So what can be said? These are my thoughts behind this build was to give you an edge in making the somewhat squishy Riven a little more survivability without sacrificing too much damage. In the future I may very well add a more damage oriented build to this guide as well. However for the defensive portion of the guide I won't be adding fluff such as my reasoning as to why you must take "X and X" as your summoner spells and things like that. That's right this isn't an in-depth guide. I'm not going to talk about Riven down to every last curve on her body or something like that...as fun a topic as that might be if you're into that sort of thing.

Be gentle. Its my time making a guide!

Riven is a combo character straight and simple. If you're not comboing when fighting an enemy champion, chances are you're probably doing it wrong. Some common combos with Riven are as follows.

Hit and Run:
Broken Wings > Auto-Attack > Broken Wings > Ki Burst > Valor > Broken Wings.

Rundown: Feel free to swap Ki Burst and Valor. I don't really use this combo much myself so I dunno if its more effective one way or another. Why? Because my build is designed to make escaping not really as needed. Its simple. Broken Wings in and auto attack for burst, then Broken Wings out, use Valor and Ki Burst to get out more, and Broken Wings one last time to get distance.

Minion Farm:
Valor > Ki Burst > Auto Attack > Auto Attack > Last hit minions > Repeat

Rundown: Riven has a decent farm, this is why. If you're feeling sassy mix Broken Wings in, but it doesn't much matter. Its probably better to save it in the event you get jumped.

Dodge and Strike:
Valor > Broken Wings > Auto Attack > Broken Wings > Ki Burst > Auto Attack > Broken Wings > Auto Attack

Rundown: This variant of this combo is meant more to get in follows the old concept of "Punishing" in fighting games. Dodge an attack, and being to knock the stuffing out of them. If you want, you can activate Blade of the Exile as you go in and finish it with Wind Slash if you're really looking to go for the throat, especially against a ranged like Ashe or Ryze who'll kite you somehow. If you are planning to go for the throat, try to move in front of your enemy for the final attack of Broken Wings to push them back.

Dodge and Strike (Punish and Escape version):
Same as Dodge and Strike

Rundown: Same as last time, but after Valor > Broken Wings > Auto Attack the rest of the combo goes towards getting the hell out of there without the other auto attacks on the butt-end of the attack.

Exile's Finisher:
Blade of the Exile > Valor > Broken Wings > Auto Attack > Broken Wings > Auto Attack > Ki Burst > Auto Attack > Broken Wings > Auto Attack > Wind Slash

Rundown: This is Riven's Ultimate combo. Once you have Frozen Mallet this attack becomes downright devastating as there's little hope of getting away. And if they do somehow try to get away, you can use Youmuu's Ghostblade (If you sub out Atma's Impaler for it) to move in for the kill and reapply Frozen Mallet. Unless of course you're chasing Master Yi or Tryndamere when they pop their Ultimate, then its time to get the hell out if you can.

This build is one where some items are rather interchangeable with one another. For various effects. Sometimes for more damage, sometimes for refocusing your defensive capabilities. This build's status calculations assumes your runes and mine match, so recalculate appropriately. There's only two items I think about replacing on this build. Mercury Treads and Guardian Angel.

Mercury Tread Subsitutes
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: If you're fighting a team that doesn't have much in ways of AP or Crowd Control then you can probably ditch Mercury Treads for Ionian Boots of Lucidity. They'll work with your Cooldown Reduction runes to make your combos come more often.

Guardian Angel Substitutes
Banshee's Veil: That 115 Magic Resist not working for you? That 190 armor going to waste as Malzahar suppresses you, Annie unleashes her spells, and Fiddlesticks drains you? Well go Banshee's Veil. That'll help you out in the Magic Resistance department a bit better than Guardian Angel. You should still have your Mercury Treads as well if you're fighting an AP heavy team.

Quicksilver Sash: I admit. This isn't something I haven't tried personally. Still, if you're more worried about "That one spell" over the chance of blocking an ultimate or even taking the edge off your opponent's opening, try it. I can see this working out really well when fighting champions like Malzahar or Morgana.

Thornmail: ...Let me guess. Xin Zhao? Master Yi? Maybe Caitlyn? Some other Auto-Attacker you want to die horribly? Sounds like you need some Thornmail. Swapping out Guardian Angel for Thornmail is going to bring your armor to a whopping 222. With the life steal you're getting from Wriggles and Bloodthirster should make it much safer to duke it out with auto-attack based champions. No promises though. You know how those fights go sometimes.

Honestly, there's not much to say here. I put this here to try to get your attention. To the point, this is an expensive build and if you have no dedicated jungler and there is no five star alarm going off where your team needs you, I say kill jungle creeps on the way to your location for the extra cash. You're still going to be a bit squishy before you hit Frozen Mallet and Guardian Angel.

Also, don't forget your Wriggle's Lantern let's you drop a free sight ward. If you're gonna be moving through the jungle, you should be dropping it.

I'll be completely honest. I never even thought about defensive masteries before now. I felt it might take too much away from Riven's damage. Feel free to try a defensive mastery and get back to me on that.

Well there you have it. Its not terribly in-depth on Riven herself. Its short, none to elegant, and quite frankly I'm not expecting great things for it. I apologize for the two short sections I've used to merely get your attention. I just wanted to try to get some ideas out on making Riven a sturdier champion without losing much in means of attack power. I hope you've gotten some information or at least a chuckle out of this. Until next time!