Hi.

I like that you take your time to explain things even though that I play her a little different.

As a constructive feedback I wanted to mention that the colour choice in the ability section made it a little hard for me to read.

Ok, I will be honest. I did not read all the comments, maybe you already explained what I am interested in already. Can you elaborate your ability sequence a little more as I put a lot of thought to that in my guide as well and like to know why different people approach this different.

Anyway I give you +1 in good hope that you edit the crazy coloured ability section :D

Cheers mate

Tiamat indeed is underestimated by most ppl, I´ll give you that,
but it isnt rly viable to use. Since it only proccs on AA (and sth like Parlay, Mystic Shot) and ofc (Post above) doesnt procc on-hit effects on the splash-targets (like lifeleech).

But the main reason, which is making Tiamat a bad choice is the fact that even in ganks you´ll mostly hit only one champ.
Thanks to champs like Brand/Fiddle/Veigar etc and the fact that Tiamat´s splash-area isnt visible without a magnifier. (I remember that if you perfectly align some of those tiny little minions in front of you, you´re able to hit 3-4)


Btt:
I like the fact that you try to exchange lifeleech for Hp/sec (since Riven doesnt AA as much as some other champs) but:
-NOT with runes/quints
-Even so LL seems more convenient even with less AAs

Also going for Warmogs AND Frozen M. without Atma + Warmogs is way too late and also not rly needed (If you try to get Hp/sec why not go for FoN?)

Additionally (maybe someone can give a hand here) I´m not quite sure but I kinda remember that critical AAs DO NOT apply their bonus dmg on Tiamat´s splash?

err one more thing, with lifesteal if ur dealing splash damadge with a tiamat, ur probably stealing life off the other targets hit aswell, giving u a little more lifesteal in theory.. i cant confirm this tho, bt logic says that thats what wud be happening ^^

nt that ur auto attacking as much with her compared 2 other ad champs in teamfights, bt that lifestel on her can save ur ***, especially cuz ur using ur shield 2 and while they are stuned and afterwards that shield is getting broken, u steal sum more life and once the shield is gone ul be on a bit more life than u were b4 u used it..

shes kinda got that jax feel in sum situations (u know wen that jax just wont ***in die even tho he is on 100 hp!@$!@) wen uv got decent lifesteal and u pop that shield, shes can delay death for a bit

KEEP THE GARDIAN ANGEL! iv been using it in my build, and once i get it i havnt died once since iv 'die' and come back 2 life, no jokes.. heres an example, ur roaming around near ur team if ur doing well looking for a lone hero 2 kill or just trying 2 c where the **** the other team is, boom u run into 3 hero's o.O (oh dear)
so u do as much damadge as u can 2 them and u most probably get owned tho in the end, while this is going on ur team sees u getting owned and they all run 2wards u trying 2 save u then u die, b4 gardian angel actuall goes off both teams arive at ur reviving body and now if u were smart u didnt use clense wen u found the 3 heroes cuz u knew ur escape was gna come after u got revived, so now u revive imediately hit stun use ur dashes and ur out and evry1 clashes in a huge battle behind you.. only problem is if they use a stun on you wen u revive, bt then u got clense >.< and u negate it and hightail it out of there.. sumthing aweseome about riven is that even if ur exhausted it cant slow down ur actuall dash skills, and by the time uv used them exhaust will nearly be done and u can run at full speed, its awesome, so bassically if uv got ur dashes up wen ur exhausted u end up only being slowed for about a sec after uv spammed dashes.. gardian is geat on her, just because of her dashes, wen u revive u got a great chance 2 make it out alive, where as other characters wud normall be left helpless after reviving.. seriously ud be so suprised at the miracle gettaways u can pull of with her wen u use it, also with ur ulti once uv made a gap and ur semi safe u can throw ur ulti behind you as a final hehehe fu i made it out, and if ur team did well in the battle that happend while u were reviving ur gna get sum assists with that windslash and a kill or 2 maybe XD

another reason 2 get it is so u can consider the option of stacking a sword of occult, or what i like usuing in my build is a bloodthirster, so now once uv got ur gardian ur going 2 be able 2 keep ur stacks so much easier.. also that gardian angel is on u constanly making ppl nt want 2 focus u, where as a banshees vail once it pops ppl are gna wanna focus u.. ANOTHER thing is that if uv got a frozen mallet in ur build, u dnt need more health, ur gna need sum resistances for maximum survivability (a balance of health and resistances nt just one or the other gives u much better 'battle health') so now banshees vail wud give u mr which is good and a bit more health with a frozen mallet for good survivability, bt i think a gardian angel and a frozen mallet is beter cuz ur getting mr AND armour.. only if the entire enemy team is ap then the better choice wud obviously be a vail ;)... also if u got clense then uv basically got a vail almost anyways, and if u ask me a better choice for vail if u still want 2 be able 2 negate another spell wud be a quick silver sash, get 2 choose which spell 2 block ;)

sorry im rambling but keep the gardian, keep the mallet, keep the ie, try a bloodthirster tho, and a tiamat also works really really well on her for sum reason, i dnt use a tiamat ever on other champs, bt i use it evrygame on riven rofl >.< if ur usuing a bloodthirster 2 u can gain stacks sooooo fast with ur tiamat and aoe skills, u farm like a king with it
the two are fantastic 2gether, ur going 2 gain damadge very quickly once uv bought a bloodthirster

well this is just my opinion, these suggestions suite my playstyle and i find the above mentioned items work great for me, bt it might not work for sum1 else

great guide tho btw ^^ was just throwing in my 2cents, take it or leave it

Some players (myself included when a game is starting off slow on kills, or i have an overachieving partner) will stack Doran's Blades at the beginning of the game. 2 (occasionally 3, but I don't like getting that many) DB's will help a lot, and you can sell them at any point you need to grab something better or upgrade later on.

I disagree (with Tiamat only being for minions). Towards end game, tons of group brawls tend to happen, in particular when you start pushing close to their base, etc. In those cases Riven absolutely excells, since her abilites, and now her passive is all AOE. Hitting the guy in front of you for 5-600, and the players standing near him for 300ish is very nice to have, in particular for an auto attack! It is also handy when you come up against 2 players (the most common encounter, its rarely 1v1 in a good game). I still keep an IE on me, namely for the crit chance on the auto, but other than occasionally trading my Warmog's in for a Frozen Shard, I agree with the OP's build. It has simply worked the best all around for me rather consistantly. :)

I've tried out the build and I've kind of fallen into a rut with it. Perhaps I am playing her wrong, but I have a hard time keeping up with farming or combating any champions in early game. Frozen Mallet is such a huge cost for an early item to get to and not enough damage to fill the gaps before you are done. I'll admit though, maybe I am doing it wrong. Could you explain how you normally keep a float with farming and laning to actually reach those larger cost items with her.

I do greatly enjoy the health regen idea with runes but with the low damage output leading up to Frozen Mallet, I've had to start using my flat damage rune page instead to keep up. Cleanse I'll say feels awkward but that is due to lack of practice with it. I did quite enjoy using heal though in duo lanes.

Played with two Infinity Edges stacked this morning, and can confirm that abilities don't crit - didn't land a single one with abilities, even with the crit chance stacks from the Edges and a Youmuu's. But that's no reason not to get them. Critting in between each skill leaves you with insane DPS, and the AD itself is enough to justify having it on any build. I'd choose it over Tiamat's because it's simply more useful late-game hunting single-targets and thinning out numbers in ganks and counter-ganks, while Tiamat's mostly for minion farmings.

I must say again I cannot thank you both enough Dylvish, and MonkMiroku.. Both your inputs has greatly effected my game play and this guide and has gotten a lot of improvement where I wouldn't see it as fit before to change certain things.

I have changed the build I am pretty certain it will remain like that, although in the item section you will soon notice, that I will have situational items describing certain team plays, such as BURST heavy, AD heavy, Duo tanks, CC heavy, normal comps, Hard counters, ect.


MonkMiroku, I agree with a lot of your item choices... But I will keep Tiamat for its HP/5 which stacks onto that already very high amount which at end game in full build is around 90 HP5 which is a pretty decent amount. Tiamat also gives a bit of AOE and when you are fully built the splash it noticeable.

I have changed the bloodthirster to a IF, seeing as her life steal isn't all that effective in most fights where life steal vs life steal would matter (Gang plank, Caitlyn, Tryn, ect ect) The IF also Boosts her damage quite a lot from my original build... Making my Riven have tank worthy HP, rounding her AD at 300, and 40% crit.

As I mentioned before this build will just be her bread and butter, and I will be adding in the new Item section with the situational items, after I post this.

Thanks again for your input, Will like to hear from you soon.

Hi there Monk, and Sunny :)

I can vouch for Tiamat, which I have been experimenting with in my build. It does affect the passive, and in particular later in the game, it gives up some surprising numbers when people are all stacked together / mobs of minions. +50 AD, 15 health regen, 50% splash damage. It may not seem like much, but that passive of hers adds up very quickly, and at 2k is very cheap on price for what you get out of it. She is the first character I have tried it on that it seems to actually do well on.

I have also stopped using TF after experimenting more today with her throughout the morning and afternoon (had day off work, was nice to have house to myself for a change), and I agree, Frozen Mallet is a must have for her, both for staying with runners, and for getting away with her E after snaring them.

Infinity Edge I am still on the fence about. It is a GREAT +AD, but I am under the impression that her abilites themselves do not crit, and it is one very expensive item to work towards just for the passive crit (although a very nice crit indeed). The Black Cleaver gives damage, cuts down armor, and gives haste, which is very handy for getting off her auto attacks faster, thereby maximizing the use of your charges while you are spamming your abilities (only 3 charges allowed stacked up, after that they are wasted).

Bloodthirster I would take over Hextech for the simple reason that it is 700 less gold, for almost the same stats (60 ad and 15% lifesteal base). While the LS is a little lower to start, the AD starts the same and just gets higher per kill until you die, where you go back to being even.

Atma's Impaler I am a big fan of on HP stackers. But on Riven I am still comparing it to some other items. 45 armor is negligible, the crit is ok, but again only works on the auto attacks / passive, and 2% of 3k-ish hps is about 60 AD, which puts it in the BT / BC range. Not great, not bad.

(just a side note, I tried the Frozen Heart a little while ago at a friends urging, and was surprised with it. The 500 mana is useless, but the 99 armor, 20% cooldown reduction, and 20% pbaoe attack rate slow made her MUCH stronger vs other melees. The only drawback was it does not offer direct +damage).


Anyway, this has been the most active, and well put together guide so far, and since I am terrible with these guides (I build homes and commercial buildings, I am terrible with computer tech and internet stuff), I figured I would continue to put feedback from my experiences so far, in the hopes that they may help pound out the "perfect" build, or close enough.

Items I agree are an absolute must have:

Yommuu's Ghostblade
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Frozen Mallet

Items that I feel work very well on her (still working back and forth on which works best in actual play for me, but they are more or less in order with some fluctuation):

The Black Cleaver
The Bloodthirster
Tiamat (see notes above)
Infinity Edge (see notes above)
Frozen Heart (see notes above)
Last Whisper (if the enemy team is very armor heavy)
The Sword of the Divine (if enemy team has Teemo / Jax / Nidalee)
Mandred's Bloodrazor (works great vs HP stackers)
Hexdrinker (not my favorite, but handy when there are AP nukers around, and fairly cheap price)

Items that are ok, or have multiple fits (damage + armor, etc).:

Atma's Impaler (see notes above)
Wriggle's Lantern
Cloak and Dagger (mainly for the Tenacity, which all items in game with it are 35 now. This came in handy vs a heavy CC game this morning).
Phantom Dancer (the mixed bonuses are nice, although it does not offer any direct AD. the +move is great)
Wit's End (I personally did not like it much, but it has usefulness for her)

Items I (just my opinion from my experiments, of course) do not think work well on her, or are just too expensive for the partial bonuses she uses from them:

Trinity Force
Hextech Gunblade
Sword of the Occult (she is melee, therefore WILL die, so this becomes hard to have usefully stacked)

Ill keep reading your and others guides and feedback, and will continue to try out others ideas, as well as my own experimentation, and I will try to post my findings here. I realize everyone has their own play style, so mileage may vary. :)

Best of luck, and see you in the field,
~Dylvish

(P.S.:) All of the above feedback is based on PvP play with her so far. There are several builds that work well for bot games. I am trying to help find the best damage / survivability ratio build vs other intelligent (*cough* hopefully) players that are doing their damndest to kill my happy half sword owning self. :)

Well, her full build is rather expensive, regardless. I don't like Tiamat all that much because as far as I know, it won't proc off of skills, hindering its value.

Infinity Edge makes it so when you crit, your doing significantly more damage (on top of your already stupid damage), which is then amplified by your passive even further. This is normally the 5th item I pick up. Although using your skills to empower and slice them down is your best pick, having Youmuu's Ghostblade and an Infinity Edge under your belt can put you ahead on taunt champs like Shen and Rammus, where you can't help but just attack. Furthermore, Infinity Edge overall gives more AD, which is amplified by your Ult. Using your ult+ Youmuu's Ghostblade = easy turret pushing, or easy golem/lizard/whatever.

With Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Youmuu's Ghostblade, your at 30% CDR before masteries/runes. A Elixer of Brilliance will cap you off at 40% when blue buff isnt avalible, or you can rune for the last 10%. having a 27 second CD on your ult is just ******ed. You can mow down twice a minute.

The bow would definately help against armor stackers, but your runes should cover your bases well enough. You have about 25 with just Mark of Desolation and Quintessence of Desolations. Thats enough to rip through a good portion of carries. If your having troubles early, getting a Black Cleaver early would be the way to go, before Atma's Impaler or the Infinity Edge. Either way, If you dont have a cleaver in your build somewhere, your doing something wrong.

I still dont like Bloodthirsters, never have. It pales in comparison to other items, especially Hextech Gunblade which gives flat 60AD and 20% lifesteal instead of relying on feeding your BT. Warmog's Armor again, I dont think its a good choice, as with the Frozen Mallet, you have high survivability anyways.

Btw, my LoL name is Monkmiroku. add me sometime.