Hey my name is DeTantalus and this is my first guide ever on moba, so don't be too rough. But Jarvan is an excellent champion. He excels at singling out targets and doing lots of damage fast, while having some nice survivability. So lets get started.

PROS
- Excellent initiator
- Can take some good damage with the shield
- can slow/ trap enemies
- Can disrupt an entire team
Cons
- bit squishy early/mid game
- gets focus fired a lot
- can trap ANYONE in ulti, including allies

Dragon Strike: Jarvan IV extends his lance, dealing physical damage and lowering the armor of all in its path. Will also pull jarvan to demacian standard, knocking up enemies in the way.

This ability is great for harrassing or picking of a weak runner. The armor decrease is nice too and lets you hit harder. Its best combined with demacian standard to make a great initiator.


Golden Aegis: Jarvan IV calls upon the ancient kinds of demacia to shield him from harm and slow enemies around him.

This is nice once maxed, also good for helping your team get the kill with its slow. Overall a nice ability.


Demacian Standard: Jarvan IV carries the pride of demacia, passively granting him bonus attack speed and armor. Activating demacian standard allows nearby allies to recieve its benefits.

Love this skill. Its like a built in rally, but better in my opinion. Its great for taking towers, and comboing with dragon strike. It helps your entire team so never hold back on using this in a fight.


Cataclysm: Jarvan IV heroically leaps into battle with such a force that he terraforms the surrounding area to creat an arena around them.

AWESOME ultimate. This is amazing for singling out the weaklings, or just keeping their team in one spot. It also does some hefty damage. Overall great skill. Just make sure you know when to break it. If used wrong, you can infuriate your team pretty quickly.

: I like to go with exhaust because it keeps people down even after your ultimate. Also good to weaken any heavy dps.

: Just helps you eat people down faster. Use it after you ulti them and you can do a lot of damage fast.

Good alternatives
: This combines nicely with your ulti. If your being chased, you can ulti them, then flash out of it, leaving the trapped for 3 seconds. Now you can also escape with your flag stab combo, but if your not use to doing that fast, go with flash.

: Heal can work for diving safely or simply surviving a fight, but I would go with exhaust or ignite once your more use to jarvan.

: Good at catching up to people or escaping. An all around good skill.

For masteries I go 21/0/9, getting armor pen, attack speed, damage and crit damage. I like putting nine in ultility for smaller death timer and more exp. The extra gold helps too.

I honestly haven't played around with runes much since im still getting the champs I want, but I picked what would fit best for this build, crit damgae and armor pen. If anyone has helpful suggestions, they would be appreciated :D

I like to max out Dragon strike first. It gives nice damage and can be used through walls (love killing people through walls with this ha ha). next I go with Demacian Standard, which gives some much needed attack speed. Then just max out the shield with a point in his ult whenever you can.

This build is a critical hit build, so the core items are and . This being, because with IE and phantom, you get 50% critical plus the extra crit damage. This alone makes you beast, but add on black cleaver and trinity force, well you become something everyone should fear. Late game (if you get this far) Swap out wriggles for


You should start off with Dorans shield. You dont have to, I know many people find it a waste of money, but it gives some armor, health, and health regen, allowing you stay in lane longer. Last hit minions and if possible, kill the enemy until you can get Berserker's Greaves. This obviously gives you some much needed speed. After Berserkers, rush Wriggles lantern. This will pay for itself very quickly. You can keep an eye on Dragon/Baron, It allows you to one hit minions, and gives you some survivability, allowing you lane longer.
After you have , save up for BF sword. One of the patches made this cheaper, so its actually much easier to get. This adds some oomph to your hits until you can finish IE. After BF, grab Zeal. This will make you more mobile and give you some needed attack speed. Next you will finish IE, giving you some crazy damage. Now you should finish Phantom Dancer. With Phantom dancer, you should have 52% Crit chance and some excellent movement speed. With just the items you have right now, Taking down squishes should be a fairly simple task. If your game isnt over, you'll just want to work on for the armor reduction and attack speed, plus the large chunk of AD it gives. Black Cleaver syncs with Dragon strike very well. After dragon striking them and landing a couple auto attacks, their defense should be pretty low, making them extremely vulnerable to you and other dps on your team. The last item you should get, if you choose to, should be Trinity Force.

Why Trinity Force?
Couple things first. Put at the end of the build for a reason. Its expensive and takes quite a while to build, and isnt NEEDED for this build like the other items. BUT let me give you my reasoning behind it.

The passive from lets your first hit deal some massive damage after flying in with + . Trinity also gives you attack speed, more crit chance, health, slow (goes well with shield slow), and damage. I think its an overall amazing item. HOWEVER, seeing as I dont control you, you dont have to use this exact itemization. You should build to your likes and or the enemy team.

Good Alternatives
If your needing more health, go for instead of . It gives you very nice survivability, while giving a bit of attack and a nice slow passive.

If there team is heavy on magic, Hexdrinker is also a nice alternative. It gives you some MR and attack. Its passive can also save your life in a tight situation.

Laning
Jarvan is great at farming minions. Early game, focus on moving through the minion wave, taking advantage of your passive. This helps you and your partner get through the waves faster. Harass enemy champs with if they get too close. Once you have Wriggles Lantern farming minions becomes a breeze. Mid/late game, you can almost always one hit minions because of your passive and Wriggles Lantern. When you try to take an enemy, coordinate with your partner. Let them know your are going to ult them. After you use your ulti, use your flag stab combo and ignite to make sure they cant do anything. If they arent dead yet, exhaust them and finish the job.

Team Fights
Ok so with jarvan you can do alot in a team fight. When ever your even considering initiating, make sure you have standard and dragon strike on hand. Use your flag stab combo to intiate. If you dont know what that is, place your where you would like to go then stab it with . This will pull you in and pop up anyone in your way. Again this is an excellent way to disrupt an entire team. Once your in the fight, use your shield if you start getting focused. This should give you and your team the time needed to devastate the enemies.

Tips
- USE YOUR ULTI ON CHAMPIONS THAT CANT GO THROUGH WALLS! I cant stress that enough. Avoid using your ulti on people like shen and shaco, who can blink over walls. They can easily escape your ulti. Save for casters or dps that cant, like lux or teemo.

- If someone escapes your ulti, break it by hitting R again. You will get raged at if you trap your mates in your ulti, while your target escapes. Dont do it.

- Focus down the carries. When used right, your ult allows you to take out carries without worrying about their team. Use it to your advantage.

I like to lane with anyone thats ranged. When your ult is up, they will still be able to deal damage because they are ranged. My favorite is Malzahar. When you lay down your ulti, he can slap a null zone on it, then silence your enemy. If they arent dead yet, Malzahar can use his utli. As the spotlight says, Urgot is also a great partner.

You will basically NOT want to lane against anyone that can go through walls (shaco, Renekton, Shen, etc). They make your ultimate a bit useless, so try not to use it on them.

Overall, Jarvan is an amazing addition to the champion roster. He can dish out damage fast, while singling out champions. Please rate and leave constructive criticism so I can improve on future guides. Thanks and enjoy!