In my personal opinion Riven should be played as a Brawler, very similar play style to Irelia. This build will explain the style of Riven that I play, Trinity Tank. Now I understand most people will build Riven with a Dps flow, but it just seems to be holding back her true potential in a team fight. Riven's ability animations are really quite slow so it will take a few seconds to pull off the full combo. Now when built Trinity Tank you are actually able to survive long enough to use your full ability chain, and do rather well in team fights. I have seen many Dps Rivens do great in games but she is really only good when fed, if she isn't incredibly fed your damage tends to fall off in a team fight because you die to quickly. Another thing I wanted to point out before this guide advances further is my mastery tree. Say what you will about using the utility tree, but here's something to think about. Riven is a champion that deals most of her damage through abilities, (and her passive) now abilities have unique cooldown timers, by setting Riven's masteries as 21/0/9 or 9/21/0 you are only going to have the 5.89% CDR from the greater glpyh of focus. With the utility tree you are able to unlock Riven's full early game potential, let's do some math for a minute;

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction = %5.89 CDR

Sorcery = %3.0 CDR

Intelligence = %6.0 CDR

5.89+3.0+6.0 = 14.89

In total, as Riven at champion level one, you will start with %15 CDR Need I say more?

• The gruesome and rather sad story behind this warrior
• The specific roles Riven plays within your team composition
• The many risks and benefits to playing her
• The importance of her pregame and how to build it properly
• What each of her individual skills do along with what they can be used for
• Which summoner spells to take/avoid and why
• An understanding of Riven's core item build in game and each items importance
• How to use and abuse Riven's combo based combat system
• An in-depth break down of all sections of the game (Early/Mid/Late)
  

In Noxus, any citizen may rise to power regardless of race, gender, or social standing - strength is all that matters. It was with committed faith in this ideal that Riven strove to greatness. She showed early potential as a soldier, forcing herself to master the weight of a long sword when she was barely its height. She was ruthless and efficient as a warrior, but her true strength lay in her conviction. She entered battles without any trace of doubt in her mind: no ethical pause, no fear of death. Riven became a leader amongst her peers, poster child of the Noxian spirit. So exceptional was her passion that the High Command recognized her with a black stone rune sword forged and enchanted with Noxian sorcery. The weapon was heavier than a kite shield and nearly as broad - perfectly suited to her tastes. Soon after, she was deployed to Ionia as part of the Noxian invasion.

What began as war quickly became extermination. Noxian soldiers followed the terrifying Zaunite war machines across fields of death. It wasn't the glorious combat for which Riven trained. She carried out the orders of her superiors, terminating the remnants of a beaten and fractured enemy with extreme prejudice. As the invasion continued, it became clear that the Ionian society would not be reformed, merely eliminated. During one bitter engagement, Riven's unit became surrounded by Ionian forces. They called for support as the enemy closed in around them. What they received instead was a barrage of biochemical terror launched by Singed. Riven watched as around her Ionian and Noxian alike fell victim to an unspeakably gruesome fate. She managed to escape the bombardment, though she could not erase the memory. Counted dead by Noxus, she saw an opportunity to start anew. She shattered her sword, severing ties with the past, and wandered in self-imposed exile - on a quest to seek atonement and a way to save the pure Noxian vision in which she believed.

As stated above, the first thing you will notice about Riven is her similarities to the way one might play Irelia. Basically anyone that has played Irelia knows that at a certain point in the game, you will be the one to run in first, it's just the way you play her. Now I find that when I play Riven I do the same, because she is all about the amount of distance you are away from your target. If you are to far away you have to waste one of your abilities to get into the fight and possibly lose a shield or damage in the midst of said fight. Please keep in mind you are an Offtank You are NOT invincible.. you can die. If you being to get focus in a team fight, do not panic, don't spam your abilities, just stay calm and follow you ability cycle to do as much damage as you can before you inevitable demise, and who knows maybe you will come about alive if your team has the right level of team work.


Another thing I noticed about Riven is her absolutely amazing ability to control her lane. You can be fighting a Singed and a gang plank and still bully them back from taking your tower. Her sustain in lane once you get your shield and your stun, paired with her almost unmatched mobility at such a low level is almost to much for most enemies to handle. Often times you will find yourself getting fed if your laned with a good partner.


Singed - His bully potential is amazing when paired with Riven's.

Leona - Her extreme dominance in the lane allows Riven to attack with out fear and often get fed.

Amumu - Amumu is basically just the original Leona with more AoE damage.

Karma - Karma is the best support champion hands down when laned with Riven. The ability to shield her even further and increase her movement while healing her just makes Riven an unmovable force in the lane.

Blitzcrank - Blitzcrank's pull is great with any melee champion but the fact that he also has a knock up on such a low cool down, and Riven having a knock back on a low cooldown, work quiet well together.

Cho'Gath - His knock up, and Riven's.. is absolutely amazing, probably my favorite choice.

Talon - And last but not least Talon... Riven's AoE stun Ki Burst will pair well with Talon's mercy, also your slight knock back will fit in with Talon's Rake.


In my personal opinion Riven should be paired with someone that will either help her farm, or get kills. She is a champion that when fed will snowball insanely because of amount of AoE damage. Even if she isn't built for Dps Riven will do a lot of damage just by abusing her passives damage.

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Pros + Great sustain and presence in lane + High damage out put + Her ultimate grants a steroid for 15secs + Has an AoE execution + Relies solely on cool downs + Huge presence in team fights

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Cons - Often times you will be targeted - She does take a lot of skill to play RIGHT - Ult is very slow moving and often too slow - Incredibly short range on her stun - You can NOT go through walls - High cool downs at low levels

This has been such a huge debate... It can be rather difficult to decide on what runes you should actually use for certain champions, there were a few choices that I know would work amazingly. So below I will put a few options for each specific rune type and you can mix and match with what works for you because everyone plays differently.

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SPE

This would be a great mastery build for Riven. It is actually noticeable the amount of damage and harass capability these masteries give you in lane. Most of the masteries you are able to chose from greatly affect your early and mid game stages with either extra Defense, Damage output, or Utility. This page will focus on your damage with Riven. Cripple: This is the first mastery that you will fall in love with on riven. It allows you to deal more damage and take less from the champion you just exhaust along with being slowed greatly. Perfect for picking off that one annoyingly fed carry. Sorcery: CDR ALERT!!! CDR ALERT!!! please please please! Take four points in the over the Alacrity . CDR adds so much more to Riven than attack speed considering she is a cool down based champion. Havoc : Alright increases your attack damage by 4%... Once you buy your Doran's Blade you will be at 70 AD with this mastery ! Which in turn allows you once again to be a greater bully in lane, and show your opponent that it's your lane.

SPE

So now that we understand what OFFENSIVE masteries work well with Riven, let's look at a different tree. Say you wanted to be more tanky then offense early game to prevent your death. This would be the way to go if you aren't fully comfortable with her as a champion. Hardiness : Here is a mastery that increases your armor by 6, now paired with your runes, that will give you an additional 19 armor at level one. Harden Skin : Blocks 2 physical damage, from all auto attacks. Which is often enough to keep you alive just long enough to win that brawl against the other Riven, thus allowing you to type in all chat "There can be only one." Veteran's Scars : With all 4 points into this mastery you are granted an extra 48 health at level one. Now pair that with the Great quintessence of fortitude which add 78. 48+78 = 126 bonus health at level one. If you also get a Doran's Blade that would be in total an extra 226 hp bonus at level one. Tenacity : Basically the main reason we go 21 points into this tree. 4% reduced damage. That means from all sources. There isn't much more that needs to be said before you take this mastery and just be on your merry way.

SPE

Here comes a very interesting way to use your masteries on Riven, as well as how I play her. This tree grants a lot of CDR which is AMAZING on Riven as I stated before. There is also a few really cool utility features here thus the reason for being the utility tree. Awareness : Ever find your self out leveled in lane? Look no further! With all four points into this mastery you are granted a 5% bonus to your exp gain. Whats not to like about that? Quickness : One of my favorite masteries available. This mastery increases your champions movement speed by 3%. Now keep in mind when you play with this mastery on you wont notice much of a difference, but once you switch off to say 21/09 you will notice a rather significant change in your movement. Intelegence: Ah, there it is. The reason I came here, 6% CDR BABY!!! <3 Absolutely amazing when paired with your runes. 12% CDR at level one. Presence of the Master : This mastery is interesting, it lowers the CDR of your summoner spells. So you can use Exhaust more often to secure that kill or escape that gank with 10hp like a boss. But the real part that works well with this mastery is yet another mastery from the utility page. Blink of an Eye which lowers the CD of Flash. Blink lowers it down to 240sec, and this mastery brings it down to a 204 second cool down.

I see many people playing Riven wrong. Yes you heard me, just flat out wrong. They just spam Q the instant they see an enemy. Yes it does do some damage, but not the most damage you could possibly pump out as Riven. Something everyone seems to over look is her passive which is what makes Riven's early game. Also something I should point out is this, do not. I repeat do NOT EVER! Use Riven's ult to harass (the second ability from it). Please it's such a waste... I'll explain why in a minute. Let's move onto what her abilities actually do and their stats/scaling.

Mercy Riven's abilities charge her blade, empowering her next auto attack.
This ability is basically Riven's damage out put. Now right now you might be thinking what? What about Broken Wings?! Trust me, her passive is her damage. Every time you cast an ability you gain a stack for a few seconds, it can stack up to three times. Each stack grants a flat amount of damage (5/7/9/11/13/15) plus an additional amount of scaling damage from your AD (+0.5 per bonus attack damage). Lets do some math here say your passive has reached 13, and you have your Atma's. You should be around 200AD or so, meaning your scaling bonus will have reached 17.89. This means with one stack you will get an additional (13+17.89=30.89) damage. Now let's assume you have all 3 stacks up, your next auto attack will hit an additional (30.89x3=92.67) damage. Meaning after you use your full Broken wings combo, you will attack your target for 250-300 damage (depending on their armor).
Broken Wings An ability that can be activated 3 times dealing AoE damage, and resulting in a knock back after the third use.
Broken Wings is what makes Riven, Riven. This ability can be used to kill, harass, farm, escape.. and even get back to lane faster. It's utility is amazing! But what's really interesting is this, if you use it once you smack the ground dealing some AoE. It didn't go on cool down, hit it again and it does the same AoE damage. It's still not on cool down?! Use it again and it does the same amount of damage (AoE) but it does a slight knock back. After the third use the move finally goes on CD. You have about a second or two to actually use the other two parts of the move before it goes on CD because you waited to long. It's AoE is great for team fights, and farming. When paired with her Ki Burst, you can farm minion waves in an instant. Since you get Broken wings at level one, you can start your harass, use this combo.

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Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack

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It grants a lot of AoE damage from Broken Wings, plus gets off the full damage potential from Runic Blade! I've often seen squishy champions die the instant this combo is finished if you pull off the full thing.
Ki Burst Riven shoots out a wave of energy dealing damage and stunning every enemy around her.
Riven's AoE stun, don't you just love the sound of that? A stun that deals damage, activates part of your passive and does AoE damage. It's awesome, it just has a VERY short range. So you must be right up in their face to hit with it. One thing to remember, it only stuns for 0.5 seconds at all levels. Yes I know that sucks but it's meant to be used at the perfect times. Now our combos advance a bit more!

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Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Ki Burst -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack

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Using her abilities this way results in a lot of damage then a stun, and before then as soon as it's done a knock back. It's a great way to CC lock your target in place.
Valor Riven dashes in a line shielding herself for a short period of time.
This ability is Riven's shield, and it couldn't be more amazing. A shield that is also a dash which contributes to her over all insane mobility in two ways. A dash, and the shield so she can take more damage allowing her to deal more damage! The combo's we have been learning are about to get a bit more interesting.

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Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Valor -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Ki Burst -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack

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The initial hit from Broken Wings will make the enemy aware that you are coming close to harass, if the enemy is melee they will see that your shield is not activated and retaliate. Then you have your chance to auto attack, they will notice that jump in damage after that auto, then you can dash closer and shield, and just continue to CC lock them and Auto attack them to death with your amazing passive.
Blade of the Exile Riven's blade becomes hole, increasing her damage for a short time, and allowing her to send out a cone execution
Yes you read that right, and execution. That just what it is, only its a cone. Basically when you activate this ability your damage sky rockets... you are granted 20$ attack damage.. if your AD is about 200 thats an additional 40 AD. That stacked with your passive is nuts because it increases the damage even more because your AD just went up. The second part about this ability is its second activation. Riven sends out a cone dealing flat physical damage, then an additional amount of damage based on how much health they are missing. The flat damage is 160 (+.06 per bonus attack damage) and then 240/260/480 (1.8 per bonus attack damage) depending on how much hp they have lost. Now here is the final step to our 1v1 ideal duel, to do this combo you have to know they wont escape or you might just waste your ult.

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Blade of the Exile -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Valor -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Ki Burst -> Auto Attack -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack -> Blade of the Exile

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This will do so much damage is just crazy... with the 20% bonus AD, your passive's damage output, your CC lock, and the final execution, not many champions will survive this devastating combo.

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When farming with Riven, always remember this important fact. You are a cool down based champion, feel free to spam lol. Seriously that's a great way to farm with Riven! But that would only really work late game once you have your Sunfire Aegisthere is an easy way to farm efficiently early game.

Walk up to a group of minions -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack minion 1 -> Ki Burst -> Auto Attack minion 2 -> Broken Wings -> Auto Attack minion 3 -> Broken Wings.

By attacking all three minions after using Ki burst, all of the minions should be able to be finished by using the final hit of Broken Wings.


Harassing is an essential component to your lane control as Riven. Harassing is only possible if you are able to estimate your possibility to kill your target or merely survive the encounter ahead. The best way to do that, is to either play enough games play against every champion a few times, read what all their moves to do, or just play them. If you are taking a solo lane against 2 champions. Do not harass.. it's almost suicide, but if you are paired with a partner, make sure you explain that you will be extremely aggressive from level 1 and request that they stick close at all times. Just use your lane's CC to your advantage and get the kills or force them low enough to go back to back to recover allowing you and your partner to attack the tower freely.



Tower pushing is easily just as important as getting kills in League of Legends. Since the main objective is two things, forcing the other teams moral so far into the dirt by destroying them to a point they surrender early. Or you push the lanes back until you can kill the inhibitors and then finally the nexus. So anytime you see the chance go hit the tower a few times, just remember to abuse your passive (shown below). There are a few draw backs to pushing a tower though.

• You draw the risk of being attacked a few times by the tower when the minions die
• Attacking the tower draws the attention of the enemy team to that tower
• Often times you may see that the tower is close so you stick it out to long and die for it (sometimes worth it)
  
  At the same time though, there are advantages to completely destroying a tower.
  
  
• Extra global gold for you and your team
• Total dominance of your lane
• You can draw their attention on purpose (setting up a gank)
• Pushing the lane back further and further to the base
• Back dooring can take place (pushing multiple lanes simultaneously
  
  
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  Juking/Escaping
  
  Okay so now we get to the last possibility I'm going to talk about in this guide, of course there are many more out there! So in LoL juking is to say the least a real thing, that works, a lot. No matter your ELO it still has a chance to work, you just need to out smart your opponent. Juking is when you run one direction, they follow you into an area where they lose vision, then at the last moment you turn the other way (or any possible variation) and hall *** outta there. Juking can be used for escapes, but also for positioning, say you are in the middle of a team fight. You decide you want to go for that Annie, but your already balls deep in their whole team what do you do? You get the attention of their team through CC (they will deem you a threat) then run away from Annie. At the last second turn around and rip her a new ********. It's all about how you decide to use it! Juking is a fun and really great idea, try it! In some scenarios it really does help! :p
  
  
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  IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW!!!!!

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  None of Riven's moves have the ability to go through walls in the game. However, you are able to go threw one "wall" only Jarvan IV's Ultimate Cataclysm but you are only able to do that with Valor.

This section of this guide is incredibly important, everyone that has played this game enough knows that Summoner Spells are key to victory. Each have their own specific role in aiding the player or even their whole team. At the same time, some of the summoner spells might not suit the champion you wish to play, like Riven. I'll go over the best possible summoner spells to use on Riven.

Flash Teleports your champion to your cursor's location.
This summoner spell is used by almost every player in the game, for two reasons, it's one of the best chase mechanics, as well as a get out of jail free card. On Riven this spell is amazing when paired with her mobility, as well as setting up the execution with Blade of the Exile. This spell can go over certain walls and is amazing for juking your pursuer. Now if you prefer Ghost over this by all means use it I just don't think it fits with Riven.
Exhaust Exhausts target champion, reducing movement speed by 40% and attack damage dealt by 70%, it also reduces damage dealt from abilities and items by 35% for 3 seconds.
Exhaust is my favorite out of all the summoner spells. It's utility is just amazing, if you think you did massive damage before, try exhausting that target and then hitting them, your damage will double. Its just nuts how amazing this is, for chasing, escaping, juking, killing, focusing in a team fight anything!
Ignite Ignites target enemy, dealing 50 true damage plus 20 damage per level over 5 seconds and reducing healing/regeneration by 50%
Ignite is a great spell in general, I would say use it if your team has a lot of exhausts, but I feel that on Riven it not needed. The reason being because you already have an execution, now I know you don't get it until level 6, just try to lane with a partner who has it then perhaps?

• Clarity- You don't use mana...
• Teleport- As Riven you already have great map mobility
• Clairvoyance- Better suited to a support champion that doesn't focus on doing damage
• Rally- Could be good if used correctly but not the best spell
• Revive- It's a waste of a spell, and it has a 9 minute cool down at that
• Fortify- Can be game winning but better suited to a tank/support
• Heal- Amazing early game abilities, but falls after about level 10
• Smite- Only use this if you are jungling please...

Randuin's Omen
Stats: 75 Armor, 350 Health, 25 Health Per 5 Sec.
Let's think about Riven's CC, she has a knock back and a stun both are AoE, so with this she is suddenly granted an AoE Slow every minute! Unique passive: 5% CDR and a 20% on being hit to slow the attacker's movement and attack speed by 35% for 3 Seconds. Unique Active: Slows the movement speed and attack speed of surrounding enemy units by 35% for 2 seconds + 0.5 seconds for each 100 armor and magic resist. 60 Second Cooldown. This is just a great Item for team fights!

Mercury's Treads
Stats: 25 Magic Resist.
Basically these boots make that 1 second stun last for .75 secs. It doesn't seem like much but that could be the difference between life and death. They also give a fair bit of magic resist which is always nice! As well as giving you the increased movement speed we love. Unique passive: Enhanced Movement 2,35 Tenacity.

Trinity Force
Stats: 30 Attack Speed, 30 Attack Damage, 30 Ability Power, 15 Critical Strike Chance, 250 Health, 250 Mana, 12 Movement.
Welcome to (in my opinion) one of the best items available in this game. The instant you get this item your damage will sky rocket, your mobility goes even higher, your stats are rounded, your attacks even have a chance to slow. With this an Offtank turns into a Trinity Tank. You are given this power to just smash so hard with only using defensive items and then this. Plus with Riven, it goes amazing with her passive! Unique Passive: 25% chance on hit to slow the target by 35 for 2.5 seconds; on cast increases your base attack damage by 150% for one attack.
Banshee's Veil
Stats: 375 Health, 375 mana, 50 Magic Resist.
Since your a champion that does a ******ed amount of damage, you WILL be focused.. I promise you. So in order to stop from not being able to team fighgt instantly, we need to find a way to stop you from getting held in place. UNIQUE PASSIVE: Cancels the effect of the next incoming unfriendly ability. Meaning you can get your *** out of there, or turn around and kill them all. Plus it adds almost 400 health, which again helps you get more AD from your Atma's Impaler.

Warmog's Armor
Stats: 1370 Health, 45 Health Per 5 Sec.
By this point in your build you will have armor, you will have magic resist, and great damage. All that's missing is health and here is all the health you will ever need packed into one item. The cool part about this item is that it gives both Health and Health Regeneration. But this item gets better, once you learn it's passive. We all know Riven is great at farming due to her AoE Farm capabilities and that helps this item a lot. Passive: Permanently gain 4.5 health and .15 health regen per 5 sec per minion kill. Champion kills and assists grant 45 health and 1.5 health Regen per 5 sec. Bonuses cap at +450 health, and +15 health Regen per 5. (Already included in item statistics).
Atma's Impaler
Stats: 45 Armor, 18% Critical Strike Chance.
Here is your last item, and one of the most important ones. It adds 45 armor, which is great because of your defensive stats as is. But the real power behind this item is it's passive. UNIQUE PASSIVE: 2% of your maximum health is turned into AD. You have a Sunfire Aegis and your Banshee's Veil which when added together will add a pretty decent amount of AD.


Please don't think this is the only way to build Riven. Honestly I do see a lot of Dps Rivens out there, and they do fine it just isn't for me. Try everything out before you decide on what you like best! Another important fact is that there are always other items you could get, some may not be as good as others but it's all based on what you like.

• Infinity Edge - If you notice that you are kind of fed and you want to do a lot more damage, the Infinity Edge brings a lot to the table.
• Hexdrinker - The Hexdrinker is an item that makes you literally invincible early and mid game. Because it will automaticly shield you from magic damage once you drop below a certain amount of health. Meaning that's basically Blitzcrank's passive as an item.
• Last Whisper - Here is a fantastic item on Riven do the fact that Riven's damage is dealt through abilities. Which means the armor pen gained from this item can be better than most AD items.
• Aegis of the Legion - Is another fantastic item choice as an Offtank. It gives bonus armor to all allies around you, including your True tank. It also gives a slight damage increase which could possibly get you that kill.
• Youmuu's Ghostblade - This item is absolutely amazing on Riven, this combined with your CDR, will bring it all the way up to 39.84% and the max CDR is 40.

This is the part of the guide where I will take the normal everyday League of Legends game and break it down. First there is your masteries and runes, then your champion and summoner spells. Next would be your items and lane choices. But there is one more very important section that you need to understand. Simply put it is the different times or points in the game, and they are as follows; Early Game, Mid Game, Late Game. Certain champions do better at certain points in the game, Riven is different in my opinion. She is fantastic at all points in the game, because you can do damage early game, mid game is not that bad and late game is amazing!



First lets start with Riven's early game, now like basically every champion out there your not invincible here. Even a tank like Rammus could be killed in 2 seconds. So it is rather important that you find a solid lane partner (Listed near the top of the guide). Your goal in the early game is to express your dominance in your lane, as well as farm minions to get items. Something very important to remember though is to not spam all your moves the instant they are off of CD. You need to conserve your abilities for the opportune moment, either given by your partner, your jungler or the enemies stupidity. Your going to notice as Riven you can do a huge amount of damage at this point in the game, so don't always be afraid to harass, however, you need to be able to judge who your opponent is and what they are capable of. Here are some of the ones to watch out for;

Akali - Akali is capable of pulling off some of the highest possible burst damage in the game with nothing more than her Mark of the Assassin followed by an auto attack. She also has the ability to go in a stealth field that lasts for a few seconds so do not rely on your own auto attacks.

!How To Fight! - When Akali uses Mark of the Assassin on you, you will see a mark over your head that will last a few seconds, the move it's self doesn't deal that much damage. The damage comes from when she hits you with an auto attack which consumes the mark, so when your marked just stay back or use your high mobility to get out of range. When you see Akali go into her stealth field rush in and use Ki Burst, it will almost always hit and then you can start your Broken Wings combo and hopefully hit her, she will soon realize she isn't able to rely on that stealth thus you gain an advantage in lane.


Alistar - Alistar is one of those champions that are just annoying to lane against, he can push you where ever he wants which also stuns your for a second. He can knock every enemy unit around him into the air. He can heal himself and all allies around him (including minions) and worst of all his ultimate. Alistar has the ability to become basically invinicible for about 5 seconds.

!How To Fight! - There isn't any real way to stop Alistar from headbutting you around, however you can make it difficult for him to get behind you, then pushing you into his team. You can stun him and then dash away from his range or even just fight him and then dash out. You can out damage his ****py heal, and his knock up has about as much range as Ki Burst so he has to be really close. Just stay away from him. As for his ultimate, 90% of Alistar's will use this ability when they drop below about 20-15% hp, meaning if you were to use your Ultimate you could kill them. So when he ults, wait a second or two then pop yours, when you see his ultimate go down, send your wave at him and you could get the kill.

Amumu - Amumu has some of the greatest CC in this game and it's all stuns... He has an ability that pulls him to the enemy unit hit stunning them for a second or two. He has an aura that will shred through all enemy units around him for a percentage of their maximum hp per second. An AoE damage nuke that's CD is reduced when ever Amumu is struck. And his ultimate.. Curse of the Sad Mummy.. This ability will stun ALL enemy champions in a large radius for about 2 seconds dealing mass damage.


!How To Fight! - The key thing to know about Amumu is this, his pull hits minions, meaning you can just hide behind them and you wont get stunned. His hp per second aura has a low radius, his AoE nuke has a low range as well. His ultimate can be the easiest thing to predict. What I mean is that when your team is bunched up and Amumu is running head first into your team, he's about to ult.. so just dash to the side, then run back in and kill them.


Gangplank - Gangplank has the ability to endlessly harass you with his Parrrley which is on a low CD. It does so much damage, it applies on hit effects, slows, and applies Grog Soaked Blade which is a DoT. His W heals him as well as removes ANY CC from him, even a suppression. He can speed him and all his allies up, and drop a cannon barrage ANYWHERE on the map, yes it's a global.

!How To Fight! - Basically there is a kind of low range on Parlay, so when fighting him just play defensive and farm. His ult does a lot of damage but as Riven it's not difficult at all to escape it.

Xin Zhao - One of the most devastating early games among ALL champions in this damn game. Xin has a knock up that does HUGE damage, an attack speed buff, a dash that slows and an AoE nuke that does about 20% of your current HP and then shields him based on the amount of enemies hit. So basically he will out aggro you ALWAYS... it's almost recommended to not fight him if you can lol.

!How To Fight! - When you see his spear light up *White* he will run at you to attack three times. The third hit is the knock up, so if your quick enough you can dash away before he can do this. If it lights up *Blue* his attack speed is increased and anytime he attacks all his abilities CD's are shorted by a second. Stop him from using this.. at all costs. His dash is impossible to stop it might as well be a blink. Xin's ult isn't that much to be afraid of but it can really hurt, however it has a **** range, plus you can get away from it fast enough normally.




Up until about this point in the game which usually begins at about 15-20 minutes into the game you aren't very tanky. You will often find that you can't be reckless, and you can't initiate, but here comes the fun part of the game. By this point you will have noticed your damage increase via Sheen, from here it only gets better. We will create the finished form of the Sheen the Trinity Force. This item is just amazing, you gain attack speed, movement speed, Ap, Ad, Health, mana, and a much stronger version of the sheen. It is what makes a Trinity Tank... thus the name. As well you will be able to get your hands on your Randuin's Omen which allows you to slow all enemy champions around you for a short time. As Riven, by this point, you have an AoE Knock back, and AoE Stun, and now an AoE Slow.. I'd say that's a fair amount of CC. Also you will start to build some magic resist as well to fight off that stupid Ap caster. You don't HAVE to be reckless to do well in this stage, honestly you still shouldn't be the initiator. You should always be the second to run in, so basically in this order;


By this time in the game your goal should have evolved a bit. By this I mean that should continue to farm, and continue to harass, and also add in a few new steps. A very important aspect of Mid game is the "Team fight" which (you guessed it) is when both teams gather together to fight in a group. Riven is exceptional in team fights due to her AoE damage output. But she tends to be too deep in the combat to be solely AD based and survive. Which is why my solution to this issue was to build her rather tanky but still offensive enough to deal a lot of damage. One very important point that is key to your Mid Game dominance, abuse your Trinity Proc. By this I mean to do this, Trinity procs like sheen, after you use an ability, meaning that after an ability your next auto attack deals 150% of your Base Ad, as well as damage from your passive. So in between your Broken Wings combo you will be able to do amazing amounts of damage if you can use this ability to your advantage.




Riven's late game is basically the most fun portion of the game most because with this build your incredibly difficult to kill, as well as being able to deal a lot of damage really fast. During the mid game you weren't really able to run in head first, but once you hit late game having your Banshee's Veil you can run balls deep into their team and if your team knows what they are doing, win the fight. See Riven is basically the most annoying addition to any team fight when she can't be killed fast enough.. her AoE CC makes it rather difficult for the enemy to ping down or target one specific member of your team. With that being said, your focus as the off tank isn't purely sponging damage, but more disrupting the enemies. As Riven this isn't a difficult task at all.

You don't really need to keep farming by this point, make sure to get dragon still (it helps to stop the enemy from finishing their build) as well as red buff when ever you can. Another major part of late game is Baron Nashor. When your team kills Baron, your entire team is given a buff regardless of their location on the map. The buff increases almost any stat you can think of! As well as giving every member of your team additional gold.

Remember, Push! Yes kills win games, but having 3 of their towers while they only have one of your's gives a HUGE advantage to your team. Make sure to destroy the inhibitor as often as you can to make sure you have super minions, which can push an entire lane back themselves.

However you decide to set these up with your team, whether it be orderly among the team or supports only buy wards, make sure these are always laid out! Baron and Dragon are what we're primarily keeping an eye on here. Early in the match it's not as important obviously, however, you still need to know whether top, mid, or bot will be set up for a gank when enemy laners/junglers are wandering about. These early kills can help the enemy sculpt the rest of the match and land a victory. We don't want to be allowing the enemy to kill either Baron or Dragon. That's a good chunk of gold that will distribute among their team, not to mention Baron's handy buff. Again, don't overlook these wards!

There's orange points at top, mid, and bot hiding locations. I would hope that your entire team would try to ward the areas entitled to them. These wards are not entirely important, however, they are lifesavers. Junglers and wandering laners will use these bushes to set up for early kills. If you're pushing your lane, then it would be a good idea to ward the bush(es) that are closest to you.

These are crucial wards to put out if the match can go either way by eliminating possible ambushes when pushing minions or entering your own jungle.

Of course all of the wards posted on the map are capable of changing the outcome of a game, but these wards are placed in a location that both teams will always drift by. Reasons to go through the wards (for both teams): Getting to Baron and dragon, changing lanes, shifting from allied jungle to the enemy's jungle (either by self or team) to steal mobs/buffs, shifting as a team to gank the enemy team, etc. If you just have a ward on either Baron and/or dragon, you can still miss the enemy slipping by into your jungle never knowing it. This allows enemies to set up ganks. Therefore, these wards change the outcome of a game because you know whats coming.

I thought it was appropriate to name these wards in this manner because you can enter their bushes knowing whether they're there or not before you attempt to set up a gank. The enemy usually walks through these bushes hoping to freely enter their jungle for experience/gold and/or buffs.

Monitor your's and enemy's buffs with these wards. Good to set in your own jungle if they start playing dirty and snatching buffs early game from your jungle. These wards are primarily for the junglers of each team.

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- The section above including the picture and the explanations below are borrowed from Apotheosis' Tryndamere Guide