If you are a seasoned League of Legends player in the Marksman role, you are likely familiar with items that provide armor penetration. These are crucial tools for Marksman champions to take down opponents, especially late in the game when champions typically have a significant amount of armor due to leveling up. In fact, the power of armor penetration items like Dominik’s Blade is so strong that many players purchase it as their second item.
However, this logic does not apply at all to the upcoming Marksman champion named Zeri. In a post on his personal Twitter, Zeri’s creator – Riot August – even advised players to skip armor penetration items or those with lethality. The reason, according to Riot August, is that even when fully equipped with Attack Damage items, 40% of the damage Zeri deals is still magical damage.
Riot August: “To those players about to test Zeri. 40% of the damage this champion deals is magical damage, even when fully equipped with Attack Damage items. So please don’t buy items with armor penetration like Pirate Gun or Dominik’s Blade.”
Indeed, looking at Zeri’s skill set, we can see that most of the damage this character inflicts is magical damage. From the damage dealt by basic attacks to the amplified damage from her ultimate, all deal magical damage. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Zeri’s playstyle resembles typical Marksman champions, but in reality, she is more of a highly mobile Mage, dealing damage primarily through her attacks. Therefore, armor penetration items are unnecessary for Zeri.
Therefore, it is likely that after her release, Zeri will have a very different item build compared to conventional Marksmen. She may even be able to utilize items that provide on-hit effects (both magical and physical damage) like Kraken Slayer, Muramana, Nashor’s Tooth, and Blade of the Ruined King… Zeri could very well become a bottom lane version of Corki after her release, with an incredibly annoying ability to deal mixed damage.