Jinx is one of the most popular ADCs in League of Legends thanks to her insane potential for damage within a game, and an incredible design that focuses on her chaotic nature. She is also one of the main characters from the hit show Arcane, which only increased her popularity.
While it will take hundreds of games to truly master Jinx and ADC mechanics in general, her kit has a low barrier to entry, making her ideal for players of any skill level. These tips will help players new and old get the most out of League's Loose Cannon.
7 Which Gun To Use
Jinx's Q - Switcheroo! lets her switch between her two guns that attack in different ways, and knowing which to pull out in a particular situation is crucial to finding success on Jinx. Pow-Pow, her minigun stacks up attack speed with each hit, a maximum of three times, but can be constantly refreshed. When attacking single close-range targets, Jinx should always use her minigun to deal maximum DPS; this goes for objectives like Dragons and turrets too.
Her rocket launcher Fishbones, on the other hand, provides extra range and each rocket deals splash damage. This makes it ideal for quickly clearing waves, attacking clusters of enemies, and reaching far-away targets. All of this, however, comes at the cost of mana for each attack on top of a loss of attack speed.
6 Know What To Build
While learning optimal builds on a specific patch is always useful, the ever-changing nature of League means that it is even more important to learn how to build champions and what stats they synergize well with. Jinx is an attack-based late-game carry; it is her job to deal lots of damage, ideally to multiple champions at once, and she will often be the only one capable of shredding through tanks.
The stats Jinx wants most are attack speed, attack damage, and critical strike. She doesn't need cooldown reduction and defensive items should only be bought later on if necessary. She also has fantastic synergy with Runaan's Hurricane as hitting multiple enemies with her minigun will charge it up instantly, and more importantly, she can fire off multiple rockets at once. Unless this item is weak on the current patch, it will almost always be a great pickup on her.
5 Last Hit From Range
Not every game of League of Legends goes to plan and an ADC like Jinx who is weak in the early game can often find themselves in a losing lane. In cases where the enemy bot lane is too strong for Jinx to safely approach the wave, players should first try and make sure they are in XP range even if they can't get gold.
If it is safe to momentarily step up for one long-ranged auto with her rocket launcher, then do so. If not, her W - Zap! can be used from an even further distance and is ideal for securing important canon minions.
4 Get Excited After Objectives
Jinx's passive Get Excited! gives her a huge burst of movement and attack speed after taking part in the takedown of a champion, epic monster, or turret. While her passive is most effective in team fights where she can chain kills together, most enemies aren't ready for Jinx's burst of power after objectives.
To surprise enemies, players must make sure they hit the objective in the last three seconds before it dies and in the meantime, they can position more aggressively, ready to pounce. This will most often be possible with turrets and Dragons, but the Rift Herald also counts, including when it is dropped in lanes.
3 Trap Placement
Jinx's E - Flame Chompers! may appear to be her weakest ability, but in the hands of experts, these little traps can be used to significant effect. The first thing to note is that they have a long cooldown, so as one of Jinx's few tools against threats, they should not be wasted. Secondly, when using them defensively, don't worry too much about the enemy stepping onto them and being rooted, instead angle and position them in a way that forces the enemy to take a longer path around.
When using her traps aggressively and layering them on top of a support's CC, place them immediately as they have an arming time. As Flame Chompers provide vision, Jinx players can also use them to check bushes from range safely. There are even some large walls where Jinx can place her Chompers in a way that they will land in different places, providing vision to two or three separate places.
2 Steal Objectives With Your Ult
While Jinx's R - Super Mega Death Rocket! doesn't get blocked by and deal damage directly to monsters, the explosion upon hitting a champion does damage surrounding monsters. The damage is increased against monsters missing large portions of health but is capped at 800 damage.
With this in mind, Jinx players can look to steal objectives like Dragons and Baron, but they must make sure they hit one of the enemy champions next to it. More aware enemies will be looking to safely block Jinx's ult, so look for creative angles, especially those where the projectile will be hidden from vision. Against skilled junglers who definitely have their Smite up, it can be better to save your ult for fights.
1 Bonus Mechanics And Tricks
As with any champion in League of Legends, there are a bunch of small tricks and mechanics that players can take advantage of to squeeze the most out of Jinx.
- Jinx's first attack after switching to her rocket launcher will benefit from the attack speed stacks gained from her minigun.
- The cast time for W - Zap! is lowered when Jinx has more attack speed, giving more strength to her passive and minigun stacks.
- Jinx can flash immediately after using W - Zap! and avoid being locked in the cast time, she can also use W into R and Flash.
- Jinx can hide the animation of her ultimate, by standing still, using E - Flame Chompers! and then immediately ulting. It is also partially hidden when she flashes after ulting.
- Jinx's ult deals more damage the longer it travels; the distance it needs to travel to deal max damage is the same as the max range of her W - Zap!
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