As the royal family of Demacia for centuries, members of the Lightshield line have spent their lives waging war against any who opposed Demacian ethics. It is said that every Lightshield is born with anti-Noxian sentiment in his blood. Jarvan IV is no exception, even though he is the first Lightshield born to the age of League of Legends. As his forefathers had before him, he led Demacian troops into bloody engagements with Noxian forces, and on many occasions he has bled alongside wounded allies and fallen comrades. In his most crushing defeat, he was outmaneuvered and captured by a Noxian battalion under the command of Jericho Swain. This mistake nearly cost him his life at the hands of Urgot, but he was rescued by the Dauntless Vanguard, an elite Demacian strike force led by Jarvan's childhood companion, Garen.
Those close to him believed that his capture changed him. Xin Zhao was quoted as saying: "His eyes never seemed to look at you, only through you to something he could not look away from." One day, without warning, Jarvan IV handpicked a squad of Demacian soldiers and left Demacia, vowing to find "atonement". He began by tracking and hunting the most dangerous beasts and bandits he could find in northern Valoran, but he soon tired of such prey. Seeking something that only he understood, he ventured south of the Great Barrier. He wasn't heard from again for nearly two years. After many had assumed the worst, he returned to glorious fanfare on the streets of Demacia. His Demacian plates were adorned with the bones and scales of creatures unknown. His eyes bore the wisdom of someone twice his age. Of the twelve soldiers who had departed with him, only two returned. In a tone as cold and steady as steel, he swore to bring the enemies of Demacia to their knees.

There is only one truth, and you will find it at the point of my lance. The last words of Jarvan IV at his failed execution

Dear god was i unexperienced when i first started writing this guide, i will now do an update to try and make a viable Jarvan. (Even though he has pretty much been nerfed to the ground)
Alright, I know many people say "max E, caus it's best" I agree, when he is jungling E is surely the most viable skill for Jarv when jungling, the extra armor and attack speed is just great.

Now when you're laning with him, max Q, better damage+less mana cost = better poke

Sincerely - Andexx

Now the **** i said about him being tank, if i had ever seen this guide today, i would have lol'd, really. His role is to be a bruiser, and i believe you can still call him a tank with the meta game we have nowadays (which is usually a beefy dps jungler and beefy dps top)

For masteries i go with a pretty simple 21/9/0 to deal more damage early on.

For runes i go something like AD marks, Armor yellows and mag res glyphs. Go with Armor pen quints or AD quints.

For summoner spells i choose Exhaust and Flash because it is usually the most viable in the top lane, unless you have an enemy (like Chogath, or Irelia) He/she will usually go with teleport, now you would want to do the same, to ensure dragon/baron control etc.

other spells you can use
Ignite, i don't like this spell on jarvan, caus you usually wanna go for a mid/lategame oriented build, where you can be that comotion in the teamfight that the enemy team don't like, Therefore is exhaust better. (still take it if you freaking love that spell)



No Go's
Heal because it isn't good mid / lategame
Revive, Don't even think about it
Clarity "lol"

one of my favourite things with jarvan is his Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike combo, it can be used for knocking a Katarina in the air when she uses her ulti or disrupting another spell, it is also good combined with Cataclysm. Jump in with Cataclysm then Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike to get out of it and watch your ranged carries burst him down ;)

With your summoner abilities set to ghost and flash Demacian Standard can also be combined with Flash to get through 2 walls instead of just 1, making you unchasable (unless it is Kassadin)

In early games you would wanna aim for farming/not getting harrased too much, when at lvl 5 you would start to poke the enemy with your Q+first strike (try to do it without getting hit) On some champions you need to call for a gank, caus they're simply outpoking you/zoning you.

Now farming minions isn't such a big deal for Jarvan, after all he is Prince of Demacia and a Dragonslayer. A few minions wont be able to stand in his way.

again i use the combination of Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike to get rid of enemy minions, in the mid and late game there will at times come a large group of enemy minions to your tower, now if you run out to kill them put a Demacian Standard in the back of the group then Dragon Strike through them, now if they aren't dead from that Finish them off with your spear!

Pros
+ good tank
+ fun to play
+ good farmer
+ deals incredeble damage for a tank
+ fun to play
+ he is very beefy
+ great fun to play

Cons
- in the early stages of the game he is very mana dependent and you will often see that he runs out of mana, now don't dispair. he won't be just as mana dependent lategame, now if you want to get rid of this manadependency buy a manamune whenever you think it is the right time.
- i really can't think of anything else i really like this champ!

so overall this is one of the best champs in the game at the moment, i like him for being so awesome and for having some fun abilites. there isn't anything else to say other than, go play him, try him out, love him, gank with him

Best of fun and awesomeness

- Andexx