Gameplay

Playstyle
Zeus is an intelligence based hero played as a nuker. Arc Lightning is a great farming spell and can deal good damage to multiple enemies, Lightning Bolt deals a large amount of damage while granting True Sight over the target, Static Field, now required to be unlocked with Aghanim's Shard adds even more damage with every ability Zeus casts on the enemy based on their current health, with it being replaced by Heavenly Jump which slows the nearest enemy for a short duration whilst granting him the ability to jump forward and provide vision around his position for 3 seconds, and Thundergod's Wrath is his ultimate that deals a large amount of damage, gives True Sight, and has a global range, meaning that none can escape from him. However, he has low damage, range, and a bad attack animation, and does not have any long-lasting stuns. In addition, he is relatively slow and fragile, and is prone to ganks.
Pros	Cons
High magical damage output. 2 Global abilities. Provides True Sight and vision with Lightning Bolt, Nimbus and Thundergod's Wrath. Strong at defending high ground. Relatively easy to play. Easy to snowball. Has two spammable spells with Arc Lightning and Lightning Bolt. Can potentially burst some squishy enemies globally using a Refresher combo. Somewhat good escape from early ganks.	Has only short stuns and slows as disables. Extremely Squishy. Extremely mana-demanding. Countered by spell immunity. Bad attack range. Easily shut down in the early game. Thundergod's Wrath's damage can easily be negated by going invisible. Struggles against high Magic Resistance and high Health Regeneration.

Ability Builds

Mid Zeus
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Alternative Mid
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Support
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Alternative Support
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Talents

Tips & Tactics

General

• Zeus can dominate lanes, take easy kills, deal massive damage and give vision to your team for easy ganks. He is not very item-dependent but can benefit greatly from them.
• If absolutely necessary to avoid death, you can take Heavenly Jump at level 1.
• Zeus can also be played as a support. Given little items he can do heavy magical damage.
• Zeus has pretty high right click damage, and high base armor. If you can, trade with the enemy supports, as you will dish out way more damage than them, winning the trade. If it looks like the trade is not going your way, or if their carry is coming over to help, Heavenly Jump away.
• Always have enough gold to buy Aghanim's Shard at 15 minutes.
• Always watch your positioning as the Lightning Bolt and Arc Lightning have relatively long ranges, and Thundergod's Wrath has global range. Often, there is no reason to be up close in battle unless you are chasing down heroes; and Zeus' fragility compounds this.
• If you find that you are being heavily focused in teamfights, take more points into Heavenly Jump. If you're playing as a support, consider getting Aether Lens, Glimmer Cape, or Force Staff. Essentially, do whatever you can to keep yourself alive, since you are very fragile but needed in fights.
• Despite his description saying he is only a carry and a nuker, he is actually much more. He has an escape and heavy slow in his Heavenly Jump, and a ministun in his Lightning Bolt, making him a disabler and an escaper.
  • He is also a support, due to the fact that he has a ministun, can give vision, slow enemies, and deward for free.
• You generally want to buy items that increase his mana pool, increase his mana regeneration (so he can avoid going to fountain between each kill), increase his spell amplification and increase his survivability.
  • For this reason, getting Aether Lens is almost always necessary on Zeus.
  • Kaya provides much needed intelligence which increases the size of his mana pool. Also, it provides Mana Regen amplification, which is extremely necessary to keep you going in fights.
  • More of a situational but very powerful item, Ethereal Blade, an upgrade from Aether Lens, adds additional nuking power with the active ability. Additionally, the active can also serve as a defensive measure.
  • If you have a nuke heavy lineup like Sand King, Ancient Apparition, Skywrath Mage, consider getting Veil of Discord (or its upgrade Shiva's Guard. It has a good buildup from Ring of Basilus, is relatively cheap, and provides some attributes. More importantly, the active allows your entire team to dish out more damage.
  • An extremely situational item, Blink Dagger gives Zeus some much needed mobility, and can allow him to escape a lot of bad situations where you're being focused down, if combined with Heavenly Jump.
• Zeus is quite versatile in his ability build with the introduction of Heavenly Jump in 7.31.
• The main difference between the two carry builds is that as of 7.32, the small camp in the mid lane doesn't exist. Therefore, the classic strategy where you shove the lane and farm the small camp doesn't work anymore. And since Zeus is so mana demanding, some people may opt for maxing out Lightning Bolt instead, because it simply scales better.
• The main difference between the two support builds is that at level 1 you can play a bit more riskily.
• Generally, it is better to skip talents on Zeus in favor of maxing out your abilities.
• With the addition of Lightning Hands, Zeus can optionally be built as a basic attack-focused carry by rushing Aghanim's Shard to farm and deal damage. However, this build still relies heavily on casting his abilities before he gets items like Manta Style and Black King Bar.

Abilities

Arc Lightning

• In the laning phase, Arc Lightning can substitute for your normal attack to get last hits due to its low cooldown and long range, helping you stay out of harm's way given that Zeus' attack animation and attack range is rather meager.
• Arc Lightning is a great tool for tower defense, because it draws aggro from a safe range and deals damage over every unit.
• Arc Lightning is a very spammable ability, however, it has a very high mana cost. Be mindful of this and leave enough mana for your other abilities or items.
• Because of its long cast range and spammability, use it to clear creep waves.
• If an enemy has a Magic Stick or Magic Wand, try to cast Arc Lightning from the fog. If the enemy's Magic Stick/Wand does gain a charge when you think it shouldn't, consider using Lightning Bolt to look for an enemy Observer Ward.
• Arc Lightning is your primary spell in the late game due to its percentage-based damage.

Lightning Bolt

• Always use Lightning Bolt before Arc Lightning so you may not lose vision of your opponent in the fog.
• If you target the ground with Lightning Bolt from the fog, you won't reveal yourself to the enemy who gets hit by it. If you directly target them, they'll get vision of you.
• If an enemy you are chasing is about to escape your vision, cast Lightning Bolt on the ground right beside them rather than targeting their hero directly, as it will prevent the ability's cast animation from cancelling upon losing vision, and Zeus will also cast the ability through the fog of war.
• Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath provide True Sight. Do not be afraid to use your ultimate or cast Lightning Bolt where you think they may be if you believe an invisible enemy may be sneaking up on you or attempting to escape; if an enemy is invisible in a team fight make sure to cast Lightning Bolt before casting Thundergod's Wrath so that the granted True Sight allows your ultimate to damage the invisible target.
• Because Lightning Bolt offers True Sight and flying vision, you can cast it on the ground near cliff-sides or other popular warding areas to check for wards and de-ward without actually purchasing sentry wards.
  • If playing as a support, generally you start out with Lightning Bolt for the damage it provides. If you have the time, consider dewarding your mid lane, giving your midlaner an advantage.
• Early game, you won't have enough mana to cast Lightning Bolt unless you absolutely know where an Observer Ward is. In later stages of the game, you should have enough mana and mana regen to be constantly casting Lightning Bolts to look for wards.
• Use Lightning Bolt to check areas in trees enemies might hide in.
• Use Lightning Bolt to interrupt channeling abilities.
• The ministun lasts for 0.3 seconds, 0.7 seconds with the level 20 talent.
• With the area-of-effect talent, the individual Lightning Bolts are still considered unit-targeted even though the ability itself no longer is, meaning they can still trigger Linken's Sphere and Phylactery.

Heavenly Jump

• Heavenly Jump is an ability that helps Zeus slow a certain nearby enemy whilst dealing low damage.
• Though it's not quite spammable and strong unlike his other basic spells, it also works as an escape tool for Zeus to jump out of fights whenever he is in danger.
• Zeus always jumps forward when casting this ability, akin to Force Staff; ensure that the landing does not get you into trouble.
• This is a very powerful slow, since not only does it last for a massive 2.5 seconds at max level, it also slows enemies' attack speed and cast speed.
• Use aggressively in teamfights only if you know the enemy will not go on you.
• Heavenly Jump allows Zeus to leap over impassable terrain.
• With the level 15 talent, you strike 2 enemies at once, allowing for more disabling potential. However, be mindful that you sacrifice +350 health, and health is something Zeus desperately needs because he is so squishy.

Thundergod's Wrath

• Try to maintain enough mana for Thundergod's Wrath, as the potential to get a kill from across the map will be more useful then constantly spamming Arc Lightning or Lightning Bolt for last hits.
• When trying to kill low HP heroes (low, but not low enough for Ultimate only) in hard to navigate areas use Thundergod's Wrath to gain vision of your enemy so you can Lightning Bolt them to death.
• Thundergod's Wrath can have a good synergy with Thirst, since it reveals any enemy heroes that are at low health, so Zeus can simply cast it to get a kill(s).
• Thundergod's Wrath should only be used to acquire a kill if your carry is unable to attain it themselves. In most encounters, it should be used early in the fight to make things easier for one's team.
• Thundergod's Wrath can also be used to pre-emptively put the enemy's Blink Dagger on cooldown before a teamfight breaks out.
• Since abilities that deal fixed spell damage values don't scale well into late game, combining it with allied spells like Bloodrage and Ancient Seal keeps him relevant for longer.
• Because it gives vision and True Sight, Thundergod's Wrath can be used to scout for the enemy team if multiple enemies are missing. This can reveal attempts to gank or take Roshan, especially if they are under the effects of Smoke of Deceit since said item will not be revealed nor take damage from Thundergod's Wrath.

Nimbus

• Use Nimbus after Thundergod's Wrath to snipe low health enemies.
• Use Nimbus on distant creep waves to help push, as it obtains more map control for your team, thus opening up opportunities to advance the overall game plan.
• Nimbus will mini-stun its target, which is good for canceling channeling abilities and items, especially Town Portal Scrolls from anywhere on the map.
  • Make sure to use Nimbus as close as possible to the desired target as it casts Lightning Bolt at the closest target to the cloud.
• Nimbus will hit invisible units, acting like a Sentry Ward since it covers quite a large area. It will also hit units under the effects of Smoke of Deceit (although they will not be revealed).
• Nimbus will also hit units in fog of war, allowing Zeus to reveal enemies hiding in the trees for example. Use this ability to ruin the enemy's initiator's Blink Dagger at the beginning of a teamfight.
• Enemies need vision of the Nimbus in order to attack it; the Nimbus will not be revealed even after it shocks them. As such, placing the Nimbus on cliffs or over tree lines can ensure the enemy will have a hard time trying to deal with the Nimbus.
• After a successful scan, use Nimbus to further reveal the number of enemies in a given area.
• Use Nimbus to scout the status of Roshan.
• Use Nimbus as an area denial tool to dissuade enemies from entering, so Zeus and his allies can escape with Town Portal Scrolls.
• Keep in mind when itemizing that Nimbus' strike interval is not affected by cooldown reduction items and talents, however the cooldown on the Nimbus ability itself is.

Lightning Hands

• Lightning Hands gives Zeus even more damage when his spells have hit their peak, letting him get more value from his basic attacks.
• Keep in mind that Arc Lightning's cast range is far longer than Zeus' attack range, making casting Arc Lightning safer than using Lightning Hands. However, Lightning Hands is phenomenal for clearing creeps, farming, and focusing down disabled enemies as it costs no mana and can be scaled with attack speed.
  • If building around Lightning Hands, use it exclusively to farm early on before you get synergistic items, and use your active abilities to deal with enemy heroes. Using Lightning Hands safely requires a decent amount of farm to make Zeus less vulnerable.
• Build attack speed items such as Moon Shard to spam out more Arc Lightning. Manta Style illusions can also trigger the effect with reduced damage, and can be sent forward to engage and use Lightning Hands while Zeus remains safely in the back.

Items

Starting items:

• Tango regenerates HP for Zeus to stay in lane.
• Enchanted Mango gives burst mana for Zeus to use abilities. Always get at least one or two.
• Clarity gives constant supply of mana for Zeus to farm with Arc Lightning.
• Iron Branch gives attributes, and Zeus can combine it with Tango for more heal.

Early game:

• Boots of Speed will make you faster, allowing for easier escapes and a better time catching up to enemy heroes.
• Bottle allows for lane control and sustainability through runes. Getting it early helps you to maintain your mana to get last hits consistently.
• Null Talisman gives more intelligence and maximum mana, allowing for a larger mana pool to spam his abilities.

Mid game:

• Arcane Boots sustain Zeus' high rate of spell casting and give him the mana pool necessary to remain relevant in longer engagements.
• Aether Lens makes you better at your job by dealing lots of magical damage from as far back as possible.
• Phylactery is reliably triggered by both of Zeus' primary nukes, and greatly improves his damage output.
• Kaya Gives you a cheap but much needed boost to mana regen and spell damage.

Late game:

• Kaya and Sange Makes you tankier and deal more spell damage, since it directly upgrades from Kaya. The added Status Resistance is amazing, especially against a debuff heavy enemy lineup.
• Octarine Core increases Zeus's damage output with its cooldown reduction and mana regeneration.
• Refresher Orb gives you much needed Mana Regen, doubles your damage output via Thundergod's Wrath and Nimbus and allows you to participate in larger teamfights from across the map.
• Boots of Travel gives great mobility and allows for more efficient teleports, allowing Zeus to shove out lanes at a rapid pace and still have the time to join fights, and can be upgraded to further enhance his global presence.

Situational items:

• Soul Ring can help with early mana issues.
• Glimmer Cape is a good pickup on support Zeus if you find that you or your teammates are dying very quickly in fights and need protection. Be mindful, however, of Dust of Appearance and Sentry Wards.
• Force Staff is a good choice for mobility and utility, very useful for evading carries and kiting spell immune targets. It can later be built into Hurricane Pike to synergize with Lightning Hands.
• Ghost Scepter can be a great choice if you find yourself getting blown up by physical damage. It can also be upgraded into an Ethereal Blade, which can be used to disable the enemy carry, save yourself and allies, and deal a massive amount of burst damage in combination with your spells.
• Bloodstone grants more health and more mana, which are very needed for Zeus, and Bloodpact grants a lot of health due to his high spell damage.
• Scythe of Vyse gives a much-needed boost to Zeus' mana and grants a hard disable to deal with troublesome enemies, particularly for shutting down Black King Bar users.
• Black King Bar allows a carry Zeus to dish out damage without fear of being shut down.
• Dagon can be considered on Zeus, especially with Ethereal Blade, to enhance his nuke damage and grant survivability through Spell Lifesteal.
• Blink Dagger and its upgrade Overwhelming Blink can be considered if you need more mobility. It allows Zeus to stay out of the way of initiations and engage on his own terms.
• Manta Style can be purchased after Aghanim's Shard for pushing and teamfighting, as the illusions can use Lightning Hands to put out area of effect damage.
• Moon Shard is an excellent item for a basic attack-focused build by letting Zeus trigger Lightning Hands much more frequently.