Arena of Valor (AoV) - Zanis Item Builds

Zanis Item Builds. Guide for Arena of Valor (AoV). Each build is geared toward a different play style, so choose one that fits your personal preference.


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Zanis Item Builds

Arena of Valor Zanis Banner

Hero Item Builds List

Core Items

These items are necessary in order to play Zanis optimally. Only diverge from a core item if you are a very experienced player or you have a very good reason for doing so.

Arena of Valor Frost CapeFrost Cape Frost Cape helps Zanis stick to his prey, something that he can struggle with on his own. The stats it offers boosts his defenses with armor and health while also providing some valuable cooldown speed.
Arena of Valor LeviathanLeviathan
or
Arena of Valor Soulreaver
Soulreaver
or
Arena of Valor Scorching Wind
Scorching Wind
There’s an argument to be made for all three of these jungling items for Zanis. Leviathan can give large amounts of health as well as a damaging aura to help him out in longer damage trades. Soulreaver, on the other hand, furthers his offensive potential with stacking attack damage and great cooldown reduction. Lastly, Scorching Wind’s massive +50% attack speed helps Zanis get more of his true damage-boosted attacks off. Choose Leviathan when looking to translate into a warrior that can deal damage over time and choose Soulreaver or Scorching Wind when trying to play as a burst assassin.

Optional Items

Arena of Valor Hercules' MadnessHercules’ Madness A good hybrid item, Hercules’ Madness offers decent amounts of defense as well as a damage steroid when fights get tight. It is particularly useful when regularly cutting it close in fights.
Arena of Valor Medallion of TroyMedallion of Troy Medallion of Troy is a standard defensive choice when facing magic heavy teams and should be taken when an enemy mage is growing out of control. It offers some all around defense as well in the form of a large health boost, and even helps Zanis attack by providing some cooldown speed.
Arena of Valor Spear of LonginusSpear of Longinus Spear of Longinus offers both offensive and defensive stats to its wielder. Zanis can greatly benefit from both, needing the attack damage to tear down foes but also needing a bit of defense to survive the approach. The armor shred that it offers will help him finish off any foes he wasn’t able to tear down with Dragon’s Wrath.
Arena of Valor Hyoga's EdgeHyoga’s Edge Hyoga’s Edge only offers defensive stats, but has offensive uses through its powerful passive. It slows enemies the wielder attacks, giving the attacker a speed boost in the process. As he is fully reliant on his movement speed, this is a great benefit to Zanis when trying to prevent an enemy’s escape.
Arena of Valor Blitz BladeBlitz Blade Blitz Blade is a nice offensive item that increases Zanis’ mobility and lane pressure. As Dragon’s Fury acts on a timer rather than a set number of hits, a higher attack speed will allow him to benefit further from the ability. What separates Blitz Blade apart from several other attack speed items is that it offers attack damage as well, rather than less-useful critical chance.
Arena of Valor Fafnir's TalonFafnir’s Talon Another attack damage and attack speed item, Fafnir’s Talon further capitalizes on a fast attack speed with its powerful on-hit effect. Each strike the wielder makes will do additional damage based on the target’s current health. This, when stacked with the damage from Dragon’s Wrath, can lead to extremely potent attacks.

Boots Upgrade

Arena of Valor Gilded GreavesGilded Greaves Having to run towards his enemies, Zanis can suffer a lot from enemy control effects. While Blood Wyrm does a lot to help in this regard, it can only protect him for so long. Gilded Greaves covers him whenever Blood Wyrm can not.
Arena of Valor Sonic BootsSonic Boots Sonic Boots works best against enemies who focus on dealing damage with their normal attacks. Get this over Gilded Greaves if the opposing marksman or warrior is snowballing hard.
Arena of Valor War BootsWar Boots A much more aggressive option, War Boots provides Zanis some very valuable attack speed. While they leave him much more vulnerable than the other boots options, War Boots is a good choice when building a fully aggressive build.

Sample Item Builds

Here we build Zanis tankily, relying on his natural damage to net him the kills he needs to carry. Leviathan builds up his health as he farms the jungle and burns any that he engages. Frost Cape will keep enemies close as he engages and Hercules’ Madness will pull Zanis up if things start to get close. Fafnir’s Talon is the only purely offensive item, it and Spear of Longinus offering the most to his damage beyond his natural damage sources.

Here we pump up Zanis’ attack so that he can rip down enemies extremely quickly. The only item that doesn’t contribute to his overall DPS in some way is Gaia’s Standard, which will give him a bit of durability while also speeding him along. He won’t need to return often to base, holding a lot of natural healing through Omni Arms, Fafnir’s Talon, and Gaia’s Standard.

Doubling down on his need for attack speed, here we jungle with Scorching Wind to get as much speed as possible, and quickly. Spear and Longinus and Fafnir’s Talon take advantage of this high speed with their on hit effects, so each time Zanis strikes his foe will be devastating. Medallion of Troy balances the build out with a bit of defense.
Late game you can replace boots with Ancestral Glory (new patch), Death Sickle or Hercules’ Madness, while the others are on cooldown.
HOPE YOU LIKE IT, and feel free to ask me what you think about my build. I have tried this build and It works quite effectively and the damage is super insane with Fenrir’s Tooth and the new patch Ancestral Glory (since it provides you more 10% damage that you’ve dealt)
A build that allows for quite a bit of offensive potential, leaning away from defense. Zanis will play more like an assassin here, taking down enemies extraordinarily quickly. He will be a bit fragile, however, making the inclusion of Blade of Eternity even more important later in the game.
This build gives Zanis that sweet 40% cdr mark, makes him tanky, gives him a ton of attack speed, and gives him decent auto attacks due to scorching wind and fafnirs passives.
A good mix of offense and defense that will allow Zanis to attack rather quickly with his empowered attacks. Fafnir’s Talon and Scorching Wind will empower his attacks and give Zanis a bit of extra damage when not enhanced by his ultimate. The rest of the build will give him some staying power through defense.
Ra provides needed armor and provides enough protection that any enemy will need Rankbreaker and Pierce Arcana to do decent damage. Warboots for the atkspd on his 5 seconds of ult… Rankbreaker to ensure all Squishies die swiftly, Gaia for some magic D, health, Regen and mvmnt speed to aid in closing gaps or escaping with 1 skill. Fafnirs to add more atkspd, ad, and % based damage for the fat guys. Finally Fenris for the big 200 AD and the plus 30% on his TRUE damage once the enemy is below 50% health. Play smart, use your 1 skill to run away from bad fights. When you get a chance to 1v1 someone close the gap with 1 hot your ult then your 2 skill and smash that attack button until the enemy is down. Hit 1 skill and run to safety or nearet objective.
A very aggressive build, going all in on Zanis’ offense with only a few items offering anything to his defense. He will be able to tear down all but the very tankiest enemies rather quickly. The main thing that players using this build will have to watch out for is getting caught out, as they will extremely vulnerable if locked down.
Switch between Armor and Magic Defence based on one item only and the enemy team composition. Atk speed or Move Speed, based on your team play. The CDR is maxed out but with Medallion Of Troy 10% goes to waste. Very very helpful when in team fights. Start getting money from first few waves then jungle to the end. Pls try and discuss about the flaws. ???? ENJOY
This is a hybrid build that gets Zanis a bit of extra bite along with the defensive items. I might rearrange some of the items myself, putting Spear of Longinus a bit higher rather than at the bottom if nothing else. That said, the items are all rather beneficial to the dragoon and can lead to a very durable death machine.
This Build comes out as a Kill-demanding build which requires the users to be Extra aggresive at using him, so that his Passive could get up to 20 as fast as possible. Scorching winds mellow up with Zanis Basic attack after each Ulti he strikes. Fenrir tooth will help him strike Enemies in Early to Middle Stage game. While in late Game, he’s already helped with F.Cape as his helper in marking kills. Muramasa helped him to deal with Tanks and of course, the last Item Aegis helped with its CDR and Phys.Def. The last item is modifiable and could also be used as Troy for additional Anti – Mage Defense

Its squishy Zanis, i knew, but with him able to constantly harass enemies Carry, he will be a great help as he troubled the growth of those heroes, which in turns has a good effect in Late Game.

This build completely leans into Zanis’ ability to snowball. He will be a glass cannon, able to rip down enemies extremely quickly. Conversely, he will be very vulnerable to attack, lacking much when it comes to defense.

Send us your builds!

Have a build you want to share? Think you have a build that’s better than what we have listed? Put it in the comments, along with any (optional) explanations for how it works. If we like it, we’ll include it in our sample builds section – just let us know what name you want us to refer you as. For example: “ALG Rest’s Super Duper Support Build.” Feel free to include any social media accounts you want us to link to.

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43 Comments

  1. Name- Atomic Samurai (Beta)
    1- Mantle of Ra
    2- GLIDED GREAves
    3- Omni Arms
    4- Fafnir Talon
    5- SLIKK’S sting
    6- Fenrir Tooth

    • Name- On Rocket Fuel
      ARCANA- 100 Armor Pierce
      1.Hermes boots( For movement and crucial escapes)
      2.Spear Of Longinus
      3.Hercules Madness
      4.Clave Sancti
      5.Omni Arms
      6.Slikk Sting
      Note
      Extremely powerful build
      Can squash any hero with insane critical damage(3553)
      Recommend for solo,finisher
      This build is only for zanis veterans. Other may find it difficult to use.

  2. Name- Despair
    1- Mantle of Ra
    2- GLIDED GREAVES
    3- Omni Arms
    4- Mail of pain
    5- Medallion of Troy
    6- Blades of eternity/FENRIR tooth/Spear of Longinus

  3. Build Name: The Tragic Net V2
    Build: Soulreaver, Gilded Greaves, Spear Of Longinus, Frost Cape, Medallion Of Troy/Gaia’s Standard, Mail Of Pain(Or Any Other).

    For the buffed Zanis.
    I can’t use the full AD Zanis people use, so hybrid works.
    I was new with the first build, but now SOL is placed in its right place.
    Complete 40% CDR, you only need Blue for Mana.
    I suggest not to buy Blade Of Eternity in most games, as it is a waste of gold and item for Zanis, though if you have a good team, you can go for it, but it is just 40% CDR keep that in mind, besides it is very obvious that enemies will wait for you there.

    Soulreaver and SOL provide damage for both Zanis and Physical Dmg dealers.
    Gilded Greaves provide Magic Defense and Resistance
    Frost Cape contains enemies, by now you have 40% CDR.
    Other two items are just for tankiness.

  4. I call this item named”Super Maniac Zanis”Threats:Soulreaver,War Boots/Hermes Select,Omni Arms,Claves Sancti,Fenfir’s Tooth/Muramasa,Fenrir’s Tooth

  5. Here is a good multitask Zanis build that I am currently using in Rank. I called it the “Triple Threats”

    Leviathan, Gilded Greaves, Mantle of Ra, Rankbreaker, Medallion of Troy, Fenrir’s Tooth.

    This Build is a build that requires the player to be aggressive early game and knows their way around Zanis ult very well. This is something that I’ve come up with after being inspired by Butterfly’s infamous “Tankerfly” build. Leviathan and Mantle of Ra are good defensive items that also offer quite a bit of offensive capability with their “Burn” passive that deal magic damage. However, I do not recommend going for Leviathan right away but opt for Gnoll Clever early games since Zanis’ CDR is rather slow and it is better to just move on the other items, you can buy it after getting RankBreaker for the extra damage and wave clear. RankBreaker and Fenrir Tooth offer Zanis option when dealing with armored targets and also significantly boost up his burst potential against squishy. And finally, Gilded greaves and Medallion for Magic defense and Resistance, a cherry on top of an extra 10% CDR.

    During the early phase of the match, this build can really pull you down if you are not aggressive and can consequently throw your game. But, once it gets up to speed, Mid and Late Game wouldn’t be a problem. Remember, this is Butterfly inspired! Play him like her.

    • Squishy, Armor doesn’t work without HP in higher games.
      Good for Zanis but cant compare to BF.
      Still cant do much without attackspeed or Dmg.
      Burns make it Bruiser Warrior but again WITHOUT HP.
      He’ll be a burden to the team.

  6. I call this build of mine “Extreme Aggressor Zanis”

    The item will be Scorching Winds, War Boots, Fafnir Talon, Fenrir Tooth, Frost Cape, Muramasa, and then The Aegis.

    This Build comes out as a Kill-demanding build which requires the users to be Extra aggresive at using him, so that his Passive could get up to 20 as fast as possible. Scorching winds mellow up with Zanis Basic attack after each Ulti he strikes. Fenrir tooth will help him strike Enemies in Early to Middle Stage game. While in late Game, he’s already helped with F.Cape as his helper in marking kills. Muramasa helped him to deal with Tanks and of course, the last Item Aegis helped with its CDR and Phys.Def. The last item is modifiable and could also be used as Troy for additional Anti – Mage Defense

    Its squishy Zanis, i knew, but with him able to constantly harass enemies Carry, he will be a great help as he troubled the growth of those heroes, which in turns has a good effect in Late Game.

    • You cannot Harass with this its too Squishy and CC Prone.
      After Gold Zanis won’t do much with Squishy builds.
      Your damage needs to be focused on 1 person so if in a team fight you’ll be targeted first.
      Replace War with Gilded at the least.
      You can win small fights live 1v1 or 1v2 in some cases.
      You need to be very careful using this build.
      Even my build cannot do much without a good team.

      • Understood. Thank you very much. Its still a very much experimental by me and so far, i’ve been able to evade CC with First skill. But yeah, you got a point. I’ll try to give a better one.

  7. Zanis Bruiser Build > Zanis damage build.

    Here are my reasons why a Zanis bruiser will always out play a Zanis Damage build.

    1. Leviathan. Important item that allows him to survive all the burst damage thrown at him. The HP stacks and the armor helps him with those bursty Champions like Kriknak and Murad etc. The passive is nice if the fights are extended due to magic damage AOE.

    2. Gilded Greaves. One of his most important items. If you rely on S1 to get you out of anything, think again. Chain CC will destroy your Zanis if it cant get debuffed quickly. With this item it allows you to debuff CC faster than normal. The magic defense helps also since there isn’t many magic defense items. I wouldn’t recommend any other boots for Zanis.

    3. Omi Arms. This is where his Bruiser damage comes into play. The HP, damage , life steal, attack speed, and the CDR boost is a great item for Zanis to dish out extra damage with the passive of Omi Arms after every ability casted.

    4. Hercules’ Madness. One of my favorite items for Zanis. It gives you Damage, magic defense, and armor. But the important part of this item is its passive. When his hp falls below 40% it grants him a shield for 8 seconds and adds 40 attack damage. But the reason why its my favorite item, is that it allows him to 1v3, 1v4, 1v5. They will not see the item Proc till its too late. They are either all dead or you killed a few an get out an live with 1 hit away from death.

    5. Crimson Banner. The Hp boost an the armor helps you get more durability to those dang bursty champions. The passive is what helps in those pesky team fights. If you’re the one getting focused or just almost dead. that 20% hp heal in 5 seconds helps you and your team out in those team fights if you secure the kill or team does. So you can be on the front lines longer.

    6. Medallion of Troy. Great magic defense items for those dang magic users. Why the last item you ask. It’s because you are tanky enough to fight all those other users who are not magic users but still need magic defense for those who are. With out this item you will see the difference when a magic user tries to burst you down but still you will be ok at this point but he/she will make you zone from lack of magic defense.

    7. Fenrirs’ Tooth or Blade of Eternity. This is an optional item for #6. If you think the damage is lacking and need to sacrifice an item Medallion of Troy is replaceable. You should be tanky enough to survive the mage’s burst. Fenrirs’ Tooth is a great damage item for his build due to adding 200 damage an increase damage to opponents who are 50%hp or below to add 30% more damage. Blade of Eternity is nice adding some armor and attack damage. The passives of this item is a game changer. It allows you to resurrect to continue the fight or get away an stops you from being shut down. If you start to notice you are the one being focused in team fights, this item is great for you then to prevent them from taking you out of the fight.

    I hope you enjoy this build as much as I have. I have built Zanis all kinds of ways. To me this is the best build for him. But every build is always situational except this build always carries me. You are a front line bruiser who can run past there front line an dive their ADC or APC. But remember with this build his damage will seem like it’s not there till you ult. Then you will see where his Bruiser damage comes into play. So like any other champ, have his ult always ready to burst them down and get out. True damage OP.

  8. This is a better version for Durable Jungler and much more…
    Soulreaver > War Boots / Hermes’ Select > Crimson Banner / Medallion of Troy > Frost Cape > Shield Of The Lost > Spear Of Longinus.
    Switch between Armor and Magic Defence based on one item only and the enemy team composition.
    Atk speed or Move Speed, based on your team play. The CDR is maxed out but with Medallion Of Troy 10% goes to waste.
    Very very helpful when in team fights.
    Start getting money from first few waves then jungle to the end.
    Pls try and discuss about the flaws. ???? ENJOY

  9. Zanis I think wasit suited more as a finisher rather a tank or warrior, so I build it to make it burst dmg as assassin. So I would go, Soulreaver, War Boots, Omni Arms, Muramasa, Fenrir’s Tooth, and Death Sickle. It may sound stupid like but it works forfor me as Dragon’s Wrath sometimes in cooldown and you need to shreds the squishies before others started to gank you. Theres was also other option, If people want Fafnirs Talon as one of their item, go with this build, Flash Boot, Spear of Longinus, Frost Cape, Fafnirs Talon, Fenrirs Tooth and Blitz Blade.

  10. So, I made a support build and, before you call me an idiot, it actually works pretty well since Zanis has some great burst potential for ganks. It plays similarly to a jungler without needing to jungle. First, grab heal. This allows you to actually support your team. For the support item i like the essence of the wind for the defense, especially the active ability. It allows you to escape from sticky situations rather easily.

    My build is:
    Essence of the Wind
    Gilded Greaves
    Fafnir’s Talon
    The Aegis
    Hyoga’s Edge
    Omni Arms

    Of course, since Zanis can also play DS Lane or jungle, don’t play this build if there’s another support. Start by getting windrider’s talisman for the defense, then get gilded greaves. These give you a bit of survivability for you to tank for your adc in the lane. Finish getting the essence, then start getting fafnir’s talon and go down the list. Once you get the essence of the wind, you should be able to roam the lanes ganking people. I suggest trying to get a few early kills to stack up your passive. The .main points of this build are 30% CDR, up to 40% with 10 Focus arcana, a lot of burst potential with omni arms, and fafnir’s talon’ adding attack speed to boost your ult’s capabilities. It destroys tanks with the ult and fafnir’s, and has a lot of survivability.

  11. SoloSlayerLaner:Mantle of RA, War Boots, Rankbreaker, Gaia, Fafnirs, Fenris… Ra provides needed armor and provides enough protection that any enemy will need Rankbreaker and Pierce Arcana to do decent damage. Warboots for the atkspd on his 5 seconds of ult… Rankbreaker to ensure all Squishies die swiftly, Gaia for some magic D, health, Regen and mvmnt speed to aid in closing gaps or escaping with 1 skill. Fafnirs to add more atkspd, ad, and % based damage for the fat guys. Finally Fenris for the big 200 AD and the plus 30% on his TRUE damage once the enemy is below 50% health. Play smart, use your 1 skill to run away from bad fights. When you get a chance to 1v1 someone close the gap with 1 hot your ult then your 2 skill and smash that attack button until the enemy is down. Hit 1 skill and run to safety or nearet objective. Works for me… I call it the Smoke in the City build… JK I don’t call it anything.

  12. Well, I have an interesting item build for my Zanis. I start with Scorching wind, gilded Greaves, fafnirs talon. I then transition into more of a tank with agies, frost cape, medallion of Troy. This build gives Zanis that sweet 40% cdr mark, makes him tanky, gives him a ton of attack speed, and gives him decent auto attacks due to scorching wind and fafnirs passives.

    • So after some thinking, I’ve switched the placement if frost cape with medallion of troy because aegis provides armor already why not get your magic resist up instead so you’re harder to kill by any source

  13. I would suggest my build for Zanis.
    He will solo top lane.
    Talent:Excute.
    Mantle of Ra->Gilded Greaves (or Sonic Boots)->Omni Arms->The Aegis->Medallion of Troy->Fenrir’s Tooth.
    Late game you can replace boots with Ancestral Glory (new patch), Death Sickle or Hercules’ Madness, while the others are on cooldown.
    HOPE YOU LIKE IT, and feel free to ask me what you think about my build. I have tried this build and It works quite effectively and the damage is super insane with Fenrir’s Tooth and the new patch Ancestral Glory (since it provides you more 10% damage that you’ve dealt)
    🙂

  14. I call it Burst Regen.
    Gilded Greaves > The Beast > Slikk’s Sting > The Beast > Fafnir’s Talon > The Beast
    Purely Damage + Life Steal

    • The builds may have fallen a bit behind given the past two patches. I am going to start working on updating them to get them more up to date (again…) Zanis’ page should remain largely the same, however. The main difference now that Spear of Longinus is a weaker choice than before, though is still a strong pick for him.

        • Mantle of Ra can be a good pick when wanting another hybrid item. The burn it offers additionally goes well with how close Zanis gets to his enemies. If wanting a more purely attack focused item, Rankbreaker is the natural alternative, not requiring build up for its full armor pierce effect. If instead wanting to go fully defensive, grabbing knights plate is relatively cheap and can be later built up into The Aegis for defense and amazing utility or Shield of the Lost for pure defense. I typically prefer The Aegis over Shield of the Lost, but that is due to the pathetic range on Shield’s passive.

          • Why dont try, Uriel’s Brand? It also gives shield like medallion of troy, it gives us +100 AD, +100 HP, and magic shield that less durable than medallion but stilll providesa the shield.

  15. Soulreaver is a way more better jungling item than leviathan,soulreaver gives attack speed,cooldown and if i remember correctly life steal while leviathan just provides health.

    • Saying that Leviathan only gives health is selling it a bit short. It gives a massive amount of health when fully stacked, and its Flame Magic passive does a respectable amount of damage as well. Due to his ultimate, Zanis doesn’t hurt hard for damage. That said, Soulreaver is certainly a great item for the Dragoon and should be listed among the items he should pick. Thank you for the suggestion!