Jarvan IV Build Guide by childofthegrave

Introduction

Updates

Volibear Patch Notes: 2011-12-28

Martial Cadence (Passive)

• Damage changed to physical from magic
• Damage changed to 6/8/10% (at levels 1/7/13) of the target's current health from 8%
• No longer procs spell effects such as Rylai's or Spell Vamp

Increased the hitbox size of Demacian Standard when targeted by Dragon Strike

Sweet! Now Dragon Strike + Demacian Standard are even easier to land. His passive now scales with levels as well. The damage is also changed to physical, which makes The Brutalizer and Youmuu's Ghostblade an even more viable choice, good stuff!

Pros/Cons

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Pros + Fun to play + Extremely durable + Does a heap of damage + Extremely good early game + Good CC if done right

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Cons - Got nerfed hard - Abilities have high mana cost - Ultimate can mess up teamfights - Very easy to miss E + Q combo

Masteries

Offensive

Summoner's Wrath - While your ignite is on cooldown, this gives you 5 AD, better than nothing.

Brute Force - Provides some nice early damage

Alacrity - Stacks with the attack speed from Demacian Standard

Weapon Expertise - Gives you more armor pen, which is good for late game and early game true damage

Defense

Resistance and Hardiness - Max one of these out according to other team composition

Durability - Extra health never hurts

Vigor - Good health regen that makes you last longer in lane

Indomitable - The damage decrease isn't that gamebreaking, but it will help

Veteran's Scars - Stacks with your Quints of Fortitude

Enlightenment - Allows you to spam your skills later in the game

Honor Guard - Same as Indomitable , but it will make you that little extra bit tanky

Juggernaut - HOLY **** this is amazing, this makes you very durable, and makes you less susceptible to disables, something Jarvan needs in teamfights.

Runes

• Greater Quintessence of Health: Gives you early lane durability, can also be replaced with Greater Quintessence of Vigor.
  
• Greater Mark of Desolation: Extra armor pen for teams stacking armor and early game true damage.
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Some magic resistance if against AP caster in lane, can also be substituted for Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for late game magic resist.
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: Some early game armor that stacks with Demacian Standard to make you durable in lane against champs such as Gangplank and Garen.

Summoner Spells

Flash: Got nerfed in the last patch, not as good as it used to be, but still a great summoner spell.

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Ignite: Good spell to finish off that person with 100 health left, also negates healing and characters like Dr. Mundo.

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Exhaust: You can replace Ignite with this. Use this if they have a dangerous AD carry (e.g. Vayne), you can shut them down easily.

Ability Explanation

Martial Cadence - It's pretty much a Madred's Bloodrazor autoattack every 6 seconds, it does 8% of their health. It used to be 10%, but the nerf is not noticeable. This passive is good for last hitting and tanks for later on.

Dragon Strike - It's an AD skillshot, its a very thin and short skillshot, but you should be able to hit it most of the time. It scales incredibly well with AD (120%) and as a plus it lowers their armor as well.

Golden Aegis - The worst spell in Jarvan's kit, it still has its uses. It gives you a shield, depending on the amount of enemy champions around you. It's also an AoE slow, not the best one there is, but it does its job. Use this sparingly, as it costs a lot of mana.

Demacian Standard - The passive is very useful, giving you extra armor and attack speed. When activated, it places a flag on the ground, giving every else in the area the armor and attack speed. This is very useful in teamfights. You can also shoot your Dragon Strike at the flag, which will drag you to the area, knocking up anyone in its path. This is very useful, especially against champs that channel their ult (such as Katarina and Karthus). Keep that in mind when in teamfights with them. You can also use this as an escape tool, I've gotten out of many hairy situations with it.

Cataclysm - This is what separates the good Jarvans from the bad Jarvans. The use of this skill might determine the outcome of a teamfight. Use this skill to target AD carries or squishies in general. DO NOT trap champs such as Fiddlesticks while doing his ult or Galio while he is doing his ult, you'll kill yourself and your team. Cataclysm can also be used with other ults, if you have a Fiddlesticks on your team, consider using your ult in conjunction with his, the same goes with Galio, Amumu and Kennen.

Put a point in Cataclysm whenever its upgradable. Max out Dragon Strike first because it does great amounts of damage. Then max out Demacian Standard for the passive and the aura. Then max out Golden Aegis, its not as useful as the other skills.

Items

• : Start off with this item, gives you a nice HP boost and some attack damage. With this item you'll have nearly 700 hp.You can also get two if you're having some trouble with your lane. You can also replace this with Cloth Armor or Boots of Speed.
  
• : Best choice for boots in the game, it gives you magic resist and tenacity, a much needed stat. This item can be replaced with Ninja Tabi or in some rare cases Berserker's Greaves.
  
• : A very good item in the laning phase. It gives you armor, 23 Attack Damage and some very nice lifesteal. This item will keep you very sustained in lane. It also comes with a free ward, making it good against junglers.
  
• : This item gives you all you need, Armor Penetration and Cooldown Reduction. Not only will your Dragon Strike do more damage, you will be able to spam it more too! This builds into a Youmuu's Ghostblade, which will give you crit chance and a neat active.
  
• : This item gives you the best of both worlds, damage and durability. You also have a chance of slowing your opponents, which will help you get many kills. This builds into a Frozen Mallet which makes you even more tankier and the slow in now constant.
  
• : This item tops off your damage output. With this item and all the other items, you will have around 255 AD, which is insane! This also gives your 45 armor, very good against an AD heavy team, and some more crit chance.

• : This item is optional. If you want to spam your skills in lane, you can take this item instead of a second Doran's Blade. It also has 30 magic resist, so it is also good against champs such as Akali or Galio.

From here what you build is your choice. For me, I like to build Force of Nature for some nice magic resistance and for the movement speed boost. Then if you want you can sell your Wriggle's Lantern for one of these items.

DAMAGE
Infinity Edge
The Bloodthirster
The Black Cleaver
Madred's Bloodrazor
Last Whisper
Trinity Force

ARMOR
Randuin's Omen
Thornmail
Frozen Heart

MAGIC RESIST
Hexdrinker
Wit's End
Banshee's Veil

Team Work

Jarvan's role in teamfights is to destroy squishies. He can do this is very well by using Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike in conjunction with each other. He can also separate champs from the teamfight with his Cataclysm, which can make all the difference in teamfights. If the enemy team is running, use Golden Aegis to slow them down. That's all there is to it.

Dominion

Jarvan is a very good Dominion champ, he can fit many roles. He can hold a point, he can capture points and he can kill people with little to no harm done to himself. He can be a very good disruptor as well, with abilities like Dragon Strike that can hit multiple people and his Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike combo.


I play Jarvan as a DPS/Tanky champion on Dominion, with this setup you can kill champs with ease, while being somewhat tanky at the same time.


The only changes with runes I have in Dominion are the Quints, I usually take Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed for mobility, or Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage for more damage, since the Crystal Scar Aura gives you armor penetration.


Pretty much the same setup as Summoner's Rift, except I mostly take Ghost for early point capturing. You can also take Garrison if you plan on holding a point for a period of time.


Again, same as Summoner's Rift.


The core build is pretty much the same as Summoner's Rift, I take Prospector's Blade and Boots of Speed to start off, then build the The Brutalizer for some more killing power, then I get Berserker's Greaves to make you kill faster ;), Mercury's Treads is still a good choice if the enemy has a lot of CC. Then as always, build Frozen Mallet, finish your Youmuu's Ghostblade then build Atma's Impaler. From here on, what you build is your decision.


For lack of better words, Cataclysm can really screw up a team on Dominion, whether it be their team or yours. Cataclysm can be used in many situations on Dominion, such as:

• Preventing a champ(s) from capturing a point
• Separating a dangerous AD carry or fed champ from a fight
• Trapping them inside your point, so they get repeatedly shot by the turret

You SHOULDN'T use Cataclysm when your team is fighting on an enemy point, if the enemy team has a Garrison, it can lead to some nasty results. Only do so if your team is confident that they'll win the fight outright. Same general rules apply from the advice given in the Ability Explanation section.

Summary

Thank you for reading my guide for Jarvan. I hope you have as much fun with this build as I have, please leave a comment and vote, any criticisms are welcome.

Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.