Xin Zhao, The Thrice-Born Warrior
Build Guide By carlru
74
11
173,469
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6
Comments
74
11
173,469
Views
6
Comments
Xin Zhao Build Guide By carlru
173,469
Views
6
Comments
Xin Zhao Build Guide By carlru
x
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Recommended Items
Runes: Noxian Ferocity
1
2
3
Domination
Inspiration
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:
Challenging Smite
Flash
Items
Item Pool
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Ability Order
Determination (PASSIVE)
Xin Zhao Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Threats
Synergies
Extreme
Major
Even
Minor
Tiny
Show All
None
Low
Ok
Strong
Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Udyr
This is your main counter. Udyr can run you down since you have no disengage and can't kite him. If you find yourself playing against him, try to utilize your Slow on W to escape.
Ornn
Ornn :)
Synergies
Ideal
Strong
Ok
Low
None
Ornn
Ornn :)
The Story of the Seneschal
"Fate flows like the four winds, no man can know its course until he sails it." - WHAT ONCE SAILED FREE
Born in Raikkon, a coastal village in Ionia Xin Zhao spent his childhood venturing the waters as a humble cabin boy on the Viscero.
Taken by marauders and thrust into the fighting pits of Noxus Xin Zhao took his boat's name and fought as Viscero the Reckoner, "the one who never lost".
Bought by the Noxian military, Xin Zhao, alongside other soldiers of misfortune, clashed against Demacia's main force and swiftly lost. They were never meant to have a fighting chance.
Jarvan the Third, King of Demacia, spared them. He gave every one of his surviving enemies a pouch of gold and freedom.
And when Xin Zhao knelt before this merciful king, feeling the palpable admiration of each soldier towards their ruler, he asked to join the king's guard, forsaking his new freedom, to rather die fighting with the honor this king granted him than regretting his decision evermore.
That is the story of Xin Zhao, the Thrice-Born Warrior, an Ionian by birth, a Noxian Reckoner by force, and the Seneschal of Demacia by choice.
Born in Raikkon, a coastal village in Ionia Xin Zhao spent his childhood venturing the waters as a humble cabin boy on the Viscero.
Taken by marauders and thrust into the fighting pits of Noxus Xin Zhao took his boat's name and fought as Viscero the Reckoner, "the one who never lost".
Bought by the Noxian military, Xin Zhao, alongside other soldiers of misfortune, clashed against Demacia's main force and swiftly lost. They were never meant to have a fighting chance.
Jarvan the Third, King of Demacia, spared them. He gave every one of his surviving enemies a pouch of gold and freedom.
And when Xin Zhao knelt before this merciful king, feeling the palpable admiration of each soldier towards their ruler, he asked to join the king's guard, forsaking his new freedom, to rather die fighting with the honor this king granted him than regretting his decision evermore.
That is the story of Xin Zhao, the Thrice-Born Warrior, an Ionian by birth, a Noxian Reckoner by force, and the Seneschal of Demacia by choice.
Pronounciation
The Character 
Xin Zhao is likely named after Zhào Xìn, a Xiongnu marquis and general who first surrendered to the Han Dynasty, but later defected back to Xiongnu.
From that, we can infer that his Pinyin likely is Xīn Zhāo.
And using the Wade-Giles Romanization, a system to transliterate Chinese into the Latin alphabet, we can construct a phonetic version of Xin Zhao's name, that being: Hsin Chao
Xin Zhao is likely named after Zhào Xìn, a Xiongnu marquis and general who first surrendered to the Han Dynasty, but later defected back to Xiongnu.From that, we can infer that his Pinyin likely is Xīn Zhāo.
And using the Wade-Giles Romanization, a system to transliterate Chinese into the Latin alphabet, we can construct a phonetic version of Xin Zhao's name, that being: Hsin Chao
Should you play Xin Zhao?
Xin Zhao is one of the easiest Junglers in the game viable even at the highest level of play, with a very strong early-game, and good gank potential, making him the perfect Champion to learn the Jungle-Role and play consistently.
Strengths:
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Weaknesses:
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Divers
are the more mobile portion of the
Fighter
class. Divers excel at singling out high-priority targets to blitz toward, immediately forcing those targets (and their teammates) to deal with the diver’s presence. Divers are not as durable as the
tanks
or
juggernauts
of the world, but divers can take their fair share of punishment while bringing enough damage to be a real kill threat if left unchecked.
Rune Choices
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The most obvious choice for a Keystone would be Hail of Blades since it ties into his kit with Three Talon Strike, hitting an almost instant Knockup while dealing tons of damage. Aside from a good Keystone for Xin Zhao, this Rune Choice also provides a selection of complementary Runes that work well with him.
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Since Sudden Impact deals more damage than Cheap Shot when used by Xin Zhao, as he can use that extra Lethality multiple times per proc and because Lethality is especially potent in the early game, it is the primary choice. (Tip: Blast Cones proc Sudden Impact)
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Eyeball Collection is great for snowballing and the obvious choice for the second row since Xin Zhao doesn't build Umbral Glaive, since Zombie Ward necessitates building that item.
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Relentless Hunter's Out-of-Combat Movement Speed helps Xin Zhao get around the map faster, rotating to skirmishes and gankable lanes in time to utilize his strong skirmish potential.
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Since Treasure Hunter gives extra gold for each takedown it is an excellent rune to pair with Eyeball Collection and Triumph, getting the snowball rolling a lot faster.
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Conqueror is a strong Keystone for most Auto-Attack-Champions and scales a lot better than Hail of Blades, making Xin Zhao viable even in the later stages of the game. Though there are some downsides:
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Triumph's 12% Missing-Health-Heal on every takedown often is the deciding factor behind surviving a towerdive, not dying to Brand, or thriving within a teamfight. Triumph grants more gold than Treasure Hunter when games go longer than 30 minutes.
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Both Determination and Three Talon Strike benefit from more Legend: Alacrity's Attack Speed, making Xin Zhao an even deadlier duelist.
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Legend: Tenacity helps in teamfights and against Peeling, making it a complementary rune to Conqueror.
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Don't pick Last Stand when choosing a secondary Rune Tree, instead go for Triumph and Legend: Alacrity. Last Stand complements the endurance-frontline playstyle of Conqueror and Legend: Tenacity. In general, Last Stand provides more damage at maximum capacity and applies more often than Coup de Grace.
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Phase Rush is a good Keystone choice since Xin Zhao already deals a lot of damage and rather than increasing this already high damage with Hail of Blades and Conqueror, Phase Rush supports Xin Zhao's playstyle with mobility granting him the ability to disengage, reposition, and chase down stragglers. Warning: Xin Zhao loses combat power by foregoing Hail of Blades & Conqueror, this may cause players to die faster and kill slower. Therefore, players with Phase Rush need to know Xin Zhao's limits to play around threats as well as to take advantage of the OP-Stat that is Movement Speed.
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Nimbus Cloak is the only useful Rune for Xin Zhao out of the Runes of the first row. The MS-Boost is neat and can help to chase or disengage enemies.
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Although Celerity might seem like the better option to increase the MS from Phase Rush, Nimbus Cloak & Waterwalking, Transcendence combined with the on-hit CDR of Three Talon Strike transforms Xin Zhao into an Ability-Slinging Dragon jumping from enemy to enemy, bypassing Peel, and dealing tons of damage with Wind Becomes Lightning. Adding Ultimate Hunter to the mix partially solves Xin Zhao's dependency on Crescent Guard within teamfights.
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Waterwalking is the only useful Rune for Xin Zhao out of the runes of the third row. Waterwalking's increase to AD (+4 AD at LVL 3) and movement speed can be very helpful, especially when fighting around objectives or the objectives themselves such as Scuttles, Drakes & Heralds.
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Magical Footwear besides the free 300g and extra 10 MS, also enables the player to snowball stronger, granting a 45s CDR on the arrival of the boots with every takedown. Magical Footwear & Cosmic Insight are a strong combo for secondary Rune Trees.
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Cosmic Insight provides 13% CDR to Smite & Flash. This translates into a negligible CDR on Flash (1+ Flash in a 40-minute game), faster completion of the Smite-Quest (not negligible), & more security when taking objectives because Smite is up more often. The Item Haste is a minor convenience. Cosmic Insight is a quality-of-life improvement for every Jungler.
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Playstyle - Going with the Flow
"Those who stand on tiptoes do not stand firmly. Those who rush ahead don't get very far. Those who try to outshine others dim their own light." - Lao Tzu
Lee Sin, Elise and Xin Zhao Players often feel the need to force bad Ganks, Drakes, or Skirmishes because they think that they're playing on borrowed time; soon to be outscaled by everyone else.
As important as it is for Early-Game Champions to snowball and end the game as fast as possible, it is more important not to throw away potential; impact will come with discipline, therefore it is important to:
Lee Sin, Elise and Xin Zhao Players often feel the need to force bad Ganks, Drakes, or Skirmishes because they think that they're playing on borrowed time; soon to be outscaled by everyone else.As important as it is for Early-Game Champions to snowball and end the game as fast as possible, it is more important not to throw away potential; impact will come with discipline, therefore it is important to:
- Know your Jungler's Strengths and Weaknesses!
- Not start Drake without Knowledge about the Enemies' whereabouts!
- Not Gank if it won't have an impact!
- Acknowledge that CS-Leads impact even early-game Junglers!
- Always contest Scuttle!
- Invade & Countergank!
- Take Rift Herald!
- Gank!
Gambits
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Note: You can mirror this path to start top-side and place a ward near your bot-side Buff. 1. Place a Stealth Ward near your top-side Buff and Recall at 0:50. Buy Oracle Lens.2. Clear 2-5 while observing the lanes for gank opportunities. 3. Contest Scuttle at 3:15. |
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1. Place a Stealth Ward in the river bush of the lane you want to gank. Observe to see if enemies also place a Stealth Ward in that bush, if so: abort. 2. If Gank-Opportunities don't present themselves immediately after you do  Red Brambleback
you can do
 Krugs
to hover near your lane while farming.3. Gank. |
Add: 3-Camp-Start
carlru
Xin Zhao Guide
Xin Zhao, The Thrice-Born Warrior
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