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Ryze Build Guide by

I Read the Runes: You Lose | A Ryze Guide 10.11

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Ryze Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (7) More Ryze Guides

Runes: Standard Runes

1 2

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Manaflow Band

Transcendence

Gathering Storm

Domination

Taste of Blood

Ravenous Hunter

Bonus:

+8 Ability Haste
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

My Default

Flash

Teleport

Items

Starting 1

Starting 2 - NOTES

Starting 3 - NOTES

First Back

Rush These Items - NOTES

Standard Build

Defensive Build

Situational Items

Ability Order

Ryze Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Anivia

Extreme

Anivia is one of the biggest threats for Ryze, possibly even the biggest. Her auto range is insane, so insane you can't even get close enough for an E on her. Use your E on the minion wave to mark her as much as you can and just try and poke her down. Her passive will just revive her. Look to get fed off of roams and then if you avoid her stun you can fight her. I don't recommend fighting her alone at any point in the laning phase.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Champion Build Guide

Introduction

About Me
Why Play Ryze
Pros and Cons

Pre-Game Prep

Runes
Option 1 - Option 2
Summoner Spells

In-Game

Abilities
Laning Phase
Teamfighting

Closing Remarks

Conclusion

Hi, I'm 100 Bans Later. This is my second guide, so please be respectful and positive! I've been playing League of Legends since the start of Season 8. I'm not the greatest of players, but I like to think my understanding of the game has greatly expanded since I began playing. I've pursued knowledge via videos, guides, and builds among other things. I've worked to better understand management of neutral objectives, the kits of different champions, wave management, and tons more.

Through this guide, I'm hoping to not only expand your knowledge of Ryze and his ins and outs, but I'm also hoping to expand my own knowledge by utilizing BBCode to make this guide look clean, proper, and efficient! I didn't have much help as a newer player, and I would've really enjoyed having more help when I started the game. I'm going to be making lots more guides in order to help spread the knowledge that I've gained as a result of countless hours of playing League of Legends. I hope that my guide suits all of your needs for Ryze!

Ryze flies under the radar of a lot of players when they start playing League of Legends. He has a really low play rate in low ELO, as well as ban rate, but conversely a really high play and ban rate in high ELO. This is because of one simple, easy to see fact: Ryze is so uncommon in low ELO because team coordination is harder. When Ryze plays well with his team, he's one of the strongest champions in the game. Most low ELO players see Ryze very rarely. There are so few good Ryze players that he doesn't get the spotlight he deserves. He sees the majority of his play in high ELOs and pro play. People think that Ryze has been gutted and is only good to play professionally, because of the coordination that he should have with his team. While Ryze is a really strong late game carry, he usually requires some help from his team to get rolling. Ryze has a lot of strengths, though: he can set off a lot of different kinds of damage. He can do really sustained, poke-oriented damage, quick, strong burst damage, or intermittent damage that chunks tanks. It's difficult to counter Ryze because of all of the different ways that people can play him.

I can say confidently that Ryze is a really strong champion, especially if you're good with him. His combos do take some time to master, but once you get them down, you'll find yourself pretty much unstoppable.

PROS

+Excellent at sustaining high damage, freezing enemy champions in place, and bursting enemies down.
+Ultimate provides mobility for allied champions and himself.
+Lots of outplay potential.
+Insane waveclear at all stages of the game.

Ryze is a real threat for any team comp because he has easy to land (actually unmissable) crowd control. He cannot miss his W. He has many different types of damage with all of the different combos he can use. Burst, sustained, etc. He has a lot of outplay potential with all of his different possible combos, and he has insane wave clear. He can force almost any enemy under their turret. Teamfighting with Ryze is really easy as long as he doesn't have any counters, because it's so easy to lock down an enemy carry or tank and burst them down quickly.

CONS

-Not a very strong early game.
-Susceptible to ganks if he can't get his ultimate off.
-Difficult to master his combos.
-Takes experience to know which combos to use in different situations.
-A strong counter will make your life really difficult all game, magnified in team fights.

Although Ryze has a lot of pros, we are forced to mention his cons. Before Ryze has enough CDR to quickly reset his , he's really weak. His combos are slow and easy to escape by getting out of range. This makes his early game very difficult. He's very susceptible to ganks from the enemy jungler, especially because of how often Ryze will push the wave because of his natural clear. His combos can be hard to master, and there's a lot of different combos you'll need in different situations to maximize your potential, and it does take a while to recognize which combo will be most useful in which situation, as well as how easy it will be to get it off.

SORCERY

Hitting an enemy champion with 3 attacks or separate abilities within 3 seconds grants 25 - 40% (based on level) Movement Speed and 75% Slow Resistance for 3 seconds.

15 seconds cooldown.

is the best choice on Ryze, in my opinion. It gives you that nice burst of speed after getting a simple E Q combo off. The extra slow resistance is great too, as it'll help you stick with enemies who are faster than you.

Hitting enemy champions with a spell grants 25 maximum Mana, up to 250 Mana.

Upon earning 250 Mana, Manaflow Band restores 1% of your missing Mana every 5 seconds.

15 seconds cooldown.

is definitely the best choice on Ryze in this row. If you're going against a bursty champion that uses AP, might be a good option, but I would recommend . Ryze runs out of mana easily, and this will help him to get some more.

Gain 10% cooldown reduction when you reach level 10.

Additionally, you gain either 2 Ability Power or 1.2 bonus Attack Damage (Adaptive) for every 1% cooldown reduction in excess of the cap.

I can tell you safely and surely that is the safest and best option on Ryze for this row. Ryze will love the extra CDR, as that's what he needs to get his cooldowns off.

Effects
Every 10 minutes, gain 1 (+1 per 10 Minutes) stacks of Gathering Storm. Each stack grants an Adaptive bonus of 8 ability power or 4.6 attack damage.

10 min: + 8 AP or 5 AD
20 min: + 24 AP or 14 AD
30 min: + 48 AP or 29 AD
40 min: + 80 AP or 48 AD
50 min: + 120 AP or 72 AD
60 min: + 168 AP or 101 AD
etc...

is definitely the best bet on Ryze here. Some people like to take , but having 24 extra ability power is much safer than , which more than likely won't secure you any kills.

DOMINATION

Heal for 18 - 35 (based on level) (Adaptive ratio: +20% of Bonus Attack Damage or +10% of Ability Power) the next time you damage an enemy champion.

does really well on Ryze because it gives him some easy sustain in lane. It might not seem like much, but it really ends up stacking up, and helps him stay alive and in lane longer after trades.

Heal for 1.5% (+2.5% per Bounty Hunter stack) of the damage dealt by your abilities.

Earn a Bounty Hunter stack the first time you get a takedown on each enemy champion.

Healing reduced to one third for Area of Effect abilities.

is really strong on Ryze. Sustain in general is strong, so helps him out a lot at all points during the game.

SORCERY

Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a comet at their location dealing 30 - 100 (based on level) (Adaptive ratio: +35% of Bonus Attack Damage or +20% of Ability Power) adaptive damage.

If Arcane Comet is on cooldown, damaging a champion with an ability reduces its cooldown (cannot occur more frequently than once every 0.5 second) as follows:

Single target spells: 20%
Area of effect and multi target spells: 10% per enemy hit
Damage over time: 5%
20 - 8 seconds Cooldown (based on level).

is the best choice on Ryze if you're looking to poke down your enemy efficiently and effectively. It will help you deal massive amounts of damage all game, as it will proc on any and all of your abilities.

Hitting enemy champions with a spell grants 25 maximum Mana, up to 250 Mana.

Upon earning 250 Mana, Manaflow Band restores 1% of your missing Mana every 5 seconds.

15 seconds cooldown.

Gain 10% cooldown reduction when you reach level 10.

Additionally, you gain either 2 Ability Power or 1.2 bonus Attack Damage (Adaptive) for every 1% cooldown reduction in excess of the cap.

I can tell you safely and surely that is the safest and best option on Ryze for this row. Ryze will love the extra CDR, as that's what he needs to get his cooldowns off.

is definitely the best bet on Ryze here. Some people like to take , but having 24 extra ability power is much safer than , which more than likely won't secure you any kills.

DOMINATION

Basic attacks and damaging abilities deal 8 - 40 (based on level) bonus true damage to slowed or immobilized enemy champions.

Note that attacks or abilities that impair the target will not trigger that bonus damage themselves, unless the target is already slowed or immobilized.

Cooldown: 4 seconds

is really important if you're running the poke runes. The extra true damage that this rune gives when you root the enemy champion deals tons of damage in such a short time.

is really strong on Ryze. Sustain in general is strong, so helps him out a lot at all points during the game.

: Pretty much any and every champion takes , and Ryze is no exception. This spell is a must-have for Ryze.

: Lots of people might question my decision to include here, but you'd be surprised at the utility it gives Ryze. It's great for locking down your enemy, especially once you get a few items and do tons of damage. It also helps you get to lane faster. If you're a more experienced player, is also an equally viable option, and in some cases, especially tough matchups, I will take it.

Arcane Mastery (Passive)

RANGE: N/A
COST: N/A
COOLDOWN: N/A

Ryze's spells deal extra damage based on his Bonus Mana, and he gains a percentage increase to his maximum Mana based on his Ability Power.

Overload (Q)

RANGE: 1000
COST: 40 mana
COOLDOWN: 6 sec

Passively, Ryze's other damaging spells reset Overload and begin to charge a Rune that can be used to empower Overload.

On cast, Ryze throws a charge of pure energy in a line, dealing damage to the first enemy struck. If a Rune is fully charged, Ryze also gains a shield and Movement Speed.

Unleash a runic blast, dealing 60/85/110/135/160/185 (+45% Ability Power) (+0) magic damage to the first enemy struck. Any active Runes are discharged.

Rune Prison (W)

RANGE: 615
COST: 50/60/70/80/90 mana
COOLDOWN: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 sec

Ryze traps a target in a cage of runes, damaging them and slowing their movement. If the target has Flux on it, they are instead rooted.

Instantly deal magic damage and slow an enemy by 40% for 1.5 seconds. If the target has Flux on it, it is rooted instead, consuming Flux in the process.

Spell Flux (E)

RANGE: 600
COST: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mana
COOLDOWN: 3.25 / 3 / 2.75 / 2.5 / 2.25 sec

Ryze releases an orb of pure magical power that damages an enemy and debuffs all nearby enemies. Ryze's spells have additional effects against the debuffed enemy. Fire an orb that deals magic damage, spreading Flux to the target and all nearby enemies for 4 seconds. If attempting to apply Flux to an enemy that already has it, it further spreads.

Realm Warp (R)

RANGE: 1750/3000
COST: 100 mana
COOLDOWN: 180 sec

Passively, Overload deals even more damage against targets with Flux.

On cast, Ryze creates a portal to a nearby location. After a few seconds, allies standing near the portal are teleported to the target location.

Passive: Overload damage bonus against targets with Flux increased to 150%.
Active: Ryze opens a portal to another location. After 3 seconds, all allies near the portal are teleported to that location.If Ryze becomes unable to cast or move, Realm Warp is cancelled.

The laning phase is probably Ryze's most difficult time period in the game, especially early. Ryze is really weak and susceptible to ganks, with only his and his ultimate to escape ganks. In the laning phase, changes will be made depending on your matchup, where you can read which strategy to employ at the top of the build. Overall, however, Ryze has one specific objective: push the wave hard. As Ryze has excellent wave clear, you'll want to be forcing under the other laners turret as much as humanly possible. Let the wave bounce back to you, so you can grab more farm and XP while you roam. Ryze is great at helping team mates. Invading the jungle with your jungler early could net you a nice lead. You can push and roam or push and keep the pressure on in the mid lane. It's really important that you keep this pressure up, but don't extend too hard for too long. Push the wave and then back off to allow the wave to reset to the middle. Executing a freeze in the mid lane is difficult, and most players can't do it, especially in lower ELOs. More than 90% of the time, your wave will bounce back.

In order to play Ryze effectively, you'll have to understand his combos, so here are the best ones that I've found that are effective in certain situations.

Q>E>Q: This is your bread and butter combo. You hit them with an , then a , and another . This will dish out a lot of damage.

W>E>Q: This is your poke combo. It will proc your phase rush rune if you took it and allow you to stay on the enemy champ. It will allow you to continue dealing a lot of damage and you can easily get back and away from any possible enemy counter at that point.

E>W>Q: This is your escape combo. If an enemy is ganking you, you'll want to use your E on any near-death minions, champions, or monsters and then root your enemy. The should bounce from the minions or whatever to the champion and a root is impossible to miss at this point. The is just to get a bit more damage off.

Q>E>Q>W>Q>E>Q: This combo is going to be really difficult to pull off, and you'll only be able to pull it off in a 1v1 or chasing situation. This combo will pretty much delete anyone within a few seconds, unless they have a lot of MR.

Teamfighting with Ryze is actually a piece of cake. Your job as a teamfighter is to peel for your carries and set up damage off of minions with your and your . As the enemies will have to be near minions to get damage off or protect their turrets, inhibitors, or their Nexus, you can easily the minions and do a lot of damage with your . At this point in the game, you've probably got about two or three items, so your combos will be doing a lot of damage.

Make sure that you're partially front lining and make sure that you peel for your carries. Although you are a carry at this point in the game, you'll probably have a lot more health than them, and considering you have an unmissable root, you'll want to use it in case anyone is getting dived. Position yourself smart so that you're outside of enemy range but also close enough to minions to set up the use of your .

Keep in mind, if you're the carry for your team, you're going to want to be playing back to front. If you see an enemy take a lot of damage, get up there and finish him. You'll proc phase rush and can chase the rest of the team and take them out. Be sure to use your ult to chase!

Overall, I think Ryze is one of the best champions in the game. He has a lot of combos for a lot of different situations, he's really strong, and can solo carry a team. Although he is weak early on, his sustained damage and utility all game long easily make him one of the strongest champions in the game. He has great team mobility with his and insane wave clear with his and . If you're looking for a cheap (Blue Essence), rewarding champion, I feel strongly that is one of your best options, maybe your best in the mid lane right now. Ryze can be played top, but I don't recommend it, as he's really weak early game and a lot of top laners thrive in the early game. I hope that my guide covered all of your needs for , The Rune Mage! Thanks for reading!