Jarvan IV is an awesomely fun champion to play and with an easy escape and a very good harass for most of the top lanes I play with, i rarely struggle after I have obtained both my philosopher's stone+ Heart of Gold. Although some may seem that Jarvan is not a particularly useful champion as his ultimate occasionally gets in the way or backfires, if used correctly, the outcome is usually always favourable for your team. I hope you enjoy my guide and I will develop it over time when I can. Thanks for stopping by.

please note this is my first build guide,

Thanks,

Flesh Spoiler

The guide below is now mostly outdated, as items have changed along with masteries, I need to try the build out and then will check if it works and then finish updating the guide.

Pro's: +Awesome farmer under especially under turret due to passive +Great Initiator +mid game with Trinity Force +harass with passive +Turn around games with well placed ultimate +Good chase +knockup with Demacian Standard+ Dragon Strike combo +Temporary Ward Demacian Standard

Cons: -Mana dependable early-mid game ( Philosopher's stone helps greatly) -Can struggle without early game Gp'5s -Relative skill in using combo sequence -Summoners can Flash or move outside of your ultimate -I'm Jarvan and I'm Helping ;)

The Runes I use I use for all of my top AD Champs

Marks - Greater Mark of Desolation + Greater Mark of Attack Damage

I prefer the mix because the extra attack doesn't help much late game but is a bit more useful early, the Armour penetration adds onto your mastery+Q making much of early-mid game armour on opponents much less

Seals - Greater Seal of Armor

Flat armour runes, very useful in providing a tanky early game where less abilites are used. Aids in your ability to initiate and take less damage

Glyphs - Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

Magic Res per lvl is much more useful as you progress into mid-late game your encounter more AP

Quints - Greater Quintessence of Health + Greater Quintessence of Desolation

I prefer one health Quint, where 26 health early game is very useful, Armour pen aids in making your opponents armour useless.

You may also want to use Greater Quintessence of Scaling Attack Damage for extra attack damage instead.

If you do not like the runes, chose what you want but I prefer these and find them the most beneficial to my play style.

Summoner spells are well known and I do not believe i need to explain why some are not useful

Flash is great for escaping outside of your ultimate and in combination with Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike most likely will let you escape successfully

I prefer teleport on all of my top champions as it provides mobility around the map saving turrets and team mates.



Other viable spells



Ghost is a viable spell for chasing and escaping after a successful Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike.

Chose ignite if you want to play aggressive in the top lane. chose this if there is a lack of ignite on your team

exhaust is viable if the person stil has escaped after your ultimate Cataclysm, Demacian Standard to Dragon Strike combo during your lane phase, clearly from that explanation there you know thats silly. However since you will be an initiator exhausting the AD will be useful during the late game.

Passive

Jarvan's Passive is extremely useful in harassing early champions/minion farming dont forget it does bonus damage and use it effectively.

Dragon Strike -

This is your Q it is an effective poke dealing good damage while reducing the enemy armour, I get this first normally but it doesn't matter as long as your get demacian standard afterwards for the combo. I max this by level 9 and is a good damage dealer

Golden Aegis -

This is your shield and slow. get it third as it may come in handy in a gank, its also useful for the harass technique I have explained. I max this last as I prefer the Damacian standard, but max it second if you are stuggling as the slow down and shield will save you

Demacian Standard -

This is your E, it plants a flag onto the floor dealing damage while increasing armour+attack speed, it increases damage off of AP so dont max it first as you will do little damage. Demacian standard is your most useful ability, it can be a temporary ward, wall jumper, and most of all it is your knock up. Landing the Standard and the using the Q to lunge towards it pull to to the standards positions, in this process it will damage all enemies in the pull path and knock them up. try to get the standard behind the player just in case they try to run back out of the knock up - if you intend to E+Q always ensure it's safe and you are ready to commit to a fight, your ability to escape is now severely reduced.

Cataclysm -

Your ultimate and if used effectively, the game winner or "I'm Jarvan and i'm helping. when choosing to activate your ultimate you should be aware of the vicinity of your team and the enemy. your aim is to trap as many enemy inside of the area as possible while not trapping your own team mates, especially your squishy ones. When you have used your ultimate dont forget to use your Randuin's Omen and remember you can press R again to get rid of your ultimate zone. melee characters can still attack through the zone it instead just prevents movement. It's cooldown is relatively low so use it at every useful opportunity. I do not wish to say more to complicate things, you will learn when your ultimate is going to be useful, and remember it does do a damage which enemies will underestimate

Combo moves

I have said some of the combo's available but here I will explain them all!

#1

Demacian Standard --> Dragon Strike --> auto attack --> Golden Aegis

This combo is great consisting of armour reduction, knock up, passive auto attack, shield and slow. The slow can be for continued chase or harass.

This is your main combo and can also help you escape: here is a video -watch in full screen to see the clearer
#2

Dragon Strike --> auto attack

armour reduction plus passive proc is a good damage dealer if you want to wait for your Demacian Standard to either escape or chase as your Dragon Strike has a low cool down

#3

Demacian Standard --> Dragon Strike --> Cataclysm --> Golden Aegis

This is your full combo and if you use it with Randuin's Omen help your team greatly. it is possible to reverse this with Cataclysm first and if a person attempts to escape you can then use the knock up combo, remember you can press R again to deactivate the ultimate and allow your team to move out of it or the area through it as chasing will be hindered by moving around the area.

These are the main combo's and a great help for your team, especially if you can manage to Dragon Strike all the enemy their armour will be reduced.

You do not have to stick to this Item build but this is my prefered and is always reliable for me as long as I can switch things around a bit, I aim for early-mid damage and then late game off tank.

First Items

I prefer To start with the Regrowth Pendant purely because it accelerates into the philosopher's stone quickly, the health regen is worth while as I have explained, you want the other top laner to push so you will not be fighting much if you can try to stop it, 1 Health Potion doesn't hurt though :)

After you Have gained enough gold to buy your philosopher's stone + Boots + 1-2 wards ( not totally neccesary if you are farming under turret with full health) recall and get them and Teleport upto top again.

Continue till you feel comfortable to recall and get your Heart of Gold.

Summary

2x GP/5s is very good gold income in aid over the game.
Philosopher's stone = mana/health regen - you will rarely be OOM if you land abilities effectively.
[Boots of speed]] for movement speed ofcourse.

Secondary items

Buy your Sheen and head back to lane, now you can cause some real damage with Sheen proc. Land your Demacian Standard (E) just behind the enemy and Dragon Strike (q) towards them then use Golden Aegis(W), auto attack and either stand and fight or walk off with little punishment.

Summary

Demacian Standard + damage + Dragon StrikeQ = Knockup+armour reduction + Sheen Proc + passive auto attack + Golden AegisW = run away shielded with enemy unable to chase while you just offloaded a lot of damage.
Feel free to continue the fight and use ultimate Cataclysm to secure a kill.

Tertiary items

Continue the above sequence with Trinity Force while roaming and help secure kills for your team

Summary

Phage health+slow
Sheen Proc = extra damage
Zeal movement speed + attack speed
Mercury's Treads = anti AP + Tenacity

late game items

Randuin's Omen+ ultimate Cataclysm on 5 enemy = win

Randuin's Omen give you great armour and some health regeneration, its passive ability is a great combo with your ultimate

Force of Nature = Movement speed + AP Res + Health regen

get this after trinity force if the enemy is more AP

Warmog's Armor = Health and sustain + health regen

The last item

For your last item get whatever is required I have chosen Bloodthirster just as an example and I rarely get that far into the build, a Zeke's Herald may prove more useful if you have a more Ad's than AP's. ADAPT!

Bloodthirster = damage + lifesteal

Maw of Malmortius = damage + ap shield + damage per health lost

Black Cleaver reduce the armour of your opponents, truly decimate there armour

Atma's Impaler after Warmog's Armor becomes a very good item and aids your critical chance

Guardian Angel if you need to go uber tank with that revive could be useful but you are going to do less damage. chose wisely

Ionic Spark may seem silly however if you trap enough people in your ultimate it's proc will hit all of them and that damage will always be useful

Sunfire Aegis obvious health boost with passive damage with enemy in close proximity, obviously useful with trapped people in your ultimate

Tiamat although may seem silly but aoe damage in your ultimate makes it seem useful, it is also cheap

Thornmail if the enemy is heavy ad and you are getting focused a lot its obvious passive with extra armour and cheapness makes it viable.

Wriggle's Lantern This I deem a notable alternative as a last build, since it is cheap and adds life steal, a little attack damage and also allows the use of a ward during that extreme late phase

********Note*********
all of the last items are just suggestions and reaching your 6th item is very rare so adapt to what your team needs, a Madred's Bloodrazor may be viable but its expense is not.

I will now add up the costs of the Items I have shown, the value's in brackets is the total your have earned to buy all of these items.

Philosopher's stone 800 gold - usually returns 1000 gold over a game (+200 gold)

Mercury's Treads 850 gold. (650 gold)

Heart of Gold 850 gold - usually returns 800 gold (+150 gold)

Trinity Force 4070 gold (-3920)

Randuin's Omen 3075 gold (-6995)

Force of Nature 2610 gold (-9605)

Warmog's Armor 3000 gold (-12605)

other = wards/potions = 1000 gold (13605) - Pretty much a guess, depends if you are an avant warder

so now you have got 5 items and you've spent in theory 15320 gold if you negate the effect of your Heart of Gold and philosopher's stone.

as you should know by now breaking into the 15k+ gold earned barrier means you have to become very fed and due to the nature of jarvan he doesn't earn many kills but rather a lot of assists, but if you get assists it means you are playing him correctly. So now you know why the 6th item is rarely gained but I have suggested alternative items if you want to get it 6th or build alternatively.

Please take your time to read this it should help you dearly and don't forget to at least practise him once in a custom bot game to understand the role you will play which I will explain below.

Early Game

Jarvan is an exceptional laner if you use him correctly, His passive Martial Cadence allows him to farm so well that even if u accidently attack to early for the last hit you may still kill the minion. His early game is difficult as movement speed is low due to the lack of boots but this will not last long. Your aim as Jarvan is to let the enemy push as much as possible, preferably under your own turret. Jarvan is a great farmer and last hitting is simple, your tower may take a bit of damage from the minions but during the time you are under turret you can negate the enemy. If you are stuggling during the early phase do not hesitate to recall and get your philosopher's stone, it will provide you with all the mana and health you need. Jarvans passive Martial Cadence is also a great asset in your lane, 6% of the enemies health as bonus damage, even just attacking your opponent every 6 seconds once will provide you with a significant advantage in damage, if you include your combo Q Dragon Strike-E Demacian Standard-W Golden Aegis-Auto you will damage your opponent significantly with little damage occurring on you because of the knock-up + shield and then health regen. Early-Mid

Now you have reached level 6 and you have your ultimate, many people do not realise damage that is caused but jarvans full combo which makes him a great one on one mid game, especially with that Sheen proc. Try to poke your opponent till low health where they believe they can sustain in lane for a while longer, this is your chance, depending on the champions ability to escape you have two choices ultimate Cataclysm first expecting a Flash and then use your E Demacian Standard-Q Dragon Strike as a chase to knock up or vice versa. The range of jarvans ultimate is about the same as a flash so even if they do flash and you have used your E Demacian Standard-Q Dragon Strike to initate you can still jump on top of them as you were already in melee range, you may ofcourse just Flash to catch up and finish with ultimate Cataclysm, In this instance you are guaranteed a kill pretty much every time.

Mid Game

Heading into mid game around level 11 you will want to start roaming a lot more making effect of your ultimate Cataclysm, in many of my games when I do this I tend to lose my turret but this is what Teleports for and while the person is taking top you will be getting kills/assists being more beneficial to your team as you can get top later. Trinity Force dominates in Mid game where your should always buy Phage after Sheen to increase proc damage, the Zeal must come last as you gain attack speed from your E Demacian Standard anyway. Depending on team comp aim for either your Randuin's Omen/ Force of Nature - preferably Randuin's Omen in most cases as its special ability is awesome with your ultimate Cataclysm in conjunction with the W Golden Aegis slow. Just try your best during this phase to Protect team mates and initiate fights that you judge the outcome to be more favourably for your team.

Late Game

Late game - Late game Jarvan You may eventually reach your Warmog's Armor however most of the time I have never completed the build even with 30+ assists, do not worry you will still be helpful. Just keep up what you do in mid game and adapt to enemy play style.


You may die most of the time initiating with Jarvan, and if you do, awesome job, this usually means you have been focused allowing your team to mass damage onto the primary targets, many time I have died but my team ace without anyone else dieing. If you are not focused try your best to Crowd Control by knocking up primary targets Demacian Standard+ Dragon Strike or trapping champions in your ultimate Cataclysm.
After your have died start pinging the enemy champions that need to be focused. Not enough people do this in my opinion and can help your team focus correctly when things are messy.

For this image you will see me in the odd occasion, the 6th item i got was zeke's herald and was very useful for our last team fight, if anyone would like to see some gameplay clips from that game post a comment, we got 5 for 0 ace and our carry got a penta kill :) the game wasn't easy as you can see from the scores, it was very intense.

Since this guide is new please feedback and ask questions and give me constructive criticism.

Guide created 23/9/12 - I will respond to constructive criticism and change my guide. I would like to add in match ups to the guide but need to gather more information on my top lane opponents. I will also like to add clips and pictures of games I have played and my scores.

24/09/2012 - added Wriggle's Lantern to alternative 6th item

25/09/12 - added 5 video's for help with the guide - harass example/demacian standard pull/early game jungler gank/triple kill/5 kills

Special Thanks to JhoiJhoi! Her epic guide can be found here!