- Tittle: Shin Xin
- Author: Lulzicon
Strengths
- Versatile
- Great most of the game
- Excellent mobility
- Best rune controller in the game
- Above average move speed
- Can farm really fast
- Pretty much unkillable early game unless you get caught
Weaknesses
- Killed rather quickly by silence and physical DPS
- Terrible stat growth
- Ending base damage is quite low
- Runs out of mana pretty quickly
- Useless against stronger opponents
Skills
Searing Chains
Xin unleashes up to 2 fiery bolas that wrap around nearby enemies, anchoring them in place and dealing damage each second.
- 1. Mana 110 / Cooldown 14 / Duration 2 seconds / Ensnares 2 random enemy units, 40 DPS
- 2. Mana 110 / Cooldown 12 / Duration 2 seconds / Ensnares 2 random enemy units, 60 DPS
- 3. Mana 110 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 3 seconds / Ensnares 2 random enemy units, 80 DPS
- 4. Mana 110 / Cooldown 8 / Duration 3 seconds / Ensnares 2 random enemy units, 100 DPS
- Damage type: magical
- Targets are chosen randomly around Xin.
- Does not affect magic immune or invisible units.
- Interrupts channeling spells.
Xin's disable. It might be just ensnare, but movement disable is better than none. This skill is great due to it's low cooldown and high reward. For a comparison, just look at Ensnare, which does the same thing to a single target for 5 seconds when it is maxed and has a cooldown of 14 seconds. Searing Chains does the job with an 8 second cooldown, with the duration shortened by 2 seconds, to 3 damn targets, not to mention that it doesn't even have a cast time. You can argue that Ensnare is targetable and goes through BKB (which is terribly important for stopping Lycan, AM and friends but whatever), but even if Searing Chains is random and doesn't hit magic immune units, it is still clearly superior to Ensnare overall in general situations.
The damage scaling is kind of funny. It goes from 80 to 120 to 240 and finally to 300. I suppose it is somewhat like Shuriken Toss in terms of scaling. But since level 3 gives you a big damage boost, obviously you should get it to level 3 as fast as you can.
To sum up this skill, I think it has a ridiculous mana cost and cooldown for what it does. And who cares about the AOE when you can get right next to your target in a second?
Sleight of Fist
Xin dashes around with blazing speed, attacking all enemies in the targeted AoE and returns to where he was standing after. Deals bonus damage to heroes, and 50% less damage to creeps.
- 1. Mana 50 / Cooldown 30700 / Attack all enemy units in the AoE, 30 bonus damage to heroes
- 2. Mana 50 / Cooldown 22700 / Attack all enemy units in the AoE, 60 bonus damage to heroes
- 3. Mana 50 / Cooldown 14700 / Attack all enemy units in the AoE, 90 bonus damage to heroes
- 4. Mana 50 / Cooldown 6700 / Attack all enemy units in the AoE, 120 bonus damage to heroes
- Damage type: physical
- Targets are determined when the spell is cast.
- A regular attack is done to each target every 0.2 seconds.
- Any attack modifier that Xin has (Critical Strike, Bash, Cleave, Orb effects) will be applied normally to each target.
In my opinion, this is one of the most retarded skills ever to be implemented in DotA. It is so good in so many ways.
So basically, when Xin uses this move, he hits everything in an AOE once before landing back in the original position. This part alone is already kind of broken, considering that he can dish out damage safely without ever risking himself unless the enemy heroes set a trap up perfectly (since he needs time to hit and travel back) to catch Xin. Oh, and have you looked at that mana cost and cooldown?
The broken-ness of the skill doesn't just end here. As Xin hits everybody once with a normal attack, orb effects will have their effects on the targets that are hit. Shifting the skill from top tier to god tier.
Lastly, you are invulnerable throughout the entire duration. It can potentially turn your death into a possible kill, or could even throw your opponent off as you escape via a remnant.
Oh wait, it applies bonus damage to heroes as well!
Claps for this skill being so awesome. The only drawback that I can see is that it requires it to be maxed before becoming the god tier that it is, since the cooldown at earlier levels is retarded. Also, it needs a fair bit of farm to back it up in order to dish out sufficient levels of damage.
So, after proclaiming how epic this skill is, I should probably say a few words on how to use it.
Just mash the hell out of it.
Flame Guard
Xin surrounds himself with a ring of fire that consumes incoming magic damage, leaving him unharmed. Deals dps in a 400 aoe. If the shield is dispelled, the dps buff goes away.
- 1. Mana 80 / Cooldown / Duration 8 seconds / 50 health barrier, 30 DPS
- 2. Mana 90 / Cooldown / Duration 12 seconds / 200 health barrier, 40 DPS
- 3. Mana 100 / Cooldown / Duration 16 seconds / 350 Cooldown 0 health barrier, 50 DPS
- 4. Mana 110 / Cooldown / Duration 20 seconds / 500 health barrier, 60 DPS
- Damage type: magical
- Magic damage reduction is calculated before any reductions.
Depending on the lineup, this could either be the most screwed up skill ever or a pathetic one. It's a Radiance with a smaller AOE combined with the old Storm's Barrier. Wait, didn't he have a casting animation for that skill? Well, Flame Guard is instant.
The other retarded part about this skill is how it synergizes with itself. Ever heard of a skill that could actually do that? It makes Xin harder to kill along with giving him a AOE DoT that forces people to kill him. In addition, this skill pretty much makes you unkillable early game. As long as you have it up, spells won't kill you unless 3 or 4 of them come to visit.
Luckily for Xin's opponents, Flame Guard has a rather terrible duration to cooldown ratio. The time when it is down is the window to killing Xin early game. Yet, a good Xin won't randomly use Flame Guard. If Flame Guard is up, either the gank is taking place already, in which case it soaks every spell up, or if Xin is trying to kill somebody, in which case the poor guy is probably dead before Flame Guard runs out anyway.
Flame Guard resistance got lowered by 50 at every level as of 6.73c. It isn't that bad of a nerf, since it's still pretty good. It's just a 50 HP loss, and considering the nature of this skill I'm inclined to say it is still imbalanced.
Fire Remnant
Xin charges himself with the energy to create a Fire Remnant every 35seconds, with a max of 3 charges. Releasing a charge sends a Fire Remnant that runs to the targeted point at 2.5X your speed. Xin can use his secondary ability to dash out to each remnant's location, detonating them for AoE damage, and arriving at the one he targeted last.
- 1. Mana 0 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 45 seconds / Places a remnant, consuming a charge
- 2. Mana 0 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 45 seconds / Places a remnant, consuming a charge
- 3. Mana 0 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 45 seconds / Places a remnant, consuming a charge
- Starts with 3 charges (the maximum), and replenishes a charge every 35 seconds.
- Fire Remnants move to where you targeted them at 2.5X your speed.
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Fire Remnant
Fire Remnant
Target the Fire Remnant to arrive at. You dash through all other Fire Remnants, and end up at the one you targeted, exploding them for AoE damage.
- Mana 150 / Cooldown 0 / 100 damage
- Mana 150 / Cooldown 0 / Mana 150 / Cooldown damage
- Mana 150 / Cooldown 0 / 200 damage
- Damage type: magical
- You move to each Fire Remnant at 1300 movement speed, or in 0.4 seconds, whichever is faster.
The scaling on this move is completely retarded. But that aside, it adds on to Xin's arsenal of dumb skills.
This skill throws out a remnant, which looks like a duller version of the original. Once placed, it either stays there for 45 seconds or if you activate it, in which case you zoom straight to it no matter where you are on the map. Oh, and the remnant gives vision in a small AOE as well. Very convenient.
The limits of this skill are bounded by your imagination of what you can do with it. Xin's mobility is so good with this skill that if you know what you are doing, he can be at any place at any time. This skill can also be used to escape. Throw a remnant in one direction and move in the other to make things difficult for your chaser. You can even throw it straight to get away, considering that the remnant travels at 2.5x your move speed. Think about what Replicate can do in terms of mobility. Fire Remnant can probably do the same thing, so play with Fire Remnant like you would with Replicate. Use it for escaping, as a free TP scroll or whatever you think you might need this for.
Sadly, unlike Xin's other skills, Fire Remnant is actually balanced by a few things. It is still a very good skill, but not the level of broken that I am expecting from a broken tier hero. Firstly, he cannot freely use these remnants. He can store up to 3 charges, and after he throws 1 out it takes him 30 seconds to restore a charge. Therefore, even with a 0 second cooldown, the skill is still limited by this factor. Secondly, all your remnants are activated when you use this skill, and you arrive at the one that you targeted last. This can screw up some initiation attempts if you are not looking out for them. Even if Xin travels at the speed of light when running towards one of these remnants, it still takes time to travel. Furthermore, this also limits his ability to fly around the map whenever he wants. Can you imagine how broken he would be if only the targeted remnant detonated? But I would expect no less from Xin if this was implemented, considering how broken his head is.
I'll just put it out here first. Never ever shoot out more than 1 remnant towards a target if you intend to start killing. You have 3 charges and these things are great for chasing. If you expire all of them intending to burst a hero down, you won't be able to do anything should he successfully manage to survive your combo. Just use these for the mobility and less for the damage. Even if you are concerned about the damage, if he escapes you will shoot a remnant after him and dish it out anyway, so I see no reason why you should be scared of using it later in an attempt to kill. Same thing towards using this skill for clearing creep waves. Use it solely for the mobility and not the damage. It can be used to flash farm, but the more charges you have saved, the more prepared you will be in general situations.
Now that this skill costs 150 mana to start running towards a target, using 2 or 3 of them to burst a guy down is more viable than before, since you will need to limit your flying around early game. I still advocate using 1 remnant for approaching, but it is all up to player choice. However, you still shouldn't use these for farming in most situations.
Skill Build
- 1. Searing Chains
- 2. Flame Guard
- 3. Flame Guard
- 4-5. Searing Chains
- 6. Fire Remnant
- 7. Searing Chains
- 8-9. Flame Guard
- 10-13. Sleight of Fist
- 13-23. Stats
- 24-25. Fire Remnant
Searing Chains maxed out first is a no brainer. Actually, you might just want to leave it at level 3, because the last level merely adds 60 damage and Flame Guard might be more useful with that skill point. You might want to have 3 Searing Chains, 4 Flame Guard and a point in Fire Remnant at level 8. However, since I like damage and screw survivability, I just max it out first. After all, I never know when an additional 60 damage would come in handy. Max it out at level 9, since in addition to adding 60 damage, it reduces the cooldown by 2.
The optimal skill build for Xin is this:
- 1. Searing Chains
- 2. Flame Guard
- 3. Flame Guard
- 4-5. Searing Chains
- 6. Fire Remnant
- 7-8. Flame Guard
- 9. Searing Chains
- 10-13. Sleight of Fist
- 14-23. Stats
- 24-25. Fire Remnant
I should probably learn to start playing this build but whatever.
No matter which build you go for, first skill point either goes to Searing Chains or Flame Guard. Add the skill point when you get to lane, depending on whether you want to try to get an early FB or whether you think you are going to get ganked. Personally, I just throw it into Searing Chains because I'm close to my tower if they want to gank me anyway, and throwing Searing Chains in such situations is more frightening than Flame Guard.
Fire Remnant scales terribly. If you thought you saw the end when IceFrog put Demonic Purge to scale by 100 damage every level, then here's the new contender a skill that you should not add skill points for. I still throw in skill points into it at 11 and 16 just because I'm used to it adding my ulti at those levels, but it is infinitely better to put those points in stats, since +2 to all attributes can help anywhere.
Maxing Sleight of Fist first:
After looking at other guides and stuff, I seem to encounter many builds advocating maxing Sleight of Fist first. At first glance, it looks awesome because the mana cost to damage ratio is just retarded for harassing the hell out of your opponent. 50 mana for about probably at most 200 damage at level 7? Sounds pretty perfect doesn't it? So why don't I think it's good?
It completely reduces your ganking potential to 0. I believe that one of Xin's strong points during early game is to create fear in all the lanes by being able to be present at all times. The ability to gank the sidelanes is just as important as surviving mid lane. Maxing Sleight of Fist lets you control your lane, but it doesn't let you gank at all, and even if you add a point into Searing Chains only for the disable, much less efficiently. The 300 damage from Searing Chains is infinitely more useful than a Sleight of Fist. Just try hitting the guy with Searing Chains maxed and normal attacks compared to Searing Chains at level 1 combined with a maxed Sleight of Fist. If you still say that Sleight of Fist does more early game, I'll be pretty damn surprised.
Furthermore, Sleight of Fist only allows you to harass your opponent out of lane. Searing Chains gives you an opportunity to kill. So being the kill minded dicks that most DotA players are, I don't see any reason why you should max Sleight of Fist over Searing Chains first.
As of 6.73c, it would seem more viable than before, since Xin's ganking is nerfed and controlling the lane might be more important. However, Xin is still largely unchanged, and hence for reasons stated above it is still better to go for Searing Chains first. It is more viable than before, but still not the best option in my opinion.
Items
Core
It's always good to have.
It's good for any melee AGI hero, and Xin kind of needs the damage block to survive the lane more effectively
He is the best rune controller in the game, so Bottle is naturally obvious. Plus, he needs it to stay out and gank.
While Xin burns through mana pretty quickly, he doesn't need to invest in some item that grants a large amount of mana or mana regeneration. This ball suffices. Later on, upgrading it is my personal choice, but whatever floats your boat.
The boots
Don't get anything else. Phase complements Xin so well with the ability to chase with Flame Guard on, as well as adding that 24 damage for Sleight of Fist to abuse. You could change to Boots of Travel late game if it gets that far I suppose.
And let me explain why you should not get anything else.
Arcane Boots is kind of overkill for solving Xin's mana problems. While solving his mana problems, doesn't give him the necessary parts required to chase and damage. I could see it working in a build that revolves around using Fire Remnant and chasing with Searing Chains, but really later in the game you will find out that if you manage your mana well, Xin doesn't really need the amount of mana that Arcane Boots provides.
Power Treads is subpar on Xin because he isn't going to be hitting things with his normal attack anyway, plus the move speed bonus is horrendous for chasing. He can use the extra stats, but Phase is just way better in terms of synergy.
Tranquil Boots is retarded, period. If your shoes break halfway in the middle of a kill, it gets a lot harder trying to kill. Also, it heals a mere 150 HP, something that a Bottle can probably do much better.
In short, these boots all work well on Xin (except Tranquil Boots), but it is just that Phase is way too godlike on him.
The orbs
The only one you should ever get. Anything else is just subpar in the face of Mjolnir, which synergizes with Xin almost as well as Phase. The orb effect has a chance to activate on every single hit of Sleight of Fist, and considering how fast he attacks it is almost guaranteed that a chain lightning will come out. The active later on makes him even more scary in teamfights. Plus, the number of bounces increased.
So, if this thing synergizes as well as Phase does, if you read above you should already know that it is not because other orbs suck on Xin, but because Mjolnir is way too godlike for what it can do on him. Even if you won't be using the attack speed that this thing provides, the lightning alone is already good enough of a reason to get it.
Extensions
A friend of mine, as well as various forumers, recommended this as a good item for Xin. I suppose slowing an opponent by 12% when chasing helps a lot, though I see this item's true potential being later, when you can apply a 12% move speed debuff on everyone in a teamfight. In most cases, chasing with Fire Remnant and Searing Chains would suffice, but this thing only costs 350 gold which is almost free, and kind of sick for its rewards.
It lets Xin farm really really quickly. Damage comes in handy for Sleight of Fist as well.
You will never need that much mana regeneration I suppose, but it does make him harder to kill. Plus, you can probably mash more skills if you get it.
People proclaim how lousy it is and stuff, but I think it is still worth it to soak a spell up from your opponent.
He can use the armour since he already has some partial immunity to spell damage. Makes him more of a primary target as well should you want to tank.
And tank till the world ends.
If you feel like going the tank build, I suppose you can skip Perseverance and go straight for this. Killing a Xin with Vanguard is extremely difficult. However, he will run into a mana shortage if he goes for this build though.
Stacking AOE DoT? And 60 damage for Sleight of Fist? Perfect item.
Still viable if you are having difficulty against physical DPS. Gives some good damage as well.
After a few thoughts, he could actually use this to counter his biggest weakness, which is physical DPS.
I could actually see this being useful for Xin. It gives him about enough mana to do his job early game. Plus, cyclone helps a lot for either chasing a guy and waiting for your spells to cooldown, or offering de-aggro as you throw a remnant and flying away as soon as you drop down. Not to mention the extra move speed that really helps.
Stacking damage. And I am serious when I say that he can hold a Rapier. He can just kite using Sleight of Fist with it and never run into trouble. Provided that you aren't caught with silence first.
Starting Items
Okay, so after all the godliness that is Xin's item choices, I believe that you should start with this build.
- Lets you go either way early on, whether you want to go for a more tank oriented build with Vanguard and Radiance or a more DPS oriented build with Poor Man's Shield and Perseverance.
- Just make sure your team has a chick to send you your Bottle later on.
Rejected items
Putting this down here because some idiot is eventually going to buy it and then suddenly realise that Xin doesn't need lifesteal at all because he never actually hits people directly. For most of the time anyway.
Play Style
Choosing your lane
Mid solo. Truthfully speaking, he isn't actually that strong to solo with at mid. Searing Chains is a terrible nuke before Xin hits level 5. Flame Guard can help mitigate damage but a clever laner will just wait for it to drop before nuking your face. However, he needs the levels early on in order to start raping face. Plus, he can abuse runes with Bottle, so why not?
Early Game (1-9)
Between level 1 to 4, it's going to be really hard surviving the lane if your opponent doesn't recklessly dive your face. Your nuke doesn't hurt that much, so you can't really kill him. The disable from Searing Chains isn't enough to lock the guy down for you to rape him. Therefore, play Xin from levels 1 to 4 as if you were playing some carry type hero with no lane presence at all, like Void. Take last hits, but don't be reckless with approaching the creep wave.
At level 5, things change. You have a 3 second ensnare that deals 240 damage. Couple that with Flame Guard and attempt to get a kill. Alternatively, you can camp to level 6 if you aren't confident of killing without Fire Remnant. Look for an opening where you can close distance with the enemy hero without taking too much damage, such as abusing uphill Fog of War. Bait him into that and use Searing Chains. Turn on Flame Guard and start hitting his face. Once Searing Chains wears off, walk with the guy if you are confident of killing him, or just back off and resume farming. It helps if you nuke the guy prefight down to about 450 HP or so. That will probably net you the kill.
When you get to level 6, the tides turn immediately if you have Bottle. By using Fire Remnant to scout for runes, you can take runes faster than anybody in the game, provided that they aren't there yet. Remnant a rune location (and since it has such a long cast range, you can cast it without moving too far from the lane) and wait for the rune to spawn. If it is there, just blink straight to it and take it. If it's at the other side, just run to the other side and take it. If you want to guarantee yourself a rune, place remnants on both sides and blink to whichever side has the rune. While this tactic isn't as viable as before, it is still good to deny the enemy a rune.
Other things you can do is to hold a TP at all times, so that when you need to get back to base, leave a remnant and TP back, so you can immediately return to farm after healing up. I thought this would have been obvious, but since other people seem to mention this (indicating that it is not obvious), I would assume that it would be good to put this down here since not everyone might know it.
Mid Game (10 - 17)
With maxed Searing Chains and Flame Guard, things get a little more interesting. At this point of the game, most mid solo heroes would probably, if not already, be off ganking the sidelanes. Or they might also be farming at mid. Xin is a hero that can actually potentially do both at the same time, and that is through using his remnant. Place a remnant at a location you think enemy heroes might pass and continue farming. Once a target presents itself, move right straight to the remnant and start killing him. Unless you get baited into 5 heroes for your greed, it is a good way for Xin to maintain keeping pressure on the other lanes in addition to farming his own lane. Another pretty trick with Xin is to place a remnant at the enemy tower. This makes it dangerous for enemy heroes to approach the creep wave, letting your allies free farm the lane. Of course, it is only useful if they actually fear getting killed, and since towerdiving with Xin alone is not exactly the best idea, make sure you get your allies to help before moving to the remnant.
Mid game, you also gain access to Sleight of Fist, which probably isn't so great at the moment due to the fact that your damage is terrible. However, while it still lacks power offensively, you still can use it for its defensive purposes. In addition, Sleight of Fist has a tad bit more range than any of your other skills aside from Fire Remnant, so if you need that last bit of damage to kill a hero, you can use it.
Late Game (18 - 25)
At late game, Xin basically becomes a game of mashing hotkeys. With that Mjolnir, you can clear creep waves very quickly. Furthermore, at late game, where mobility counts, Xin becomes an even greater threat with his remnants.
Depending on whether you went for a tank Xin or a DPS Xin, your style of play will change.
A tank Xin is probably easier to play. All you have to do is throw a remnant into the middle of 5 heroes, throw Searing Chains, turn on Flame Guard and use Sleight of Fist. If you do your job well, the enemy heroes would be extremely confused, leaving your team to roll over them. From then on, it's just standing in the middle tanking everything and spamming Searing Chains and Sleight of Fist.
A DPS Xin is probably more risky to play, due to the fact that you base your entire game around your carry skill. A DPS Xin doesn't mash buttons. He kites the opponent with Sleight of Fist and wears them down slowly to get a prefight advantage. If repeated many times, Xin can force the opponents to back off. However, this build makes Xin very prone to getting killed. It isn't recommended if you can get jumped on, such as a VS swapping you out or a Pudge hooking you out. Also, if you miss the initiator with your Sleight of Fist and fail to disable his blink, you are probably going to die if he chooses to initiate at that moment.
It is vital that whenever you are going to die, leave a remnant behind. The reason? So you can buy out and jump right back into the battle. As said, your imagination is what controls what you can do with Fire Remnant, and this is a potentially game breaking one.
Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com