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Jarvan IV Build Guide by Untappedfury

AD Offtank The Manliest Jungle Guide

AD Offtank The Manliest Jungle Guide

Updated on March 20, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Untappedfury Build Guide By Untappedfury 13 2 1,215,945 Views 16 Comments
13 2 1,215,945 Views 16 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Untappedfury Jarvan IV Build Guide By Untappedfury Updated on March 20, 2016
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Smite

Smite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

This is a fairly in depth Jarvan guide from a Platinum jungle main. This guide will provide basic information about the champion and how I believe he should be played, and also some general jungling advice and tips.

I love to play this champion because of his versatility, high damage potential and strong team fighting presence. A well played Jarvan is a scary adversary, bringing huge early and mid game damage and a strong late game transition to a tank and initiator. Even when behind, Jarvan can provide strong cc and be a good front line for his team.
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Pros / Cons

Pros
  • High damage
  • Strong CC
  • Strong initiation
  • Useful when behind
  • Decent jungle clear
  • Versatile in terms of item builds
  • Fits several different team comps, including AoE, initiation and single target pick comps
Cons
  • Reliant on hitting EQ combo
  • Doesn't scale into late game as well as some others
  • Can become isolated if he dives onto the back line
  • Has some mana problems
    Has some mana problems
    Has some mana problemsHas some mana problemsaHas some mana problemsa
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Runes

Recommended runes

Mark of Armor Penetration x3

Three of these allows you to hit almost true damage on the smaller camps, speeding up your jungle clear and giving you a small amount of armour penetration in ganks.

Mark of Attack Damage x6

I use 6 of these to finish off my marks. This gives you more damage for your clears and ganks.

Seal of Armor x9

These are standard jungling runes, allowing you to sustain yourself through the jungle better by taking less damage. When used in combination with Tough Skin , you will take minimal damage through your clears.

Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist x9

I take these over flat magic resistance glyphs because I feel that you don't need as much magic resistance for the first few levels, and the extra resist late game could be potentially lifesaving.

Quintessence of Attack Damage x3

These give you extra AD for your first clear, and huge damage in ganks. Combined with the AD from the marks, the burst damage from your E-Q-Auto Attack combo will be deadly

Alternate runes

Mark of Attack Damage x9

You can opt to ignore armour pen marks for flat AD. This will give you slightly more damage in ganks but a slightly slower clear.

Mark of armor penetration x9

Going full armour penetration marks leaves you with significantly less AD, slowing your clear times and early damage, but trades off if you expect your enemies to be stacking armour early on. These are situational runes if you know the oppoents you will be facing, and I would almost always not use this set.

Glyph of Cooldown Reduction

You can substitute a few of your magic resistance glyphs for CDR runes. 6 flat CDR glyphs will give you 5% CDR, and combined with Sorcery (should you choose to take it), will give you 10% cdr at level one. This gives you two benefits; you don't need to build as much CDR in game, allowing you to focus on other stats, and also you can use your abilities more at the early stages of the game.
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Masteries

[Feast], [Savagery] and [Tough skin] are extremely important for Jarvans first clear. Without them, you will find yourself on fairly low hp and might have to back early, something that will hamper your early game pressure

I take points in the Cunning tree to get [Thunderlord's Decree] because I feel the extra damage you get from it is extremely helpful in pulling off early ganks. However, you can chose to put 18 points in the Resolve tree and get [Strength of the Ages]. This enables you to transition better into mid and late game at the expense of early game damage.

The other mastery points are fairly standard Jungle masteries, so I won't go into detail about why I chose them
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Items

Core


Standard jungle item. No reason to start with anything else.


Tracker's allows you to control vision, Stalker's helps you gank and chase the enemy jungler. The purchase will depend on how you are doing in the game. I would generally take Tracker's because of the removal of Sight Wards.


Buy the warrior upgrade. There's not really an alternative unless you desperately need the tenacity

This should be bought pretty much every game, but it's purchase time is dependent on how well you did early game. If you did well, it is best to focus on more offensive items, but if you did poorly or averagely it might be a good idea to buy it early on to aid your team. It provides very good defensive stats which will be vital for your survival in fights because you will most likely be diving into the enemy team, drawing a lot of focus. The cc is useful for sticking to priority targets or helping a team mate peel back from a threat.

Offensive items


With this item you'll deal huge amounts of damage and snowball quickly from easy ganks

Similar to The Brutalizer, but more expensive. It will give you insanely fast clears in the jungle and huge damage when ganking. It is advisable to not upgrade this into Ravenous Hydra until you have bought a few other items first.

A good offensive item if you need some magic resistance. For example, if you are ahead but and enemy is dealing a lot of magic damage, this item will help you survive in fights whilst giving you some extra damage.

An end build item, usually finished off either last or second last. This will allow you to cut through a lot of armour which the opponents will likely have a lot of late game.

Defensive items


This will provide you with a nice health buffer so that you can dive into the enemy team and have a higher chance of survival. Even if you are snowballing, buy this as a third or fourth item with the idea of upgrading it into Randuin's Omen or Warmog's Armor. For example, a typical snowball build might be Spirit of the Elder Lizard , The Brutalizer, Boots. You should look to build Giant's Belt as your fourth item in this situation because you might find yourself being focused.

A very good item to buy if you find yourself taking a lot of magic damage in fights. It is usually best upgraded into Banshee's Veil, but sometimes you may find yourself needing the extra CDR from Spirit Visage and opt to buy that instead.

The more commonly taken upgrade of Spectre's Cowl, the magic resistance and health are good stats to have. The passive is useful both so that it is harder to initiate onto you and also harder for the enemy to stop you initiating on them.

The movespeed and extra burst provided by this item makes your initiation even more potent

A very strong item in general, it is extremely good on Jarvan because of the stats it provides. Health, CDR and magic resistance are all incredibly good on Jarvan, and the team shield gives him even more utility. I would strongly recommend this item if you're against a magic damage heavy team.

Situational items


This item should be bought when the large majority of damage from the enemy team is AD. It is less of an all round item than Randuin's Omen, but gives better defensive stats if you're taking a lot of attack damage. This item might also be bought late game when ADC's become the main sources of damage and you need that extra defense against them.

A very expensive item, one that I would not recommend aiming for in most games. Aim to buy it only if you're extremely fed and know you will get enough gold to finish it quickly.
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Skill Sequence

Martial Cadence (Passive)

A devastating passive throughout the game, this adds even more damage to your burst combo. Doing the maths on this, even if you attack the champion with the lowest HP in the game, Anivia, at a normal gank time of level 3, you will do an extra 60.76 damage due to your passive alone. Jarvan's passive is part of the reason he is such a destructive force early on in the game

Dragon Strike (Q)

A linear skillshot, dealing damage to all enemies in its path. Most people forget that it shreds the armour of the enemy it hits. It also has an insane scaling with AD and decent base stats.

Maxing this first gives you the highest burst damage potential and reduces its cooldown, giving you more sustained damage over a longer fight.

Golden Aegis (W)

A self shield ability with a slow added on. Very useful in ganks, whether you use it first to make your opponent easier to hit with your EQ combo, or after to keep them locked down.

Maxing this increases the shield, giving you better sustain in the jungle and making you tankier in fights. The increased slow is helpful for keeping on top of enemies.

Demacian Standard (E)

Part of Jarvan's cc combo, this ability is also a team buff and can be used to scout the fog of war, giving a decent amount of vision.

More points in this increases the attack speed buff, giving your allies a potentially fight-changing boost.

Cataclysm (R)

What do most people think of first when Jarvan is mentioned? This ability. Not only does it provide excellent cc when used correctly, it also deals an insane amount of damage to multiple targets and is a useful gap closer. In conjuction with your EQ combo and flash, you can travel a fairly large distance in mere moments, catching unsuspecting enemies by surprise, allowing for crucial picks on single targets and surprise initiations.

Skill priority order

R > Q > W > E

As with every other champion in the game, take points in your ultimate whenever possible. Max Q first for the most damage, then W for the extra tankiness and cc from the slow, and E last.

I should mention that Jarvan received a few nerfs to his E a while ago. This shifted priority from his E to his W because the bonuses from maxing W are now slightly better than the bonuses from maxing E. In all honesty, if you prefer to max E you probably won't notice much of a difference because its almost negligible, but if you want to play Jarvan to his maximum potential then maxing W before E is recommended.

There is a slight difference if you are playing in an organised 5 team as opposed to solo queue. If you are playing in an organised 5 team, you might want to consider maxing E before W. The reasoning behind this is twofold; your safety in the jungle in an organised 5's team is much greater than in solo queue because of your improved communication and awareness of the opponent's movement, and also the attack speed steroid from your E has much more of an impact in an organised team. If you watch competitive play such as the LCS, you will see Jarvan's max E before W for these reasons.
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Spells




The only summoners you should ever take on Jarvan jungle. Everything else is hugely sub-optimal and I would strongly advise taking anything other than Flash and Smite.
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Team Work/Playstyle

So we have gone through the ins and outs of Jarvan's abilities, what you should be buying and how you should be setting him up before the game even starts. Now it's time to explain what Jarvan's role(s) are and how you should be playing him.

Jarvan as an early game threat

Jarvan has an extremely good early game. His damage is high and he brings a decent amount of cc. You must make the most of this early power otherwise you risk falling off in mid game. Be aggressive in your jungle rotations, looking to gank wherever you see potential. You should also not be afraid to confront the enemy jungler, so look to perhaps steal a camp or seek them out if you feel you are more powerful than them. I will go into more depth in regards to invading and being aggressive in the next later section.

Jarvan as an intitiator/tank

Whether you are ahead or not, Jarvan brings strong initiation power and a good ability to lock an opponent down. If he snowballs, he is difficult to deal with because of his high burst damage and insane ability to dive onto any target he chooses. He becomes a formidable front line for a team when he acquires some tank items, and if he has snowballed his initiation can be destructive and deadly. Be careful when initiating if you have not got many defensive stats, as you may find yourself attracting a lot of focus and thus taking a lot of damage.
You will not always look to initiate the same way in every fight, nor will your role be the same throughout a fight. You must learn to read the game properly and see what you are needed for. Your role will fall into three loose categories:
  • Causing disruption to the back line, attempting to kill enemies, zone them out or force them to scatter. This will usually happen when you are fed/ahead and you can pose a dangerous threat to the enemy carries/squishies.
  • Catching several enemies together and allowing your team to follow up with strong AoE cc/damage. This will usually happen late game when big team fights occur and people look to group up.
  • Peeling for your carries, allowing them to kite back from threats or letting them do free damage. If you see that a high priority ally is in danger, it is recommended that instead of diving onto the enemy carries, you instead lock down the threat(s) to yours so that they can survive
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General Jungling Advice for Aggressive Junglers

As I have said before, I play Jarvan aggressively, looking to catch my opponents off guard with high damage and kill potential. These tips apply to him and other junglers who have strong early games.
  • Look to invade enemies in their jungle. This is especially necessary to do against junglers who are weak early but will out scale you. Amumu, Master Yi and Warwick are prime examples of such champions. Make sure you keep track of enemy buff timers and try to get set up at them before the buff spawns. Denying buffs is important if you play aggressive junglers as it sets the opponent behind and relieves pressure on your lanes. If the enemy team has someone like Ziggs, Anivia or Swain, or any other champion that wreaks havoc with blue buff, you must make an extra effort to see that they do not get it, at least not without a fight.
  • Secure as many objectives as you can in as short amount of time as possible. This will give your team a lot of global gold, allowing them to pick up the slack should you start to fall off in mid or late game. When Dragon is up, pressure bot lane by ganking it, either killing them or forcing them to back. Immediately secure Dragon afterwards, or if you feel it is better, look to destroy the tower so that your bot lane can roam. Should you successfully gank a solo lane, help them push it up to the tower quickly so that they can back, and so that their lane opponent loses exp. You may also find that this brings the enemy jungler to the lane because they don't want the exp to be wasted. This relieves pressure in the other lanes because they know they won't be ganked any time soon.
  • If you fall behind early, try to maximise your utility. Do this by buying items such as Sightstone, Locket of the Iron Solari or Randuin's Omen. Try to gank lanes instead of farming the jungle, because you will fall behind even further if the enemy jungler pushes their advantage over you onto the lanes. You may also find that the enemy jungler may be trying to find you in your jungle to kill you, which will set you back even further, and may cause them to snowball out of control.
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Summary

In summary, Jarvan is a strong and versatile champion, fitting several roles and can be picked into a plethora of team comps. An aggressive jungler, he has a strong early game, terrifying snowball potential, and even if he falls behind he can provide good utility for his team. Hopefully this guide will have given you enough information to take this terrifying force to solo queue and stomp your way to the top, leaving a 'Cataclysmic' trail of destruction in your wake.

If you have any questions, please leave them here and I'll try to answer them as best I can. All constructive criticism is welcome.

Thanks,
Untappedfury - EUW
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Items

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Items

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