Riven Build Guide by Blakhart

Important!

11:42am PST 1/27/12
Updates are in the process, and I have made some headway in the build section.

More changes will ensue in the next couple days.

If you have any questions/thoughts/concerns, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or message, I will get to you.

Best of luck

~Blakhart

Introduction

Greetings, and welcome to another one of my awesome guides, this time featuring:

Riven, the Exile

I love Riven, she's got a lot of damage output, and makes a great single target/ team disrupt champion. Her AoE stun, Ki Burst can really turn the tide of a clusterf**k fight in your team's favor. She brings a lot to the table, but the problem is... She was recently nerfed(but we'll get to that shortly). Some may jungle with her, some may solo top with her, some may even mid with her. Whatever works best for you is the way to go.
Personally, I prefer to solo top with her. Having the ability to farm alone and only needing to worry about 1 other person(most times) is the best spot to put her. Plus, she can do a lot of damage early on, giving her the advantage in 1v1 situations. If I'm not last hitting, I'm harassing the hell out of the other guy to get him the hell out of my lane.

I play Riven as an Auto-Attack bursty off-tank. This means that I back up my burst with a lot of auto attacks, much like Renekton.
But since she has no self sustain, you need to be more cautious with your actions.
Being a feeding Riven just makes me hate myself. Though your job is to disrupt other champions

Now, without further ado, I present to you My Riven guide!

Disturbed is my favorite band, and they had a song that I thought would be great to listen to while reading this guide. Feel free to skip it if you do not like them. The choice is yours.

Pros / Cons

Pros + Excellent mid-end game farmer + Very high damage output + Good mobility with abilities + Can be a game turner + Purely cooldown based + Her kit makes her deceptive + Good escape mechanism(that isn't affected by slows)

Cons - Slightly squishy early on - Requires a lot of farm - Ability usage takes time getting used to - Slow farming early levels - Very item dependent

Masteries

My main goal with my masteries is to have as much damage output as possible, without sacrificing too much. Since the new mastery remake I have had to think really hard as to how I want to approach them, and this is the best that I was able to come up with. I get what I need in utility, as well as having plenty of damage output in offense.

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Other viable setups include:

Runes

This is my primary setup, it allows me to have some decent lane sustain(armor and mag res and some armor pen for later on. The movement speed is great on Riven, and makes grabbing last hits a breeze.

If you don't wish to follow this path, other viable options include:

Greater Quintessence of Desolation

Greater Quintessence of Desolation The extra armor pen goes a long way later into the game.

Greater Quintessence of Strength

Since Riven is purely AD based, then having a few extra points of AD from quints is highly effective. The only issue with this is that AD starts to fall off late game if compared to armor pen. So the choice is yours.

Greater Quintessence of Regeneration

Greater Quintessence of Regeneration Personally, I don't see these needed, but it's a decent alternative if you like soloing top as Riven.

Greater Seal of Vitality

Greater Seal of Vitality This is mainly for having extra damage from Atma's Impaler as well as some early level durability.

Greater Glyph of Warding

Even though these are already part of the build, you can choose to use 2 more of these in place of the Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction.

Greater Glyph of Shielding

If you feel the flat magic resistance runes aren't strong enough, feel free to equip these instead, so you can scale easier into games.
They actually out do their flat counterparts by level 9, so the choice is yours.

Summoner Spells

99.9% of the time I will grab Flash and Exhaust.

Flash

Riven has no real escape mechanism, except for running away with Broken Wings and Valor, so having a reliable escape route is really helpful. Flash offers just that.
Flash has so many uses, that going on without it would be complete suicide... DO NOT FORGET Flash!

Exhaust

I use this for a pure aggression, making my opponent deal not as much damage, but also weakening their resistances. This is a very powerful spell since it can be used offensively, as well as defensively, based on the previous statement. I take this over other spells most times.
If I don't get Exhaust due to there being enemies that require something else, then I will trade it for the following:

Ghost:

If I know I'm going to have to deal with dash/jump enemies, then I will grab Ghost over Exhaust. Or if I know the enemies will have many squishies with no escape, then I will get this for that reason too. Although, this is a pretty unnecessary spell on Riven unless you are in Dominion. In that case, get Ghost. It's far greater of a spell on that map than Flash

Ignite:

Ignite is really good against enemies who have a healing or immortal ability. This is a great spell to have for getting those last few health points an enemy has as well early on.
Get this mainly if you see an enemy playing: Vladimir, Tryndamere, or Udyr.
Keep in mind these aren't the only players that heal themselves, or give them a few precious seconds of life time. Tryndamere's "Save Me" button can only last a few seconds, use those to your advantage. A more common foe to use this against these days is Sion.
I used to main Sion when I started playing, and people are recently discovering how strong this guy is, so having ignite to counter him is a really strong counter choice.

Teleport:

Although I don't see a complete necessity for this spell, it can save you lanes if your enemy has a strong pusher or backdoor champ like Nasus, Master Yi, Nidalee.
Again, these are only a few champs that have this ability, and if they are competent players, they will pick up on things like open lanes, so use Teleport for this safeguard.

Abilites and Skill Sequence

What can Riven do exactly?

(Passive): Riven's abilities charge her blade, causing her to do 5(level 1) / 7(level 4) / 9(level 7) / 11(level 10) / 13(level 13) / 15(level 16) (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage on her next auto attack. Riven can store up to 3 charges, and will only expend one at a time.

This passive is what separates her from other champions, as well as distinguishing great Riven's from decent ones. If a Riven does not use this passive for each auto attack, then they are wasting it completely. You have this passive for a reason, use it and don't be afraid to spam your abilities to be able to use it. This is why Riven has no ability costs, to make use of it.

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(Q): 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.

Cooldown: 13 seconds

Physical Damage Per Strike: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+0.7 per bonus attack damage)

This is her most aggressive skill. It allows Riven to jump into combat as well as jumping out. You can also use it to chase, and to run away faster. You have 2 main ways of using this skill to deal damage. I prefer to use it like so:
- Auto attack - - Auto attack - - Auto attack
This will allow me to stay on target, as well as making the most use of my passive.
Some Riven players like to just spam it in this manner:
- - - Auto attack - Auto attack - Auto attack
I despise it being done this way since you won't be able to make use of your passive, nor will you be able to stay on target as effectively. However, it does make a useful minion wave cleaner.

Tip: Use this to get create a good amount of distance when running from an enemy, as well as for chasing.

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(W): Riven deals physical damage and stuns nearby enemies for 0.75 seconds.

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

Physical Damage: 50 / 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

This is in my opinion her BEST ability. It's ratio is amazing and the base damage is great. The fact that the cooldown gets lower every level is beyond amazing. With my build she will be able to use this skill about every 3 seconds instead of 7.
I choose to max this skill because of the fact that it's a hard CC, it's CD lowers every level, and it deals a good chunk of damage by its third level.

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(E): Riven dashes towards the cursor and gains a shield for up to 2.5 seconds.

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

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

Though this is not a true escape mechanism, it's still a great ability since you can combine it with Broken Wings and run, or chase.
This is the only shield ability in the game that is not based on Ability Power, but is instead based on Attack Damage. It's dash is great for initiating fights, combine it with Ki Burst and you have yourself a team that loves your AoE stun. Have your support Sona back you up with Ki Burst with her Crescendo, to make it even more useful.
This skill also makes your next attack gain a Runic Blade mark, making this a very good dash skill.

Tip: Even though this can't go through walls or over cliffs, you can still use it with Broken Wings to create distance between you and an enemy. However, it does go through:
Anivia's Crystallize

Jarvan IV's Cataclysm

Trundle's Pillar of Filth

Use this skill when confronted with these barriers.

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(R): 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.

This is a great skill, but as our beloved Billy Mays would say;

(R): 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

Minimum Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage)

Maximum Damage (25% health or lower): 240 / 360 / 480 (+1.8 per bonus attack damage)

So we get a pretty good ability from her ultimate, AND we get this? Very cool I say, and here's why:
This ultimate just screams PENTAKILL... No, not the band, the actual in game achievement.
This skill also separates good Riven players from bad ones. Some just use it immediately after hitting R, thinking it will do massive amounts of damage, or in hopes to kill steal.
Be sure to activate this just a split second before a team fight, and to use your passive after activation. Keep an eye on the timer, and use it to land the final blow on running enemies, or when they are all grouped up with very little health. This has turned the tables of a 4v1(me being the one)along with a distant enemy Karthus' Requiem, to my favor, resulting in a Quadrakill. USE THIS WISELY.

Boots

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

These are what I mainly get in order to max out my Cooldown cap. For a mere 1100 gold, I feel, that 15% CDR is fair. Nuff said.

Mercury's Treads

If you are having issues with CC opponents, then by all means, get these before you gimp your team.

Ninja Tabi

If your enemies have a lot of DPS, then these will help with that problem. These work even better when you choose the 0/21/9 Mastery tree setup.

*Ignore Ninja Tabi for now. It'd be wise to practice without them in my opinion.*

Core Items

This is the bare minimum I must achieve in order to play Riven the way I do.
With this bare minimum, you will have about 35% CDR, +43 AD, and some health and armor pen to boot.

This starter core allows me to stay in lane with a hefty chunk of health, and enough damage for my skills to do their job effectively. I find this to be an efficient start, but you are more than welcome to try other starts.

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If you decide to go the Trinity Force route, simply trade Phage for Sheen, but get The Brutalizer first. Since Riven has no AP scalings, getting Sheen would be a waste of itemization, making The Brutalizer a lot more effective as well as efficient.

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The total cost of the core build is:
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: 1050

Phage: 1315

The Brutalizer: 1337

Total: 3702 (4177+ Doran's Blade)

With that in mind you will need either of the following:

- 12 champion Kills
- 191 minions/monsters
- 74 assists
- 12 Baron Nashor kills
- 25 Dragon kills
- 30 turrets
- 61 minutes

Keep in mind, these are not all serious numbers, but estimations in order to achieve your core. I'm in no way shape or form saying you must set a goal to get these numbers at all, but giving you an idea as to how little you must gather in order to obtain any core items.

Items - Damage

Building items for Riven is fairly simple, you build what you feel the need for.
The most viable alternatives I see to fit around the way I build Riven are these:

Fitting, and useful:

Trinity Force :
This can be built off from the early Phage I was mentioning earlier. Having an item like this can be really powerful, especially with Riven's numerous skill combos.

This is recommended if you do not want to get Frozen Mallet!

The Black Cleaver : A great item, but I don't see it necessary on Riven unless you're having issues with armor stackers.

Tiamat : This is a decent item due the great amount of damage it provides, as well as the extra hp regen. However I personally find this to be a completely useless item unless you were to stack 4 of them just to deal 200% splash damage.

Atma's Impaler : Though I ran this item for the longest time since Riven's release, and combined it with Warmog's Armor, I decided to put it down here in the alternative items section.
Her recent nerf hit her pretty hard, so I had to change my build up in order to optimize for it, and Atma's is just not cutting it at the moment. Overall, still a great item, and it should not be disregarded.

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Trinity Force and Frozen Mallet

I mainly get Frozen Mallet with this build, but do keep in mind, that Trinity Force is an AMAZING alternative, and works really well with Riven.
My only issue with it is that the mana stat is wasted, but if you feel Trinity Force is more suited to your playstle, then by all means, get it instead.

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Expensive, and/or Situational:

Last Whisper : What more can I say? The item speaks for itself. Grab this if your having trouble with tanks like Malphite.

Madred's Bloodrazor : Start to build this early when you know an enemy is going to stack a lot of HP items like Warmog's Armor, or Sunfire Cape, or any other similar item. This will make it so you do more damage based on their HP, allowing you to kill them easier.

Infinity Edge : I must say that this is a decent item on Riven if you get all of the following items somewhere in your build:

If you don't have these items with you when you start getting Infinity Edge, then you won't have enough crit chance to do any significant crit strikes.


Wriggle's Lantern
This is a great item to get on Riven, especially early on. The lifesteal and armor and bonus damage is amazing. Plus, when you solo top with this, you don't have to worry about buying wards, since you get one for free with this item.
Also, if you and your jungling partner are up to it, you can get Baron Nashor with them really early, giving your whole team a huge advantage.
Great partners to do this with are:
Xin Zhao - Passive health regen and attack speed
Fiddlesticks - Infinite Drain with blue buff(Doesn't need Wriggles)
Lee Sin - Safeguard provides him or you a shield on a relatively short CD and gives Lee Lifesteal and Spellvamp.
Sion(Yes Sion) - His ultimate, Cannibalism will heal him and you at the same time.
Amumu - his Despair will deal a massive amount of damage to Baron over time.(Needs Blue and Wriggles)
Shen - His Vorpal Blade will heal you and him at the same time and his Feint makes it easier to tank damage.
Skarner - His massive amount of CDR with a little attack speed is very threatening to Baron, as well as his ability to spam spells like crazy. (Works really well when having Blue)
Trundle - His Rabid Bite will allow a second Wriggle's Proc, and his ultimate, Agony will make him tank Baron extremely well.
Udyr - His multiple stance changes are incredible, and having Wriggle's and Blue will allow infinite stances so he can switch from Tiger Stance, Turtle Stance, and Phoenix Stance.
Warwick - The attack speed steroid from Hunter's Call works best for both allies, and his massive amount of sustain will allow him to sit there and tank like a monster.

If any of these allies have a wriggles, you have a high chance of success of taking Baron early on. Do keep in mind, that there is a risk of getting caught, and you need to have pushed your lane back far enough to perform this action. Also, keep in mind, that this is not something you can just do whenever you feel like it. It takes practice and you should only do it with someone you trust.

Items - Defense

Hexdrinker
Try to get this item as soon as enemy ap carries become an issue. This can save you from a good chunk of magic damage, so use it to your advantage. The +35 AD comes in handy too.

Wit's End
Though I don't care for attack speed on Riven, this is the one exception I will make. The extra magic resistance it gives per hit, as well as the extra magic damage combined with your passive, is really powerful.

Thornmail
A basic item to grab when there are ad enemies stacking attack speed as well as damage and crit. Keep in mind that this works for auto attacks only.

Sunfire Cape
This item is fairly explanatory, since Riven is going to be up close and personal, the passive will be most effective. This item is a really good for tanking and the damage it causes is very significant.

Guardian Angel
Another self explanatory item, if you feel you are lacking some resistances, don't be afraid to get this item, it's very useful when you start to get focused unexpectedly, giving time for your team to think of how they are gonna react to the enemies after almost single handedly taken out half of their hp.

Quicksilver Sash
If you get really far into the main build, and you're against some really heavy CC enemies, including Mordekaiser and his dreaded Children of the Grave GET THIS ASAP.
If you get ghosted, you've just effed your team and you will be criticized greatly, especially if it was a game turning moment.

Banshee's Veil
Though I do not condone grabbing items that end up wasting stats, sometimes, you have to make exceptions. This same logic applies to Lich Bane on Akali.
With that said, If you're enemies have a very specific burst that you just hate(I.E: Summon: Tibbers) then I strongly urge you to grab this item. Being saved from a high burst opponent can mean the difference between life and death, and this item's passive will help with that.

Force of Nature
This is a great item for magic resistance, and the health regen passive works really well with my standard build. Keep in mind, that with my build, you will lack some magic resistance, so I strongly suggest getting this ESPECIALLY when there's an enemy Teemo or Kog'Maw. They will shred you like a hot knife through butter in a few seconds, so this will really help counter that.
*Thanks to PsiGuard for mentioning Banshee's and FoN to me*

Gameplay

Riven has an amazing amount of damage output. Use this to your advantage, but be smart about it. I see Riven being really item dependent, meaning that she requires a good amount of farm in order to have the items that give her the amazing capabilities she possesses.

In order to last hit properly, it helps to know how much damage you can do to perform this.
I've calculated that Riven can do (up to) 74 points of damage with her passive at the ready. combining that with her first ability, the total damage adds to ~111 points of damage.
For a grand total (up to an amount) of 185 points of damage, at level 1, if targeting a single minion.

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Keep in mind that the second part of her ultimate, Wind Slash has a short delay before you can actually activate it. So be sure to have it up and ready before using it for the killing blow.

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I wish I could say much more in this chapter, but I'm afraid I just can't. Your playstyle is unique to your own. With that said, if I were to explain my own reasoning for doing things that I do in game, I'm telling you to play like me, and that's not what I'm aiming to do.

If you have a specific question, I would be more than happy to answer it with the best of my knowledge. Simply leave a comment, and I will get to you as quickly as possible, so keep an eye on your posts.

I will however use this half of the section to post videos of my gameplay. I will not only show Do's and Don'ts but also any other awe inspiring act. So, keep a look out!

Jungling

Pros Level 2 ganks and ganks all day long! Brings a lot of damage, a gap closer and stun to a gank Only female jungler worth trying out Very disruptive if played properly

SPA

SPA

Cons Very different playstyle Not too effective if you don’t secure early advantage Has trouble with sustainability early on Has the most annoying jumping sounds ever. No, really. If I hear HAH HAH HHAAAAHHH again, I’ll kill myself.

MMMRiven is a lot like a high risk Lee Sin. Much like Pantheon and Xin Zhao, she has the ability to perform extremely strong and early ganks. Also, like them, she relies on those ganks to give her a decent end game. Riven, to me, is a hit or miss jungler with a very high potential for success, but not noteworthy if early advantage is gained. She is one of the hardest snowballers and a kill or four on her goes an extremely long way. A high-action, high-skill champion, Riven is a good time to play.

MMMRiven is really tough. Her jungling isn’t anything different than Lee Sin, you have to Q, AA, Q, AA, Q, AA, W, AA, etc. etc. This isn’t too hard to pick up on at all, however Riven needs to be ganking early and often and this comes with a certain situational awareness that is very difficult to master. When ganking you have to weigh the options of losing a Runic Blade charge in order to get in or saving your third knockback hit and stun for the right time. Knowing whether you want to jump in at them, walk up and when to use the stun as well as gaining a familiarity with the range on it and how much damage you can deal and take was my greatest challenge with her.

MMMShe has 2 AoE ( Broken Wings, Ki Burst) spells and a triple auto-attack reset. That is completely ridiculous for clearing neutral minions! She’s able to stagger her skills (like Lee Sin) in order to maximize her damage and ability to do it. Her AoE is weak and on high cooldowns, but it is better than no AoE, so her speed is good. She also builds super damage, so clearing is really quick with two Doran's Blade and The Brutalizer.

MMMShe has a few issues early on where she will have to choose between ganking or jungling because her life will dip too low otherwise. This persists until around your second Doran's Blade or Wriggle's Lantern purchase (depending what build you’re doing). She doesn’t need blue buff and after level 4 you’ll have a shield to help soak up some damage, which helps out a lot.

MMMShe has two forms of mini-CC and a gap closer, which isn’t anything to write home about if she didn’t do a billion damage. I do a Doran's Blade start and at level 2, if you’re not flashing away, you will die. The Broken Wings, AA loop combined with Ki Burst is a TON of early damage. Her damage output and mobility force summoner’s or put you at serious risk for death, much like Lee Sin.

MMMRiven isn’t in her jungle that often because she’s ganking a lot. This leaves it wide open for anyone to take what they would like. Unfortunately, if you’re in the jungle with Riven you’re also likely lower health because her early sustain isn’t amazing and she’ll be saving full health time for ganks on lanes. This can mean that you will find a weakened Riven with high cooldowns in her jungle, which is easy pickin’s.

MMMRiven stands somewhat like Shaco who has a tough time repelling invaders but does well invading. She can recall, get an item and just head to your jungle instead of her’s. Her damage output and CC is such that she’ll either take your jungle or kill you for it. I would recommend doing a route and then if there are no ganking opportunities, do the enemy’s jungle and see how it goes.

MMMHer scaling is enough that if she does get early kills or assists, the damage output is insane. However, if she doesn’t secure those early kills she becomes a lot weaker and is overall just a high cooldown stun/tank or an extremely fragile damage dealer. She does have the ability to snowball hard, so her late game is heavily dependent on player skill and situational advantage compiling into a high-damage tanky lady.

• Stagger your skills and auto attacks! Your Q resets on all animations, so you can time it to maximize DPS.
• You have a while to use your third charge of Broken Wings. You can quick QQ at someone and then slash them and finish the Q into a W right away in order to get an interrupt and stun.
• Ki Burst is instant casting. Keep this in mind when going at someone that you can just slash burst slash for a lot of quick damage.
• Before you go into a gank, activate your Blade of the Exile. This will give you great damage throughout the gank and you can even shoot the wave off and maintain your blade. I found myself often turning it on, going at a lane, tossing the wave to secure kill #1 while chasing after another person (you can shoot it any direction at them).

• Don’t get ganked! Really it only takes a few Sight Ward and/or awareness of where she is on the map and you’ll be really hard to gank. Play a little more passive early on and you won’t regret it.
• Don’t underestimate her CC and damage. Ki Burst may only stun you for half a second, but that’s enough time to get another auto attack and/or Q in which means that while you’re not sitting there idle you are taking a ton of damage instantly.
• Invade her jungle early and often. A strong bottom lane combo, heavy push mid or a strong counter jungler will put her down early and keep her down for the rest of the game. She has great scaling with low base, which means keeping her down means she is down for good.

Dominion

CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Summary

Well, I'd like to start of this chapter with a small apology.
I apologize that you are going to be called things such as "OP", "Noob Champ", "Non skilled player", after using this build.

I can't guarantee that you will win every game with my guide, but in most games you should end positively if you did everything you can.
I've had a Triplekill, (and the aforementioned) Quadrakill with this build so far, and am aiming to get a Pentakill.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, and if you just have a comment, I appreciate those as well ^_^
If I say or do anything that helped you, please hit that +Rep button for me :)

Thanks for reading my guide, now go out there and kick some ***!

If you have any screenshots of your achievements, PM them to me, and I will post them in a Wall of Fame section.

Special Thanks Go To...

Many people helped this guide get to where it's at, and with that said, I have special thanks to go to them!

First, I'd like to thank you who read this and supported it. Without you, this guide would be nowhere.

Next, I'd like to thank Hahano for the use of his amazing jungle Riven section.

Next, I thank PsiGuard for the use of his Superior Route image and his well thought out review shortly after I released this guide.

I would also like to thank Jhoi Jhoi's wonderful guide format from her Making a Guide guide.

Give these guys a round of applause, for being outstanding contributors to MOBAfire, and for graciously lending info out to players in need.

Wall of Fame

Here I will post images sent from players who used my build.

iDThePlayer sent:

Norbiszoke sent:

DarkFearPT sent:

Bleezz sent:

RaptorKing12 sent:

AgeAwkward sent:

To Do List

• Add more info about Trinity Force and Frozen Mallet (Slacking, but will resume once I have the below finished)
  
• Explain more about boots (In progress)
  
• Add some videos (more difficult than I thought)
  
• Edit Mastery section (Done)
  
• FINISH DOMINION SECTION (in progress)

Changelog

~Saturday, Oct. 10 2011~
Guide Published, added her Story

~Thursday, Oct. 13 2011~
Re-edtited some sections based on PsiGuard's review.

~Monday, Oct. 18 2011~
Finally finished my revisions after many attempts due to recurring errors. Enjoy.

~Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011~
Added a jungle section and build, fixed some small errors, and added a special thanks section.


~Thursday, Nov. 4 2011~
Fixed some more minor errors, and added the Wall of Fame section, as well as adding a little more info.

~Friday, Nov. 5 2011~
Changed Glyphs in the first build to scale better into a later game.

~Sometime in late November~
Changed the masteries for the new patch