Greetings fellow summoners! Zed has been revealed quite quickly after popping up in our radar in his sneak peek. How very ninja of him! Let’s take a look at Zed’s unique assassin abilities, and delve into the lore behind the master ninja.

Abilities

• Contempt for the Weak (Passive): Whenever Zed attacks an enemy below 50% Health, he deals an additional 8% of their maximum Health as magic damage. This effect has a short cooldown.

• Razor Shuriken: Zed and his shadow both throw their shurikens, dealing physical damage to any target they pass through. Each Shuriken deals less damage to targets beyond the first.

• Living Shadow: Zed’s shadow dashes forward, remaining in place for a short duration. Zed’s shadow will duplicate his spells. Activating Living Shadow again while his shadow is active will cause Zed to switch positions with his shadow. If both Zed and his shadow strike the same target with Razor Shurikens or Shadow Slash, Zed regains some energy and the target suffers an additional effect: Razor Shurikens deal additional bonus damage and the slow from Shadow Slash is dramatically increased.

• Shadow Slash: Zed and his shadow both create a burst of shadow, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. Zed’s Shadow Slash slightly reduces the cooldown of Living Shadow by for each unit struck. The shadow’s Shadow Slash briefly slows enemies.

• Death Mark: Zed sinks into the shadows and dashes to his target, dealing physical damage. He also spawns a Living Shadow beyond the target, which duplicates his spells and marks the target. After 3 seconds, the mark will detonate, dealing physical damage based on the damage dealt to the target by Zed and his shadow while the mark was active. Zed can reactivate this ability to switch positions with this shadow.

Lore

Orphaned at a young age, Zed was taken in and trained by a master ninja. As time past Zed grew stronger and was unequaled by all students except for one – the master’s son Shen. In every duel they battled, no winner was declared. Enraged by his inability to defeat Shen in combat, Zed went to the temple to seek greater power. He happened upon a strange box that emanated a foreboding power. Knowing that he should not dare touch the object, Zed went against moral teachings and peered into the box. Shadows appeared in front of him and presented Zed with knowledge of dark arts kept secret for 200 years.

On their next meeting, Zed defeated Shen with his newly acquired powers. Zed thought his performance warranted praise and excitement from his peers and master, but the master knew the evil that followed Zed’s new-found powers. Shen’s father then banished Zed for his use of the dark magic. Still a young boy, he wandered along with the shadows and worked to perfect his craft. Zed grew powerful in the darkness and brought others into his circle of shadows. Once he saw that his circle grew into an army, he knew that he must have control of the box once more to perfect his teachings. Upon arriving to his old village, Zed met his old master at the gates waiting for him. The old man professed his wrongdoing in banishing Zed and letting the dark shadows lead him away from a world of balance. He then directed Zed to take his army into the temple and destroy the evil box to restore the balance to his life. Zed follow his former master’s steps and walked in to sacred temple.

After a few moments, a resounding scream of pain was heard. Those outside figured this to be Zed’s voice but noticed as he walked out that he wasn’t physically hurt. However, the crowd quickly gathered that the item Zed was holding was their dear master’s head. The evil ninja threw the head of his former master down the steps of the temple and ordered his followers to kill anyone who stood against him. Zed quickly overcame the defending ninjas but was unable to take out his nemesis Shen. In a courageous effort, Shen led a remaining few to safety away from the now corrupted temple.

Zed now leads the temple as the Order of Shadow’s master. His order follows a simple edict: “perfect one’s technique, and kill all ninjas who refuse to embrace the shadows.”