Jhin is a strong ADC who can easily one shot less durable enemies thanks to his burst damage. Here’s how you can get started playing him.

When you hear the words ADC and burst, you can’t help but think of Jhin. Despite being classified as an ADC, his damage works similar to an assassin meaning he can deal massive damage in a short amount of time. But unlike most assassins, Jhin doesn’t have the mobility to move around so he’ll be better off pairing with a support in the bot lane. That said, Jhin is a great champion to play especially if you’re an ADC main who doesn’t like to wait for their damage to catch up to them as is the case with most hyper carries. With Jhin, you really only need 1 or 2 items to reach a power spike and get going.

Champion Abilities

Jhin’s kit has a lot of burst damage and a lot of range. He can effectively poke you down and you won’t be able to get near him. The only drawback is that he doesn’t have a true escape tool so he’ll be playing the game with a target on his back the entire time.

Passive – Whisper

Death in 4 Acts – Jhin’s hand cannon has a fixed attack speed and can be fired 4 times before needing to be reloaded. The 4th bullet always Crits and deals bonus damage based on the target’s missing health.

Every Moment Matters – Critical Strike Chance and Bonus Attack Speed have special scaling:

• Attack Damage is increased.
• Jhin’s Crits deal 14% reduced damage but grant him 10% (+40% bonus Attack Speed) bonus movement speed for 2 seconds.

This is one of the reasons why Jhin is either loved or hated by ADC mains. He has fixed attack speed which can be a little difficult when last hitting minions but in exchange for this drawback, he has a lot of single target burst damage. At full build, his 4th bullet can literally take out more than half of a squishy champion’s life bar.

Q – Dancing Grenade

Jhin launches a cartridge at the targeted enemy that deals physical damage before bouncing to a nearby target that has not yet been hit. The cartridge can hit a maximum of 4 times. Each kill by the cartridge increases the damage of subsequent hits by 35%.

Jhin’s main offensive spell. It’s great for clearing waves and harassing enemies since Jhin would have trouble last hitting minions because of his passive. It’s also great for trading against opponents as a Dancing Grenade plus the 4th bullet from Whisper is enough to whittle down your opponent’s health by a lot.

W – Deadly Flourish

Jhin fires a long range shot that stops on the first champion hit, dealing physical damage to it, and 75% of that damage to minions and monsters hit along the way.

If Deadly Flourish strikes a champion that has been hit by any damage from Jhin or his allies, or are standing in a Lotus Trap within the last 4 seconds it will root them and grant Jhin Movement Speed as though he had crit them.

Deadly Flourish is a long range ability that allows you to further bully your opponents and lock them down with crowd control. It’s a great ability when used for kiting and can be detrimental to your success when it comes to trading with your opponent. The best part is that it goes through minions so if you aim it right, your opponent would have no way to dodge this ability.

E – Captive Audience

Jhin places an invisible Lotus Trap at the target location that lasts 3 minutes and activates when stepped on, revealing nearby enemies for 4 seconds.

The trap leaves behind a zone that slows enemies inside by 35%, and detonates after 2 seconds, dealing magic damage (65% damage on subsequent hits and vs. minions and monsters). Jhin can store 2 traps at once.

Beauty in Death – When Jhin kills an enemy champion a Lotus Trap will spawn and detonate where they were killed.

Similar to champions like Teemo, Shaco, and Nidalee, Jhin can leave invisible traps that deal damage, slow, and reveal units that step on it. There’s a lot of utility in this ability and can be useful in a variety of situations. You can place it on brushes where there are no wards and where enemies are most likely to pass through for maximum effect.

R – Curtain Call

Jhin sets up and channels, enabling him to fire 4 super shots at extreme range in a cone in front of him. The shots stop on the first champion hit, slowing it by 80% for 0.5 seconds and dealing physical damage. The 4th shot crits for 200% damage.

Curtain Call can be considered a double edged sword. On one hand, it deals a lot of damage and has incredible range. But it also leaves you vulnerable as you need to stay still while using this ability. Use this only when you’re sure that the enemies won’t get to you while using it.

Runes and Item Builds

When building items on Jhin, your only focus is to build damage. You should also work on building crit items as it can drastically increase your survivability by means of the movement speed buff from your passive. 

Starting Items

Jhin starts the game like any other ADC, with a Doran’s Blade and a Health Potion. This gives you everything you need to survive the early game until you get your Mythic item. Another viable option would be to start with Cull instead of Doran’s Blade. By starting with Cull, you’ll essentially be shifting your focus on farming to get items instead of being aggressive when trading with your opponent.

Mythic Items

Jhin has two great choices for his Mythic Items: Galeforce or Immortal Shieldbow. Since Jhin is pretty immobile and has very low health, he is often vulnerable when enemies catch up to him. It’s important to consider these factors when purchasing your Mythic item. The best choice would be Galeforce since it gives Jhin an active dash that can help him escape or catch up to his enemies. Immortal Shieldbow is a good choice as well but Galeforce offers more utility than this item.

Full Build

After purchasing your Mythic, the next item you should buy is Boots of Swiftness. Most ADCs run with Berserker’s Greaves for the attack speed but since Jhin’s attack speed is fixed, you’d be better off with Boots of Swiftness. Next build The Collector for its insane damage, instant execute on enemies below 5% health, and the increased critical strike chance. Rapid Firecannon should be your next item as it increases your overall damage and critical strike chance plus it deals some good magic damage that synergizes well with the 4th bullet from your passive. Infinity Edge is pretty much a given since you’re an ADC and you’ll need its damage and crit. Finish off your build with a Guardian Angel to increase your damage and survivability.

Viable Items

There are plenty of viable items that you can use on Jhin. Stormrazor is a good item that you can easily slot into his full build since it increases your critical strike chance and your overall damage output. Bloodthirster also increases your damage and at the same time, gives you some much needed lifesteal to help you sustain through your fights. Mortal Reminder and Lord Dominik’s Regard are good anti tank and anti healing items that can also easily slot into your full build when you feel like you ended it. Don’t be afraid to mix and match items to see what works best for you and your situation. 

Runes

For runes, there are a lot of popular choices, sets, and combinations out there that fit different scenarios. For this guide, however, we’ll go with the best rune set that can be used in any situation. The keystone you should go with is Dark Harvest. This rune permanently increases your damage whenever you damage a champion below 50% health. Once you get enough stacks, this will make your damage hurt even more. Next take Taste of Blood for the healing, Eyeball Collection for the increased damage, and Ravenous Hunter for more sustain. For secondaries, go with the Precision tree and take Presence of Mind and Legend: Bloodline. These runes give you sustain in the form of lifesteal and mana regeneration. For rune shards, take double Adaptive Force and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Jhin has great single target damage that isn’t based around skillshots thanks to Whisper. Make sure to take advantage of this when trading with the enemy ADC. 
2. Jhin can hard counter scaling ADCs like Aphelios, Ezreal, and Vayne. They won’t be able to keep up with him in the early game but can go toe to toe with Jhin in the late game.
3. For summoner spells, always take Flash and Heal. Barrier is a good alternative for Heal if you’re against enemies with a lot of burst while Cleanse is great when against a lot of crowd control.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Jhin in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!