X.Borg Guide: Dominate EXP Lane After July Buff

The July 2025 patch gave X.Borg the one thing that made him scary to begin with: true damage. Before this buff, only his Skill 1 (Fire Missiles) dealt true damage when enemies were overheated. Now every skill does, including his Skill 2 and the fire spray from Last Insanity.

That's a meaningful change. His ultimate already had a true damage explosion on detonation, but the continuous fire spray during the ultimate now also cuts through defenses in overheated state. Against tanky compositions, you'll notice the difference in every extended fight.

He's sitting at A-tier with a 50.39% win rate and 10.53% ban rate at Mythic. That ban rate tells you how much the ranked player base respects him right now.

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#Understanding the Firaga Armor

Everything about X.Borg's playstyle flows from one mechanic: the Firaga Armor, the orange HP bar that sits above his main HP.

While the armor is active, all incoming damage goes to it instead of his actual health. When the armor breaks, he dashes a short distance in your joystick's direction, loses all debuffs and crowd control (except suppression), and enters the Armorless state. That armor-break dash gives you a free escape from most CC if you react quickly.

A few things worth knowing:

• HP items give only 20% of their value to X.Borg's body HP, but 110% to his Firaga Armor. A 500 HP item gives you 100 HP and 550 Armor HP. Build accordingly.
• Picking up Firaga supplies (dropped by overheated enemies) restores 10% Armor HP or 10 energy if you're armorless.
• Without supplies, regen from the armorless state takes about 33 seconds. In a lane fight, that gap matters.
• His Skill 1 damage drops to 60% in the armorless state. If your armor is down, you are not a threat.

The core skill loop: keep enemies overheated with Skill 1 spam, collect supplies to sustain your armor bar, and keep trading. You win extended trades. You lose coinflips against burst.

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#Skills and Skill Order

Skill 1: Fire Missiles (Max first) Fan-shaped fire spray that deals physical damage. Enemies at maximum temperature take true damage. Low 4-second cooldown makes this your bread and butter for overheating enemies and collecting supplies. In armorless state, range becomes narrower and longer, but damage drops to 60%.

Skill 2: Fire Stake (Max last) Shoots five fire stakes that pull enemies and supplies toward you. The pull applies a micro-stun and slows by 40% for 1.5 seconds. Use it to collect scattered supplies, pull an isolated target, or reposition an enemy who's trying to escape your flames. Each stake deals physical damage, which is now true damage if the target is overheated.

Ultimate: Last Insanity (Level whenever available) X.Borg dashes at an enemy and spins, spraying fire that slows by 25%. The Firaga Armor explodes after 3 seconds or when destroyed, dealing true damage equal to 300/500/700 + 15% of the enemy's max HP. You can trigger the explosion early by casting the ultimate again. The entire duration gives CC immunity and movement speed. You cannot use this skill while armorless.

Skill order: Skill 1 → Ultimate → Skill 1 → Skill 2

Prioritize Skill 1 for maximum overheating and sustain. Ultimate whenever available. Skill 2 last since the base damage doesn't scale as hard.

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#Best Build for X.Borg (July 2025)

Vs. magic-heavy comps: Swap Dominance Ice for Athena's Shield.
Vs. squishy, mobile comps: Consider Queen's Wings. Its passive triggers when your armor breaks, scaling attack on lost HP and giving you a fighting chance in armorless state.

War Axe and Ice Queen Wand are non-negotiable. Ice Queen Wand's slow synergizes with every part of X.Borg's kit: Skill 1 hits multiple times, each applying the slow debuff, turning your fire spray into a soft snare. Enemies can't escape easily, which means more overheating, more supplies, more sustain.

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#Emblems and Battle Spell

Fighter Emblem is the standard pick.

• Tier 1: Movement Speed (keep enemies in your range longer)
• Tier 2: Festival of Blood (spellvamp from skills keeps your HP up)
• Tier 3: Brave Smite (heals per skill hit on enemy heroes, pairs with your low-cooldown Skill 1)

Use Tank Emblem if you're the only frontliner. The +500 HP bonus goes mostly to your armor (+550), making your early trades more forgiving.

Battle Spell: Flicker. Covers the one hole in his kit, which is mobility. Use it to dash into Last Insanity range on a key target, escape after your armor breaks, or extend a chase. Sprint is an option if you're against heavy slow/kite comps like Kimmy or Hanabi.

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#Early, Mid, and Late Game

Early Game (Level 1-7)

X.Borg's early game is not his strongest phase. His armor gives him trading potential, but heroes who can quickly burst through his armor HP (Paquito, Chou, Bane) will make the laning phase difficult.

Your goal before level 4: don't lose waves. Every minion wave you miss delays your first item and your first rotation to Turtle.

Once you hit level 4, play aggressive. Spam Skill 1 to overheat your laner, collect supplies, and keep them off farm. Poke them when their main damage skill is on cooldown. If they dodge your Skill 2, back off. You're not winning a trade where you've lost armor and wasted pull.

Stay reactive. If they're low, use Last Insanity. If they're at full HP with no debuffs, you're wasting your ultimate on a poke. Wait for the overheat stacks before committing.

Mid Game (Level 8-12)

This is where X.Borg becomes genuinely frightening. With War Axe and Ice Queen Wand core built, your slows become reliable and your sustain is high enough to survive most trades.

Rotate to objectives. X.Borg is not a carry who farms in lane until the game ends. You need to be at every Turtle and Lord contest because your AoE and true damage tilt those fights in your team's favor.

In team fights, let your tank initiate. Follow up with Last Insanity on the highest-priority target (their marksman or mage, not the tank), spin through, and detonate. If you kill anyone, your armor resets. If your armor breaks early in the fight, the CC-immune dash buys your team time.

Late Game (Level 13+)

This is when the July buff pays off. Every target you keep overheated with Skill 1 takes true damage from all your attacks, including your Skill 2 pull and the fire spray during Last Insanity. Tanky enemies who would normally have damage reduction get melted.

Position in bushes near Lord or the enemy backline. Flicker onto their carry, spin through with Last Insanity, and detonate. Your explosion deals 700 true damage at level 3 plus 15% of their max HP. That's enough to outright kill a marksman if they're around 70% health, and chunk a mage badly enough that your team cleans up.

Don't use Last Insanity when you're armorless. You lose the detonation and the CC immunity. Wait for armor to regenerate before re-engaging.

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#Matchups

X.Borg wins against

X.Borg loses against

If you see Esmeralda, seriously consider swapping to another EXP laner. She converts every tick of your Fire Missiles into shield HP. You literally feed her.

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#Key Situations and Decision Trees

Your armor just broke mid-fight. Use the CC-immune dash to reposition toward your team or a bush. Don't cast Skill 1 (60% damage) or Last Insanity (you can't). Wait roughly 15-20 seconds before re-engaging if you have no supplies nearby.

Enemy is running from you at 30% HP. Fire Skill 1 backward as they flee to slow them, then Flicker ahead to cut off the escape. If overheated, Skill 2 pull to finish. Last Insanity for the kill if they're close to a turret.

You're getting ganked in the side lane. If you have armor: face toward the gankers, pop Last Insanity to buy time, then use the detonation dash toward safety. Don't panic-run. The CC immunity during Last Insanity is a legitimate escape tool.

Your team has no frontline. Take Tank Emblem. Build Dominance Ice earlier. You're the person walking into the fight first, so you need to last long enough for your backline to do something.

Enemy team has three tanks. This is your best game. Every overheated tank takes true damage from all your skills now. Build Immortality early and dive their backline while your ult destroys their tanks' comfort.

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#Countering X.Borg as an Enemy

If you're playing against X.Borg (relevant for anyone picking into him):

• Wait for armorless state before committing burst damage. Burst while his armor is up is largely wasted.
• Twilight Armor caps physical skill damage, reducing how much Last Insanity's fire spray hurts.
• Antique Cuirass reduces his physical attack after he hits you, keeping his sustained DPS lower.
• Don't cluster in team fights. His AoE punishes grouped teams severely.
• Heroes with hard CC (Franco, Khufra, Tigreal) are your best bet to interrupt Last Insanity's dash before he reaches your carry.

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#Quick Reference

Best for: Tanky enemy comps, teams with a setter, ranked games where you need consistent EXP lane presence
Avoid picking: When your team has zero CC, or when enemy has Esmeralda + two mobile heroes
Core items: War Axe, Ice Queen Wand, Immortality
Battle spell: Flicker
Emblem: Fighter (Festival of Blood + Brave Smite)
Ban rate at Mythic: 10.53% (respect it, he's genuinely annoying to play against)

Check the MLBB tier list to see how X.Borg stacks up against the full EXP lane roster, and the split push meta guide if you want to understand how EXP laners are shaping ranked right now.