Xin Zhao Gameplay Discussion

Hello everyone! A while ago, I made a post on Story, Art, & Sound about Xin Zhao's story, character, and his role in Runeterra. My goal there was to, in some respect, provide Riot with a resource (however small) to use going forward for when they eventually place the Seneschal of Demacia on the VGU roster. With the same intent here, I hope to start a discussion about Xin Zhao's kit and his general role in the game.

Warning: this will be long.

So, one of the first issues to tackle with this post would have to be his overall theme: In his lore, he's painted as a single warrior capable of fighting hundreds, but in game, he's a Diver/Skirmisher hybrid adept at either demolishing squishy targets (hello, Titanic Hydra) or basically dueling out most solitary Champions.

And, while at the moment he does fit the Diver Subclass theme (good engage, next to no way out, very sturdy with moderate-to-high survivability), he really excels at dueling and ripping apart solitary opponents, putting him more in-line as a Skirmisher (personal defence tools, moderate survivability, but high average damage and the ability to shred opponents.)

With this peculiarity about him, I have to propose a question or two before I start into anything further:

1. What should Xin Zhao's main class be? Should he be a Skirmisher designed around being a veritable duelist, or a Diver designed around the one-against-many picture painted in his bio?

2. Should he be exclusive to one Subclass, or should he incorporate some parts of at least one other Subclass into his kit? (as he is now; Diver/Skirmisher). If so, what other Subclass should he be?

The second thing to talk about with Xin Zhao would have to be his kit and its power budget. To give a brief outline of his power budget, this is (roughly) what it looks like;

P - Challenge - 10% Q - Three Talon Strike - 20% W - Battle Cry - 30% E - Audacious Charge - 15% R - Crescent Sweep - 25%

Take it with a grain of salt, as the stated power budget could be a number of things: wrong being foremost among them.

Though, to provide context on his power budget, Battle Cry is the most powerful of his abilities right now due to his outdated kit making him reliant on auto-attacks and On-hit effects, often resulting in him running Heartrazor+Guinsoo's Rageblade in the jungle, often becoming very hard to kill without proper defensive items.

His Ultimate, Crescent Sweep, is his next most powerful: Knocking enemies away (to single out someone or to just knock people around) and gaining defenses based on enemy Champions hit, making him actually harder to kill than normal in most situations. After that is Three Talon Strike, which generally is used to hold an enemy in place while you tear them apart.

Then Audacious Charge not entirely strong, just a targeted dash with small AoE damage that isn't impressive. And lastly, Challenge, which marks the last enemy hit by Audacious Charge or a basic attack, reducing armor for 3 seconds and making the target immune to Crescent Sweep.

While my next question would be something along the lines of "how does the community think his power budget should be moved around/respent?" - the prospect of a VGU makes that question both easier and harder to ask and answer, as his post-rework kit is, at the moment, completely unknown. We've no idea what Riot will add or take away from him, but a good bet is that Three Talon Strike and Battle Cry will be seeing changes.

So, the next two questions are:

3. In changing Xin Zhao's kit, what should be removed, what should be changed, what needs Quality-of-Life changes, and what doesn't need work at all?

4. Further, working from the present kit and power-budget, how should his power budget be redistributed, and to what end should this shift in power accomplish?

As some extra questions, I'd also like to ask: A. Should Xin Zhao have more skill expression, or does his current kit depth suffice? B. What are the thoughts about Xin Zhao's current kit that I may not have brought up? C. What are the thoughts on an auto-attack/on-hit reliance in kits/builds? D. Does anyone think that the (potentially) upcoming Diver Class Update might lay a solid groundwork for Xin Zhao's VGU?

With this, I hope there's enough good information to start up discussions; I hope to hear people's thoughts on the matter, and I hope that the Rioters at ChampUp will see this as a noteworthy resource for Xin Zhao's VGU.