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Jarvan IV Build Guide by rasR pi4ate

Jarvan IV: Offtank of the Jungle (IN-DEPTH)

Jarvan IV: Offtank of the Jungle (IN-DEPTH)

Updated on November 11, 2012
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League of Legends Build Guide Author rasR pi4ate Build Guide By rasR pi4ate 48 11 365,067 Views 41 Comments
48 11 365,067 Views 41 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author rasR pi4ate Jarvan IV Build Guide By rasR pi4ate Updated on November 11, 2012
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Jarvan IV
  • LoL Champion: Jarvan IV

Introduction

Welcome to my Jarvan IV jungle guide. In this guide you will find A)How to jungle Jarvan IV B)How to initiate fights C)When to initiate fights D)How to be a team player E)How to unleash this beast's potential F)How to become a LEGEND and demolish the enemy team's fed carries!

Another thing to note is that I am NOT a 2k ELO player nor am I the best Jarvan IV player out there. I simply want to give newer players some guidance and tips on Jarvan IV. I would also really appreciate it if you guys could leave a comment to support me or give me some useful criticism so I can make this Jarvan IV guide better. If you leave a comment that gives useful criticism to this guide, then you are awesome. If you are a troller, and I know that some of you are out there, then uninstall LoL please. Now, without further ado, and onto the more happy things, I present you guys, my jungle Jarvan IV guide!
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Story Line


As the royal family of Demacia for centuries, members of the Lightshield line have spent their lives waging war against any who opposed Demacian ethics. It is said that every Lightshield is born with anti-Noxian sentiment in his blood. Jarvan IV is no exception, even though he is the first Lightshield born to the age of League of Legends. As his forefathers had before him, he led Demacian troops into bloody engagements with Noxian forces, and on many occasions he has bled alongside wounded allies and fallen comrades. In his most crushing defeat, he was outmaneuvered and captured by a Noxian battalion under the command of Jericho Swain. This mistake nearly cost him his life at the hands of Urgot , but he was rescued by the Dauntless Vanguard, an elite Demacian strike force led by Jarvan’s childhood companion, Garen.

Those close to him believed that his capture had changed him. Xin Zhao was quoted as saying: "His eyes never seemed to look at you, only through you to something he could not look away from." One day, without warning, Jarvan IV handpicked a squad of Demacian soldiers and left Demacia, vowing to find "atonement". He began by tracking and hunting the most dangerous beasts and bandits he could find in northern Valoran, but he soon tired of such prey. Seeking something that only he understood, he ventured south of the Great Barrier. He wasn’t heard from again for nearly two years. After many had assumed the worst, he returned to glorious fanfare on the streets of Demacia. His Demacian plates were adorned with the bones and scales of creatures unknown. His eyes bore the wisdom of someone twice his age. Of the twelve soldiers who had departed with him, only two returned. In a tone as cold and steady as steel, he swore to bring the enemies of Demacia to their knees.

“There is only one truth, and you will find it at the point of my lance.”
The “last words” of Jarvan IV at his failed execution
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Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Legendary ganks
+ Anti-Carry
+ Can carry games
+ Initiator
+ Big map presence due to Jarvan IV's mobility
+ Yells DEMACIA!
+ Has durability with Golden Aegis and Demacian Standard
+ Does "tons of damage"
-Phreak
SPACE

Cons

- Mana hungry early game
- No sustain in the jungle
- Can use Cataclysm and trap your team inside
- You can hit the keys too fast that you whiff your knock up
- People can knock you out of you Cataclysm
- Darkforge Jarvan skin looks terrible
- Pyroclasm 'nuff said
- Has abnormal shoulder pads that don't make him look as bawse as he should be
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Abilities

Jarvan IV extends his lance through his opponent, dealing 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+1.1 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and lowering their armor by 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 % for 3 seconds. If its lance contacts his standard it will pull Jarvan IV to its location, knocking up all enemies in his path.
Explanation: An ability to set up ganks and lets you juke an entire team easily. Simply Demacian Standard into Dragon Strike to get away. This ability also lets you poke an enemy champion at a safe distance without having to wait for a long cool down. Dragon Strike also lowers the armor of any champions hit, allowing your Cataclysm to hit an enemy for a **** load of damage.

Jarvan IV forges a shield protecting him for 50 / 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 per nearby enemy champion) damage for 5 seconds and slowing surrounding enemies by 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 % for 2 seconds upon activation. The shield adds more mitigation for every enemy champion nearby when activating.
Explanation: This ability just gives you that little bit of survivability that you need in order to get out of a team fight alive. This ability also has its slow effect, which lets you set up some easy ganks by walking up to an enemy and simply pressing your "w" key.

Passive: Grants Jarvan a bonus 10 / 13 / 16 / 19 / 22 % attack speed and 10 / 13 / 16 / 19 / 22 armor.
Active: Jarvan IV throws a Demacian flag to a nearby area, dealing 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+80% of ability power) magic damage to enemies in the area and granting his passive benefits to nearby allies and again to himself for 8 seconds.

Explanation: This ability allows you to jungle a lot more safer without having to worry about ganks. The flag grants you vision of wherever you throw it, allowing you to scout, steal, and secure buffs a lot more easier.

Jarvan IV heroically leaps to an enemy champion, dealing 200 / 325 / 450 (+1.5 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and creating a circle of impassable terrain around them for a 3.5 second duration. Jarvan IV can destroy the area by activating it again. Champions can still leave or enter the area by using teleport abilities.
Explanation: Ahhhhhh.... how I love this ability. This is what defines Jarvan IV. Used improperly however, you will get your team killed while your team is flaming at you. This ability marks whatever target you choose, it's a big circle of doom that you can enclose your enemies inside to have a little one verses one with the enemy Ashe, if you know what I mean. Huehuehue, but seriously, this ability lets you isolate your target so you, or your team can surround him/her, and just reap them...
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Summoner Spells + Explanation

Smite: REQUIRED FOR ALL JUNGLERS! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT JUNGLING WITHOUT Smite EVER! If a jungler doesn't have smite, the enemy jungler can smite steal all your buffs, not to mention the big cheese's like Baron Nashor and Drake .
Tips and Tricks
  • You can mouse over the Smite icon to see how much damage your Smite will deal.
  • Always kill important monsters/neutral monsters with Smite (make sure Smite is the killing blow.
  • You can always Smite steal the enemy's buffs easily if the enemy jungler is a lower level than you because your Smite will do more damage than the enemy's Smite.

Flash: The savior of the universe is yours if you pick pick this spell. I can't begin to tell you guys how good of a summoner spell Flash is. With this spell you can stick to the enemy carry like glue and break their face in with your huge spear of awesomeness. Also, if the enemy carry is trying to kite you because you didn't one shot him/her, then your Flash should be able to close the distance in order to murder them.
Tips and Tricks
  • You can Flash over the thicker walls as long as the Flash range is over half the distance of the wall.
  • Try to fight by a wall so if you are losing the fight (which will rarely happen :D) you can immediately Flash over the wall and escape with your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike. (There are exceptions though, an example is if a Vayne is fighting you, she can always Condemn you into a wall and kill you while you are stunned.
  • Don't forget that you can also use Flash offensively too.

Exhaust: Only pick this if nobody on your team has it, or if you really want to get first blood and set the enemy behind. If you want to pick this spell, make sure you don't over commit to anything unless you know where everybody is on the map (if you use all of your abilities and somebody is coming, then you won't be able to escape). Use Exhaust on the enemy ad carry to reduce their damage by 70%, combined with your Demacian Standard you can reduce the enemy ad carry's damage by a significant amount.
Tips and Tricks
  • You can usually net a kill early on due to your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike knock up. After they get knocked up, throw an Exhaust on them to make sure you have them pinned down.
  • A good time to pick Exhaust is if the enemy lanes have natural pushing champions such as Mordekaiser or Sion. That way, you can easily gank and kill them, resulting in a first blood.
  • You can easily invade the enemy jungler if you have your Exhaust up, unless somehow screw up really badly.

Ignite: Pick this only if you always find the enemy getting away with a sliver of health left. Or if the enemy team has big heals, for example Soraka, Dr.Mundo, and Swain.
Tips and Tricks
  • If you know an enemy champion has a major healing spell such as Wish, Ravenous Flock, or Feast, then put Ignite on them to negate some of the healing effects.
  • If the enemy carry has so much lifesteal that you can't kill them, then feel free to Ignite them and reduce their healing to nothing.
  • If you know that an enemy champion will die with just one auto attack but you don't want to go in to kill them, pop your Ignite on him/her and hear the announcer say, "An Enemy Has Been Slain!"

Other Summoner Spells besides Smite, Flash, Exhaust, and Ignite I don't recommend, seeing as they don't really help Jarvan IV be a beast. If you have different opinions on Summoner Spells and/or want to know why others may or may not work, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section.
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Masteries + Explanation


Utility tree: I find that Jarvan IV without the blue buff in the beginning of the game will have a lot less health, super slow jungle speed, and absolutely no mana. Plus, Jarvan IV is a relatively slow movement speed champion compared to others, such as a Teemo. You can't expect to get a kill no movement speed like Baron Nashor (who has 0 movement speed btw). That's why we get the Swiftness and Runic Affinity masteries. We can have the blue and red buffs longer, which means we can gank and get kills more often. Plus, we can boost our movement speed so we can chase down that pesky Teemo (we all hate teemo, don't deny it :D).
Defensive tree: Jarvan IV has no sustain what so ever in the jungle, so investing in the defense tree allows for less damage taken. Which will result in your being able to gank lanes affectively without losing a tone of health. You guys may now be asking, how about the damage, I need more damage in order to get a kill, right? Don't worry, I will discuss and address this problem in the section below this one.

Optional Masteries: You could go into the Offensive tree as it could benefit you, but I just enjoy the extra movement speed and buff duration. The armor penetration and extra attack damage can benefit you, but my personal preference is going into the utility tree :D
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Runes + Explanation

Greater Mark of Desolation: With all the defense you invested into your masteries, I feel that Jarvan IV's early game damage isn't as great as it should be, so we address this problem by adding some armor penetration to boost your damage output. Plus the armor penetration scales really well into late game, allowing you to get little to no armor penetration, yet still being able to do huge amounts of damage.
Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Another option if you want to net a few kills early on. The only problem with flat attack damage is it doesn't scale well into the mid-late game. Sure, it'll boost your early game damage by a bit, allowing some damage in ganks and a small improvement in your jungle time. But, you may have to waste an item slot for a Last Whisper because you won't have enough armor penetration in order to do any damage.
Greater Seal of Armor: Standard jungle Seals. Without the bonus armor, you will come out of the jungle with almost no health. Meaning you will have to recall multiple times. Which will result in your falling behind in levels. When you are a level or two behind, the enemy laner can just kill you and get away. Which will mean, you are feeding. Thus; you won't be able to do your job as a jungler correctly.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Since this is an offtank Jarvan IV build, these are the standard glyphs an offtank would get. The glyphs don't really matter in terms of jungling speed or sustainability. However; in a team fight, I find these runes pretty important, because this build doesn't have a lot of magic resist. Why don't I get any magic resist? Once a champion gets a lot of health, magic damage kinda loses its potential of nuking down somebody quickly. That's why we build lots of health instead of magic resist. If the enemy is smart, they would probably build a Deathfire Grasp and Void Staff. If that is the case, then build a Force of Nature to negate some of their burst damage, I will further explain why to get Force of Nature in the section marked Optional Items.
Greater Quintessence of Desolation: I find these one of the best quints because of the armor penetration it gives, added with your marks, you should be doing big damage. The explanation for these are almost identical to the Greater Mark of Attack Damage explanation.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Another great option due to the ganking power and mobility it gives you. Combined with your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike you will most likely get a kill early on. These quints really helps you run away or chase an enemy. If you get these quints, then your ganking prowess just sky rocketed. The only reason why I don't always get these quints is because during the late game, you won't be able to do damage to tanks in order to clean up a team fight (This is the AP carry's roll, but he/she may be dead).
Greater Quintessence of Health: These runes give a big boost to your sustainability and ganking potential. This will allow you to leave the jungle with higher health. As well as, giving you that extra health for ganking a lane. The reason why these aren't exactly my choice is, you have to sacrifice a bit of ganking prowess for these runes, and I don't think I'm prepared to do that just yet. However, these runes are great if you like having that little bit of health at the end.
These are my opinions on runes that I find the most effective for me, but it really comes down to personal preference and playstyle, if you like to go for the early kills and just destroy the enemy or deny them, then get the Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed. If you really like big damage late game then pick up the Greater Quintessence of Desolation.


NOTE: If you want to see an explanation or a specific rune I missed and/or disagree with me, then please leave me a comment in the comment section and I will try to respond back.
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When to Pick Jarvan IV


Question: When am I supposed to pick Jarvan IV?Answer: If the enemy team has one or more pushing champions, then you have the best success with Jarvan IV. Some pushing champions include Gragas and Corki.
Question: Why does Jarvan IV usually win when the enemy team has one or more pushing champions?
Answer: Jarvan IV relies on ganks in order to do big damage in the late game, since champions who push are more exposed to ganks, due to how far pushed they are, they are an easy target to kill. Jarvan IV without kills early game will fall off late game in terms of damage. However, Jarvan IV has so much utility that it kinda doesn't matter. With his Demacian Standard's armor aura buff, he can easily contribute to the team fight. Also, Demacian Standard also gives you assists if your allies get kills with the aura around them. Jarvan IV's Cataclysm is so good by itself because it forces the enemy carry to attack you, which is what you want to do. Cataclysm also has an obvious visual effect. Meaning, your allies will be able to focus the carry because the enemy carry has a big wall of doom surrounding them that acts as a huge target.
Question: What happens when YOUR team is made up of pushing champions? How should I play Jarvan IV now?
Answer: If your team is made up of pushing champions, then your role as a jungler has changed. You should be constantly moving all over the map, taking the enemy's buffs and small camps. This way, while you are moving, you can easily spot any ganks from the enemy jungler easily. Even if you don't spot the jungler in the bottom half of your jungle or the bottom half of their jungle, then it's a clear sign that they are going to gank top lane, make sure to ping your top lane to retreat to the safety of the tower. While the enemy jungler is at top lane, steal everything on the bottom half of their jungle.
Question:Can I solo top as Jarvan IV?
Answer: If you want to solo top as [Jarvan IV]] I would really recommend checking out Hochmeistern's Jarvan IV guide. You can find it here!
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Jungle Route


1. Start at Wolves and start smacking them with your humongous long spear (errr...)
Now head over to the Ancient Golem .
2. Ask for a leash on Ancient Golem and spam all of your abilities until the thing's dead (ALWAYS SAY THANK YOU once your team mate leash's the Ancient Golem ), Smite it once it gets to 445 health. Head over to the wraiths .
3. Kill the wraiths by initiating with your Dragon Strike and Demacian Standard.
4. Next, go to the Elder Lizard , and Smite it once its health goes down to 495.
5. Go to the Mini Golems and kill them.
6. Head over to wraiths and make sure you put a shield around yourself, now demolish them.
7. Recall back to base and buy a philosopher's stone, and let the gold pile up.
Ohh yeah, doesn't that skin just look so bawse?

NOTE: Since I didn't get a leash on the Ancient Golem , I couldn't start out with a Regrowth Pendant and Health Potion due to the face that I couldn't get a leash. Thus; I had to resort to using Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions in order to sustain myself through the jungle. Since I had more sustain, I was able to go to wolves again, if you started with the Regrowth Pendant start, then you won't be able to go to wolves twice.
If you find a better and faster jungle route then the one listed above, then please leave a comment in the comment section.
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Counter Jungling or Getting Counter Jungled


First of all, what is counter jungling? Counter jungling is when the enemy jungler and/or team decides to invade your jungle and possibly get a kill. The reason why the enemy jungler or you may want to counter jungle is for the specific reason to put the other jungler and team behind. If you counter jungle the enemy team, not only will it benefit your team, but it will also de-benefit the other team. The enemy jungler won't have the necessary levels or health to gank other lanes (which makes a jungler useless, because he/she won't be able to do their job affectively. We will discuss what a jungler's role in the section below this one). This benefits you because you will have plenty of health, and a level advantage. Which will allow you to free up space in order to gank or cover a lane.
How to counter jungle the enemy jungler: Ask if your support can ward the enemy side as well as your side of the map. Not only will this allow you to see where the enemy jungler is, but it will allow you to steal all the enemy camps. Or better yet, smite steal the enemy's buffs and kill the low health enemy jungler. Once you counter jungle, get your butt out of there and onto your side of the map. If the enemy warded their side of the map, then the top, mid, or bottom lane may try and stop you. Which will almost guarentee a kill for the enemy, but the same goes for your team. If you see an enemy jungler by himself, than you too, can ask your team if they want to invade the enemy jungler. Also, if you steal the enemy's buffs. Then make sure you have the timer on them so you can come back and steal it again. Blue and Red buff's timers are 5 minutes long, so always hang near the enemy's buffs ahead of time so you can easily steal it and leave. If you see the enemy laners start to move toward your position, then no problem, just leave their jungle, don't even try and fight. Now you guys may be thinking, I didn't benefit anything from that jungle raid, what's the whole point, should I just cut my losses and never invade the enemy jungle? Well, the benefits you get are, you know that they have a ward around the area (which makes the ward a lot more easier to avoid when you are ganking/counter jungling). Another benefit is, you and your laner can sandwich the enemy laner and quickly kill him/her (make sure you ping the enemy laner, in order to let your laner know that you want to kill him/her).
Getting counter jungled by the enemy jungler: If you get counter jungled by the enemy jungler, than use this as a signal to say "Hey, I don't have enough wards around the map". I know, I know. You guys are now probably thinking, isn't this my support's job, or, don't wards cost a lot of money which will stall my build? Well you guys are partially right. Warding is the support's job, AS WELL AS, your job. Wards will save your team mates multiple times, preventing a carry such as Brand or Caitlyn to quickly switch lanes to gank, and as we all know, a carry will carry the game. Wards will be able to see a gank before the gank even happens. That way, the enemy laner will have wasted their time going to bottom, top, or mid lane to gank. While the enemy laner goes back to their lane, your team can sandwich him/her and quickly get a kill. Now, what to do when getting counter jungled, if you see an enemy jungler counter jungling you, repay the favor. Instead, do it two times worse. Steal twice as many camps as the enemy and always leave one monster behind. That way, the camp doesn't respawn until the enemy jungler kills the monsters. This will deny the jungler time to gank lanes, as well as experience. If the enemy jungler counter jungles you but all of his camps are cleared too, then immediately find a gank, even if it is unsecessful, make sure you try to burn the enemy's summoner spells (this still counts as a successful gank, just not as good as getting a kill).
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Your Job as a Jungler


!!!THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!!!

What is a jungler's role, and what is a jungler supposed to do? These are very good questions that some people don't know about, so this section is aimed to help those players out there that haven't jungled, or don't get the concept of jungling.

A jungler's role is to...
  • Apply pressure around the map. Meaning, gank lanes constantly and put the enemy team behind (make the enemy team afraid to come out behind their turret's to farm).
  • Help your lanes get far ahead so your team can win the game, meaning, if your lane is falling behind, then camp that lane (gank the lane constantly, apply pressure constantly).
  • You should always have something to do (jungling, ganking, or counter jungling).
  • Act as a moving ward around the jungle (move around a lot).
  • Keep an eye on the other team's jungle (if you know that a jungler isn't at their red buff or in a bush near bottom/mid lane, then immediatly ping your top lane to back. The jungler will most likely be doing his blue and immediatly ganking top lane. If not, then you know he's in your jungle, which means your mid and top laner can go and kill him. The same applies if the jungler isn't on the top of the map).
  • Support your team. Meaning if you spot the enemy jungler going bot to gank, stop what you are doing immediatly and go to bottom lane and counter gank (if you don't, then ask yourself this, is finishing the wolves or Ancient Golem as important as saving your team? Cause if it's more important than your team, then don't ever take the role of a jungler again). This way the odds are in your favor because your team has the element of surprise.
  • Cover lanes when your team mate is forced to leave, and the lane is pushing in favor of the enemy (plus, you get more experience in the lane then the jungle, which makes a jungler happy :D).
  • Secure your buffs and the enemy's buffs. Get the really important neutral monster camps, AKA Baron Nashor and Drake . Baron Nashor spawns at the 15 minute mark and respawns every 7 minutes. Baron Nashor gives you 300 gold, 900 experience, and a buff in almost every stat for your entire team, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE BARON BUFF EVERY TIME IT IS UP! The Drake gives you 190 gold and 400 experience to your entire team. Drake spawns at the 2:30 minute mark and respawns every 6 mintues, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE DRAGON EVERY TIME IT IS UP!
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When to Gank a Lane + How to Gank a Lane


When and how to gank a lane is actually fairly simple once you got your main combo down. Keep on reading and you will learn about these epic combos :D

When to gank a lane: Gank a lane when the enemy laners are pushed up, or your laner is falling behind in terms of creep score or kills. If you see an heading toward top lane, then you should also go to top lane and try to counter gank.
How to gank a lane 101: Ask your laner to bait out the enemy's summoner spells or escapes. How they do this is by acting as though they are out of position and are open to recieving a lot of free damage. For example, an enemy Gragas has his Body Slam to run away from you. If the enemy Gragas uses his Body Slam to hit your laner, then his escape is gone and you can easily use your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike combo for an easy knock up. Guarenteed kill.
How to gank a lane 202: If your laner is too low on health to be able to bait out the enemy laner's escapes without dieing, then simply walk up to him/her and activate your Golden Aegis for the slow. Next, keep auto attacking him/her until they use up their summoner spells or escapes. Once they are they're vulnerable, use your Dragon Strike aimed at Demacian Standard for the knock up effect. Now, you should be close to the enemy laner while all their escapes are gone, perfect gank situation :D
How to gank a lane 303: THIS IS ONLY POSSBLE IF YOU HAVE YOUR ULTIMATE, Cataclysm. Use your Dragon Strike and Demacian Standard for the knock up, followed up with your Golden Aegis for the slow. Next, when the enemy burns all their escapes, follow up with your Cataclysm to pin them down.
THIS WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR MAIN SPELL ROTATION/COMBO
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Junglers to be Wary Of


What type of jungler is Jarvan IV? Well, there are 3 types of junglers.

NOTE: THESE WERE TAKEN FROM stonewall008, you can visit his YouTube channel here, Stonewall008's YouTube Channel.

Ganking junglers: Junglers who snowball by getting kills early on in the game. These types of junglers require ganks to become effective in the late game. Their jungle speeds are ok, nothing spectacular. They're real power comes in ganking, being able to dish out tons of damage/having a lot of cc to pin their targets in place in order to murder them. These junglers usually have a gap closer to have an easier gank. Some ganking junglers include Jarvan IV, Lee Sin, and Alistar.

Control junglers: Junglers who can farm the jungle very well (usually people with spamable AOE abilties), AKA people who can clear the camps fast. These type of junglers don't need ganks to be effective. They can just farm the jungle all game and still be effective in the late game. This type of jungler's roll should usually be a counter-pick aginst ganking junglers, if an enemy jungler decides to gank a lane, then the control jungler can quickly clear all the ganking jungler's camps. These junglers sometimes assist in ganks, but their purpose is to be moving all over the map, not just between lanes. These junglers are mediocre at ganking, not the best, but not the worst. Some control junglers include Garen and Skarner.

Farm junglers: These type of junglers are very similiar to control junglers, except the fact that they require a lot of farm in order to be effective. Without the farm, they can't really do anything. These junglers usually just sit in the jungle and farm until late game. These junglers are really poor at ganking and get a lot more benefit from farming then ganking. Some farm junglers include Warwick (until he gets his ultimate) and Skarner.

Now comes the section about who to be wary of as Jarvan IV...

Alistar has the anti-initiation potential with his head butt. If you Cataclysm their AD/AP carry, then Alistar can easily push you back. Thus; wasting your Cataclysm.
How to beat Alistar: In a team fight, try to have your team bait out his Headbutt (and Pulverize, if you guys get lucky). If your team can't bait them out, then Cataclysm onto the enemy carry and immediately use Randuin's Omen to slow them. When Alistar uses Headbutt and Pulverize to knock you away, use your Dragon Strike aimed at Demacian Standard to get closer to the enemy carry, rendering the Alistar useless with no spells. Which makes it a lot easier to break the enemy carry's legs.

Malphite can instantly bypass everybody and rush to your carry with his Unstoppable Force, this is a huge problem for you. When you intiate with Cataclysm, your team will move forward to attack the enemy team, resulting in your carries being closer to Malphite. He'll just Unstoppable Force and begin to debuff your carry's with Ground Slam.
How to beat Malphite: Save your Demacian Standard, Dragon Strike, and Golden Aegis in a team fight so when the enemy Malphite decides to jump your carries. You can knock him up with your abilities, allowing your carry to kite the Malphite while the enemy team is attacking you and your tank (which is who you want the enemy to be focusing). Once Malphite is dead, your AP carry can easily clean up.

Lee Sin can easily put your carries out of position with his Dragon's Rage. He just has to go in the back of the fight and use his Dragon's Rage on your carry to put them in the front line.
How to beat Lee Sin: Basically the same thing as Alistar, except use your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike to knock up the entire enemy team when Lee Sin uses his Dragon's Rage. This will allow your carry to escape from the front of the fight and do damage from the back of the fight. Once your carry is safe, Cataclysm onto the enemy's carry since Lee Sin doesn't have his Dragon's Rage to kick you out of it.

NOTE: If you guys have any specific champions you have trouble against and want to know how to counter them, then just leave a comment about it in the comment section and I will try and write them into this section.
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How to Use Cataclysm Effectively + When to Use Cataclysm


One way to use Cataclysm effectively is during the poking engagement in the beginning of a team fight, use your Dragon Strike in order to poke. DO NOT USE YOUR Demacian Standard TO POKE! Your Demacian Standard has a pretty short cooldown, but it can't be spammed as much as you would like for a poking engagement. Once the normal rounds of poke have been thrown out. Wait for the enemy's carry (preferably the AD carry) to come out and poke your team. Once their carry is out of position like that, immediately use catclysm on them, don't waste any time using your Demacian Standard or Dragon Strike. This may be your only opportunity to have your team surround their carry so they can demolish them.
Another way to use Cataclysm effectively is when the entire enemy team is grouped up. Cataclysm the enemy in the middle of the cluster in order to get everyone inside your ultimate. Once everyone is inside your ultimate, have all your carries fire down into the mass of enemy champions. This way, your carries will be able to get free damage on the enemy team without taking any damage in return. While the other team's carries will be getting bombarded by your team.
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What to do in a Team Fight + Your Role in a Team Fight

What to do in a team fight + Your role in a team fight
  • Initiate on the enemy carry with your Cataclysm and have your entire team focus whatever is inside your big wall of death...of doom :D
  • If the enemy team is attacking your carry, stop whatever you are doing and immediatly use your Dragon Strike aimed at Demacian Standard to knock up any champions that were attacking your carry, that way, your carry can run out alive and still do damage in the team fight.
  • Stick to the enemy carry and kill them.
  • Focus the person your team is focusing (they should be focusing the carries).
  • PROTECT YOUR TEAM'S CARRY!!!
  • Act as the beef (yourself) between the bones (carries) and the enemy's bones (carries).
  • PROTECT YOUR TEAM'S CARRY!!!
  • Distract the enemy team so your carries can rip the enemy team apart.
  • Ohh, and did I mention to PROTECT YOUR TEAM'S CARRY!?!?!
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Core Build + Explanation

Philosopher's Stone
You really want to get these two gold per five items in the very beginning of the game. That way, you won't be gold starved if you can't get any kills. And as we all know, Jarvan IV can 2 shot those squishies if he gets some items.
Pretty standard for any type of jungler except for a Fiddlesticks or Maokai. This item is built for jungling. The procs for about 500 damage to a minion is just epic because it allows you to get the buffs super fast before the enemy team even has time to react. Plus, the armor and lifesteal is pretty handy. Not to mention the free ward it gives you every three minutes, allowing you to spend a lot less gold on wards.

This along with your Demacian Standard can debuff the enemy AD carry so much, that they can't even do anything. This item also gives armor, health, and a slow. Meaning, if the enemy AD carry is fed. All you have to do is, Cataclysm to them, activate Randuin's Omen, put down your Demacian Standard, and watch as the AD carry has
A)No damage, and B)No attack speed. Which is all the things that AD carries rely on. It also has the added benefit from being built from a Heart of Gold.
This item allows your team to escape or initiate a fight super easily. Shurelya's Battlesong just made your life 10 times more easier due to the buff it gives you when ganking a lane. Combined with your Randiun's Omen, nobody will ever be able to escape you or your team. It also has the added benefit from being built from a philosopher's stone.
Although this item is pretty expensive, I think it is absolutely worth it to buy. All the stats it gives you complements Jarvan IV's play style. This item allows you to get damage in order to do big damage. Run around the map super quickly from the movement speed. Gives you a bit more health so you can tank everything. Has a slow that, when combined with your Randuin's Omen, is a guaranteed kill, well, unless it's Udyr "because Udyr is ridiculous and I hate him."
-ColbyCheeze
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Situational Items + Explanation

If you want to really shut down the AD carry super hard, then get this item. The aura it gives is just amazing. Plus, it solves Jarvan IV's mana problems forever. I usually get this item at the end, but there are some rare cases.

I usually get this if our team lacks some damage, or isn't focusing the right people. This item will skyrocket your attack damage, allowing you to melt not only the carries, but also the offtanks and tanks. If your team is dominating and it doesn't matter what you build, then build this item. With all the health you are getting, atma's impaler should give you around 31 extra attack damage. That's almost as much as a Last Whisper!

I almost never get this item due to the fact that, once you get a ton of health, magic damage doesn't really do much to you anymore. An AP carry is supposed to immediately take somebody out of the fight quickly or clean up. If the AP carry can't do that properly, then the AP carry is useless. However, if the enemy team has a, Warwick for example, and he's building a Madred's Bloodrazor, then consider building a Force of Nature to negate some of the magic damage the item does. The 4% health shred only does magic damage, take that away from him, and he can't do much damage. Plus, if the enemy AP carry is smart and gets a Deathfire Grasp. Then I would usually consider building this item. You really don't want the AP carry to nuke you down before you lock down their AD carries.
Get this if the enemy team is always focusing you no matter what. It will force the enemy team to wait until Guardian Angel revives you in order to fully kill you. While the enemy champions are waiting around waiting for you to get revived, your team can destroy them easily. This item also gives you a lot of useful stats in order to tank, armor, magic resist, basically what every offtank wants.

I recently tried this item and I have to say, it isn't that bad. The attack speed it gives you is nice, coupled with your Demacian Standard attack speed bonus, you should be able to have a super fast attack speed that looks like you're hyped up on sugar. The reason why this item isn't my most favorite item (notice I said favorite, not useful, it's plenty useful), is because an AP carry can do burst in a short amount of time, but the auto attacks need to be hit before Wit's End is fully build up. Then again, the attack speed is really nice combined with your Trinity Force, you should be able to get a slow about 90% of each second.

If you want to go the aura tank where you practically take on the role as a Maokai for example. Where he's just one big tool and only tries to help his team, unless he's going AP, please don't go AP with Maokai or Jarvan IV please... so many trolls... Aegis of the Legion will give your team an aura that can benefit your team against an enemy AOE team. If your support doesn't get this, I would definitely get this, the aura is just too good to pass up.
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Conclusion


Now that you guys know how to be a bawse in the jungle. Why don't you try Jarvan IV out? I spent a lot of time on this guide, so a simple thumbs up would go a long way (AKA I would really appreciate it). Plus, if you found something that I can improve on, then please leave a comment in the comment section. If you guys found this guide was good, then leave a comment saying what you really liked about this guide :D
Hope this guide helped some of you guys out!

PS: This guide is for you guys, so if you want me to do anything or improve anything, just let me know and I'll try and change it/add it. (Just please don't be this guy...)
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Special Thanks To...


JhoiJhoi (for the guide formatting)
Keenplatypus (for adding a bit more to my, how to use Cataclysm effectivly)
Janitsu (for the other viable masteries)
xthebell (for helping me make my guide more clear)
Hochmeistern (for the suggestion for putting Wit's End in the situational section and Greater Quintessence of Health in the runes section. As well as the solo top Jarvan IV guide in the "When to pick Jarvan IV" section)
MyRepublic and Robo Ninja Monky (for alerting me to the big wall of text, as well as to add some line dividers)
Xiaowiriamu (for the most epic banner I have seen in my entire life, and the most epic chapter headings I have seen in my entire life)
MobaFire Community (for all the support and criticism you guys gave me to make this a better guide!)
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