League of Legends S12: Zac Jungle Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Zac in the jungle in League of Legends.

Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.

That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.

Runes

Core Items

Iceborne Gauntlet

2800 Gold

Thornmail

2700 Gold

Build

Iceborne Gauntlet is a great engage tool on a champion like Zac, slowing the target and aiding your allies. 

Thornmail applies Grievous Wounds, while offering a large degree of tankiness and reflecting damage back to the enemy. 

Other good items include Randuin's Omen, Spirit Visage, Anathema's Chains, and Force of Nature.

Starting Item & Boots

Refillable Potion

150 Gold

Jungle Item

350 Gold

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

950 Gold

Skill Order

While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Zac skill priority is:

R > E > W > Q

Summoner Spells

These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Zac in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.

Gameplay

Zac is all about engage and tanking. His early jungle clear is pretty straightforward, especially when he manages his passive well, so just play passively until he has a few points in Elastic Slingshot. In teamfights, your job will be to dive in and knock up, so your teammates can take advantage. 

• Level 1 - Take W - Unstable Matter, for the AoE damage when farming.
• Level 2 - Take Q - Stretching Strikes. for more damage when clearing. 
• First Back - Pick up a Bami's Cinder, to help with the jungle clear.

Tips & Tricks

• When your passive activates and Zac splits, your allies can use Teleport on any of the Goo blobs to prevent you from dying. This is thanks to the teleport target becoming briefly invincible, although this may change with the S12 Teleport changes. 
• Elastic Slingshot has immense range, and is great for launching yourself into Dragon or Baron pits to steal an objective with Smite.
• Stretching Strikes can be reactivated on a champion, minion, monster, ward, or even a jungle plant. If the enemy moves quickly, for example, you can use it on a minion before attacking the enemy in question. This will activate your passive twice. 
• The cooldown of Unstable Matter is reduced by a second every time you absorb some Goo.