LORE:
*Whenever Jarvan III, the king of Demacia, delivers one of his rallying speeches from the glinting marble balcony atop the Royal Palace, Xin Zhao is at his side. Coined the Seneschal of Demacia, Xin Zhao is the personal steward of the Lightshield Dynasty. His enigmatic, silent vigil has led to an abundance of conjecture concerning his ''secret life'' and origins. Whether it's ''Zaun double-agent'' tendered at the dinner table or ''indebted rune mage'' mused in the editorials of the ''Demacian Constant'', Xin Zhao betrays no hints to sate the curiosity of the masses... for good reason.

Prior to the formation of the League, Noxus was renowned for a spectacle called The Fleshing. It was a gladiatorial event with a cruel twist: as a fighter won matches, his number of opponents (generally prisoners of war) fought simultaneously would increase. This meant eventual death for every contender, but with unparalleled glory. Xin Zhao, known then as Viscero, was slated to face 300 soldiers, nearly six times the previous record. This was clearly meant to be his final match. Jarvan II, hearing of this unprescedented feat, infiltrated the arena to offer him an alternative: serve Demacia and punish those who ultimately sentence him to death in exchange for his freedom. Xin Zhao accepted, astonished that a king would risk his own life on his behalf. Under the cover of a prearranged Demacian assault on Noxus, Jarvan liberated Xin Zhao and his 300 opponents. During their retreat, Xin Zhao took a poisoned dart meant for Jarvan. This act of loyalty, from a man who vowed no allegiance, earned Xin Zhao a spot at his side until the day the king died. Now in the service of his son, Jarvan III, Xin Zhao is stepping into a new ring - the Fields of Justice - to fight for his adopted country and to honor the legacy of the man who gave purpose to his life.

''Death is inevitable, one can only avoid defeat.''
- Demacian Manual of Arms





Xin Zhao in my opinion is one of the most capable melee characters in the game. He is a great ganker early game and can easily jungle. Late game he can easily carry a team. Mid game you can easily destroy your enemies. You might be thinking well this doesn't mean anything, any fed character can dominate. But with Xin Zhao its really easy to get fed if you make sure to pay attention. XIN RULES!!!!

PROS:
great jungler and ganker
if fed hes unstoppable
heals off passive
knocks people up
group slow with his E

CONS:
vulnerable to CC
ranged champions are annoying to him
semi-item dependant
doesnt have much of an escape mechanism

For Marks I use 4 armor pen and 5 crit damage. I find that that little armor pen makes a big difference. And lets face it with this build you cant go wrong with more crit damage. For seals i take attack speed. Xin benefits so much from attack speed because you always want that knock up and being able to do it faster makes a huge difference. For glyphs i take cooldown reduction because i find that cooldown reduction helps xin out a lot. For quintessences I take flat crit dmg. Crit damage will help you out SOOO much with this build.

I use a simple 21/0/9 mastery set. I take the 9 in utility to help with my jungling. The increased xp gain helps a lot and the 15 percent increased neutral buff duration helps a lot

CORE ITEMS:
Infinity edge: this item is great on xin because it gives u damage to help with your Q as well as your auto attacks but it also gives you crit chance/damage which will help you deal a great deal more damage to your enemies with your Q since your auto attacks while your Q are activated can crit.

Phantom Dancer: This item is AMAZING on xin. It gives you everything you need. Move speed helps you a great deal in chasing down enemies. Crit chance helps with you infinity edge. And of course attack speed is xins bread and butter. Makes you knock people up faster which is always a good thing.

Bloodthirster: This items also a good one on xin for multiple reasons. Gives you AD which will benefit your Q's dmg as well as your general damage. It also gives you lifesteal which helps you stay alive in fights cause you will be doing tons of damage and it heals you based on the percentage of damage you do.

Berserkers greaves: All boots have their benefits and since attack speed is so great on xin berserkers greaves is always a good choice for him.

SITUATIONAL ITEMS:
Banshees veil: helps with casters that are owning you. Blocks one negative spell which is a great counter to casters especially people like veigar or brand.
Randuin's Omen: gives a good amount of armor and hp which help against AD champions that are owning you. The AOE slow is also a nice touch.
Madreds Bloodrazer: gives you damage based on hp that helps you deal with tanks that a a problem
Mercurys Treads: i get this item in place of berserkers greaves if i see im getting hard controlled by CC


I sell my wriggles lantern later in the game. Thats where the situational items come in to play. If im facing a heavily AD team or the one or 2 people on their team thats stopping me from acing them or the one or 2 people thats just dominating me are AD i will pick up a randuins omen. If im getting dominated by AP then ill pick up a banshees veil. Now if neither one is really dominating me but tanks are getting in my way i will pick up a madreds bloodrazer to help deal with them.

The summoner spells i take for jungle xin are ghost and smite. You will need smite to jungle obviously so thats a no brainer. Now there are some other options for spells. Exhaust is a good option. Ignite would be another good option. Flash could be another good option as well. Cleans is also an option for ranked play if ur seeing that they have a lot of CC on their team but i wouldnt recommend it for normal games. Teleport is another one that i would use maybe for ranked games if ur team doesnt have one because one teleport is always nice to have. But i much prefer ghost over all of these because it helps with ganking so much and if ur a little behind somebody and u need the extra speed boost ghost helps with that.

OFF LIMIT SPELLS:
rally: really no point in this spell at all
revive: can be useful in some cases but rarely worth it
clarity: no need if ur jungling ull have blue buff
clairvoyance: let supports take that spell xin wont use it
fortify: fun to do a 5 man fortify but other than goofing around with a premade its useless on xin
heal: wont use it hardly ever

This is my first guide ive ever written so any feedback in the comments section would be nice (positive or negative) as long as its constructive. In summary xin is a great melee champ and a great carry. Hes good throughout the whole game and is a great addition to the team.