Zeus - By my THUNDER! ;D (Item Explainations)

This guide is in the early stages of experimentation, so the details and reasons to my choices will be explained as I can further experience and test them. However! Here is what I have so far.

Start:

Early:

Early - Mid:

Mid - Late:

Late - Final:

You'll notice that every single build besides Start has a WARD. Get...WARDS. Place them in the jungle slightly ahead of your position so you can see in your Mini Map when an enemy player is going to gank (run behind your position and attack without you seeing) you. WARDS have been the differnce of winning and loosing games even when the odds are against you. That said, moving on.

Zeus needs mana and lots of it so he can always ramp up Charges and have enough mana left over to Discharge your enemies (yes plural) to death. So with that in mind we start with Boots of the Magi and Chrono's Pendant. Many people go 2nd upgrade Boots right off the bat. That would be a poor decision for the start of the game because you don't need quite that much of a speed boost to dodge skill attacks if your careful, and again Zues NEEDS the mana.

We then go quickly into Warlock's Sash. This combo's nicely with the cooldown reduction of Chrono's Pendant so that you can melt away the minion to grab the charges on Warlock's Sash. The mana pool, health, and magic power you get from Warlock's Sash cannot be argued with especialy considering the stacks DO NOT go away when you die. I get this so early because I want to build up the stacks of the Sash as quickly as possible so that I have nearly full stacks by mid - late game. So get this, it's amazing.

Bancroft's Talon. Now most guides have you getting Void Stone, or Gem of Isolation by this point but here's the thing.

Bancroft's Talon cost is Close to Void Stone's total cost and less over all than Gem of Isolation. Bancroft's Talon gives you a flat 100 magic power VS Void Stone's 50 magic power. Now most would say the Magic penetration makes up some of the difference, however in most games people do not have very much magic protection at all, and if you REALLY were going for magic protection penetration then you should be going for Obsidian Shard (33% pen). Void Stone is SITUATIONAL - for heavy magic enemy teams.

Gem of Isolation does give you 250 health and 250 Mana. That is the only true appeal to Isolation. Some would argue for the slowing factor but lets face it - your not going to cast fast enough to make this worth it. The ONLY situation that Isolation would truly shine is when using your Ultimate - Lightning Storm, to potentially slow down the enemy team. This makes it a stellar late game item, but not when the fights are still mostly 1v1 or at most 2v1, 2v2, 1v2.

Don't waste this precious early time with a late game item. Get the early burst and sustain that Bancroft's Talon provides.

Now towards the Mid - Late game, it's finally time for Gem of Isolation (magic hit slower) and Obsidian Shard (magic protection penetration). Gem of Isolation before Obsidian shard for normal max build, but if you notice that your enemy team build Tank (high health and magic protection), then it's time for Obsidian Shard instead.

If your doing very well, or the game has simply lasted this long (most do not ever last long enough to go full build) Then don't fill your final item slot with Obsidian Shard. Instead hit it up with Rod of Tahuti (POWAR OVER WHELMING!). AT this point continue to buy Potion of Magical Might to try to maintain the best possible damage.

Thats it for my item reason / logic. More will be explained and changed as I go on and feel out the item builds. I encourage critiquing (suggestions of changes to my build), however please explain your reasoning and if possible why it would do better than a current choice :) It helps me be a better player d@#$it ;)