Hello and welcome to my first guide on Mobafire! I play Jarvan IV quite a lot and I have come up with a build that work very well most of the time. In this build I will show you some ways to be a good tanky / bruiser Jarvan!

- Please tell me if you see room for improvement and mistakes I've made!

Pros

Very tanky when put along with his Golden Aegis
Can initiate fights very well with Dragon Strike + Demacian Standard
Can dish out tons of damage if left unnoticed
Can trap enemies into Cataclysm


Cons

Can trap the wrong people in Cataclysm
Does not do so well against a ranged champion (varies)
Does near to nothing if not farmed


Even though he does have quite some cons, this guide will show you how to counter them to make him the unstoppable force!

I get Greater Mark of Desolation because it gives me the armor pen I need to make Dragon Strike a fairly high damaging attack. Also, it helps me do more damage to the more tanky champions, which are usually solo top. ( Irelia, Malphite, Rumble)

I get Greater Seal of Armor because it gives me the extra armor to harass the enemy without taking the same amount of damage back. Also it helps me when facing a Ranged AD champion that is very aggressive.

I get Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist because it gives me the magic resist I need late game to quickly kill of mages. Also, it helps a bit mid game. It also stacks really well with Wit's End to take near to no damage from mages.

I get Greater Quintessence of Desolation because, once again it helps me harass better.

I go 25/0/5 because the 25 points in Offense will increase my damage output by a lot! (Maxing everything but magic related masteries and Summoner's Wraith) The 5 points in Utility work really well when you are Solo Top. The increased movement speed, recall time, and time died work well to decrease the chances of you losing your tower early in the game.
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I've recently tried a different set of masteries 9/21/0, I go for the extra damage and attack speed in offense (+1 in Butcher ) and 21 in defense (taking all health increasing, magic resist, and armor masteries). These set of runes make you more tanky but reduce your damage. Choose the first set if your team is already pretty tanky. If they are more squish, choose the second set.

You can also take 25/5/0 but the 5 points in Defense will be too little to make a big difference and will fall off by the time you get Randuin's Omen / Wit's End.

Jarvan IV has a mixture of spells and is very good at singling out a target.

Dragon Strike - This is a great skill because it can harass. Also, combining this skill with Demacian Standard allows Jarvan IV to jump to his flag and knock up everyone in the way. It is very good for chasing the enemy.

Golden Aegis - This skill is what makes Jarvan IV so tanky. The skill slows down all enemies around Jarvan IV and creates a okay shield around Jarvan IV for a few seconds. Great for ganks. The shield get stronger for every enemy champion around Jarvan IV.

Demacian Standard - This skill passively increase Jarvan's attack speed and armor. Its active drops a flag at target location tbat grants his allies the same passive. Also provides vision around the flag.

Cataclysm - Jarvan's move he is famous for. Jarvan IV jumps on top of the enemy dealing damage and creating a unpassable terrain around him. You can active the ability again to break the wall. This skill is great for trapping enemies and focusing them quickly. (NOTE - The wall is passable when the summoner spell Ghost is used.)

Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike - This is a very cool combo and one of the reasons I love Jarvan IV so much. Using Dragon Strike aimed at the flag of Demacian Standard will pull Jarvan to the flag and knock everything up along the way. This skill is will also allow you to jump over walls. It can also used to get away from ganks. This combo is one of the most useful combos for Jarvan IV, because it can knock-up it can stop channeled spells.

Beginning Game
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Start off with a Ruby Crystal. It gives 180 health and will allow you to quickly build that into Heart of Gold. Try to stay in lane until you have farmed up to 1575. It will allow you to buy Heart of Gold, Philosopher's Stone, Boots, and a ward.
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Mid Game
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The Heart of Gold and Philosopher's Stone will give you 10 extra gold every 10 seconds! (Meaning in one minute you would earn an extra 60 gold, not including farming.) Boots will allow you to get away from badly thought ganks. Save up 1600 gold and go back to base. This time, pick up Mercury Treads, and a Avarice Blade. The Mercury Treadsare probably if not the best boots to get for Jarvan IV. The GP 15 will allow you to quickly save up for Phages. Pick up Zeal after and then into Trinity Force.
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Late Game
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After Trinity Force, you should have the damage and can start team fighting if your team hasn't been feeding super hard. Soon, you will have the money for Wit's End to counter their mages. After Wit's End, upgrade your Heart of Gold to Randuin's Omen. Then get a Frozen Mallet and Atma's Impaler to finish it off. The Frozen Mallet greatly increases the damage on Atma's Impaler, and also provides a slow on running enemies.

If you do not like the build I have here, try these items
The Blue Text is why I do not get the item. (Please note, items without blue are ones I would not mind getting, as long as the item fits well with the team.)

- Warmog's Armor, This item provides A LOT of health and gives health regen. If you were to get this item, replace it with the Frozen Mallet. The reason I don't use this item is because it does not provide the much needed slow for Jarvan IV. Although he has a slow / knock-up already, Frozen Mallet is constant, and Warmog's Armor gives just a little bit more than Frozen Mallet.

- Thornmail, This item gives Jarvan IV a lot of armor, which is good, but it does not follow nicely with your build like Randuin's Omen does. I would only suggest getting this item if the enemy team is AD heavy or you are very late into the game. If you were to get this, replace it with Randuin's Omen.

- Frozen Heart, This is a great item, but once again, it does not follow your Heart of Gold route, and will slow you down. I would get this item if the enemy team once again has heavy AD. This is also a very late game item. If you were to get it, replace Randuin's Omen.

- Ionic Spark, This is a okay item. It gives health and attack speed, with a cool passive. I would get this item if the enemy team are pretty squishy. This item is only for early game because the passive is unnoticed in team fights. I would replace this item with Wit's End, but I don't do it unless I'm super fed / enemy team is SUPER squish ( Ashe, Heimerdinger, Sona, Annie, Ahri)

- Madred's Bloodrazor, This item is good when the enemy team is very tanky. A long with the attack speed of Wit's End, you will be killing tanks in a few seconds. This item is pretty late game and I would replace it with Atma's Impaler.

- Aegis of the Legion, Thanks Vort for mentioning this great item! This item gives you and your teammates a aura that increases Armor, Magic Resist and Damage. This item would work very well if your teammates are squishy, but just because your team is full of tanks doesn't mean you shouldn't get this item. It will increase your tankyness and damage output. If you were to get this item, replace Frozen Mallet or Atma's Impaler

- Banshee's Veil, Thanks crazieshado for mentioning this item! Banshee's Veil creates a shield around you every 45 seconds. The shield will block any spell coming your way once. It also gives a nice amount of magic resist for magic heavy teams.

- Zeke's Herald, This item, like Aegis of the Legion has a aura that increases the stats of nearby teammates. This one, instead of making your team more tanky, gives more offensive abilities to your team. It increases you CDR and Health, and your teammates lifesteal and attack speed. Great for more offensive teams. ( Vayne, Master Yi, Sona, Lee Sin, Jarvan IV{yourself})

- Force of Nature, Thank you crazieshado for mentioning this item! This item is for when the enemy team is magic damage heavy. It gives A LOT of magic resist, health regen, and a movement speed boost. The only reason I do not pick up this item is because I like to have the attack speed from Wit's End, but if you prefer a more tanky build, pick this item up quickly!

These are some items I would NOT get and reasons why, they are only my opinion and you can feel free to insult me over it. Reasons why not will be in Blue

- Guardian Angel, I got to say, this is a amazing item. It revives you every 5 minutes restoring 750 health and 375 mana. The problem is,people do not want to aim you, you are a tank / bruiser, which means you can take a lot of harass and survive. Also, 750 health is almost nothing in late game a Vayne or Ashe will kill you again in one - two hits. The extra armor and magic resist are good, but you can get items with better stats.

- Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, Two great attack damage items. Gives a great damage boost and other nice affects, the problem is that you are not the damage dealer, if you are, try a different build. These items are considerable late game, but your AD carry (hopefully) will be done build by then anyways.

Your skill order should be something like these

Demacian Standard > Dragon Strike > Golden Aegis > Cataclysm

Cataclysm > Golden Aegis > Demacian Standard > Dragon Strike

Golden Aegis > Demacian Standard > Dragon Strike > Cataclysm

Now all these skill sequences are the usual ones for Jarvan IV. You will probably find yourself using the first or second one first though.

I choose Flash and Teleport on Jarvan IV because they are great on him.
The Blue Text is why I do not get the summoner spell.

Flash - This is a great spell that allows you to get out of sticky spots. You can also flash over many of the walls in the jungle. Also, you can use it to get out of your Cataclysm if you trap in the wrong person.

Teleport - This is a great spell for most solo tops. It will allow you to back, and quickly get back to lane without losing a tower. By late game, you can use it to Teleport to Baron / Dragon quickly, or you can use it to quickly backdoor. I usually use the skill late game to stop minion waves from killing our towers or stop backdooring champions. ( Master Yi, Tryndamere)
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Other Viable Summoner Spells

Ghost - This is a good spell, it speeds you up for a short time. I don't use this spell because it doesn't work as well as Teleport when getting somewhere, and is only good when getting to fights faster, which don't usually happen around you because their usually ganks from junglers. It can be used to get away from ganks or to gank but a well placed Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike combo will stop someone running in their tracks, or allow you go get away.

Exhaust - This spell is great to use on heavy AD teams. It will basicly make the AD carry useless. It also gives you time to smash at them. It can also slow a gank down, but I perfer just a Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike getaway.

Ignite - This is good spell if you cannot seem to finish off kills. It will help when you have trouble killing someone because they get away from a very little amount of health. This spell also decreases healing by half, which can totally destroy characters like Dr. Mundo. This never happens to me, so I do not use it. It also falls off late game because you have the damage to kill someone.

Anything else that is not mentioned is not viable and I do not suggest you use.

As a solo top, farming is VERY important. It will allow you to quickly get your items and kill enemies behind you in items. As Jarvan IV his passive will allow him to farm easily. Just wait until the minion has about 1/4 health left and hit it. First left your minions attack the their minions until they are low and kill it. If you attack the minion, it will quickly push your lane and allow the enemy jungler to gank.
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To prevent the enemy from farming, try to use Dragon Strike from time to time. DO NOT spam the skill like its the end of the world. Just use it once in a while and your damage will slowly drop the enemy lower and lower.

In team fights, you should be targeting their carries, they will kill your team in seconds if left unnoticed. ( Vayne, Ashe, Corki) If there are no carries, or they are already died. Focus the mage, they will burst you and your team.( Viegar, Katarina, Kassadin After the main damage threats are wiped out, you should focus the support. ( Soraka, Sona, Taric). Finally, you can focus the tank. Cho'Gath, Rammus, Shen) Of course, you do not always have the follow that order, focusing the support can work too because there will be no one healing in the fight, Or focusing the mage will make the enemy team have no burst. The route I have here is just the standard route.

Jarvan IV is a great character in team fights. He can knock up the entire enemy team and trap them. Also he can slow them all too. You should be the one starting the fights. Wait for someone on their team to overextend and jump in with Dragon Strike + Demacian Standard or Cataclysm. Your team should follow up by killing the enemies outside your Cataclysm. When a jungler is ganking. You should try to harass your enemy first. Usually what would happen is your jungler would pop out and start attacking. If your enemy flashes just wait for another gank. ( REMEMBER JUST BECAUSE THE ENEMY GETS AWAY WITH A SUMMOMER SPELL IT IS WORTH IT BECAUSE, IT WILL TAKE ABOUT THREE MINUTE TO REFRESH)

After this guide, you should be kicking some butt! I want to thank you all for reading my guide!

Special thanks to :
firsttimeplayer
crazieshado
Vort
Mikuroo
A Chubby Baby

Please comment and give me your ideas on my guide so I can improve it!