Riven Build Guide by NeshkeBGD

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my Riven guide.
My name's NeshkeBGD and I am presenting you my Riven guide!
In this guide I will include Dominion mode too,because I like to play it.
This is why it will be a bit odd,the order of chapters will be different.


Well,let's talk about Riven for a bit.
She is a melee fighter which has great mobility and destructive abilities.She can create great ability combos and she can use attacks in between them to make overpowered combos.More about this in Skill Sequence&Combos chapter.

Also,do never forget this. Riven is not quite easy to master,so don't be discouraged if you lose.Play any number of bot games if needed to learn how to use her.After that you can either play more games with bots or you can play games with other people.But,keep in mind that you must perfectly time your abilities to meet Riven close enough.






Although I don't like this guy's build I still want you to see the spotlight and to learn a few tricks I cannot teach you( probably I will say everything needed,but that is just in case).

Pros/Cons

Pros: +Very strong early game. +Overpowered combos. +Very tanky. +Manaless. +High Mobility +Giant sword. +Cute.

SPACE

SPACE

Cons: -Item reliant. -Pretty hard to master. -If you are newbie,don't play Riven. -Her dash cannot go through walls. -Must time your abilities right to take best out of Riven. -Must feed up earl game to be strong late,if not fed early,you will hardly survive the rest of the game.

Runes

Well,as I featured 2 guides here,I will set double runes this time.
This is for classic:

Well,here we have:
greater mark of desolation*9=

1.66*9=14.94

armor penetration.


Greater Seal of Armor*9=

1.41*9=12.69

armor.


Greater Glyph of Magic Resist*9=

1.34*9=12.06

magic resist.


Greater Quintessence of Health*9=

26*3=78

health.




As you can see,I use a bit of everything.Heres the explanation for runes.

greater mark of desolation-I prefer this over attack runes because with these runes you will deal more damage.

Greater Seal of Armor-Flat armor seals are very useful and,I guess are better than armor per level runes because you need armor on beginning of the game.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist-These are also very needed because most players prefer playing Riven solo top(me too).There you will take magic damage early in the game.

Greater Quintessence of Health-As in all games,health is always needed.





Well,that was for classic,now for dominion:



greater mark of vitality*9=
(0.54*9)*18=4.86*18=87.48.


greater seal of defense*9=
(0.15*9)*18=1.35*18=24.3


Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist*9=
24.3(as the rates are same)


greater quintessence of regeneration*3=
(0.28*3)*18=0.84*18=15.12


Well I will also explain runes for dominion.


greater mark of vitality-This will give you not something too much,but it is still useful.


greater seal of defense-This gives you a fair amount of armor at level 18.


Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist-This gives you fair amount of magic resistance at level 18.


greater quintessence of regeneration-This will give you good HP regeneration on level 18.


So,this is it.If your IQ is barely above the normal you should notice that for dominion I use only stat per level runes.xD

Items&Item synergy

There is whole lot of items you may like in Summoner's Rift,or in Crystal Scar.Summoner's Rift:

Item synergy:

On the beginning you will get Wriggle's Lantern which will help you farm and jungle(this build is viable for both lane and jungle,just if you're going jungle pick Smite instead of Ignite).After it you will get Hexdrinker.This item with Wriggle's Lantern will grant you great damage,magic resist,armor,wards and double shield(one from all sources of damage( Valor) and one from magic damage( Hexdrinker)).You will feel need to get Mercury's Treads because of speed boost,magic resistance and tenacity.Because you are fighter,you will need more HP,that is the part when Warmog's Armor is coming in.Well,I prefer to take this item instead of Frozen Mallet early because this item also has great passive.From here on you will get more and more tanky,and you will buy Atma's Impaler as the damage scales off HP.After it you will upgrade Hexdrinker into Maw of Malmortius to get better shield and to use the passive.You will complete your build buying Frozen Mallet and his HP,damage and passive slow will help you greatly.If you think this is necessary you can sell Wriggle's Lantern and buy Youmuu's Ghostblade.

Optional items

I know that this is great choice due to it's magic resistance,health regeneration and movement speed.


This is one of the best items in the game if you ask me.This is great choice,gives you armor,HP regeneration,health,CDR and you can slow enemy's attack and movement speed.



I have seen few guys use it,but I don't know about this item,I more like the items above.

Well,this is good choice due to the fact that this is cheap,and gives you damage and armor penetration(masteries+this item=50% armor penetration,cool huh?).I don't say this is the best choice,but in my opinion it is better than The Bloodthirster.

This is,like you may say,an odd choice.This is same as building Akali a Lich Bane.I believe this is good item on Riven due to her constant ability usage,you will trigger effect of Sheen very often.Also you have increased attack damage,attack speed and movement speed(critical strike chance doesn't matter much).

Well,5 items is enough,so let's head for dominion!


Crystal Scar:


Here you will pick up Chain Vest for early armor and boots for a little bit more speed.Later on you will buy Trinity Force with which you will have outrageous damage output,starting from Sheen,then you build Zeal and than Phage.Soon after you will buy Zeke's Herald for all the stats and soon later, Randuin's Omen for some durability. Force of Nature for speed and magic resistance.And we finish it off with Youmuu's Ghostblade.This is overall very mobile build and you have enough resistance and health to run and capture,as well to survive and kill enemies.You will notice that I have 50% CDR.That is great when combined with Trinity Force.Like imagine, Valors cool down is 6 seconds and the shield lasts 2.5 seconds.When you count in CDR, Valors cool down is 3 seconds and shield lasts for 2.5 seconds.You are missing only half a second which is not enough for you to be killed.This is great build,that is why I putted it in here.


Optional items:


I guess somebody would think this is a joke,but it isn't.This is a very smart choice.Your opponent will probably know that you don't have any of magic attacks,so he will not stack magic resistance,this will deal fair amount of magic damage.


This is nice to get when you see that the opponent stacks up armor,duo to true damage and slow from this item.


But if you ask me I wouldn't change anything because the build has it's role.But,if you see that you just need one of these optional items,get it.

Ability Sequence,explanation&Combos

Well,here we are,I will be explaining you ability sequence and combos I like to use.
First,I'll explain all of Riven's abilities:

Riven's abilities charge her blade, causing her to do 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13 / 15 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage on her next autoattack. Riven can store up to 3 charges, and will only expend one at a time.






Riven steps forward and lashes out in a series of powerful sword slashes that will damage all enemies nearby. This ability can be activated a second time within 4 seconds, and a third time within 4 seconds of that. On the third activation she will also knock nearby enemies back and have a larger radius of damage. All three strikes will deal the same amount of damage.
No cost
Cool-down: 13 seconds
Range of dash: 260
Radius of damaging AoE: 225 (estimate)
Radius of third strike's damaging AoE: 300 (estimate)
Knock-back: 225

Physical Damage Per Strike: 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+0.7 per bonus attack damage)

Total Physical Damage: 90 / 165 / 240 / 315 / 390 (+2.1 per bonus attack damage)

Well,let's say this is 3 cast ability.First two times it will deal damage and the third time it will perform a knock-back.This is great 1st level ability that triggers Riven's passive in each of strikes.





Riven deals physical damage and stuns nearby enemies for 0.75 seconds.
No cost
Radius of AoE: 250

Cooldown: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 seconds

Physical Damage: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

This is a short AoE mini stun which also deals damage.Note that stun will not increase by leveling up.





Riven dashes towards the cursor and gains a shield for up to 2.5 seconds.
No cost
Range of dash: 325

Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds

Shield Strength: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

This is a small range dash towards your cursor which will grant you a shield.

Note that this dash cannot pass through walls.





Riven's sword reforms, gaining 20% bonus attack damage, extended range on her damaging abilities and autoattacks for 15 seconds. She is also granted the ability to use Wind Slash once for the duration.

Wind Slash-Riven can activate the ability to emit a shockwave in a long cone in front of her that deals physical damage to all units hit based on their missing health.
Cooldown: 75 / 60 / 45 seconds
No cost
Range:
Missile speed: 2200
Bonus autoattack range: 75
Bonus Ki Burst range: 20 (estimate)

This empowers Riven and all her abilities and attack range for a few seconds.During that time she can cast wind slash but only once per ability cast.

Summoner's rift:


This will allow me to deal descent damage with my Ki Burst.I maximize Ki Burst before Broken Wings because it has lower cool-down.After,I max Valor because of good AD scaling and it's shield.I maximize Broken Wings last.

Also,if you think you are a little weaker than you enemy,and you are not confident,You can max your E first.So,it should look like this:


Or if you feel like maxing your Q first than it should be like this:


Crystal Scar:



This is a great thing.You go from unbreakable defense to unbelievable burst damage dealer,you also spam your shield like a maniac.Also,your great mobility is following you from the start of the game.

COMBOS

Ah,here we are,the combos chapter!I would guess your favorite! Riven has a lot of possibilities and a lot of different,but working combos.I will now explain why did I say in introduction that Riven can create overpowered combos if using attacks in between abilities. Riven's passive is Runic Blade,if you read ability explanation,you would know what I'm talking about.However,I will say this again.When Riven uses any of her abilities,she gets bonus damage on here next attack.Effect stacks up to 3 times.I will now say basic combo:
Blade of the Exile=> Valor=> Ki Burst=> Broken Wingsx3
This combo is used if you are new to Riven,there is a lot of different combos which are effective.Now,you will hear my combo.

DON'T WATCH THIS WHILE PLAYING

Blade of the Exile=> basic attack=>attack=> Broken Wings=> Ki Burst=>attack=> Valor=>=>attack=> Broken Wings=>attack=> Broken Wings=>attack=> wind slash (=>attack if possible,and if that combo does not kill,then repeat all again).
With this combo,you will deal tons of damage,but it is hard to catch up to enemy if they are running away and your abilities are on cool-down.

Masteries

I use same masteries for both classic and dominion.I wouldn't change masteries for any of those game types.It is nice to run 9/21/0 runes,but if you're on drugs you could change it to 0/0/30 maybe?:D

Offense

- Summoner's Wrath -This,I use to empower both of my summoner spells.

- Brute Force -Though this does not grant you a serious amount of damage,I take this to proceed to next level of masteries.

- Alacrity -Attack speed is not main stat for Riven,but it may come in handy sometimes.

- Weapon Expertise -This is the spot where I stop.I use this because it is quite useful during any phase of the game.


Defense

- Resistance and Hardiness -I use them to get 6 armor and magic resist,which can help you quite a bit early game.

- Durability -This is good to add to your health that you get when you get level up(you will get 92 HP including Durability when you gain a level).

- Vigor -Bonus HP regeneration is always good.

- Veteran's Scars -I always pick this no matter which role I'm playing,this can save you in some occasions(from Ignite, poison, Executioner's Calling etc.).

- Initiator -I choose this because of bonus movement speed which will help you get back to lane when you recalled.

- Honor Guard -This helps you reduce all damage taken(this is so awesome,but I guess most people think this is bad mastery because it reduces damage for (only)1.5%.I find this quite useful,because it doesn't reduce damage only from one source).

- Juggernaut -This will help you by increasing you HP by quite a bit and giving you 10% tenacity(very good when combined with Mercury's Treads).

Summoner Spells

Well,there is a few choices that you can choose to build to Riven.

Flash -This is good choice,you will nicely slide down the terrain with Broken Wings, Valor and Flash.

SPACE

Teleport -This is ok choice for a solo top champion such as Riven because of instant coming back to the lane.

SPACE

Exhaust -This spell is useful if you wanna secure the kill,whether it be with you ultimate or with other sources of damage.

Some other viable builds

or

Riven patch changelog

If Broken Wings' movement extends past Riven's current movement order location, that order will be cancelled; she will no longer automatically walk backwards to that point.

V1.0.0.136:
Fixed a bug where Riven could get locked out of moving during her third cast of Broken Wings.

V1.0.0.134:
Blade of the Exile's allied ultimate HUD indicator will now remain green until the shockwave cast is used.

V1.0.0.132:
Movement speed reduced to 320 from 325.
Base health regen reduced to 10.4 per 5 seconds from 12.
Health regen per level reduced to 0.9 per 5 seconds from 1.0.
Broken Wings base damage increased to 30/55/80/105/130 from 30/50/70/90/110.
Ki Burst base damage reduced to 50/80/110/140/170 from 50/90/130/170/210.

V1.0.0.130:
Blade of the Exile:
Tooltip updated to display how much attack damage you will gain.
It has been clarified to state that it scales off total attack damage, not bonus attack damage.

V1.0.0.128:
Fixed a bug that caused her to stop moving after certain commands.
Fixed a bug that caused Ki Burst and Broken Wings to temporarily leave dead unpathable minions behind.
Fixed a bug that caused her collision radius to be improperly calculated.

V1.0.0.127:
Broken Wings
Now counts as an attack command when you use it to lock-onto a target.
Slightly extended duration of collision ignoring with minions after using this ability

September 20, 2011 Hotfix:
Stats:
Attack speed per level increased to 3.5 from 2.9.
Base armor increased to 15 from 12.
Broken Wings:
Bonus attack damage ratio increased to 0.7 from 0.6.
Ki Burst:
Cast time reduced to 0.25 from 0.5.
Valor:
Shield strength increased to 60/90/120/150/180 from 40/70/100/130/160.
Cooldown reduced to 10/9/8/7/6 seconds from 11/10/9/8/7.
Wind Slash :
Cast time reduced to 0.25 from 0.5.
Projectile speed increased to 2200 from 2000.

V1.0.0.125:
Broken Wings: Riven steps forward and lashes out in a series of powerful sword slashes. This ability can be activated up to 3 times in a short period.
1st/2nd Use: Deals damage to a small area in front of her
3rd Use: Jumps into the air and slams downward, causing a larger impact nova that deals damage and knocks nearby enemies back.
Ki Burst: Riven damages and stuns nearby enemies.
Valor: Riven dashes forward and gains a shield for a short duration.
Blade of the Exile (Ultimate): Riven's sword reforms, giving her a percentage multiplier on her total attack damage, extended range on her damaging abilities and basic attacks and the ability to use Wind Slash once.
Wind Slash : While Blade of the Exile is active, Riven can reactivate the ability to emit a large shockwave that deals damage to all units hit based on their missing life.
Runic Blade (Innate-passive): Riven's abilities charge her blade, causing her to do bonus damage on her next autoattack. Riven can store up to 3 charges, but only expends one at a time.

Special Thanks

Special thanks go to:
jhojijhoji and Matt for coding.