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Jarvan IV Build Guide by Pentacrit

Support Dunkmaster's J4 Support Guide (In-Depth)

Support Dunkmaster's J4 Support Guide (In-Depth)

Updated on July 12, 2014
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Pentacrit Build Guide By Pentacrit 8 2 61,702 Views 22 Comments
8 2 61,702 Views 22 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Pentacrit Jarvan IV Build Guide By Pentacrit Updated on July 12, 2014
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

READ THIS FIRST!

My name is DunkmasterDarius and I play on the NA server. I am Gold ranked, because I still get all the season rewards I would have if I got diamond. (Seriously Rito, motivate me to play ranked past gold.) Feel free to add me if you want a live demonstration of this guide :P

Jarvan IV is a god-tier and the most American support in the game. He uses almost no mana for insane amounts of CC and AoE steroids, and has an ult that goes through spellshields.

IMPORTANT: If your ADC has Ignite, bring Heal, or vice versa. 2 Heals isn't as effective as one of each, and J4 already has insane amounts of CC, so unless you plan of shutting down a Master Yi or other AA based champion with it, don't bring Exhaust

At the moment, if you can master J4 support, you will win games. You will win a lot of them. Quite frankly, he is broken, and was so before the Leona nerfs and the J4 buffs. Enjoy the Freelo while you can, because this Patriot is gonna get nerfed the second anyone plays him at the LCS or worlds. His synergy works with every ADC in the game, and works with even other brawlers ( Darius). However, in solo queue, stick to the support+adc model. Read what I have to say and im sure ill change quite a few minds.

The only people so far to say J4 support isn't god tier are the ones who haven't seen it.

America. Now and Forever.
- Jarvan IV
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CHANGELOG

6/16/2014 Guide created
6/17/2014 Items polished, runes and masteries expanded, matchups created
6/18/2014 Added Greater Seal of Health to runes list and made runes section look better
6/18/2014 Added Skill Analysis chapter for more clarity on intelligent leveling decisions
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How we discovered J4 support.

It all started as a joke



Me(DunkmasterDarius) and Shaeman111 co-run the Youtube channel PentaCrit together. I was complaining about the lack of manly supports in the game (This is before Braum) and Shae challenged me to find some. I chose J4 support, and this is the turnout.



I was amazed at how broken he was. I was winning vs Plat/Diamond and not even paying attention. So we tried something a bit more drastic to test it out.


Eventually more and more people wanted to know how it worked, so I posted a guide on my first video description. The players I defeated and played with all started telling their friends, and higher elo people (Challenger/Diamond) started checking it out. Its why that video has like 50x the views any of our other ones do.

AND THE LEGEND OF THE GODLIKE PATRIOT WAS BORN.

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Support Tier List! (This is an opinion from a support main)

God Tier


(These will often beat out other supports if the ADCs are of similar skill.)

Jarvan IV
Thresh
Braum
Nami (Used to be A tier)

A Tier


(These are solid picks and usually have a very strong and reliable showing)

Sona
Leona (Used to be God tier)
Lulu
Blitzcrank
Taric
Nautilus

B Tier


(These may not be the most reliable(in my opinion), but can often make plays and surprise people)

Morgana (Used to be C tier)
Lux
Zyra
Annie(Used to be A tier)
Shen
Alistar (Used to be C tier)
Karma
Gragas
Soraka (Used to be C tier)
Janna
Heimerdinger (Pre-Rework was C tier)
Elise

C Tier


(If you choose anyone on this list, you had better have a good reason)

Galio (Although not mechanically bad, his passive makes harassing insanely hard without stealing farm from ADC, and has no way to heal the ADC other than Heal and support items)
Nidalee (Used to be B tier)
Lee Sin
LeBlanc (Used to be B tier)
Nunu & Willump (Used to be B tier)
Pantheon
Darius (Used to be D tier)
Lissandra
Anivia

D Tier


(May be reported for trolling, you have been warned)

Shaco
Sejuani
Trundle
Brand (Used to be C tier)
Xin Zhao (This one isn't too bad, but you have to be a great Xin))
Kayle (Dinky heal and nearly impossible to not steal farm)
Sion (Stun is good, other than that.... ew.)
Veigar

Z Tier


Zilean (Literally any intelligent human being will take your bombs and use them to make your ADC lose farm. If you dont spiral out of control 5 mins into the game with kills, congrats, you just lost bot lane for your team and underfed your ADC.)
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Runes

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush

[*] Greater Mark of Armor: J4 doesn't need any offensive gear, take armor to boost your already silly base amount.

[*] Greater Seal of Scaling Armor: J4 will normally start the game somewhere between 46-50 armor without flat seals. Take these to stay incredibly tanky all game.

[*] Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Take these to fend off mages and dps-based supports lategame.

[*] Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Good on literally everyone. Makes J4 much easier to harrass with due to his passive.


Other Viable Runes

[*] Greater Quintessence of Health: This is a great pick for a tanky support, and J4 is no exception. I take speed over this so I can harass better with him, but if you would rather a bit more safety (and ability to eat bullets) earlygame this is a great option.

[*] greater quintessence of armor penetration: Great for kill lanes, and all game will make a difference vs their squishies (Your 10% hp passive does physical damage). Combines with your lategame armor shred, a viable option for if you want to do more damage.

[*] greater mark of armor penetration: Same reasons as above, good for your passive, so good for America. Just know you will start the game with less armor if you do this, so you may want to switch Greater Seal of Scaling Armor with Greater Seal of Armor.

[*] Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage: This may come as a bit of a surprise, but as J4 you have a 1.5 AD scaling on your ult. That means these will add about 40-50 damage to your ult lategame, as well as increase your ability to do damage and harass with Q mid-lategame. I personally prefer armor pen over damage due to his passive, but to each their own.

[*] Greater Seal of Health: A lot of people I know ask why I don't run this. The answer I usually give is J4 is simply already amazing earlygame, and I do not feel he needs any extra tankiness. I would much rather use Greater Seal of Scaling Armor to ensure tankiness all game. However, if you feel like you need an extra 72 health (Which is quite a lot early on) these are definitely viable.

[*] Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Against a Lux or Annie? How about a Morgana or Zyra? Boy do I have a deal for you! If you are worried about getting nuked/bullied down earlygame by AP casters, and don't think your combo can deal with them sufficiently (or don't have faith in your ADC) flat MR might be the way to go. A few champions have good innate MR gains per level, J4 is not one of those people. That extra survivability might be worth the less MR lategame.

[*] Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction: If the enemy team has little to no magic damage, this is an amazing alternative to MR. More cooldown, more combos, more CC. You can literally chain CC someone all the way from your base to theirs (even someone like Zed if you take advantage of cooldown reduction items such as face of the mountain and Locket of the Iron Solari.
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Masteries

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Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Effective at all stages of the game
+ Has one of the hardest to counter CCs in bot lane
+ Knockup combo also gives bonus Attack Speed to your ADC and reduces the armor of all hit enemies (and is just over a 10 second cooldown at highest).
+ Is incredibly tanky and has a incredible shield that slows(Can tank 2-3 turret hits at skill level 3 if you hit 2 enemies)
+ Can leap over walls for ward coverage
+ Your flag works as a ward
+ Your combo goes through everything but knockback and death
+ Every ADC is Jinx with extra AS from flag at their turret.
+ Ult is on a low cooldown and works against spellshields
+ Passive hits for 10% of max HP FROM LEVEL ONE.
+ ONLY ONE TRUE COUNTER IN ENTIRE GAME ( Thresh)
Cons
- Can trap allies in misplaced ults
- Relatively hard to master
- Passive can occasionally steal kills
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Skill Analysis


This does damage. A lot of damage. So much damage you can get kills all game without a single offensive item, mastery, or rune. 10% of max hp all game from your first hit, and the time between procs changes as you level up. Make sure in fights to rotate your target (Unless you're trying to lock someone down) to do maximum damage with this.


This is where most J4 supports fall flat. Maxing Dragon Strike first is the #1 mistake a J4 support could make. The % armor pen is tempting, but remember, most champs don't have that much armor earlygame, not to mention its his only skill other than his ult that has an increasing mana cost making it nearly impossible to sustain in lane. Not to mention, it leads to your combo accidently stealing tons of CS from your ADC, and does not hasten your combo at all, only slightly increases damage and increases its mana cost. Not to mention reduces your survivability by not maxing your W or E.

That being said, this is his best lategame ability in teamfights other than his ult. 26% armor shred is huge lategame, but that's also why you max it last. You accomplish literally nothing by putting any points in this before you have to (Except at level 2 to enable your combo.)


Always max this first. Always. In lane, I cannot tell you how many kills this has gotten my ADCs. Its a shield, its a slow, its everything a support dreams of. AND its cooldown decreases with rank so get that lame argument out of my house. Its literally the best earlygame ability you could ask for, and lategame it can help win teamfights with its slow. In combination with your combo, at level 3 you can start denying farm and bullying the enemy out of lane. Maxing W first allows you to not only slow the people you didn't knock up, but slow those that you did, allowing for chain CC and letting you and your ADC absolutely wreck the enemy bot lane with barely any consequences. Whats that? You focus down J4, who just knocked you up and slowed you? Too bad I have a crazy strong shield and you both just took 10% of your hp MINIMUM. Whats that? J4 can do this every 10-13 seconds for barely over 100 mana? And it stays that much until you start leveling Dragon Strike? Yeah. America. Get some.


You get this first? Why? Free vision to scout bushes, 10 armor, 10 AS, and ability to offer some help to your ADC level 1 with AS. You max this second. Why? More armor, more AS, ability to get objectives faster as a team, more damage from your combo, and all keeping the same mana cost. People underestimate that a proper J4 support in a lane with a decent ADC can sustain for ages. Getting Dragon?Drop a flag. Need help with Baron? Drop a flag. Taking turrets? Drop a flag. Seriously, I cant count the number of times the enemy bot roamed mid, and we proceeded to take 2-3 turrets simply due to the pushing power this skill has. Just drop flags whenever your team needs the AS, or when doing your combo. Your flag belongs everywhere, because everywhere belongs to America.


This is either your best or worst move. You need to practice J4 enough to know Cataclysm's radius or half the time you will trap your allies in their grave. However, you can use this move in several ways. You can Cataclysm and then E>Q combo out of it to trap 1 or more enemies in a pit for forever while your team escapes. You can lock someone in a pit that is dueling a champion like Tryndamere or Darius so they have to Flash to escape. In lane you want to use this to lock the enemy ADC and/or support in place so your ADC can take potshots at them, all while having increased AS from your Demacian Standard and armor shred from your Dragon Strike. Possibly my favorite use for this is against Hecarim or Master Yi, because 700 movespeed doesn't help you if you're trapped in a pit. Not to mention, the cooldown on this is super short, and if done correctly, can win entire teamfights all game.
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Skill Sequence


EDIT: I should not have to explain why maxing percentage armor shred is bad earlygame, and sustain/objectives are good. Earlygame your armor shred only takes out 1-3 more armor per level, while lategame it takes 6-8(minimum). This is why you don't max Q until lategame, while you max W (sustain/bullying in lane) and E (armor/gives AS to all nearby allies for objectives) first. Q maxing is good for every other role, but not support.

This is why J4 is broken as a support. He isn't made to be one per se, he just happens to fill the role amazingly. You want to get your E first for that sweet, tasty 10 armor and AS. You then want to grab your Q level 2 for super easy first bloods (with a coordinated lane partner).

Hitting 3 is when this s**t gets patriotic as f**k. You now have a 90 health shield that slows by 15%. Combo this with your flag to hit both of the enemies (or just the most open one). As you level up you need to prioritize the shield.Because it has no scaling ratio, the base values are stupid high, especially in a lane versus 2 people. After your W, prioritize E for extra armor and AS for taking turrets faster. Lastly, Q, for that lategame armor shred amazingness.
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Laning

Play passively early on, but know you are MUCH tankier than most of the supports in the game. Even at 1, your flag can act as a low mana-cost ward, and can scout bushes. You want to ward river as much as possible, and if you are unlucky enough to get camped, use the knockup>slow combo to ensure your ADC gets out scot free (And you normally will as well).

Farm with your Captain America shield passive, and as soon as possible rush a Targon's.
This is when you really start showing off capitalism.


Work hard, get paid hard, until you get 800 gold for a Sightstone. If you want, you can rush a boots before the Sightstone, but make sure you also invest in a Vision Ward. Once you get a Sightstone, switch your ward trinket for a Sweeper, which will help you make the other support's life hell. After all, only America should be allowed to spy on terrorists, not vice-versa.

Win your lane (alternatively stick with your ADC if for some reason you actually manage to lose against anyone but Thresh.) and move around warding and helping your team. You have incredible mobility and a metric f**kton of CC. You can launch yourself over walls to engage, escape, or quickly moving around their jungle to WARD. As Jarvan, you have a unique ability as a support that allows you to easily, efficently, and safely ward/de-ward enemy territory, especially the jungle.

Move into lategame and keep building tanky. Once teamfights begin, your job is to be the American you are, and once your allies are ready launch yourself head-first into the enemy carries with your ult, and don't forget if they flash or get out, you can cancel the walls with another activation of your ult. Make the best use of your passive by hitting each enemy in turn to do maximum damage, and use items such as Face of the Mountain and Locket of the Iron Solari to keep yourself alive, although because of your massive amounts of armor and MR, that wont be very hard.

Best of luck! I will expand this guide with matchups and ward locations at a later date!

Oh. And even if you arent from America, STAY AMERICAN.
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