THE LEGEND OF XIN ZHAO

*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 unprescedented 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

I do 21/0/9 because I play an offensive style of Xin Zhao. My rune set up takes care of my tankiness so I don't need to go into the Defense tree. I get the EXP mastery from utility so I can get a level advantage on the other players. Xin scales with levels very well because once he gets all his skills he can burst out a lot of damage. I also put a point into the Improved Buff Duration because as Xin I like to get Red Buff a lot.

Armor Penetration Reds and Quints: Helps a lot with your damage. Stacks nicely with
FLAT Armor Yellows: Helps you be tankier early game so you don't get denied as hard with auto attacks. As well as when you go in for harass, you don't take too much creep damage.
Magic Resist Per Level Blues: I prefer Magic Resist Per Level Blues over Flat Magic Resist because early game skills don't do much damage, it's late game where you need the extra Magic Resist.

Explanation:

These are the Summoner Spells I use. I get for escaping ganks or chasing. I get because it can insure a kill for me if the enemy starts to run.

Other good choices would be:
Some prefer this overhis is good to get depending on the enemy team and if your team doesn't have it.If the enemy team has a lot of CC this can come in handy.This is necessary if you're going to be jungling.
I wouldn't bother with any other Summoner Spells for Xin.

Passive: Tireless Warrior
Xin Zhao is healed for 30 points for every 3 attacks that he lands. This amount increases by 5 every 2 levels.

Explanation:


This helps you lane better early and one you have more attack speed it can act as a nice lifesteal. This also works when you hit towers/inhibs because it is a heal not a lifesteal. When you have a lot of armor you can tank towers really well because of your passive.

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.

Cost 30mana
Range 375

Explanation:


This is really strong for Xin because there's no protection against knock up/knock back so it's a really good form of CC. With this and your you can keep the enemy in the air a lot of the fight.

W: Battle Cry

Battle Cry
Passive: Increases Xin Zhao's attack speed by 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35%.

Active: Xin Zhao unleashes a battle cry, increasing his attack speed by double the passive amount for 5 seconds, and causing his standard attacks to reduce all other ability cooldowns by 1 second.

Activating this ability removes the passive bonus until this ability refreshes.

Cost 35
mana

Range 20


Explanation:


Use this skill when you're going to get a lot of auto attacks off and it'll make all your other skills cool down a lot faster so you can spam them in a fight. This will allow you to use and multiple times in a fight to pump out a lot of damage and CC to your enemies.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.

Cost 70
mana

Range 650
Cooldown 16/15/14/13/12

Explanation:


This is a good charge skill. Has a slow component which helps a lot in chasing, ganking, and initiating a teamfight. Use this skill to charge on their carry and take them out fast.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.

Cost 100
mana

Range 20


Explanation:


When you cast this in the middle of the teamfight, you'll become really tanky and do some nice damage as well. You want to use this right after you charge in. Try to use this on as many enemies as you can because each enemy you hit will increase your Armor and Magic Resist.

Early Game
Take solo Top or Mid depending on who you'll be going against. Xin is a strong duelist and can burst a lot of damage at lvl 3. Try not to get denied and just CS for a few lvls until you have AUDACIOUS CHARGE AND THREE TALON STRIKE You can harass easily with these for a lot of damage.

He can also do well in Bot if he has someone to babysit him or someone with CC. If the enemy gets CC'd Xin can burst a lot of their health but I prefer him in a Solo Lane.

(note: a good little trick is to hit 2 minions with THREE TALON STRIKE to charge up a knock up, then use AUDACIOUS CHARGE to close the distance and the enemy will be knocked up instantly)

By now you should have a lot of damage output with BRUTALIZER . Just keep farming and ganking when possible. If a teamfight happens you need to be there. You can change the fight with AUDACIOUS CHARGE AND CRESCENT SWEEP and your auto attacks. Use your WRIGGLES LANTERN ward in the River to give vision to your team as well as yourself.

By this point you should not only have a lot of damage items, you'll be really tanky as well. This allows you to withstand a lot of damage and if you make them focus you, they will be blowing a lot of skills on the tank which your team can take advantage of very well.

With the new changes to Xin's BATTLE CRY , it makes him a very strong, fast, and safe jungler.

I've tested a few things in the jungle with him and will share them here. For runes I use the same as if I were laning Xin because I do not have Attack Speed (reds/blues) or Health (quints) but those would probably be better, but my rune set up works just as fine.

Masteries

Your main goal should be to kill the enemy team's carry, then the rest of the squishies, then the tanks last.

If you get focused just try and do as much damage as possible before you die because Xin doesn't really have an escape, you're really tanky and have lifesteal so you'll be living for a lot longer than you think.

Pick your fights well, if you go in too early you will be killed fast. You can initiate sometimes but not every fight, once you start playing Xin you'll find out what you can and can't do.

I play Xin a lot and he's probably my favorite character. I hope this guide helped you to improve your Xin play. This is just my take on Xin, I know a lot of people play him much differently than I do but I get asked a lot about my Xin so instead of explaining over and over, I figured I would write a guide. This is just a guideline showing what works for me, try things out and do what works for you! Thanks for reading.