Overview
Zhuxin is a utility-focused Mage typically played in the Mid Lane. Unlike traditional burst mages who erase health bars instantly, Zhuxin thrives on sustained damage, exceptional zoning and disruptive crowd control (CC). Her kit revolves around her Spirit Lantern and her passive, Crimson Butterflies, which acts as a unique mana management system. Every time she used her skills to deal damage, she converts spent mana into butterflies; when she stops casting the skill, those butterflies return to restore a massive portion (currently 3% each butterfly) of her max mana. Her trademark mechanic is applying stacks of Soul Snare to enemies. Once an enemy ticks up to 10 stacks, they are pulled airborne and can be physically thrown and displaced by Zhuxin. After that there is a 4s interval before Soul Snare can be applied again to the same enemy.
Strengths
Incredible Crowd Control and Displacement: Her ability to pick up enemy heroes and throw em is a massive asset in team fights. It allows her to pull out-of-position squishies or throw away the high-threat tank/initiator. It also deals dmg to enemies the hero falls on based on their defense stats. Zoning and Area Control: Apart from her primary dmg skill for zoning, with her ultimate, she gains a shield and blinks at target direction creating a large mobile field that applies Soul Snare. This makes it dangerous for enemies to contest objectives like turtle and lord. Sustainability: Thanks to her passive, she can cycle her mana pool indefinitely if played correctly. By poking with her continuous skill then backing off for a second to let her butterflies return, she rarely needs to recall to base for mana. Strong Against High Hp Targets: Her core items (Wishing Lantern & Glowing Wand) & her skill kit can deal max hp percent-based dmg, and her throw dmg to nearby enemies scales with the defense of the hero thrown. So she functions well against beefy tanks and fighters who rely on health.
Weaknesses
Extreme Mana Dependency: Zhuxin is one of the most mana-hungry mages in the game. Her skill 2 drains mana as long as it is active. Though Zhuxin has a unique mana regen mechanism, thanks to her passive, running out of mana mid-fight when she isn't done fully marking a target can be very problematic. This can be exploited in the early game by forcing longer skirmishes when her mana regen is low. Vulnerable to Burst Damage: As a sustained damage focused poke mage, Zhuxin takes her time to ramp up her damage. This can be exploited by burst damage enemies by targeting her first and instantly bursting her down before she can finish marking. Weak Against High-Mobility Heroes: Zhuxin struggles to put her passive marks on high-mobility heroes as they can keep dashing out of her skill range. In this case she needs a teammate who can reliably lock down the high-mobility enemies, making her teammate dependant. Interruption & Range: Crowd Control skills like stuns cancel her 2nd skill and if spammable, it greatly disrupts her positioning and makes it difficult for her to use her skill. She can also be out-ranged easily by mages like Cecilion and Pharsa (who are also equipped with CC to interrupt her skill). Purify & Diggie: A purify spell/skill and Diggie make it extremely difficult for her to use her abilities as they remove her passive marks, breaking her stacking cycle, which is essential for her utilization. CC immunity skills can be used to escape her range, though if they can't leave her range she can continue to mark and lift them airborne once the immunity ends.
Sustain
Pretty much the ideal build for Zhuxin. The demon boots make sure you dont run out of mana in early game, can be swapped later or you can build a different boot if you're sure you can manage mana well in the early game. Build path: Demon boots -> elegant gem -> glowing wand -> finish building CoD or get another item if the situation calls (e.g. winter crown) If enemy doesn't have healer or self-healing heroes while your team lacks Frontline, you can finish building CoD first to increase your survivability. The Ice Queen Wand gives extra slow along with her 2nd skill continuous slow, making it harder for enemies to escape. Especially punishing for slow heroes like Terizla and heroes who dont have dash or movement speed buff skills. Blood wings give you shield, boosting your survivability, you can pick defense item something else instead if needed.
Survivability
Again, demon boots depend on you. If you struggle with early game mana management, it's better to build it. Otherwise you can go for tough boots. Always build elegant gem and then finish building glowing wand first. If enemy seems too tanky and your team is struggling to burst em, go to build Wishing Lantern ASAP after finishing CoD. For last item go for Guardian Helmet as it gives you a huge amount of extra HP which makes it difficult for enemies with burst damage to eliminate you. And you won't have to recall to heal. This works even better if your team has a healer.
Burst
If you want to experiment......
Late game core
During mid game, Zhuxin can stack up quite some kills. This build is effective for stacking up those skills using sky piercer so that she can be a reliable finisher at later stages of the game. Don't forget to buy elegant gem early though.
Sustain
Since Zhuxin's mana cost was increased in the latest update, basic emblem is generally the best option for her. This ensure her mana sustainability during long fights and potential early game invades. The talents provide movement speed, spell vamp and mana regen + hp based damage. These are essential for her as a squishy mage who needs to stay in fights for a long period and sustain.
Damage (situational)
If your team has enough CC and you're not the only continuous* damage dealer, you can go for the mage build for extra damage. Using mage emblem on Zhuxin requires excellent mana management so if you are unsure it is better to not go for it. Though you can choose demon boots to make up for the regen.
Utility (very situational)
If your team has a support like Floryn or Estes and lacks a proper Frontline, the fighter emblem comes in handy. The continuous healing from healer teammate + defense & spell vamp from thr fighter emblem, along with the defense stats from Clock of Destiny provide her with insane tanking ability for a mage. The extra defense also helps you survive close calls. Again, this requires excellent management. Make sure to keep demon boots.
Battle Spell
As a squishy mage, flicker is a good fit to ensure she can escape risky spots. *If the enemy has a setter, purify should be prioritized.
Early game
In the early game start by helping out your jungler but make sure to reach your lane before or at least at the same the as enemy mid laner. Start zoning out enemy mid laner so that they cant farm and get delayed in level, which will slow down their rotation and might even score an early kill. It also increases a chance of successful invade if the mage is still level 1. This works for mages like Pharsa, Kagura or any mage who don't deal continuous damage and havee long skill cd in early game. This isnt as effective against mages like Valir or Lylia unless they have used up all their skill refills on minions. Make sure to assist your team in securing litho and/or invading jungle if they initiate.
Mid game
By then you will already have one or two items. Rotate to the lane that needs it, e.g. if an enemy side laner is playing aggressively, you can catch them out of position. Don't rotate to a lane if there won't be numbers advantage (if the enemy is ahead or equal in terms of farm.). Always check bushes with 2nd skill and try to stay with roamer. During important objectives like turtle fight, use your 2nd skill to keep zoning enemy out. If they aren't visible, keep moving the lantern at chock points near bushes.
Late game
At this stage of the game, be very careful with positioning and do not overextend. Wait for your tank or fighter for initiation. Wait for your tank or fighter to set and then cast in your ultimate, 2nd skill, airborne! This is how you maximize Zhuxin late game potential. Do not forget to use passive mana regen. It's important to pause once in a while so that the butterflies can return, Always check bushes and DO NOT move alone as you are super squishy and can be burst easily by a bursty assassin or an ambush. Save ult for sets or for key targets to maximize impact. You can also use it to reposition in case you get dived by an assassin.
Best With Carmilla
100% co-op win rate
With Carmilla's ultimate, which shares CC and damage between enemies by stringing them together, she is an excellent combo with Zhuxin. Zhuxin can stack up on only one enemy and knock them up but everyone stringed to the enemy will also be knocked up.
Watch Out For Zhask
100% counter win rate
Zhask's summons make positioning very hard, from the beginning to end. His spawns zone her out while dealing continuous AOE dmg. Similar case with Valir and Lylia.