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Xin Zhao Build Guide by madalin120988

Xin Zhao: Time to get impaled

Xin Zhao: Time to get impaled

Updated on April 27, 2013
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League of Legends Build Guide Author madalin120988 Build Guide By madalin120988 16,186 Views 9 Comments
16,186 Views 9 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author madalin120988 Xin Zhao Build Guide By madalin120988 Updated on April 27, 2013
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao

Introduction

Hello, League of Legends fans, madalin120988 here with yet another beefy fighter to review in a guide. My first one was about Shyvana, a champion with which I fell in love the second she came out all those many weeks ago. A very capable off-tank which can decimate entire teams while taking massive abuse. My second guide is about a much older champion, one that came out a long, long time, before I even started playing this game, a champion which(at least in the EU Nordic and East server) I consider to be the most often and widely played in the game and which is a favorite of seasoned players and beginners alike. I'm talking of course, about everyone's favorite asian spear-master, Xin Zhao. A bold choice many would say, seeing how he's such a favored champion with a lot of people playing him and with many, many good guides already existing on him. I chose to do this guide to share my vision on one of my favorite champions and to correct some misconceptions about Xin and I hope it will have a positive impact on the community here on MOBAFire.

First thing I must say about Xin Zhao is that he's considered a very easy to play champion when in fact, if you're not careful you can get screwed really, really fast when playing him. While obviously a lot easier to play then guys like Udyr or Lee Sin, he's not some annoying melee carry( Master Yi Tryndamere) with which all you do is run around the map, whacking everyone with auto-attacks, very often forgetting to even use any of the 4 abilities. The thing with him is that he's very well balanced: many consider him OP. He most certainly is NOT. There are some who say he's **** compared to other assassins( Irelia, Talon). Also not true, he may not have the same burst, but he is a much more capable fighter, being able to deliver a lot sustained damage as well and decimating any squishy ranged carry or mage.

As we all know Xin Zhao got a pretty massive rework of his kit in the mid-July 2012 patch and therefore I redid this guide to fit his new profile. Although Morello said they did this rework so they could balance him since buffing him would make him OP(again), I think what they did to him is beyond a buff. They f**king sent him into overdrive. Some people considered him OP before. Truth is he wasn't, in fact he was pretty weak, considered invalid for competitive play by many. Master Yi was actually considered more viable than him :|(WTF?!)... Now he's more than viable, he's too much to handle for almost any carry in this game, he's like the male version of Irelia( Irelia 2.0 if you prefer).

My old guide included a carry build, but I scratched that off the list because with his shiny new kit Xin Zhao has extreme stomping power, great survivability, sick crowd-control and he scales extremely well off total AD so there's absolutely no reason to EVER again build him as full offense glass-cannon. Anyone who still does so is(I'm sorry for lack of a less offensive term) an imbecile. The only CORRECT way to play him now is off-tank. I know I do exemplify two builds here, but in fact they are both models of off-tank Xin Zhao. They're variables of the same building philosophy. The second one is better, but it comes at an insane price, so it's highly unlikely to be completed in most games and trying to do it can hold Xin back in all areas.

One more thing about these two builds is the fact that both of them are for laning. The reason is I don't actually like to jungle. Being in the lane makes me feel a lot closer to the action. Many people say that jungling is the only real way to play Xin, but I say "nay". That MIGHT have been true with the old Xin Zhao. He's a very good choice for solo-top and even bot-lane. I have seen people trying him out even in mid and exterminating the unfortunate mage from the opposing team(I wouldn't usually recommend it, though). As far as jungling goes, Xin is above average. Champions with jungling capabilities can be summed up in a few categories: first are the champions who should only be in the jungle and should never lane( Warwick, Skarner, Rammus, Trundle), then there are the champions who are excellent junglers(and primarily should be jungling), but work relatively well in lane too( Udyr, Lee Sin, Nocturne, Fiddlesticks, Nunu & Willump, Shaco, Evelyn, Jax, Amumu, Sejuani), champions who can jungle pretty well, but that actually belong in the lane( Irelia, Wukong, Riven, Renekton, Talon, Poppy, Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, Fizz, Jarvan IV, Malphite, Sion, Tryndamere, Master Yi, Olaf, Nautilus, Nasus, Volibear) and finally champions who can jungle, let's say decently, but really shouldn't waste their time trying( Twitch, Maokai, Cho'Gath], Leona, Gragas, Shen, Yorick Gangplank). Which one of these categories does Xin Zhao belong to, you ask? Well...neither, he's the one and only champion who actually is as good at jungling as he is at laning. No matter how much thought I've given it, I really cannot decide whether jungling Xin or lane Xin is better. He's really proficient at everything he does and there is no one right spot to play him. Again, my guide does not cover jungling because I don't like to jungle...AT ALL. Ok, enough with the long intro, let's get to the actual guide. Oh, if you're wondering about the weirdness of the cheat sheet, I only put in the 6 actual final items. If you want to know about the building order, check out the Items chapter.
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Pros / Cons

Pros

*High damage output(one of the highest)
*Unstoppable when fed
*Three forms of crowd-control(holy ****)
*Bursts down squishies in 2 seconds
*Awesome sustain mechanism through his Battle Cry
*Excellent attack animation which makes last-hitting a blast
*Ultimate with awesome damage and utility and ridiculously low cool-down
*Early-game, almost as OP as Garen
*Not very cool-down dependent
*Has an ability with integrated cool-down
*Assassin and fighter
*Great initiator
*As good at laning as he is at jungling
*Looks and feels bad-*** to play
*He's from Demaciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
*He kicks all sorts of aaaaa*** :))


Cons

*What?
*No, seriously, what cons?
*Ok, ok, he has no effective escape mechanism
*Dash is a bit short, does magic damage and scales with AP(it's no Bladesurge, I'm afraid)
*Early levels of Audacious Charge will apply a pretty insignificant slow, making him a little kiteable
* Crescent Sweep is not very effective as an execution move
*CC can ruin him(almost as much as Katarina)
*Not as much attack speed as he used to have
*Doesn't farm as fast as before
* Vayne...
*Tanks....
*Not as much burst damage as other assassins late-game
*Pure melee(unlike Jarvan IV, Pantheon, Nocturne, Irelia)
*Boring dance and lame jokes
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Runes

The runes are fairly standard for an AD melee champion. Since, Xin is not every cool-down dependent Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist is the best choice. In seals, I guess Greater Seal of Vitality could work, but Xin does have some armor issues, so I think those are better.

I don't think anyone can ever argue with the Greater Mark of Desolation or with the Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage. Really...
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Masteries

I know they seem a bit weird, but here me out: Xin is a very offensive champion, which actively promotes aggression every step of he way. Taking less than 21 in Offense is blasphemy(IMO, at least). I don't use Vampirism though, as with his passive and an early Vampiric Scepter, it's more than enough sustain.

A few points in Defense, as to not leave him completely open. Pretty self-explanatory...

Xin has no mana issues, even early-game(unless you're stupid enough to use your abilities on minions) and since these are not jungling builds, he doesn't need things from the Utility tree. The few points I do invest are for improved Flash and in Good Hands(everyone hates the incredibly long revive times late-game).
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Skill Sequence

I won't start explaining the effects of the abilities. Everyone knows what they do and how they work. I'll just state my personal opinion on them:


Three Talon Strike

Awesome ability that does great burst damage. While it's not as powerful as other empowered auto-attacks( Siphoning Strike, Ruthless Predator, Twin Bite, Decisive Strike, Devastating Blow, Empower, Crushing Blow), the fact that it consists of 3, not just 1, compensates. Although with the recent buff...aagh...I mean rework, this thing might hurt more than some of the attacks I listed. It's really extremely OP now. They gave it a 1.2 ratio of TOTAL AD and now his attacks reduce the targets armor by 15%. Seriously, Riot? WOW, this thing completely exterminates most champions, especially early-game. Garen's Judgment hurts less than this... Needless to say this is the first one to get and also the first one to level up. Oh yeah, the on-hit cool-down reduction has moved here. This ability is RIDICULOUSLY powerful now, don't know why, but I smell a nerf coming up.



Battle Cry

This ability was the most drastically changed. They put in his old passive as a level-up on-hit health restoration that scales on AP instead of the 40% attack speed bonus. Can't say I'm very fond of this change, as having that extra 40% attack speed all the time served Xin a great deal, especially at farming. Now you have to pay a much greater attention to last hitting(like other melee champions).

However, the 80% active bonus still remains and that's what counts against enemy champions. Even better, since the on-hit cool-down reduction is now on Three Talon Strike, it means you can use them both at the same time in an optimal matter: with the old Xin Zhao you had to activate it right after the knock-up from TTS and without having that 80% AS bonus, many times your opponent would put distance before the third strike would happened. That had to be the single most frustrating thing about the old Xin. This problem has now been completely solved. All in all, I think this ability works better now too. I hope they don't change it when they decide Xin Zhao is too powerful.


Audacious Charge

Most assassins have a blink skill like this. Xin's, unfortunately, scales with AP and the slow at level 1 is pretty unremarkable too. Needs to be at 5th rank to be extremely effective. This one got a big opened buff, a bigger slow and that lasts longer. It's still not the best slow in the game, but it definitely helps with keeping your opponent in place
for that devastating third attack with TTS. It also has a much smaller cool-down and with the on-hit CDR from TTS you'll most likely have it ready again for when your opponent has put the distance between you. It's still no Bladesurge, but it is a much, much more useful ability than before.


Crescent Sweep

Oh yes, the sweet ultimate. This ability is not exactly something OP, like Feast, Demacian Justice, Primordial Burst, Summon: Tibbers, Nether Grasp, Ragnarok, Diplomatic Immunity, Spirit Rush, Mega Inferno Bomb, Noxian Guillotine etc., but it's a powerful nuke which makes your already insane damage output even higher. It's definitely better to have it up then not, especially in a team-fight, but altogether Xin is one of the few champions which is in no case ultimate dependent. Anyhow, the cool-down is so low that, even if you couldn't afford to be without it, you can still use it whenever you want and still have it ready for most confrontations. Now that's self-sufficiency. They increased it's damage and gave it a multiple a knock-back now... Geez, how many more buffs could u possibly give him , Riot?


Challenge

OMG, this new passive is absolutely incredible. It's like a free tick from Black Cleaver. Who's sick idea of a joke was this? Tireless Warrior was god, but this is absolutely destructive. It makes Xin a complete and total murderer of everything that moves in this game. I think they might be nerfing this one too.


This is a very tricky part when playing Xin Zhao. All his 3 basic abilities are awesome and useful and it's very hard to decide.
I used to have a very unorthodox way of leveling up Xin Zhao, but with the rework and the powerhouse that TTS has become in conjunction with his new passive, I level it up first almost always. I get two points early in Battle Cry because I want t have a heal similar to that one that Tireless Warrior used to provide. I save Audacious Charge for last, but you can max it second or even first if you feel your opponents are slipping through your fingers. That slow is now very important for Xin, especially since we don't use a Frozen Mallet in these builds.
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Summoner Spells

1. Highly recommended



Flash

Must-have spell on EVERYONE, totally non-negotiable. This is the best Summoner Spell by far, everybody uses it and people who don't usually use it should take it just to keep up with the meta-game. It has much too many uses to not take it, especially on someone like Xin Zhao who has no escape mechanisms.


Heal

I might get down-votes for this, but I really don't care, I'll defend this spell until the end of time. People hate this spell just because it is one of those that you can get even if you're a level 1 summoner. That's just wrong, This spell can really save your life in a pinch and more than that, your teammate's life too. Being such an "up-close and dangerous" champion, when playing him you will undoubtedly get in nasty life-threatening situations and this spell can get you out instantly(just like Flash). Sure, Xin is neither a tank, nor a support, but he still is a team-player and this spell can help your team too.


Ghost

Personally, I don't use this spell....EVER. Usually I consider Flash a much better alternative. However, I will acknowledge the usefulness it can bring Xin Zhao. He's one of the few champions on which I would recommend using both of them, because he has no other way of escaping whatsoever(except plain old running, of course). I like Heal more, but other than that, this is the spell I would recommend.



Can work, but...neaaaah



Ignite

Good spell, but Xin already has a really high damage output and usually kills his targets without it. If you really get frustrated for losing targets with less than 15% of their health, you can try it, but I doubt that will actually happen.


Exhaust

Many say this spell is a must-have for Xin Zhao. I say it's good, but not that good. You already have a slow from Audacious Charge and with life-steal, his passive and the huge damage, Xin Zhao has more than enough survivability in 1 on 1 duels to need the reduce damage on his opponents. Plus, being a true assassin now, his biggest targets are mages and Exhaust doesn't hurt their damage output at all.
Using it as an escape mechanism(to slow the chaser instead of speeding yourself up) is just not worth it, because most of the time you'll be chased by at least three assailants and you'll just be wasting it for nothing. Decent choice(I guess), but not the best.


Smite

My two builds are not for jungling, but if you do go jungling with him, this spell is a must-have, just like Flash.


Never, ever use

Any other spells except the ones above: Xin Zhao has no need for a mana giving spell whatsoever, it's always useful to see a portion of the map, but just let the support do it and everyone knows that Promote and Revive are completely useless.
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Items

This is the main part of the guide, I detail my item builds and the thought behind each and every item, as well as some others which are not in the cheat sheet. I'll only do this for the first build, as the other one is just a variable of it.




Great starting item, especially for an offensive in-your-face S.o.B like Xin Zhao. The extra AD will help you obliterate anyone you have in your lane right from the earliest levels. Some health and some life-steal as bonuses. Certainly better than Doran's Shield.



& [

These two items are basics. You buy them together to get more life-steal(which couples well with Battle Cry's passive and to get the movement speed which you didn't get at level 1 and because they're cheap, worth just 800 gold together so you'll most likely afford them both the first trip back.




You most likely always complete your boots first because movement speed is damn important for any champion. These will give you some early magic resistance and will help with that pesky CC that the enemy team might throw at you.




This is your first damage item. It's not a whole lot of AD, but it also gives you some health so you can have an easier time staying alive. That makes it a better investment than an early B. F. Sword.




This is a nice item which you obtain from Vampiric Scepter for only 1150 gold. People use it for jungling, but it works just as good in lane too, cause it adds both damage and armor to the life-steal. Note: you can skip getting this item and just buying a B. F. Sword now to rush The Boodthirster. I however find this path a little more intricate, as it's a lot more expensive and sets you back. Also, doesn't do a whole lot for your defense and this is an off-tank build. That 30 armor this early in the game really helps.




Because of his new found OP damage and his much bigger reliance on the active of Battle Cry Xin Zhao is now not as reliant on attack speed as he used to be so you don't have to prioritize it over damage as before. However, by this time you have to start attacking faster even without Battle Cry, as your opponents won't die instantly from TTS anymore. This is the best and cheapest item with which to increase your attack speed.




Oh yeah, more attack speed, always good to have on Xin Zhao.




Superb item, gives a little bit of everything, but most importantly it gives that wonderful passive which will give Xin even more burst than he already had.




I don't know why people ignore this item completely. It's absolutely wonderful, a perfect blend of offense and defense: damage, attack speed and magic resistance. Perfect for any off-tank. For an almost exclusively auto-attack based champion like Xin, it's almost like having another 42 AD. Even better, 42 AD that bypasses armor. Absolute must-have.




Self explanatory, Xin Zhao is an off-tank so he needs armor.




Another big defense item. Nothing more to add except it gives a lot of health. Oh yeah, you have to sell Doran's Blade to get it.




You prioritize this item before the rest of the late-game items because you need to build up those stacks.




You turn a defensive item into an offensive one for a pretty low price. Totally worth it even after the nerf. Works very well with the fully stacked Warmog's Armor. Works even better with Trinity Force, as it not only scales with the health from it too, but also adds another 18% critical strike chance to the 15% you already had.




Only if the game lasts long enough you can sell Wriggle's Lantern and buy this item to totally turn Xin Zhao into the ultimate AD powerhouse. Not a whole much to add.



The second build is extremely similar to the first only much more powerful and also much more expensive. It's not a very realizable thing to have a build with Maw of Malmortius, Trinity Force and Madred's Bloodrazor, but if you get really fed in the beginning, you can most certainly give it a go, as in late-game you'll probably stomp on your opponents even worse than before. The first difference is that after buying Trinity Force, you turn Recurve Bow into Madred's Bloodrazor probably by buying either Madred's Razors or Pickaxe before. The investment is much bigger than Wit's End, but it's extremely worth it. Not only this thing's on-hit magic damage is much bigger(at least 80), but it also gives 40 AD. That's just ridiculous power for one item. No wonder it costs so much. Second difference is you buy Hexdrinker instead of Chain Vest as to later make it Maw of Malmortius. This one gives more AD than Atma's Impaler and scales just as well with the health that Xin Zhao will gain from Warmog's Armor. The anti-caster shield is a great bonus. Needless to say you don't sell Wriggle's Lantern anymore because not only you have more than enough AD with these two items, but you also need the armor that Wriggle's gives, since Madred's Bloodrazor only gives 25.

Don't mind the huge differences in AD, armor and MR between the two builds which appear in the cheat-sheets. The cheat-sheet doesn't take in account the AD bonus from Atma's, nor the AD stacks that Bloodthirster builds up, so the difference isn't that huge. The armor difference is barely noticeable(only 10), and the MR difference doesn't exist at all because Wit's End gives as much as 20 extra-MR. This means that the first build is very viable. In fact, it's more viable because it costs a lot less(over 2k gold less).


As you can see, items that were considered "must-haves" on the old Xin Zhao like Phantom Dancer, Infinity Edge, even the Black Cleaver are now obsolete for the new Xin Zhao. His new role is solely that of off-tank and such carry items have no place in ANY build. The only purely offense item I use is Bloodthirster, but only because it gives life-steal too. Of course, if you think you can live without life-steal, you can most certainly replace it with Black Cleaver and make a sick 60% armor bypass Xin or get an IE and have a 60% crit chance Xin. Both are viable choices, but I wouldn't play like this, because life-steal is wildly beneficial for Xin Zhao due to his W and him having 80% of his damage output from his auto-attacks.

As always, if you face a team against which you don't need MR or armor you replace your items so that you only have 1 of them. Against a heavy on AD team, in both builds you take Ninja Tabi for shoes. You take Madred's Bloodrazor instead of Wit's End in the first build or you take Atma's Impaler instead of Maw of Malmortius in the second and do replace Wriggle's Lantern with Bloodthirster. Both add up to the same result.

Against a heavy on AP team(highly unlikely), you switch Atma's Impaler with Maw of Malmortius in the first build, or you get Wit's End rather than Madred's Bloodrazor in the second and this time just rush Bloodthirster first, not caring about Wriggle's Lantern. Again, it is highly improbable to ever meet such a team, but anything is possible in this game.
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Farming

Xin Zhao needs to farm as much as any other offensive champion, even more so if you build him as carry. Early game, when he doesn't have that much attack speed, it might be a little difficult to farm efficiently. That happens because, even though he has an excellent attack animation, making last hitting fairly easy, sometimes, given his passive, you just want to get as many hits in there as fast as possible to heal yourself and stay in the lane longer. This means that you might miss some CS. Don't be too alarmed. Starting somewhere early-mid game, he becomes by far one of the best farmers in the game because of that excellent attack speed which he gets from items like Recurve Bow and Zeal(yes, I forgot to mention, they also increased his basic attack speed and his level scaling for attack speed, so that makes such items even more efficient than on the old Xin). I have honestly never had a game that lasted more than 30 minutes in which I ever farmed less than 150 minions. In 40 minute games I went well beyond the CS 200 mark. Of course, that was the old Xin. Th new Xin is a pretty god farmer too, but not to such an extent.

One more thing, don't be afraid to use Crescent Sweep on a really large patch of minions. It saves a lot of time and it's really worth it, as you'll most likely have it back on until the next major confrontation. Also, if you don't have it on, use Battle Cry to reduce the cool-down quite considerably. This way you'll make sure you have it ready on the next team-fight. This is just how well Xin's abilities work together.
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Solo-top

As a laner, Xin Zhao is most definitely best suited for solo-top, where he can outshine most others. Strategy is like this: you farm as much as possible and try to deny your counter-part his share of the CS. I won't go into detail about lane match-ups, as let's face it, except Jax], ][[Garen and maybe Renekton, Xin Zhao can mostly obliterate all competition in a 1 on 1. His damage is too OP to be trifled with. And Xin Zhao's anti-champion combo is pretty simple and intuitive: Audacious Charge into auto-attacks while having both Three Talon Strike and Battle Cry activated AT THE SAME TIME. You can squeeze in Crescent Sweep before you start the spear stabbing flurry. However, if for some reason( Exhaust, Ignite) you might wind up losing a fight it might be a good idea to lay off the aggression a little bit and back off(ye who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day). If you're cornered near your turret, all you have to do is hit some minions and between the life-steal and the passive on Battle Cry, you'll be back in fighting shape very fast. Having Heal helps even more with that. As with other champions for solo-top, same rules apply, do not push the lane too much and leave yourself open to ganks from the enemy team(really, don't do that) and when your jungler comes to gank do not give away his presence by jumping your opponent head on like a maniac. He'll know something is up and, instead of staying and fighting you, he'll just run to the tower, resulting in a failed gank. Follow these basic simple rules and you should be fine.
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Team Work

After the laning phase ends Xin Zhao becomes the "tip of the lance" for any team. Theoretically he's the perfect initiator, doing the most damage to opponents which are unharmed. He undoubtedly needs to enter a fight early and hit as many opponents as possible with Crescent Sweep, but early game when hes not tanky enough, you might want to wait a little and be the second to come in after your tank, seeing how you'll be fairly squishy and you might die from all 5 enemies pilling on top of you before your team can even have a chance to join the fray. Best tanks to be on Xin Zhao's team are by far Amumu, Galio and Malphite because they can hold an entire team in place, ready to take a Crescent Sweep to the face. Just think how devastating a Curse of the Sad Mummy, Idol of Durand or Unstoppable Force, anyone of them followed by a Crescent Sweep would be. Pure mayhem and devastation. That's just how useful Xin Zhao(theoretically a single target assassin) can be in team fights. Did I say that Crescent Sweep is NOT an OP ultimate in the Skill Sequence chapter? Am I insane or high? Scratch that, in the right hands and with the right timing in can be a game changer, just like Hemoplague and Crowstorm. Speaking of which, even though they don't offer CC like the other abilities I stated earlier, these can work perfectly with Crescent Sweep as well. Just imagine a Vladimir affecting an entire enemy team which is at full health with Hemoplague. Think about the fact that Hemoplague does no initial damage, so a subsequent Crescent Sweep will do the highest amount of damage possible. Oh yeah, right, it will do more, because Hemoplague causes the targets to take increased damage from all sources. With such immense damage, 2 of the targets will simply die of the Hemoplague explosion, 2 will get very low and get killed instantly by Xin and Vlad, and possibly just one will escape(if he's lucky). I don't even want to imagine Xin unleashing a Crescent Sweep on a team already caught inside a Crowstorm...

Leaving Crescent Sweep aside, Xin's other main role will be to catch high priority targets and burst them down in 3 or 4 seconds top. Top priority will be the ranged carries of course, but you should not neglect the mages either. Of all mages, the ones you should consider never keeping alive are the long range artillery nukers(best ones are Xerath and Lux followed closely behind by Brand, Ziggs and Veigar). Reaching them without getting killed might be a little hard though, so if a ranged AD carry is closer definitely take him out first. Try not to waste your time on fighters like Garen, Riven or Wukong, unless they're a dead serious threat for your team. Same goes with the burst assassins on the enemy team(your counterparts), be them AD( Talon, Irelia, Poppy), AP( Ahri, LeBlanc, Kassadin, Diana) or hybrids( Akali, Jax, Katarina, Evelyn). They might try to do with your carries the same which you will try to do with their carries. Sparing some time to protect them might not be a bad idea, instead of rushing off to chase a fleeing Ashe, which you might not even have the chance to catch. Also be careful of the so-called "AP carries"( Ryze, Malzahar, Annie, Karthus, Cassiopeia, Anivia) or the tanky mages( Vladimir, Morgana, Swain, as they might try to do the same.

NEVER, here me out, NEVER, EVER attack a tank with Xin Zhao. Tanks are one of his biggest weaknesses. Tanks are only meant to be taken down with the help of the team, in at last a 3 vs 1 situation. Not only, will you not succeed, since Xin Zhao is by far one of the worst champions to fight a tank with(he's a little better now after the rework, but still not a tank-buster), but you'll also be wasting precious time in which the enemy team's carry(carries) is decimating your team. As Xin Zhao you should always stick to the most squishy targets available. Champions like Rammus and Malphite are especially horrible to fight against, and any experienced Xin player should avoid any and all conflicts with such behemoths.

If your team doesn't respect the meta-game too much(you don't have a jungler for instance), Xin Zhao can work very well paired up with a lane partner as well. Obviously best choices are CC monsters like Alistar, Swain, Morgana, Lux, Malphite or Rammus. Unlike Shyvana, for instance, he's much more self-sufficient and harder to harass and therefore he doesn't necessarily need a ranged partner. In fact, he's quite unpretentious when it comes to partners, he can lane even along side other burst assassins like him. Surprising, I know, but I discovered that combining the two bursting potentials of two assassins can result in scoring a kill really fast, Best ones with which to do this are LeBlanc, Ahri, Kassadin, Akali and Katarina. This is because they deal magic damage and so they complete Xin's repertoire.

As far as targets go, like I said in the Pros/Cons chapter, worst one to have as an enemy is Vayne. All ranged carries have some sort of kiting mechanism: Caitlyn's traps and her 90 Caliber Net, Ashe's Frost Shots and her Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Tristana's Rocket Jump, Twitch's stealth, Ezreal's Arcane Shift, Teemo's Move Quick, Sivir's Spell Shield, but Vayne, she's by far the hardest one to reach and to burst down. That happens because of Condemn. Used right, in conjunction with Tumble, Vayne can most of the times stun you with it, also applying Silver Bolts. For a champion with such a damage output, keeping you far for just 3 seconds or so is usually more than enough to kill you very easily, Let's not forget that her ultimate also gives her stealth on her Tumble, thus making her 3 times as hard to lay a hand on. For anyone playing a melee champion(not necessarily Xin Zhao) a good Vayne is a nightmare. If by chance you have to lane against a Vayne, I would strongly recommend you ask your teammates politely to change lanes with you. Or, if you like to jungle, DO IT :|... I'm serious, Vayne is a major pain in the ***. Unfortunately, as a melee burst assassin, it is one of your jobs shutting her or any other carry down as to not **** up your team. Good luck with that... One strategy I found out to work well is to save Audacious Charge for after she uses Condemn. Easier said than done obviously, since it's very hard to get in melee rage without a blink ability and you may not always survive long enough to dash back to Vayne after she impales you to a wall.
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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 unprecedented 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



What can I say about Xin Zhao's story? Not much to work with, as he doesn't seem to have any direct relation to the other demacian heroes. He is just briefly mentioned somewhere in Jarvan IV's lore, suggesting they have some sort of friendship tie, although I really wouldn't get why a prince would befriend his father's steward. That's just the same as some spoiled, rich brat would be friends with the butler in his house.
Anyhow, about the actual lore, it is pretty awesome, it tells the story of a true warrior who succeeded in life only through courage and determination, as well as loyalty and honor. It reminds me of the awesome story of Maximus, Russel Crowe's character in the movie "Gladiator". It's really as bad *** as the champion himself. It's one of the reasons why I like Xin Zhao so much.
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Summary

Ok, that's about all the important information I can spare on Xin Zhao. My last guide did have an additional chapter called Additional Pointers, but Xin is a more straightforward champion and I feel I just about covered all the important bases in the last two chapters, before the one about the lore. Before I end this I want to give thanks to jhoijhoi for her guide on how to make a guide and to Palthios, the owner of the "Garen Spin to Crit" guide, who's build on AD Garen was widely extrapolated here for the off-tank Xin. Hope he doesn't mind, but like I told him it's so awesome it can work on more people than just Garen. That's it, happy reading and don't forget to leave feedback in the form of comments and votes.
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League of Legends Build Guide Author madalin120988
madalin120988 Xin Zhao Guide
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Xin Zhao: Time to get impaled

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