DISCLAIMER
I farted. That is all. Not really.

DISCLAIMER
Hope you like reading! If not, kindly bugger off (hopefully the non-readers will non-read this and not get offended by the text on their screen :)) Haha. Double Chin. buhbuhbuhbuh.

Welcome to my Riven guide. I have tested many builds extensively, and these are the ones that suit my personal playstyle the best. There are two parts to this guide. Riven was recently updated to a Tier 2 jungler, and from personal experience, she is a great jungler. Anyway, more on that later. She also has a strong early lane presence, keeping constant pressure on any champion (if you know how to poke correctly.. fighting game enthusiasts will understand) she comes up against (using the lane build).

Check it out and let me know what you think. If it gets downvoted, that's cool. They're MY builds. I just felt like sharing it(L) since it(L) is so unique.. They're not really all that special.. but what is with everyone and not giving her ANY survivability...? She's a turret diver, granted every ability she has is some sort of escape mechanism (excluding her ult, unless you shoot it at someone and scare them enough to make them run off), there have been tons of times I have been hunted down and survived with VERY little health, using my laning build. I prefer to jungle though, as her ganks are STROOOOOOONNNNNGGGG.

I will not go in-depth as far as jungling is concerned. I'm not going to drop his name, but if you need help jungling look him up. Message me if you don't know who I am referring to (it's one of 3.. being the one that is the most informative as far as 'jungle tutorials' are concerned).

I'm not going to explain my runes and masteries because it is the main thing that people disagree with and downvote builds for. This is my personal preference. If you don't like my runes/masteries, use whatever you want. I don't care. Rate my build as a whole. It works great together. Nitpicking one thing out of a build and completely berating it because it's not what YOU prefer is just silly.

However, I will explain my skill sequence, and why I begin to level Valor before leveling Ki Strike. It's very simple. Valor is a saving grace. If I had a nickel for every time this ability saved my *** from certain defeat (be it tower or otherwise), I'd have about as much money as I have in my bank account (just got my refund check :P). On the other hand, a stun is a stun is a stun. I'm not even going to mention my glyphs (oops). It doesn't give you that great of damage until late game, when you have all your great items. During mid-game, you need to die as least as possible and be able to chase as best as possible. Your Ki Strike doesn't help you chase. It's what you use when you have caught up. I rarely find myself waiting for my stun cooldown to refresh, as well.. just concentrating on dealing out the most damage as possible while harassing and establishing hate for me (you can just feel it growing as you poke and poke and poke and poke and poke and poke... etc). Long explanation, all bases covered. Worth it.

DISCLAIMER PT. 3
This(L) is a very expensive build. You will most likely never finish it. If you are not ON TOP OF the last hits, this is not the build for you. The jungle build is also very expensive.. So if you are not ON TOP OF confirming your ganks, this is not the build for you.

DISCLAIMER PT. 4 (seriously what is it with this ****** and disclaimers?)
Sometimes when I say "the build", I mean the lane build. I will say "the jungle build", otherwise, because I talk about it less, as it is pretty basic. Expensive.. But basic.

Now. Read on. It's a good one.

Riven is a very unique champion. She has great maneuverability. There just seems to be this flow with her that screams Kung Fu (you have to be level 6 to learn this ability). Then you will know Kung Fu. Huhuhuhuhuh.
On with it:

Her passive, Runic Blade, is an awesome ability that MUST be utilized to it's full potential. By this, I mean that every little bit of extra damage counts when it comes to playing riven, so you should have one stack of blade charge EVERY TIME YOU ATTACK. I'm not even going to mention my laning seals (oops). Every time Riven uses an ability, she gets one stack. If you look down and you have two stacks, you fail. If you take too long of time between attacks/spells and lose your stack, you obviously are getting kited and need to reassess your situation. The stack stays on for 2-3 seconds and if you are waiting on cooldowns, about to lose your stack, it's time to disengage and get ready to burst again. If they are really low on life, flippin' chase their mule.. Unless there are extenuating circumstances (like a turret+snare or an mia farthead), but you CAN catch up {with your lane build.. boots initially + movement speed quints (oops) is a terrifying combo early game for Riven}.

Her Q ability is called Broken Wings. One of the coolest 3-part animations in the game (only? idk) in my humble opinion. It is a 3-part ability that allows about 1 second in between each part. The first two deal damage in front of Riven (small area of effect) while the third causes an impact on the target selected or area in front of Riven. Enemies hit by the third one will be knocked back slightly. The damage does not increase as you sequentially go through the move, even though it seems like it might (that's just sheen :D). This ability also makes Riven move forward slightly, but there is also a short frame lag after the third button press. I don't usually use the third button press to get away per se, but I do use it to jump in bushes and make a flashy get away, whilst waiting for the RandomFarthead™ to follow behind me and get stunned (I mean you, Nidalee.. I'll shred you). Overall, this ability has good damage and is very good when used along with your E, which I will get to in a minute (hour?).

Her W ability is called Ki Burst. It's basically your kill confirm key. It is a stun and does decent aoe damage (late game.. using my skill sequence). You will want to be very reserved with this ability if you are laning. You use it at the same time (yes. every time.) when you are jungling (ganking). That moment is when they realize OH FLIP I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE; Nope; Stun; Dead. It's easy for people to KS you, unless you are reserved with this ability (trust me on this one, people want kills just as bad as you do guy). More on confirming your kills later.

Her E ability is called Valor. It is my favorite ability in the game. Riven dashes a short distance and gains a shield. The best thing about this ability is the fact that the amount the shield absorbs SCALES WITH YOUR AD.. And at level 1 it's the perfect amount to deflect a turret shot (Seriously. Try it.. Only if you have the jungle build). Time flies when you're having fun, as does this ability's cooldown. It will be up before you know it. I am NEVER reserved with this ability as it is ALWAYS good to have a stack of Runic blade and ALWAYS good to have a little armor (See: Malphite). It is great for escaping, however, it cannot go through walls (nope, not at all. not even a little :P). It is the perfect tool for chasing, leaving, assisting, setting up your stun, turret diving, exiting a teamfight, joining a teamfight, and juking people. My favorite thing to do, is do the 3rd part of my q into a bush while being chased, as soon as they are about to enter the bush, W->E-> Peace nigga! For some reason, Warwick is always fighting blue when this happens (I keep it warded all day) so the next thing on the agenda is a Sup Nigga!; RoflStomp. Peace. Oh yeah, I forgot to say bread and butter. Bread and butter. Moving on.

Her Ultimate sends chills down low health enemies spines (only rivaled by Karthus' Ult, an extremely talented across-the-map shooter, or a Noxian Corrosive Charge from an Urgot with acid hunter on .2 cooldown; the latter is not possible, but you can get up to 5 in on one charge with max CD Red. <=-useful tip?). Tangent, anywho, her ultimate is called Blade of the Earth and it is absolutely superb. Enabling it initially will grant you some added attack damage and give you the option of murdering some d00d. On the second button press, a trueshot barrage with a very limited range comes out and kills someone (or at least it should. EVERY. TIME. YOU. USE. IT.) or a buttload of minions. It scales with your attack damage, as well as how much health the person/minion(s) in your sights have. The less the health, the more the damage, simple inverse ratio, lulz. After the initial button press, the ability gives you a small period of time (2-3 sex) to allow you to set up the second button press. It is shorter than you think (that's what she said), I (rarely) find myself pissed off that I didn't get a kill because I was gauging their life/damage of the ult to confirm the kill. That is why the initial button press is so important! Note that after the initial button press, you WILL DO MORE DAMAGE. If you press R twice in a row, you should not have even read this far. Seriously. If this is you: "OMG BUT WHAT LIKE IF HE'S REALLY LOW AND I CAN GET HIM????" The answer is, you should have used your ultimate to it's true advantage and been there a little earlier to (Help) kill them by going through your q cycle and doing "AS MUCH DAMAGE AS POSSIBLE" (see: introduction). Most of the time, I activate it after my second button press of my Q (7/10). The way you set up your beam so they can't dodge it is to catch them at the WTFINEEDTOBOUNCE moment (which you used your ultimate already because you knew when they were going to realize it, didn't you? well played, you coy devil.); Stun; Second Buttonpress; An enemy has been slain. In teamfight scenarios, it is good to wait a while to engage if there is a full-on 4v5. Be nearby, of course. Be ready to catch people off-guard. And hope that there's no wards giving you away, because there probably are if you think about this game as in-depth as you should if you want to be pr0. I normally use it to shave down their health so that the teamfight is changed around in your favor{See: How to Fiddlesticks} and to save your ranged ad carry from that Olaf that's about to give him a bunch of true damage right up the nostril. (what the **** is with this guy and parentheses?)
Overall, great ability, great damage, great kill confirm, great synergy with every other ability.

If you're jungling, spend the gold on wards. I've already mentioned I keep blue buff watched the whole game, and it doesn't hurt to do this, but it's just my personal preference. If Shaco is in the game, I grab an oracle's and I ward Red. **** Shaco. Peace Nigga! This is all part of jungling. If you suck at jungling, you really should not be reading a Riven guide (right?), but the way you counter the jungler on the other team (be it through counter jungling or just killing them after you've outleveled them, since you've already invaded.. right? you coy devil.) is different for every single one. I don't even bother trying to gank amumu in the jungle. It takes too long and his team will respond faster than you can kill him. I usually try to catch him about to bandage toss one of my teammates and stun him back {ward the bush by river on both sides, that's where he sits (top-left of baron, bottom-right of dragon), we all know it.. if you ward it and your teammate sees him sitting there, he will stay sitting there.. setting up a nice jungle invade scenario for you or a team gank} to the sarcophagus he came out of. GO BACK TO YA MOMMA. I tell you, ganking amumu before he can initiate really does make him sad. :P Those are just examples, but you will get the hang of countering enemy junglers by playing them (both with and against). Riven has the most trouble with Udyr/Not****ty Lee Sin/"" Cho'Gath(what?) due to the fact that they all hit fairly hard and come at you at the worst possible time (about to ding 5 at golems, Lee Sin Roundhouse kick; dead. Bye nigga :( A good Lee Sin jungling against Riven would ward small golems at 4 minutes.)

Basic Combo: Q->AutoAttack->Q->AutoAttack->R->AutoAttack->Q->Autoattack->E->AutoAttackInTransit->W->Shift+R. When you get it the first time, **** gets real. The timing is very precise (see Guy in V-ism, and if you get this joke we should be friends. hell if you're reading this far you're probably in love->>>>>>>with dogs, HA HA Canophilia.)

This play by play brought to you by Sebben & Sebben. HA HA.

I expand on the synergy between abilities with the items I take. I'm of the notion that a full inventory is a happy inventory, hence why I get all the ******** items first before making my first decent thing (a little sheen never hurt anyone; HAHA YEAH RIGHT!). I'm not going to go through each because every time I go to shop till I drop is noted. The finalized items, however, are definitely worth explaining.

Jungle Build:
At some point throughout the game, usually when I'm about to pick up my Trinity Force, I sell my Wriggle's lantern (the ward stays, so drop one before you sell it). The rest of the items are tanky dps but not overly so. Now the item that everyone is going to scorn me for: Cloak and Dagger. "NO-ONE BUYS THAT IT'S UTTER *****". Yeah, maybe. Hexdrinker is on Recommended. HAHAHA. Not hating, but I've bought it several times with Riven and it just isn't for ME. I'd rather spend 1450 on atkspd/crit/tenac(iousd) than 2845 on ""-tenac+movespeed. Sometimes I do substitute it when my ganks are going well while jungling, due to the lack of movement speed quints, (oops) so that's always an option if you're a CnD hater (cats & dogs). Late game I go for either the Randuin's or Force of Nature based upon who on their team is dominating (if no-one FoN simply for Movement speed, but I doubt no-one will be dominating by the time you BUY your last item).

Lane: Highly based on team comp. I can't force your judgement calls. These items aren't a bunch of rules... they're more like guidelines (relevant, i swear).

Jungle: Flash, Smite.
Lane: Ghost, Exhaust.

Bread n Butta babyyyy.

lol

choice, except for jungling, you need the AD quints/marks.. not need, but they're definitely quite helpful if you want to be successful and immune to ganks (shield).

OOPS.

lol

choice

More like Unique Kills. They are oh so satisfying. Especially the Quadras (waitin' on that penta but Morde/Mumu, depending on ban, can't die).

You'll also be pretty good with a bow staff. Don't you wish you could go back in time? I do.

Peace Niggas!