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Riven Build Guide by

Broken Blade Demon, Riven

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Riven Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (14) More Riven Guides

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Ability Order

Riven Passive Ability

Credits

I want to start off with the credits simply because people would usually ignore them if they were at the bottom of the build. So I take no credit for making any of the pictures present in my build. They were made by extremely talented artists. I would like to thank a new friend of mine howrue for his build. Also a Huge thanks to jhoijhoi, although I was never able to actually talk with JhoiJhoi, and even though she doesn't even know who I am... her informational guide was more than enough. :D JhoiJhoi's Awesome Guide!! This guide is really all you need to make your own guide. I was a nooby coder before I learned all this info and applied it to my own guide. Thanks JhoiJhoi!

Introduction to Riven the Exile

Hi guys this is my 2nd build on Mobafire ever!! :D. I hope you find this build to be a success. If you see any errors or flaws that you wish to correct from my build, please leave a comment <3. All negative comments are accepted, but please be constructive criticism. I will make sure to address all situations and make necessary changes to make this build the best! If you have any questions about Riven, or if you're having difficulty with her leave a comment and I'll reply ASAP!. Lastly, I hope you are able to all become better, successful players!

Riven the Exile:

I love Riven so much! She is an extremely strong champion with a powerful finishing ult Blade of the Exile, a burst damage stun Ki Burst, a three combo skill Broken Wings, and a extremely strong shield Valor. She is an extremely strong harasser and a huge help on the team. She can carry the team, and can play as the tank of the team. Riven has an large variety of play styles, and never gets boring. Riven is literally a

Which Lane should I go in?

Top lane: I find Riven to be most successful in Top Lane. Riven is also able to solo top if your team has a jungler, and she is also quite successful with a partner. Infact, duo-lanes are better IMO because you're able to harass more often and have a ally to back you up.

Middle Lane: Middle Lane is really not a good choice because there are usually ranged/ap champions in mid which is hard to counter. Riven is also an excellent farmer, and usually your other teamates are in more need of farming than you are.

Bottom Lane: Bottom Lane is also a viable choice, however, Top is just my personal preference. lol

Note: This guide is for a Laning Riven. I plan on making a Jungle Riven guide in the future :D

I find Riven to be best played as a TANKY AD champion. The item build above is for you to be able to do insane damage, tank an enormous amount of damage, and get kills like it's your day job.

If you don't want to play riven as a TANKY AD, no problem :D, go to my "Items" section below. It consists of a variety of different item builds you can choose from.

Remember! The best way to play LoL is to enjoy the game as you play. Have fun with Riven and enjoy the penta messacres you will be inflicting on the enemy team ^.^

Pros / Cons

Pros

Riven has high mobility
She is extremely fun to play with
has a *disrupter* skill that can mess up ult's such as... Requiem Crowstorm Absolute Zero
She has good damage output and a sweet finisher ult
a strong shield, and an aoe stun.

Cons

Veteran's Scar

Cooldown Dependent
hard to master
CC...destroyed...
Too sexy that some players can't handle it.

Riven has many advantages and disadvantages, as a smart player it's up to you to exploit them, and win, oh, and did i mention she's hot?

Runes

Runes:

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

For runes, I get armor penetration, armor, magic resist, and attack damage. I get these runes to help me do more damage early game, and intake reduced damage.

Greater Mark of Desolation I get the mark of desolation so that Riven is able to deal more damage to the tanks early game. The armor pen. also scales well throughout the game.

Provides a lot of Armor Penetration
Not too expensive, 410 IP per Rune
Provides 14.94 Armor Penetration!

I get the greater seal of Resilience because this way, Riven will be able to play more agressively and receive less damage overall.

Very Cheap, 205 IP per Rune
More Sustainability
Provides 12.69 Armor

I get the greater glyph of Warding for the same reason I get Armor.

Very Cheap, 205 IP per rune.
More Sustainability
13.41 Magic Resist!

Greater Quintessence of Desolation I get this this because it allows me to do a more damage to the tanks throughout game.

More ArMORE Penetration
Increased damage against tanks
Scales well throughout the game

I would get this rune because all of Riven's skills are based on attack damage. The extra AD allows you to do more overall damage.

Extra Ad
Skills do more damage

The marks, glyphs, and seals are very cheap. the seals and glyphs cost only 205 ip each. This rune build is extremely cheap and effective!

Other Viable Runes:

There are many other available runes you can get with Riven. Some viable runes would include...

MARKS:

Greater Mark of Attack Damage provides .95 AD per rune. This gives 8.55 Attack Damage.
Greater Mark of Health This gives an ALOT of health. 3.47 per rune. 9 runes = 31.23 health.

SEALS:

Greater Seal of Attack Damage gives Riven more Attack damage. 0.43 Attack Damage per rune. 9X0.43=3.97
Greater Seal of Health provides 5.35 health per rune...wow. 9 runes = 48.15 health!!

GLYPHS:

, , ,

Greater Glyph of Attack Damage Provides Riven with Attack damage, however, not alot.
Greater Glyph of Health Gives Riven 2.67 Health per rune. Having 9 runes will give her... 2.67X9=24.03 Health!
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction Gives -0.65% CDR. Having 9 runes equals...0.65X9=5.85% CDR.
Greater Glyph of Armor provide Riven with arMORE. I feel that Riven need armor or magic resist more than anything else, to be more tanky. 0.7 Armor per rune. 9X0.7 = 6.3 armor.

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Endurance

Greater Quintessence of Health provides 26 health per rune providing 78 health!
Greater Quintessence of Endurance Provides +1.5% health per rune. This rune actually gives a lot more health late game. When Riven is at 1800 (mid-game) she is given 81 health! While during the Late game phase she should be at around 3000 health = 135+ health!.

Masteries

I chose these masteries because they will allow Riven to do the most amount of damage while still being hard to kill.

I add points to:
Attack Damage
Attack Speed
CDR (Cool down Reduction)
armor penetration
Increased damage
Life steal
Armor
Magic Resist
Health per level
flat health.

I feel that these Masteries allow Riven to utilize her passive and her skills more often
(Riven has no mana or energy! She is completely Cool down dependent)
It also gives extra durability and sustainability in lane, and melts the faces of the enemies with your insane attack damage! :D

TIPS AND TRICKSSS

I'm going to make this section short and simple a few simple tricks that you should already know.

1) When being chased... run into a bush, stop, wait till they enter, and then valor and run the opposite direction. The enemy will think you kept on running, and not have the reaction to turn around. At this point you already valor-ed and started running putting a good distance between you and the enemy.

2) activate your ult when chasing, initiating, and even sometimes running.

Riven's ult inscreases the range of her abilities, making it much easier for her to land her stun/pop up.
Riven should activate her ult in the beginning of a battle. It will allow her to do more damage, and get her that finishing kills. When I first started playing Riven I always forget to activate her ult until the end. ANDDD because its a 2 part ult it takes a while before you are actually able to use windslash
When running you should activate Riven's Ult. This will increase the range of your stun, and when melee champions are trying to catch up to you and they get into range you are able to stun before they are able to hit you. ALSO if your team comes to help you will have ult ready to go.

3) Use Broken Wings to close gaps, and increase them

4) You can use and to jump through some enemy skills SUCH AS:
What's really funny was when I actually found out you can jump through Jarvan's ult. I was low health, and jarvan ulted me. I q'ed out (unintentionally) and then he flashed out then I q'ed back in, and q'ed a third time out the other side. Funniest escape ever. It mdade Jarvan's cry, and made his ult useless.

5) Use to dodge some attacks. When Lux, Leblanc, or Morgana tries to bind/snare, you should attempt to dash out of its path. Always watch out for those pesky snares.

That's pretty much it for this section. If you have any more tips or tricks you want me to add just ask <3

Items

Ok sit tight for this one. this might take a while to read.

ITEM BUILD!!!!! <3 <3 <3

As i said before, Riven is very Item dependent if she is not ahead in her item build then her damage with not outshine the others very much.

I'd like to start off by saying... it is never an obligation to follow this build exactly. Every game is different and you will need to build your items in a different order most of the time. Feel free to choose your items based on the enemies, and feel free to make your own build.

Early Game:

I usually start of with a Doran's sword because you have enough armor and magic resist, from your runes, to go without the Doran's shield. However, due to the Sejuani Patch, Riot lowered Riven's health regeneration. so I highly suggest starting with a Doran's Shield. I also highly suggest getting Cloth Armor and 5X Health Potion. Cloth Armor actually gives +8 more armor, however does not give the bonus health and health regen. BUT starting off with 5 health potions is more than enough to sustain you in lane, and to get the gold you need for your first trip back. Getting Cloth Armor also puts you ahead in your build because you will also build this into the Wriggle's Lantern and not waste 475 gold for a Doran's Shield. Your choice ^.^

Anyways, Start with Doran's Shield/ Cloth Armor and make your way to top lane. While on top lane I don't go back until I farm enough gold for Madred's Razor and Boots. This usually costs about 1350 gold. Riven usually does not need to return back to base even if she is low because of her health regeneration bonus from Doran's Shield and/or the health from your Health Potion. I make my first trip home once I reached 1350+ gold.

I then continue to go for kills and last hit minions until I save about 1,300+ gold. Then I return to base again and finish my boots. I highly suggest Mercury's Treads for the extra magic resist and tenacity. You can also choose to buy Ionian Boots of Lucidity for the extra Cooldown reduction. I recorded my times, and it took me ABOUT 15 minutes to finish my Boots and Wriggle's Lantern.

Mid-Game:

At this point I would usually be finished with my and my choice of boots. I would now be working towards my for extra AD and because later I will build this into the . After Youmuu's Ghostblade I would either choose to start building my or . Choose depending on how you are doing in-game.

Riven should be doing a lot of damage and have a lot of health at this point. I recorded my average time, and by the 35 minute mark I would have my Boots, ,, and .

Late Game:

Ok so there are 2 paths.

The "I finished my Bloodthirster first and now I'm working on my Warmog's path":

If you finished your I would buy a and then finish my first. Why? has some insane stats that have really been neglected this whole time. It provide CDR, Attack Speed , Attack damage, Armor penetration, movement speed, critical strike chance, and an awesome active ability. This item is really helpful, and I felt that if you built both your Warmog's and your bloodthirster first you would be denying yourself an awesome item. Not only that but it costs 1350 to finish (if you bought before)

Or the "I finished my Warmog's and now I'm working on my Bloodthirster path"

Same Thing above but flipped. Get the before finishing your bloodthirster.

ANYWAYZ BACK TO LATE GAME
I would get Atma's after i finished and simply because now that Riven has a large amount of HP (about 3000) She will gain more bonus AD by getting the Atma's AFTER her Warmog's

You now have finished YOUR WHOLE ITEMS BUILD WOOOHOOO :DD <3 <3

Done?

YES YOUR DONE!!!!... JUST KIDDING.. at this point if you got all your items you can replace your Wriggle's lantern for a better item. There are a couple of items I highly suggest

Guardian Angel
Zeke's Herald
Black Cleaver
Quicksilver Sash
Banshee's Veil
All these items are great choices. You can choose a guardian angel, banshee's veil, or a quicksilver sash for extra armor/resistance.
You can also choose from another bloodthirster's to a black cleaver, for extra damage and the armor penetration.
ANDDD you can also choose an attack speed item with lifesteal.
YOUR CHOICE :D

Now....ASSUMING You have full stacks on your blood Thirster's and Warmogs you should have easily 3000+ hp with 300-500+ AD.... Enjoy destroying your enemies lmfao.

Item Build:

Core:

Youmumuu's ghostblade[

These are the 3 items you *must* get as Riven. I put to indicate that you can choose any boots you prefer. Also Is neccessary because it provides a lot of early game damage. It provides +25 bonus attack damage, 10% CDR, and +15 Armor penetration. These are literally the most important stats Riven can have all in one item. Also is you main AD item. Providing an insane amount of AD and lifesteal.

Summary: Why these items as my core?

Because they provide you with a lot of AD, CDR, and lifesteal.
They allow Riven to do a lot early game damage (If you get these items early)
The Brutalizer is not too expensive

Other Viable Item Options:

There are many other Item choices available.

Need more resistance?

This is a super helpful item. It provides attack damage and magic resist. Its passive is also extremely useful. It provides a shield that absorbs 300 magic damage. The shield lasts for 4 seconds or until it breaks. This item should be obtained when you're fighting against alot of strong AP champions that are doing well. This item actually saves you from death. It saved my *** a couple times before :D

This item is to defend your self from the op auto-attacking kings. *Cough Tryn.. Master yi Cough*
It's passive allows a 20% chance on being hit that the attacker will have reduced movement speed and attack speed by 35% FOR 3 SECONDS! It also provides +350 Health, +75 Armor, +25 health regen per 5 seconds, AND 5% CDR. HOWEVER, this item is extremely expensive, about 3,000 gold. This will put you behind your AD build. (if you are doing an AD build)
This item also has an extremely helpful active ability. It slows the movement speed and attacking speed by 35% for 2 seconsd +0.5 second for each 100 armor and magic resist. The active + the passive (if it was activated) gives 70% slow. WOW... lmfao. Definitely an item to consider if you plan on tanking more than outputting more damage.

This item has one of the best actives in the game, in my opinion. It can counter those long crowd control such as Nether Grasp Terrify puncturing taunt idol of Durant Infinite Duress and other snares/stuns. it's Cleanse in an item. It also provides a large amoutn of Magic resist. If your up against annoying champions with long crowd control abilities I highly suggest getting this item to save your butt.

This is the last line of defense. Revival upon death. gaurdian angel is a very helpful item. It provides a lot of Armor and magic resist. This item is super fun. You can turret dive, jump into the enemy team, and do other suicidal acts that you usually can't do :D lmfao. Now don't go jumping into a 5 vs 1 fight, or go to their base turrets and try to tank the whole thing from full health. The idea is for you to take advantage of your new ability and exploit it to win.

Force of Nature provides +76 Magic Resist, 40 health per 5 seconds, and +8% movement speed. Force of Nature is a godly item against AP heavy teams. AP champions (are usually slow) can not chase too well, the extra movement speed assures that you can escape easily. The magic resist also blocks out a lot of nukey, AP burst skills.

BOOTS
Other viable boots

I highly suggest these boots for the CDR. If the enemy team's have no slows/stun/snares (which is rare) I would get these boots. It will help Riven to use her skills more often, afterall, she is a cooldown dependent champion.
Need MOAR attack damage?

No problem a few good items include...

This item is great against armor heavy teams. Each hit allows you to apply a 15% armor debuff on your enemy. a 45% armor reduction is an insane amount, and your auto attacks + Passive bonus + Armor penetration = insane damage in one hit.

A 2ND ONE?!? WHY?!?!? well because Bloodthirster provides the most damage out of all the damage items* when fully stacked, other than a fully stacked sword of occult which is not reliable... Not only that but having 2 bloodthirsters allows you to stack both at the same time! Having 2 fully stack blood thirsters means 200 AD and 50% lifesteal... from 2 items. HOLY SHI...TAKYI MUSHROOMS. I highly suggest considering getting a 2nd one if your looking for some insane damage.

This item provides some attack damage, health, and a nice passive debuff. I suggest getting this item when you're against champions with high mobility such as Master Yi or Miss Fortune. It slows your the target's move speed by 40% for 2.5 seconds. It helps you chase and even run away in certain situations. This item also provides 700Health! This is a huge boost in health, and the extra AD won't hurt anybody. WELL...maybe not YOUR team...anywayz ;)

Okay so here is a few item builds you can choose :

PURE AD, Glass Cannon Broooo:

Yes 3 bloodthirsters... it will give 300 ad + 75% lifesteal alone. But this is a super ad only build. I don't really suggest using this. This build also gives attack speed and armor penetration. A good STRONG build

PURE TANK :

If you are able to complete this build you will have 288 Armor, 114 Magic resist,and +80 health regen + .35% of your health per 5...AND THIS IS without the base armor/resistance ANDDD WITHOUT RUNES. DAAYYYYUMMMMMM tanking like a boss.

Tanky DPS (The build I use):

Zeke's Herald

This build is perfect for my playstyle. I am able to harass whenever the f* I want and I can do insane damage, I also have a health, armor penetration, CDR, and movement speed. ITSS BOOTYFUL.

Super Strong build (Build from Howrue)

-> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> ->

This build i got from a friend of mine howrue. I was on his team as he played, and dayummm was he good. He had soo much damage output that even the enemy team agreed that it was unfair. This is a great build, it provides ALOT more damage output then my normal build, and it still is quite tanky. The armor from Guardian Angel, the magic resist from Maw of Malmortius, and the lifesteal from Bloodthirster is more than enough to keep you alive. I definitely suggest trying this build out. Thanks Howrue hope we can have more fun games in the future :D

Skill Sequence. What combos should i Use?!?

This is the sequence in which you should be raising your skills.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Your can change the order in which you want to raise you skills. If you do not need a strong shield, and if you are looking for more damage output i highly suggest maxing out before , however you should still max out First.
Note: After the Sujeani Patch they are shifting Riven's damage into her skill. Her Q will now do much more damage.

Riven's Skill Combo

This section will allow you to perform combos that will deal the most damage in the situation you are in.

Riven's passive... Runic Blade should be taken advantage of.

I will explain Runic Blade riiiigghhhhttttt abouuuuttt here. Okay So, Runic blade is Riven's Passive. Riven's abilities charge her blade, causing her to do 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13 / 15 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage on her next autoattack. Riven can store up to 3 charges, and will only expend one at a time.
If riven has 300 bonus attack damage at lvl 18 she will deal 15+150 extra damage. Nice..So definitely take advantage of your passive because it will help deal a large amount of damage.
With this in mind I will show you the best combos to use in any situation.

Bush Harassing

If you are attempting to harass, and you are waiting in a bush.

COMBO 1

The best combo to use is....

......Auto attack...... Auto attack... ...Auto attack...

COMBO 2

Broken Wings... Broken Wings... Broken Wings... Ki Burst... Valor

COMBO 3

Broken Wings... Broken Wings... Valor... Broken Wings... Ki Burst...run away

These combo will allow you to deal about 200~400+ damage on the enemy and dash back to safety without being scratched!.

Explanations: For the Bush Harassing Combos.

Combo 1:

For Combo one you want to initiate your harass combo with Broken Wings. This will close the gap between you and the enemy. Use Broken Wings 2X. To fill in the Gap. This will charge you with 2 stacks of your passive. Auto-attack quickly to use one of your passive and then activate broken wing a 3RD time, to pop the enemy into the air. Auto-attack while he is midair to activate your Passive Again. When he lands Ki Burst This will stun him and give you time to auto attack again. Then Valor AWAY FROM HIM. Always use valor to either run away, chase, or dodge. Because we do not want him to retaliate. quickly dashing back into the bush will increase the distance between you and the enemy, and will also put a shield on you. By this point you dealt quite alot of damage. And you left without getting hit!! COMBO 1 takes practice to get used to, and execute correctly. Practice in Ai games to become a better player.

COMBO 2:

COMBO 2 is quite simple. However, this combo will not take advantage of your passive. Use broken wing 3X. Closing the gap with the first 2 and popping him into the air with the third. While he is midair Ki Burst and then Valor back into the bush, away from your enemy. This Combo's damage will derive from the burst damage of your Ki Burst and Broken Wings

COMBO 3:

COMBO 3 is similar to COMBO 2 but the order of your skills are different. I use this combo when the enemy is TOO far away from the bush, and the initial 2 Broken Wings did not fill in the gap. Instead of using Broken Wings 3X. use Broken Wings 2x and then Valor and then use your third Broken Wings. This combo is helpful because if you miss your third Broken Wings this will allow the enemy to attack you. Using Valor will fill the gap remaining, allowing to get into range for your 3rd Broken Wings

CHASING COMBO!!

COMBO 1:

The best combo to chase is ... Broken Wings... Broken Wings... Valor... Broken Wings... Ki Burst...Auto-attack/Ignite/ Exhaust/ Blade of the Exile

EXPLANATION FOR CHASING COMBO

Using Broken Wings 2X will allow you to get closer to the enemy. Save the 3rd Broken Wings to pop him into the air. Valor after using Broken Wings 2X. After using Valor, initiate your 3rd Broken Wings to pop the running enemy into the air. then Ki Burst to stun the enemy and allow you to auto attack to kill him. If you still were not able to kill him at this point. apply your summoner spells: such as Exhaust/Ignite/or even use your ult. If you were not able to hit the enemy champion with your 3RD Broken Wings. You will have a low chance of catching up. Do not chase. Chasing causes players to turret dive, and run into the enemy team/base. This usually results in you not getting the kill, and also results in your death. lol ^.^

MINION KILLING COMBO

Simple... Broken Wings, Broken Wings, Broken Wings then Ki Burst to kill off the remaining health of the minions. Then auto attack the remaining minions. Your passive will allow you to do more damage on them and you will be able to get last hit more easily.

These are the combos that I use with Riven, and they are good for harassing, chasing, Farming, Killing, initiating, escaping, etc. Hopefully you guys are all able to successfully use these combos to your advantage and get those kills ;)

Summoner Spells

GOOD SUMMONER SPELLS:

Ignite is good for finishing off enemy champions when your on cd.

Exhaust is good for catching up to your enemies. The massive slow put upon the enemy allows you to throw in more auto attacks and skills. Also it reduces the attack damage of the enemy. I sometimes use this during a 1 vs.1 fight to prevent him from dealing too much damage on me.

Flash is EXTREMELY helpful. Riven has no real escape mechanisms. Although she has superior mobility, if she is stuck, flash is your final move to escape. Flash also helps you get close enough to the enemy to land a stun.

This is ovbiously helpful if your going to jungle with Riven. Sorry but this isn't a jungle guide for Riven ^.^

Ghost is also an escape mechanism. It is helpful for running away and chasing enemies

OKAY SUMMONER SPELLS:

heal is not a good summoner spell, but it also isn't a "bad" summoner spell. It helps for tricking your enemies. Luring them and then healing and getting the advantage and sometimes the kill. However, i feel like the other summoner spells are more of a necessity for Riven.

This spell helps Riven get back into the lane after recalling. This helps you gain more exp and gold because you are back in the lane much faster allowing you to farm more minions and be ahead of the game. But I feel like there are other summoner spells that will prove to be more beneficial.

BAD SUMMONER SPELLS:

Clairvoyance is helpful, but I feel that Riven should not be the one getting this spell. Other spells are more beneficial and will help you more throughout the game.

This spell can be helpful when you are stunned or slowed, however, Riven's large amount of health and mobility makes it easy for Riven to escape. If you were stunned and now being chased Riven will usually be able to escape most of the time.

Not as helpful as other spells

Not helpful at all

Not even sure if this even exists anymore...

...do i need to explain?!?

Choose the summoner spells based on your team composition, and use them wisely, summoner spell cd are super long :(

That's pretty much it for Summoner spells. If you want me to post more info. please just leave a comment asking me to.

ENDD

Thanks for reading guys. It took me a while to make this build. About a month of dedication ahahah I would really appreciate it if you guys were able to leave a comment. I actually encourage hate. It helps me learn what I did wrong and hopefully make a better build in the future. Any questions pleaseeeeee ask. Thank you!!