Every time a news story is written about Zac, he becomes a little less secret. Still, this is important: a rundown of the putty-like champion’s abilities, and a few pointers from Riot on how to handle his unique regen mechanic.
Zac’s key ability is his passive: Cell Division. Whenever any of his ability attacks make contact with an enemy, a disembodied green globule falls to the ground, which Zac can hoover up to regain health.
Even upon his death, Zac splits into four pieces and isn’t truly out of play until his remains are cremated by his opponents. Otherwise, the blobs will attempt to reform over a short duration, and Zac will be revived with a portion of his max health equivalent to the number of surviving globules.
Cell Division is complemented by four attacks: Stretching Strike, a simple two-handed punch which deals damage to and slows one opponent, and three AOE abilities – Unstable Matter, Elastic Stringshot and Let’s Bounce.
Unstable Matter deals a flat rate of damage to enemies in a radius around Zac, as well as additional damage based on their max health. Elastic Dash sees him temporarily immobilized to charge up a dash, before damaging and stunning all enemies near the target location. And for Let’s Bounce, Zac hops vertically into the air – knocking up, slowing and damaging surrounding enemies in the process – and bounces three times, causing damage on each impact.
Zac is both natural jungler and excellent top-laner, say Riot: “If you’re partial to early game aggression, starting with an early lizard buff and spending your second skill point in Elastic Slingshot can open early gank opportunities. Once the action starts ramping up, you can make use of Elastic Slingshot’s massive range to create sneaky gank opportunities by circumventing popular ward locations.
“[In the top lane], his AoE presence allows you to quickly clear waves from your turrets in high-pressure situations or shove the lane when you’re on the offensive. The healing mechanic on Cell Division also helps win exchanges with your lane opponent, allowing you to bully enemies back to base and create opportunities for counter-jungling or ganks.
“While you’re roaming, the mobility afforded by Elastic Slingshot can help you get the drop on an unsuspecting enemy or escape from sticky situations by hopping over terrain.”
In the later game, Zac’s “extreme mobility” reportedly make Zac a no-brainer for teamfights: “Whether you’re initiating or counter-initiating, Zac has ample crowd control to keep your team out of trouble.”
Read Zac’s comic book backstory here, alongside more tips and tricks from his creators. Will you be giving our gelatinous new friend a whirl round the fields of justice?