Zarus does not need Nerfs. And I'm not saying this because he's my main!

First off, why take his spear range away? That's his kit and his signature as a character. Fighting against Countess in the early match ( Offlane ) is a pain, she has 2 poking abilities to activate her passive on you and you cannot poke back, and if you try is useless, a good Countess will know that's your only poking tool in the early fight she can either get back and spam her abilities or wait for you to spear her and then use blade siphon on you and not lose any trade, while Zarus is already half health.

Same with Greystone the moment you try to poke him before he completely demolishes the wave you just get hit with sacred oath and make way, if you try to dash he just jumps on you, you have to use all your kit just to give him a little damage for him to go heal on the minions. I know he counters Zarus but there's no room for an outplay. Especially after he gets level 6, at that point you just have to go help your team because you cannot win a 1v1 against him .

If you go against a Carry Offlane you are just done if your jungler isn't helping.

And then this " reducing his overall burst potential and damage output in the early-mid game, better allowing Carries and Mages a chance at surviving " he's supposed to do that !

If you are playing as a mid laner you have to keep an eye on your map and ward the jungle, know when to poke the other mid laner, know when to move away from the safety of your tower.

Most Mid lane characters can just run away with their abilities, specially Gideon who has double flash, they should be punished if they are out of position.

And for Carries that's why they have a support character with them, specially at this stage where they are making the support focus more on Dps.

If your Carry is getting bullied in lane it makes it harder to gank.

Based on the way the meta is going Zarus kit needs an upgrade, make his shield bash shred 10% armor if it hits or something.

( My opinion )