Xin Zhao is one of most devastating melee characters in League of Legends. Early game, Xin Zhao can easily harass his enemies and is a great early ganker. Also Xin Zhao can carry your whole team late game. You will have tremendous fun ganking and carrying your team playing Xin. With this guide you will find yourself with an early advantage of being fed, i mean what can i say? Xin is hungry!

Pros:
Life steal passive
Unstoppable when fed
Great movement
Knock up
Group slow
Great ganker
Can jungle
Lanes well with someone who can stun.


Cons:
Vulnerable to cc
Picked on by ranged champions
Only escape mechanism is a charge to an enemy. (No real escape mechanism)

9/8/2011: Hey guys just swapped around my item purchases and changed up Items description, this build is way better then the previous and i believe you will find it as useful as i do in carrying ranked games. Take care and please read the rest of the guide, thanks. (:

Top Choices:

Exhaust- Exhaust is key to this build with Xin Zhao. Exhaust reduces a target's Attack Damage by 70%, Ability/Item damage by 35% and slows its Movement Speed by 40% for 3 seconds. 550 Range (estimate). That being said, it is prefect for Xin Zhao to use for ganking. It is an extreme slow and with this and the knock up you can guarantee your self a kill and constant harassment. Exhaust is essential for getting fed early game and dominating late game.

Flash- Flash is the other essential for Xin Zhao. Many people prefer Ghost also which is okay, either one works. I prefer flash though because if you are ever in trouble and want to stay legendary it is key to getting away. Flash Teleports your Champion to your mouse cursor. 475 range. This is great for catching or getting away from a target, whereas ghost is better for catching and running around the map, but not making a quick escape. My theory is that i would rather be safe then sorry so if this applies to you Flash is the correct summoner spell.

Spells you should stay away from:
Clairvoyance: Reveals an area of the map for 6 seconds (castable anywhere).
Smite: Deals 420 + 35 x level true damage to target enemy minion or pet. 800 Range.
Heal: Restores 140 + 20 x level health to your champion and 50% of that to nearby allies within 600 range.
Fortify: Grants invulnerability to all Allied Turrets and causes them to attack 100% faster for 6 seconds. While Fortify is ready to cast, you deal 9 bonus damage to minions.
Revive: Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, increasing your movement speed by 225%, diminishing to normal over 12 seconds.
Clarity: Restores 160 + 30 x level mana to your champion and 50% of that to nearby allies within 600 range.
Rally: Summons a beacon with 200 + 25 x level Health for 15 seconds which increases allied Attack Damage by 10-35. 850 Range Aura (estimate).

Masteries focus mainly on offense, you want to be the strongest carry you can be. Your main role playing Xin Zhao is stated above, to carry, so you need to be getting the kills for your team. Points that are placed in the masteries are really well thought out and to my test work the best. I know i have a point to ghost, i do sometimes use ghost that is why i keep it here but change that pint up to your preference. Make sure you get improved exhaust, for maximum benefits to gank.

So basically for skills you will want to purchase your structure skill first which is Three Talon Strike. This skill is amazing because of the damage and the knock up. One of the best skills in the game if you ask me. Three Talon Strike- Xin Zhao prepares to unleash a fearsome combo, causing his next 3 standard attacks to deal his attack damage + 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 to enemy targets, with the final attack knocking his opponent into the air.

Next you will want to max your damage enhancer and passive ability which would be Battle Cry. Battle Cry is an amazing skill because of the increased attack speed. (Passive): Battle Cry- Xin Zhao passively increases his attack speed by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%.
(Active): Xin Zhao unleashes a battle cry, increasing his attack speed by passive amount again for 5 seconds, and causing his standard attacks during this time to reduce all of his other abilities' cooldowns by 1 second. This is a great ability and you will want to open with this following with your next ability.

Xin Zhao's "E" ability is also great. It is a charge that does damage to the target, damage to targets around, and also slows the hit targets. Audacious Charge- Xin Zhao charges an enemy unit, dealing 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+40% of ability power) damage to all nearby enemies and slowing them by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% for 1.7 seconds. This is useful ability and use it after you use Battle Cry. This ability is good for harassing and farming.

Finally, Xin's ulti. Crescent Sweep- Xin Zhao unleashes a fierce spear sweep on targets around him, dealing 125 / 225 / 325 + 20% of their current health in physical damage. His magic resistance and armor are increased by 30 / 40 / 50 for the next 6 seconds. USE THIS WHEN A CHAMPION HAS HIGH HEALTH. It will lower it by 20% which is devastating. This ability is great for initiating fights and devastating tanks health as well as any champions.

ORDER: Battle Cry > Audacious Charge > Crescent Sweep > Three Talon Strike.

Greater Mark of Desolation
Greater Mark of Desolation- Armor Penetration (1.16) Armor Pen is essential for more damage, if you want more damage get armor pen.

Greater Seal of Alacrity- Attack Speed (0.76) Xin benefits from attack speed more then any other champ so this is essential for him to do good.

Greater Glyph of Celerity- Cooldown Reduction 0.9(0.05 per level) And for glyphs, trust me that you want cooldown reduction to spam your abilities, especially Three Talon Strike and Audacious Charge.
Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Greater Quintessence of Desolation- Armor Penetration (3.33) Armor Pen is essential for more damage, if you want more damage get armor pen.

For my item purchase i go with 3 health pots and boots to be able to get first blood by catching enemies with boots, and health pots for staying in lane. Both are my preference and hopefully you find them as effective as i do. Next go straight for Wriggle's Lantern. Wriggles is essential to be able to stay in lane and still gank without being a little squish ball. After that i would get boots, Mercury's Treads works extremely well and lets you be more defensive. Phage and The Brutalizer are the next essentials to be the best Xin. Phage as you can see gives you damage and also defense, just what you need. The Brutalizer is clearly essential for Xin by the cooldown reduction and armor pen. And from here purchase Frozen Mallet, this is essential to be an aggressive laner and not have to worry about dying in order to get kills. After you purchase your Frozen Mallet i would go straight for the Black Cleaver. Black Cleaver is the start of your insane damage items that allow you to gank like a pro. Next polish off your Brutalizer into a Youmuu's Ghostblade. And finally, pick up your Bloodthirster. Bloodthirster is great for Xin once you get your stacks maxed. After all of this if there is a long game i would usually trade boots for a Phantom Dancer and if you feel like you have excess money, trade something you don't want for an Infinity Edge. ALSO Later in the game before you consider selling your boots may i recommend you sell the Wriggle's Lantern for a Banshee's Veil.

I made this guide for fun and to really help fellow Xin players out there! Please enjoy it this took a lot of time and thinking. I would really appreciate it if you voted me up it would be a great help. Thanks and have fun fellow players.

-Swagguh

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^ As a side note if you are looking to join or just want to thank or help me out please sign up through this link and reach summoner level 5. I am trying to be more connected with Riot and maybe even design a character for them, i have great ideas in mind and will hear your ideas too and see if we can come up with something awesome for Riot! Thanks again :)

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