Small suggestions to mods maybe, I feel like this should be a general MOBA thread open to all musings about any game of the same genre.
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So a big new patch hit Dota2 and we got 2 new heroes.
And the one I've been looking at most is Xin the Ember Spirit.
He's a bit tough to figure out I think but after playing a bit with him I have to say I think he's a decent mid against certain heroes(there's a lot that shits on him pretty hard, like od/viper/etc) and a pretty viable safelane carry. Played as either a 1 or 2(if you two you just go more active ganking after reaching 6).
I've been reading people really preferring to get early max sleight of fist on him but I don't feel like that's very strong on him given how long the cooldown takes in the beginning and that the harass it deals out is so easily healed up.
So for now the skill build that I've been having a lot of success with is:
2-1-3-1-1-4
Then maxing out flame guard->sleight of fist->ulti whenever possible.
As for items I have to say I feel like Xin profits a lot from Midas. What makes him legitimately scary early is he's relatively item independent because of his abilities so the XP boost from Midas is very good for playing a more active player killing role.
Due to his squishiness I recommend getting power threads and maybe early bracers on him. That makes you tanky enough to try to get kills.
So my preferred build right now is:
tango, stout, slippers
This opens you up to some flexible transitions. You can go into poor mans if you face a lot of harass(most likely recommended against strong dual range lanes)
Or you can get an Aquila instead. Grabbing a quelling blade is never wrong if you think you can last hit more with it. It pays itself after only 3 last hits.
After that it's boots->power threads(get the belt first), maybe bracer.
Since I play with friends and usually have decent support I usually rush a midas that I can get at latest at 6 minutes. and with that I can have power thread and bracer at 10 even without much hero kills.
I feel the item choice after that is the hardest and most situational. Xin loses a lot of strength toward the 20 minute mark so he really needs items but there are also often cases where he needs a bkb to max out his efficiency from the 10-20 min mark. I feel it's important to make that time count.
In the games I've played I usually opted for a maelstrom and getting a really fast drum after that after that get what you need.
Lots of high armor? Get desolator, lots of squishy people go for crit, really strong auto attack carry skadi, you have time to farm get your mjollnir.
I also should mention that linkens is also a pretty good defensive option for him against target stun sparks compositions.
Suffice to say that his solo kill potential isn't that amazing so he can be pretty frustrating to play in a random pub. I blooms when your team has a stun or can burst people down into escaping. His ulti allows him to chase very well. He is not a one man killing machine but a super good addition to any teamfight focused line up wreaking havok among anyone not paying attention to him.
So I don't recommend picking him in a team with now stuns.
There's also the really boring glass cannon way to play him that I don't feel is very good. You rush a battlefury farm more get a daedalus after that and farm even more with your sleight of fist. If you are good you can be a cleaving omnislashing ~800hp glass cannon with crit a 25 min. But at that point there is so much that shuts you down super hard. Like orchids or burst. I don't know didn't feel very strong to me.
Suffice to say this is all scrub knowledge. Will prob change my opinion with a few more games.