This build will help you have an better understanding of Jarvan IV and how to play him correctly.

A good Jarvan IV is one that is hard to kill, someone who poses a challenges for 2 or 3 if ever ganked. Jarvan starts of with an above average amount of health and armor which makes it very benefitial to build up apon. Around level 10-15 champions will start finding it extremely hard to kill you, and you will only get harder to kill as you approach level 18.

Why is it important for Jarvan IV to be extremely difficult to kill? Because Jarvan IV is supposed to be played as an initiator. Jarvan IV is supposed to lead the team into battle, and for the enemy to target him first.

Why you should play Jarvan?
- You hate dying
- Love being a teamplayer getting plenty of assists, while getting some kills
- Using Fun Skills
- Like starting fights
- Enjoy Winning Games

Pros

+ Hard to Kill
+ Almost Impossible to kill one on one
+ Does a nice amount of damage
+ Great in team fights
+ Can isolate targets
+ Can stun/interrupt
+ Great at tower diving late game

Cons

- Mana dependant early game
- No self heal (Chances are you wont be building bloodthirster.)
- Costly, some games you wont of built your last item

Flash
By far the best summoner spell for Jarvan IV. It is useful in many situations, some examples are:
- Flashing away from an enemy
- Flashing towards an enemy inorder to kill a fleeing enemy
- Tower dive in, then flashing out
- Flashing behind an enemy
- Flashing out of a destructive AOE attack, such as nunu's ult
- Lets you engage and opponent from the jungle by flashing out


Ignite
The second most effective summoner spell for Jarvan IV. Ignite is also useful in a handful of situations such as:

- Killing a fleeing enemy with low hp
- Helps by doing extra damage to a champion if you are evenly matched
- Reduces healing by 50%
- Pervents an enemy from going invisible or teleporting back to their base

Personally I like to put my Masteries into Offense going 21/9/0

I feel that Jarvan IV is tough enough to kill as it is without focusing masteries into defence and because of this, I put the masteries into offense helping his damage output so he can still be effective at hurt enemies in battle.

In my build I put marks into Armor, Glyphs into Magic resist per level, and Seals into health per level. Then I split up my Quintenessence into Armor, Health and Magic resist.

In order to increase Jarvan IV survivability it is crucial to boost the three most important aspects to survive. Armor, Magic resist, and Health.

Martial Cadence:
(Passive): Jarvan IV's first attack on his target deals 10% of the target's current health as bonus magic damage, caps at 400 damage. This effect cannot occur on the same target for 6 seconds.



Dragon Strike:
Jarvan IV extends his lance through his opponent, dealing 70 / 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 (+1.10 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and lowering their armor by 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26% for 3 seconds. If its lance contacts his standard it will pull Jarvan IV to its location, knocking up all enemies in his path.


Golden Aegis:
Jarvan IV forges a shield protecting him 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+20/25/30/35/40 per nearby enemy champion) damage for 5 seconds and applying a 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% slow to surrounding enemies upon activation. The shield adds more mitigation for every enemy champion nearby when activating.


Demacian Standard:
(Passive): Grants Jarvan 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26% bonus attack speed and 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 armor.
(Active): Jarvan IV throws a Demacian flag to a nearby area, dealing 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+0.80 per ability power) magic damage to enemies in the area and granting his passive benefits to nearby allies and again to himself for 8 seconds.


Cataclysm:
Jarvan IV heroically leaps to an enemy champion, dealing 200 / 350 / 500 (+1.50 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and creating a circle of impassable terrain around them for a 3.5 second duration. Jarvan IV can destroy the area by activating it again. Champions can still leave or enter the area by using teleport abilities.

Demacian Standard is Jarvan IV's best move. It can harass enemies, reveal bushes, give bonus attack speed and armor to allies, and do decent damage. Use it as much as possible.

Dragon Strike should almost allways be used in succession with Demacian Standard. When used in succession it will damage and throw enimies into the air interrupting and stunning them for a second. This combo can also help you escape combat incase you get ganked. In addition Dragon Strike can be used to hit enemies who are just barely out of your reach. Another important use of Dragon Strike is when farming, when serval minions are low health, make sure you use the move to kill them all and obtain their gold.


Golden Aegis is another great move. It should be used after initiating combat as a way to prevent large amounts of damage. Also thanks to its short cool down it can be used as a way of slowing down fleeing enemies, slowing enemies from reaching a teammate who is fleeing or as an escape move helping players reduce the damage they take while slowing down the enemy.

Cataclysm Jarvan IV's ultimate is a strong and useful move which does good damage, and traps the enemy. You can also trap your teammates in it so becareful, only trap your teams if they are able to take some damage and can help you kill the enemy quickly. Use Cataclysm to trap squishy enemies away from the group, stop enemies from fleeing, split up the opponents focus so they are no longer all targeting the same champion, and as a way of slowing down the opponent protecting fleeing allied champs.
*Note* If using Cataclysm make sure you are using it on a champion who does not have an escape teleporting type move. For example: Caitlyn's net can be used to escape Jarvan IV's Cataclysm. Instead of using it right away, force Caitlyn into using her move then use Cataclysm perventing her from escaping and most likely giving you or your team a kill.

Starting items

Health Potion and Boots

Early Game Buys

Complete Mercury's Treads and start working on Warmog's Armor

Mid Game Buys

Around level 8-11 you should of finished Warmog's Armor and now must make a crucial decesion.
You must look at the other team and figure out if the team is more Attack Damage, or more Magic Damage. If the opposing team is practically only Attack Damage (4 or more champions) build Thornmail and ignore Force of Nature. If the opposing team is practically only Magic damage (4 or more champions) ignore Thornmail and just build Force of Nature. If the opposing team is split between Attack and Magic damage (2 atk and 3 magic or 3 atk and 2 magic) always build Thornmail first and then Force of Nature.

Late Game

Depending on your mid game build you will either have 2 or 3 spots open. Build Atma's Impaler. Atma's Impaler is a great weapon for Jarvan IV because it adds 2% of his health to Attack Damage and with this build you will have lots of health. It also increases the chance of critical striking and adds armor.

After Atma's Impaler you will be left with 1 or 2 slot inventory slots available. I recomend you fill those slots with one or two of following items.

Frozen Mallet Jarvan IV is not the best chaser and this item would help out alot. It would also add to his crowd control which can help the team out alot.

Bloodthirster Another great item for Jarvan IV because it adds to his attack damage by a large amount, helps heal himself which is something he is not good at, and because at this point death will be extremely rare even when playing slightly carelessly you do not have to worry about losing its stack.

Black Cleaver Adds attack damage which is always nice, and helps Jarvan IV's armor penetration. A good item if the other team has alot of armor, but my least recomended item because Jarvan IV has Dragon Strike which reduces his opponents armor already.

Warmog's Armor Adds lots of health and health regen. Helpful because it will help Jarvan IV recover faster from a battle, make him a ton harder to kill, and slightly increases his attack damage by around 27 thanks to Atma's Impaler

Jarvan IV is a great champion and should always be the first to engage in team fights due to his high survivability. That is it for my guide, I would like to thank you for reading it and hopefully it was exactly what you were looking for. I have gotten great results with this build so far, and I hope you will too. If anyone has a question feel free to ask it in the comments below.

Thanks,

Shawnofthedeadz