WORK IN PROGRESS.

Summary of this guide: CDR, Mana, Armor, Magic Resist, Health, AP
Do vote if this guide helped you.

01/20/18 - I'm updating this constantly. Next update: USING YOUR ULT PROPERLY

Foreword

Hi! I'm from the PH server and an average player currently named SlaveKnight Gael.
In Season 6, Ryze carried me to Platinum (from Silver) even in the beginning of Season 7. But for the most part of Season 7, since the nerfs on him and the change in items (they removed Abyssal Scepter!!!) I decided that it was time to stop using this Ryze build which really helped me out a lot.

But now in Season 8, it's time for a new tank Ryze to come into play!

Alright! With that out of the way, I would like to say that this is my very first guide ever and I decided to make it about Ryze, our lovable yet sassy blue mage.
I decided to make this guide because I realized how underestimated Ryze is. Not many people see his potential especially with the new Runes.

My Experience with Ryze

So like I said, Ryze carried me through the start of Season 7. I basically played him so much that I got through Silver to up to Platinum division with him. I played him a lot and it went to the point that in Season 7, I decided to main other champs (like Kled) and played him as much as possible to rise up but I still couldn't top my mastery score on Ryze.

A bit of disclaimer though, this guide doesn't guarantee you a 12-2-6 record (it usually does) but since you're taking on a tanky role, don't feel bad when you die a lot.


So yeah anyways, Season 8 just began and I'd like to be one of the first to give out a new build for Ryze. I hope you find it useful!

Barrier

Q: Why not ignite?
A: Well we won't need that, trust me.
Barrier gives us extra protection. As Ryze needs to constantly bombard opponents to deal a lot of damage, he also needs a back-up plan in-case things get too hot to handle.

Still, if you're really confident and determined to get kills, then feel free getting Ignite. The late game will be harder though.


Players always underestimate Ryze especially when they use high-damage champs like Syndra and Azir but popping Barrier and Ryze's Shield will give you the edge to harass and dominate your lane more. Also, this becomes a huge lifesaver when you're in a tight 1 on 1 situation.

Flash

... Why not? Well you can also use Ghost if you want but I personally prefer Flash for some great escapes.

Passive(Innate) - Arcane Mastery

- Ryze's abilities scales with mana. Every 100 AP gives us 5% more mana.

Q - Overload

- Main damage dealer. This is like Megaman's Buster or Ezreal's "Q". It also gives Ryze a shield and bonus movespeed upon casting with 2 Rune Charges.
Flux bonus: Increased bonus damage based on "E" rank (that's why we max that first) and bounces to targets marked with "E". Similar to LeBlanc's Q.

W - Rune Prison

- Ryze's only CC. Traps enemies for 1 second.
Flux bonus: Duration is increased to 2 seconds. This ability give 1 Rune Charge for "Q".

E - Spell Flux

- Ryze's core ability. Gives bonus effects for basic abilities.
Flux bonus: Will spread to nearby enemies. Last hitting with "E" also spreads it.

R - Realm Warp

- A utility ult for one hell of a damage dealer and tanker. This can be used for a variety of plays such as strategic retreats, zoning, bluffing, baiting, chasing, and screwing around. It teleports all allied units to a location of your choice (even Zac's Blobs ... well, kinda).

Main Path - Sorcery

Phase Rush

- Phase Rush gives Ryze the capability to chase enemies running away from our combo. When you combine this and Ryze's Shield + Movespeed passive from his "Q" we get a mid laner with huge harass and kill potential. In short, this gives us lane dominance and kill secures when someone ganks for you.

Nullifying Orb

- This provides us with a magic shield since most mid-laners you'll face are probably mages. It can also be a great lifesaver in late game battles.
Alternatively, you can change this for Manaflow Band for some mana sustain (but with this build,it'll become useless late game) or Ultimate Hat for some quicker escapes but in my opinion they aren't really worth it.

Transcendence

- This rune gives Ryze +10% CDR and allows us to convert EXCESS %CDR to AP (1% = 2 AP). This is vital because it gives Ryze another source of damage since we won't be focusing on heavy AP items.

Combining this rune with Magical Footwear (Upgraded to Ionian Boots of Lucidity) and Cosmic Insight (+5% to CDR and Max CDR, Item CDR, Summoner Spells) will give us a sure 25% ability CDR and 15% Summoner Spells CDR.

Gathering Storm

- This rune is our fallback plan. The weakness of this build is that we lack Magic Penetration and Health items to truly tank someone. This will give us tons of AP for additional damage when the match gets too lengthy. When it does go lengthy,
if the enemy team has 2 heavy tanks then Ryze will have trouble dealing a lot of damage.
So yeah pick this.

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Secondary Path - Inspiration (+ AP for Ryze)

Magical Footwear

- Okay to summarize, this gives free boots at 10 minutes.
It can come 30s earlier per takedown(kills and assists) you get. It has +10 more movement speed than normal boots and costs 50 LESS to upgrade.

In short: Free boots & 600 to upgrade to CDR boots.

Cosmic Insight

- This rune just gives so much for Ryze. (Read the Transcendence Rune description).

Finally!

Starting Items

Sapphire Crystal - This is a vital part of Ryze's diet since his abilities have special scaling with his mana. With this, we have more mana pool therefore more spells to cast and more damage.

Refillable Potion - We have to spend less so let's get this.

First Recall | 600 Gold

Tear of the Goddess - Our main mana source, kinda like a mini Rod of Ages. We get this to constantly get mana for Ryze.

Hunters Potion - Usually when you get back to base for the first time you have enough gold to upgrade into this along with Tear of the Goddess. (again, 600 gold)

Transitioning to Mid-game

Lost Chapter - Buy this as soon as possible. It regenerates your mana per level up which helps with lane sustain.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity - +10% Ability and Summoner Spell CDR. Why the heck not? And it will cost only 600. But get your free boots first from Magical Footwear

Glacial Shroud - +10 CDR and Armor. Cooldown reduction is vital and the armor helps with tanking attacks from minions and champions.

Catalyst of Aeons - This greatly improves your sustain, it regenerates health based on Mana spent and regenerates mana based on damage received. By the time you have this you can spam more of your abilities and roam around the map more.

Core Items

The following items are important for this build to succeed.

Morellonomicon - 20% CDR, +100 AP, 400 Mana and the ability to give 20% max mana back to you when you get a takedown (kills or assists).

Frozen Heart - 20% CDR, +100 Armor, 400 Mana. Reduces attack speed of champions. (Great for enemies that depend on attackspeed)

Abyssal Mask - 10% CDR, +55 Magic Resist, +350 Health and +300 Mana. Nearby enemies take 10% more magic damage.

Total stats gained in completing core items:
+75% CDR (+20 FH, +20 Mrllo, +10 AMask, +10 Rune, +10 Boots, +5 Rune)
+300 Health
+2150 Mana
+100 Armor
+55 Magic Resist
+100 AP

Considering runes:
30% Excess CDR = +60 AP
20 minutes bonus from Gathering Storm = +24 AP

Finishing Touches

These items can depend on what you want and if the game isn't finished yet by the time you have these items.

Seraph's Embrace- Okay so you still need to complete Tear of the Goddess. It's really ironic that we build this last but feel free to complete Tear as soon as possible.

Hextech Gunblade - +80 AP, +40 Attack Damage, +15% Healing from any damage you inflict (Reduced to %5 for AOE) and an active that deals 250 magic damage at level 18 and slows the target.

Alright this is personally my pick because Ryze is really capable of taking down 5 people vs 1, provided that you continuously kite and try not to receive all their hits. With this item, you get to live longer along with the shields and infinite mana you have by this time.

===============More Alternative Items Soon==============

Alright. For Ryze, combos are a must. A lot of people always ask me what kind of skill combination should you do with Ryze.

It depends on the situation, really.
So here are some combos I usually use. (Gonna update this with videos or pictures when I have the time)

Basic

I'm reminding you again that "E" empowers his basic abilities.

E -> Q

- Basically an empowered "Q". Cast "E" first to mark an enemy and hit them with "Q" for an empowered damage.

E -> W

- Extends the duration of "W" (root for 2 seconds).

E -> E

- Spreads your "E" to nearby enemies.

Advanced

Here, I reiterate that casting "W" or "E" will reset the cooldown of "Q".
(E* = Repeat E as much as you want)
(You can cast "Q" at the beginning of these combos to make the most out of the damage)
(Almost all of these combos will get you to proc your Shield + Movespeed passive)

E -> E* ->Q

- Uses: Farming, Harassing from afar
- Spreads out your "E" first, landing your "Q" on a marked enemy will chain your "Q" to nearby marked enemies. You can use this to hit your enemies while they're behind their minions (If they were marked by your "E" of course)

E -> W -> Q -> E* -> Q

- Uses: Killing enemies dumb enough to front you
- Alright, this combo is for one-on-ones. If you can reach your opponent or if he's coming at you. Throw an "E"mpowered "W". Throw out "Q", cast "E", then finish it with an empowered "Q". I've mentioned it but doing this will also give you a shield to catch some of the damage by your enemy.

W -> E -> Q

- Uses: Chasing, Securing Kills, Escaping
- Okay, you can take him down but he's running away and you're near out-of-range.
Use "W" immediately, when you catch him, "E"mpowered "Q". At this point, he's rooted and you're buffed with a Shield and additional Movespeed. So get closer to him to land more skills.

If you're sure that you can use an "E"mpowered "W" at the start of the combo, be my guest but usually, the casting animation of "E" gives you that split second delay to catch it, it goes the same with trying to insert another "Q" before the "E"mpowered "Q".

Another use is escaping enemies. You root them "W", hit them with "E", throw "Q" to proc your passive for a quick escape.

Q -> W -> Q -> E -> Q -> E* --> W

- Uses: All-out with no protection
- This combo's for fast kills. If you can already deal lot's of damage then this will be more effective. This will make you spam your "Q" more and let you use "W" as early as possible to make the most of its cooldown and throw some "E"mpowered "Q" to bring on the hurt some more.

Dragons/Blue Buff/ Baron

E -> W -> Q -> E -> E -> Q/h3]

- Uses: No damage, less damage
- At 45% CDR, this combo is very effective against the Blue Buff and Dragons(Except Cloud Drake, that guy's fast) for a no-damage farm. The shield is up constantly everytime they attack you. With Cloud Drake and Baron though, you'll just be making the most out of your shields.

WILL UPDATE WITH THIS WITH PICTURES SOON!

A quick summary for now:

R - Realm Warp

A ridiculously fun ability to use. There are some things to remember though
- Getting disabled while casting the ult cancels it IMMEDIATELY and puts it on cooldown.
- Realm Warp only ranks up to Level 2.
- Allied units are also transported.
- You can move while you're casting.
- Where you stand in the circle is also where you'll land (it's an important thing to remember, trust me).
- LEARN WHEN TO LEAVE YOUR ULT! If you cast a bad ult or trying to gank (see "GANKING" and "BLUFFING"), you can leave your ult.

Uses

1. ESCAPE

Got into a teamfight and your team's getting owned? Cast your ult to a safe spot (preferable far away and near base). Transporting it to a nearby location will let the enemies know where you're landing.

2. GANKING/FLANKING

You decided to gank. Place your ult where the enemies will run off to, essentially blocking them and making them panic.

Remember this, for a successful gank, make sure you block ALL exits. Realm Warp is really useful and it inflicts fear upon the opponent, making them feel outnumbered.

This kind of thing usually happens, you have 2 other teammates with you, you cast Realm Warp to block the enemy BUT your teammates decide to come with you. What happens? They leave an opening for them to escape, there's still an exit because you're all together.

Now what do you do? Coordinate with your teammates, of course!
Tell them that you'll flank them and that they should just keep chasing and block all other exits.

In situations where you can't communicate (because you have to act fast) then cast Realm Warp and LEAVE before it's finish casting. This way, your allies are transported and you still block an exit for them.

3. Bluffing

This is fun. Use this to your advantage. It's similar to ganking and flanking but with a few obvious differences. You use your ult but you don't stand in it. Leave it, warp an empty space for the enemies to see.

You can do it in many ways:

3.1 Cast your ult in the MIDDLE (or near) the enemies. They'll gather there and wait for you to come out. This is useful in setting up teamfights so you can move in while they're distracted.
You can also do this to cut-off enemies chasing you or your allies.

3.2 If you're alone, 1-on-1 with an enemy and you want to block them. Cast your ult ahead of the enemy (just like ganking) but again, you don't stand in it. What they do is go AWAY from your ult and go back to you. This is a must for Ryze users. Always remember this move.

4. Screwing Around

Do you feel like making things more fun?

4.1 Transport Sion while he's ulting.

4.2 You're winning and destroying the enemy Nexus? Cast your ult ALONG with your minions (as many as you can) and transport it to the enemy summoning platform (or fountain). You can also bring your allies along with you.
It's fun to do because the fountain prioritizes minions before champions. You get to dance on the enemy platform for a few minutes or kill enemy champions on the platform.

4.3 You can transport Rift Herald, I think.

4.4 You can also transport Zac's bloblets. I think. Well I tried doing it but I got distracted, what happened I think was the Blobs were still at the original location but Zac resurrected at the location of Realm Warp.

4.5 Anivia's egg. lol

4.6 Dancing while casting your ult in front of enemies. Top it off with your Zhonyas

I'll add more content soon! Hopefully, illustrations or pictures.