20 November 2025

How to Play Zaheen in League of Legends

By newsgame

Zaahen is the latest champion to grace the Rift in League of Legends and joins a slowly expanding roster of Darkins alongside the likes of Varus and Kayn. In fact, he is fairly similar in play style to pre-rework Aatrox, another Darkin, although Zaahen’s lore is more closely linked with Xin Zhao. This guide for Zaahen in LoL will walk players through each of his abilities and how they can be combined or best utilized, and it will cover Zaahen’s build, considering what stats the Top Laner needs most.

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Zaahen’s Abilities In League Of Legends

Passive – Cultivation Of War

Zaahen gains a stack of Determination when he hits an enemy champion with an Attack or Ability. He gains increased AD per stack.

When filled with Determination, Zaahen doubles the granted AD, and if he would die, he instead enters stasis for 4 seconds, then revives with a portion of his max Health.

This revive has a cooldown that scales with level from 300-120 seconds.
Zaahen’s revive is similar to Guardian Angel.
Attack Speed helps stack this faster.
The only way to stack and maintain it is by hitting champions.

Q – The Darkin Glaive

Zaahen slashed twice on his next Attack, dealing bonus physical damage and restoring 5% of his max Health.

Recast: Zaahen’s next Attack deals even greater bonus physical damage and knocks the target up for 0.75 seconds.

It functions similarly to Camille’s Q with two casts, the second of which is delayed.
It is an auto-attack reset, helping to stack his passive faster.
Healing is reduced to 50% against non-champions.
Deals an additional 50% bonus damage to monsters.
Try to use it after taking damage to get the most out of the heal.

W – Dreaded Return

Zaahen stabs in a direction, dealing physical damage to enemies hit, then pulls them toward him, dealing more physical damage.

Multiple enemies can be pulled at once.
You can W-Flash to increase the range.
The pull back is small, but it closes the gap and can cancel enemy dashes.

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E – Aureate Rush

Zaahen dashes then slices around himself, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies.

Enemies at the edge take more physical damage and a percentage of their max health as magic damage instead.

Zaahen can go over small and medium walls with this.
Deals additional physical damage to monsters, but this is capped.
Hitting enemies with the edge is crucial, especially if they are tanks.

R – Grim Deliverance

League of Legends - Zaahen - Ultimate (R)

Passive: Zaahen gains percent Armor Penetration.

Active: Zaahen rises, gaining 50% Damage Reduction while casting.

Zaahen then stabs downward, dealing physical damage and restoring 33% of the damage dealt to enemy champions as Health.

It’s possible to go over large walls with his ult.
Try to use after taking damage to benefit from gaining health back.
The more enemies you hit, the more you will heal.
Also try to make use of the damage reduction, using it mid fight.
The passive armor penetration means he shouldn’t need to build anymore.

Zaahen’s Build In League Of Legends

Zaahen Ability Max Order

Like most champions, Zaahen wants to max his ult when possible. Otherwise, his Q is his main source of power alongside his passive, so it should be leveled up first.

Out of his E and W for maxing next, his E has a lower cooldown, so putting more levels into it will mean more overall damage. It is also his main source of waveclear. Think of Zaahen’s W as his utility.

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Zaahen Runes

The Conqueror Keystone synergizes massively with Zaahen, as he will stack it at the same time as his passive, turning him into a raid boss. The Precision tree also has many great runes for the Darkin.

For example, the heals upon takedowns from Triumph a perfect for a champion who lives on the edge in fights. In the next section, all three Legend runes are good options, with the first two helping him stack his passive via attack speed or Ability Haste. In the final row, Coup de Grace is a solid option, but so is Cut Down against tanks, and Last Stand can work great for a champion who doesn’t mind being on low HP and healing back up.

Resolve will be the most common secondary rune tree, providing Zaahen with more defense, which he otherwise lacks as a Top Laner. Bone Plating and Revitalize are two solid options for all matchups, but players could split push with Demolish, make use of Second Wind versus poke, or scale with Conditioning and Overgrowth in safe matchups. Unflinching would be an option versus lots of CC.

Taking secondary Runes in Sorcery is another option due to Axiom Arcanist being great for his ult, as he benefits from buffs to damage and healing. Players could take Transcendence alongside this for further cooldown reduction. Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm are other Sorcery options.

Boots For Zaahen

As a fighter and Top Laner, boots for Zaahen will usually come down to Mercury’s Treads against AP and CC or Plated Steelcaps against AD, especially auto attackers. He needs these to help him survive.

Berserker’s Greaves are an option as the Attack Speed allows him to stack his passive faster, but players will need to be confident on him to miss out on easy resistances.

Core Items For Zaahen

Zaahen wants items that provide him with AD, Attack Speed, Ability Haste, and defences, including Armor, Magic Resistance, and Max Health. Anything that buffs his healing or grants Lifesteal can also be desirable, and with limited mobility, Movement Speed can also help.

What exactly works on him best, in what order, of course, depends on the ever-shifting meta and who he faces in Top Lane. The following items are therefore good options for is core build, but try to stay up to date with recent trends by using stat sites. Of particular note is Titanic Hydra, as its active ability allows for an auto attack reset, enabling Zaahen to stack his passive faster. Blade of the Ruined King is another ideal item, although it doesn’t provide any defensive value.

Blade of the Ruined King
Titanic Hydra
Sundered Sky
Trinity Force
Death’s Dance
Overlord’s Bloodmail
Sterak’s Gauge
Stride Breaker

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Other Items For Zaahen

Either in niche matchups, after meta shifts, or when players are looking to experiment, the following items can also be good on Zaahen from time to time. For example, players may experiment with full Attack Speed builds or Lethality if they want to try Zaahen as an assassin.