Draven Build Guide by Zanryu

Introduction

Draven is a range AD carry which scale extremly well with attack damage through his Spinning Axe.

Pros / Cons

Pros it's very easy to lasthit with him he's a strong chaser

Cons vulnerable to skillshots needs a good amount of skill in the early game

Skills

Wicked Blades is a DoT applied whenever you crit or use Spining Axe. Wicked Blades stacks and deal damage independent of other stacks or durations. Due to the fact that this skill can proc from critical strikes Phantom Dancer could be a good item, but Draven doesn't scale with attack speed or movement speed. Youmuu's Ghostblade would be a greater increase of damage over all.

This guide is completly fixed on this skill so mastering it is half of the whole character. Spinning Axe is a self buff which amplifies your next auto-attack with a good amount of damage based on your attack damage. On hit Draven apply Wicked Blades on his target while the axe ricochet off his target and will land near Draven, depending where he runs to. If Draven doesn't move while the axe hits, the axe will land nearby Draven. In the early game it is recommend to run away from the enemies while catching the axe. Skillshot based champions like Blitzcrank or Ezreal won't be able to hit you when you increase the range to them. But you should also be careful: the enemy team can also see where your axe will land.

Blood Rush is a self-buff which increases your attack speed and movement speed for a short duration. However, if Draven catches a Spinning Axe the cooldown of Blood Rush becomes reset. Use this skill as a strong chasing, escaping and fighting utility spell whenever you can.

With this skill-shot ability you can knock back enemies of their way, while slowing them for a short duration. This skill is very useful when you got chased or want to chase a target.

Whirling Death is a global skillshot which will fly towards and past a targeted location until it hits a champion, reusing the ability or hitting the edge of the map. Then the axes will return to you, like Sivir's Boomerang Blade. The damage will decrease for each target it hits, but resets on returning.

Items

Open with Brwaler's Gloves to increase your chance to land a critical strike on level 1. Additionally the new Avarice Blade grants you 2 gold on each minion, tower and champion you kill. When you upgrade it as the last item it will become a complete gold increase with additional stats.

Why rushing this item? Even due the fact that Draven doesn't scale good with attack speed, the attack speed allows you in the early game to throw an additional auto attack after a Spinning Axe before you have to start to move to catch the ricochet. Additionally an early movement speed advantage can be a first blood to you.
If you have 1650 gold on your first return, buy B. F. Sword instead.


Besides the flat amount of Infinity Edge this item has highest amount of attack damage, besides Sword of the Occult. And the life leech component will help you infight.


As a pure damage source Infinity Edge is always a good option.


Draven scale extremly good with attack damage and with armor penetration even better, when the enemies already have a low amount of armor.


If the enemy team focus you hard, this item can be a turning tide. The additional armor and magic resistance also allows you to take on 1 on 1 fights easier.


Additional attack damage and additional armor penetration for the last game when the enemies stacking armor against you.

Other items

Many people think that Trinity Force is a must-have item, because Spinning Axe refreshes when you catch it. But Trinity Force doesn't proc from catching the axe alone. You have to reactivate Blood Rush every two seconds to gain the maximum from it.

As mentioned before the critical strike component is the only useful stat on this item. Draven doesn't scale good with attack speed and with Blood Rush he has the remaining stats already as a build-in. It is still a viable choice rather than Last Whisper when the enemies won't stack armor.

If the enemies are very agile or like to burst you Frozen Mallet is a very good item on each carry. Additionally combined with Atma's Impaler you receive a huge amount of attack damage.