Talk:Zilean/@comment-4499945-20120413233231/@comment-2112140-20120417110645

Start with boots and 3 potions so you can dodge their harass and keep safe range while applying bombs. Get a fast dorans ring for the mana issues that you might have and get one ward. Just keep last hitting and try to keep your lane steady because we all know Zilean's bombs can be used to enemy jungler's advantage by enemy mids that can get between all minions and make you push the lane keeping a less steady lane. When you finally go back get a Catalyst and if you can finish shoes into sorcerer shoes. Now you have your sustainability. As you play further get items like Rod of Ages Rabadon's Deathcap and Frozen Heart. Now you need 2 last items. Like Endless Exceptions said the items are optional.

Since you are tankier with that Frozen Heart and Rod of Ages for your help you should think about what you need for the rest of the game.

If you want to deal more damage get items like Void Staff and Rylais Crystal Scepter. These items will provide you with higher damage Void staff increasing your ability power and magic penetration and Rylais Crystal Scepter for more utility to the team, also health and ability power.

For bonus survivabilty get items like Banshee's Veil or even Guardian Angel for that annoying Zilean. Banshee's Veil is very amazing on any champion, it can save the life and also ruin champions with comboes (unless they have a good spell to break a Banshee's Veil such as Xerath who can use his ult once and he will only miss out on one charge then use all abilities.) Guardian Angel with Zilean is just the combination you want to have forever your ultimate applies before the guardian angel and when you get killed you can use your ultimate to save yourself and your guardian angel then live and live till the ultimate refreshes and use ultimate OR die again and see how GA activates and maybe save time for your team to arrive.

If you want the survivability and power get items like Zhonya's Hourglass or Abyssal Scepter. These items never hurt your damage and provide great survivability in the type of so get Abyssal scepter against people such as Karthus or Lux and get Hourglass vs things like Fiora or Tryndamere. I should also mention that if you get hourglass vs any channeling champion then they truly can't do anything to you, because you can use your hourglass active to save self from the damage of Karthus Requiem or Nunu's Absolute Zero. Also if playing vs Tryndamere its good to use hourglass after 3 seconds of his ultimate then use hourglass that lasts 2 seconds and chase that tryndamere :)

Optional Items: Will of The Ancients - Grants bonus spell vamp to you and you also get bonus AP also good when your team is pretty much spell based like something like Urgot for the carry Pantheon jungler Riven solo top Zilean you mid Blitzcrank for the support. Then your team automatically gets a huge advantage with that Will of the Ancients.

Lich Bane - I've seen a couple of Zileans using TP with a huge AP build and a lich bane. Just to say that they were unkillable when they TP'd, backdoored, used ultimate in ganks, had their Zhonya's to ignore the CC and killed everyone by using a slow combo of Qattack-Wattack-Qattack and dealing a lot of damage.

There are more choices as Zilean, if you're willing to learn Zilean AP mid or was just wondering try asking a more experienced Zilean player, myself I have played about 100 normals as Zilean mid, but I don't play him anymore because now I find other AP carries more viable and that Zilean is just not meant to be played for me. I mean I found champions like Lux Karthus and Viktor that I do truly enjoy more and I find them doing better in mid than him Lux simply zoning enemies with her long range, Karthus keeping his farm up and impossible to stop from getting kills unless the team is something like Karma Urgot Vladimir Fizz Riven (Karma shield heal Urgot shield Vlad immunity Fizz immunity Riven shield) and Viktor just overall fun to play and able to burst a lot of people at once