and assists. It's also helpful when your team is behind in gold, and need something cheaper. Also unlike Hide of The Urchin, Spirit Robe has had its daily dose of Neon, and is not missing the healthy sparkle.



Meditationcurse
Relic Items
The Secret Weapon

Option 1
Shell
Shell gives 45 protections to you and all your allies within a radius of you for 5 seconds. This item is mostly so you can help out your fleeing or defending teammates, and is best suited for Arena.

Option 2
Curse
Curse reduces nearby enemy healing and movement speed roughly by half. It's great for securing kills by making it harder for the other team to escape your lime circle of doom. Look at the Math section for how it interacts with other slows.

Option 3
Thorns
When Thorns is active, 40% of all the damage you take, before being reduced by your protections, is thrown back at its dealer as magical damage. This is best used by high-healthed targets against squishy damage dealers, such as yourself. My recommendation is to combo this Relic with Recall Demons, since becoming a mobile AOE of doom is likely to get you focused.

Option 4

Frenzy gives you and your team within a radius 20 magical and physical power, and 10 extra damage towards objectives. On top of that, you all get 20% more attack speed. You can use this to gank a team fight with more than just your ult, or you can use it to help push objectives. Best used in Siege or Assault, since these two games put the most emphasis on lane-pushing.

Option 5
Meditation
Meditation is practically a mandatory item in Assault. You restore health and mana to yourself and your teammates near you. This item is not recommended in any gamemode except Assault, since you can otherwise restore health and mana by returning to base. Some new players may attempt to use Meditation as a crutch, which is generally frowned upon because it takes up a Relic slot and is not very useful late game.

Option 6

Scout can be useful in Conquest because it frees up a consumable slot for something other than wards, and the extra 25 gold for revealing enemy wards is also nice. However, it takes up a Relic slot and is not useful late game. Because of this, many consider Scout to be a crutch, like Meditation. Important note: because it allows you to place unlimited Sentry Wards, Scout is banned in Siege.

Option 7
Teleport
Teleport lets you, well, teleport. You can teleport to any allied towers (but not Pheonixes) or wards. Teleport can go hand in hand with Scout, if you periodically place a ward, then teleport to it. If you decide to go full tank, this can help you be further support-oriented. You can try saving a tower with it, but don't go it alone, because your ult and kit are designed for prolonged team fights, not for instant damage. Buying Teleport is common in solo lane. Important note: Teleporting takes a few seconds.



Math

Before you open the spoiler, let me tell you that you should not read this section if you don't have a high tolerance for bright colors and jumbles of numbers and punctuation. Also, this is where I'm putting all my math so that it longer interrupts parts of the Items Explanation above, or the Matchups below, because math is boring and almost nobody wants to look at it. However, if you're the kind to look at "√-1 2^3 Σ Π" and laugh, click the spoilers.

Warlock's sash
Magical Power from Ethereal Staff
Click for math

MP with Obsidian Shard and Rod of Tahuti
Click for math

Obsidian Shard vs Spear of the Magus
Click for algebra

Well, I think that's enough mind-screw math for now. Let me know if you want proof of anything else, or if I made a mistake.


Matchups

This section still needs work. Any advice on correcting false information would be appreciated.

Warlock's Sash
Mid Lane Matchups


Kukulkan
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM
Ghostly Gusts



Poseidon
DIFFICULTY
EASY
Haunted Ship Wreck



Nox
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM
Are you afraid of the dark?



Zhong Kui
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM
Ghost in the mirror



He Bo
DIFFICULTY
HARD
don't drown


Solo Lane Matchups
In solo lane, you will be against mostly Warriors. The markings of a god well suited for solo lane are significant defenses and a self-heal. With a good build, you fit the bill. Items to counter the other solo laner are percentage-based penetration and healing reduction. Namely, Obsidian Shard and Divine Ruin.

Hades
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM
East versus West



Bellona
DIFFICULTY
EASY!?
What do you mean EASY!?



Changelog

04/14/16

04/15/16

04/18/16

04/20/16

04/27/16

04/28/16

04/29/16

05/01/16

05/02/16

05/13/16

05/16/16

05/21/16

05/25/16

06/01/16

06/03/16

06/09/16

07/31/16

08/19/16

09/30/16

10/24/16

10/26/16

10/31/16

11/01/16

12/28/16

01/13/17

01/17/17
Published guide.

Addition of Soul Stone, and separation of Skills and Combos.

Began work on Relics subsection, and began work on Math Section.

Finished Math Section, for now. Finished Relic section.

Slight reformatting, began work on Matchups section.

Change of main color from #50ff50 to #50dd50.

Reformatting, and specification on use of meditation.

Shamelessly advertising someone else's guide.

Revision of Combos Section.

Added Nox to Matchups.

Added Void Stone to situational items. Changed Changelog to zebra.

Added various potholes, especially where unnecessary.

Added He Bo to Matchups section.

Went on Vacation.

Added links to other parts of guide for easier navigation.

Revision of Items Explanation, including more in depth on penetration.

Finally got back home and updated for 3.12 and 3.13.

Added Arena builds (WIP), began minor visual changes.

Minor updates

Began Work on second guide, minor updates for cross-consistency.

Cleaning up guide. Tying up loose ends, formatting errors, new Pros/Cons section.

Very Scary Halloween update! Taking some stuff out of spoilers.

Tons of highlights.

Christmas/New Year update! Cleanup and improved navigation.

Removed annoying pastebin chapter.

Guide updates on hiatus until Season 4.

Guide End

Zhong Kui guides before mine by
xenofonex DuoVisen Shoobler MooMuse


Pros/cons BBCode template by


And many thanks to:
Zilby

Guide Template


Also, I would like anybody reading this to check out these two Arachne guides:


Thank you for reading.


|Start| |Pros/Cons| |Skills| |Combos| |Items| |Math| |Matchups| |Changelog| |End|
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There's nothing down here. You have been deceived!

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Collapse All Comments

1
Bernardozomer (33) | March 2, 2017 2:22pm
Nice build of zohng kuy!
1
Technotoad64 (46) | February 8, 2017 10:11pm
#afff99 #a7ff99 #99ff99 #99ffa7
#8cff66 #7aff66 #66ff66 #66ff7a
#66ff33 #4eff33 #33ff33 #33ff4e
#40ff00 #20ff00 #00ff00 #00ff20
#33cc00 #1bcc00 #00cc00 #00cc1b
#269900 #149900 #009900 #009914
#1a6600 #0e6600 #006600 #00660e
#99ffb3 #99ffc0 #99ffcc #99ffda
#66ff8c #66ffa1 #66ffb3 #66ffc7
#33ff66 #33ff81 #33ff99 #33ffb4
#00ff40 #00ff60 #00ff80 #00ffa0
#00cc33 #00cc4e #00cc66 #00cc81
#009926 #00993b #00994d #009961
#00661a #006627 #006633 #006641
1
Technotoad64 (46) | February 2, 2017 9:19am
I'm considering splitting the guide into two separate guides for mid and solo, hopefully making the guide easier to update for Season 4. Thoughts, anyone?
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 2, 2017 9:45am
well it's basically up to you. You know my preference which is to incorporate all positions that you tackle in one guide. On the flip side prism likes to separate such as his Athena and Aphrodite guides. Whichever you personally feel will be better for you is fine.
1
Bernardozomer (33) | February 2, 2017 1:05pm
I'm with Bran, but you should do what you prefer.
1
nanoyam (13) | January 13, 2017 1:13am
Heya Technotoad64,

I came to give you my review of your guide :)

Pros & Cons:
Nice detailed list of pros & cons.
Something I picked up, since tankyness depends on Demon bag stacks, you may want to add that as a con “Sustain relies on passive” or “Very ability depended sustain”.
About that beard, we can discuss that later.

Skills:
Passive: Since Zhong Kui’s passive is really passive and not activated, I would get rid of that “0” before (Passive) - Demon Bag. No need for that 0 to be there. What comes to other abilities, it doesn’t matter, even though bindings can be changed. And to mention our console players, and yet their weird controllers.
Expose Evil. You said so little about the ability that I consider as Zhong Kui’s best harassing ability. Even though it’s mentioned in ability description, I felt you could write down more about that slow. How does it help landing your other abilities ( Exorcism = cone) I know you wrote bit more about it in your combo section, but I think it’s more important to open up these skills in the skills section.
Exorcism Mmm, make sure to clarify this sentence: “In spite of being a cone attack you don't necessarily need to set it instant casting, because the targeter is helpful for making sure you will hit all the minions in a wave.” I get your point here but for newer players this may sound odd and they’re starting to read ability description all over again. Maybe add a note after the explanation? And something to add would be that this ability has better use on targets with Expose Evil.
Book of Demons. It’s nice that you have separated the passive and active. And you also have great explanation here. Something to consider -> You may put these under a same title and divider and add smaller titles for both explanations. Also consider putting active part before the passive just to keep order of importance. But it also looks fine like it is.
Recall Demons Good explanation, only thing I thought was missing. Is that, does this ability have any use outside of full stacks?

Combos
You have great explanations here. And like I mentioned above, I would consider filling your skills section with some of these information. Like you could explain the basic in skills section, and more advanced tactics and tips in combos.

Items
Nice information. Just some things to consider. Is Obsidian Shard really too bad to pick up over Spear of the Magus, since switching Spear of the Magus to Obsidian Shard in late game is actually pretty expensive move. Are you really sure that Rod of Tahuti is a situational pick, surely it’s a lategame item put I would really reconsider this. And yet, are you sure to recommend Telkhines Ring even as an option since your basic attacks are not strong? I’m sure there are better options even against towers.

Relics
Seems like you recommend taking Meditation and Curse since their placed as icons above the divider. If I’m wrong, sorry, but if this is the case maybe you should explain these two first.

Math
Good to have some data or math to support your theory. Did I read this section with care and great interest. No, but simply cause I’m here to avoid all school related stuff and this section scared me out ;P

Matchups
You have explained everything well and with fast glancing I did not see any errors in there. But since this part is yet unfinished, I thought it’s not time to criticize those missing matchups.
¶§«ØƴǂȜȣɮϡ
Whatever this next chapter is, I did open it and my only thought was that, maybe you should great a test guide to add your secret info there?

Overall
  • The part I was looking for is gameplay section. I know you had great combo explanations, but maybe you could have some stories to tell about how this god actually works in lane?
  • Points for not hiding everything in spoilers.
  • I liked the humor mixed all over your guide.
  • Your guide had solid look and good readability.
  • Nice coding and visually pleasent.
  • Partially unfinished?

So overall your guide looked really good and I did not found any major flaws why this guide wouldn't deserve an upvote. So +1 it is!


Some tips to improve your guide with (coding):
  • Color your navigation links
  • Put items in columns (e.g.)



Example column code


Cheers,
Nano.
1
Technotoad64 (46) | January 13, 2017 1:24pm
Thanks for the review!

nanoyam wrote:
Pros & Cons:
Something I picked up, since tankyness depends on Demon bag stacks, you may want to add that as a con “Sustain relies on passive” or “Very ability depended sustain”.
About that beard, we can discuss that later.

Will do.

Quoted:
Skills:
Passive: Since Zhong Kui’s passive is really passive and not activated, I would get rid of that “0” before (Passive) - Demon Bag. No need for that 0 to be there. What comes to other abilities, it doesn’t matter, even though bindings can be changed. And to mention our console players, and yet their weird controllers.

Oh, right. The only reason I had those numbers there in the first place was because I started from a template when I first made this. Will remove.

Quoted:
Expose Evil. You said so little about the ability that I consider as Zhong Kui’s best harassing ability. Even though it’s mentioned in ability description, I felt you could write down more about that slow. How does it help landing your other abilities ( Exorcism = cone) I know you wrote bit more about it in your combo section, but I think it’s more important to open up these skills in the skills section.

On my first draft of this guide, I had one chapter for both skills and combos. I think it was Bran that suggested I separate them. So when I did, I just pulled apart what I had somewhat lazily. I never really thought much of the slow itself, in terms of setting up for other abilities.

Quoted:
Exorcism Mmm, make sure to clarify this sentence: “In spite of being a cone attack you don't necessarily need to set it instant casting, because the targeter is helpful for making sure you will hit all the minions in a wave.” I get your point here but for newer players this may sound odd and they’re starting to read ability description all over again. Maybe add a note after the explanation? And something to add would be that this ability has better use on targets with Expose Evil.

Not sure what you mean. Should I move that sentence to the wave-clear combo section Delete it?

Quoted:
Book of Demons. It’s nice that you have separated the passive and active. And you also have great explanation here. Something to consider -> You may put these under a same title and divider and add smaller titles for both explanations. Also consider putting active part before the passive just to keep order of importance.

Good idea.

Quoted:
Recall Demons Good explanation, only thing I thought was missing. Is that, does this ability have any use outside of full stacks?

The damage is the same regardless of how many stacks of passive you have. Kill securing, slow and knockback immunity, and damage are the same.

Quoted:
Combos
You have great explanations here. And like I mentioned above, I would consider filling your skills section with some of these information. Like you could explain the basic in skills section, and more advanced tactics and tips in combos.

Is that what people do? Makes sense, will change.

Quoted:
Items
switching Spear of the Magus to Obsidian Shard in late game is actually a pretty expensive move.

I will reconsider it. In fact, this seems like the kind of thing that will likely change with Season 4. In the meantime, I still think starting with spear then changing to a different pen is not too expensive.

Quoted:
Are you really sure that Rod of Tahuti is a situational pick, surely it’s a lategame item put I would really reconsider this. And yet, are you sure to recommend Telkhines Ring even as an option since your basic attacks are not strong? I’m sure there are better options even against towers.

Rod of Tahuti is not listed as a situational pick. It's just not a core item. Some people want rod, some don't. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. What I consider to be situational would be, for example, Telkhine's Ring. The way I use it, situational means that you will most likely not buy the item in a match, but sometimes need to because of unusual circumstances.

Quoted:
Relics
Seems like you recommend taking Meditation and Curse since their placed as icons above the divider. If I’m wrong, sorry, but if this is the case maybe you should explain these two first.

I'm not recommending Meditation or Curse above any other relics. They're just two icons that look good next to eachother as a decoration.

Quoted:
Math
Good to have some data or math to support your theory. Did I read this section with care and great interest. No, but simply cause I’m here to avoid all school related stuff and this section scared me out ;P

That's why it's in a spoiler.

Quoted:
Matchups
You have explained everything well and with fast glancing I did not see any errors in there. But since this part is yet unfinished, I thought it’s not time to criticize those missing matchups.
����ƴ�Ȝȣɮϡ
Whatever this next chapter is, I did open it and my only thought was that, maybe you should great a test guide to add your secret info there?

I've been meaning to do exactly that for months.

Quoted:
Overall
  • The part I was looking for is gameplay section. I know you had great combo explanations, but maybe you could have some stories to tell about how this god actually works in lane?

I've been meaning to add that as well.

Quoted:
Some tips to improve your guide with (coding):
  • Color your navigation links
  • Put items in columns (e.g.)

Thank you for the code. Columns are a pain, but at least not as much as tables.
1
xZeroStrike (46) | January 13, 2017 1:32pm
Tables are luv. Tables are laif. In every way.
Load more comments (1 more replies) →
1
Technotoad64 (46) | December 29, 2016 3:28pm
It seems like I have a lot of downvotes. If you downvoted, please leave a comment or PM me so I can know why.
1
masterricu (12) | December 31, 2016 10:42pm
Ive been getting downvotes lately as well. Not sure if they degrade over time or if its just other guide writers downvoting so theirs gets top.

Not sure but theres no reason for it.
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | December 29, 2016 4:37pm
The voting system and how it shows rating is weird. Votes also degrade over time, so...
1
Technotoad64 (46) | December 29, 2016 6:23pm
So then, I should take down the guide and put up a copy?
1
NobleOutcast | August 13, 2016 3:29pm
This is a really solid guide (definitely the biggest "competition" for my own, huehue). It's very visually appealing and you seem to be very good at code application. One thing I need to point out however is that in the passive explanation section you put "The number of stacks you have determines how many demons come out of your ultimate, meaning more damage" but Zhong Kui's passive only effects his protections. Recall Demons will do the same amount of damage regardless of how many stacks your passive has, the only effect his passive will have during his ultimate is to double the passive protections.
1
Technotoad64 (46) | August 18, 2016 1:55pm
Corrected. Thanks for pointing it out.
1
Workmanabs | June 18, 2016 3:52am
As someone with only a little Zhong Kui experience, I gotta ask wouldn't it be better for the mid build to go for boots first instead of warlock sash to try and contest the mid harpies better and make sure you can push harder in the early game. It seems like Zhong's clear isn't very strong early game and he could get pushed over by someone who out pushes him. Again, little experience here so please enlighten me if this is actually a bad idea. Excellent guide by the way!
Edit: I realize now that boots actually give you less magical power than warlocks sash, but regardless the question still remains. Because you'll end up in lane quicker you'll be able to push minions more often and get to harpies quicker. But with sash you may end up in lane longer and end up with more farm regardless.
1
Technotoad64 (46) | June 18, 2016 10:57am
How tanky do you want to start? The main difference between boots and sash is movement speed and health. If you want mid harpies, yes you might want boots to start with so you can get there soon. But once you go to lane, can you juke enough that you won't miss the extra health?
1
Workmanabs | June 18, 2016 3:54am
Also, quick question. In your opinion is Zhong better in solo or mid?
1
Technotoad64 (46) | June 18, 2016 10:48am
That's a tough question.

Zhong Kui doesn't have Mana saving built in like Chaac does, but he can heal himself better than Bellona. In mid lane, your damage is not nearly as powerful as Kukulkan, but tower pushing potential is better than Ra. Getting into tier lists and all that aside...

Your suitability for either role depends on the build you choose, and whether you want solo or mid is a question of personal preference.
Load more comments (2 more replies) →
1
Technotoad64 (46) | June 9, 2016 12:25pm
I'm going to start making some changes to make this more or less cover all gamemodes and both solo and mid lane. Any suggestions are appreciated.
2
Branmuffin17 (394) | May 2, 2016 10:09am
Ahhh, got it on the calculations. And no problem, this is your guide, your timeline, don't have to apologize for response time =) Looks great.
1
Technotoad64 (46) | May 2, 2016 7:23am
Branmuffin17 wrote:

Regarding your combos...well, really, you can add one.
Expose Evil to Exorcism should just always be used by letting the tag do some damage first, to max damage and help clear the lane easier. Only time you wouldn't do this is if you were being pressured while clearing and needed to get back to safety quickly, while also trying to build stacks for his ult.
Expose Evil to Book of Demons is one you don't have, and that's your basic initiation combo when trying to help lock down an enemy in a teamfight or gank situation...OR defensively to create a slight bit of extra space or interrupt a channeled ability.
As for use of the ult, you might find it to be better to use Expose Evil to Recall Demons to Book of Demons. Tagging them first allows some stacks for damage while you activate the ult. Then while they're still close you can lock them down more with Book of Demons while the tag is still active, to keep them in your ult as long as possible. Thoughts?

Well, I think that's all better than anything I have. I'll change the Combos as soon as I can. I've been a bit busy helping someone else, sorry I couldn't reply sooner.

Branmuffin17 wrote:

As for the math section, that's why I was saying I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly...the way I calculated, only considering at max stacks, I'm getting a value of anything around 135 or below...you state 90.

I was only counting full stacks of the shredding, not the pen. The point of getting protections reduction instead of penetration is that it benefits other people, so for my calculations, I only counted the shredding from the passive, not the raw stats.
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