XBALANQUE - Shoot that Poison Dart Through My Heart

- Buy wards --- even as an ADC, i still buy 1 - 2 wards every time i go back... if you survive at least one gank that ward paid for itself. The game even alerts you to the presence of nearby enemies, set wards up so you always get a good view of each path so always put it at intersections if you can.

- Roaming --- If you're going even or winning your lane(even sometimes when you're behind) you'll want to roam out to the other lanes and try to make plays. This works exceptionally well with Xb because his ult allows for huge plays to be started before you're in the fight at all! Get those assists and come in to clean up the kills for your passive.

- Ulting for your team mates --- This is another one that i never see anyone do... Xb has a very unique ult in that it provides CC whether or not the ult stuns them. They are forced to stop moving for at least a split second and sometimes that's all it takes for your buddies to get away/get a kill... Sometimes you'll need to ult as soon as you respwan in the base, sometimes it will be right as you're coming to the fight so Poseidon can set up a juicy ult.... It all depends but this is not a selfish ult and you should spread the love accordingly, you get gold everytime you ult and help secure kills!

- Skipping Q early --- When i play, i start with (2) first and then 1 point in (3), i get another in darts, skip lvl 4 and get ult and darts rank III at lvl 5 to increase my damage output the most. Only then do i pick up my first point in Q because the drain on your mana is too much early game for 10 extra damage(usually 5 - 7 with mitigation) you merely need to plan your early attack strats around the fact that minions need to not be in your way.

- Early Game Aggression --- I feel invincible with Xb a lot of the time so i play very forward and up front. I like to have dudes like Ymir, Janus, Gwan Yu, Geb and Athena on my side because their initiation and control abilities really help situations for you to get on a good (2) - (3) combo. Always throw your darts before you dash, you're doing it wrong if you're going the other way and it may be the reason your damage is sub par comparatively.

Keep these things in mind as you progress through the game, that aggression and combo applies the entire time but you simply need to be careful of positioning and hard CC as the game goes on longer.

Early game your job is to farm obviously, you need to try and do that as much as possible while putting pressure on the enemy ADC if possible. Doing a quick (2) - (3) combo after your support lands some CC can really scare the enemy and it proves to push them back or make them unsure of thier stability in lane.... Xb has a lot of burst so use it!

You start off with the Cursed Gauntlet and 1 point in Darts(2) and make your way to your side's jungle. Take the middle XP camp if you can then take Mana camp and farm up! If you see the opportunity to pressure them or secure a kill, take it and snake thru the jungle to escape. Minions REALLY REALLY hurt in this game, do not underestimate them and make sure you don't get surrounded or a good situation will turn sour in your mouth.

Buy the Devourer's Gauntlet as soon as you can, making sure to buy wards if you have any left over cash. I like to get level 1 boots and finish Greater Sprint early because of the 6 sec duration and the ability to auto at full speed. Get rank 3 Purification too if you're up against Thanatos/Kali/Anubis or someone else who is super bursty with short CC cd's... Either way finish your boots before you get to mid-game and you'll be set...

Mid game is really quite similar to early game, you get some time to farm, you want to roam if you have the option too but there is more focus on pushing down 1st or 2nd row towers and Gold Fury. An objective should either be damaged heavily(turret) or taken (GFury) after a kill or two is secured by your team, gold always helps and Fury is one of the best sources of income. Stacking gold on top of God kill gold makes it that much sweeter.

You should have The Executioner and almost finished Deathbringer by the time Mid-game ends, and if your team is doing well then you'll have all 3 outer towers down, or perhaps 2 in a single lane pushed down. Continue farming but it may not be in your lane as everything tends to be more flexible past 15 minutes most of the time, if not earlier due to snowballing.

Late game is all about the big team fights, the Phoenix and the Fire Giant. If you still have turrets up in lanes by the time you're winning fights at about 25+ minute mark then it's an easy Fire Giant fight after that to help your team win the next fight even easier and push even harder afterwards. Your job after Giant is to try and sneak a tower or 2 down while the enemy team recovers, your 3 makes for quick and easy escapes from most enemies. Obviously don't do it if you're behind or if you have an enemy assassin who won't leave you alone.

Phoenix take quite a bit more damage than turrets, probably because you have some items built up at this point but still, if you get a chance for your tank to get in the way of its hits you can probably take it down without minions. Remember to always try and secure kills before getting major objectives, the last thing you want is feeling safe about something and the whole team to stomp through FG pit and take it instead plus get a deicide...

Once you have Rage and Deathbringer no one is getting away from you.... Keep 2 wards and 2 blue pots on you until your 6 item, then grab a red elixir and then start saving for the 3k elixir... you're going to melt people and objectives, just stay out of the way and keep alive, even if your team has to die for you to clean up.... you can do it man, you're the Hidden Jaguar Sun....

In team fights your main objective is to stay to the back or to the side of fights and attempt to peg the squishies with your autos while peppering as many enemies with your (2) - (3) combo as you can.... Remember, always dash AFTER darts if you can help it... survival is #1 though so don't die for your combo, unless it gets your team kills/objecitves after kills...

Don't forget to pop Greater Sprint to chase down those squishies and make sure you save your beads for the right time... a lot of the team fights i win are through straight outplays, whether it's from strafing to the side, cleansing a major stun or dashing thru a huge AoE ult just as it goes off, the fights i win end up being because i kept out of the way and made sure i missed as little as possible... If you can't land skill shots, well get better at it lol.

This is another important time to mention popping your Ult before you reach team fights or if your team needs you while you're split pushing. Do not be selfish with this ult, you have your (3) to escape with and the team always benefits more as a whole than one does on his own.

Again, mentioning the Ult... use it to slow fights down, get to fights quicker, save allies from certain death, create chaos, secure kills or allow for your teams brilliant escape but NEVER save your ult because you think you'll need it later.... Think of the best time that it will benefit the team and if it doesn't work out one time, just try again. Your ult is on a short cd so no worries.

Your passive is pretty nice actually, it gets you a flat 30 damage once you get all 6 stacks so try to secure kills yourself as often as possible early, even if it means stealing them it still means that you'll get to the next phase before the enemy and those crits will hurt even more...You gotta get kills though so don't suck and your passive will do fine lol.

Rising Jaguar (3) is a unique ability... You always dash forward in the direction you're facing but once you're airborne you get to change your direction with WASD... i like the sickle and the U-turn the best myself but sometimes going Forward-forward-back is good too... you need to get in range of that green circle to hit enemies with the shots before you hit the ground so push it to the limit. This skill also makes for easy dives, especially when your team mate take the first bit of aggro for you. Many secured kills have been under tower with a (3) to escape.

Poison Darts (2) fans out and may hit a single target up to 3 times, that means getting in close for darts with Greater Sprint can really be helpful, but again, remember to use Darts and then Jaguar to get that 20% damage bonus to your (3) damage.

Branching Bola (1) will drain all your mana for not much extra damage in a short skirmish.... Save it for clearing waves, hard engages and for poking towers down in the early/mid game stages, then you want it on all the time pretty much once you get your Deathbringer... As Xb it is way easier and more effective to act as part caster early game because of the damage that (2) - (3) does on its own, then finishing up with autos as they try to escape.

Throw autos only when you know they'll land, that seems kind of hard to understand as i sit here typing this but i mean it, if throwing an auto slows you down and your opponent is running away not auto-ing then you'll never catch up to them with out sprint. Sometimes it's better to not throw that auto so the one that will connect secures the kill instead of leaving you hanging.

Never be afraid to start a fight with your Ult or the start a fight from the jungle. You have the mobility and the burst to really scare people into making bad decisions and then you reap the benefits... you can't be a predator without confidence!

Xbalanque gets really small when he stops moving, use this to hide in corners and see enemies coming from far away! Not many Gods can do this so use it to your advantage!

Xbalanque is my favorite ADC so far and i really enjoy all that he brings to the table. I hope this guide helps people who are still starting out or even might help pro's find a hole in their build... who knows but good luck out there, the Darkness welcomes you all.
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