Guide Details x Introduction x The Riven family x Changelog Champion x Pros / Cons x Abilities x Combos

Pre-Game x Skins Explaination x Runes x Matchups In-Game x Items x Wallhops x Trading and powerspikes

Greetings fellow primates. My IGN is itsAMC and i'm Silver II on EUW. Riven is literally the only champ i enjoy playing so I naturally became a Top lane main. Being low-elo trash I have seen and been though hell and have seen things you can't even fathom , but today i'm here to teach you how play probably the most mechanically intensive champ in the game. This is my first guide so there will probably be some inconsistency and lack of flair but no flame..You aren't a Riven main yet.

Pros + Strong Lane Phase + Tons of Mobility + Shield that grows with AD + Execute on R2 + Lots of engage potential + Virtually no skill cap If played right , Riven can win almost every lane bar a few with knowledge of opponants and their limits making her a strong champ in the right hands. She also has insane chase potential with her Q Broken Wings and her E Valor. On top of this her E scales with AD making her late game shield very strong. While Riven is not a pick up and play champ , If you take the time to learn her she is the most rewarding champ in the game and theres always more to get better at with her.

Khans - Hard to carry with - Dumpstered by ranged tops - Hard to get good at - Relies on teammates to follow a engage Despite popular belief...Im looking at you hash , Riven actually has some weaknesses. The first is that since she mostly builds Bruiser items she can be very hard to carry with if even or behind unless their team is a bunch of apes. Also she gets destroyed by ranged toplaners as she is melee with very little hp early game. You will also have to put in a good amount of hours to get good at her by learning combos and matchups which can delay your climb a bit. Lastly , like most toplaners she relies on her team to follow up as most of her power is in her engages.

Runic Blade Stores a charge and increases your Attack Damage for every ability you use. This is where most of Riven's damage comes from as when you fast combo (explained later) you get more DPS than whne you just Q spam. It's good practice to try auto between every ability for maximum damage.
Broken Wings Slashes forward in the direction that the champs facing twice and the third Q knocks enemies up in a area. This Broken Wings is the iconic Riven ability that gives her all the mobility she's known for. If your cursor is hovering over a enemy then she will Q to that so keep that in mind. Auto in between each Q for max damage
Ki Burst Stuns everyone around Riven for 0.75 seconds. Not much to say about this , can have big impact if used in the middle of a teamfight.
Valor Shields Riven for 2 seconds for a portion of damage which scales with Attack Damage. Probably the most broken ability on riven as the shield is only a relatively short cooldown and if used right will help you win almost every trade. Can be used to animation cancel which i will discuss later.
Blade of the Exile Empowers Riven's abilitys for 15 seconds giving her auto's more range and her abilitys more range too. Can be activated again for a Wind Slash which executes depending on missing health. This is one of the biggest powerspikes in league as it gives Riven 20% more AD and it gives her more range which allows her to oneshot most champs with a full rotation. R2 Wind Slash can also be used to clean up a teamfight if they are low enough.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: This is a must take summoner spell on Riven. It allows her to engage and also escape early ganks. IGNITE: This is a good summoner on Riv as it gives her a lot of kill potential in lane and also gives pressure against harder matchups as they have to be weary before trading with you. TELEPORT: Probably should take this most games as it lets you roam to other lanes then Teleport back to lane so you dont miss minions and it also allows you to split late game and then tp into teamfights or to objectives like baron.

Everything else like Exhaust or Cleanse isn't worth taking in my opinion unless you have Summoner Spellbook.










Riven , being a champ with a lot of flexibility , also has many different keystones that she can run in many scenarios. Because of this i'm only going to put down the essential tree's to save time and space.

ARCANE COMET ✦ Arcane Comet Pretty much take this Keystone if you want damage in lane. It has a relatively short cooldown and you almost guarantee it with your 3rd Q and W. Take The Ultimate Hat , Transcendence and Scorch with Domination as your second tree with Sudden Impact and Zombie Ward.

KLEPTOMANCY ✦ Kleptomancy Take this when you have little to no kill pressure in lane and you just want to farm up until mid game. The other 3 runes are personal preference but Cosmic Insight is practically perfect for Riven. Second tree is either Domination or Sorcery

AFTERSHOCK ✦ Aftershock Aftershock is my go to rune right now as it is so unbelievably broken as it gives 70 armor and MR at level 1 which makes sure you win every trade you go in for. If Aftershock gets nerfed then take Grasp of the Undying as it allows you to trade more often. The other runes are situational and so is the second tree.

Other viable runes on riven right now is Unsealed Spellbook and Electrocute but i feel that Electrocute is a noob trap and should't be played due to its long cooldown.

BLACK CLEAVER

YOUMUU'S GHOSTBLADE

Black Cleaver is maybe the best item on Riven due to its health and armor shred passive with some decent AD. All these stats help riven when she's having a rough laning phase or when she's against a tank. It's best to build this after you get Caulfield's Warhammer.

Honestly just a all-round solid buy as it gives 55 AD and it also gives you Lethality which helps you negate early game armor so you kill faster. The MS is also nice. Buy when you are against a laner you can kill and chase down like Darius. Swap out for Duskblade of Draktharr if you dont need the MS.

DEATHS DANCE

RAVENOUS HYDRA

Vary rarely you build this first item as building Black Cleaver beforehand is the more optimal buy and you build your Caulfield's Warhammer into this item. The build path is very good and its perfect as its passive has saved me more times than i can count.

This is what you build Tiamat into and it's every Riven players best friend as it allows for more combos and the lifesteal it gives isn't something to be laughed at. It also makes splitpushing that much easier. All round great item and should be considered every game.

TITANIC HYDRA

GUARDIAN ANGEL

The other Tiamat item. Only buy it if you really need the hp as Ravenous Hydra is just more useful.

Armor , Ad and get out of jail free card if you f*ck up?. Yes please. Buy last or second last item so you can dive in , kill the boosted Ashe , then revive and gtfo.

LORD DOMINIK'S REGARDS

MAW OF MALMORTIUS

Only build this if the other team is stacking armor which will only happen if you are full AD or the other team are degenerate tank abusers cough Maokai cough Sejuani

This is the go to item if your noob mid fed the enemy LeBlanc or you built Hexdrinker for the enemy laner. Gives you AD and MR which Riven likes.

MERCURIAL SCIMITAR

MORTAL REMINDER

Very good item that gives you Quicksilver Sash which is a free cleanse of cc which can make or break a teamfight. Also gives you Ad and lifesteal which is good for you.

Only build this if the enemy team has a lot of lifesteal like Vladimir or a Vayne late game. Build later into the game from Executioner's Calling if you have one.

Combos are what make Riven... Riven. Without practice you WILL not succeed at this champion but if you put the effort in you will feel the true power of the exile. Most of her combos are Animation cancels which lower the down time between inputs if you time it correctly.

Before we go further i would make tutorials for these combos myself but there's already a plethora of good tutorials by better riven players than me so ill just link them instead unless i need to make one :)



This is the first thing you learn on riven as it is the most essential part of her kit. This combo allows you to get the maximum damage from your passive which will help you kill things faster and get challenjour so learn the f'ing combo K.

The best tutorials for fast comboing i've found are the following videos. Watch , Learn , Practice , Repeat.













For this combo you press E then W right after. Notice in the video how when i did it at the same time the stun didnt go through because the game still thinks you are at the beginning position. This combo is used to escape enemies or catch them.





These combos involve pressing E then the desired Ability. Mostly used in conjuntion with other combos as you will see later





Make sure you press E then Flash then W or the stun will not go through.





Used with Tiamat items to add more damage to a combo. Make sure to press tiamat before the ability but they can be cast almost simultaneously.





You can also use r2 and Q or r2 and W at the same time amongst other combos i'm too lazy to make videos for.







This combo can be tricky to get perfectly and is mostly mustle memory. The way I do it is to press E twice then press Q and W at the same time and once you get it down you'll be able to get it most times. Can also be used with 3rd Q.





This takes your knowledge of the previous combo and adds a flash into it. the r2 is just for extra looks and damage. This combo will most likely nearly oneshot a squishy.





This is how you will engage in teamfights like 80% of the time maybe with some difference. This combo goes ER then flash 3rd Q then auto the squishiest target , tiamat W , R2 Q.
practice this combo in steps and make sure you have it perfect because you will need it.





Again , Riven has many combos and it would take me forever to make bids for them all so go explore youtube for more if you've got these down.









It is told that in the olden times , Lord Shy of Korea , Bestowed upon BoxBox the combo of the shy so he could take it and show us lesser beings how oneshots should be done. From that day forth bonkbonk would be known as the messiah of all RivenMains and we would sing his name as we oneshot that Vayne who roamed too far from his team.

Oh yeah the combo is E+R , Flash W , auto tiamat , r2 + Q





Not sure who popularized this combo but i always see boxbox do it so thats what im calling it. Its probably the cleanest way to oneshot a enemy with little to no counterplay if done right. The combo goes R , E auto , QW doublecast , Auto , R2+Q. A flash can also go in-between the E and Auto but it takes ALOT of practice.

Note: The combo with flash that i put in is trash but im too tired right now to get it looking clean.







I'm too lazy to show you all of them so ill just put this video in here that shows most of them.









A big part of Riven's kit is her ability to scale most terrain in the game using her 3rd Q of Broken Wings. This is my favourite part of Rivens kit as it allows for surprise engages and gives you the option to escape bad fights if you are good enough.

All you will need to become the flip god is down below but these wallhops , like most of Riven's kit take practice with some wallhops being almost impossible to perform in a game first time.






source = https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/tips-tricks/EbsjEHWz-a-map-of-jumpable-walls-for-riven-nid-kalista













In most circumstances you will be taking Broken Wings level 1. This allows you to take better trades as if you Fast Combo properly you can half health your enemy which will set up a easy lane or a level 2 all in.



This is where you really start to see why people consider Riven to have a broken laning phase as there is little counterplay when you Fast Combo with Ki Burst thrown in. When they try and trade back you can use Valor to soak up their damage while creating some distance or use it to continue trading while eating a ability.




Always try and hit 6 before your opponant as Blade of the Exile allows you to 100-0 most enemies with a full rotation early game so you are almost guaranteed a kill with the Level 2+3 Combo with Blade of the Exile popped.





Your role as Riven in the early game is to farm creeps as well as possible while also trading effectively with your lane opponent. The best time to go in for a trade with Broken Wings is when the first minion wave is nearly dead as you will take less minion aggro which can chunk you for 30% of your hp early game if you take a bad trade.

After you get Blade of the Exile and you have shoved lane with Tiamat or killed you laner you can now ROAM. This is really easy on Riven due to her mobility with Broken Wings and Valor. A good roaming pattern is to check mid before you come to see if the enemy is pushed up or if he's blown his escape. If you feel like mid is ungankable then you can INVADE the enemy jungle and take farm or use a Vision Ward on the red brambleback or take it if its there.





This is the strongest part of the game for Riven as she has most likely a Youmuu's Ghostblade and is working on a Black Cleaver so she has TONS OF DAMAGE. Your main goal is to assassinate the enemy ADC and be a engager for your team using the 3rd Broken Wings. Another thing to do is to Splitpush with a Tiamat and take objectives for your team while also providing pressure for your team. This is not advised if you didn't take Teleport as if your team is in a 4v5 and you can't Teleport they will most likely lose and you will lose towers and dragons for it.





Unless you are building full Lethality this is the part of the game where you do laughable damage unless the enemy's were stupid enough to not buy Guardian Angel or another armor item like Zhonya's Hourglass. Your main job in the late game is to do big engages using Flash and Ki Burst and peel for your ADC because Late Game is your 0-11 Vayne's time to shine.

The best thing to do is be proactive and get Drakes and set up for Baron nashor whenever its up while splitpushing when they are not up.







For nearly every Champion in the game skins are a cosmetic item which doesnt change gameplay or give you a edge. However , Riot Games being the small indie company they are decided that Riven needed to be a special snowflake and made it so that skins actually effect her combos greatly but it still is personal preference as the default Riven skin is pretty smooth to combo with.






Probably the smoothest Skin to combo with as it is basically the Default Skin retextured so all the animations look the same. I don't use this skin but I see every Riven Main and their Grandmother using this skin so I assume it's pretty good.




This is MY favourite skin and the reason why is because it's the same as Battle Bunny with the animations being the same as the Default Riven skin but Championship just looks better to me idk. *Only available during worlds however so not always available.*



This skin is LITERALLY made for Riven's animation cancels which shows if you look closely and the skin also has a custom recall with new voicelines and new Taunts etc. The skin is 1820 rp which is pricey but Riven is looking T H I C C on the rift with this skin so the choice is yours.











https://www.twitch.tv/dekar173
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1NEvOGuhf9UoknPBF3pbg






https://www.twitch.tv/boxbox
https://www.youtube.com/user/albertsunzheng






https://www.twitch.tv/1adrianaries1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpMAJYwvgrYZ_SrON96KA




https://www.twitch.tv/viper
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhTDvxYDkkhDDZG6PGSV3A



If you want to be put here HMU in the comments.






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