Feb 17 2011

Basic guide up. Details in progress.

When I first played League of Legends, Ryze was my choice of champion. Why? I don't know, perhaps because he appealed to me due to his chain-casting. But, at that time I was new to the whole DotA/MOBA scene, so I sucked. Royally. Over time I got better, then I moved on to other champions. However, this new Ryze overhaul has gotten me really interested, so I attempted to build a Ryze build that would, as the creators of the game had hoped, make Ryze "like the Ashe of magic" (quoting them from somewhere I don't recall).

This guide is how I personally like to play him. The item build is what I tend to build in MOST games. Games differ, so items may change. What makes you a good player is knowing what to get when. So do treat what you read/see here flexibly, changing items, summoner spells, and masteries to suit your team composition.

I will take a brief moment of your time to explain the Pros and Cons of using Ryze:

Pros:

Spammable skills, which leads me to the next point
With smart playing, has a rather spammable shackle (Rune Prison)
Can reach/approach cooldown-cap very, very easily
His new range of 675 for Overload and Spell Flux is incredibly convenient for kiting/harassing -almost- all champs.
Played well and with the right items, can 1 v 1 as well as Team Fight rather well

Cons:

Like carries of any kind, is very item-dependent.
Lack of an escape
Early game may be a bit slow, due to mana-starvation if skills are used too recklessly
To maximize your team fighting potential, requires you to stay in the fray, rather than kite as most casters would

I'll explain my rune choices here, as well as suggest possible alternatives.

Marks
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - Pretty much a standard Mark for any Caster. I don't believe there is a better alternative.

Seals
Greater Seal of Replenishment - To help with early game mana-hunger, before Tear is acquired. Even after Tear is acquired, it'll help you stay out there farming or team fighting.
Greater Seal of Health - An alternative to help with survivability.

Sidenote: The reason I don't consider HP/lvl runes an alternative is because my build has Rylai's involved. If you personally don't want a Rylai's in your build, HP/lvl runes are definitely of consideration.

Glyphs
Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration - A somewhat standard caster Glyph.
Greater Glyph of Mana - For extra early game damage, as well as having a bigger mana pool.
Greater Glyph of Replenishment - For early-game mana starvation and help with spam-casting spells late game.
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction - If you really want to hit that CD cap ASAP.

Personal Preference
Exhaust - I think any team requires at least 1, if not 2 of these. Usually I don't see many people with this, so I tend to get it. Another reason why this is useful is that, as I mentioned, to maximize Ryze's potential, you need to stay in the fight casting spells as often as you can, as opposed to running away and casting when it's safe. Having Exhaust helps either keep enemies in a safe distance, or reduce the damage they are giving you if they are focusing you.

Ghost - Helps with running away, chasing, getting back to a lane or a team fight faster.

Alternatives
Teleport - To prevent BD/sneaky-pushing, as well as getting back to a lane or team fights faster. Being able to blue pill back and teleport back is a good way to regain MP if you're mana starved without losing much experience.
Flash - To QUICKLY get into or OUT of range. As Ryze requires you to stay in team fights to maximize his effectiveness, I -personally- don't get this on him -too- often.
Cleanse - Always useful if you know the other team has lots of CCs.
Clarity - If you are an aggressive player who likes to REALLY harass hard, get this to make sure you're not too mana starved.
Ignite - If you're an aggressive player OR you know the other team has someone like Vlad, Swain, Trynadamere, or anyone that heals or lifesteals excessively, get this; if not, consider some of the better alternatives above. The reason why Ignite isn't THAT important on Ryze is that Ryze can spam his Oversoul and Rune Prison quite easily, and with Rylai's, it isn't too much of an issue of someone getting away.

9/0/21 is the only way to go with Ryze. The variation of how to achieve those numbers, however, is flexible and dependent on not only team composition, but personal play style.

Offensive Tree
Required: 3/3 Archmage's Savvy, 4/4 Sorcery, 1/1 Archaic Knowledge

Optional:

Cripple - If you are packing Exhaust, recommended. if not, just put one into Deadliness just to make it to the next tier of masteries.

Defensive Tree
No...just...no.

Utility Tree
Required: 3/3 Meditation, 3/3 Quickness, 3/3 Intelligence

Optional/Discussion:

Tier 1
Good Hands - I HIGHLY recommend 3/3 but it's not a MUST. Why? Well, as a DPS you will tend to be focused on, no matter how good a team yours is, and you may or may not die. This ensures you spend less time dead and more time alive doing something.
Haste - If you're packing Haste, definitely recommended.
Perseverance - The reason I don't get it is that the % regen is really negligable, but if you really need some extra regen...

Tier 2
Awareness - You can 4/4 this, taking a point from wherever you deem fit. I usually don't have problem keeping up with leveling with 3/4, or even 2/4, so I left this at 3/4. Have it at 4/4 if you need that extra xp gain.
Expanded Mind - The reason why I 4/4 this is that it increases Ryze's damage, and manapool. Points can potentially be taken away from this to increase other aspects, just keep in mind that it will just decrease your damage by a bit if you do so.

Tier 3
Utility Mastery - I personally didn't take this because I don't quite need Golem for the CD as I hit 39% with items and masteries...however for early/mid game, the mana regen and CD (before you get the required items) is useful. So, if you are the kind of person who gets blue buff often, DEFINITELY 2/2 this.

Tier 4
Blink of an Eye - If you have Flash, get this. 'nuff said.

Tier 6
Presence of the Master - I like to get it to have my Summoner Spells available faster, but it's not a REQUIRED. You can take a point from this to place in other things of your choosing.

Laning Choice
I highly recommend you mid, although if you don't, laning with a tanky character that can either stun or slow and/or someone with Clarity would help. Regardless of what you do, the strategies remain more or less the same.

Early Game
Early game, you will focus using your auto attack to last hit minions, occasionally using your Overload at appropriate moments to either harass enemy champions, or get that additional last hit on some other minion. If your have the mana for it, harassing or farming minions can be done with Spell Flux as well, but your main focus early game is to last hit with auto attacking. Rune Prison is used for punishing them for playing overly aggressive - its range is shorter than Overload and Spell Flux, so use it wisely and not -too- aggressively.

Once you hit 6, play a little more aggressively, but not by too much. Make sure you cast as many spells as you can [within as safe of a distance as you can] when your ultimate is active to maximize the spell vamp part of it.

Mid Game
Work with your team to either kill your laning opponents, or have you gank other lanes. It is highly recommended you wait for a good time to charge in and Rune Prison them. The reason why I suggest using this skill first is because you can then Spell Flux and Overload to reduce the cooldown of Rune Prison (Using Overload some more to reduce the cooldown of Rune Prison even more). Don't tower dive - having them retreat to heal is just about almost as good as killing them. Don't stay too long to take down towers. At this point, you need to just help your team gain lane advantage, killing towers if it is safe to do so. While at this point of time, ganks are VERY important, it is still a semi-laning phase.

Late Game
Travel in groups, and ALWAYS stay behind your tank. NEVER face check bushes or even TRY wandering in their jungle alone. Cast Rune Prison, Spell Flux, spamming overload inbetween and as much as you can. Your focus is to machine gun those spells as fast as you can. If you see someone coming for you, Rune Prison them and focus on them, pinging them to have your team focus on CCing [if its a tank] or killing [if its a squishy]. Try to stay fighting/casting for as long as possible.

If you are forced in a situation where you are alone, use Rune Prison to your advantage to either rune away, or to kite the enemy. Rune Prison, then Overload, running away to wait for Rune Prison to be up again, and repeat.