This is a build about Lu Bu... I mean Xin Zhao... that's what I meant.

Yo people, this is my first guide, but I have had a lot of success with it and never seen anyone use a similar build, so thought I would share the love.

I play European server, feel free to add me if you want a game sometime. Jungle Xin has a similar role to Jungle Yi, but in my opinion he is better for ganking and is a sick late game tank killer and tower diver. Because Xin's greatest weakness is early game harassment, by jungling you negate this weakness and make sure you do not get starved of gold.

Please try the build before you rate! :D And leave comments.

These are far from my best scores with this build, but you can see that it works. The first game was 3v5 and the second game Twitch and Pantheon were always trying to shut down my jungling, but you can see that the build pulls through ok.

I'll be honest, I don't own all these runes, I am only about 2/3 of the way there, but that just shows these runes are not necessary to use the build. The HP quints, CD reduction glyphs and dodge seals are the most important, don't worry if you don't have the attack speed Marks.

The masteries in Awareness on utility are essential, otherwise you don't level up after killing golems. The offensive masteries make a big difference to your early game, so definitely get them. You may want to toy around with slightly different specifications, but this is the one that works for me.

First thing first: These are only the core items for the build. There is no such thing as the perfect build, you have to adapt to each game depending on your opponents. If they have a lot of CC, you may want to swap Zerkers for Mercury's Treads. If they do not have a threatening armor tank, then don't bother with black cleaver. If you are worried about getting nuked then get an early negatron cloak, etc. etc. Sometimes even your team may not pick a tank and then you may be forced to tank slightly, so swap out triforce for frozen mallet and consider getting Warmog's.

The most important things for Xin are Attack Speed, damage and HP in that order.

Attack speed: Heals you from your passive, makes your Q faster, makes your CD reduction from W faster.
Damage: Obvious
HP: Scales ulti damage and gives survivability for tower dives and ganks.

I recently added Ghostblade, instead of a second Phantom Dancer. This is really good, but only if you remember to use the active.

First you skill Q, then W, then Q. After that it is not so important, but in my opinion best to level W first, because the passive is really strong, while the damage increase from levelling Q is not such a big deal. The only reason to get E at level 4 is to gank.

Improved Smite: For jungle
Improved Ghost: For chase and for flee. Only pop this if you are sure you need it. Late game you probably won't need it as you will have sick movement speed and slow.

Ok, here's the real stuff.


Early Game
First: buy cloth armor and 3 health potions. You probably will only need two health potions, but buy three just incase.

Golems: Wait till minions have spawned and all their team are accounted for, then go to golem camp. AA then immediately press Q. If you do it right, your Q will activate straight after your AA, giving you an effective double attack. After the Q combo the golem you target should be low enough to take down with smite. Use smite as soon as it is on 445 HP or below for the extra 5 gold, otherwise just smite straight away if you don't care about 5 gold. Next focus the other golem. If you need use a health potion, but you should be ok. Level up W.

Wolves: Go straight to the Wolf camp, using a health pot on the way if you are low. Focus Daddy Wolf, using the same Q trick as before to attack faster. As soon as Q is on CD, activate W. Now you will bring down the CD on Q faster, and soon be able to use it again to finish off the remaining wolves.

Wraiths: Use smite on the big wraith, then the Q trick and W to finish off the rest. Port back to base and buy a longsword.

Go around the same sequence again. Now you should be level 4. At level 4 you can take the blue buff, but first port back to buy Madred's Razors. Make sure to skill one point in E and then you may be able to gank one of the lanes.

Once you have the blue buff, you should be able to either keep jungling, or go gank/help whichever lanes need you. You can also grab the red buff to help gank, but you will probably need smite for that, and quite high HP.

Mid Game
Once you have your boots and wriggle's lantern, you are already an unstoppable jungling machine. Just keep good map awareness and go to wherever you are needed. You are very versatile and can push/gank/jungle as needed. Don't forget to use the free ward from wriggle's. Best places to ward are probably dragon and side bushes on mid.

Get dragon and blue buff, but only if you know they are safe. If the other team is pro, they will ward blue buff, and you will have to be very careful.

Late Game
With this build you should get fed pretty quickly, but if for some reason you haven't won by the late game, then it's teamfight time. It is not a good idea to initiate against their team, because you will get nuked down quite fast unless you are very fed. Much better to wait until the fight starts, then charge and ulti on their carry. Before they know what hits them, they will be dead. Then just continue to focus down any carries or supports you can find. You should be able to chase anyone with your sick movement speed, but don't overextend.

It is possible for Xin to backdoor, but I do not recommend this because even with ghost, Xin is not so great at fleeing. If you find the enemy team if focussing you (and they should) then getting Atma's Impaler or Banshee's Veil is a very good idea.

With this build you are a DPS nuke, but if you really need to carry, I recommend getting more lifesteal. One more thing: if you are really fed, don't be afraid to take on tanks that are isolated. With Black Cleaver they will not last long. (Watch out for thornmail)

90% of Xin players do not know how to use their skills.

Q does not reset the attack timer, so always use it straight after AA for an extra quick attack.
Q is the best for minion farming, and for last hitting.
protip: Charge the first two hits of Q on minions, then E in to deliver an instant knockup to your target. Good way to harrass against ranged champs or just to get those sweet kills.

W should NOT be activated until most of your other skills are on cooldown. It gives you an extra boost to attack speed to finish off the kill, and brings back your other abilities faster. However when it runs out, your attacks slow considerably. This is why Xin is a burst champion, not the best carry.

E uses a lot of mana, so do not use it except to ensure a kill. If I see a Xin minion farming with this I have to facepalm. If you are fast enough, you can use E to slow your pursuers, then run away. But this is only worth it if they are already right on top of you.

R is great for towerdiving. You should use it straight after E when you charge in to a fight. You can also use it if you are fleeing, just for the defensive boosts. The cooldown and mana costs are not so severe, so you can even use this to farm large minion waves if you are confident you will not need it soon.