Xin Zhao is one of the most capable melee characters in the game. Early game, few characters are as capable of setting up ganks and dealing quick damage. Late game, Xin can carry your whole team on his broad, Asian shoulders. In between, you'll be having all sorts of fun bringing devastation to your enemies. Any fed character can completely dominate, but Xin (especially with this build) makes it quite easy to be fed if you keep your wits about you and start munching on the noobs.

Staying true to the offensive nature of this build, all of your runes are going to be going towards more killing power. Armor penetration is most important, as has been proven all over the place. You want more damage, get more armor penetration. Seals are dedicated to attack speed, because Xin benefits from it more than anyone else. Just trust me, you want it. Glyphs go to cooldown reduction to help spam TTS and AC even more

Pros
Distance closer
Knock up
Group slow
Natural heal
Unstoppable when fed
Extremely fast
Lanes well with stunner


Cons
Picked on by ranged
A bit slow without items
Vulnerable to cc
No escape mechanism (except speed)

Xin Zhao's skills make him a huge asset to ganks. The ability to close distance and slow with Audacious Charge and then knock in the air with Three Talon Strike means your allies will have plenty of time to come in and clean up the scraps (if you haven't already finished the enemy off).

Your passive heals you every 3 hits. This is a HUGE advantage in early game. It means you can lane for long periods of time without wasting money on lifesteal. Even mid and late game you will be healing rather quickly with all the attack speed you will be getting. Keep in mind that if you want to keep laning but are scared of the enemy, jungling for a bit is a viable option to get your health back up.


This is the skill you will level up first, and it will be your bread and butter throughout the game. Not only do you get in 3 quick hits with bonus damage, but you knock up your opponent on the third hit. This allows your teammates to help you out, or slows down the enemy enough to get that kill shot in. Spam this skill as much as you can. It works great in combo with the active of Battle Cry, because your 3 hits will get in faster and the cooldown on TTS will be extremely short.


This skill is great in itself as a passive ability. It boosts your attack speed up to 35%. That's like two daggers for free! You'll want to level this skill early because attack speed benefits Xin like no other champion. Faster attack speed with Tireless Warrior means faster healing. It makes your Three Talon knockup hit sooner. It makes your cooldowns reduce more quickly with Battle Cry's active. Moral of the story? You want attack speed.

Battle Cry's active is also amazing. It doubles the bonus of the passive for 7 seconds. An extra 70% attack speed? Yes, please! Also, during those 7 seconds all cooldowns are reduced by 1 second. This is a HUGE benefit for three talon strike. Don't forget, this also reduces the cooldown of your ult, making it nearly spammable. Word of caution: your passive attack speed bonus goes away while this active is on cooldown. That shouldn't stop you from spamming this skill (extremely low mana cost) to farm and get your ult off of cooldown.


This is a great skill for initiating fights. It's a distance closer, but also slows all enemies around the target. Typically after using this skill, you want to immediately use your ultimate for maximum damage. One point in this skill early is useful for closing distance, but we're going to hold off on more points till late game. The increased slowing is really nice, but we already have many tools for slowing the enemy, as well as a high movement speed to chase the baddies down.


Oh no! That tank has so much health! Nope. It doesn't. You just reduced it by 20%. Welcome to crescent sweep.

This great skill deals some flat damage, as well as a nice 20% of the current enemies health. What does that mean for you, almighty enemy pwner? Use this skill first when you are going for a kill, while their health is still high. A typical skill sequence is Battle Cry, Audacious Charge, Crescent Sweep, Three Talon Strike, and repeat the TTS and AC as much as possible. Not even tanks will last very long.