This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.
We recommend you take a look at this author's other builds.
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page






Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Recommended Items
Spells:
Cleanse
Flash
Items
Ability Order
New Destiny (PASSIVE)
Graves Passive Ability
Introduction


- Amazing Burst in an AOE, possibly the greatest of any ADC.
- Fantastic Utility with
Smoke Screen which both slows and robs the enemy of their map awareness
- A Reliable Escape and Steroid. Most carries don't get both a reliable escape and an amazing steroid (With a few exceptions). But Graves is a rule breaker.
- Clean Auto Attack Animation and Decent Base Damage.
Graves is one of the easiest characters to get Last Hits as, at least once you get used to him.
- Strong at Most Stages of the Game.
Graves will outlane most carries, other than the ones who are known for lane bullying, and out scale most carries, other than the ones who are known for scaling really well. When he can't beat them in one area, he'll beat them in the other.
By no means is




Runes







I run flat AD Marks, although I'm researching Armor Pen Marks at the moment. One slight deviation is I use 1 Crit Chance Mark, because that 1% chance for double damage is worth a little bit more than the less than +1 bonus AD. However, that change is a personal preference. Finally, I just run Lifesteal Quints. They're much better if you start out with a Doran's Blade, which I have recently started doing. If you don't wish to invest in the Quints however, feel free to run AD Quints. They do fine in a pinch. I encourage readers to experiment with possible builds, as there is no 1 way to build any character, and

So this is the most important part of playing Graves, and it's something that a few people screw up. The item build I recommended is a rough estimation of how your average game will cause you to build, in the rough order you'll be able to afford them. But before I delve in deep, I'll give a TL;DR.
- Graves scales really well with raw AD.
- Itemizing against your opponent is critical.
- It's important to have at least one of your items be a survivability one.
- Change your build depending on your skills.
- ALWAYS BUY SOMETHING WHEN YOU BACK.
And of course, as with the list of Graves Strengths, there is something flawed about each one of those. But that's a fantastic baseline for understanding how to build Graves. With that being said, lets dive right into specifics.
Table Of Contents
AD Scaling
Adapting
Survivability
Changing Builds
Always Buying
Default Build
AD Scaling




The key part of the scaling is it's bonus AD. So that means that if you grab a BF Sword, with your Q+AA combo, it adds approximately 100+ damage to your Burst. If you also ult, it's close to 150 bonus damage. This actually doesn't sound like a lot, admittedly. But it's a significant power spike that you can sometimes use to catch people off guard.
Adapting
Adapting is the key to winning. If their tank is completely shut down, don't bother building anti-tank items (such as Last Whisper). If their AP carry is fed, it's time to build a


My "standard" build is in a game where no player is shut down or fed, and you need to provide damage for your team in a way that hurts the enemy tanks and allows you to survive. But sometimes, you won't need to be the primary damage dealer, if your team is running a carry jungle for instance. In this case, although you still need to be a major damage dealer, you can afford to pick up items in other orders, or even alter the build entirely. Just don't build support Graves please.
Survivability
I think the most important thing to remember is simple: you can't shoot people while you're dead. If you want to go full glass cannon, you'll end up regretting it when you get jumped by someone who is an unstoppable force when diving you (Honestly, screw









I'm playing around with a few more options, but these three are really the choices at this moment.
Changing
This is actually different from Adapting, although it doesn't seem like it. Adapting is about altering your build to be the most effective against your opponents. But changing your build is more than that. Changing your build means that you realize that your playstyle differs from mine, and you'd rather pick up different items in different orders. And right now, I'm here to tell you that you should!
A common mistake is reading a guide on any website and assuming that's how you play the champion. Use a guide to learn a champion, to get a baseline on how to build them. But after a few games, try adapting your build. Maybe you're a weaker laner than I, so get some Doran's Blades ASAP. Or, alternatively, you are a way better team fighter than I am, so you don't really need a Guardian Angel because you don't end up in places you can be killed. And if by some chance my build works for you, that's also fine. Play

Always Buying
This is a tip I wish someone had given me when I first started playing. If you ever leave lane, you left it for one of three reasons:
- You are ahead and recalled to buy and solidify your gold lead.
- You ran out of a resource, whether health or mana or consumables, that means you can't continue laning and you recalled in order to refill that resource.
- You were killed.
The most important thing to remember is that you have gold for a reason, but that gold is useless until you use it. It doesn't matter how much you want that shiny

The trick to doing well in lane, even when behind, is to buy what you can afford. And I don't mean just stacking Dorans until you are better. Lets say in the past situation you're in a tough lane, you keep being harassed down and losing trades. But you manage to scrape up 1.3k gold. Do you go back into lane and try to farm up another 250 for a BF Sword? Again, it depends on the exact situation. But sometimes it just makes more sense to pick up a


Or, at the very least, buy some potions. A really common mistake that new players make is they only buy potions at the start. Potions remain useful for a while, especially if your taking just 200 points of damage every so often. If you recall early after picking up an easy kill, don't walk back into lane with what you had when you got the kill. Get something that solidifies your lead, even if it's a pretty small advantage.
In lane, you have two options: play aggressive or play passive.




Playing Aggressive
If you have a support like


Quickdraw in, immediately
Buckshot
- After Buckshotting, Auto Attack (at least) once.
- If they are disengaging, Auto as they run, but don't chase unless your support is following you and you will get the kill without dying.
- If they stand and fight you, fight them until it seems like you are going to lose the trade. Then, immediately back out.
Graves excels at skirmishing with his passive and (fairly) low CD, high damage skills.


Playing Passively
Playing passively is simple: Don't harass as much, and never waste Quickdraw aggressively. CS as best you can, and don't push the wave with



















Blue Build Ezreal, however, is a little harder to deal with. His Q spam is more frequent and much stronger. Once he has his


































Once either your team or theirs initiates the teamfight, you should immediately use


- Oh no! Their assasin jumped on me!
- They're running in fear of my shotgun.
- They're fighting, and not giving me any love.
I've Been Jumped!
First step: Don't panic.




They're Running!
Try to chase with your team. Get auto attacks in whenever you can, and


Stife
Ah yes, the teamfight where they can't/don't focus the carry. This is what you were built for. Shoot people, whether their tanks or their carries. Although, of course, it's most important to kill the squishy damage dealers, frequently you have to put yourself in their position to do so. So just follow this simple rule: Kill the nearest opponent. Use your abilities when necessary, only blow


You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.