After the official release of version 12.2 on international servers, the hottest topic is undoubtedly the new champion Zeri. With a highly mobile skill set and open playstyle, many gamers have experimented with various item builds for this character. Among them, professional players have chosen a very unique item build for Zeri, combining Trinity Force and Black Cleaver. So why is this fighter-oriented item combination favored by the elite? Let’s find out.
First, we need to understand a bit about the mechanics of skill Q – Lightning Firearm and its interaction with Trinity Force and Black Cleaver. Simply put, when activated, the Q – Lightning Firearm skill is counted as an attack, so it can trigger the full effects of both Trinity Force and Black Cleaver. With Zeri’s Q skill having an extremely short cooldown, proportional to attack speed, she can continuously activate the spellblade effect of Trinity Force with significant damage.
The interesting thing here is that when equipped with Black Cleaver, Zeri only needs to activate Q – Lightning Firearm once to apply the full 6 stacks of armor reduction from this item. Of course, the armor penetration stat may not suit Zeri, but the ability to reduce armor directly on the target from Black Cleaver is a completely different story. It allows both Zeri and her teammates to take down opponents very quickly thanks to the interaction between Q – Lightning Firearm and Black Cleaver.
For the third item slot, professional players choose Runaan’s Hurricane for Zeri. The reason is that the additional bolts from this item can also trigger the spell damage on hit after Zeri activates her ultimate, Supersonic. This item greatly enhances the damage bounce from Zeri’s ultimate, potentially causing significant fluctuations in team fights.
In addition to the three items mentioned, items with strong on-hit effects like Serpent’s Fang, Goredrinker, and Blade of the Ruined King are also good for Zeri. For defensive items, Death’s Dance and Guardian Angel are choices favored by many professional League of Legends players.
Regarding the rune build, the Conqueror is found to be the best fit for Zeri’s speed-focused playstyle. In the secondary tree, you should consider taking Bloodline or Ravenous Hunter to ensure this champion’s sustain. Remember that Zeri’s mentioned items are all attack-oriented, so you need to take runes that provide healing to keep yourself safe.
