Hello fellow LoL-players, lately I've been having the greatest experience playing Riven, game upon game, this champion still succeeds in bringing any enemy begging for mercy. This is my first build guide, so constructive critique is welcome and so are requests for more info.

Riven can, like Tryndamere and many others, be played like a melee ad carry. When played like this she excells in taking control over teamfights and her maneuverability allows her to dive in and out under turrets, so you easily can finish off that low-towerhugging-annoying guy. Enough about that, lets get to the build itself.

Pros:
- So... much... damage
- Loads of maneuverability
- Easy towerdiver,
- Very few can escape her combo
- Easy farmer
- The amount of control she has with her Q and W is too damn high
- Harassing has never been easier
- NO MANA <3<3

Cons:
- Cc can be devastating on her
- Will be focused a lot with this build
- With the high amount of damage one can easily get cocky with her
- Must be a good farmer for this to work.

As for Runes I usually focus flat attack damage Marks and armor pen Quintessences Greater Quintessence of Desolation, which gives Riven a good advantage when laning (always call dips on solo top, she is a beast up there). I have often experienced that the extra damage and armor pen. surprises the enemy who probably already flashed to his turret after you did your first harass.

As for Glyphs and Seals I want to take armor and magic resist , having very little sustain, that extra armor and magic resist always helps preventing total disaster when getting ganked. Alternatives to these could be health regen and health which would probably have a great sustaineffect too, I merely prefer hiding the sustain, so one can lure the opponent into making stupid decisions.

and are maxed because it synchronizes excellently with and it's active.

Core build:


The sixth and fifth item are optional (Sometimes the game lasts longer when they won't surrender), and should be bought depending on the situation of the game.

The in-depth explantation of the itemlist and why you should buy them in this order:

This beauty of an item is great at its cost, not only do you get a fine starting damage, but the bit of life steal and extra health which follows are great for Rivens sustain in the early minutes of the game it does indeed help her control the lane.


By now you're farming good, but you must also be up to speed with the others. Get these, after Doran's Blade, but don't upgrade these to Tier 2 right away, your maneuvreability from your abilities should be enough for catching that last hit you're dying to make.


IMPORTANT: Save your money and buy this beauty. Thou shalt not buy anything till you're done with this. Not only will it dramatically surprise the enemy when you return from a recall with so increased damage, but it also allows you to farm like a boss. The key to success with Riven is combining her Q with a high amount of damage. Remember even though maxing Q won't give any CDR to it, but it will give you 3 hits good damaging hits and a charged to the dread of the opponent.


EXTRA IMPORTANT: You want to rush this item, as the damage you get from here is completely mental, and the farm will get so much easier. The cap of 100 damage is easily achieved through Rivens great farming methods (some Q's some hits and a W) and the life steal can get you strong and healthy just after a few hits on some minions. Some prefer rushing , but I just don't feel the power in that for Riven, sure the free ward is effective. The lifesteal and armor is sort of good, but it doesn't promote the idea of a Butchering Riven out of control.


Now is the time for your Tier 2 boots. The cooldown reduction is great for Riven, as she can get kind of useless if she hasn't her abilities ready for use. I prefer these boots if it looks like you can comprehend their cc. Otherwise take

to
As Riven your want your heavy damage abilities to be spammable, this item is great that way + it gives armor penetration. A cheap and great item for Riven. Highly recommended to proceed with this after finishing your boots and bloodthirster.

to
At this time we're moving into mid to late game, you need sustain now, as there is always one idiot on your team who has fed one pesky little ap carry. You buy this because not only does it give you a great boost to your health, but it has damage and slows too, none will escape you now.

When you're playing Riven, you want to ask yourself at the start; what kind of champion(s) am I up against? And what are their strengths and weaknesses? I got to admit I don't always start with , because sometimes you will be playing against champions who actually have a natural advantage playing against you. Those pesky solo tops with some sort of ranged offensive ability are particularly dangerous. In those cases you might want to start up with and 3 health pots. I'd like to catergorise them for you so you know what i mean:

The **** annoying solo tops:


In the cases where you can predict easy dominans from the opponent. Just focus farming and sustain for the time being. We still want to get in there and show them how much damage a broken sword can do, but just wait a little till you're ready.

The easy bastards (you start ):

You can dive in and harass, doing some nice damage and come out being the dominating on the lane.

Next you want to ask yourself what kind of team are they? Full of squishys? Continue the build at the top. Full of cc and tricky champions? You might want to get instead of and build either magic resist or armor (depending on where the big damage is coming from). I recommend a different build when playing against a team looking like: . Those kind of champs who will have an easy time locking you down.

If you do not dare to risk an easy lockdown with the , this is also very viable builds for Riven:

<Insert countering item here>

Against a heavy CC and AD team, viable counters could be:


It's not that bad a choice actually, even though giving Riven mana seems insane. Against some fed (god forbid) and such, this is not a bad choice. I found that the armor and the CDR are simply amazing for Riven against a fed AD carry with lots of CC champs to back him/her up.


Very nice item for Riven also. Health + Armor + damage to nearby enemies. Since you're already in there with your combo, this is not a bad choice at all for more sustain against a strong ad carry team.


This is of course a very cheap and viable purchase for the fed AD champs. If the gold are there I would prefer , but this is a good, cheap countering item for turning the fight to your teams advantage.

Against a heavy CC and AP Team: These items are the counters you want to look for


The AP carry at mid just got too damn powerful. Playing against a fed , and such, can be so fluffing annoying. This works really well in those situations, even though again we're giving Riven mana.


Because fluff you carrys I'm back. To be honest this isn't my favorite item on Riven, but in some rare cases where you are the tankiest champion on the team (god forbid), you might want to consider this seeing as the team requires you to run into the heavy cc.


Can also be the key to success, but mainly in the cases where only the AP carry seems to do all the locking down. But if you're not that good at activating items in the heat of the battle. Take

and
Is also a very viable item, if you feel like the AP carry is locking you down way too fast. Playing against a fed can be so fluffing annoying. This is a good counter for that, and gives that extra sustain, that might turn the fight into your favor. The extra damage benefits her and the shield and resist might just do the trick. This is not a bad choice when countering annoying AP champs. Considering upgrading to is a very good idea if buying Hexdrinker helped (Sometimes the AP carry's burst is too high for your shield to have any effect), otherwise consider another counter, but if it worked you should definitely upgrade because 1. The shield is a good counter 2. There is sick damage in that sword that benefits our Riven beautifully.

So my Jungle-Riven virginity was taken and surprisingly to my own doubts I had an extreme succes. When jungling you start off with the and 5 health pots. The routes I use are usually:

Wraiths -> Red Buff -> Golems -> Gank top or mid

If you are not the aggressive jungler who likes to do the early gank, go:

Wolves -> Blue -> Look for ganks mid or bot -> Wraiths -> Golems -> Red -> You better gank now.

This is the build:


Last item is of choice and is up to the individual player. If you're not dying all the time, get , else counter items above should be enough.

The skill sequence is the same, as the aoe damage with is far more efficient than . The 3 times aoe damage clears the jungle faster than one would imagine.

Summoner Spells:

When ganking this will make you a more efficient chaser than is. Without this you will be flailing around not hitting them with the knockback or the

Well naturally.

Her passive is also a thing to study when playing Riven. She charges her blade with a portion of her attack damage. Playing Riven Butcherstyle her blade gets charged with A LOT of damage. You should therefore always benefit your passive by hitting inbetween abilities. So a combo could be like Q - hit - Q - hit - Q - hit - Valor - Ki Burst - hit.


When you're playing Riven butcherstyle you should be maxing this as a first. The damageoutput is simply incredible and it stacks the which will deal amazing amount of damage if you combo it. The skill in it self, is 3 skills in one and a knockback at the end, can it get any better? I've seen the other builds around here preferring , but I do not feel the necessity for spammable stuns till the team fights come later on. This is simply great to farm with and in those early level, that is what you should be focusing on. That, and harassing which should be no problem.


This will be your second spell to max. Not only is it a short stun which can keep that ad carry from running, but it also deals a nice portion of damage, which actually also makes this a good spell to farm with mid game. Maxing this, will make it spammable and will be great when you're participating in the team fights. I do not max this first as the big team fights occur mid and lategame.


Another great spell for Riven, but I'll max this last, as the others are more important for Butcherstyle Riven. This ability is great nonetheless as it a dash where you're, getting temporarily armor and it ignores unit collision. Great for escaping tough situations or get in range for that last hit.


Her ultimate. This gives you a longer range with your abilities and more damage. Activate this BEFORE initiating, as it stops you from doing anything for a bit. Doing this in the battle can help the other team, as they might just get away. After activating you go nuts with your long sword of pure death and combo's the living sh*t out of them. When they're all low and running from you, you activate this again and send out a wave saying fluff you people who think they can escape. Note that this skill will deal more damage the lower health your opponent have. You should therefore use this as a finisher if they're trying to escape your sick damage.

Recommended Summoner Spells

Exhaust, always useful, makes the target useless in which you can crush your opponent easily. Always good for catching that kill.

I recommend Ghost, as seldom you will be needing flash. Flash are for people who wants to escape. Ghost is a Man ability, It allows you to run directly at that scared ad carry and crush him without anyone being able to do anything about it.

Other options:

If you know your opponent is pretty strong on the harass (Draftmode) you should pick this for the quick return to base.

I've found that heal is not a bad choice at all. It lures people into thinking they might just beat you. SURPRISE - Firstblood given to Riven (rhymes).

Good for escaping, but doesn't benefit her as well as would.

You're against a constantly healing champ? This is viable to rid them of that and then there's that little damage that in some cases can get the kill.

Hope it was useful to you.
Rivens abilities got a lot of potential, this must be exploited to the dread of the opposing team. Now to the beautiful brag:



This has been my first guide, I welcome advise and critique. English is not my first language, so bear with me a little.



- JackMySpearow