Hello fellow LoL players!
I recently bought Riven and after seven or eight games, I was able to make a great build for Riven. Now, in those games, I've seen so many bad Riven's but mostly because they don't know how to build her. So, I'm making this build for people who want to just carry their team with Riven, because I've done that MANY times.

This build was last updated in v1.0.0.126 (The Xerath Patch)

Pros
-Can farm very well late game
-A LOT of strong AoE late game
-Can poke very effectively during the laning phase
-All of her abilities scale off of AD, even her shield
-She is only restricted by cooldowns
-Wind Slash, can be used to do massive amounts of damage and pick off fleeing enemies
-She is a very good 1v1 fighter, due to her distance closers, stun, and high burst

Cons
-At early levels, her auto attack does less than casters
-Wind Slash's animation is very slow
-She is very susceptible to CC
-Her stun is very short and has a very small range

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

In my opinion, this passive will be useful in three situations.
1) Jungle Riven (which I'm not a fan of)
2) Early Game Harass
3) 1v1 Fights, Early and Late Game
This passive is very good early game to get an early game advantage. You should be attacking in between each attack in the laning phase.


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 Use/2nd Use: Deals 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) physical 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 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and knocks nearby enemies back.

This is your main ability, your "One Level Wonder". It can be used as a distance closer, and can deal A LOT of damage late game, especially when the enemy clumps up in a team fight. It is your main harass in the laning phase, and by auto attacking in between each Q, you can deal about 200 damage at rank 1. Max this ability second, right after Ki Burst.


Ki Burst- Riven stuns nearby enemies for 0.5 seconds and hits them for 50 / 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) physical damage.

I've got a beef to pick with Riot for making this stun so weirdly. It's .5 seconds, and has piss poor range. You have to be right next to the target to get them stunned. Nevertheless, I max this skill first, because it does it's job, and due to it's high burst power, is very effective for damage.


Valor- Riven dashes forward and gains a shield that protects her from up to 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) for 2.5 seconds.

Valor has three main uses in game:
1) To negate damage (it IS a shield after all)
2) A distance closer
3) To quickly escape after harassing the enemy champion (laning phase)
It's a shield that scales off of AD, so the stronger you get, the more defense you get. It can also be used to close that distance in order to get an Ignite or a Ki Burst in. It's a very useful shield, but I save it for last.


Blade of the Exile- Riven's sword reforms, giving her a bonus 20% Attack Damage, extended range on her damaging abilities and basic attacks for 15 seconds.

While Blade of the Exile is active, Riven can reactivate the ability to activate Wind Slash, emitting a large cone shockwave that deals 80 / 120 / 160 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) - 240 / 360 / 480 (+1.8 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to all units hit based on their missing life.

This ult has two parts, let's talk about the first one: Blade of the Exile. This is very important: You have to use it when you see the fight starting. Don't use it in the middle, don't use it at the end. Use it at the beginning to get the increased Attack Damage and the increased range of her abilites. Remember when I said that Riven has mad AoE in a team fight? Using Blade of the Exile just strengthens the AoE she does. I've used this ult to win 1v4's and come out with half health.

I take Flash and Ignite when I play Riven, because it ensure me the most kills and least deaths in a given situation.


-This spell is useful for closing the distance between you and your enemy to get a fatal Ignite on the target. It can also be used to escape with it's ability to let you jump through walls. It's an all around great spell, and you should not pass it up.


-This spell does periodic damage depending on the caster's level and cuts healing down a lot. Using it in the laning phase when the enemy is running with 90 health can ensure you the kill. This is another great spell.


-Due to Riven's high AoE farm potential, this could be a good spell to take, especially with Riven's backdoor potential, but it would be replacing Flash or Ignite, which I won't have. Only take this if you're soloing against a very strong champion, like Jax or Irelia.


-This spell can be a replacement to Flash, but I just prefer Flash. Taking Ghost is down to your personal preference.


-Riven uses no mana. This spell is useless.


-Take this spell ONLY if you're a new player and you're new to Riven. Other than that, never use this spell.


-Never take this spell as an AD carry, save it for the supports.


-Riven can be bursted down if she's stunned, but I still don't think that this spell could ever replace Flash or Ignite.


-Some people take this spell over Ignite, I personally don't like Exhaust, but it's a good spell. It's up to your personal preference.


-Once again, save this spell for your tanks.


-This spell is virtually useless for any champion. I've never used it once.


-This is not a Jungle Riven guide. I don't like Jungle Riven considering it's a bit slow, and she's really only good at ganking when the champion is very pushed. Take this spell only for jungle characters.


-This is the most useless spell in the entire game. Never even consider this spell, it's a waste, and Riot should just take it out of the game permanently and replace it with a spell people might actually use.

These are the runes I get and why I get them.

Greater Mark of Desolation

I get nine of these babies because they give me a total of 15 armor penetration. It will be very handy along with your Last Whisper.



I get a total of 13 armor from 9 of these runes. Some Riven players get AD seals, but I just like having that extra tankiness.



Having these 9 runes gives me about 23 magic resist at level 18. Once again, some people get AD glyphs, but I like being able to tank some magic damage.



These quintessences give me 78 extra health to start with. This health could be the difference between getting first blood and giving first blood. These quints can be replaced with AD quints if you want. It's personal preference.

I take 21 points in Offense, taking four points in cooldown reduction, but skipping Archaic Knowledge and going for increased attack speed. Since Riven is an AD carry, you want her to have the offensive masteries to max out her effectiveness.

I take 6 points in Defense, taking three points in magic resistance and armor. These masteries will help with her early game tankiness, which will help with her early game harass.

I take 3 points in Utility, taking reduced death time, because taking three points in Preseverence would be a waste, considering Riven has no mana.

In my opinion, 21/6/3 is better than 21/0/9, because with six points in Defense can help you survive in early game. You need early game advantage with Riven, or else you will be underfarmed and useless.

Early Game
Start with a and five . This is so you can poke and harass all you want, and just pop a health potion and get back to full hp, while the enemy will have to stay with whatever health you left them with. Use this advantage to get early kills and to free farm. If you're doing it right, you should be able to buy a and . Use this life steal bonus from Wriggle's to get more creep score, because Riven needs a lot of big ticket items to have the AoE burst that will win you the game.

Mid Game
By now, you should have a , or , and on the way to getting that . This is normally the time where team fights will start to happen. Just keep pushing up the lanes to keep your farm up, and make sure you're ahead of most people in creep score.

End Game
Once you get your Last Whisper, get an . This is where you finally shine. In a team fight, if you use your and use and three times in the middle of their entire team, you will deal massive amounts of damage. I've gotten triples and quadras from doing this. Once you have enough, get that and build it into a as your final item. This item will help you survive long enough to deal your damage. Finally, sell your Wriggle's Lantern and buy an . This is your last item, and will give you that final push into being able to 1v1 anyone. After this, get elixers and just stay with your team.

Final Items
So, your final items should look like this:

For Riven you have two roles in the early game.
1) Use your harass and poke potential to get kills and zone out your opponent. Doing this is very important, especially if you're soloing top against another solo. It's imperative to make your laning opponent the champion that is under farmed and under leveled.

2) Use your AoE and lane dominance (you should have lane dominance with Riven) to get lots of creep score. My build requires a lot of big ticket items, and when you go back for the first time, you should have about 1600 to 2100 gold. By level 9, you should have over 80 minion kills.

The five Health Potion you start with should allow you to be aggressive enough to get you some early game kills. If you aren't being aggressive and chasing your opponent out of lane, you're doing something wrong.

Keep your creep score high, farm the jungle and lanes whenever you get the chance. When you see a team fight approaching, get there as quickly as possible. You should be farmed enough to have the AD necessary to deal massive damage with your ultimate in conjunction with all your other abilities. So just farm but make sure your team is close by.

If you're doing everything right, you should be very farmed, have a ton of AD, and be quite tanky with your Infinity Edge and Warmog's Armor. At this point, you will be the main carry in your team. Stick with the majority of your team, and when a team fight starts, jump into action. If the enemy team is bunched up, it's the perfect opportunity to use your Blade of the Exile for the extra AD and range, use your Broken Wings one time to get in the middle of them, use your Ki Burst to stun then and deal a ton of damage, use your Broken Wings two more times, Ignite the squishiest target in range, use Valor to get out of harm's way, and use your Wind Slash to cut through them all. This entire exchange should take about six to seven seconds if done without interruption, and should deal about 800 to 1200 damage to each target. See what I mean about burst? After this, just follow the remaining stragglers, using Broken Wings and Valor to stay in range.

If you didn't get the ideal start I talked about, don't worry! There's an easy way to catch up. Just focus farming, but don't over extend. Whenever enemy minions approach your turret, just go there and use your AoE to farm them quickly. Every time you can farm the minions without the possibility of getting ganked, go for it. If all the lanes are pushed in your favor, just farm your jungle until it switches around. If you can farm enough to get the necessary AD items you need, you will be able to catch up in farm and be useful in team fights. Just try not to feed if you're underleveled already, just hang back and farm.

Riven can beat most people in a solo top lane. But there are a few that you will have a harder time against. These are the four main champions that give me the hardest time. The fifth is a champion that can crush you if he's a good player.


You can harass Jax very easily, but he can harass you just as easily. Whenever he uses his Empower and Leap combo, you have to retaliate with your Broken Wings and Ki Burst. Don't let him get the upper hand or you will give him a kill. But with five Health Potion you should be fine.


Just like Jax, she can harass you very well, so you just have to counter her with some of your own. The only advantage you have over both Jax and Irelia is the fact that you are not restricted by mana.


He used to be underpowered, now he will kick your *** in a solo lane. This guy has been my hardest opponent to date. He actually beat me in lane, because here's the problem with him. His harass outshines mine, because he can shoot his ghouls at me from a far distance. The only way you can beat him is to put down massive amounts of harass at level 2 and 3, before his ghosts get too strong. The only other way is to get strong ganks from your jungler.


Call me a wimp, but Teemo's poison can be a big problem when I go in for the harass. He can be very squishy, but the fact that he has a ranged harass with his poison really screws me over. You want to put down pressure HARD at level 2 and 3, before he gets a rank in Move Quick which is normally at level 4. Call ganks for him pronto, and DO NOT let him get you. If he gets the upper hand, you are screwed.


If this player knows how to play Jarvan, you're screwed. With his Golden Aegis and Demacian Standard passive, you won't do that much damage to him. Even with the armor penetration runes you'll end up losing more health than him. If he catches you with his knock up, he can deal tons of damage with his passive and basic attacks alone. Be very careful around this guy.

Basically, Riven is a very good champion, and can lead a team to victory with her massive amount of AoE burst. All she has to do is use her early game harass to get kills and farm all of her creeps. Riven is very item dependent to be as strong as she is. So don't disregard farming with her, and make sure you don't get too aggressive, or you will get caught. Just farm and get your items, until you truly shine. She's 6300 IP, and very well worth it. Give me some feedback and suggestions as this is my first build ever. Thanks!