Due to his many nerfs, I deem Xin unplayable in ranked as a solo top, and duo lane bot. His only place now is in the jungle (don't have it fully grasped yet), or on the rare occasion you get mid. However, this does not mean he shouldn't be played at all. It just mean don't first pick Xin, because there are other more viable melee dps in ranked. Until Xin gets a buff, or a rework I am refraining from laning in ranked games. Thank you for reading my guide.

~Calibern, October 9, 2011

Hi, I'm an avid melee player ( Tryndamere, Olaf, Jarvan IV, etc). I am not, and will not pretend to be a pro at League of Legends, but I do believe I can help people do well in their games. To date I have played over 400 games with Xin. Xin is a Tanky melee DPS champion. He can 1v1 almost any champion, and on rare occasions can fend off two enemies simultaneously! Xin's skill set makes him a valuable asset to any team because of his ability to kill enemy mages and ranged carries. His laning phase, team fights, and late game (a bit weak compared to others, but if fed doesn't matter) phase are all strong compared to other similar champions. This is my first guide on MOBAfire so sorry if it isn't as good as other guides. I plan to update this guide every Sunday, after there has been a patch. Most people won't have time to read this entire guide, so here is an overview of what I would advise you to read. Thanks to jhoijhoi and searz for the guide format (I used a bit of both.)

New Xin Players: Runes, Summoner Spell, Masteries, skills, combos on Xin, and Videos and other helpful guides. Use CTRL+F to search any champions you are unsure of. The Laning and Countering Champions section Its still under construction so don't expect every champion to be on there. I finished champions with names starting with A-M, only 30 champions left...

More experienced players: Read whatever you feel like you could improve on.

Pro players: Well I can't really help you. You probably know all the ins and outs of Xin, so read if you just like reading guides.

Pros + Can 1v1 anyone + Has huge sustain + Has built in dash with a low cooldown + Has a knock up + Deals a lot of damage along with being tanky + Can lane against most ranged champions effectively

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Cons - Vulnerable to cc - Slow without zeal, and boots - Not as tanky as lets say Garen or Jarvan - Needs farm, or to be fed to be effective - Takes a little practice - Riot keeps nerfing him

I have the usually use greater mark of desolation,and greater quintessence of desolation. The choice to pick armor penetration is a no brainer. Leaving your opponent with no armor is like dealing true damage. Next up I use Greater Seal of Armor, and Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist to compensate Xin's squishyness at early to mid game. There are other options if you don't like the ones I chose.

Other options
- Greater Quintessence of Health the extra health helps early game and can save you from the extra damage from ignite.
- Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed Xin lacks mobility if he hasn't bought his Zeal so this is a viable pick.
- Greater Mark of Attack Speed its meh... but its better than attack damage per level, and critical damage.
- Greater Seal of Attack Speed I don't really like using attack speed yellows, but its better than nothing.
- greater glyph of Replenishment Xin isn't really mana hungry, but there are times when you spam all your skills to get kills.
- Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction cool down reduction will let you spam your skills more (you really shouldn't but you sometimes will).

• Teleport
  Is viable if you are solo laning. It gives you great map control. Turret getting killed? teleport there in an instant. away from team fight? Teleport to a nearby unit. Make sure you take Flash or Ghost so replace Exhaust with this.
  
• Ignite
  Is really good at early levels for getting first blood, or shutting down Dr. Mundo, and Swain. If there is an enemy low on health toss this on them and get a free kill. Replace Exhaust with this if you want.
  
• Cleanse
  Not one of my favorites, but it serves its purposes. CC reduction is awesome, but its cool down is less than ideal for a defensive summoner spell.
  
• Smite
  Smite is absolutely a must if you go jungling on Xin. He can not jungle without it. It makes his jungling speed decent, and is great for stealing dragon and baron. However never get this if you are laning.
  
• Any spells not discuss in this section are absolutely useless on Xin.
  

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Summoner's Wrath - After the patch I've been using Exhaust and Ghost more and more so, it's pure stupidity to not get this mastery. It buffs both spells substantially for only one point. Brute Force - I like this version of it better than the 1 crit chance. The 3 damage just benefits the most for you out of any of the other tier one masteries Alacrity - 6% attack speed is nothing major for 4 points, but it is better than Sorcery. Demolitionist - The 10 damage is really good for taking towers. After 10 hits it deals 100 more damage to the tower. It just a really good mastery for one point. Deadliness - Just not worth 5 points for crit stuff. It is better for ranged carries, and Tryndamere. Weapon Expertise - I thought love was only true in fairy tales..., Now I'm a believer, Not a trace Of doubt in my mind, I'm in love I'm a believer..., All I have to say. Havoc - T.T What have they done to you old friend... Either way 3 points for 1.5% damage is a toss up. Vampirism - Mmmmm... Lifesteal *drools*, well combined with a Doran's Blade you have 6% lifesteal, meaning that you can stay in lane forever. Sunder - Looks like the enemy is better off going into battle naked. Nothing changed about from the old masteries except it takes more points to reach it. Executioner - 6% damage when enemy is below 40%, sign me up. Only thing I don't like about it is that it only works when enemy is below 40% health. The other top tier masteries work at all levels of health so unfair.

Good Hands - Didn't change at all. Still can change the tide of a game. Improved Recall - 1 sec off recall isn't that noticeable, but it might just be enough in a clutch moment. You can take improved flash over this if you like. Well, if you take flash that is. Swiftness - Got nerfed, but I still like it. The movement speed really helps for sticking onto you opponent. Scout - Does this mean the wards you put down, or everyone on your team? Either way it is not the best mastery, so you can toss a point into Runic Affinity instead if you like.

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Of course there are other paths you can take that work well. These masteries are the best for Xin, in my opinion. Going down defensive tree would probably be the second most effective. The utility tree is more catered towards mages and support so it isn't as useful, but still viable. If there are any paths you used that you found effective, then leave a comment and I'll test it out.

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Xin's passive allows him to regain 30 health every 3 hits it increases every 2 levels. In my opinion its one of the best passives early game, because of the enormous sustain it gives him. It stacks with the lifesteal from Doran's Blade(life steal increases the heal you get, not really stacking with it but close enough), so heal is quite noticeable even if it doesn't proc every hit. After the laning phase it's effectiveness diminishes.


Notes:

• Can still work in blind, but only the base amount (doesn't stack with the health gain from life steal).
  
• Works on towers, nexus, and inhibitors.
  
• If you take more damage than you healed then the heal won't show up. Example, on third hit you gain 30 health, but enemy champion hits you with spell. You still get health but the damage dealt by enemy shows instead of the green heal number.

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This is by far my favorite skill on Xin. It gives a huge attack damage bonus, and on the third hit it knocks enemies in the air allowing you to get another attack in. Not many people use it to its full potential, because they don't realize it resets auto attacks so you should use after you hit and not before the fight occurs.

Note:

• Three Talon Strike's cooldown timer starts after the third hit is landed, not when you first press skill.
  
• Only the third hit procs spell shields like Banshee's Veil, or Spell Shield.
  
• Only the first hit resets auto attack timer.
  
• Each buff has about a 5 second duration.
  
• Attacks in three talon strike have a faster animation than regular attacks.
  
• Knock up works in blind, and fear(if you move close enough to enemy, the knock up will activate and break the fear).
  
• Gives you a slight range increase.

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I love the passive attack speed buff on this thing. an extra 35% attack speed is a huge amount letting you land your Three Talon Strike faster and activating your passive faster. The active synergies with the moderate cooldowns on his Three Talon Strike and Audacious Charge perfectly.

Note:

• If you increase its level during its active, you can gain the attack speed during a fight.
  
• It's cooldown reduction effect works on towers, and structures.

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This is the skill is the dash skill for Xin. I used to max Three Talon Strike before this but now I rank this skill first because its cooldown decreases, slow increases, and damage increases with every rank. Now you might say, " Three Talon Strike scales with ad and armor pen, so it will do way more damage." That is true but how many times have you charged at a enemy and have been able to get all 3 hits before they run? I can barely get 3 hits on the enemy with my exhaust. Also at level 1 your q gives 15 bonus damage 3 times which is 45 bonus damage, while you e does 70 damage instantly. Most champions will have around 30 MR which is about 23% reduce damage, making you hit about 54 damage which is more than the 45 you get from Three Talon Strike. At max level you get 75 bonus damage each hit, and audacious charge hits for 230. 75x3=225, at max Three talon stike does more damage if they don't run (you have to take in account that you have arm pen, but don't have magic pen). So that's where the slow comes in, and the damage comes instantly not over 3 hits. But Three Talon Strike is still my favorite skill.

Note:

• Xin immediately hits his target again after he lands Audacious Charge.
  
• Has about a 650 range, which is a little higher than auto attack range of most ranged carries. Ex. Ashe has 550 range, Vayne has 550 range, and Caityln has a range of 650.
  
• Can kill invisible units from AoE damage. (rarely works, but I gotten 2 or 3 kills from the AoE damage)
  
• It is long enough to jump through some walls. Any wall you can put a ward through, you can dash through. Remember you need to have sight for it to work, so most of the time its useless unless there is a team fight going on.
  
• Counts as magic damage, so works in blind, and can't be countered by dodge.

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This skill has been hit with so many nerfs. I remember when it did 20% damage instead of 15%. It also use to give a huge armor and magic resist buff even if it was used on 1 or no champions. It is no longer that strong, but I still think its a great ultimate especially since its cooldown is so low you can use it to clear huge minion waves (think of it as Lux's ultimate; just because you can doesn't mean you should). Along with Battle Cry you can have it up in 30 secs after use.

Note:

• It has a .25 second channel time (might be lower, only reason why I mention this is because sometimes the enemy gets in a lucky stun and your are screwed).
  
• Can hit invisible units.
  
• Its range is 375, which is a little more than Amumu's Tantrum.
  
• Counts as a skill shot.

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Skill Combos

• Combo #1- Ganking/ regular fight
  Audacious Charge--> Three Talon Strike--> Crescent Sweep--> Battle Cry--> auto attack--> repeat
  You can use this combo w/o Crescent Sweep if its on cooldown. I like to use Crescent Sweep when the enemy is knocked up because it is so annoying when an enemy walks or flashes out of range. You can put Crescent Sweep before Three Talon Strike if you like.
  
  
  
• Combo#2- 1v1 enemy initiates and starts to run
  Three Talon Strike--> Crescent Sweep--> Audacious Charge--> Battle Cry --> auto attack--> repeat
  Fun fact: Three Talon Strike and Audacious Charge resets auto attack timer
  After Crescent Sweep no sane person would stick around so you catch up to them with Audacious Charge IT IS KEY THAT YOU DON'T INITIATE WITH Audacious Charge
  
  
  
• Combo #3- Initiating w/ tank
  Audacious Charge--> Crescent Sweep--> Three Talon Strike--> Battle Cry
  It is best if you build a bit tanky so you don't melt in the team fight.
  
  
  
• Harass- Just use to zone enemy or get them low
  Audacious Charge--> Three Talon Strike
  The enemy will usually run away after you finish due to the fact that they have almost no health. Don't harass if you're at a disadvantage (ex. half health and attacking someone at full health and mana, when enemy jungler is about to gank, and other obvious circumstances.)
  

This sequence will give you more consistent burst early game. It is mostly used when the enemy lane is a ranged champions whom usually won't come close enough to you to attack. This will reward you for ranking up Audacious Charge, because it gives you extra damage, slow, and lower cooldowns. I use this build when the enemy lane are ranged, or if I take mid. This build also makes him incredibly hard to run away from.



This sequence gives you max damage from your Three Talon Strike. Damage from it is not as consistent, but if you manage to get all 3 hits off you are sure to get a kill, or at least make em burn a summoner spell. This is generally used if enemy champions are melee. Melee champions need to get close to you to deal damage, so most times you don't need the dash until they run away from your damage output.



This makes you max out both of your damaging spells. It gives Xin a huge burst but afterwards he becomes sluggish in his damage. Only use this build against squishy people whom you know you can kill from one combo. This is the skill sequence I use when I jungle. It's great at ganking, because it dishes out a lot of damage, and has a huge AoE slow.

Most of the time your build will resemble this. Two defensive items are about all Xin needs. This particular build is used against a balanced team where they have 1 mage, 1 ranged AD, 1 offrank, a jungler (either a AD off tank, or Fid), and a support. You might not like the lack of life steal in this build so you can replace Infinity Edge so you can build a Bloodthirster if you think the life steal is better. Or you can replace Phantom Dancer with Zeke's Harbinger. This build deals major amounts of damage along with being decently tanky. Don't forget to use Randuin's Omen active its a life saver trust me. Along with your ult you are hard to kill for both ranged carries, and ap carries. You may exchange Black Cleaver for a Youmuu's Ghostblade if you like it better (half of the time I do, but I play with black cleaver mind set so I forget to use it) heck I buy both some times. Xin is one of those champions who can use tier 2 items extremely well, so don't feel like you have to rush any item. Try to get a little bit of everything, then rush one damage item, one armor item, and one magic resistance item.

Most damage is from Trinity Force and Wit's End. This is almost like tanking with Xin Zhao. This build is great if you like to use Trinity Force sheen proc. You initiate the fights, and try to disrupt the enemies as much as possible. It won't be hard drawing their attention cause you are Xin. You deal decent damage, and can absorb almost anything they throw at you. You still have a lot of 1v1 potential, so don't think you can't take anyone in a fight. Unless its someone really fed of course. This build is really useful if no one else on your team is tanky, and you are left to soak up all the damage.

When I say super tanky I actually mean **** load of HP. It does decent amount of damage. This is a meta golem build. Doran's Blade is there for the damage. I get heart of gold at the 12min mark, so I can get a decent amount of gold from it. I get The Brutalizer for the damage output from it. You usually don't need the survivability till mid game. I like to get Frozen Mallet over Warmog's Armor, because the extra 800 hp you get from warmogs is only 16 damage, while Frozen Mallet gives you 20 damage and a perma slow. The trade off is worth it in my opinion. This an adaptation of the metagolem build. It can be used when you need the extra survivability. This build is also great for fighting opponents that have high mobility like Ezreal, Kassadin, and Katarina. It's slow is so good for chasing them.

Great early game stats. Gives some early game survivability, and sustainability. Combined with your passive, it takes a lot to kick you out of lane. Never stack more than 3 of these in one game, and never stack Doran's Shield. After mid game or late game in some cases you may sell these to complete another item.

By far my favorite boots. It can be a lifesaver; never underestimate 35% cc reduction. It also gives a decent amount of magic resistance, but of the boots it is the most expensive. Use your rule of thumb to decide whether to get this or Berserker's Greaves, 2 hard or more = merc treads 1 or less= berserk greaves.

These two are my favorite items in game. Some people prefer Youmuu's Ghostblade's awesome active others prefer Black Cleaver's consistency. It's all up to your own preference. Black Cleaver is better you want more consistent damage, and great damage. Youmuu's ghsotblade is better you can remember active, want the cool down reduction, and critical strike. You can get both if you want. There have been plenty of games when I just got both, because my damage output would sky rocket.


These 3 items are all you need to deal out a bunch of damage. The other 3 items should be situational. Most of the times it'll look like 1 armor item, one MR item, and 1 more offensive item. I highly recommend not swapping the core items for anything.

Offensive items are nice, but as the saying goes the best offense is a good defense. Defensive items allow you to survive and continue to dish out damage at same time. On the other hand no offensive items leave you useless to your team so be balanced in your item selection. Any item not discuss in this build are useless (in my opinion), or i forgot to add it in on Xin . Leave comment if you feel like I missed a item, or you feel like a item should be removed. Thank you for your honesty.

A T T A C K D A M A G E

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This item is the strongest ad item in the game.It makes you crit 25% harder then you usually would and on top of that it gives you 30% crit chance and 80 AD. With this item very few champions can 1v1 heck you can even 1v2 someone if you wanted to. Bloodthirster makes Xin almost unkillable if he has armor, because you deal less damage to him, but any damage he does take will just be regenerated. Though it is a pain in the *** to die and lose all your stacks. Farm up at least a couple of stacks before going into battle. Great item when you stack it with Warmog's Armor and Frozen Mallet. The armor gives you extra survivability, and crit chance and passive gives you a **** load of damage. There is a reason all offtanks have this build, it's just so good for tanking damage, and dishing it out. I never get this unless they have a good Karthus. The passive is like a mini banshee's, and is both offesive and defensive. It is great for soaking up magic damage, and it also gives you some good AD.

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A T T A C K D A M A G E

A T T A C K S P E E D

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I love this item. Gives move speed, crit chance,and attack speed. It will almost double Xin's damage output. It makes him uncatchable and makes it impossible to run away from him. It allows him to get his q off faster, and refresh cool downs faster. It synergies well with his skill set and my item builds. Great aura for a heavily AD team. Highest lifesteal ingame if you don't count fully stacked bloodthirster. It has armor reduction, so synergies with Black Cleaver well. Its a good attack speed increase for Xin. Get it if you facing a pesky Jax. Activate its active before you use your ultimate, so you can get the 30 Armor penetration and deal more damage to your enemies. Great item, I would get this over hexdrinker. You can get those 4 stacks relatively fast. The 40% attack speed, and 42 damage are no joke either. It is a great item to get when you want some damage, but your enemy is really AP heavy.

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A T T A C K S P E E D

L I F E S T E A L

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An over looked item, that has great stats for mid and early game. It's active will shut down a good Vladimir, or a pesky Dr. Mundo. The life steal and crit are just icing on the cake. One of the most price efficient items in the game. It is extremely good for farming and sustain at top lane. I would advise buying this before Black Cleaver if you choose to get it. The free wards are great for seeing unwelcome visiters.

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L I F E S T E A L

H E A L T H

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Gives out 700 of health, and 20 AD. It's great for survivability, and deals decent damage. Perma slow is so useful when chasing, especially for the slippery champions like Kassadin. It build from Phage, and Giant's Belt which are both good items by themselves. Gives a huge health bonus, but its more of a look-at-how-much-health-I-have item than a you-can't-kill-me item. Use it with Atma's Impaler for huge amounts of damage and survivability. The aura is so good. It is very price efficient and cheap. If you need a bit of offense, and survivability then this is the item to get. However it stops being useful late game, so don't get it too far into the game.

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H E A L T H

R E S I S T A N C E

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This item saved my *** so many times. Disrupting one spell and seriously screw up somebody's combo, and is invaluable. It gives a huge chunk of magic resistance, and it gives out a decent amount of health. Great against AP heavy teams. It gives the most MR out of any item in game currently. The move speed and health regen are great. Not as noticeable as on let's say Garen, but it still has its uses. Stacks well if you go atmogs, or build a Frozen Mallet. It's passive is awesome in a 1v1, and can help you survive a 1v5 (not usually, they tend to surround dead body unfortunately). Another thing I like about it is that it gives both armor and magic resist which is rare for a defensive item. They usually have one or the other not both. This item is a lifesaver against Warwick's Infinite Duress , and Malzahar's Nether Grasp. It gives more magic resistance than Banshee's Veil, and costs 1200 gold less. Armor is an upside, and 20% off attack speed is a lot. I always advise this over Thornmail, because Thornmail is only good against high damaging champs like Tryndamere. Whereas frozen heart is good against dps champions. Great against AD heavy teams. The aura is great, because it has a AoE attack speed debuff, so Ad teams are punished heavily. The mana isn't really worth it, but cdr allows you get your spells of cooldown by 2seconds for Q and E, 4 seconds for W, and 12 seconds off your ult. Randuin's is by far my favorite defensive item. It build from Warden's Mail and Heart of Gold which are good on their own. On top of that it has a beastly active, and passive. It is a lifesaver, I would advise this item every time there is a decent amount of AD champion on the other team.

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R E S I S T A N C E

This is the defining part of a game for Xin. If you do well you will own later, but if you don't it is incredibly hard to recover. Xin's burst in early game is insane. At lv 2 you can take out anyone 1v1. I hate having partner that doesn't fight when the enemy is low and I rush in resulting in a death, so make sure you tell your partner that you are going in. The most important thing this part of the game is to last hit and look for your opponents mistakes. Play passively, and the minute they come to farm in the middle of your minion wave attack them with you combo. Remember it is about 30 minions slain for Mercury treads if you last hit well. Xin decent at every type of early game niche (roamer, jungler, midlane, etc.) I prefer midlane but usually someone else needs it more so I duo lane bot. Your early game is used to get enough gold for Mercury's Treads, and Black Cleaver or Youmuu's Ghostblade if you aren't doing that well.





By now you should have your boots, one attack item, and working on your defensive items. Xin's role in mid game is to kill as many squishy champions as possible, and push towers. By this time your enemies will either surrender, or it is a close match and drag out. Your role in team fights in to go through their tank and take out their ranged carry (ex. Ashe, Vayne, etc.)with your dash. In late game your damage starts to decrease in effectiveness. For example, in early game you could finish an opponent with Audacious Charge, Three Talon Strike, and 1 or 2 auto hits. In mid game it takes 5-10 hits to kill that same champion. Xin won't be as effective as say Tryndamere in mid-late game who can 2-3 hko just about any non-tank. This part of the game is last time where Xin can be extremely effective. His late game scales off, so try to win before late game. If no one on their team is fed, while you are you shouldn't have any problems.



Make sure you are by your teammates at all time. Travel in groups of 3-5 to avoid ganks. Your job is to take out their carries and get the hell out of there. Use same methods as before but this time enemies might be tougher to kill. BE PREPARED TO DIE A LOT! Xin is aimed a lot if he is doing well. You will die a lot if you dived into 3 enemy carries they will all aim you while your team mates are trying to get to them while being blocked by a tank. If you are losing I suggest split pushing, or backdooring. Xin is crazy good at backdooring with his near max attack speed. If the game drags on long enough remember to get Elixir of Fortitude, Elixir of Agility and Oracle's Elixir.

Pros Super early and strong ganks Not blue buff dependent in the least Sustainable with his passive and Wriggle’s Very strong early/mid game

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Cons Squishy if you’re not ahead Bad at teamfighting later in the game Fades off in the late game as other AD carries step up Tough to do well if you’re behind Has a pansy voice for a manly man

• Three Talon Strike resets your auto attack, so swing then push Q for a quick double attack.
• When using Three Talon Strike, you can hit anything twice and then the third hit will knock someone up. You can hit two neutral minions and charge out of the bush to get the third knockup hit on them.
• When you are ganking someone, save your charge and use better positioning to get the hits in. They will flash away if you get close enough to hit them and THAT is when you should charge in. This will allow you to get them no matter what.
• Your charge ability plus Three Talon does massive damage, so test your limits on who and when you can tower dive as Xin can generally kill someone before the tower even blinks and take only a hit or two.

After Xin's nerf, I decided to try out jungling. My results were satisfactory, his ganks are amazing, he doesn't rely on blue heavily, and he has decent jungling time. Don't try to jungle Xin off the bat, he is a horrible starter jungler. He can complete blue route, and sometimes red route. His jungle gets screwed up so easily, and he spams his skills a lot in the jungle so mana consumption is actually noticeable. I would advise starting off with someone like Lee Sin, or Udyr. Before starting jungling learn how to gank. Ganks are what separates good Xins from bad Xins. Don't recklessly charge at the enemy when you can just walk up to them and wack them around. Learn how to cut off enemy escape points. Don't build for damage, utility is much more important for a jungler. Movement speed is much better for your ganking, and clearing time then a few damage items. That being said here's my mini jungle guide.








Ok, so Xin's has weak control of his jungle compared to that of Udyr,or Lee Sin. You start off with a Vampiric Scepter to get more sustain. Cloth Armor + Health Potion is better if you go blue first. Cloth Armor is better for sustained jungle, but Vampiric Scepter works just as well, if not better. Vampric scepter is better for cover you team's lanes. After your first recall you should buy boots in order to get more movement speed for ganks. After that you can either get level 2 boots, or Wriggle's Lantern. Get boots if you RE focus more on ganking, get lantern if you stay in the jungle more. Afterwards you should get Phage for better cc, and more survivability and attack damage. Afterwards you build Frozen Mallet for survivability, so you don't melt in team fights. You build Infinity Edge to vastly increase your damage output. Banshee's Veil blocks a spell every 45 seconds, and can screw up some ones spell combo and save your life. Sell lantern late game for atma's imapler. Atma's Impaler is great for armor, damage output it gives, and increases your critical chance further. Zeke's Harbinger is a good replacement for Wriggle's Lantern late, and gives a great aura to your team.

• Greater Mark of Attack Speed- 10.2% attack speed is really good for clearing minions and keeps your health up from passive. These are the best marks to use if you can afford them. They cost a grand total of 2460 IP for 6 of them.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Armor- 12.69 armor blocks out so much damage from monsters. They keep you alive and healthy in the jungle. They are an absolute must. They cost a grand total of 1845 IP, it is really inexpensive.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist- 24.30 magic resistance at level 18 makes it harder for mages to kill you. Makes you even tankier than you already are, so it is a smart investment. They cost a grand total of 1845 IP.
  
  
• greater mark of desolation- 4.98 armor penetration makes you deal true damage to minions, and some champions. They are a must for any AD champion. They cost a grand total of 1230 IP for 3 of them.
  
  
• greater quintessence of desolation- 9.99 armor penetration gives you a grand total of 14.97 armor penetration. This is all the armor penetration you need to deal true damage to jungle creeps. They cost a grand total of 3075 IP.

1. Double Golems- Don't use Smite. You can take it without Smite with full hp afterwards.
2. Elder Lizard- ( Smite here) At this point you should be around 70-80% health, and level 2
3. Wraiths- You should hover around 80% health after wraiths.
*Gank if you want.
4. Wolves- At this point you should be back up to full health, and leveled
5. Start ganking- Time to get gold for those shiny items
6. Ancient Golem-Give this to your mid if they need it
7. Take dragon if you can

SpaceGanking on Xin is an art. They are executed quickly with deadly results. Contrary to popular belief, it can be challenging for some. If you are one of those people who wish to improve your ganking skills look no further. I know for me that the hardest part of learning to jungle Xin was knowing when to gank and how to gank. Let me just tell you if your in the lane mindset of Xin you will feed until you learn jungle Xin's mindset. All I can say is find the right balance of patience and aggression.
SpaceRemember always save your dash for their escape attempt if you can. If they warded you have to charge in when your allies initiate them, because they will be distracted. Take advantage of that and charge in at full force. Other times you can just stroll up to them and start wacking them around, and can save your charge for their inevitable their escape attempt. Their are 3 types of ganks and 2 styles of ganking. First type and most common is coming in from the side, and hoping you can kill them before they get to their tower. Second is coming in from behind them through the triangle bush, or the pathways in mid. This type of gank blocks off their escape route and forces them to run further, and almost always result in a kill, or having them use a summoner spell. Third type of gank is very effective, but you need to fulfill the requirements: be in side lane, and have partner fully pushed up. Basically you walk in to the very top bush while the enemy can't see you through the fog of war. Then you wait for them to push, and attack with everything you got. Using dash is most surprising, because the don't have time to react. The first style of ganking is the most common which is the dash and Three Talon Strike combo. It is a good combo, but I've seen it mess up a gank too many times, because I couldn't catch up to them after my dash was gone. Style 2 is more reliable, because the opponent can't escape easily. You walk up to the enemy and attack with Three Talon Strike saving Audacious Charge for their escape attempt.
SpaceWhen to gank is the most challenging aspect of ganking for most lane Xin mindset people. Don't gank when your health is questionable. The worst thing you could possibly do is give your opponent a free kill. If your opponents are pushed to your tower for god sakes don't charge in; walk up to them and hit them with Three Talon Strike. This almost always always net you a kill even if they do burn a summoner spell or two. Gank if you ally is in a close fight with the other team. It is always better to be called a KSer than let your ally fight it out and perhaps die.

How to Gank

• Walk up to opponent hitting them with Three Talon Strike to save Audacious Charge for their escape
• Rush in with Audacious Charge and hope that you damage output is enough to put them down.
• Use the side bushes to surprise your enemies
• Use the triangle bush, or pathway to cut off enemy escape route
• Use the fog of war from river to go in

When to Gank

• Don't go in below 75% health if they are at full
• Gank when they are pushed up
• Gank if enemy jungler is about to gank allies
• Gank if your ally is in trouble
• Don't gank if they are at turret
• Don't gank if their jungler is at dragon

Map Objectives- Dragon should be warded at 10 minutes if they have a jungler. The gold from dragon can be game changing. If you get it twice you already gave your entire team 380 gold which is like killing someone on a spree. Getting it three times is like giving each person on your team 2 kills. So that means dragon control is very important.
Baron buff is game changing. A baron buff can win you a game if you ace the enemy team at baron and steal the buff. A baron buff can make you lose a game if the enemy team gets it. Baron buff stats are as good as an item that cost 2k+ gold. So that means late game with all items max, baron buff will be like a extra item which as we all know is a major advantage.

Countering Counter Jungling / Ganks- These wards prevent the enemy jungler from gaining the upper hand. These wards are purely defensive. They can save your allies life, and sometimes your own.

Counter Jungling- These wards are used to counter jungle the enemy team. These wards are extremely offensive, and can net you 1 or 2 kills. They can help you steal a buff or two. However they are risky, so only use them if your team has an obvious advantage. Most games I won't get past orange level wards.

High threat= don't get too aggressive, try not to push lane too far
Medium threat= harass if you can, last hit but don't push lane too far
Low threat= LOL you can tower dive them even if they have full health(joke), push lane as far back as you want (watch out for teammates obviously)

This ranking applies to if you are similarly skilled as person behind the champion. Some people who play Ashe well will not be a low priority, but a high threat. Use your judgement, try to assess their skill (attack them once see how they react), if their skill far surpasses yours then don't play offensively. P.S if there is a champion missing its because A. I never laned with them, B. I never laned against them, or C. I don't except you to be facing them any time soon. If there are any champions giving you a hard time, leave a comment and I'll address your problem. Leave any errors you see in this section in your comment.

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- You two will burst the enemy lane down to oblivion. You guys can do so much damage together, but you will fight over kills.

-Only engage her after her Mark of the Assassin debuff is gone. If shes low and in Twilight Shroud just use your ult should take care of her quite nicely. At lower levels it's worth investing in a Vision Ward in order to kill her. Akali is really popular right now, so she is played a lot. She snowballs really hard, so do not exchange deaths with her. One kill to her goes a lot longer than if you got one kill. If you can kill her w/o dieing then go ahead.

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- The cc on this guy is insane. Knock up Pulverize, stun, pull(push but same idea), and he has a heal Triumphant Roar. Perfect laning partner. Harass your enemies,so they cannot get the valuable exp the need.

- STAY BEHIND MINIONS OR TURRET. You do not want to get Headbutt into his carry w/o your partner. You have to ignore him, and dodge him at same time. Kill his carry then he'll be easier to kill.

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- God I love Amumu (one of my mains). His stun is awesome, and his aeo damage skills are op. Just wait for him to Bandage Toss someone and between the two of you your sure to get a kill. Of course this only applies to those who master skill shots. In team fights his ult will be a lifesaver, and huge asset.

- For the same reasons that he is a good partner, he is also a high threat. You can't aim Amumu because he's the tank but if you ignore him his damage output is insane. His ultimate Curse of the Sad Mummy is one of the best in game.

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- Stun, and charge about all i can say about her.

-I get this weird twitch thing in my neck every time I see Annie during the loading screen. She has an amazing burst, never runs out of mana, and never misses a last hit with Disintegrate. Harrass when she has 3 charges or lower otherwise you will be stunned when you charge. Don't bunch up with, because Summon: Tibbers will destroy your team.

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- Ashe will take your minion kills. Her damage early game is mediocre at best. She will die to enemy carries fairly easily. She is very squishy throughout the game. After laning phase is over you and her are best friends.

-Against an Ashe just use Audacious Charge and Three Talon Strike then exhaust 2 or 3 auto attacks and shes dead. Nothing to worry about. Enjoy your free food!

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-He's like a second Alistar he has a pull, knock up, and stun. He synergies well with Xin. Wait for him to initiate with Rocket Grab, then jump on the enemy and use three talon strike.

-His threat comes in the form of his cc. You can shut you down quite efficiently, and cause a lot of damage to your team. Be on the look out for Rocket Grab, always stay behind minions, and if he uses it your free to jump in for next 20 seconds. However Blitzcrank is quite squishy if he does not go tank.

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-This guy harasses like a boss. He can zone out two people with absolutely no problem at all. His skill combo gives you a free kill. His damage output is insane especially his free ignite as a passive( Blaze).

-OMFG! Why the hell does he do so much damage T.T? Brand will do so much damage to you in lane, you won't be able to farm without taking a lot of damage. Most of his combos are skill shot base so try to dodge him and then charge him. Try to kill him ASAP,or you will be screwed in team fights. Brand excels at team fights with his AOE damage and Pyroclasm.

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- He has great cc, and can shut down just about anyone. Just do e+q combo when he initiates.

- He has great damage output for a tank even if its a single target nuke ( Amumu in my opinion has best damage for a tank). Avoid going into team fights till he pops Rupture, also even if he's low he's deceptively strong so attack with caution.

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-You guys don't really have synergy with Xin Zhao. Just pretend he's a true tank, and let him initiate first.

-He has huge sustain, and decent damage. Bring ignite with you if you know your facing Mundo. Mundo probably builds health, and not armor so he isn't as tanky as you think early level.

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-He harasses and you finish them off. Try not to take all the farm, he needs his item as much as you do. I hate Ezreal free week because it the same as having a feeder on your team. Very few people can get the hang of him in one game (imo one of the hardest champions to master).

- Ezreal's threat comes from his Trueshot Barrage. The global ult is a serious threat. And he's incredibly hard to catch because of his Arcane Shift. Key to taking out Ezreal is to A) dodge his skill shots B)initiating after Arcane Shift C) just auto attacking him because he's a free weeker.

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-You guys have amazing sustain with his Bountiful Harvest, and your passive you'll never have to leave lane (except for items obviously). His Terrify is invaluable for killing enemy laners (just hit whomever he terrifies).

-CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCWACWACW! **** ITS Crowstorm! Fiddlesticks just melts everyone in team fights. Oh if he has Amumu on the other team its GG. The key is to knock him up when he draining. Avoid him when he has Crowstorm up (no ult can change the course of a team fight as fast as it). In lane remember his drain takes a lot of mana early levels, so let him drain you then walk out of its range to make him oom.

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-He harasses really well, and deals a whole lot of damage. Just pick off any champion thats low. There have been many times when his global Cannon Barrage (is it just me or do ultimate names get a little bit redundant ex. Trueshot Barrage) has helped me escape or secure a kill.

-He harasses a lot and isn't susceptible to cc ( Remove Scurvy), so its really hard to kill him. All i can say is try not to let him farm.

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-DEMACIAAAAAA! You guys deal so much damage. Judgment+ Decisive Strike+ Audacious Charge+ Three Talon Strike= first blood and double kill.

-He is so tanky and can do so much damage at the same time. Basically impossible to kill for you, and he can regen any damage you do to him after a couple a seconds. Key to fighting Garen making sure he never has a chance to use Perseverance. Also avoid fighting him if you have 1/3rd of hp.

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-Zones enemies well, and turret deals amazing damage. but both of you need farm so its gonna be a long early game. Best way to fight with him is pick off enemies that are targeted by turrets.

-Stay away from his turrets. Dodge his grenade they add up, and he is mana hungry so try to take him when his mana is low. Remember his turrets go away if you kill him. He has huge regen, so don't harass and back off, keep the pressure on him. Early game he is a pain, but he starts to lose his effectiveness after mid game. Try not to leave lane against a dinger when you don't need to, he can push turrets like a frikin boss.

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-You both have hard CC so initiating is easy. With her Equilibrium Strike no one will be able to defeat you, or escape.

- Facing Irelia is tough if she builds offtank. Offtank Irelia almost never dies, and can deal out a lot of damage. There is only 2 ways to prevent that. 1)Don't let her farm ALL GAME, early game especially, and try to gank her as much as possible. 2)Gank her if she is all alone, but never target her in team fights. If she build dps which no good player would do, kill her like any squishy.

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-Janna is a support champion so if you lane with her your cs will be higher. But you also become the only source of damage in your lane. What she lacks in damage she compensates in utility. Basically she is a toss up.

-The only thing to worry about is her cc. Her Monsoon can be a pain if its used during a team fight. She is really squishy due to the fact she'll be building cdr and aura items. You can target her in team fights, but make sure ranged carry is dead, or someone else will kill her.

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-He has a great buff with his Demacian Standard, and deals a lot of damage using his e+q combo. Basically let his knock up the enemy and then you charge in and start attacking.

- There are 3 types of Jarvans; dps, offtank, and tank. Of the 3 offtank is most common. Offtank Jarvans deals decent damage but his true strength comes from being able to outlast you in battle treat him like Irelia in this case. Dps Jarvan is played alot like you actually. He goes and Cataclysm someone and starts wreaking havoc. Best way to counter is to just kill him, he's squishy so it shouldn't be a problem. Tank Jarvan deals quite a bit of damage for a tank. Just take out his squishies.

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- Jax is basically another version of you. Has Leap Strike, attack steroid, and is tanky. Double jump someone and they are guaranteed to die.

-God I hate Jax, he deals so much damage, and is freaking tanky. He also has an AeO stun, Counter Strike, and huge dodge chance. Sword of the Divine meet you new friend. Pop the active, and attack. Alas the active isn't usually enough to kill a Jax. So you need to use this after he is about 3/4 or 2/3 of the way dead. Try not to engage him in full scale battles, he will win. He is one of the 3 champions you can't 1v1 fully fed. The other 2 being Tryndamere, and Olaf.

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-He harasses well, and prevents enemies from flashing away. Just let him burst them, and charge in when they are at 1/2 health.

-His threat level comes from the fact that he can go in burst you down, and flash out. Before level 6, just wait for him to use silence on minion, and then charge in. Null Sphere has a 9 sec cool down (closer to 8 secs due to his masteries and runes) so take advantage of it.

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-You both jump on enemy,and that's about it.

-AIM HER FAST. Never let her use her ult for the full 3 secs, you will get demolished. Best way to do this is save three talon strike for when she ults. She is squishy early game, so initiate when she is not around minions, otherwise she can Shunpo away.

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-Last hit as much as you can while you let Kayle zone the enemies. Jump any enemies foolish enough to aim Kayle.

-Initiate after she has Intervention on another enemy. Harass as much as you can. She is played like a ranged carry so it is ok to aim her in team fights.

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-Great damage and his stun comes in handy. You job is to keep him alive in team fights by taking out enemy champions who can kill him. He has one of the best ultimate, Slicing Maelstrom.

-Kennen can take out your entire team. Just like fiddles ultimate you should be weary of his. Its basically a combo of Amumu, and fiddles ult. In lane you have to deny his gold and exp. You have to dodge both his Thundering Shuriken, and juke his Lightning Rush to avoid his stun. Although in his ultimate form, you can not avoid his stun due to many Mark of the Storm falling down. Also take note in that his Electrical Surge has enough range that he can safely hit you when you behind your turret.

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-I feel sorry for your laning enemies. Lee, and Xin can take out anyone with there burst. You go in first, because Lee's dash works better when they have lower health.

- Lee Sin at the moment is one of the most OP champions there are. Atmogs Lee= GG. He out sustains you in battle. Jungle lee has one of the scariest ganks in the game. His Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike, and Tempest / Cripple makes it hard to get away from (IMO Xin has the best gank in game). Best way to counter him is get bloodrazor, or gank him in jungle as much as possible (risky). Against lane Lee sin remember to dodge his q. Move around a lot, and make sure you there is always a minion between you and him. Never stay to close to the minion because he has an aeo damage spell.

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Lux- Great partner / Medium threat
-She has great range, and her snare and slow lets you stick onto your target better. finales funkeln is great for finishing off target you couldn't.

-Lux is one of my favorite people to lane against. She's one of the couple of people I can dominate in lane. Her skill shots are relatively easy to dodge. For her Light Binding just stand behind 2 minions. If she throws her Lucent Singularity you can either charge at her, or side step. Never move back unless you are out of her range, because most times you end up stepping into it. Also try to switch it up a bit, one time move forwards, the next sidestep, move backwards the next, and so on so she can't figure out your way of dodging.

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-His q takes a decent chunk of hp of the enemy champions. That plus the fact that his slow allows you to save your charge for their inevitable escape, almost guaranteeing you a kill.

-I hate Malphite. He has a 50% attack debuff, that's right 50% it's AoE also, Ground Slam. His ult Unstoppable Force can make or break a team fight, so try not to bunch up, or stand in a line.

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-First of all I gotta say he has a awesome name. Say it with me "Mal-za-har". Anyways he only has damage no really good cc that helps you. (Silence lets them run so I don't count it.) Your damage output enough should be able to kill enemy champions

-Oh god I hate his Malefic Visions are a pain in the ***. Stay away from your minions. It's like a disease, if your exposed for too long you will catch it. His Nether Grasp makes it a dps nightmare. He can drop you very quickly, and if you got no allies with cc then meet you in the after life. Also if he uses it on a carry, you have to drop everything and knock him up (that's what she said).

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-He has great utility with his Sapling Toss. His early game harass deals so much damage. His Twisted Advance lets you stick on your targets more easily, so you can save your dash for their inevitable escape attempt. He is also a great finisher for anyone who gets away from you.

-The things that make him a good partner are what you look for in an enemy. 1v1 solo top you absolutely destroy him. You can regen his sapling damage from passive so easily. That means they have to come close to you in order to turn up the pressure. That means all you have to do is wait for him to snare you and then commence attacking. He will be at about 2/5 hp and running away. That means you will have your charge up and q off cd in 2 seconds, allowing you finish him off easily. Never aim Maokai in team fights, he is only bait, so aim for the squishies behind him.

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-If the enemy team has a huge range advantage, then you guys are screwed. Basically your raw damage output will be enough to take down most other lane
compositions.

-He becomes extremely problematic when he becomes fed. Best way to beat him is keep harassing him, Yi has little sustain, and his Meditate cost too much mana for him to constantly spam. Late game you have no chance at beating him. Never let him free farm, and shut him down mid game. You have a major advantage over him early game- mid game so that's the your chance to shut him down. If he uses his ult to get away at like 1/3 health don't bother chasing him.

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- She has great harass, but so squishy early game. Just try to give her time to align her ult up. It deals ridiculous amounts of damage mid to late game.
-She is so easy to kill. If you get your Audacious Charge on her then she will have no way of running from you. Make it rain barely slows you, and her move speed will disappear. Save your Three Talon Strike for when she ults, so that way you can cancel it. Try not to stay behind minions, or else you will take massive amount of damage from Double Up. She is incredibly mana hungry, so best thing to do is wait for her to run out of mana.

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- Morde just isn't what he use to be. He doesn't pump out as much damage as he used to. He brings nothing to the team. Just let him harass while you farm, and occasionally harass anyone coming close to you. I would love to be facing you lane.

- Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I feared this champion once, but now he is just a shell of his former self. He has no sustain, and his skills drain his health. His shield is really weak now and without it Morde is squishy. Just attack him as much as possible, your sustain will be enough to absorb his hits.

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-You two can out sustain anyone. Her Dark Binding, and Soul Shackles are great for sticking on to you enemy. Her Black Shield basically gives you Olaf's ultimate. You can run through the entire enemy team to their squishies without fear.

-She absolutely dominates team fights. Don't bunch up with your allies when she is around. Avoid her Dark Binding it is relatively slow and easily dodged by using a minion as a meat shield. Charge her and then back off in order to make her use her Black Shield. Then your charge will come back up faster than her shield, so charge her as soon as it comes off cooldown if possible.

• Read this if you are unsure who to buy next.(Click here!)~Jebus McAzn
  
• This is an overview of every aspect of the game. It goes more in depth than I did. You should read it if you have 20 minutes to spare. (Click here!)~Mowen
  
• This guide describes one if the most important consumable in the game, the ward. (Click here!)~Panglot
  
• I can't jungle Xin, so if you want to jungle with Xin read this guide. (Click here!)~Hargris2010

I hope this guide has help you improve your Xin game play. Please +1 my guide, or +rep me. Post your screen shots on comment section, I always like seeing people do well with Xin Zhao. I would like to thank jhoijhoi for her hard work reviewing my guide, and the banner in my guide.

Just thought this picture looked serene (it's my back yard o.o). Admire it, study it, but not part of guide.