This is just the way that i build her. The items are not in the order that i tend to get them. i have a set way that i build them. it is below:

Dorans sword -- avarice blade -- boots of swiftness -- frozen mallet -- warmog's -- atma's -- ghostblade -- bloodthirster's

I have been playing Garen for some time now and was looking for a melee character that was similar. i noticed Riven's stun and decided that i would try her. i found a few builds that i thought would work and began to try her out.

I realized very early on that i was not a good melee player. i play a mean ryze and a powerful ashe, but i am not much for melee. when i first got riven (before i played as garen) i failed miserably with her. it wasn't even an issue of my k/d spread, i was simply bad. i never went positive and i never could manage to turret dive well or chase. the worst part was that this was playing against beginner bots. i couldn't seem to make the transition between ranged and melee.

So, i stuck with what i could do. i played ashe and ryze and kennen and tried to forget the 975 RP that i had spent on Riven. the team that i have been playing with needed a bruiser or an off-tank for its 5v5 team. and i was picked to fill that role, as everyone else was very much into the characters that they played. that was fine with me, other than the fact that i cant play melee types. then i met garen.

it was love at first sight. laning with my brother, i soon realized that i could play melee with garen. after many successful matches playing garen as a powerhouse of a tank, i thought i would broaden my horizons. i decided to return to riven and see what i could do.

i found that i had the mechanic of playing as a melee character down (for the most part) and that i enjoyed the thrill of being right in the other champion's face. but, i had no idea how to build Riven.

above is the build that i use for her. it is virtually the same build that i use for garen (if i replace the guardian angel that i use for garen with the bloodthirster that i prefer for riven). this build has worked pretty well for me against beginner bots as well as a few matches in 3v3. that being said, i am not really sure how my build will work against tougher bots and really competitive players.

Comment the mess out of this. I have been playing a lot of beginner bots and some intermediate bots with this build. But i am interested in seeing how this build will fair in competetive play.

So, please, be kind and let me know how i can play riven better!