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Xin Zhao Build Guide by Revory

Xin Zhao : Just the tip for a little bit

Xin Zhao : Just the tip for a little bit

Updated on December 15, 2011
8.3
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Revory Build Guide By Revory 69 12 413,446 Views 49 Comments
69 12 413,446 Views 49 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Revory Xin Zhao Build Guide By Revory Updated on December 15, 2011
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao

Welcome

Whats up guys, lets start off by first saying these are my personal favorite ways to play Xin in Ranked games thus far.

Xin is what you can call an extremely versatile champ. I will always go into the jungle unless my team needs something else. He is so well rounded with his DPS and low CD's and range to close that I rarely find myself outmatched.

Lets go ahead and quickly go over what I'm putting in this guide and why I'm posting this.


1) I have 4 Builds posted up here. Your Standard build, Jungle build, Hybrid build, and finally the Crit build.

2) I see so many Xin's play when I'm on other champs just building crit items like they were Tryn...and IMO it doesn't work out and you melt in team fights.

3) I have been asked by a few people after games to how I build my Xin and what not, so this is really my best way of tossing the knowledge that I have to the community.

4) Because after the Championships, not seeing a singe Xin during the entire tourney makes me sad because he has become my favorite AD Off-Tank/Jungler...though I was really happy to see a Mord roflstomp TSM, I knew he would make an appearance atleast for one game.


Last note here before we get started:

THIS IS A GUIDE AND INFORMATION THAT I HAVE PERSONALLY TESTED AND THIS IS MY FINDINGS. BY NO MEANS ARE THESE THE ONLY WAY TO BUILD AND PLAY XIN. IF YOU ARE A SUPER AGGRESSIVE PLAYER, MOST OF THESE BUILDS WILL NOT HELP YOU OR YOUR TEAM. NOT EVERYONE PLAYS THE SAME AND THUS, THIS IS A GUIDE AND TO BE TREATED AS SUCH.

TRY THE BUILDS OUT BEFORE VOTING PLEASE.
Back to Top

Updates

July 22, 2011:
Began revising Item section to make it more readable and shorter...basically more user friendly.

July 30, 2011:
Added a Crit Xin Build. Continued Updating Item Section.

Sep 3, 2011:
Full on rebuild of Jungle for success in Ranked games. Check it out.

Dec 14, 2011

Huge Changes


~Change to Builds
~Cutting out the Fat(Items and Builds)
~Better briefing over each build

Will be working on it over the next week for finish
Back to Top

Helpful Terms

Standard Terms


"MR"=magic resist
"AA"=auto attack
"AP"=ability power
"AD"=attack damage
"AS"=attack speed
"CC"=crowd control
"CDR"=cooldown reduction
SPACE

Team Strategies


"jungle" = The group of trees and
paths that exist between the lanes

"over-extending" = where you, or an ally,
is past a certain point where
the enemy team can easily kill you

"baiting" = the act where one of your
team mates is purposely
over-extends while the rest
of your team sits and waits
to provoke a team fight in
your favor.

"gank" = used in the sense of
ambushing an enemy champion
(or champion's) that is pushing
to far in the lane

"zoning" = where you are prohibiting
the enemy champion (or champion's)
from getting any exp/gold by standing
between them and the creep wave
SPACE

Team Calls


"b" = back, fall back, get out of there
"oom" = out of mana
"GTFO" = the act of getting out of the
area as fast as possible

"care" = be careful, they might be
coming for you

"miss, mia" = missing in action, used to
describe when a champion is missing
from a lane and to be careful of
incoming ganks

"backdoor" = sneaking into the enemies
base in order to bring down
towers/inhibitors or the nexus
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Pros / Cons

Pros:


Heal every 3rd "LANDED" attack
Great output
Closer ( Audacious Charge)
Natural CDR ( Battle Cry)
Great Initiator For Ganks
Can Fill Many Rolls
Great Counter pick to most every champ
SPACE

Cons:


CC is every champs Nightmare
Must Play many games to learn how to take on each opposing champ
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Runes

Greater Mark of Desolation
These are what I call my Norm now

As you can see it comes to a total of 10% Attack Speed, 15 Armor Pen,
12 Armor, and 24 added MR at lv 18

I use these due to the fact I really only play Xin as an Off-Tank
Feel Free to play with my old Rune set where its all Attack Speed and Armor Pen
But to be honest, this so far seems to be stronger overall

Also thinking of trying out 1 Quint of Lifesteal, 1 Movement and 1 Attack Speed
will let you all know of my findings but don't think its going to
be a big change to be honest
Back to Top

Masteries

Simple Section Here


All Builds Enhance the Items I build on that set, and each are 21/9/0

Masteries are in my opinion up to the user really
Mine may not work for your taste
So try them out a few games
Feel the Power
Win
Back to Top

Summoner Spells

Top Choices



All other Summoner Spells don't exactly help you in a way that will bring that GG your way.

Teleport is nice if your trying to work that split push angle, but other than that with Xin your fairly mobile and should be able to get where you want quickly.

Cleanse is nice for those heavy CC teams, but if you build bulky and have defenses and you don't build Glass Cannon, then you won't need this. Its ok but IMO I've never been in a situation where I thought I needed it. If you get stunned out of position, then you deserve to drop, learn to travel safely between lanes and ward.

Revive....if I ever see anyone with this spell besides Panth or TF, I begin laughing uncontrollably and am able to stop myself as minions spawn. If you take this spell you are announcing that you are a noob, or your trolling. Simply put its not worth it at all except for TF and Panth, ever seen a TF or Panth drop first in a team fight, only to ult back in and clean up your team? I have, and even though very few players actually think this is a viable way to run with those 2, I've seen it own.

Rally....just don't, its not worth it at all ever.

All others just don't help your game enough to actually use, ever. Leave Clairvoyance, Fortify, Heal, and Clarity for your Tanks and Support champs.
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Skills

Xin's Abilities are built for Ganking. Hence why I like to Jungle him so much. But in lane he is also a huge threat that due to his utility, makes him so deadly that most champs think they can handle you but you really put up the numbers to drop them quick.

Xin Zhao prepares to unleash a fearsome combo, causing his next 3 standard attacks to deal 15/30/45/60/75 plus physical damage, with the final attack knocking his opponent into the air.

Cooldown: 10 Seconds
Cost: 30 mana
Range: 375


This is your pop up, and bonus damage ability with a low cooldown. Prior to lv 6 I have 2 in this and leave it till last to max cause your other abilities really take priority based on their utility.


Passive: Increases Xin Zhao's attack speed by 20/25/30/35/40%.

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


Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16
Cost: 35 mana
Range: 20


This is the ability that will keep you dishing out the damage for a long time. Even though it's CDR doesn't work on itself (which would be awesome), it makes it so you can charge, pop, and then auto attack till they are off cooldown again to use. I max this second for its obvious utility in ganks and team fights.


Xin Zhao charges an enemy unit, dealing 70/110/150/190/230 (+0.4) magic damage to all nearby enemies and slowing them by 20/25/30/35/40% for 1.7 seconds.

Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12
Cost: 70 mana
Range: 650


This is your combo Closer, and Slow. Reason why I max this first is simple, where as Three Talon Strike just adds small amount of damage, this ability adds more and more slow and overall better damage than Three Talon until you actually get some serious AD built. The 1.7 second slow is more than enough time once you get your Attack Speed up to pop them if you actually level it up to the 40% movement speed reduction.


Xin Zhao unleashes a fierce spear sweep on targets around him, dealing 125/225/325 plus 15% of their current health in physical damage. For 6 seconds, his Magic Resistance and Armor are increased by 5 / 8 / 11 per champion hit.

Cooldown: 75 seconds
Cost: 100 mana
Range: 20


This is your Ult, and what you will, if needed to or if your Off-tanking, initiate with. Your gonna charge in, then ult, then turn on the talon, and let out a battle cry. This will make you Tanky as any tank for the next 6 seconds so once those 6 seconds are up, back off or if your looking great, keep pressing till it hurts.


Xin Zhao restores 30 health for every 3 attacks that he lands. This amount increases by 5 every 2 levels.

This be your passive. Don't let people tell you this is lifesteal...its not, it is simply an on hit effect, ie every 3rd attack you land your gonna heal for a little bit. Thus you can actually race a tower at high level and due to your passive, if your attack speed is high enough and damage, your gonna win. This is also what makes Xin a great sustainable Jungler.
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Items

Here is the section where I'm going to briefly go over all the Items you can use with Xin Zhao.

We are going to split this section up a bit and will repeat some of the items due to the fact that they are multi purpose. So we are going to split these up into Offence, Defense, and Utility Items. Each section is then split into a smaller grouping so they can be better explained for the reason you pick them up.

Offensive Items

Due to the fact that there are so many, we will are going to split these up into Lifesteal, Damage, and Armor Penetration.

Life Steal Items


This item is very under rated
and most people will look past it.
Cheap and keeps those heavy Life
Steal and Spell Vamp champs
under control
SPACE

This makes your AC hit harder and
gives a solid Dmg Boost and
provides an active for slowing your
targets down
SPACE

Great Damage and has a great
amount of Life Steal if you
farm it up.
SPACE

This is your Team Item of sorts. If you have 2
other AD champs grab this up.
SPACE

This is your general Life Steal Jungle Item. You may still
use it for lane. Its Free Ward every 3 minutes is
just about priceless.

Damage


If your buying this item then your
building a lot of hp, other wise its
really not worth it.
SPACE

This item is when you need bulk
and a reliable way to slow your
enemies. Doesn't give you a ton
of damage butit still
gets the job done.
SPACE

This is for those games where there
are a bunch of Mages. This is gonna
give you some damage but mostly
the MR and Shield.

60 Damage and 20% Lifesteal to go
with it. The 75 AP and 25% Spell
Vamp work out really nice with
your Audacious Charge as well.
SPACE

Yes 80 Damage and 25% Critical
Chance.Not only that but on a crit
you hit for 250% instead of 200% of
your normal attack.
SPACE

40 Damage and an added 40%
Armor Penetration is always
welcome.

Your High Risk, High Reward item.
SPACE

55 Damage and 30 Attack Speed
is always nice, but this item
also gives you 45 Armor Reduction.
SPACE

After you farm this up, you get
100 Damage and 25% lifesteal.

50 Damage and 15 Hp5 and 5 Mp5
and your attacks splash for 50%
to surrounding enemies. Not sure
how I feel about this item just
yet.
SPACE

Everything you want all in one
pricey weapon. Damage, AP, Speed,
Move Speed, Crit, Hp, MP, and after
you use a spell, your next attack
does 150% of your normal.
SPACE

This is your offensive CDR item.
It gives you 30 Damage and
15% Crit Chance, but also 20
Armor Pen. Its active is
just great.

Armor Penetration


To actually choose we have to look at how Armor Pen works.


Armor penetration and armor reduction are applied in the following order:
1)Percentage Armor Reduction
2)Flat Armor Reduction
3)Flat Armor Penetration
4)Percentage Armor Penetration
With this knowledge lets see if we can't fill every slot with an item shall we. Lets go from top to bottom.


Percentage Armor Reduction

Guess what, Riot has not given us any Items for
this slot at all. Only a number of Champions
have the ability to use this stat, one is Jarvan IV's Dragon Strike.

Flat Armor Reduction

SPACE

Self = +40% Attack Speed, 20% Lifesteal, 30 Hp5
Aura = +20% Attack Speed, 20% Lifesteal, 30 Hp5
Armor Pen = -20 Armor of all nearby enemy Chamions
SPACE

+30% Attack Speed and 55 AD, plus
up to 45 armor reduced

Flat Armor Penetration

SPACE SPACE SPACE SP

60% Attack speed is the thing
most people look at, because
you only have 30 Armor Pen
when you Activate it.
SPACE

So along with the 20% CDR
your picking this up for
its 20 Armor Pen and its
incredible active.

Percentage Armor Penetration



Only item of its kind. This gives you a great
amount of Armor Pen if they have over 100 Armor.

Defensive Items


Here I will go over some great Defensive Items and quickly go over when your going
to use them. We will cover Armor and Magic Resist.

Armor

SPACE SPACE
This is a great Item, however
I would leave this to your
Tank.
SPACE
Unless your building more
Health, then you should just
leave this be.
SPACE
Build this if your getting
all the focus. This helps
deter them from targeting
you due to the rez.

This gives you survival in the form
of armor and a good Hp boost. Also
hands you AOE constant magic damage
and can really be built if you choose to.
Lets look at the major Armor Sources and when to build them.
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE
This is what I like to say is a simple choice for Xin, but lets look at this a bit.
Frozen Heart : 99 Armor, 500 Mana, 20% CDR, and aura that slows enemy Attack Speed by 20%.
Thormail : 100 Armor, when hit (not spells) return 30% back to the attacker.
Randuin's Omen : 75 Armor, 300 Hp, 25 Hp5, 5% CDR, 20% chance when hit to slow attackers Movement and Attack Speed by 35% for 3 seconds, and an active AOE that Slows Enemy Movement and Attack Speed by 35% for 2 seconds + .5 seconds per 100 Armor and MR you have.

So...

Frozen Heart : Great for Melee AD champs that have to get up in the mix of things, that also use Mana.
Thormail : If anyone builds Lifesteal, useless. Great Armor, but useless.
Randuin's Omen : A Great Item for Tanks and Off-tanks. Since your Stacking Armor and MR on these champs, its Active can be 5 seconds long with 300 armor and 200 MR...thus making this a great item for tank building champs.

So verdict is Xin will benefit from Frozen Heart more than the other 2 items unless your building more tank items, which then Randuin's is better, and Thornmail is simply useless.


Magic Resist

SPACE SPACE

This is great against Nuke
Teams, not much damage
but the shield is in
a class of its own.
SPACE
If your facing a heavy
AP team, you can rush
this item and have
an early start.
SPACE
This is your End all
Dot/CC item. Malz, Mord,
WW, this is what I take
to drop the suppress and
Mord Ult.

SPACE SPACE

Build this if your getting
all the focus. This helps
deter them from targeting
you due to the rez.
SPACE
This is a great Item, however
I would leave this to your
Tank.
SPACE
Overlooked widely. This
increases all your healing.
Your passive, and lifesteal,
and when pared with the Ghostblade
you get 25% CDR.

Lets look at the major Magic Resist Sources and when to build them
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE
This is how you look at them to decide which one to build per game.
Banshee's Veil : 375 Hp, 375 Mp, 50 MR and every 45 seconds blocks one negative spell.
Force of Nature : 40 Hp5, 76 MR, 8 Movement Speed and a passive that heals .35% of your Max Health every second.

So...

Banshee's Veil : Great for those AP casters who have constant damage. The added Hp and Mp really help out in the long run. If your not building Tanky, don't take this unless you really think its gonna help.
Force of Nature : The best MR item in the game. The Hp5 increase with its passive makes you last longer in fights. This is for those who are looking to build Tanky DPS or Off-Tank. Though It is good to build Hp before this, a Phage is just fine.

Utility Items

Here I will be splitting the "Utility" items for Xin into 3 groups.
These Items can be viewed as I see them or, as what they are.
I will split them into Crit, Attack Speed, Passive Bonuses, and Health.

Crit


This item is very under rated
and most people will look past it.
Cheap and keeps those heavy Life
Steal and Spell Vamp champs
under control with a good
Crit Chance bonus.
SPACE
If your buying this item then your
building a lot of hp, other wise its
really not worth it.
SPACE
This is your offensive CDR item.
It gives you 30 Damage and
15% Crit Chance, but also 20
Armor Pen. Its active is
just great.
SPACE
Your Attack Speed and
Crit item with that boost
to Movement Speed
SPACE
Yes 80 Damage and 25% Critical
Chance.Not only that but on a crit
you hit for 250% instead of 200% of
your normal attack.
SPACE
Everything you want all in one
pricey weapon. Damage, AP, Speed,
Move Speed, Crit, Hp, MP, and after
you use a spell, your next attack
does 150% of your normal.

Attack Speed


This section is still being built. Most items have been explained, however there is more to come.

Back to Top

Building Your Xin Zhao

This is where I'm going to really start you off



You have a champ with all these abilities that work well together
So, what do we build to capitalize and exploit his strength

Laning


Start of any game the items are up to your choice for the most part
Its limited but it can say plenty on who you are a player and your style
Honestly if your Laning with Xin you should only ever have a solo lane profered is top
Bottom Lane should have ranged which will poke you so this is the major reason

Starting off, IMO only 3 items are acceptable:

Any Questions?

Doran's Blade gives you survival, Hp and Life Steal and adding some Damage
Simply the go to if your not sure

Vampiric Scepter gives you a good starting amount of Life Steal but nothing else to
back it up, only recommended for Jungling

Boots of Speed and some Health Potions is the only other route to take in the lane
You can avoid ganks a bit better and sustain ok with the pots

Choosing which one at the start of the game really depends on what you think your
going to lane against
Champs with skill shot, start boots and pots
Champs that are Off-tanky, Doran's Blade
And if your jungling, Vamp Stick

Now please take a minute to go back to the top and look at my Jungle Build Items

...I'll wait...

This is pretty much my personal starting set of items now
From this point its really up to you on how you build the rest of your gear
If you need More Armor, build an Atma's Impaler and follow it up with a Frozen Mallet
If you need More MR, build a Banshee's Veil for the HP and MR and Spell Shield
If you need More Damage, Turn that B. F. Sword into a Black Cleaver or look to the Armor build

Honestly in the Items Section you can really build a combo of what ever you want
I personally think that 2 Defensive Items is needed for every game

Here is a set of Item Combo's that Really work well together for the listed reasons

Balanced Build



Now I call this Balanced because its a cheap build, and balances Defense and Offence nicely

Strengths of this build is your Tanky, your not going to 1 shot anyone
but you don't have to be scared to over extend as much as normaly

Weakness of this build is that your not building any speed items
but you are slowing them down with the Frozen Mallet so consider it justified

Mage's Bane



It's called Mage's Bane for a reason as you can tell
Centered around killing and defending yourself against Casters
The Frozen Mallet can be switched out for a Banshee's Veil for the Hp
Back to Top

Standard Build Explanation

The "Standard" build is so you have a basic understanding for the use of Items really
It is here simply as a the teaching tool for solo laning with Xin

Summoner Spells:
Flash is a must for this build hands down
Second is up to you, Ignite or Exhaust are the only 2 options to follow up with

Runes:
The Runes Listed give "Max" Offence IMO for Xin
Can use Jungle Build for Better Sustain

Items:
First 4 Items are pretty much the Standard
HOWEVER
I stand by the Jungle Items List
I stand by the Hybrid Items List

Masteries:
Play with them, IMO as stated before, Masteries are to your Flavor if you will

This build isn't for ranked in any way shape or form
This is for those entry level individuals who are seeking
a solid Item list that has a bit of everything
Back to Top

Jungling With Xin Zhao

There is no way to just briefly run over everything that goes into Jungling with Xin, seeing as it is actually my main way to play him, I will be going into every little detail I can think of. So lets get started shall we.

Starting Off Right


There are many Jungle Guides for Xin, but none will get your through the Jungle without ever going below half health and after Blue Buff, be at 80% or more life so you can safely go gank like you should. With the Masteries and Runes you have built a solid foundation to kill the jungle and gank like the Man you are.

or + 5


Simply put, either is ok, however if you want to actually be sustained in the jungle and not have to go back and buy pots to keep going, pick up the Vamp Stick. I highly recommend it due to the fact you can actually keep going in and out of the jungle ganking till your killed to buy items. I know, you still want to go back at some point and start warding but you literally can if you wanted to. I have actually played a game so lazyly that I never went back ever to buy more Items and finished a 18 min game with just the Vamp Stick.

The Route
Blue Buff


I use this route 100% of the time nowWith or with out a leash, your easily taking it
Auto attack once then as the animation goes off, TTS and use Smite at 450ish
Then just auto attack the creepsYour level 2, gratz, place that point into BC

Auto Attack Big Wolf once and as hit animation ends, TTS
Are you seeing a pattern here? Its gonna be the same thing at every camp
You will then BC after the pop up from TTS then TTS once more
Then Auto Attack the small ones and move onSame quick hit into TTS then BC to finish off big Wraith, and Auto the others

Gank Mid


You almost hit level 3 after Wraiths, go set up for mid gank and soak some xp for a second.

With lv 3 your ready to Gank

1) Look to mid Lane, is the enemy Pushing?
No? Then move on to Red Buff
Yes? Then Ping Lane and move to step 2

2) Go to bushes to mid and go to far side so the enemies side and ping again

3) Once they get the idea and get aggressive and the enemy takes the bait, run straight
into the lane not at the enemy.
This "Corners" them from escaping

4) Then run at them and activate TTS
Save AC

5) They use Flash
WOOOOOOT!!!
Exhaust them and AC onto them for the kill

6) Leave Lane Quickly So You Don't Steal XP

Head back to Wraiths cause they should be back up in a second or 2 and kill them to
level up if your gank was good and place a point into AC again

Then onto Red Buff for that sweet slow for your next gank

Rush through Double Golems and then to Bottom or Top lane which ever side your currently at
and Ping and use the same plan as the gank on mid, but make sure your only target
is the Carry in this lane, do not attack the support or tank
Unless that support is almost dead when you get there

If said lane is pushed...they suck and you get to play in the jungle a bit longer
or go gank mid again for funzies

OR COUNTER GANK


How do you set up for a Counter Gank you ask? Simple, as your team mate has pushed them to their tower, it is easy to say that their jungler is going to look at that as easy meat, you would, so here is how you do it.

Step 1: Go to top lane via creep wave path.
Step 2: Go into the bushes and wait.
Step 3: As your done with your jungle route, usually faster than most other junglers they should be heading your way soon, make sure your team mate knows what your doing, and just sap the XP.
Step 4: When the enemy jungler comes at your buddy, wait for them to be right on them then Flash Audacious Charge from the bush to where ever they may be. Kill which ever one has the more DPS "With" your partner then turn on the other.

After any unsuccessful gank, LOOP AROUND!! If they aren't low enough to go back and heal and they decide to stay, odd are you failed cause they used their escape, so loop around and try it from the same spot or from the other side. You will get them the second time almost every time.

Once you have gone and got your entire jungle, ganked a few times, go back and buy your Madred's Razor and at least your lv 1 boots. This is so you speed up your jungling even more than it already is so you can spend more time Ganking and making the enemy scared to push out even a little bit.

After any successful Gank where you clear the lane of enemy champs, help them push and put some damage on their tower. Early game, don't do it, but after everyone is level 8ish, you should be able to run through creep waves and get on that tower to attempt to drop it quickly.

As the jungler, you are strictly in charge of warding the entrances to your jungle for your protection. If your jungling and you get ganked at Red or Blue buff after level 6, its your own fault cause you should have already gone back, and every time you go back you must buy at least 1 ward. Even if it stops you from finishing that item you need to buy a ward.

New Jungle Xin build for Ranked


The above stats are of my new build, the below stats are of my old build. New one wins.

So I was thinking about Jarvan and how he is the "Better Xin" as I've heard, so with this idea I decided to see just how Xin does with the same Items and build for the most part. Now I bought Jarvan when he hit the game, and played way too many games with him, but to be honest I felt there was something missing, which is when I found Xin originally. Now a few days ago I put the 2 under the microscope and decided to test each of my builds on each of them and see who the best was. Xin came out on top by far based on the ability to deal much more damage and be so much more tanky.

So with this new build for the Jungle Xin, which is the only way I can see Xin in Ranked...he lacks in lane compared to so many other champs...I focus on Building him Tanky and throwing up a bunch of damage at the same time with each Item you build on him.

Same start, just new Items as you go. The build up top for his jungle is straight forward. your building bulk and damage at the same time after Atma's Impaler that your actually going to max out your AD to 280ish and when you ult you have Armor and MR over 200 each so your tanky and have over 4K Hp's for them to deal with.

As Xin in ranked games, you may have noticed a trend, Focus You. With this build, let them, your going to get at least 1 kill and your team will destroy them while they are trying to kill you. No your not really a 1v1 champ with this build...your a 1v2 champ, and if your good like me, you can 1v3 and come out on top.

You can still use this build for Lane, and you should be able to build items faster in lane if your last hitting well, but due to the fact that when I play Xin I get Hard Focused, I try not to lane with him, even in Solo top, the jungler won't leave for more than a minute. So my recommendation is to roll with Xin only in the Jungle for Ranked games.

Oh and with this build, let the enemy jungler try and gank you. So far, Warwick, Nocturne, Lee Sin, and an Olaf wanted some of the Xin and totally didn't expect me to be so strong. Now if you get double ganked or a full team, kiss your arse goodbye, but at your worse in the jungle with this build is half life at Wraiths so you shouldn't have any problems.
Quick 21 min game, surrendered cause of my ganks I got fed and so did our Malz in mid.

Here are some key placements for your protection.
Back to Top

Hybrid Build Destruction Explanation

Warning


The following Build is not for just anyone. This is for those who focus on last hits over harassment in lane. If you are more focused on harassment go with something else, this build is extremely expensive and if you don't have 100 creep kills by 10 minutes then don't even attempt this build. Best if your duo laning, though this works well with jungle as well however, your going to have to stay in lane a bit after each gank and take a few last hits cause you need them.

Final Cost of build is 17,145 gold. You will be very late game if you get full build but by then you will already be unkillable if played right.


Ok, so I have to finalize this guide with a way to really be unkillable in the instance you can get so good last hitting minions and champs lol. This is my end all, unkillable, penta kill all day, rage quit, qqing build.

With this final build you start off so strong they can't even catch up due to the cheap nature for the start of the game. To be honest I have never made it to the 5th or 6th Item before they surrender or we finish them off. This build is the most expensive build I've ever done and to be honest, the build I wish I could build every game. But not every game calls for this and when it doesn't you will know.

Starting off with a Vampiric Scepter is one of those things you have to lane with someone who has your back. I.E. someone who can help with a fight rather than a support champ, or you solo lane and play defensive till lv 3. I start with this on this build only cause the Bilgewater Cutlass is 1375 after the Scepter so this helps with cost.

Now moving on, so many people are going to ask this question and so I'll just answer this now. "Why are you building Xin Hybrid instead of full damage?" Simple, your Charge does solid damage. With the 100ish AP we build along with all this, that gives you 40 AP to add to that attack making your Burst hit so much harder. Most people see a Xin and build Armor but if you go with this build, you can AC away 1/4 of their life, then ult for a 1/5th and then TTS the rest as you BC when its done and with Ghost, Exhaust and Hextech Gunblade's active they will never get away no matter who they are...well except Yi...but he is something else.

This build gives you so much, you end with 250 Damage, over 150 MR and Armor, and a good portion of health, Life Steal and Spell Vamp to keep that health up if they get past your high defenses and aura to slow attack speed champs down. All together this build is well worth its time in gold.

Lets Break it down for those who will argue this build as legit:


60 damage, yeah to match with the 20% Life Steal it gives us too. 75 AP? so your AC hits for a ton and add to that the 25% Spell Vamp means you save your AC for after they initially attack you to gain back up to full health and then your auto attack then fill you right back up too. Active deals 300 Magic Damage...your specing into 15% magic Pen so this gets through quite well, and slows the target by 50% for 3 seconds every minute. So when you attack them and they flash away you can hit them with this, cause the range is a bit better than Flash, and then AC them and wait 2 seconds then Exhaust them and if they are still up, they should be dead by the end of Exhaust anyhow.


30 damage, 30% attack speed, 15% crit chance, and 12% movement speed is some of the major reasons behind this item. However we are really getting this for the 250 HP, 250 Mana, 25% chance to slow on hit, and after you use an ability to increase your base attack damage by 150% for one attack. After you build Black Cleaver your AD will be at 253, which means after you use an ability, your next attack base damage is 379. So....you activate TTS and your first hit equals 464 Attack...you see where this all goes? YOUR A BEAST!!!


55 damage, 30% attack speed and reduce your targets Armor by 15 that stacks 3 times. So all this damage we are building, really really hurts. This and the TriForce, as I call it, gives you all the Attack Speed you really need too, cause you have an Ability that increases it so this all just really works out well.


99 Armor, 500 Mana, CDR of 20%, and an aura that reduces the Attack Speed of enemy champs around you by 20%. Your a Melee DPS, your going to be in the thick of things, this Aura and CDR is what you want on Xin. This Item alone makes all other AD based champs useless against you for the most part. You spread out their attack and take a ton less then what they want to put out. All the while your gaining life off of attack them and have a huge pool of Mana to keep going and going.


40 Hp5, 76 MR, and 8% Move Speed and to top it all off, you restore .35% of your health back every second. So you have so much damage and defense and your passively gaining health back on top of the Life steal. So if they look at your items they should still be focusing you, if not then your going to roll right through them.

Note here: The Frozen Heart and Force of Nature can be built at any point of the build as you see the need for them. They don't have to be built last, nor do they have to be built in this order, the opposing team is always what you have to build against to win.
This game they had 3 AP champs and 2 AD's. Kat, Singed, Veigar, Sivir, and a Tryn. I jungled this game. At 23 min in I had both the TriForce and the Gunblade.
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Crit Xin Build Explanation

Even though I'm not really a fan of building full on crit Xin, after my test for you guys, I can say I didn't hate it. It makes you so strong that I actually killed the Ashe I was facing before my TTS got to pop her up. It kinda pissed me of at the same time cause I was ganking her for overextending and AC and 2 hits from TTS that crit each and she just dropped. The other team's response was a surrender vote 4-1 lol.

Now as you see I really don't like Glass Cannon builds and that's why the Spirit Visage is apart of this build. The 18% Lifesteal from Executioner's Calling and all that damage from and crit matched with the CDR from Youmuu's Ghostblade and Spirit Visage then add in the +15% to healing and regen and you not only hit for tons, but heal right back up.
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Dominion Choices

Coming Soon

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Mindset of Xin Zhao

This is where the title of this guide comes in. It struck me perfect for how he solo lanes and ganks.

You are Xin Zhao, A Royal Guard to Jarvan III, the Seneschal of Demacia, you are that which evil fears, and who will simply stop only when your target is taken care of. However, you are calm in battle and wait for that opportunity to show your enemy your strength. You wield a Spear, with which you are content on just poking people for a quick burst, only to back off, let your cooldowns get back up, and turn to finish the job.

Your typical fight in lane with a champ that has Flash or some sort of quick escape will look something like this:

Audacious Charge > Three Talon Strike > they use their escape, turn to minions and Battle Cry > they think you can't do it again and return > Audacious Charge > Three Talon Strike > they dead.

Melee and Ranged Champs will fear you because of your Charge and burst. With my guide now in your head, if they don't fear you, they will learn to. However we as Xin Zhao are not looking for fear, but Respect from our opponents. For we want a Challenge, not a quick and simple fight.

Now as we are Xin Zhao, we pride ourselves on our ability to work with our team, saving them as we can, and backing them up in most every situation. 3v1 on our team mate will turn into a 1v2 when we get there. A king once took a Dart for us needlessly, and as he showed us his faith in us, we shall uphold his legacy in the Fields of Justice. We will place our life on the line to turn the tides of a fight, because we are that strong.
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Myths

It has recently come to my attention that so many players out there don't fully understand how Xin actually plays out. Calling him an OP champ or an Easy champ to play. A few have actually called him a cheap champ that takes no skill to win games. Lets look at some of these little bits and how wrong they actually are.
Myth #1 Xin Zhao is an OP champ.

Xin had 3 damage based abilities and only 1 scales with Ability power. Your saying "But he is an AD Champ" and you would be right. Three Talon Strike simply is your base damage plus some damage. Your Ult, Crescent Sweep, is a set amount of damage and set % of total life. There is no way to increase the damage on this ability at all. And your Audacious Charge, yeah it scales off of AP not AD...So if you focus on AD then your only good for Auto Attacking, and if you build AP then only one ability will benefit.

To top that off, he is melee, which means you can shut him down fairly easy with Ranged Champs. Now your saying "Xin has a closer" and once again your right but a double Ranged lane is a nightmare. Just cause you have a closer doesn't mean you can win that lane if both can focus you down from a distance, for instance, Cait and LeBlance will tear you up in lane.
Myth #2 Xin Zhao is easy to play.

Yeah to an extent he is easy, but then again that can be said about most champs in LoL. Just cause their abilities are straight forward and work together well doesn't mean its just that simple. Knowing how to play against other champs is how you win games, not just having an "easy" champ to play with. Using Three Talon Strike to hit minions 2 times then Audacious Charging an enemy champ so you get the pop is a good way to work him, less damage to the champ but it works if you don't need it and your lane mate has damage too.

Xin just being a melee champ makes him harder to play properly. Last hitting in a lane against Ranged can be tricky at best and against heavy CC lane you have to hug your tower and pray they don't come at you full force with the jungler. Knowing how to use him right is the key to playing a good Xin or feeding the other team like a boss.
Myth #3 Xin takes no Skill to play.

This hurts me when people say this. Xin actually takes a ton of skill to dominate games. Knowing which items to grab and when and how to use your abilities take skill. Simply put, if you can mid with Xin you have skill, if you go mid and get destroyed by Brand, then no...no you have no skill with Xin and need to just learn more.

I personally love to mid with Xin against most champs cause he is hard to actually counter only using 1 champ. Knowing rotations of others really helps so you can destroy them. Skill is something that comes with Knowledge. Xin can be shut down in lane, and in jungle. If left unchecked, and ignored, he will come back and just destroy your entire team, but if they don't have the skill required to do so, they may get a kill or 2 but die rather fast.
Xin Zhao is a Melee Carry to an extent but due to his abilities and how they work, he is best fitted as an Off-Tank in my opinion, however if you do build as an AD Carry he can deal an extreme amount of damage. However Stuns will destroy you. You stop attacking and your survival becomes 0%, the faster your Attack Speed your survival increases, but your damage doesn't.
Myth #4 Xin only needs Damage to win

Nah, Xin's tool kit is really based on Attack Speed. He gets a huge boost in damage with Three Talon Strike which at rank 5 basically hands you an IE's damage for 3 attacks not to mention the 2-3 free attacks while they are in the air if your attack speed is up there. Yes Damage is great but grabing items that add in Attack Speed with Damage is key on Xin, which is why The Black Cleaver and Youmuu's Ghostblade is so great on him.
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Last Words

So we have run through everything I believe, and overall I have shown you many items to use to make a balanced fighter, a jungling destroyer, a tank annihilator, and a team protector. It is in my opinion that you will read all this and gain so much to go forth and try these builds, with your own judgement for your enemy, and become a better Xin Zhao player.

I would love to hear some feed back, and if anyone has any questions I will be more than happy to answer them as they come.

I will add a section for Updates as they come in, but we are nearing the end of Season 1, so I doubt that they will be changing him for a while, atleast I hope no major changes.
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