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Jarvan IV Build Guide by MetalBucket

Jarvan~The High Damage Dealer Tank

Jarvan~The High Damage Dealer Tank

Updated on July 18, 2012
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League of Legends Build Guide Author MetalBucket Build Guide By MetalBucket 11,347 Views 13 Comments
11,347 Views 13 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author MetalBucket Jarvan IV Build Guide By MetalBucket Updated on July 18, 2012
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Introduction...

Hello people, this is my first guide, obviously i am a LoL player, my name in-game is
MetalBucket feel free to add me and ask me anything if you`d like, but anyways, this is my first guide and if you found something you dont agree with please let me know. By the way, im looking forward to reading your intelligent comments, anyways good luck with your new way of playing Jarvan IV. I know this build is quite odd, but try to understand my point of view before you criticize. Thanks. :D
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Pros / Cons

SPACE
Pros
+ High Mobility
+ High Damage
+ Lock-in Ultimate
+ Heavy CC
SPACE SPACE
Cons
- Often Focused in team fights
- A bad Cataclysm loses you the game
- Not the highest damage dealer
- Kind of squishy until you have a Frozen Mallet
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Runes


I recommend pure damage runes like Greater Mark of Attack Damage, Greater Glyph of Attack Damage and Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage because Jarvan IV`s Dragon Strike is scaled on damage.
Since Jarvan IV`s Dragon Strike is his nuke, you`d want to make sure you get the most out of this skill

I also figured that Jarvan IV is played as a Tanky AD Carry in this guide, so i thought that Greater Seal of Armor would be the right choice.
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Team Work

Jarvan IV plays an important role in a team fight.
Hi's job is to jump into the teamfight blocking out the range from the AD melee`s so that they dont beat up your squishy teammates.

Also remember that Jarvan IV has to jump in, kill the Ranged AD carry and then go assist his team.

Just.... PLEASE....PLEASE... DO NOT..... Trap your teammates into an Deathzone with the enemys having Chaos Storm or Bullet Time, etc...
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Farming

Jarvan IV Is one of the hardest farmers in the game.
Once you attack a minion you activate your passive and do extra damage to that minion, but this is the tricky part, you have to get used to your passive`s damage and your basic-non-passive attacks. because maybe with your passive you may deal 90 Attack Damage but without it, 60 or 75 Attack Damage, so make sure you don`t lose tons of minions because of this sneaky passive.
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Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

I did it this way so that i abuse the most out of my Dragon Strike and my Cataclysm.
Since these abilities scale on AD, it just makes it easy to do Abuse of these skills.
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Jarvan`s Great Abilities

Jarvan IV has just a great passive Martial Cadence not only because this works just so well with Madred's Bloodrazor but also because it is such a great tank killer.

Do not forget to abuse of this passive.

All of Jarvan IV`s abilities have something to them, for example: Dragon Strike reduces armor by around 10%, so make sure in times where you decide to 1v1 against someone tanky like Shen or someone with alot of damage like Tryndamere P.S. Please do not try to go against Tryndamere by yourself, much less Darius.

Anyways Jarvan IV`s Demacian Standard is just great for that buff up for your teammates, like for example, dont forget to use it in teamfights because the buff it gives is just... BEAUTIFUL

Ever encountered yourself in a situation where Olaf has landed his Undertow right on you and as you try to escape he chases you to land that extra Reckless Swing on you?
Well... all i say is that`s no problem for Jarvan IV for he`ll just use his "w"( Golden Aegis) and then both`ll be slowed XD meaning easy get away haha :D
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Summoner Spells for Jarvan IV

Ghost is just an awesome summoner spell for Jarvan IV not only because jarvan already starts off with some nice movement speed but also because he is the type that chases enemies down.

Ignite is also an amazing skill for jarvan because he can just jump into a 2v1, seperate the ad melee and the ranged from each other, ignite and kill the ranged and then just jump off to his Demacian Standard

Flash is also an amazing skill, the reason i didn`t take this summoner spell on top is because i usually play normal matches and in normal matches you never know when you will be in a 2v1 situation.
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Keeping your Top Lane Clean.

Before you go base make sure you have enough money for that extra Sight Ward so that once you go back to your lane you`ll keep it safe. Got ganked even tho your ward was set up perfectly? NO WORRYS!
Just make sure that you`re not getting lured in by opponents to a point that they land that perfect gank on you. Anyhow, if you find yourself in a 2v1 situation and you have no way out just do this: Cataclysm on both the enemys and then as soon as you have them locked in place, you land your Demacian Standard away from the Arena you have placed on your enemys and then simply use Dragon Strike right on it... EASY NO? :D
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Masteries

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Why do i build Jarvan like this?

In this build i figured... Jarvan IV has many capabilities of doing damage and withstanding in team fights, but if not used properly he will probably end up just messing up your teammates. But either way, this build is only good if you know that you can get in there and do TONS OF DAMAGE!
Basically the Attack Damage you`ll have in this item build is just HUGE!
I build Jarvan IV like this because by following this guide he can do a lot of damage while being able to withstand a lot of it too.
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Situational Items and Items you already use...

Instead of building a Randuin's Omen you can build a Force of Nature or a Thornmail depending on the enemy team...
This item is just amazing for Jarvan IV because of his ult, say the enemies have flash... you Cataclysm them and then they flash away.... just use your Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and then attack them again since they`ll be slowed and in the end they`ll die... haha.... :D
This item is made for the enemy team that has that massive Ability Power.
Especially if you want to sustain that random Karthus that does those random Requiem
If you are the type of person that does not like the Frozen Mallet then this is the item for you. Even though it does not slow like the Frozen Mallet it makes up for it just because of the massive chunk of HP it gives you :D
Listen people.... Just because this item is here does not mean you`ll randomly start buying it every match. This item is only necessary if you`re ALWAYS getting aimed in teamfights but.... otherwise.... no, no, no, and no.
This is the type of item that you get to replace the Randuin's Omen just because of the health and mana it gives you. P.S. That Active that the Banshee's Veil gives is just miraculous so make sure you get it if this item comes to your mind. ^.^
This is not a really recommended item in my opinion.... because Jarvan IV only has real mana problems early game otherwise no. But yes.. the defense it gives comes in handy sometimes and what not..If you like it, depending on you`re reason, i`ll support you. <3 =D
This is a great item because it helps you whenever you have problems taking down enemy tanks or tanky champs.Dont worry if you end up having to get this item cause its just a great item.
This is an item you get if you decided to get a Warmog's Armor and need more damage.
As long as you dont feel lost and you feel that you can get somewhere with this item, feel free to get it.
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Where do I ward?



Blue Dots Represent Wards
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People who you are likely to go against

Who you`ll go against at top.
=Hard Olaf can just chop you down, and if you get near doing damage to him, he`ll just back off and use Tough It Out to heal his Hp back up.Just make sure that you harass him with your Dragon Strike and your Demacian Standard

=Extremely Hard Rumble is the type that is tanky and does damage, even tho jarvan best at taking down tanky people this doesn`t work on Rumble because his damage is just ridiculous, be aware of him and land a few dragon strikes on him and ask your jungler to help you kill him.

=Medium Nautilus is a common tank, Jarvan IV is best at taking him down, even tho, he should not be played with.Nautilus is easy to take down, just make sure that you ask your jungler to show up every once in a while and poke him, then you can jump in there and finish him with the killing blow.

=Extremely Hard Everywhere you look you see a Darius, meaning you could be farming and then he just flashes in and hooks you and your dead (Slowed, Beat up, he`ll stack Hemorrhage on you and just Noxian Gullotine you).To take this crazy man down, you need help from your jungler and you need to make sure you don't combo yourself to him, meaning make sure you don't Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and end up pulling yourself nearing towards your death.

=Medium Common Tank, needs careful, best not to put up a big old EASY on this guy cause many people will take that for granted and then just dive every Malphite they see.You need to land a few dragon strikes in him and then if you think you can either walk out alive, or walk out alive and get a kill, just jump him and take him down as soon as his HP bar gets low.

=Medium Only way for you to beat Poppy is for you to attack her with your Martial Cadence every 6 seconds. Poppy is hard because just as you can chunk her down, she can chunk you down,thus, you need to attack her with your Martial Cadence and your Dragon Strike whenever you can.

=Medium Common Tank... Just make sure you land your passive and your Dragon Strike on him and then ask for a gank to finish him off. no other way to kill a Shen

=Easy Master Yi is super easy... all you need is some armor and he`ll randomly jump at you with Alpha Strike and since most Master Yi's take Ghost instead of Flash, you can just Cataclysm him down...

=Easy You need to chunk his HP down with your passive.. Martial Cadence and your Dragon Strike only then you can dive him and take him down.

=Medium Fiora has a ton of attack speed early - late game... meaning she`s a threat to Jarvan IV because of his lack of damage and attack speed early game so for you to take her on, you need to make sure that you have her in the perfect position so you can land all your skills on her and just mess her up.

=Easy Xin zhao does not have so much attack speed early game.As soon as Xin Zhao gets attack speed, Jarvan IV`ll get damage, meaning you will be an unstoppable Jarvan IV as soon as mid - late game arrives.

=Hard Every once in a while you combo him with your Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and try to escape before he does Siphon of Destruction on you.

=Medium Leesin is hard to deal with unless you get in there, land a few Dragon Strikes on him then beat him up with a simple Cataclysm + Dragon Strike after you`ve fked up his HP bar.

=Medium Talon is just quite hard..... As soon as he reaches level 6... he will become a massive threat to you.Please watch out for this Sneaky Assassin. Land Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and keep doing that until his HP is low, then you Cataclysm him and get the kill.

=Hard Volibear plays the role of a crazy tank and massive damage dealer, everything that a Jarvan IV does not need.You need a gank to take this guy down, besides that, all you could do is land a few dragon strikes on him

=Hard Akali can take down any carry... She can just Twilight Shroud and then sneak random attacks on you and then she does her natural Mark of the Assassin + Basic attack on you and easily kill you. Just ask your jungler for some ganks and what not, make sure you hurt her a lot before you call your jungler, that way you can guarantee that you get a free kill.

=Easy Shaco is supposedly a Crazy Threat to anybody who opposes him... Not really.... What will he do? Deceive to you, critical you and then what? DIE! THATS WHAT!

=Medium Nocturne becomes a real threat once he blocks your Dragon Strike with his Shroud of Darkness... then you`re effed!

=Easy Teemo... Poor old teemo... as soon as he gets near you, you just have to Demacian Standard then Dragon Strike to him and beat the **** out of him.

=Hard Wukong is Really hard to deal with, because of this fact, you must make sure you ask your jungler to randomly show up and help you beat him up, i rated him Medium because the damage he does at the beginning is not even close to enough for him to take you down Early-Mid game.

=Medium Garen is considered a "Brush Hogger" because of how he hides in brushes, then you come close and he just Decisive Strikes you then uses Judgment to prevent this make sure you always have a sight ward up and place it in the brush where he usually stands, waiting for the deadly blow.

=Hard Nasus can take down just about any burst carry because of his Soul Eater and his Siphoning Strike so he needs caution, for you to take this big guy down, you must be careful of his Siphoning Strike and land your Dragon Strike + Martial Cadence on him, this is easy to do early game, not only because at that time his Siphoning Strike does not do tremendous amount of damage but also because it has quite a long cooldown... 7~9 Seconds if im not wrong.

=Medium Warwick is dangerous because of his passive, Eternal Thirst this passive grants him small bursts of health per extra magic damage he deals. Meaning you must harass him with your Dragon Strike not even with your Martial Cadence because you have to be in melee range for that meaning as you try to land it on him, he can just Hungering Strike you after you attack him, causing the damage you did to be healed up and you`ll get damaged instead.

=Hard Nunu would be quite easy if he didnt have Ice Blast or Consume because as you get near him he just Ice Blasts you and if you actually hurt him, he can simply Consume, so to prevent yourself from getting killed, you need to make sure that you can jump in there with your Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and hurt him as much as you can before you walks away, also make sure you always harass him preventing him from using Consume on nearby allied minions

=Extremely Hard Tryndamere makes up for his lack of health with his tremendous damage, but the only way for you to counter him since you do not have Ignite would be placing your Dragon Strike and locking him in place with Cataclysm when your jungler comes to gank.P.S. Make sure you made him waste his Spinning Slash before you lock him in place, also hope that he doesnt land many criticals on you, otherwise he can easily Spinning Slash away from the arena your Cataclysm forms.

=Hard Jax and jarvan match up in damage and health, meaning you would need to be careful to prevent yourself from doing a stupid move and diving him at his turret or something like that. Make sure you harass with your Dragon Strike and your Demacian Standard but be aware that you must not combo him, because if you do so, you will probably be burying your own grave.

=Medium Gangplank(GP) is hard because of his random critical strikes, as long as you get in there with your Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike then you attack him using Martial Cadence you`ll be good to go, just be careful from getting too cocky and diving him or facing him just like that.

=Medium Alistar is quite tricky because you never know when he might be up to something,
prevent yourself from getting pulverized near his turret and then Headbutted right to it, besides that, you can easily kill him by landing your Demacian Standard and pulling yourself to it with your Dragon Strike, also make sure as you pull yourself to him, you land Dragon Strike right on him, then you can get some extra damage in.

=Hard Leona is hard because she can do combos and do massive damage while you are stunned, and as soon and you are no longer stunned, she is gone and you`ll see that your left with 1/2 your HP left, if she does that a few times, you`ll find yourself spawning back at base,to counter this technique, make sure that you place your Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike on her and keep doing it until you have the confidence to get a killing blow on her.

=Hard Galio is quite hard because he is just ridiculously tanky and has a lot of damage, especially if the Galio decides to go AP Galio.
Just Combo him down,when you can, but make sure that you don't get to excited and jump him, giving him all the time he needs to place his Resolute Smite, Righteous Gust and his Idol of Durand on you,thus, giving him a free kill on you.

=Medium Maokai is tricky because his Sapling Toss can do quite some freaking damage on you, then he just roots you in place with his Twisted Advance and walks away with full HP as you have around 2/3s of your HP left,for you to deal with this guy, you need to land a few demacian standards on him and then see if you can try to get a bit aggressive with your Dragon Strike, but overall, if you dodge his Sapling Toss you can getaway with sneaking a few kills on the guy.

=Medium Sejuani is hard to play with, but if you ever happen to find a good Sejuani, you need caution, you must approach her slowly, then you combo her with Dragon Strike and Demacian Standard and then lock her in place when her hp is low with Cataclysm and then just beat the **** out of her.

=Medium Amumu is hard to deal with for just about every AD carry, because most of the Amumus stack armor when going against some ad carry with alot of damage,meaning you would need to get close to him, hit a few basic attacks, then land Dragon Strike on him, and then ask your jungler for a finishing blow,or if you feel confident, you can jump him again and take him out.

=Extremely Hard Jayce is really hard to deal with because of how he can get in and deal tons of damage, then he knocks you back,preventing you from landing your Dragon Strike on him.The best and only way to take him down as jarvan is by landing your Demacian Standard on him.Besides that, wait for an opening and then you intelligently land your Dragon Strike on him and ask your jungler to come gank for a free kill since Jayce has an unpolished getaway.

=Hard Singed is hard for you to take down, but his damage is not some ridiculous threat, but as soon as you get near him, he will have used Poison Trail on you, and you will lose some hp, so the best way for you to take him down is.... KILLING HIM... no JK, lol, anyhow you need to discreetly land your Dragon Strike every once in a while and then you call your jungler to assist you, Cataclysm him, lock him into place and since most Singeds take Teleport and Ghost at top, you won't have to worry about him escaping.

=Hard Shyvana has mixed Damage and Tankiness, making her a bad person to try to 1v1, because when you notice you really cant take her on, your just about dead. Say you encounter one at top, she decides to jump at you and take you down, make sure you Dragon Strike her and basic attack so you can get some extra damage in with your Martial Cadence and try to walk away using your Golden Aegis.if you make it out alive, you should have taken off at leash 1/3 of her health, but if shes really tanky maybe like 1/5 or something like that.

=Hard Riven is hard because some people start of with a Cloth Armor with her, and that annoying item will lead you to do less damage, and also don't forget her Runic Blade, if she is the type of person that has all the damage runes with riven, then your in for one crazy ride. Make sure you do not dive her with your Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike combo, just harass her a bit and then ask your jungler to come in and take her down with you.

=Medium Yorick is ok until he gets a Trinity Force then he becomes a problem once he jumps you, he is hard because as you harass him, he can just heal his HP back up with his Omen of Famine, but to kill this man, you need to get close to him in a 1v1 and land your [dragon strike]] + Martial Cadence on him then Cataclysm him and combo yourself out of it preventing him from flashing out.

=Medium Hecarim is usually a really big threat because of how his spirit of the dread leeches HP from you, meaning you would need to harass him from afar by landing your demacian standar right on him and also your Dragon Strike

=Extremely Hard Cho'gath is really hard to deal with because of his Feast meaning you must take him down at least one time before he reaches 6, preventing him from growing self confidence and end up getting a few kills by diving you at your turret, anyhow for you to deal with him, you need to dodge his Rupture and his Feral Scream,then you combo him using Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and lock him in place with Cataclysm

=Hard Udyr has crazy attack speed because of his monkey agility meaning he is a crazy opponent for Jarvan IV only way to take him down is harassing him a LOT and then asking your jungler for support on killing him.Because Udyr can stun, meaning he will stun you for a while and then beat you up, and say he has 1/3 HP and you have 2/3, he would most likely kill you, if not make you run. But if you feel confident with taking him on, feel free to jump in and take him down. ^.^

=Easy Taric can not do much to you, especially since he doesn't have many aggressive skills, he should not be up here but i only put him up here in case you have stupid enemies that would make their Taric go top instead of Support Tank at bottom, anyhow make sure you use the easy combo of Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike on Taric and lock him down with Cataclysm

P.S. Here is a tip. If your enemy has Flash and he has not used it for a while, make sure you engage with Cataclysm then you combo with Dragon Strike + Demacian Standard to the area where he is likely to Flash using this method, you would prevent them from walking away from you, EVEN if they carry the summoner spell, Flash

P.S.S. Make sure you always place yourself in a good position so that even if you are having a hard time, you can always jump in, get a kill and walk out alive with more then half your health,try to be careful approaching dangerous enemies.

How to deal with Extremely Hard Enemies
If you find yourself going against an extremely hard enemy, you must ask for your jungler to gank as much as possible, you must also make sure that you don't feel to comfortable and start getting aggressive and then just plain out feed.You need to play it safe, land a few basic attacks when he hurts you at your tower,drop a few Dragon Strikes on him, maybe some Demacian Standards and finally some cataclysms once your jungler ganks for you, if you feel that you need to go base, feel free to do so if you have teleport, otherwise ask for your jungler to hold for you, after all, its much better going base and having a fresh start with full HP at top instead of waiting till you have no more Health and then get towerdived and killed by the enemy champion.Do not forget that if you definitely can't take them on or stay any longer in tower range, you could always let the tower fall so that can assure as many minions as possible.Just make sure to call MIA.


How to deal with Hard Enemies
If you are having too much of a hard time at top going against a specific enemy champion that is featured as HARD in the list above, do not worry, all you need to do is make sure that you land those few Dragon Strikes on them, attack when they attack you and play passively, until you feel that you can be a bit aggressive against them, you must be careful,if you accidentally die, and you find out that there is nothing you can do, try to make it to your tower as soon as possible,then be a bit aggressive(make sure you do not leave tower range) and ask for your jungler to come to the Top Lane and give as many ganks, one after the other.Buy vision wards and take down the enemy's ward if needed, anything to assure that you can get as many Minions(CS) as possible.


How to deal with Medium Enemies
Medium enemies are the enemies that you are not too sure if you can take down, and maybe every once in a while you go against and you may end up dying a few times.Until you have the items you need to be super aggressive against them, you need to poke as much as possible and then ask for your jungler to give you some support in killing them, otherwise just take them down by yourself if you can, just make sure that you don't be super aggressive and give them your tower.If you need some farm and you definitely can't take them on, would probably mean that you had a bad start or that you have a bad jungler.


How to deal with Easy Enemies
You must not forget that even tho they are considered Easy Enemies for Jarvan, you must not forget the fact that they can still take you on if you act all stupid.Just make sure that you don't do anything crazy.If you find yourself having a hard time just make sure that you harass then jump in for the kill, meaning easy kills, easy level, easy minions, easy game. XD Just make sure you don't die to much and if you need more farm ask for your jungler`s ganks and assure your safety.


I`m open for new suggestions and your opinions for the champions, just let me know please and what not. ^.^
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Summary

Ok then guys, this is it... i hope you guys like it.
Soon i`ll place some videos and whatnot to clear any unanswered questions and what not. But anyways feel free to place a few comments and such. I am up for figuring out Intelligent Questions. But also please do not forget that this build relates to what i think all Jarvan IV lovers should have.

Anyways, good luck playing Jarvan IV and i hope you guys will "DEMACIA!!!!!" Everyone. <3
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