Zip — Patch 1.63 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: C | Web: S | Web: S | Web: S | Web: A | Web: S | Web: S+] Pro play (RPL 2026): 4 picks, 50.0% WR, 1.7% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked. Ranked S on zathong.com. Ranked S on metatierlist.com. Ranked S on pillarofgaming.com. Ranked A on commonsensegamer.com. Ranked S on 1v9.gg. Ranked S+ on richmanshop.com.
Zip — Support Guide
Key Insights
- Passive (Zip Bloat!): 30% damage reduction activates only while bloated, so stay in melee range instead of retreating.
- Q (Zip Hex!): Links two enemies so 40% of damage dealt to one is shared to the other; single-target hit still applies a 90% slow for 1.5s.
- W (Zip Angry!): Hold-to-channel shelters an ally up to 4s; Zip gains status immunity during the channel, blocking pulls and knock-ups.
- W (Zip Angry!): 40% of damage Zip absorbs while bloated converts to a shield for the sheltered ally, so tank skill shots on purpose.
- R (Zip Roll!): Cancel early for a proportional cooldown refund; rolling the full 6s when you only needed one airborne wastes the CD mid-fight.
Strengths
Zip Angry! shelters an ally for 4 seconds, hard-negating an assassin's full rotation.- Q stun, damage-sharing link, and R airborne give three distinct CC types per fight.
- Passive 30% DR while bloated plus Aegis/Medallion makes him near-unburstable.
Zip Roll! grants status immunity throughout, ignoring Maloch's cleave or Grakk's chain.
Weaknesses
- Zip Angry! roots him in place; enemies walk around and punish the carry on exit.
Zip Hex!'s 0.5s stun needs immediate carry follow-up or the window is wasted.- Pre-Aegis he has little bulk; bloat DR only activates while sheltering.
- Zip Roll! demands directional commitment; spread enemies let him roll through air.
Matchups
Abilities
PZip Bloat!
When Zip bloats up, he takes 30% reduced damage and deals magic damage per second to nearby enemies. This damage increases by {1} per level (deals 2x damage to minions and jungle monsters).
1Zip Hex!
Zip spits a curse, dealing magic damage and stunning for 0.5s. Then links the target to nearby enemies (if none exist, Zip slows by 90% for 1.5s). Then deals magic damage every 0.5s to the first enemy for 4s, with {4}% of damage taken by one transferred to the other. The link breaks if enemies are too far apart. Zip deals increased magic damage to cursed enemies.
2Zip Angry!
Zip sucks allies and jungle minions into his mouth for 4s (hold to channel). Sucked allies gain a shield and take 30% reduced damage. Zip heals based on the number sucked. While bloated, 40% of damage taken converts to a shield for allied heroes. During the suck, Zip is immune to crowd control and attacks non-hero enemies at range (canceling early puts this ability on cooldown immediately).
RZip Roll!
Zip rolls in a designated direction for 6s. During this time, Zip is immune to crowd control and deals magic damage to enemies he rolls through, launching them airborne for 1s. Enemies at the end of the roll are slowed by {2}% for 3s (if rolling into an obstacle, Zip bounces away and gains increased speed). Can be reactivated to cancel, and cooldown counts based on duration used.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Zip Hex! | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
| 2Zip Angry! | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
| RZip Roll! | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Golden Body
Spirit
ProwessStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard Lock-and-Link
11Use this in the laning phase to establish the damage-sharing link between two enemies near the lane bush, then let your carry free-hit while both targets share the incoming damage.
Engage-and-Shelter
R12Roll through the enemy front-line to displace them and slow their back-line, immediately Q the priority target for the stun, then swallow your carry to protect them during the chaos of the reset. Deploy this when your carry is below 50% HP but the fight is still winnable.
Flicker Ambush
R12Flicker over a thin wall to appear in the enemy's blind spot, immediately roll through their back-line to airborne their ADC, then chain Q the nearest stunnable target. Reserve W to save whichever ally dives in behind you.
Anti-Assassin Shelter
2P1When an assassin like Murad or Nakroth hard-dives your carry, pre-swallow before their ultimate lands, convert their burst into passive bloat shields, then Q them on exit to punish the dive and flip the trade entirely.
Expert Video Guide
สอนเล่น Zip ตามคำขอ! ทริคสกิลต่างๆ ไอเทม+พลังแฝงลับ! ดูจบเล่นเป็นแน่นอน — MRX CH
Gameplan
Zip's earliest spike is level 4, when all three active skills are unlocked and he can run a full Q-into-W shelter sequence with his laner. He does not need items to be useful, but completing Ring of Terror makes his Q poke in the river genuinely threatening. The second and more decisive spike is finishing Aegis, after which his bloated-state effective HP becomes absurd and he can confidently front-line. At level 12 with Aegis and Medallion of Troy completed, he is at peak power and should be forcing Baron or Dragon contests. Late game he stays relevant but relies more on landing R in chokepoints, as enemy builds eventually reduce his CC windows.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Start in the dark bush between mid and dragon at level 1 to contest the enemy roamer's level-up path. Zip's passive AoE poke in the cramped space chips enemy supports before the lane phase even begins.
- →Reach level 4 before grouping with your carry's first major trade. Without Q's link and W available simultaneously you are trading one-dimensional CC for a full support toolkit, and that exchange rarely favors you.
- →Prioritize rotating to secure Dragon over camping the lane. Ring of Terror's ability haste means your Q cooldown is short enough to contest Dragon spawn with a stun-into-link on whichever jungler overextends.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →Stack your presence around Baron and mid-lane choke points where R's bounce mechanic off narrow terrain walls becomes a guaranteed two-direction hit rather than a straight-line roll.
- →When your team initiates a 5v5, go in second, not first, so that R can roll through an already-disrupted cluster rather than a spread-out defensive formation.
- →Use W to body-block skill shots aimed at your carry during objective sieges. The 30% damage reduction during bloat combined with the active shield conversion makes every poke the enemy wastes on you an effective heal for your team.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →Late-game teamfights are won or lost on a single R placement. Scout the terrain ahead of every Baron contest and mentally pre-draw your roll path through the narrowest jungle corridor available.
- →If your carry is being focused by a fed assassin, prioritize the W shelter over initiating with R. A dead carry cannot follow up your best displacement, and a protected carry who survives into the backline is worth more than an airborne tank.
- →Cancel R early after hitting the priority target to bank the cooldown refund, then immediately chain Q on the slowest retreating enemy to maintain the link and allow your damage-dealers to clean up the back-line before the fight resets.
Pro Tips
- →The R cancel cooldown refund is calculated from the moment you press cancel, not from when the roll started. Cancel as soon as you have hit the priority target rather than riding the full six seconds, and you will have R back up mid-fight in some skirmishes.
- →During W, Zip still auto-attacks non-hero units, meaning you can swallow your carry during a wave clear and push the minion line at the same time. Diamond players almost never use this to deny a push while protecting an ally simultaneously.
- →The Q damage-sharing link percentage is based on total damage received by either linked target, not just your Q's ticks. Tell your mage or ADC to dump their rotation onto whichever linked target has less HP, because the chain will divide that burst and chunk both enemies at once.
- →When Zip bounces off terrain during R, the speed boost is significant enough to reposition you before the enemy can react. Learn two or three specific wall angles in the Baron pit and the mid-lane corridor so you can predict the bounce direction and aim the exit roll deliberately rather than bouncing randomly.
Zip is the S-tier roamer for players who want to control teamfight geometry rather than just follow up on someone else's engage. His ceiling is genuinely high: wall-bounce prediction on R, pre-emptive W shelter timing, and Q link damage management are all skills that separate good play from great, and every game you find new applications. The habit to build is pre-positioning for W before the assassin jumps, not after. Players who get that one read right carry teammates out of fights that look like guaranteed deaths. If you are Diamond and above and willing to put in the practice, his 0.3% ban rate is one of the best-kept secrets on the Thai server right now.
Zip — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zip good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. Zip is rated S tier on the Thai server this patch with a 50% win rate and a negligible 0.3% ban rate, which means you are picking up one of the strongest roamers in the game almost entirely unpunished. His multi-layered CC, ally-shelter mechanic, and status-immune rolling ultimate are all well-positioned against the current dominant team comps.
What is the best build for Zip?+
Thai-server consensus build is Ring of Terror into Hermes' Select into The Aegis, with Medallion of Troy, Mail of Pain, and Blade of Eternity to finish. Ring of Terror gives you ability haste to cycle Q faster in laning, Aegis is your first major tank power spike, and Blade of Eternity is the late-game insurance that lets you front-line without fear.
How do you counter Zip?+
Spread your team laterally before his R lands; a dispersed formation makes the roll hit one or two targets instead of five. Heroes with extended engage tools like Grakk can nullify W's protective window by pulling the sheltered ally out the moment his four-second channel expires. Drafting Baldum as your roamer counters his early-game XP path and denies the level-4 spike that makes him dangerous.
Is Zip hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium difficulty. His button presses are straightforward but his positioning and timing are not. The W hold-to-channel shelter demands you anticipate when an assassin is about to engage, not react to it, and that predictive read takes practice. Not the right pick for players still learning roaming fundamentals, but a Diamond-level player who puts in twenty games finds him remarkably rewarding.