Greetings summoner,,

Welcome to my first build created on MobaFIRE.
I love to play with Tanky DPS champions (such as Olaf, Jarvan IV, Jax, etc.)
For my first build, we will be discussing about Xin Zhao, The Seneschal Of Demacia.
Xin Zhao is one of best, if not the best Tanky DPS in the game. He focuses on dealing huge damage quickly. He can win a 1v1 against almost every champion in the game. On some rare occasions, he can also win a 1v2 or even a 1v3.
His laning phase, team fights, and late game phase are all strong compared to other Tanky DPS champions.

P.S.: I'd like to thank Jhoijhoi for his awesome guide format. Making a guide by jhoijhoi

Pros + Can 1v1 against almost everyone + Has huge sustain + Natural Heal + Knock Up + Attack Speed Buff + Slow + initiation + Deals % of remaining HP

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Cons - Slow without Zeal + Boots - Vulnerable to CC - Not as Tanky as Garen, Jarvan IV, Volibear, etc. - Needs to be farmed or fed - No escape mechanism - Often focused . .

Offense Tree

• Summoner's Wrath 1/1: Increases your Attack Damage and Ability Power by 5 when Ignite is on cooldown.
• Brute Force 3/3: Increases your Attack Damage by 3.
• Alacrity 4/4: Increases your Attack Speed by 6%.
• Demolitionist 1/1: Deals 10 bonus Damage to Turrets.
• Deadliness 1/4: Increases your Critical Strike Chance by 1%.
• Weapon Expertise 1/1: Gives you 10% Armor Penetration.
• Havoc 3/3: Increases Damage dealt by 1.5%.
• Vampirism 3/3: Increases your Life Steal by 3%.
• Sunder 3/3: Increases your Armor Penetration by 6.
• Executioner 1/1: Increases your Damage dealt by 6% to all enemy unit under 40% Health.

Defense Tree

• Resistance 3/3: Increases your Magic Resist by 6.
• Hardiness 3/3: Increases your Armor by 6.

Utility Tree

• Summoner's Insight 1/1: Reduces Flash cooldown by 15 seconds.
• Expanded Mind 2/3: Increases your Mana by 8 per level (+144 Mana at level 18).

I always go with Greater Mark of Desolation and Greater Quintessence of Desolation for any DPS champions.
These runes reduces your opponent armor by 25. Plus your items and masteries, their armor will be reduced to more than 70, causing TRUE DAMAGE to Ranged AD and AP Casters.
As for Seals and Glyphs, I take Greater Seal of Armor, Greater Glyph of Magic Resist and Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist to balance Xin Zhao's squishyness throughout the entire game.

Other good runes:
Greater Mark of Attack Speed: I only use attack speed marks for jungling. But since this is a laning Xin Zhao guide, I don't really recommend it.
Greater Seal of Attack Speed: If you prefer having more Attack Speed early game, take this. I prefer being durable with Greater Seal of Armor and I can get Attack Speed from Battle Cry.
Greater Seal of Replenishment: Having mana issues? Use these if you like to be aggressive early game. I don't usually spam my abilities early game since I focus on last hitting minions.
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: These runes allow you to spam your abilities more. Good for Team Fights.
Greater Quintessence of Health: The extra health helps for early game if your opponent is being aggressive.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Xin Zhao lacks speed until he gets Zeal+ Boots.

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Situation where you need to escape or get closer to your enemies, Flash is the best summoner spell for these situations. Use it to escape through the Fog of War or to get closer to your opponent and then initiate with Audacious Charge.
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A really good summoner spell for early game to get First Blood. Ignite is also good to shutdown those annoying healing ultimate abilities such as Dr. Mundo's Maximum Dosage or Swain's Ravenous Flock. It can also stop DPS's that stacks Bloodthirster ( Master Yi, Pantheon, Tryndamere, etc.)
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Very good summoner spell for a Tanky DPS like Xin Zhao. With Summoner's Wrath , the opponent's armor is reduced by 10, meaning that you are gonna deal HUGE DAMAGE to your opponent. It can also be used to chase an enemy or escape one. Tossing Exhaust out on their carry in every Team Fight can really give you an advantage. This spell is better than Ignite mid and late game because Ignite is more of an early game spell. I sometimes take this spell instead of Ignite.
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• Ghost : It's a good spell to catch up with your opponent if they try to escape. Even if they use their Exhaust on you, Ghost has a longer duration, meaning you can neglect the slow from Exhaust and catch up later on. Not really recommended for Tower Diving.
• Teleport : Can come in handy when you are solo laning. It also gives you great map control.
  Ex.: A turret is getting attacked, Teleport and save the day.
  .......There's a Team Fight but you aren't there, Teleport on a unit.
• Cleanse : A good spell if the opposing team has a lot of CC. But I think Cleanse's cooldown is a bit too high. I'd rather buy a Quicksilver Sash, getting more magic resist and it has a lower cooldown.
• Smite : Smite is a must if you're going to jungle with Xin Zhao. But this is a laning build, so you won't be needing this spell.

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Xin Zhao is healed for 30 points for every 3 attacks that he lands. This amount increases by 5 every 2 levels.
One of the best passives for early game because it gives him enormous sustainability. After laning phase is over, the effectiveness of this passive kinda disappears.

• This passive still works even if you're blind by Teemo's Blinding Dart or Heimerdinger's CH-1 Concussion Grenade.
• It also works when attacking an enemy Turret, Inhibitor or Nexus.

Xin Zhao prepares to unleash a fearsome combo, causing his next 3 standards attacks to deal his attack damage + 15/30/45/60/75 to enemy targets, with the final attack knocking his opponent into the air.
By far, this is my favorite ability for level one because with your runes and masteries, you deal more than 70 damage per hit depending on your enemy. Meaning if you attack a support, you can deal about 100 damage per hit because support have almost no armor early level.
I put a point at level 1 and max it second(by level 13).

• Remember that this skill resets the auto attack timer, meaning you can use a basic attack and then activate Three Talon Strike.
• Only the third attack of Three Talon Strike procs spell shields like Banshee's Veil, Sivir's Spell Shield and Nocturne's Shroud of Darkness.
• The knock up also works when blinded Blinding Dart, feared Terrify or suppressed Nether Grasp(If you are close enough to the target, you can knock them up as they are doing the CC)

(Passive): Xin Zhao passively increases his attack speed by 20/25/30/35/40 %.
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(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 ability resembles Master Yi's Wuju Style passive. They both start with extra stats as a passive and the active doubles the actives number. But Xin Zhao's Battle Cry is different. When the 5 second on his active is over, he gets his regular attack speed. While Wuju Style, Master Yi gains a number of attack damage but then the extra damage subtract from his base damage. And Battle Cry reduces cooldown by 1 second per hit.
I put a point at level 3 and max it last(at level 18).

• It's cooldown reduction also works on Towers, Inhibitors and Nexus.

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 1.5 seconds.
This is your initiation move. Whenever you try to kill someone, always use Audacious Charge first to slow the enemy and then attack with Three Talon Strike. This ability has an AoE effect, meaning if you can't catch the enemy, use Audacious Charge on the nearest enemy unit to slow your opponent.
I put a point at level 2 and max it first(at level 9).

• Xin Zhao immediately attack his target after Audacious Charge.
• Audacious Charge has a range of 650 (Caitlyn's basic attack range).
• It has an AoE effect, meaning it could kill stealth champions( Twitch, Evelynn, Shaco and Teemo).
• Deals magic damage, meaning it can't be countered by Blind or Dodge.

Xin Zhao unleashes a fierce spear sweep on targets around him, dealing 125/225/325 + 15% of their current health in physical damage. His magic resistance and armor are increased by 30/33/36 for the next 6 seconds.
This ability has been nerfed many times before. His Crescent Sweep used to deal 20% of their current health instead of 15% It also used to give him a huge amount of magic resist and armor even if he didn't touch an enemy champion. Despite the nerfs, it's still a powerful ultimate that can devastate the entire team.
I take it whenever it's available(level 6,11 and 16).

• It's cooldown is very low. Plus with Battle Cry, he can use his ultimate ability every 30 second. Doesn't mean you should use you should use that ultimate every time it's available.
• Just like Audacious Charge, it can hit stealth units because of the AoE effect.

. This sequence will give you max burst early and mid game. It is mostly used against ranged champions. Ranking up Audacious Charge first gives you extra damage, slow, and lower cooldowns. This build makes him incredibly hard to run away from.
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. This sequence will give you max damage on Three Talon Strike. The only Con i can say to this sequence is that it only deals damage to single enemy target. I used to use this sequence until I realized that Audacious Charge was a lot better.
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Between these two sequences, I'd rather pick the first one because Audacious Charge is a better ability than Three Talon Strike. Here are the reasons:

• At level 5, Three Talon Strike deals 225 damage IF you land all 3 hits.
• At level 5, Audacious Charge does 230 damage right away.
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• Three Talon Strike has a 10 second cooldown at all levels.
• Audacious Charge has a cooldown that scales with level.
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• Three Talon Strike has a knock up that is the same at all levels.
• Audacious Charge has a slow that scales with level.
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• Three Talon Strike isn't AoE.
• Audacious Charge is.

Doran's Blade Great early game items. This items gives some early game survivability, and sustainability. You will mostly start with a Doran's Blade. If you are having trouble in lane, buy one or two more. Never stack more than three Doran's Blade. . .

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Doran's shield Also a great early game item. This item give more survivability and sustainability than Doran's Blade. Start with this item if the enemy has a lot of physical damage dealers. Never stack Doran's Shield. .

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Cloth armor Provides some nice defense against physical damage and builds into Wriggle's Lantern or for a head start on Randuin's Omen. Consider it if you will lane against a lot of physical damage.

or Mercury's Treads / Berserker's Greaves Between these two boots, it really depends on the enemy team. If they have two hard CC or more (Stun, Suppressed, Silence, etc.), it's better to get Mercury's Treads because of the 35% CC reduction, and of course some MR. If they have one or less CC, don't bother with Mercury's Treads and buy a Berserker's Greaves for the extra attack speed. . . . or Black Cleaver / Youmuu's Ghostblade These two are my favorite items in game, simply because of the Armor Penetration. Some people prefer Youmuu's Ghostblade because of it's active that resembles Master Yi's Highlander, while others prefer Black Cleaver's consistency. Black Cleaver is better you want more consistent damage, and great damage. Youmuu's Ghostblade is better you can remember the active, want the cooldown reduction, and critical strike.

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Banshee's Veil This item easily counters casters and blocks CC/initiation spells. It also gives so HP, MP as well as some MR. It also gives you some HP and MP back when you level up. Since you are one of the initiators of the team, you should be right in the middle of the action. Take it almost every game, depending on how many CC they have. . Randuin's Omen This item provides an amazing defense against physical damage. It also provides with some Armor, HP and HP/5. The best part of this item is the active ability. It's made out of Heart of Gold, meaning you can farm gold with it. .

Just wanna see your thoughts