Xin Zhao Build Guide : [9.17]Xin Zhao - A Guide For Low Elo (In-Depth Matchups)

Welcome to a better league experience, I'm BitBot, a player since the end of Season 6, and this is my guide to mastering in iron, bronze, silver and gold. I've spent a lot of time on this guide, and will appreciate any feedback from y'all.

Behold my guide to victory with . This guide is intended to help lower elo players out of the "elo hell" they are in. The overall details are somewhat beginner friendly (considering is a jungler). If you follow the advice in this guide and how to properly play , there is no reason you can't escape the elo you are in. Just have a good mental and be confident that you ARE better than iron/bronze/etc.. You WILL rise above the rest.

I will be updating this guide every patch to keep the info nice and fresh. At this point the guide is a work in progress. The next few updates will be the extension of my Matchups Chapter, soon to contain 30+ matchups against other junglers. A lot of content is missing and will be added as soon as possible. Good luck on the rift.

Pros

+ Can Solo Carry Easily
+ Very Good Engage
+ Shreds Turrets
+ One of the Best Duelists
+ Relatively Tanky while Dealing Damage

is amazing when it comes to duels and is useful at every point in the game. Once you get and , it is very hard for the enemy to beat you 1v1 and you can shred turrets with ease. has a very good early gank, which can be used to get your laners ahead early on. allows you to have some of the best jungle sustain in the game. also has a very fast clear, making him one of the best junglers available.

Cons

- Hard to Disengage
- Useless When Behind
- Somewhat Falls Off Late Game
- Needs to Get Fed to be Useful
- No Star Guardian Skin

Once you engage on , there is no turning back. This means if you engage into a bad fight, gg. There is also the problem that if is put too far behind, he's just free food for the enemy. needs to snowball to do well. Luckily his kit is designed to get him to that point, but if he doesn't get there he's not all that useful to the team. Also, gets worse and worse as the game goes on. You have to end early or else he gets heavily outscaled by most champions.

Determination: Every third auto attack, deals bonus damage equal to 15/25/35/45% of his total AD. This third auto attack also heals for 8-59(+10% AD)(+40% AP) health.

This is one of the reason's is one of the better junglers out there. gives the sustain he needs to be an efficient jungler. Without it, would die to jungle creeps much too quickly to be one of the best junglers. is also very effective in duels. It gives you extra sustain in a fight and synergizes very well with and your .

Three Talon Strike (Q): This ability makes 's next 3 basic attacks deal 20/25/30/35/40(+40% bonus AD) additional damage. The third strike send your opponent into the air.

This is your main control ability. Always use this ability right after you use and , as it also reduces the cooldown of your other abilities by 1 second on each auto attack. One of the reasons this ability is perfect for is it synergizes with his passive and . can also be used as an auto-reset. If you don't know what that is, it's when you auto-attack an enemy then immediately use your to skip the next auto attack animation, giving you a second auto in a short amount of time. This can be good in many situations, especially when clearing your jungle camps. Activating also procs the spellblade passive on if you bought it, making your first strike deal lots of bonus damage.

Wind Becomes Lightning (W): During this ability, slashes in an arc in front of him, dealing 30/40/50/60/70(+30% AD) physical damage. He then strikes all enemies in front of him in a line, slowing them by 50% for 1.5 seconds and dealing 30/65/100/135/170(+75% AD) physical damage.

This ability is your main waveclear ability. does a ton of AoE damage if you max it first (which you should be). It allows you to take your jungle camps faster. While its vital to help you clear camps, it is all vital to your combat. offers a decent amount of burst damage in an engage. If uses it while dashing with , it will activate upon reaching the target, saving you a bit of time on your animations and cast time. Another really helpful feature of is the slow on the second strike. This can be used to either slow enemies trying to get away from you, or slow enemies trying to chase you and kill you. It is very useful in both situations so don't forget about the slow.

Audacious Charge (E): This is a point-and-click targeted dash at your opponent. This ability does 50/75/100/125/150(+60% AP) Magic Damage to the target and all units around it. also slows these units by 30% for .5 seconds. In addition to all that, after using this ability, gains 40/45/50/55/60% bonus attack speed for 5 seconds.

This is your main ability you use to engage fights. Without , wouldn't be a jungler. is almost always going to be your first ability you use in a duel or gank. It lets you reach the enemy so that your other abilities can hit them and do damage. the attack speed also allows you to keep hitting the enemy and keep getting the rage passive on or . The attack speed also allows you to stack faster if you are running it. Another option for is to hold on to it while ganking. If the enemy is over-extended, you could just walk up to them and start hitting them with your other abilities. If they try to get away, use to cathc up to them and finish them off. A third option with is to use it while trying to escape the enemy. If you use it on an enemy minion or a neutral monster, it can be used to put distance between you and your enemy. is overall very helpful to and has many uses.

Crescent Guard (R): When activated, knocks back and stuns all enemies except for the enemy most recently attacked for .75 seconds. All enemies in range of this ability take 75/175/275(+100% bonus AD)(+15% of the target's current HP) as physical damage. Enemies more than 450 units away from deal no damage to him. This effect remains for 3 seconds, increasing by .3 seconds every time hits an enemy with an attack or ability.

This ability is what makes a true duelist. can work miracles in teamfights for . When using , try to use it before the enemy takes too much damage as it does damage based on their current health. If you're being focused in a teamfight, just pop this ability and all your problems go away. Suddenly the enemy adc doesn't hurt that bad. is great for making the enemy waste all their abilities. Let the enemy focus you and not your team, allowing for your team to retaliate once the invincibility effect wears off. Another good use of is if you are being chased by an enemy. If they are dashing onto you, press r. If they are sniping you with abilities from across the map, press r. If you get collapsed on by the entire enemy team, press r and hope you can get away. is 's only disengage, so be sure not to waste it. A third use of is controlling the enemy. If you are skilled enough, you can make plays to knock the enemy into your team with . This is difficult to do, but VERY effective if pulled off correctly. It's like a insec kick, but harder because you can't ward hop behind the enemy.

> > >

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

E

Q

W

R

W

E

W

E

R

E

Q

R

Q

This is the skill sequence that will want to run in 90% of games. You grab first because it gives you the fastest clear speed for your first buff due to its attack speed. Second you will want to grab for an early level 2 gank in the nearest lane. Try to get either a or a kill when doing the level 2 gank. Occasionally will want to grab second and third. Dp this if the enemy laner is either really hard to gank or already pushed under their turret. is maxed first because it greatly increases 's clear speed in the jungle. is maxed second for the attack speed it grants, adding to 's dueling capabilities. is maxed last because leveling it is almost useless. All it does is slightly lower the CD and increase the damage by 5 per rank.

: Undisputable. You must have this spell. It is good for getting you out of some dangerous situations and getting a kill on an enemy.

: DO NOT JUNGLE WITHOUT THIS SPELL. You NEED this spell in order to jungle, as without it you cannot buy jungle items.

Xin Zhao has a few combos that can help:

Basic Engage Combo (pre-6)

This is how you engage pre-6:

+ + + AA

This combo is how you engage pre-6 or if your ult is down. If you use while you are dashing with , it will activate upon reaching your target, which can be used to save some time. After activating your , attack the enemy until they are dead or until you have to back off.

Important Note: Don't always use while dashing as it decreases your accuracy

Engage Combo (post-6)

This is how you engage on an enemy post-6:

+ + + + AA

This combo is how you engage post-6. Instead of using while you are dashing with , use your when you reach your target. This will allow you to do the maximum ideal damage with . After using , continue the combo and kill the enemy.

Xinsec (difficult)

This will knock the enemy into your team:

+ +

This is a cool combo involving your and your . It is very useful for setting up kills and catching the enemy off-guard. There are two ways to do it. This is the first way is to use on a minion or enemy near or behind your target, then use if needed and use . Here is an ingame example of me using a minion to do the Xinsec, securing a kill on the enemy :

However, there is a harder way to do the Xinsec, thought it is much more effective in a 1v1 if done properly. For this Xinsec you use your on the person you want kicked, use halfway through, right click away from the target, then use . Here is a video example on some target dummies:

HAIL OF BLADES

VS

CONQUEROR

allows you to quickly burst down your target with a quick engage combo. It is good against squishy enemies that will die to 's burst damage. However, isn't good in an extended fight against someone more tanky such as , , , etc..

allows for more prolonged fights. It makes it so that after your full combo, you will do true damage against the target while having increased healing. This is much better against other duelists and tankier targets. This is a very safe rune for . The cons are that you lose the burst of .

This is one of two options for your keystone. allows for you to quickly blow through your . It is good on because it adds a ton to his burst damage and has perfect synergy with his and his passive .

This is a good rune of because it procs in his . When he uses , will get a burst of lethality allowing him to deal more damage to his target.

Next we have . This rune is good on because it allows him to scale better and to better snowball off a lead. Whenever he gets a takedown on an enemy, he gains an eyeball, permanently increasing his AD, with a bonus at 10 eyeballs.

is a good quality of life rune on . It allows him to move faster when out of combat, allowing him to quicker position himself for ganks. Every enemy has a bounty, and gets faster with each specific enemy he gets a takedown on.

Bringing is an absolute must on . It allows him to survive after killing his primary target, allowing him to return safely to base. It also gives him 20 extra gold per takedown, which can really add up.

Another great rune on . allows for to get legend stacks which increase his attack speed (a useful stat on ). You get legend stacks by getting takedowns and by killing minions and monsters.

This is one of two options for your keystone. allows for to better win extended fights. Hitting an enemy with 5 abilities or attacks (your basic combo) does bonus, and after those 5 attacks, you deal extra true damage to the target and receive increased healing. This is good against bruisers/tanks.

Bringing is an absolute must on . It allows him to survive after killing his primary target, allowing him to return safely to base. It also gives him 20 extra gold per takedown, which can really add up.

Another great rune on . allows for to get legend stacks which increase his attack speed (a useful stat on ). You get legend stacks by getting takedowns and by killing minions and monsters.

This rune is perfect for almost any situation. allows to deal 8% extra damage to targets below 40% of their max health. This is really good for finishing off low health targets.

This is a good rune of because it procs in his . When he uses , will get a burst of lethality allowing him to deal more damage to his target.

is a good quality of life rune on . It allows him to move faster when out of combat, allowing him to quicker position himself for ganks. Every enemy has a bounty, and gets faster with each specific enemy he gets a takedown on.

Hunter's Machete
This item is simply the only viable starting item for . It gives him sustain and bonus on-hit damage to monsters. simply isn't that good on .

Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior
This is the best enchantment for the on . It gives the damage he needs to duel a target. Maybe someday will rise again.

Trinity Force
Without a doubt the best item possible on . offers CDR, health, attack speed, damage, and mana. Its passives allow to do extra damage after casting his engage. The rage passive allows him to stick to his target. This is one of the best items in the game for .

Mercury's Treads
These boots are good for some extra magic resist. Buy these boots if the enemy is either mostly AP or if they have a lot of CC.

Ninja Tabi
These are generally your go-to boots. They allow to better duel against most champions.

The Black Cleaver
This item works miracles if falls behind too much. It gives you every stat you need if behind. Lots of health, AD, CDR, and two passives that allow you to stick to and shred enemies. The reason this is not 's main core item is becuase it lacks the attack speed of a .

Sterak's Gage
A very good buy on . try to build either this or a at some point in most of your games. is very good for survivability, and it gives a decent amount of AD.

Guardian Angel
Another really good buy on , especially if you are fed. If you are fed, buy this to prevent the enemy from killing you and taking your shutdown gold. also gives a good amount of armor and AD.

Titanic Hydra
This is a possible alternate to . If you need a strong pusher on your team, or you want to deal more burst damage, this is a viable item for to get. It gives roughly the same stats as a . However instead of a shield for a passive, you deal more damage per AA in a cone.

Randuin's Omen
Bring this if the enemy has a few crit base champs like or or . It is also useful as it slows down the enemy once you get to them, and it provides a decent amount of health and armor.

Dead Man's Plate
This is the best armor item for . It gives you health and armor, along with an amazing passive. You get movement speed stacks while out of combat. When you next hit an enemy, it consumes the stacks and slows the enemy by 50% for 1 second if at max stacks, and deals 1 damage per stack consumed.

Thornmail
This is another option for armor on . Buy it if the enemy has either mostly AD champions or if they have someone with a ton of lifesteal, as reduces healing of anyone who attacks you.

Adaptive Helm
This item is a good MR buy against enemies with damage over time abilities or spammable abilities. is a good counter to champs like , , , etc..

Spirit Visage
This is a very good magic resist buy for . It gives a ton of health and MR, along with some CDR, and it increases all healing on yourself by 30%. This makes your passive quite effective.

Mercurial Scimitar
This is a very situational buy on , but when the time is right, PLEASE BUY THIS ITEM!!! It is the best counterplay possible to powerful CC abilities and disables. It gives a good amount of AD and lifesteal and can clear all disables. Buy this into champions like , , , etc..

Wit's End
This is a really good MR item on , as every single stat is useful to him. It gives a ton of attack speed, MR, and some movement speed. The passive gives you on-hit magic damage, and when you get low on HP, it gives you a ton of lifesteal. Pair this with a and you become very hard to kill.

General

Objectives are a big part of doing well. If you don't know how to properly take objectives and when, then you are going to stay in iron/bronze. This chapter is all about how and when to take objectives as . When taking objectives, you have to be aware of what else is going on in the game. Another skill that you must have is objective priority. Without these skills it is impossible to rank up.

Dragons

The are most likely the most important objective you will be interacting with in the early game. Most low elo players underestimate the power of the . Dragons when slain grant your entire team a dragon slayer buff. The type of buff depends on which was slain. for example, if it was an , your team gets the Dragon Slayer: Heart of Oceans buff. This buff gives your team lots of health and mana regeneration when out of combat. There are 3 other elemental Dragons and the . The gives you bonus true damage against objectives, the gives you more damage overall, and the gives you extra movement speed. However, the is one of the highest priority objectives in the game. It gives which makes your team's attacks burn the enemy to do a ton of damage over time.

Baron Nashor/Rift Herald

These guys are the most important objectives in the game. The spawns in the baron pit at 10:00-19:45 minutes. After this point, dies and spawns in its place. When is slain, it drops the . This can be used to summon rift herald to walk around and smash turrets in a lane. when slain grants your team the . This gives your team a faster recall and, more importantly, it empowers all allied minions near someone who has the . This is extremely good for taking the enemy base.

Turrets

Turrets are the main objective in League. Destroy the turrets, destroy the inhibitors, destroy the nexus. That's League of Legends on paper. When taking turrets, it is important to always know where the enemy is. It would be bad to be taking an enemy turret just to be attacked by the enemy , giving the enemy a kill. Always make sure you aren't in any danger before committing to a turret. Also, as , try to take any turrets with your laners, as it will make the job a lot easier. Turrets are more important than the basic elemental dragons, but everything else usually takes priority.

Early Game

Early game is the time for to set up the entire game. Your objective in the early game is to get as fed as possible as fast as possible so that you can snowball into the mid-game. Without a snowball, becomes rather useless on his own. This is why the early game is so important. Objectives in the early game are fairly easy to prioritize. Turrets are generally the most important objective for to take because of the early game turret plating. The plating when destroyed gives a lot of gold to further help you and your laner. If no turrets are available to being taken, try to sneak a . The more dragons you get, the better off your mid-late game will be. Early game is the period of 0:00 to 15:00 minutes. Try not to gank too much in the early game. If you do, you may fall behind in levels and farm, making it really hard for you to snowball.

Mid Game

Mid game is where thrives. If you played your early game correctly, you should be a monster when it comes to teamfights and duels. Mid game is when you will want to start trying to set up teamfights. If you can, try to force a fight at the baron pit as soon as you finish your and take the . Check the teamfights chapter for more info on what to do in a teamfight. If you win a teamfight, always try to take baron if possible. If not, try to quickly destroy a few turrets. The enemy shouldn't be able to fight you making splitpushing another viable option. You take turrets relatively fast as , making this work quite well if you know what you are doing. Always make sure you know here the enemy is before splitpushing. It would be bad to find yourself in a 1v3 situation while under the enemy turret. The time period of mid game is generally 15:00-30:00 minutes.

Late Game

This is where playing becomes tough. You lose most of your solocarry potential in the late game, making it a tossup to whichever teamcomp is better. This is a very risky way to end the game, and is not favorable. Always try to end before late game, but sometimes it does happen. If your teamcomp is better than the enemy teamcomp, try to group up and force fights mid lane or at baron. This should slowly win you the game. If your teamcomp is worse than the enemy teamcomp, don't let the enemy group. Try to go wherever the enemy isn't. If you can have 2 people top and 2 people bot, it will force the enemy to make a decision of either splitting or force pushing mid lane. Another big rule of late game is that if the enemy team is taking , have your team take the and vice versa. This will prevent your team from falling too far behind.

Pathing

This is your ideal jungle path for clearing camps. Start at then head over to . After clearing the Krugs, go for . At this point, consider looking for a gank in the two closest lanes if possible. Next, go for . After that, try to go for the nearest . If available, go for it. If not, either look for another gank or clear . Lastly, clear . This is the standard pathing for . However, this path is almost never the same and you must adapt to any situations and continue from there. For example, if you know the enemy is starting at your blue, consider either starting on their blue or invading and taking it as fast as possible. This would make up for the loss of your blue buff. Another example is if the enemy ganks your bot lane level 2, you might want to consider counterganking as without his e he is quite squishy and easy to kill (warwick usually gets e third).

Invading is an alternative option in pathing for . This is a good idea if the enemy jungler starts at and you know you can beat them 1v1. For this route start at your then go immediately to your , ignoring the krugs. After that, go over to the enemy and take it. At this point it is too late for the enemy laners to retaliate. After , take . At this point you should cinsider ganking bot or top (whichever is closer). If possible, gank the lane and get them ahead. Return to your and then continue jungling as normal. If you encounter the enemy jungler (usually around their ), you should be able to 1v1 them with ease (if not, why are you invading :P). Don't invade if you cannot beat the enemy jungler 1v1.

Warding

Orange Blur = Good Place to Ward
Control Ward = Good Place to Put Control Ward

This is a map of good places to ward as the jungler. A key part of playing as a jungler is vision. It is your job to ward around the map in the key areas observed on the map. A good way to measure your vision is the vision score. You should have the second highest vision score on your team as the jungler, second only to the support. Make sure to buy control wards whenever you can when you back. They are very powerful as they deny enemy vision and provide your team with vision at the same time (this is also a good way to get an S). The reason you want to ward is because it allows you to see where the enemy is going. Position is everything. If you know where the enemy jungler is, the chances of them getting a successful gank are lowered significantly. As the jungler, you have easy access to most of the map, making it necessary that you ward as often as you can.

In teamfights, 's job is to be in the front lines of battle. Your objective: engage the fight and eliminate the enemy carry.

Always be sure to use your to engage teamfights. When in a teamfight, try to focus the enemy squishies/enemy carries. You should be able to kill them rather quickly without dying thanks to your damage and tankiness.

There are different things you should be doing in a teamfight depending on the needs of your team. While taking out the enemy carry is your primary objective, your secondary objective may vary.

If your team is lacking a tank or another bruiser like , try to stay in the fight to soak up damage as long as possible. If the enemy team has a fed assassin, do everything in your power to kill them before they get to your backline. If you fall behind on , teamfights become a bit trickier. You won't be dealing as much damage nor tanking as much as would be ideal, but that's better than feeding. If you are able to, kill the enemy carry and get out. If not, either peel for your adc or attempt to duel the enemy bruiser/tank. You should still be able to outright 1v1 anyone unless you are really behind. try to use to force this 1v1 situation. As , you will always prefer 1v1s to teamfights. A good way to avoid falling behind is making picks against the enemy. Try to catch someone who is out of place and punish them for making that mistake.

Matchups Table of Contents

Amumu

Elise

Evelynn

Gragas

Graves

Hecarim

Ivern

Jarvan IV

Jax

Karthus

Kayn

Kha'Zix

Kindred

Lee Sin

Master Yi

Nidalee

Nocturne

Nunu & Willump

Olaf

Rammus

Rek'Sai

Rengar

Sejuani

Shaco

Shyvana

Skarner

Taliyah

Udyr

Vi

Volibear

Warwick

Xin Zhao

Zac

Abilities

Items

Amumu - The Sad Mummy
Melee, AP Tank, Jungler, CC

Difficulty: 2/10
Invades: Lose
Teamfights: Strong

Amumu is a fairly easy matchup. You should be able to 1v1 Amumu with ease until late game. However, Amumu is much better in a teamfight that Xin Zhao. An easy way to beat Amumu is to invade his jungle if possible and take his camps. There shouldn't be much he can do about it since he can't 1v1 Xin Zhao. Amumu's level 6 may allow him to win fights against you for a short period of time.

[9.17]Xin Zhao - A Guide For Low Elo (In-Depth Matchups)

[9.17]Xin Zhao - A Guide For Low Elo (In-Depth Matchups)

Recommended Items

Runes: Hail of Blades

Spells:

Challenging Smite

Flash

Items

Ability Order Standard

Determination (PASSIVE)

Three Talon Strike (Q)

Wind Becomes Lightning (W)

Audacious Charge (E)

Crescent Guard (R)