Jayce Build Guide by Azar218

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my first guide on MOBAFire. I decided to make this guide because I felt that Jayce was--as of the time this guide was made--a fairly underestimated champion. Most people don't seem to understand how Jayce can be played to his full potential. This isn't to say that I am the best Jayce player, or that any of the other guides are worse than mine. For the longest time, I've used the Jazzy Jayce build guide, and I still like it, but I felt that there were flaws in it, and I wanted to add my own input to the Jayce build guides.

Quick little note: My original intention was to finish the revamp before releasing it, but I figured I may as well let you guys know that I'm doing one.

A Note About Builds

In the last update I removed two builds and I'm redoing this section to make it more concise and readable. The object of this section to being with was to give a little 'at a glance' to each guide to decide if you wanted to read further.

Solo Top: Main Build
This build is geared towards both tankiness and damage, and good sustain in the early game so you don't need to recall every time you run out of mana.

Jungle
This build is similar to the main build, but with a jungling start, and a Spirit Stone item. It again offers good survivability and damage, as well as some chasing power through the proc on Spirit of the Elder Lizard.

AD Carry
This build is geared more towards damage through the Muramana proc and lots of flat AD. It lacks in the way of survivability, though, but should offer good sustain through Bloodthirster and some survivability through Guardian Angel.

Pros / Cons

Pros Versatile. Good AD scaling. Consistent throughout game. Not easily countered. Has a Space Marine/James Bond skin.

Cons Short range. Squishy early game. Mana starved. High skill cap. People don't think he's viable.

Masteries

I decided to run 21/9/0 on Jayce. Jayce is a powerful champion, and benefits a lot of AD. In the same way, he needs a bit of cooldown reduction, which can attained through the Sorcery perk. Executioner is a great perk, as it can net you kills with a well placed Shock Blast into Acceleration Gate on a low-health enemy. Even with his considerable offense, Jayce does need defense, so points go into that tree for early health and resistances.

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Offense Tree Tier 1 - 4 points go into Fury for more DPS and extra farming. Summoner's Wrath because it beefs up Ignite and Exhaust (which I find myself getting more and more often). 2 points go into Sorcery for a little bit of CDR. Tier 2 - 4 points go into Deadliness for extra AD; better scaling and farming. Tier 3 - 3 points into Havoc for increase damage all around, 1 into Weapon Expertise for sorely needed passive armor penetration. Tier 4 - Pumps a little more AD into Jayce, increases damage on Shock Blast. Tier 5 - The flat penetration is nice, but it more leads into Executioner than anything else. Awesome for clutch Shock Blast + Acceleration Gates. Tier 6 - More damage to low-health targets and minions from all sources.

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Defense Tree Tier 1 - All 4 points go into Durability for extra mid-late game health and survivability. Tier 2 - 2 points into Hardiness to stave off minion damage in lane and jungle while and 2 go into Resistance for any magic damage you might encounter.. Tier 3 - Veteran's Scars gives more flat health in the early game.

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage/ Greater Mark of Attack Damage for better scaling on abilities, as well as easier last-hitting and harass in lane. Also makes early lifesteal more effective.

Greater Seal of Armor gives Jayce the ability to stave damage from most top laners.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for lategame MR, as most AP casters will have stronger lategames. They also help against those solo tops like Akali or Fizz, who deal magic damage.

Summoner Spells

Ignite is a great spell on Jayce. The point in Summoner's Wrath gives you some AD and AP while it's down, and can net you kills you might not get otherwise. Shock Blast is great at doing that, but can be unreliable and frustrating if you're not used to it, or just not that great at skillshots. Ignite is a guaranteed 410 true damage at level 18, and it reduces healing for that pesky lifesteal and Sorakas. In short, Ignite offers decent utility can can net you kills early.

Flash is probably one of the best spells in the game, especially someone as prone to CC as Jayce. Given that Jayce does have great escapes through Acceleration Gate and Hextech Capacitor, it seems a little redundant to get another escape tool. The advantage to Flash is this: it removes you from the map for a split second and puts you back out of harms way if used creatively. That split-second can save your life, too. You can dodge skillshots that would otherwise hit you.

Obviously there are other good spells, Teleport, Exhaust, and Barrier are among the ones I get most, and perhaps the best ones for Jayce. They're not preferred, though. Barrier is a spell that should be picked against someone like Tryndamere or Malphite, champions who can withstand or otherwise tank the turret's damage. If you do find yourself against someone like that, Jayce probably isn't the best choice against them. Teleport is a great spell, but has an obnoxious cooldown and should only be taken if you need more map presence and your team wards a lot. Exhaust is the best among these spells: most teams won't get it besides the support and/or jungler (and depending on your jungler you might get Flash or Ghost), and the point in Summoner's Wrath increases the slow and decreases the target's damage, armor, and magic resist.

Skill Break-Down

: A nice passive, but there isn't much to say about it. The ignoring unit collision is nice for general mobility, as is the speed buff. It lets Jayce chase efficiently, and move around the map faster.



: This is Jayce's gap closer. It is a terrifyingly strong skill, though more for utility than damage, although the damage isn't bad. It deals 200 (+1.0 per bonus AD) and inflicts a 50% slow at max rank. The damage on this skill could be better in my opinion, but the good slow and alright damage makes it my choice to max first, if not more for Shock Blast's sake.



: This is Jayce's main damage skill. Without it, his damage in Mercury Cannon form is bad and he has no poke ability. This is ability is very strong, even without the boost from Acceleration Gate. With two ]]Doran's Blade]]s, around level 9, you should be able to kill the caster minions with a solitary Shock Blast. At max rank, this skill deals 280 (+1.2 per bonus AD) in a small area. When combined with Acceleration Gate, the explosion, missile speed, damage, and range are all increase by 40%.



: This is Jayce's mana sustain skill. At max rank, it deals 380 (+1 per AP) magic damage in an area around him each second over 4 seconds. It also restores 14 mana on each auto attack. I max this last, mainly because you only really need it for early mana sustain, and the damage on it is never good, even though it does scale with all of his AP. I almost never use it, though, but it should be used to increase DPS.



: This is Jayce's early last-hitting/ward clearing early. It attacks fast enough to destroy a ward before it disappears, provided you use it in time. It also resets the attack timer, so you can actually get four fast auto attacks in very quickly. It is also great for pushing, and can be combined with Mercury Hammer form basic attacks for some really nice pushing power. At max rank, this ability deals 130% of his total AD as the basic attacks.



: This is Jayce's pimp-slap skill. It's what makes him awesome. In some ways, it defines his playstyle in Mercury Hammer stance--jump in, hit the carry out, etc. It deals 20% of the target's max health as damage, as well as a flat amount that scales (+1.0 per bonus AD). The ability is also a knockback/stun that lasts about a second. One important thing to note; the stun lasts a hair longer than the knockback.



: Jayce's escape skill. It is the greatest of his many speed buffs, adding an extra 50% movement speed that decays over 3 seconds. It also combines with Shock Blast, increasing the missile's effectiveness by 40%. This ability should be used for positioning, helping teammates escape sticky situations, or simply beefing up your Q's. In any case, use it wisely, and try to reserve it for when you need it, because its cooldown is rather long until it's ranked up.



: This is Jayce's bread and butter skill. It doesn't deal damage, but this truly defines his playstyle. A good Jayce player needs to choose the stance that's best for the situation. The Mercury Hammer, when first called upon, increases Jayce's Armor and MR by 35, and the first auto attack in this form deals 140 bonus magic damage. In Mercury Cannon form, Jayce receives no stat bonuses but a 25% Armor/MR debuff, making an auto attack a good opening for a Shock Blast/ Acceleration Gate combo.

Items

: Finally, after so fricking long, Riot decided to give us an item dedicated to AD Casters. The armor shred on this thing is amazing, and it builds from The Brutalizer. I honestly can't think of a better item on Jayce. It's that amazing.

: I've been playing Jayce a little more, and upon looking at Muramana, I decided to replace Trinity Force here with Muramana. Muramana offers a nice active that procs on Shock Blast, making it deal rough 500-600 damage with the Acceleration Gate multiplier. It also increases his Hammer Stance damage in a way that Ravenous Hydra couldn't. Muramana is also reliable, in that you will always land auto attacks and spells like Thundering Blow and To The Skies!, both of which proc Muramana's toggle.



: This is another great item. It gives some nice MR mid-game, and since most casters are going to be mid-late game champions, these should be built as soon as possible if their AP is doing anything, which will be most of the time. The Tenacity also makes me buy these more often than not; Jayce is devastated by hard CC's.

: These are your third wheel boots. You almost never get them, unless their team is Master Yi, Tryndamere, Fiora, Master Yi, and Master Yi. They're alright, but Mercury's Treads usually wins out. Again, only get these unless their AD is a problem, or if you don't want to get your Tenacity through Merc Treads.

: Jayce has great synergy with high movement speed items because he has a very nice slew of speed bonuses. The slow resistance on these boots is great, as Jayce's escapes all rely on movement speed, and it reduces the power that slows have over in situations where he needs to get away. Get these boots if their team is filled with slows, and you need to be moving around a lot.



: Since the Season 3 update, this item has lost favor for me. I like the changes that were made to it, but I still think there are better options. Nonetheless, it's still here because it is a good item when you're getting a lot of kills and you want TONS OF DAMAGE.

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: Trinity Force is the bread and butter of burst fighters. It literally has everything. I like getting Trinity Force on Jayce when I'm ahead and doing well. It gives a splash of utility as well as durability, and it gives a load of offensive buffs, chief among those being the Spellblade passive.

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: This item has replaced Atma's Impaler on this guide. Atma's simply doesn't do its job anymore, especially since Warmog's is no longer core. I like Last Whisper over Atma's because of the percent armor penetration, and flat AD is never a bad thing. Get it against armor stackers like Malphite.

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: Otherwise known as Madred's Bloodrazor 2.0 (moment of silence, please). Despite my missing Madred's, I am a little bit happier with this item than Madred's. I like that the on-hit effect deals physical damage, so Armor Penetration is a little more viable with it, and it has a nice active with attack speed and lifesteal, so it fits in that little niche of damage/sustain hybrids. A good item that is very underrated right now, get it if their team is stacking health.

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: I've been in love with Warmog's Armor for a really long time, and it adds a brilliant amount of beefiness to your champion. With the rise of Blade of the Ruined King, though, health has become a little less effective, but Warmog's is still viable on Jayce.

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: I cannot tell how many times I've been saved by this thing (not necessarily on Jayce, either). The passive is great, and the Armor and MR bonuses are great. This is a great item when you're backdooring or you just need to keep fighting/running longer.

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: Randuin's is also a great item that I see becoming very popular in the near future. The Cold Steel passive is great for slowing down the enemy carry, especially if it isn't a carry that builds tons of attack speed (i.e. Jayce, Ezreal). The armor and health are great bonus, and the active allows for Jayce to have a great follow-up initiate.

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: Another item to get when the AP is trouble. Again, this is a nice item because it offers good damage, but this item is more for the Quicksilver Sash passive. Get this when you need MR and you're getting CC'd a ton. I recommend this over Banshee's Veil if you need survivability and damage.

Solo Top Match-Ups

This section is currently under work and will be filled out once I get around to testing it.

Gameplay

Early Game

In the early game, you should focus on farming as much as possible. From levels 1-3, I try to stay in Mercury Cannon form to stay away from my enemy. Once I reach level 4, I change to Mercury Hammer form and start zoning my opponent, all the while keeping my mana up.
On your first trip back, grab 2 sight wards, along with whatever else you need. You should ward in any of the green spots marked.
Once you get Acceleration Gate, you should continue your harass. Whittle down your opponent with your Acceleration Blast (E+Q) combo. Once their around 1/4 health, move in for the kill. Never, under any circumstance should you dive you enemy, even if you can kill them. The damage you'll take will make you a tasty morsel for the jungler, especially since you'll be over extended. In other words, harass, kill when you can and FARM. I cannot explain how important this is. Jayce is a carry, and is very item reliant. How often you farm will directly affect your lategame.

Mid Game

Once you start moving as a group, should gank where it's needed, and when you find yourself in combat, always focus the enemy with the highest DPS. You should never initiate a fight. EVER. That's the tank's job. Also, keep an eye on top lane. Don't let it get pushed in the other team's favor, and farm constantly.

Late Game

Late game, you'll be fighting a lot. When you get into a fight, let the tank initiate, then leap in with To The Skies!. Knock the carry back, then dish out as much damage as possible in either stance. A great pushing combo is Hyper Charge+Transform: Mercury Hammer. You'll deal about 400 damage per hit. All in all, stay with your team.

Summary

So, time for the end. It's been a good run, and it's been fun creating this thing, and I hope you enjoy this guide. I just want to make clear that this isn't the RIGHT way to play Jayce. This is simply the way I play him. I have borrowed some ideas from both Jazzy Jayce and The Superhero's Guide to Jayce, the two top guides on MOBAFire. I will link them in the section below. Thanks so much for reading and bearing with me, and if you liked it, leave a comment and a rating, and if you didn't leave a comment and a rating. I'll accept any criticism you guys can offer, but I won't respond to trolls or spammers. I want good, honest people critiquing my work, not trolls and jerks. And again, thanks for reading.

Further Formalities

A special thanks to JhoiJhoi for letting me use her paragraph dividers, as well as teaching how to do this. I never could have done this without her help.
Making a Guide by JhoiJhoi
Also, check out these two builds:
The Superhero's Guide to Jayce
Jazzy Jayce

Changelog

May 7, 2013

• More changes to item cheat sheet.
• Sorry about the **** with photobucket, working on it.
  
  May 5, 2013
  • Did some more revisions relating to the revamp, more or less finalized them.
  • Nixed the jungling section, partially because I didn't feel like revising it, more because I'm not here to teach people how to jungle, and reading that certainly won't help them. Besides, i'm not a huge fan of jungle Jayce.
  
  December 11, 2012
  • Fized a bug with my Jungle/Glass Cannon build, basically reversed the tags.
  
  December 7, 2012
  • Re-added Atma's Impaler into Jungling and Solo Top builds, and updated Items chapter accordingly. Added Hextech Gunblade to Items section, which is pending test. If anyone wants to, I would appreciate feedback on it.
  • Added Enchantments section to the builds up top and in the Items chapter. Removed Other Viable
  • Options from the Items chapter.
  • Fired my coffee boy.
  
  December 5, 2012
  • Removed Tankier Build.
  • Updated for Season 3, made the builds more AD Caster-friendly, and removed Atma's Impaler and Banshee's Veil from all builds, and divided the builds into "Spawn" and "[role in which the build details] Jayce".
  
  October 22, 2012
  • Added Tankier build.
  
  October 10, 2012
  • Added two new builds--AD Glasscannon and Support.
  • Renamed Guide to "A Jayce of All Trades".
  • Added Aegis of the Legion and Guardian Angel into Items section.
  
  September 9, 2012
  • Again revised the build at the top. Added Cleanse as a viable Summoner Spell and added Quicksilver Sash to the Items section.
  
  August 30, 2012
  • Added Jungling build and route. Still need to add images though.
  • Updated build sequence for solo top build.
  
  August 20, 2012
  • Updated item sequence at the top to make it easier to understand.
  • Ability Explanation an combo sequence coming soon!
  • Added Ghost to Summoner Spells.
  
  August 19, 2012
  • Guide posted.