Xin Zhao Jungle

Spellblade triggers on the attacks his Q (1st) already empowers, which speeds up his clear and sharpens his ganks.

Build second after Trinity Force for Health and skirmish recovery. Xin Zhao's first attack against each champion delivers an empowered hit and a heal, with a separate cooldown per target, helping him stay alive inside his ultimate circle.

Build third after Sundered Sky. Delayed physical and magic damage gives Xin Zhao's healing time to work while he finishes a dive; a champion he recently damaged must die to clear the stored damage and trigger its heal.

Build fourth for Armor penetration and anti-heal, helping Xin Zhao finish the target his ultimate isolates instead of letting it heal through the fight.

Revives him once after dying. His charge commits him into their backline.

His charge into an empowered attack is two quick hits, which is all this needs to trigger. Gives max health damage and a shield.

Build this when the enemy has shields that keep a challenged target alive through his burst.

Boot swap against heavy physical damage, which keeps him alive inside the ring his ultimate creates.

Boot swap against heavy magic damage. The tenacity also lets his three-strike rotation finish.

Replace Mortal Reminder when enemies stack Armor but healing is not the main problem. Xin Zhao's repeated physical hits build teamwide shred; keep anti-heal elsewhere if needed. Health and haste support longer fights, while repeated physical damage reduces Armor for your whole team.

Replace Trinity Force when Xin Zhao must repeatedly duel high-health frontliners and values healing over attack speed. Percentage-health Spellblade damage and healing reward repeated cast-and-attack trades into health stackers. Use it instead of the default Spellblade item.

Situationally replace Guardian Angel when Xin Zhao needs to survive the first burst after diving. Health, permanent Tenacity, and a bonus-Health Lifeline shield buy time to finish his knockup sequence and heal. Choose this or Maw of Malmortius for the Lifeline slot.

Replace Guardian Angel when magic burst is the main threat to Xin Zhao's dive. Magic Resistance and a magic-damage Lifeline shield protect the first commitment. If you already selected Sterak's Gage, replace it instead; choose one Lifeline item.

Replace Guardian Angel when Xin Zhao needs Magic Resistance while keeping the attack speed to complete his knockup sequence. Attack speed, Magic Resistance, Tenacity, and magic on-hit damage keep an attack-based fighter threatening against AP opponents.

Replace Guardian Angel when sustained magic damage comes from enemies close enough to damage Xin Zhao inside his ultimate. Repeated champion magic damage stacks extra Magic Resistance and movement speed, making it a sustained-magic-damage answer.

Replace Guardian Angel when the challenged target is a fed crit carry who can still attack Xin Zhao inside the circle. Reduces physical critical-strike damage, so prioritize it against fed crit carries rather than purely on-hit damage.

Replace Guardian Angel when multiple attack-speed threats fight Xin Zhao at close range and the team needs their attacks slowed. Armor, mana, and haste come with a nearby enemy attack-speed reduction. Stay close enough for the aura; it does not slow Master Yi's attacks during Highlander (Ult).

Replace Mortal Reminder when Xin Zhao needs Armor and anti-heal more than personal penetration against healing physical attackers. Armor and Grievous Wounds answer healing physical attackers. Your own damage also applies anti-heal, so you do not need to wait for them to attack you.

Replace Guardian Angel late, after other resistance purchases, when Xin Zhao must survive extended mixed damage inside his ultimate circle. Mixed defenses ramp up after five seconds in champion combat. Buy it after other resistances when you can survive long enough to activate it.