Are you looking for an ADC that plays safe AND deals a ton of damage? Do you enjoy poking your enemies down without having to take damage yourself? If you find yourself nodding yes, then Ezreal just might be the perfect champion for you. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to play The Prodigal Explorer.

Ezreal is one of the most fascinating champions in the game. His extremely long range combined with his built-in mobility make him a very safe pick against every matchup. The only downside is that all of his abilities are skillshots meaning they aren’t targeted so if you missed them, you’d be losing a huge part of your damage. His raw DPS is also pretty low compared to scaling hyper carries like Jinx or Kog’Maw. Despite his flaws, Ezreal is still a solid pick and would easily succeed no matter the meta.

Champion Abilities

Ezreal is a caster ADC meaning that most of his damage will come from his abilities. His abilities all have a really long range to make up for his short basic attack range. Unlike most ADCs, Ezreal isn’t afraid to get up close and personal with his enemies. With that said, let’s take a closer look at each of his abilities

Passive – Rising Spell Force

Ezreal’s Attack Speed increases by 10% (lasts for 6 seconds) every time he successfully hits enemies with his abilities, stacking up to 5 times. This is a fairly straightforward passive. It makes Ezreal even more reliant on landing his abilities. The bonus Attack Speed caps at 50% when fully stacked so, this can prove to be the difference maker during team fights or skirmishes. 

Q – Mystic Shot

Ezreal fires a bolt of energy, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit and reducing his Ability Cooldowns by 1.5 seconds. 

This is Ezreal’s bread and butter. Most of his damage will come from this ability. Since it also applies On-hit effects, this ability synergizes with items like Sheen very well. Consistently landing this ability during team fights will allow you dish out tons of damage while maintaining a relatively safe distance. Take this ability at level 1 and max it first.

W – Essence Flux

Ezreal fires a magical orb that sticks to the first champion, structure, or epic jungle monster hit for 4 seconds. If Ezreal hits that target with a basic attack or an ability, it detonates dealing magic damage. Detonating with an Ability refunds the Mana cost of that ability plus 60 Mana. 

Ezreal is very reliant on his abilities, so you’ll find yourself draining your Mana very quickly. Essence Flux helps you stay on your lane by refunding some of your Mana whenever you hit your abilities. Not only does it help you stay in your lane, it allows you deal a lot more damage whenever you hit enemies that are afflicted by Essence Flux. Weaving it into your combos makes it a very powerful ability and can chunk a huge portion of your enemies’ health, especially if they are squishy.

E – Arcane Shift

Ezreal teleports to a nearby location and fires a bolt at the nearest enemy, dealing magic damage. The bolt prioritizes enemies afflicted with Essence Flux. 

This is Ezreal’s gap closer and escape tool. Apart from the long range from his abilities, Arcane Shift is what makes Ezreal a very safe pick. It’s like having another Flash, but with a lower cooldown.  Arcane Shift has a long cooldown and a pretty high mana cost compared to Ezreal’s other abilities, so make sure you don’t waste it. 

R – Trueshot Barrage

Ezreal fires a massive energy arc that deals magic damage. The arc deals 50% damage to minions and non-epic jungle monsters. 

Ezreal’s ultimate is one of the few abilities in the game that has a global range. Meaning that Trueshot Barrage will travel across the map and will hit anyone standing in its way. It’s great for sniping off low-health enemies, clearing minion waves, helping your teammates, and in some instances, stealing objectives like Baron or Dragon. 

Runes and Item Builds

Ezreal has a little bit of flexibility when it comes to Runes and Item Builds. Ideally, you would want to build items with the Spellblade passive which is an On-hit effect that enhances your next basic attack after using an ability. Since Mystic Shot applies On-hit effects, it would be greatly empowered when combined with Spellblade. Items with Spellblade include Trinity Force, Essence Reaver, and Divine Sunderer. With the current meta, the ideal build for Ezreal would go something like this:

Start off the game with a Doran’s Blade plus a couple of Health Potions. On your first back, try to get a Tear of the Goddess and a Sheen if you can afford it. Since Tanks and Bruisers are pretty powerful in the meta right now, the percent health bonus damage from Divine Sunderer is very useful. If you feel like your opponent’s aren’t all that tanky, it’s okay to swap it out for a Trinity Force instead. Serylda’s Grudge gives you additional armor penetration and slows enemies every time you use a damaging ability. Chempunk Chainsword applies Grievous Wounds to your attacks and Frozen Heart gives you armor, mana, and ability haste; stats that are important for Ezreal.

For runes, taking Conqueror maximizes your damage output and gives you crazy sustain. With all the cooldown reduction you have, you’ll be spamming your abilities a lot and you’ll stack up Conqueror in no time. Presence of Mind and Manaflow Band solves your mana shortage in the early game. Legend: Bloodline gives you lifesteal and is better than Legend: Alacrity since you won’t be relying too much on your basic attacks. 

There’s another alternate build for Ezreal that focuses more on dealing burst damage as opposed to sustained damage. Instead of opting for Tri Force or Divine Sunderer, you’ll go for Duskblade of Draktharr as your Mythic item. You’ll still need Spellblade and mana regeneration so you’ll also take Essence Reaver. Death’s Dance allows you to play more aggressively and gives you survivability. Ravenous Hydra rounds out the build, giving you wave clear since it’s passive works well with Mystic Shot plus some lifesteal.

For runes, take Dark Harvest as your key stone. With this rune setup, you should be more aggressive with your trades to stack up Dark Harvest. Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter gives you additional heal, while Eyeball Collection gives you additional damage.

Useful Tips

1. Ezreal has a weak early game so try to focus on farming instead. Use Mystic Shot to poke or harass your enemies whenever they get too close. Once you get your Sheen, you can start trading aggressively. 
2. You have a very strong two item power spike. Regardless of which build path you chose, a Spellblade item (Divine Sunderer, Trinity Force, Essence Reaver) plus a damaging item (Manamune, Duskblade of Draktharr) gives you insane damage.
3. Ezreal is strong against champions like Vayne and Jinx. Although they are hyper carries and can scale better than Ezreal, he can shut them down early so that they wouldn’t have to go to the late game.
4. Ezreal is easily countered by Sivir and Draven. Draven has very strong burst damage thanks to his Q and an Attack Speed buff that helps him win every duel against Ezreal. Sivir, on the other hand, has a spell shield that can block Ezreal’s spells. Her burst is much stronger as well and can easily erase Ezreal if he messes up.
5. Always take Flash as one of your summoner spells. The other slot should be reserved for either Heal, Barrier, or Cleanse. Choose whichever fits your matchup. 

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Ezreal in League of Legends. Don’t be afraid to experiment with other builds and most importantly, have fun. Be sure to check back with us again for more guides on your favorite games and we’ll see you on the Rift!