Champion Guide

Xin Zhao Guide

By LoLSuggest

Jungle

Xin Zhao is a durable fighter who trades like an assassin: strong early ganks, a reliable point-and-click knock-up from Three Talon Strike, and excellent 1v1 dueling. His goal is to dominate early and snowball, since he falls off in late-game teamfights. Some matchup notes still reference older seasons.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Xin Zhao build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The meta page is Conqueror with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, plus Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight; Hail of Blades pages suit assassin builds, and a Bone Plating and Unflinching secondary helps against heavy CC. Take Flash with Smite — Gustwalker Hatchling for early ganks and map mobility, Scorchclaw Pup for extra dueling power, or Mosstomper Seedling against heavy CC. The pro build is Mercury's Treads, Sundered Sky, Black Cleaver, Sterak's Gage, Death's Dance and Spirit Visage. Other bruiser builds use Titanic Hydra, Spear of Shojin, Experimental Hexplate or Kraken Slayer, while assassin builds go Eclipse, The Collector, Voltaic Cyclosword and Edge of Night. Buy Oracle Lens and Control Wards.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Strengths

Strong early ganks with a reliable knock-up.
High burst and sustained damage, with excellent 1v1 dueling.
Healthy jungle clears thanks to Determination's healing, and he snowballs leads well.

Weaknesses

Struggles against peel-heavy team compositions.
Vulnerable to heavy crowd control.
Falls off in late-game teamfights.

Laning Phase

Start Red Buff and look for an early gank, or clear Red, Blue and Gromp for a quick level 3 and a safe gank, usually top — ask your top laner not to push. Don't force impossible ganks on enemies under tower or about to recall, and watch for counter-ganks. Before a gank, auto a camp or minion twice so your next Three Talon Strike knocks up right after Audacious Charge. Track the enemy jungler and counter-gank rather than farming while your lanes get ganked.

Mid & Late Game

Use your early leads to invade, take objectives and help push plates, but don't stay in one lane too long. Every Q hit lowers your other cooldowns, so weave autos between spells in extended fights. Use the knock-up to interrupt channels like Katarina's ultimate or to peel divers off your carries. Against late-game junglers like Bel'Veth, speed the game up and starve their farm.

Key Tips

Time your third Three Talon Strike hit with Smite to secure Dragon or Rift Herald.
Determination's third-hit healing works on monsters, wards and turrets too.
Flash can reposition you mid-fight or over walls for Smite steals.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.

Easiest Matchups

Amumu

Ekko