Forum talk:Neekerivittu/@comment-4221730-20121205081411/@comment-218.186.15.10-20121205140923

^ xD

But on a more serious note, no one ever ranks up their W all the way until late game, meaning that it's left at a laughable 5% for most of the game. Choosing to rank it over E would mean a massive reduction in damage output, and makes his ult that much weaker.

Plus, 25% in the late-game is pretty much required for an assassin, especially Zed, due to how he works. Zed's only power is damage, and more damage. His E slow is decent, but nowhere as powerful as other CCs in the game. If you build him offtank, Zed will run out of energy and only be able to AA. Champs like Lee Sin have so much utility that building them offtank still makes them powerful and a high priority in teamfights.

Zed is meant to do as much damage as possible before retreating or dying. He's no Talon, who can stealth and escape, or Akali, who can shroud herself. Zed is also more counterable than other assassins as enemies can easily retaliate and possibly kill Zed before his ult even procs, BUT this is all offset by Zed's crazy damage potential. The whole point of Zed is to punish your enemies for letting you live long enough to do tons of damage, and his W passive helps with that.

Safer assassins have the ability to escape or prevent retaliation from enemies, but pay for that with weaker burst. Zed? Sure, he's more counterable and killable, but if you let him live, you're going to be in a world of hurt. And that's why his W passive is not OP. Maybe on other champions it will, but it works well on Zed and his role in the game in general.