There are tons of champions in League of Legends, but only a select few of them can be classed as funny or wacky champions. These guys are the flavour of the game, and give it a nice sense of hilarity to go with the gameplay. With this said, we now have a new wacky champion to add onto the list, Jinx. She is a loose cannon that gets a ton of frills from blowing things up and using her array of weapons, but is she as playable as she looks? Let’s reload our miniguns and find out.
Jinx has a great style, similar to that of a punk mixed with Tim Burton’s colours from some of his films. It is key to note that Jinx is one of the only women in LoL to be flat chested, giving a larger emphasis on her deadly physique. This is a good design choice as a big girl with big guns would normally be too cliché. Her splash art depicts the character extremely well, displaying the craziness in her eyes as well as her three weapons of choice. As Jinx’s art work and in game models for her default skin are great, her alternate skin at launch is similar. Mafia Jinx turns our crazy gunner into an insane tomboy, stylised from classic mafia movies. Jinx’s minigun is now hidden within a guitar case, more in theme with films like Desperado and Mariachi, whilst her rocket launcher now doubles up as a bottle opener. This skin has just as much flavour as the character in a whole. Together they make a great bundle to get a hold of, whilst the offer stands.
Now that we have looked at Jinx’s character, let’s look at her abilities and weapons of mass destruction.
Passive: Get Excited!Whenever a champion or tower that Jinx has dealt damage to within the last 3 seconds is killed or destroyed, she gains 175% movement speed that decays over 4 seconds.
The mistress of mayhem’s passive is something that will make any player scream out ‘YES!’. The passive does not give you extra damage but it is much more than that. In conjunction with her ultimate, Jinx can get into a fight from far away with seamless ease. For another example, Jinx can take down a turret and then either run away to safety or run into a fight with an enemy champion. This ability is a great addition to the attack damage carries arsenal as it helps her get around the place, especially since ADC’s have lower movement speed in comparison to other champions.
Q: Switcheroo! COOLDOWN: 1
TOGGLE OFF—POW-POW, THE MINIGUN: Jinx’s basic attacks grant bonus attack speed for 2.5 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. The stacks decay one at a time when she stops attacking with her minigun.
ATTACK SPEED: 16.6 / 23.3 / 30 / 36.6 / 43.3%
TOTAL ATTACK SPEED: 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130%
Switching to her Rocket Launcher will not clear any active stacks, but they will not grant attack speed after her first attack.
COOLDOWN: 1
COST: 20 MANA PER ATTACK
TOGGLE ON—FISHBONES, THE ROCKET LAUNCHER: Jinx gains bonus attack range and deals 10% AD bonus damage on her attacks, at the cost of mana per attack. BONUS RANGE: 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175
Additionally, her attacks will splash, dealing full damage to all nearby enemies. The bonus damage to her target and the splash damage both scale additively with critical strikes.
Jinx’s Q is very powerful, but maybe a bit too powerful. First off let’s talk about Pow-Pow, the minigun. This little fella is what you will mostly be using to attack your foes as you gain attack speed with each hit, up to a cap. It does not have as much range as most AD carries, but what it lacks in range it brings back with its high damage output. The problem with Pow-Pow is that the attack speed buff is just too good. At level 1 I had an attack speed of roughly 1.15, which doesn’t seem too bad. By level 6, I was hitting enemies with 1.85 – 2.00 attack speed depending on build. This is crazy for an ADC as you will be dishing out more damage by level six that most over carries on average. The speed buff may have to be lowered in the next patch as this is a great concern, especially for when it comes to ranked play.
In comparison to Pow-Pow, Fishbones is a great weapon that is finely balanced to the game. Switching out to this bad boy gives you increased damage as well as a huge boost in range. The bad side is that it costs mana in order to use. This is not a problem however as you can easily manage how much mana it is dealing and also only switch in when there is a need to. Kind of like how Ashe’s Q works in the game with the toggled slow effect. It is also key to note at this time that Switcheroo does not trigger Sheen. This is a great balance choice as it does not make this ability obscenely over powered, but the attack speed boost still needs to be addressed.
W: Zap! RANGE: 1500
COOLDOWN: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6
COST: 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 MANA
ACTIVE: After a short delay, Jinx fires a shock blast that deals physical damage to the first enemy hit, also granting true sight and slowing it for 2 seconds.
PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 30 / 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 (+ 140% AD)
SLOW: 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70%
Talk about an ability that is just perfect. Zap slows enemies down if they are hit by the projectile. The trick to this ability however is that you need to be incredibly accurate. Although the ability has great range, it has an initial charge time before firing and shows a line that enemy players can see. If you think this is enough for your opponent to dodge think again as the ability also has a very narrow hit box. Precision is key to using the ability which is why, in conjunction with your passive, it is a great weapon overall. Try shooting this early on in fights or firing it when there are no minions in the way to guarantee a hit. The other upside to this ability is that it also deals a good amount of damage, which can also help take out distant opponents without the use of your ultimate.
E: Flame Chompers! RANGE: 900
COOLDOWN: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16
COST: 50 MANA
ACTIVE: Jinx tosses out 3 chompers that, once armed, explode on contact with enemy champions dealing magic damage over 1.5 seconds to nearby enemies. The champion that sets off the chomper is also snared the same duration. Chompers explode automatically after 5 seconds. A single champion can only set off a single chomper, but can be damaged by any number if they remain in range.
MAGIC DAMAGE: 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+ 100% AP)
MAX MAGIC DAMAGE (3 CHOMPERS):400 / 650 / 800 / 950 / 1000 (+ 300% AP)
Where Jinx’s W helps stop enemies from running away, this power helps bring opponents to a halt. Flame Chompers is like an alternative version of Caitlyn’s Yordle Snap Traps, instead they only last for a small amount of time. When an enemy goes over a trap they are snared, meaning that they can still attack and cast abilities but cannot move. This means that you can either use this ability at the start of a battle to stop your opponent in place or use it as your opponent is running away to cancel their escape plan. The trick to this ability however is that you need to time it appropriately. Placing the traps directly over a moving opponent will most likely miss your intended target. This is because they need to set themselves up once they are thrown down. This is why learning how to pre-emptively cast and place this ability is vital for mastering Jinx. Once you master this and use it in conjunction with her Q and W, Jinx instantly becomes a controlling ADC that rivals many control style ability power carries.
R: Super Mega Death Rocket! RANGE: Global
COOLDOWN: 90 / 75 / 60
COST: 100 MANA
ACTIVE: Jinx fires a rocket that travels in a line, exploding on the first enemy champion hit. Enemies caught in the explosion take physical damage equal to a base amount (this amount increases over the first second the rocket travels) plus a percentage of their missing health (max. 300 vs. minions and monsters). The primary target of the explosion takes full damage, while nearby enemies take 80% damage.
MINIMUM PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 125 / 175 / 225 (+ 50% bonus AD)
MAXIMUM PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 250 / 350 / 450 (+ 100% bonus AD)
ADDITIONAL DAMAGE: 25 / 30 / 35% of enemies’ missing health
Jinx’s ultimate ability combines flavour with pure damage. The global ultimate is back as you can send this huge rocket across the entire map to try and finish off opponents. Like Ashe’s ultimate however it is not necessarily intended to finish enemies off. You can also fire off this weapon early in order to get an assist in a far away battle. You may think that it’s a waste, but if used with her passive it can help you get closer to the team fight to then capitalise on more kills and assists. This is the ability to cast when you want to finish someone off or assist getting you in or out of tough situations. As it also has increased damage dependant on how far it travels and how low your opponents health is, it really convinces you to try and skill shoot people from afar.
Overall, Jinx is a well balanced champion with a great presence in the bottom lane as an ADC. With her abilities she can control team and solo fighting scenarios to benefit her team and also help her get in and out of the fight. The pressing concern is with the attack speed buff, which would be important to address for those who play ranked. The buff increases her damage way too far early on but, with a simple tweak, can become an ability that works well with the rest of Jinx’s arsenal.
So what do you think of Jinx, The Loose Cannon? Do you think she packs a punch or does nothing more than poke you in the arm? Let us know what you think about the champion in the comments.
