Jarvan IV is a melee dps and off tank hero. Hes very versatile in this game and can be the main initiator of any engagement. As such I have made this guide on how I play my Jarvan. I really like how unique he is to the game. I noticed how he can dominate any lane he chooses to take. If you like playing melee and being able to jump into team fights do mass amounts of damage and escape with a good amount of hp left, then Jarvan is defiantly for you.

Pros
- High Survivability
- High Quick burst output and great sustained damage.
- Great Farmer
- One of the best team fighters in the game.
- Able to be used as straight damage, tank, or hybrid.

Cons
- Can be very slow without items for this.
- Uses a good amount of mana early and mid game
- Ulti can be countered if played correctly.

Base Stats

I take this as one of my main summoner spells simply for the fact is someone manages to escape your ulti, slow from aegis, you can use exhaust on them to allow time to get the kill. Also this is very useful in early game to get some early kills thanks to his survivability with this build.


This is the second summoner spell i take. I find this to be a must have with Jarvan. Its very useful for times you have to escape a gank because that tends to happen very often when people see you, its also very useful to chase people down with your other abilities such as aegis, and dragonstike.

(Note: I use this ability alot when i throw my ulti on someone in a big team fight. Especially if they have some heavy melee damage dealers trapped in the ulti that do aoe.




I love this choice on almost every hero i play, its very useful against melee teams and big tanks with hp regen ie... Mundo. Always good to get that last dot on someone close to death to insure the kill.




I still prefer flash over ghost in almost every situation, but then again Jarvan is very slow, so you might find this useful for your style of play.




This is only really viable for 5's since the maps are much bigger. But since i take some hp items early and have great escape mechanics i dont really go back to base that very often. Only use i see out of getting it would be to protect towers or maybe set up quick teleport in for gank.



This is good to avoid some cc, but then again your Jarvan, you have pretty good avoidance for most cc.



Since Jarvan uses alot of mana i guess you could use this spell, although late game its very useless.




I do not jungle, so yea pointless.




Heh, what are you a level 2 scrub?



To be simply honest, this is pointless.




Again, another pointless spell...




Good if you are scared of bushes... Dont be scared.




just wow, if you get this you should uninstall.

These are the masteries I have found best so far. Again this is what I like for my play style, you might be different.

Deadliness x3 - Increases your champion's critical strike chance by {0.66/1.33/2}%.
Cripple - Your exhaust spell also reduces the target's armor and magic resistance by 10 for the duration, and increases the duration by 0.5 seconds. The debuff does not stack with itself.
Sorcery x4 - Reduces the cooldown of your champion's abilities by {0.75/1.5/2.25/3}%.
Alacrity x4 Increases your champion's attack rate by {1/2/3/4}%.
Sunder x3 Your physical attacks ignore {2/4/6} of the target's armor.
Brute Force x3 Increases your champion's attack damage by {1/2/3}.
Lethality x3 Increases your champion's critical strike damage by {3.33/6.66/10}%.
Havoc - Increases your base damage, and magic damage by 5%.
Resistance x3 - Increases your champion's magic resistance by {2/4/6}.
Hardiness x2 - Increases your champion's armor by {2/4/6}.
Strength of Spirit x3 - Increases your champion's health regeneration per 5 seconds by {0.33/0.66/1}% of your maximum mana.

I find this talent tree best for all aspects of the game, The health regen for farming lanes early and the magic resist make it able for you to take more of a beating during team fights when you use your ulti.

Of course the damage is self explanatory, crit and damage is a must with Jarvan.

Greater Mark of Desolation Greater Mark of Desolation
Greater Seal of Vitality Greater Seal of Vitality
Greater Glyph of Focus
Greater Quintessence of Desolation Greater Quintessence of Desolation

This is just a personal preference of what I like. I actually have thought about switching Greater Seal of Vitality Greater Seal of Vitality for Greater Seal of Evasion. This might early game or late game situations, but haven't been able to test the two against each other yet. Stay tuned for that.

Okay, i usually play mid with this build and tend to crush anyone i go against. Also note i tend not to wait till i have all the gold to by the major tier of my items, i buy the lower tiers through out if i have the time. This will help you through out the game while you continue to farm. I start with . I like to start with that first, I find it gives me great survivability and damage to stay in lane longer. And as we know the longer you can stay in lane without returning the better. Another choice ive been known to go is and x3 but only depending on who im up against. I try to stay out as long as possible, i find for me its usually around level 6-7 when i first go back.

From there i buy for the early speed. I try to turn for my as soon as possible for the early health and passive. Usually it dosent take long to get the gold for this. After that I purchase .

Now after those are complete I buy a for some added quick damage while i continue to farm to finish off my . Also note that i usually choose to buy in bewteen the sword and inf edge.

I tend to like to take my Giants Belt after the edge for the health bonus, but you could switch it up and go zeal a little bit quicker for your style of play. comes next for the damage bonus and added health. I next get my for some quick speed and crit boost then go for Catalyst of the Protector for a quick little hp and mana boost while i finish off my After those you will want to finish off your info a . This should greatly help you just destroy their team in a matter of secs.

Usually after you get the the game is close to over or already is over. Its up to you what route you wanna go with that items selection, I do tend to change it up from time to time depending on what team im up against. But for my Last item i get for some added armor pen and attack speed. But ive also been know to switch that for a sunfire cape or bloodthirster.




Other items you could consider depending on their team comp.
For those pesky teams with ALOT of AP.
Very good combined with your ulti, but not as valuable against heavy ranged teams.
Can be a good choice for those auto attackers...
Good choice for the cooldown reduction, but i find i forget to use its active ability alot, so I usually dont take items that have the feature on them.
Good for some added lifesteal and the aura for your team, but I find it just dosen't give enough to compensate for the items you would lose to get it.
The Bloodthrister Okay for situations with melee teams.

Early Game
Since i usually always play mid because that's just where i like to be, i tend to be a little aggressive no matter who I'm up against(unless that person is zilean, in which he can be a real prick to deal with). As the first minion waves come to mid i tend to try to test my opponent by moving in only for last hits, I like to see how aggressive they are going to be. If its a squishy AP dealer which most of the time it is you should have no problem establishing your dominance right away. They usually think they can kite me or in some cases out damage me, i have yet to find someone who can do this in that early game, once you hit level 2 and get your and combine it with your ,the damage plus your knock up and exhaust should combine for your first blood. If your unable to seal the deal, then try again at level 4 once you have your shield, the slowing effect should be enough to finish them off. I continue to harass them with those 2 abilities as much as possible while trying to conserve mana. Remember don't over extend yourself, that's a easy way to get killed.

Make sure if you are choosing to play aggressive in any lane to watch out for ganks. If you have a good team with you they should be calling it out if someone goes m.i.a. but then again we don't always get what we wish for. Also if you have the time make sure to buy some vision wards to place near you and river to watch for potential ganks.

Its not till around level 7-8 till i go back. On my return to mid lane or another lane if they need some help, I always make sure to grab blue buff. Jarvan uses ALOT of mana for his abilities, so that added mana regen and cooldown reduction will allow you to "pwn people's faces" haha. If i have time around level 9-10 and our team is doing well i kill dragon and grab red buff and buy a couple items.

Early domination with Jarvan is key to victory, the other team will focus you though in almost every team fight or engagement. Yes it does suck, but this will allow you to "take one for the team" as you ulti into them and your throws down their damage in your arena of death. If found that usually if you do this around the 22 min mark the other team just throws in the towel and surrenders.


Mid Game
Mid game is just another area where Jarvan shines, since he does good amount of damage at this point and can take some hits, if can be considered an "off tank". Hopefully you have some real tanks on your team to take the damage, but Jarvan can help out in these areas till they get a little more built. Always make sure to keep getting blue and red buffs whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Its around mid game that everyone stops laneing and starts to gank and team fight. Dont let yourself get caught all alone out there without the rest of your team to support you, you might be a beast, but even beasts can be slain. Always make sure to keep an eye on the minimap and watch for potential ganks. Its also around mid game that one of the teams is usually fed by now and will be struggling to catch back up. Keeping your team organized while place wards place in river and major buffs will be key to victory. You want to make sure to keep good communication with your team. Another thing to watch out for is heavy minion waves pushing your towers, you might think minions are no big concern, but if they enemy team has pushed back your minions in a certain lane and your team is busy team fighting that could cause you to lose a tower or two. Just stay focused on playing as a team and doing the right thing for not only yourself but others.


Late Game
At this point in the game it should be clear who is dominating. If you are losing then there is not much you should be doing besides playing conservative. If your on the offensive then you and your team need to be focused on getting the inhibs down without getting aced. Being aced late game can definably change the tides. Be focusing on the squishier heroes rather than the tanks. The problem with most people and late game is if they were dominating early and mid game they got way to confidant. Gear advantage can make some people cocky and forget the other team can catch back up in gear and kills. Ive seen many games where one team is crushing the other team by 3x as many kills and turrets, but ends up losing late game because they got too cocky and played stupid.

Also, make sure if you just got some kills on the other team and you have some time, make sure to grab barron, its a great way to just be able to run in, and crush the rest of their turrets or anything they have left. But make sure to keep an eye out when your team is trying for this, the other team may have spotted you and sent someone to snake it.


How to initiate fights.
This is just how i start team fights closer to end game, you make like a different approach but i enjoy this. To start off i throw down my Demancian Standard, followed by a to knock them up. After that i pick the casters or squishy hereos in the group and jump on them with . Once i have them trapped i throw up followed again by Demancian Standard and . By this time they should be dead or very close to it. You can use on 1 to get the final kills but your team should be able to clean up pretty easy.

Just be careful of when you jump in, if one of the heavier dps or tanks have or alot of aoe, it could prove to be the death of your very quickly and change the tides of the engagement. I find that if I do jump in and find myself in that situation its always a good idea to Flash out to avoid any unnecessary damage.

I posted this after about 40-50 games of play with Jarvan, so everything is not perfect yet. This is just a rough draft of what I like to use and do in 5's. I have yet to test any of this in 3's. Jarvan is a heavy dps and off tank, and should be played as such. You dont have to worry about playing really really conservative with him. Just know your strengths and weaknesses and the game should go smooth.

I will be posting videos, screenshots, and other info on my Jarvan play. So stay tuned for any updates i post.

Please do not troll on this, Jarvan is a new hero and im just trying to help out for anyone having trouble, there are many other guides out there that could help you, so no need to post negative comments on mine. I take constructive criticism very well, so let me know on what areas i could improve if you have anything. So please vote and leave a comment below, it will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Antihero