Talk:Xin Zhao/@comment-9048637-20130529123934/@comment-9048637-20130530054912

Alright, now that I'm out of polemic mode, maybe I should tone down my comments a little: I'm not saying bruiser Xin can't work. Hell, I do play him that way myself sometimes, depending on team-comp how the game's going. What I'm objecting to, more, is two things: firstly, that nearly everyone I see playing Xin plays him this way, and secondly the fact that they nearly always seem to want to rely on his fairly mediocre base stats and just build straight tank, with maybe a late-game Black Cleaver as a solitary concession to damage.

I feel that Xin is distinctly underwhelming played this way. His only non-ultimate damaging ability is his Q, which is nice but isn't going to win a fight on its own. Besides his ult (which is a good ult, but not something you're going to have up all the time, for obvious reasons), the rest of his damage comes entirely from auto-attacks. Compare this with more unambiguous off-tanks like Darius and Riven, and Xin's kit begins to look distinctly underwhelming in terms of base damage when not backed up by some offensive items.

That's why, even if I am going bruiser Xin, I still build my BotR and Zephyr as part of my core (along with Frozen Mallet, which is obviously a traditional bruiser item anyway). I might give the rest of my kit over to defensive items, such as Randuin's Omen and Spirit Visage, but I'll still have those, just because I feel Xin needs some extra damage to do anything more than tank enemy fire (and if you just want to do that, then there are far better champions for it). AS also has defensive utility for Xin anyway because of Battle Cry's passive. And yet, very few Xin players seem to realize this. That's what I'm wondering at.

Oh, and as for your snarky comment about me answering my own question... what, the fact that assassin Xin can't just be played as a Leeroy Jenkins means he's somehow unviable? If that's what you meant, then all I can say is that I don't mind playing a champion in a way that requires me to use my brain a bit, and I should hope that other players don't either.