Hey guys! Ready to unleash the dragon and dominate the Land of Dawn with Zilong? This guide is your ultimate resource, packed with insights on his best builds, emblems, gameplay strategies, and even tips inspired by the pros in MPL. Whether you're a seasoned Zilong main or just starting out, we'll transform you into a true spear master!

Understanding Zilong: The Swift Striker

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of builds and gameplay, let's break down what makes Zilong such a formidable hero. Zilong, often referred to as the Swift Striker or Dragon Knight, is a fighter hero known for his exceptional mobility, burst damage, and ability to quickly eliminate high-priority targets. His skills revolve around diving into the backlines, picking off squishy enemies, and escaping before the enemy team can retaliate. This makes him a powerful assassin-fighter hybrid, capable of turning the tide of battle in the blink of an eye.

Zilong's kit is centered around swift attacks and repositioning. His passive, Dragon Flurry, empowers his basic attacks after every few strikes, dealing increased damage. This incentivizes players to stick to their targets and continuously attack. His first skill, Spear Flip, allows him to quickly close the gap with his opponent, dealing damage and lifting them in the air, briefly stunning them. This ability is excellent for initiating ganks and setting up opportunities for his teammates. His second skill, Spear Strike, is a dash that allows him to quickly traverse the battlefield or chase down fleeing enemies. His ultimate, Supreme Warrior, is what truly makes Zilong a force to be reckoned with. It grants him increased movement speed, attack speed, and makes him immune to slow effects, allowing him to dive into the enemy team with impunity. Mastering Zilong requires understanding how to effectively chain these skills together to maximize your damage output and survivability. This guide will help you learn those skills.

The Ultimate Zilong Build: Inspired by MPL Legends

Alright, let's get to the good stuff – the build. A well-optimized build is crucial for maximizing Zilong's potential. While there's no one-size-fits-all build, especially considering how items and the meta change, this core build focuses on balancing damage, critical chance, and survivability, drawing inspiration from successful MPL players.

• Swift Boots: Movement speed is key for Zilong. These boots enhance his mobility, allowing him to quickly rotate between lanes, chase down enemies, and escape dangerous situations.
• Berserker's Fury: This item is a core damage component for Zilong, significantly boosting his critical chance and critical damage. The increased critical damage synergizes perfectly with his high attack speed, allowing him to melt enemy heroes in seconds.
• Scarlet Phantom: More attack speed and critical chance! This item further enhances Zilong's damage output, allowing him to trigger his passive more frequently and deal devastating critical hits. The extra attack speed also improves his overall damage per second.
• Blade of Despair: The big daddy of damage items. Blade of Despair provides a massive boost to physical attack, making Zilong's basic attacks and skills hit like a truck. Its passive effect, which increases damage against enemies with low health, further amplifies Zilong's execute potential.
• Endless Battle: This item provides a well-rounded boost to Zilong's stats, including physical attack, mana regen, cooldown reduction, movement speed, and lifesteal. The true damage proc from its passive adds another layer of damage to his kit, making him even more deadly in prolonged engagements.
• Immortality/Athena's Shield: For the final item, you can choose between Immortality or Athena's Shield, depending on the enemy composition and your playstyle. Immortality provides a second chance in team fights, allowing you to revive and continue fighting. Athena's Shield provides a magic damage shield, which is particularly useful against burst mages.

This build provides a strong foundation for Zilong, allowing you to deal significant damage while maintaining a decent level of survivability. Remember to adapt your build based on the specific circumstances of each game. If you're facing a lot of crowd control, consider purchasing Tough Boots instead of Swift Boots. If the enemy team is heavily armored, consider purchasing Malefic Roar to shred through their defenses.

Emblems and Battle Spells: Fine-Tuning Your Zilong

Emblems: For Zilong, the Assassin emblem set is generally the best choice. Prioritize talents that enhance physical attack, critical chance, and movement speed. The Killing Spree talent is particularly effective, as it restores health and increases movement speed after securing a kill, allowing you to snowball your lead and dominate team fights.

Battle Spells:

• Retribution: If you're playing Zilong as a jungler, Retribution is essential for securing jungle creeps and objectives like Turtle and Lord. It also allows you to quickly level up and gain a gold advantage over the enemy team.
• Flicker: Flicker is a versatile battle spell that can be used both offensively and defensively. It allows you to quickly reposition yourself in team fights, escape ganks, or surprise enemies with unexpected engages.
• Execute: Execute is a good choice for finishing off low-health enemies, especially if you're having trouble securing kills with your basic attacks and skills.

The choice of emblem and battle spell depends largely on your playstyle and the role you're playing in the game. Experiment with different options to find what works best for you.

Gameplay Strategy: Mastering the Art of the Spear

Okay, so you've got your build and emblems sorted. Now let's talk about how to actually play Zilong effectively. Zilong excels at picking off isolated targets, pushing lanes, and securing objectives. Here's a breakdown of his gameplay strategy:

• Early Game: Focus on farming efficiently in the jungle or lane. Prioritize securing early kills to snowball your lead. Look for opportunities to gank enemy lanes, but be mindful of your positioning and avoid overextending.
• Mid Game: Start rotating between lanes to help your teammates secure objectives like Turtle and towers. Look for opportunities to pick off isolated enemies who are out of position. Be mindful of the enemy's crowd control abilities and avoid getting caught out.
• Late Game: In the late game, Zilong becomes a powerful split pusher and assassin. Use your mobility to push lanes and apply pressure to the enemy base. Look for opportunities to dive into the backlines and eliminate the enemy's damage dealers. Be mindful of your positioning and avoid getting caught out by the enemy team.

Pro Tips for Zilong:

• Master the Spear Flip Combo: Practice the Spear Flip (Skill 1) into Spear Strike (Skill 2) combo to quickly close the gap with your opponent and secure a kill.
• Utilize Supreme Warrior Wisely: Use your ultimate, Supreme Warrior, strategically to engage in team fights, chase down fleeing enemies, or escape dangerous situations.
• Prioritize High-Value Targets: Focus on eliminating the enemy's damage dealers, such as mages and marksmen, to disrupt their team composition and give your team an advantage.
• Be Mindful of Your Positioning: Zilong is a relatively squishy hero, so it's important to be mindful of your positioning and avoid getting caught out by the enemy team.
• Adapt to the Enemy Composition: Adjust your build and gameplay strategy based on the enemy team's composition. If they have a lot of crowd control, consider purchasing items that provide crowd control immunity. If they have a lot of armor, consider purchasing items that shred through armor.

Zilong in the MPL: Learning from the Best

One of the best ways to improve your Zilong gameplay is to study how professional players use him in MPL (Mobile Legends Professional League). Pay attention to their builds, emblem setups, gameplay strategies, and decision-making. Watch replays of MPL matches featuring Zilong and analyze how the pros utilize his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses.

Many MPL players favor Zilong due to his unique ability to quickly rotate and split push while still being able to burst down key targets. For example, look at how some players will use Zilong to split push a lane, and when the enemy team rotates to stop them, they use their ultimate and flicker to escape and join their team for a team fight. This split-second decision making is what separates good Zilong players from great Zilong players.

By observing and learning from the pros, you can gain valuable insights into how to play Zilong at the highest level. You'll learn new strategies, discover innovative builds, and develop a deeper understanding of the hero's potential. Good luck, and happy gaming!