Should Xin Zhao get reworked?
I am a Xin main and I've been asking this question to a lot of With no decisive answer. If you guys think that Xin should get a rework, what do you guys think they should change?
36 Comments
I don't play Xin but:
Sated needs a nerf.
Xin's good though. You can't kite him if he's smart bcz he just dashes to you, (unless you're a trist or Vayne or Lee sin who can knock you back). He literally destroys the enemy's front line with his ult and there is not way for anyone to ignore a Xin, underfed or not he's a pain in the ass at all points of the game. He might need a nerf but honestly I think most of it is just Sated Devourer.
Xin is almost always useful.
Yes He's always either extremely extremely oppressive and you can't stop him, or he flops and can't do shit. Regardless, his playstyle is boring and outdated. So yes, a rework and possibly a new design would be nice.
I find him a little too "press all the buttons" like a lot of early melee carries Riot made. He could use some more reflexive or situational skills instead of just E->R if in enemy team->Q and W.
of course he does, he has a really binary kit. While i do approve of being Man Mode constantly, he could use some kit tweaks.
He's a bit 1 dimensional. He's a superb duelist but he can't do much if he's behind unless he gets stated.
That can only be answered if we want to move closer to a "no one but marksmen get to be AA-only champions" sort of game.
He could use a small rework to improve his mechanics. I believe Stonewall gave a good explanation for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbkW4-l0Gzg
Personally, while I don't have any issues with Xin Zhao's current state, I find him a bit boring. You basically jump on people and wail on them until one of you is dead or they escape. A bit more variety or versatility in his playstyle would be nice, but that's definitely up for interpretation.
Yes.
He's impossible to deal with when ahead because of how much damage he outputs while being tanky, has the means to get ahead because of how strong his early game is, is very 1 dimensional, he's almost useless when behind and requires little to no skill to play.
The only thing worth preserving in his kit is his ultimate and the way it interacts with his passive, however the passive itself is also dumb as fuck, it's literally nothing but an armor shred. His ult is really cool and creates interesting gameplay patterns, it has its advantages and its drawbacks, it's a great powerful moment for the Xin player and the only time you actually need to put some thought into how you play Xin as opposed to how you play as a melee champion in general. Everything else could/should be changed. All of his other skills are the definition of brain dead. IMO a kit should have at most one such ability, not 4.
I'm no Xin main, but I do think he might eventually need a rework, even if he's not too troublesome right now. It feels like there's little depth to his playstyle (he just rushes his target and mashes his steroids until they're dead), and though he has a lot of power overall he has so few options that he tends to either not do much or become overwhelming, depending on his early performance. His ult and interaction with his passive are really cool, and he should have more strategic effects like that (he doesn't need to be too mechanically challenging, though).
Kung Pao should be reworked so he's not just Win Nao
No. He is fine. So is devourer after last patch.
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Xin just exists to make immobile ADCs and mages cry. His kit doesn't fit his lore, and it's ungodly binary.
I'd like to see him be able to have the odds not stand against him, like in his fucking lore, rather than him swat away anyone that he isn't fighting because he falls off so hard late game.
His kit just screams outdated. His splash art hasn't been updated yet, so that could be a sign that they're doing some work on him.
Hmm the only thing Xin would need a rework for is because his simple kit that also happens to be incredibly strong and well-rounded. Garen has a simple kit but its meant for one thing CHAAAAAARRRRGGGGEEEEE SPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN JUUUUUUUSTTTTIIIICCCEEEE and that can be stopped by CC, in which case he failed that time and will need to do the exact same thing over and over again until they fail to CC him.
Xin on the other hand can dash, knock-up, knock back, and increase his AS. If one of those fails he has back ups, if they all fail he can go heal with his W and try again with a different strategy. This would be the only reason to rework him, the only way for him to not be too strong is for him to be too weak due to this kit and playstyle. I hope if they do rework him it will be around Garen level of rework where they barely change him (hopefully they dont overtune him though)
I think Xin needs to be less punishing in ganks. He's almost always going to get something out of a gank if the enemy is at least in the middle the lane.
He is just a bundle of stats that cant be outplayed. He needs to outplay himself, and you cant rely on the enemy to be bad. He passively does a lot of things you cant interact or prevent other than stay out of E range or else. I agree that he does need more changes than just numbers. He's always going to be too strong or too weak because all he has is stats and a knock up.
That being said he does have pretty major drawbacks. Such as almost no ability to wave clear without ulting. He cant do anything outside of his E range. He's either all in or nothing at all. His escapes are not as reliable as other champions gap closers, meaing he can ult away lee sin but hes just going to Q back onto you.
I think he could use a rework in something like a fighter-overhaul, as most of his problems apply to other fighters aswell.
He is all-in, only a go-button, nothing else, which leads to hard snowballing in both directions. His kit has little room for error, it's mostly checking for range, only the ult, especially combined with the passive, is a bit more complex than point n (right)click. This leads to the "ball-off-stats-syndrome", again adding to snowballing, as most you can hopefor is to outstat your opponent.
What i think could/should get changed, though with no concrete ideas on how exactly to change it:
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Passive: i like the core idea, fitting to his 'arena' theme, choose a priority target and improve your teams actions vs it(currently by armor reduce), though i'd like to see more interaction with his kit, like the one with his ult, kocking all aside besides the target, leaving it in a kinda arena to fight you.
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His Q is his signature move, it should stay as a three-hit modify with knockup, though the cd-reduce could get removed. It makes him rather binary, if he can't stick to a target for the Qs, he not only looses out on damage, potential selfheal from W and the knock up, but also on up to 3 sec on all cds, especially on his E, the only way to ever catch up again, so the difference from getting the Qs off or not is really huge.
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His W is pretty shallow, the heal is not big enough to add much to his identity, and the AS boost is just some power for the sake of power with next to no gameplay, so this is a part of his kit that could get totally changed to something more interesting.
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His E is prettymuch a generic gapcloser, it just extends his reach, and thats all it adds prettymuch. While a gapcloseing mechanism is imortant, it could be more interresting and especially with more counterplay than get in range-> click-> be rigth on top off the target, atleast on a champ that has a lot damage and some cc bound to AAs(so point n click)
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The Ult currently is the most interesting part off his ult, offering huge playmakeing potential, adding good skill-ceiling, especially with that passive interaction. Imo it is one of the best designed abillitys in the game for a fighter. It increases his power vs multiple targets, adds utillity, so he can be effective in teamfights without beeing totally overbearing 1v1, it has many different use cases and varrys highly in its efficiency depending on how 'good' or 'skillfull' it was used.
His passive should give him movementspeed. He currently so reliant on that stat. 
are my friends on him.
Needs a buff this patch or a fury rework. Feels so boring playing him no accounting for what your abilities do just auto attack.
yes
He's my go-to jungler specifically because he's very easy to play and has an effective kit for snowballing in solo queue. He could probably use something, but I'm no Xin main so I'm not too sure what.
I don't play Xin so my opinion doesn't mean too much but does he really need it? I've never felt he was too weak or had a broken kit or anything of the sort.
Maybe some kit tweaks to make him less effective when snowballing while giving him power elsewhere in his kit though.
Him being OP isn't as bad as being boring. Personally I think he has too many passive steroid abilities that increase his auto attack speed/damage so it's just not very fun IMO. I guess every champ has to have their own niche tho.
his kit is too easy.
add a skill shot and some % hp damage and call it a re work.
Im a xin zhao main as well, both jungle an solo top lane. And from what i have seen you guys said makes sense cause when he get sated an is ready to 1v1 or 1v2 with his ult up its crazy. But i doubt Riot would give him that rework for us the Xin fans deserved. (High Noon Xin Zhao
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Eh, I've always felt that he was too good at deleting enemies, leaving no room for gameplay. He also shits on those without escapes. And the ability to be bursty and build tanky (
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He's just not fun to play against, and I'd almost always ban him.
Needs a clear identity of burst-fighter or sustained-fighter...shouldn't have both while also being a durable assassin.
He had a 'light' rework not too long ago where they added the AoE knock back to his ultimate, to make him less of a feast or famine type character (adding a little utility).
I think it's safe to say it wasn't enough.
He's a duelist... but his ult and CC makes him work pretty damn well in teamfights.
He also does a little too much burst for someone with so many DPS boosts (including health return).
If anything should be changed about him, it should probably be his ultimate.
I think they should make him easier to play.
/sarcasm
I feel like if they were to change anything the best answer would be to give him a little less upfront burst/cc (reduce knockup duration on his Q, maybe?) in exchange for better sticking power after the initiate (maybe have E give movespeed for several seconds instead of slowing the enemy briefly?) and more options in a sustained fight. His "heal every third hit" passive makes him look like a champion that's supposed to get into a fight and stay there, but right now all he does is hit every button on his keyboard, oneshot a carry, and then stand around autoattacking whoever happens to be near enough. He should be able to contribute more to a prolonged teamfight but be less bursty, IMO.