The Rebellious Vastayan wishes to bring solace to her homelands by driving away the greedy mortals that have been corrupting the magic of their territories. In this journey, she found her way to the League of Legends where she can display her prowess alongside her partner. This Xayah guide will help players master the arts of playing this marksman on the bottom lane as the ultimate ADC that boasts graceful strategies that trap foes and keeps them at bay.
The Rebel’s Mission
Due to the rapid expansion of mortals, the Vastayan Tribes territories – including the Lothlans to which Xayah belongs – were slowly being claimed. Xayah saw the greed of the mortals and how her people suffered because of it. She became a revolutionary that would resist the mortals. In her journey, she found Rakan, a Lothlan battledancer that decided to accompany her. As they fought together more, they understood each other deeper and eventually pledged their love for each other as they fought for their homeland.
Rakan and Xayah were the first officially confirmed couple in the list League of Legends champion pool. The champions were literally made for each other since their kits and designs, as well as skin lines complemented each other to the point that they were practically inseparable. In professional play, the two champions were often picked together as the ultimate combi in the bottom lane. We’ll be talking about how they both work better together more further into this Xayah guide.
Xayah’s General Gameplay
All marksman champions have prioritize good positioning in combat to safely deal damage but Xayah takes it to another level. Because of her abilities, positioning with Xayah is twice as hard in this champion as a regular marksman as you constantly need to keep in mind where your abilities will land while maintaining a safe distance from the enemy. This Xayah guide hopes to illuminate some strategies that players can utilize when playing this champion to maximize efficiency.
Xayah Guide – Skills and Abilities
First up on our Xayah guide, we’ll be talking about this champion’s abilities and some tips on how to use them to their max potential. As a marksman, most of her abilities play a utility role that either modify or complement her basic attacks. She has a unique characteristic that allows her to play around her feathers that are dropped from her basic attacks. Let’s take a look at how to use them.
Passive: Clean Cuts
Innate – After casting an ability, Xayah’s next 3 basic attacks travel with increased velocity, penetrating through all enemies in a linear path past the primary target dealing full damage to the primary target and a portion of Xayah’s AD to the secondary targets which critically hits. All basic attacks empowered with this ability will leave a Feather on the ground which lasts for 6 seconds.
Xayah can store up to 5 empowered attacks for up to 8 seconds, refreshing if Xayah uses another ability or when attacking structures.
Lover’s Leap – If either Rakan or Xayah is channeling a recall, the other may move towards the recall circle and channels it alongside them but not interrupting the initial cast. Both champions will arrive at the Fountain at the same time.
Clean Cuts is an ability that Xayah players need to keep track of earnestly. Hitting as many champions as possible through a line maximizes damage. Make sure not to overflow your stored empowered attacks so don’t use all of your abilities at once without using abilities so that you’ll leave as many feathers on the ground as possible. When using Lover’s Leap, ask your Rakan to recall early before you clear the wave so that you maximize the time needed to go home and back into lane.
Q: Double Daggers
Active – Xayah throws two blade-daggers from both of her sides in quick succession in a direction, dealing physical damage to all enemies within the path, with successive units hit taking 50% of the damage, and leaving a Feather on the ground for 6 seconds.
Double Daggers is a great ability to harass enemies and a great way to finish up a combo so that you can get as many feathers on the ground as possible. Casting this ability often in a battle is a great way to deal damage but remember that most marksmen don’t rely on their abilities to deal damage and instead use it to boost their auto-attack power. In this case, this ability helps activate Clean Cuts as often as possible so that they’ll gain the bonus effects.
W: Deadly Plumage
Active – Xayah is enveloped in a storm of blades, granting her bonus attack speed and causes an additional feather to strike enemies alongside her basic attacks that deal 20% damage for 4 seconds. If this ability hits an enemy champion, Xayah gains 30% bonus movement speed for 1.5 seconds.
If Rakan is nearby, he will also gain the effects of Deadly Plumage, while also gaining bonus movement speed when Xayah damages an enemy champion.
Deadly Plumage is a powerful ability that helps Xayah deal a lot of damage through the bonus attack speed and the added feathers. Use this before attacking an enemy to stack Clean Cuts immediately. For the lovers ability, remember that Rakan benefits greatly from movement speed since he relies on being able to move around the battlefield freely so use this whenever he tries to engage so that you can assist your support to do what he wants in battle.
E: Bladecaller
Active – Xayah pulls all of the Feathers on the ground towards her, dealing physical damage to enemies they pass through, increased by her Critical Strike Chance. Feathers will be consumed once they hit the first enemy. Minions take 50% of the damage. If an enemy is hit with 3 or more Feathers, they are rooted in place for 1.25 seconds.
This is the reason why you would want to get as many feathers on the ground as possible. Stacking Feathers allows you to deal a ton of damage to enemies. Try to position your feathers as tightly knit together as possible so that it’ll be less likely that they miss the target. A good way to ensure that all the Feathers hit the target is to stand close to the enemy but this isn’t recommended in teamfight settings where your positioning matters more than being able to assassinate one champion instantly.
R: Featherstorm
Active – Xayah leaps into the air, becoming untargetable, and ghosted for 1.5 seconds. At 1 second, Xayah will throw down 5 Feathers in a cone in front of her, dealing physical damage to all enemies hit, and leaving behind 5 Feathers on the ground. While she’s in the air, Xayah can’t attack or use any abilities but can still move.
Featherstorm is one of the best disengage abilities in the game and is mostly used to dodge lethal shots or troublesome crowd-control abilities. Make sure to determine which abilities you want to use Featherstorm on so that you will never be left vulnerable by your opponents. However, don’t be overly cautious otherwise the enemy might bait out your ultimate ability early so that you’ll become an easier target when a teamfight finally happens later on.
Xayah Guide – Items and Builds
Next up on our Xayah guide, we’ll be talking about this champion’s best items. Since she’s mostly played as an AD Carry, you’ll be prioritizing items that promote AD, Attack Speed, Critical Strike and Damage, and some utility stats such as movement speed and omnivamp.
Starting Items
Doran’s Blade – An item that works best for AD champions that want early game damage and sustainability. The small amount of AD helps clear the wave faster while the omnivamp allows you to trade with the enemy duo without getting pushed totally into a bad position.
Core Items
Galeforce (Mythic) – An item that provides extra damage and mobility. The item’s active ability helps you escape dangerous situations or move closer to the enemy so that your Bladecaller will be able to hit a lot easier. The mythic passive is the real star as it allows Xayah to gain bonus movement speed per legendary item which helps her kite a lot more efficiently and get better position in fights.
Essence Reaver – A great item for champions that like to use a lot of abilities like Xayah. Weaving abilities in-between auto-attacks will maximize the damage that you deal and even restore your mana in the process. The stats on this item are also really great since it’s everything Xayah needs to become a really deadly marksman champion.
Infinity Edge – The ultimate crit item in League of Legends. You can build this item as soon as you finish the first two core items on this list so that you’ll be able to benefit from the passive. Once you’ve acquired and activated this item, you’ll be dealing a ton of damage to the enemy target especially if you have your abilities active.
Recommended Items
Phantom Dancer – This item provides more crit and gives bonus movement speed. Xayah thrives when she can move around the battlefield freely so that she can strategically place her feathers to deal the maximum amount of damage through her abilities.
Lord Dominik’s Regard – The item that helps you get rid of annoying tanks that prevent you from reaching the backline. With this item, even enemies that have a ridiculous amount of health will slowly melt thanks to the crits and increased damage dealth by this item.
Bloodthirster – An item that works well in the late game when prolonged fights become more common. With this item, you’ll never have to go back to base as you’ll be gaining back your health after a few auto-attacks. This can also be lifesave if you’re dueling against an enemy since the omnivamp will allow you to outlast your opponent.
Guardian Angel – A situational 6th item that’s probably only useful in Xayah if the enemy has a fed assassin or if your team has the capability of guarding you while you’re getting resurrected. Otherwise, it’s better to go Bloodthirster for the sheer sustain that this item provides.
Xayah Guide – Runes
Primary: Precision
Keystone: Lethal Tempo – This rune helps Xayah gain more attack speed so that she’ll be able to deploy feathers a lot faster and make Bladecaller even more potent than it already is. Once you’ve built up a lot of attack speed and crit items, being able to surpass the attack speed limit means that you’ll instantly get rid of an enemy carry in a blink of an eye.
Triumph – A good rune to take so that your teamfight will become deadlier as you instantly regenerate your health after every kill or assist. Make sure to play aggressively when you have this rune if you know you’re winning the fight since you have a lot of sustain to work with.
Legend: Bloodline – More omnivamp means more sustain. Whether you’re using it during the laning phase or in teamfights, the extra lifesteal will allow you to tank more damage so that you outlast your opponents.
Coup de Grace – Xayah has excellent sustainability and likes to bully enemies that are low on HP. Press the advantage once they fall below 40% HP by going all in.
Secondary: Domination
Taste of Blood – Useful during the laning phase since Xayah has a relatively slow early game. Soak up all the damage by continuously harassing the enemy bot lane.
Ravenous Hunter – More lifesteal for maximum sustainability. Try to get a high amount of kill participation.
Xayah General Overview
In this Xayah guide, we saw the potential of this champion as a really strong offensive AD Carry. However, she also has a really high skill ceiling that newer players will need to be mindful of once they decide that they want to try out this champion. The most important thing to take away in this guide is that players should always be smart about their position whether they’re doing so offensively or defensively.
How to counter Xayah?
Xayah likes to spread her feathers around the ground. By moving around in a semi-circular motion around her, you’ll be able to spread the feathers around so that you prevent her from dealing maximum damage to you. Be wary of her position and don’t overcommit your ultimate when you think she has her ultimate ability on cooldown.