This guide will discuss Jayce and will explain why i think he is one of (if not the most) viable solo top currently running. I will explain my choices in items and why i build in that specific order.

What will i discuss:
-Encourage players to build fighter
-Encourage Players to believe in solo top!
-Explain what items to build and why
-Explain why he is a great solo top

What it will NOT do:
-"this is the only way to build Jayce"
-tell players that there is only 1 way to play Jayce
-Explain Exactly how to gank with a Jungler


But first, lets take a look at Jayce with a few wise words from Riot..
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First of all lets take an overall look at what a solo top really wants from runes. Runes are a very important part of early game lane phase and if not setup correctly could be the difference in lane domination. Here i will explain why i chose those specific runes for Jayce, and what that means for his abilities.
Greater Mark of Strength

Purchase Cost: 205

+0.95 attack damage

Marks! The AD side of runes... This is the best slot to fit an AD rune into your page as it gives the most AD out of all 3 main slots. This rune gives jayce great early game damage that he needs to get a foothold into his lane and begin dominance. The reason i pick AD runes here over armor pen is because of how well Jayce scales with AD, and how much it helps him last hit minions. This rune is my #1 choice for the Mark slot!

Greater Seal of Resilience

Purchase Cost: 205

+1.41 armor

Now moving onto Seals, the seal slot is a perfect place for defensive AD runes. Because of this i get my armor runes here. The reason i get armor is to help defend myself against those early game pokes. Armor is extremely important when fighting strong AD champions top (Darius especially). With this rune added in Jayce can sustain top for much longer early game. Because of this, armor is my #1 choice here.

Greater Glyph of Warding

Purchase Cost: 205

+1.34 magic resist

The much needed Glyph, Glyphs are the strong point for AP runes, now because Jayce has only 1 ability that scales with AP (It is a 1/1 scale so AP would be good for Lulz, with 1000AP hitting every second for 4 seconds.... you do the math) I would rather not get AP here. Because of this i chose to get MR runes as they really do help early game (similar to armor runes). Because of how much defensive runes help early game, i chose this as my #1 for Glyphs.

Greater Quintessence of Strength

Purchase Cost: 1025

+2.25 attack damage

Quintessence - The big runes. Here you go all out damage. As Jayce will already have the defensive runes he needs to survive, Grab AD runes and lets get that poke hitting harder! similar to the AD Marks i get these because Jayce is such a great poker. These runes can allow Jayce to properly gank from level 2! because of this it is my #1 choice.

Lets take a look at the Masteries Jayce builds. I chose this Build as it gives great damage, whilst still giving you enough survivability to live through some of those nasty attacks enemy champions can throw at you.

This is a great Mastery that builds on your Ignite, although many people may argue that ignite is not needed solo top i believe that it really does help early game. With the added ability power and AD this ability could very easily be the difference between a kill and an OMG HE GOT AWAY ON 10 HEALTH).


Jayce is an AD damage dealer. Early game he can win pretty much all 1 on 1 disputes if played correctly. Due to this grab all the AD you can. This ability will help with both minion killing and just simple hitting of champions.


Attack speed is great for any AD build, although it isn't essential to Jayce as he has so many abilities early on it is great to have attack speed. This ability is a must get however due to what it builds into....


Enough said. Armor Pen. Early game this is amazing as everyone will have armor built into their rune pages. This helps you get those great early game pokes.


This ability is similar circumstance to Alacrity the ability itself isn't anything great but what it builds into is. however having more attack damage helps.


Crit damage is a great thing to have around, even though i don't build crit as much as some do in their items, the 15% from the Tri force is enough to want this talent.


Life steal, Very important for a solo top. This ability combined with Dorans Blade gives you a total of 6% life steal. This is great as it is just enough if you get poked to slowly get your health back up to 100%


More armor pen, Great! again this helps with hitting enemy champions that bit harder for early game pokes.



This ability is Brilliant. An execute from Masteries! 6% extra damage to anyone that is under 40% health. Enough said!



Now that we have completely offensive masteries, i think we should take a look at a few defensive ones....


This first row is given for more armor and Magic resist. I chose to get more armor because from my experience solo tops are usually AD. If not however just swap the points around.


More health! help survive those early game pokes just that bit more, although it isn't a lot i build it because of what it builds into.


The reason i get this ability rather than the Magic Resist is because the same reason why i got more points in armor. From my experience top is more likely to be an AD. Because of this i found all round the 30 health is great! even if you do have an AP top, 30 health is a significant difference at the low levels!

Lets take a peak at why i chose the items i did, and why i didn't build full AD carry.
ALOT of people like to get Boots 1 and 3 health potions to begin with. The reason i don't like to get it is simple. Jayce has AMAZING escape ability 1v1. For farming purposes you just sit in cannon stance and poke. if people come near you swap to hammer and smack them away. because of that and the stats Doran's gives i get this first!


My second Item. The very important boots. This is where you can start to be more aggressive if you like and you can get away with it. boots 1 are a must buy early on.


Phage, Extremely great item early on. That health and the slow means you can just destroy people in early game with no trouble at all! i get this before boots two as i believe it gives more back than boots two do earlier on. The extra attack damage it gives means your POWER SLAM! (will talk more in depth later) can do 1/4 of a squishy tops health!


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I get these boots because i like the attack speed of them early on. Depending on the team makeup and who i'm fighting i will sometimes build OR as they give great stats as well. The cool down reduction from the Ionian boots really does help Jayce. For that option just replace the boots here with whatever you want.


The zeal is great! the movement speed, attack speed and crit are a brilliant addition early game! I get this now because this is where i really start to rush the Tri Force.


This is the best item for Jayce, Every Jayce MUST get it. Every stat it gives helps Jayce in every way. The AP that this item gives is just enough for his lightning field to do decent enough damage to help in team fights. This item is usually bought right at the start of the middle phase (end of lane phase). if you can manage to get it earlier you are doing well as it is an expensive one!


The Bloodthirster! Probably my favorite item in the game. It provides AMAZING AD and Life Steal. I get this item because of that. If your team is not doing too well you can swap the bloodthirster out for a . But i highly recommend keeping the bloodthirster.


Words cannot describe how great this item is for fighters! If people See you have a G.A they are less likely to focus you. Not only that the armor and MR on it are great. This is another MUST buy for Jayce in my opinion.


This is a great item for late game as most people build armor late game after damage. This item is great if people only build 1 item with armor on it, however IF you have a team thats building over 250 armor i would get As it gives 40% armor pen it then out weighs the black cleaver. However it is rare for a team to build that much armor.


If it hits late game and you have some more cash, sell your Doran's and buy a health item. I prefer to get a Sunfire Cape as the AOE damage sits really well with Lightning Field. This item also gives great armor and health! If you don't feel like getting a sunfire you could replace it for

This will be a quick one as ability sequences are pretty generic. I get Thundering blow/Acceleration Gate first just because of the defensive capabilities. The faster running and the knock back are very handy for early game. Not to mention Thundering Blow deals great early damage!

As i discussed partly in the mastery section, I LOVE ignite for early game. Late game it does drop off but have a good start early game you are set up for the whole game! the reason why i then chose flash is the escape factor. I love it because you can just flash through walls to kill someone. Another GREAT feature of flash is if you want to be a little sneaky (like pearl harbor) is if the enemy have pushed to your turret you can flash behind them and knock them into the turret. I can't count how many times that has worked and got me a kill.

Pros:

+He has great poking ability
+He can knock people back to really hurt them
+he has great escapes
+great at last hitting
+can stand back and farm and then run in to gank

Cons:

-he is a slow champion
-he can be rather squishy
-his Power Slam is easily dodged
-if you play Jayce you are automatically an ******* (apparently)
-his standard attacks don't do a lot of damage early on

Hextech Capacitor

Jayce gains 40 movement speed and ignores unit collision for 1.25 seconds each time Transform is cast.

This passive is great as it allows for a quick attack (or getaway) after swapping stance!


To the Skies: Jayce leaps to an enemy dealing 20 / 65 / 110 / 155 / 200 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and slowing enemies by 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% for 2 seconds.

Shock Blast: Jayce fires an orb of electricity that detonates upon hitting an enemy (or reaching the end of its path) dealing 60 / 115 / 170 / 225 / 280 (+1.2 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to all enemies in the area of the explosion. If fired through an Acceleration Gate, Shock Blast's damage, range, speed, and explosion radius are increased by 40%.


Lightning Field: Passive: Jayce restores 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 mana per strike while in Hammer form. Active: Jayce creates a field of lightning that damages nearby enemies for 100 / 170 / 240 / 310 / 380 (+100% of ability power) magic damage per second for 4 seconds.

Hyper Charge: Jayce gains a burst of energy, increasing his attack speed to the maximum amount for 3 attacks. These attacks do 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130% of his attack damage.



Thundering Blow: Jayce deals 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) + 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20% of targets maximum health as magic damage and knocks them back a short distance. Damage to monsters is capped at 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 / 600 magic damage.

Acceleration Gate: Jayce deploys an Acceleration Gate, which increases the movement speed of allied champions who pass through it by 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% for 3 seconds. This movement speed bonus rapidly decreases over its duration. If Shock Blast is fired through the gate, its speed, range, damage, and explosion radius are increased by 40%.


Mercury Cannon: Transforms the Mercury Hammer into the Mercury Cannon gaining new abilities and increased range. The first attack in this form reduces the target's Armor and Magic Resist by 10/15/20/25% for 5 seconds.

Mercury Hammer: Transforms the Mercury Cannon into the Mercury Hammer gaining new abilities and increases Jayce's Armor and Magic Resist by 5/15/25/35. The first attack in this form deals 20/60/100/140 additional magic damage.

So lets have a look at how to actually attack with Jayce.

FIRSTLY- Let me say. CS>KILLS 10CS=1 kill.
Now kills are important especially to shut down an enemy farm and everyone loves the gold.

Now his Unique stoofs. lets take a look!

His Poke:+=POWER SLAM! his best poke! simply drop the gate and aim the shock blast through the gate towards your target. This damage is extremely high and will really destroy the squishy enemies.


What i call, THE FACE SLAM!
+= Jayce will jump to an enemy dealing damage. when there run slightly in front of them and hit them back! allowing massive damage!

When going for a kill

Poke them with "POWER SLAM!" till then drop to about half health (maybe a bit more)
When this is done is "FACE SLAM!" do deal high damage. Then ignite them and keep hitting them. IF they might escape just swap back to cannon stance and poke them with that. Maybe add another "POWER SLAM!" in.

Remember again CS is the greatest. Don't go for a kill unless you know you will get it.

Overall Jayce is a great fighter OR AD Carry. The reason i like to build fighter over AD carry is the simple fact; there is better AD carries. Not to mention he fits into a team much better as a fighter. I like playing tanky Jayce as he deals easily enough damage late game to get kills. But those are not even the main reason. The main reason is after you get a tri force, you can do what you want (It's Jayce)! Meaning that gives him enough damage by itself! so my word of advice... Build to the builds! meaning don't build the same build every time, Build to their team and their build. this was just a rough guide for new players. But when you learn Jayce his is extremely fun and a great ganker.

But as i said at the start of the guide... Why is he such a great solo top? Play him as a fighter and you will find out. With amazing pokes, high burst AND high sustain when learned he will RULE top lane (Unless there is a riven because riven is a little ***** that will not die!)

So remember, Farm CS, Poke and gank with a jungle!