User blog comment:MrSuperSpy/Zakayza, the Scorched Soul/@comment-24982989-20141209035439

Honestly, you have your build gravitated a lot around the Mark mechanic and the power of the Q + W without much in the passive or active part of R at all. Here are my thoughts about how to better balance it all out.

1) I'd reccomend moving the Scorched Mark system to an addition to the passive and have the q trigger it as well. For example, " Zakayza's auto-attacks deal an additional  2 × level   (+10% AP)  magic damage and apply a mark of Scorch. Ember marks increase base damage of auto attacks by 20% and cap at 2." Though, to balance, I would say to reduce the power to 5% each, 10% max. While potent in duels, it isn't oppressive.

2) With the Q.... a) It's really text heavy for one ability, b) the passive has scaling that... scales off of rank, which does not happen. c) honestly does significant damage and has massive range for a "field around the champion" just off of the effective 6 second CD and 30 mana cost to be far more significant than Mundo's Burning Agony or Shyvana's Burnout. d) Does getting hit with another Scorched attack refresh the duration of all previous marks? e) The simpler way to phrase the is "Zakayza's next auto attack deals additional magic damage and deals damage through a piercing line of 400 units. Scorch-empowered Auto attacks deal 70% less damage to minions."

3) With the W, a) passive seems perfectly fine, helps with chasing, b) the 5% missing HP scaling is missing from your damage rundown on the right c) your ability description says nothing about it scaling off of mana, nor does that fit the theme or your champion d) The initial hit's bonus is very weak unless being used to execute someone leaving with almost no HP left (a t 10% HP remaining that scaling would only deal 4.5% as magic damage, not calculating the resistance due to MR. ), in which case the entire point of having the W passive MS based on the Mark system tied to Q (and Autos) seems very limited. e) While this ability becomes more useful in teamfights, the other bounces will be very minimal in top lane (where I assume she would be played) f) the "boomerang" return bonus... seems really pointless for an executing skill, which the missing HP scaling implies, except for team fights. g) The mark consumption damage, in comparison to the 5% missing HP scaling, seems strong and potent. Good. h) if one of your basic abilities requires four points to explain, that's a sign that you need to overlook how to condense it. Many ults don't have the complexity of this skill.

4) With the E, a) You NEVER have an ability that is not an empowered auto attack scale off of total AD. You scale it off of bonus AD. b) "Scorch Buff"? You explained  Mark/Debuff system but not a buff. c) It'd seem easier to combine aspects these two abilities into one, as they remain so similar, and just have it do more damage by bursting the Mark.if she damages a champion with it d) If/When you combine these, either make it a dash that does damage along the way (Sequani/Vi Q or Shyvana Ult) or a targetted dash that deals damage on contact (Vault, Lee Sin Q, Twisted Advance, etc but not both. e) With a hybrid scaling ability like this, make sure to keep your Bonus AD ratio in check.

5) With the Ultimate, a) 45% bonus attack speed at rank 3 at ALL times seems pretty devastating, while the 1.3x multiplier for the bonus magic damage to autos is fairly weak. b) The damage is PITIFUL. As a Melee caster, she'd focus far more on her AD building if not do it exclusively. c) Rank 3, healing for 80% of what remains of 60 magic damage after Mr is the BEST case scenario of what she will get from each champion, assuming she doesn't have an immense AP build. d) In short, the AS steroid is too strong, the passive multiplier is negligible, and the actual active is almost worthless, even with the really low cooldown which makes this seem like another basic ability and further makes your W seem like an Ult.

Overall: Your champion can't seem to be a Melee ADC who relies on doing a lot of on-hit effect and pressure with an execute and a gap closer to a Melee Caster who applies a few marks in a fairly quick engage and then burst down with two others ablities in a teamfight. Your mark system should be one that your autos and an ability can apply while another ability or two apply it (Ashe, Darius, Urgot, Varus, Vayne, and Vi are all examples of this template). Your passive and ultimate's active effect bring almost nothing to the champion as a whole, Q and W are far too complex for basic abilities, the passive of Q should basically be altered into another ability if kept in the kit, and the E's should be comprimised into one ability that has an extra effect from consuming the mark.