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Xin Zhao Build Guide by A Wild Sheep

Assassin (S4) Xin Zhao - the Seneschal of Demacia - Carry Version

Assassin (S4) Xin Zhao - the Seneschal of Demacia - Carry Version

Updated on September 5, 2014
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League of Legends Build Guide Author A Wild Sheep Build Guide By A Wild Sheep 8,660 Views 0 Comments
8,660 Views 0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author A Wild Sheep Xin Zhao Build Guide By A Wild Sheep Updated on September 5, 2014
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Xin Zhao - The Seneschal of Demacia - Heavy Carry Build

Contrary to popular belief, and of course the name, AD Carrys are not the best carrys, although they can heavily carry, although laning phase is also very reliant on your Support, your lane depends on 2, not 1 person.

On my recent trips into the Bronze League, I have tried to figure out the best carry for Low ELO, that can still have heavy impact in higher ELO games. Now, there is no "best champion", generally League is down to mechanics and skill more than anything, although there are some that work better than others, in terms of carrying.

In this Guide I am going to talk about Xin Zhao, The Seneschal of Demacia.

Xin Zhao is a very strong champion with multiple build paths. You can build Xin Zhao as a Tank, Off-tank/Tanky bruiser or what the this guide will take on, the heavy burst/heavy carry Xin Zhao.
Don't get me wrong however, you can carry with pretty much every build, and this Build does work in terms of damage, build relies more heavily on positioning and knowing when to go in and when to back out, when you learn that however, this build will reach it's full potential.

I hope you enjoy the guide ^^
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Runes

Flat Attack Damage gives Xin Zhao his extremely strong early game. You will do a lot of damage and this is what makes Xin Zhao such an unbeatable monster Pre-6. Take Flat AD Quints & Marks.

You want Armor Zeals for survivability in lane, there is no exception to this.

Scaling Magic Resist is your primary choice of Glyphs, although if you're up against a Vladimir or other AP Top laners, Flat Magic Resist is a much better choice. It is also better if they have Elise etc.
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Masteries

Here is the reasons behind 21 points in Offense.

You want Double-Edged blade for increased overall damage.
You want Fury for increased attack speed (quicker to get the knockup from Q)
You want Butcher for easy CSing.
You want Feast for sustain in lane.
You want Brute Force for increased damage.
You want Martial Mastery for increased damage.
You want Excecutioner for increased damage.
You want Warlord for increased damage.
You want Devestating Strike for armor penetration, which leads to more damage.
You want Havoc for increased damage.

You want 9 points in Defense for overall survivability, Xin Zhao is reasonably squishy, this helps a lot.

You want Block so that you take less damage.
You want Recovery for some sustain/HP regeneration.
You want Veteran Scars for more HP.
You want Unyielding so that you take less damage from champions.
You want Juggernaut for more HP.
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Items

Xin Zhao has many item builds, although above you have my favorite build.

Blade of the Ruined King is what you rush. It gives you tons of damage, chase potential and attack speed. This should be your first item.

Trinity Force is bought for Sheen procs for more damage, Zeal for Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed & Phage for movement speed procs when you kill minions.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is a fantastic item. You get Armor Penetration, Critical Strike chance and an active that allows you to get a superb Attack Speed boost. This item gives Xin Zhao the ability to burst someone down more efficiently.

Last Whisper is basic for most AD champions who want more burst/armor shred. It might not be neccesary very early on, although I do reccommend it throughout the game when the enemy team starts building armor.

Ravenous Hydra is a monster. It gives Xin Zhao splitpush potential, an active that does more damage, and the item it self gives a monstrous 75 Attack Damage. This item gives Xin Zhao insane AD, although it also gives lifesteal.
You might have asked your self how you stay alive before you get a defensive item, well the answer is Lifesteal. You have both a Blade of the Ruined King and with Ravenous Hydra you have even more Lifesteal. Fanstastic item.

As for defensive items you have three to chose from.

The Frozen Mallet is good if you're ending the game quickly and no one poses much of a threat and you want some survivability form the health and more damage. It works well Mid game if you're far ahead, but it falls off lategame and should be replaced.

Banshees Veil is great if you're facing a very strong AP Carry such as Katarina who has a few kills under their belt. It also works wonders if you're up against someone like Blitzcrank, Ahri, Thresh etc. You will neglect their surprise hooks, charms etc.

My personal favorite is Guardians Angel on Xin Zhao. It gives Armor, Magic Resist and of course the revive. It allows Xin Zhao to go insanely ham and dive the back line with no reprecussions. You kill someone, die, but return to do the same thing over again. When you ahve this item, there are no limits to what Xin Zhao can accomplish.
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Skill Sequence

You start off with Q. My tactic with Xin Zhao is that on the first CS wave, on the very first CS that your opponent is taking, you active Q and you hit them twice or thrice. They will lose immense amounts of HP, and you don't lose a cs yourself. Them losing this HP allows you do go all-in at level 2 with Ignite, when you take Audacious Charge.
If this combo is done correctly, you're almost guarranteed a kill at level 2.
You max Q for increased damage.

You take Audacious Charge second, Xin Zhaos E. It is your primary engager and at level 2 you should be able to kill your enemy. I max this second so that when you go in for poke/trades you have more burst, since your combo is E-W-Q (three autoattack hits) then back out. You won't get to utilize the W except when you're going all in, that is why I prefer maxing E second.

Take W at level 3. It gives you sustain in lane (in addition to Lifesteal) and it gives you an Attack Speed buff. If you're doing bad in lane you can chose to max this second for the sustain.
There isn't a whole lot to say about this spell except that it gives Xin Zhao a lot of attack speed which works well with his Blade of the Ruined King. It's very good.

At level 6 you get your ultimate, Crescent Sweep. It's a knockback and gives you increased burst damage and a finisher. Although it is an activated burst damage spell, it's not that good of a finisher. Go in with your E and instantly use your ultimate once you get 3 hits off with your Q (when you get the knockup). Finish them off with autoattacks rather than trying to finish them off with your ultimate and they survive by you knocking them away and by the time you realize, they're too far away.
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Pros / Cons

Pros:

- Very strong early game
- Strong burst
- Versatile
- Few counters
- Attack Damage Carries' worst nightmare
- Quite badass


Cons
- Has a tendency to be very quite squishy
- Requires a lot of practice to know how to position well
- If you don't Snowball early then you will have a tough time in the mid game
- If you're up against a counter you might as well just lie down and cry, there is no other way to deal with it
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Team Fights

If you haven't figured out by now, Xin Zhao is basically an Assassin, that is at least the most accurate way of describing his job. Get to the backline, smack some faces and back out, or die for it.

Generally Xin Zhao for a fed ADC is an alright trade, especially if you can do some more after killing them or your team has the potential to clean up the rest (that is of course not always the case, so be wary. If you're the deciding factor, you don't want to suicide for the ADC). Dealing damage is what this build allows you to do and generally I can kill one or two people by the time I'm died, simply by surprising them and having the team to follow up, so don't underestimate your self.

If your team is engaging:

If your team is engaging you want to stay right behind the engager (Leona, Braum, Lee Sin etc.). When they go in, you're going to scout out what is their strongest player, is it a Vayne or is it perhaps a Katarina?
Generally your first priority is the enemy ADC, and they are no match for Xin Zhao, but there are exceptions. If the enemy has a fed Katarina and a fed Vayne you're going to have to look a bit around. You might want to kill Katarina with your team before she kills them all, and then try to take care of Vayne afterwards, or it might be better to do it the other way around. This is very important for Xin Zhao, priorities, who is it worth dying in a 1 for 1 trade with.

The second and perhaps even more important than focus, is how to position your self. This is one of the most difficult things in the game and it takes a lot of practice to get right. If you engage for their ADC, but they have a Braum you will most likely have 0 success in your attempt and in return will be useless, and probably will die in return.
Remember, you're diving for the backline, what is there to stop you. If the ADC is a Tristana, expect a jump, what will you do then? What happens if the Nami uses Tidal Wave? Where will you be and what can you do ?

There is a million of these questions, and there is no general rule, you simply just have to look around and know the champions that you're up against. Try to think ahead, what will happen if I do this, do we have followup and can I actually accomplish what I'm looking to do?


If you're disengaging + if you're re-engaging:

If you're getting engaged upon, don't be the first person to turn. You're not Braum, you're not Nautilus, you're not Leona, you can't take the focus that generally is put upon the engager.
Generally it's a good idea to assess the situation a bit. Try to wait out most of the ultimates such as Leonas Solar Flare or Namis Tidal Wave, this is when you have the best chance of getting the backline caught off guard. When the majority of people on your team hsa engaged and the enemy team is focusing someone else, engage with your E and catch them off-guard.

If you're disengaging and not re-engaging off it, there are a few things to note. You can do similar things to a Lee Sin Ward Jump with your Audacious Charge (E). If you always have your trinket ward you can juke them by warding the wraith camp and simply jumping to those minions and getting away.
Apart from that, run until your feet are weary and you're safe.
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Summary

Xin Zhao is a relatively squishy assassin/heavy damage bruiser. Positioning and focus is key to having success as a Xin Zhao. Simply winning laning phase is not enough.

Once you get snowballing, you should have relative ease against the majority of champions and at that point it is up to you and your knowledge & mechanics to win the game. If the enemies are all fed, worry not, the Xin Zhao carry is on the move.
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League of Legends Build Guide Author A Wild Sheep
A Wild Sheep Xin Zhao Guide
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(S4) Xin Zhao - the Seneschal of Demacia - Carry Version

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