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Riven Build Guide by PantyHumper

Pure Sex Appeal (Raping Riven) -- Jungle

Pure Sex Appeal (Raping Riven) -- Jungle

Updated on July 26, 2012
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League of Legends Build Guide Author PantyHumper Build Guide By PantyHumper 6 12 18,492 Views 21 Comments
6 12 18,492 Views 21 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author PantyHumper Riven Build Guide By PantyHumper Updated on July 26, 2012
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Smite

Smite

The Reasoning of Riven

Riven... sexiest character in game, bar none. With that out of the way -- let's get down to it!

This is a guide for killers. Aggressive, level 2 tower diving killers. If you like to sit back and farm all day, go play a teemo or some other squishy garbage champ. I get my farm from killing. If you aren’t killing as Riven, you’ve got no business summoning the goddess.

This is a difficult build to take on. It requires a skilled, experienced Riven player. However... if you can control the beast you will devour your foes with little effort.
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What she offers

Tremendous damage output throughout the entire game. Riven is about pure aggression. You attack hard and if that doesn't work, you attack even harder! One of the best escape artists in the game, although often overlooked in this regard. Your Q + E combo results in an incredible survivability tool. Not to mention wonderful gap closers when ganking.

This build caters to early ganks, phenomenal power output, and plain ***-kickery.
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Pros and Cons

Pros:



- High damage output
- Great mobility
- Tremendous survivability (after the bloodthirster)
- Excellent ganker – great gap closer
- Fun play style
- Sexy as hell

Cons:



- A little squishy before securing defense items (her mobility is key to surviving early, i.e. the skill component)
- Requires a bit of know-how to avoid being kited by ranged champions
- Susceptible to stuns and silences or disables (anything disrupting her combos, especially when attempting to flee)
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Musings of Riven

This is a jungling guide. Fast and deadly.

Most jungle rivens will take a vampiric scepter or cloth armor with pots and build straight into a wriggles lantern. This is certainly a high quality build. One I recommend to those who want to be utterly useless after level 6 or thereabouts. The wriggles is a trash early game item. I see far too many Rivens (not to mention junglers in general) using this item even into late game. I don’t ever take the wriggles. I use skill to combat the slight early game advantage it provides.

There is only a SMALL window of time when the wriggles is superior to the bloodthirster. You can combat those few minutes of a slight disadvantage in equipment by using skill, positioning, and timing.

My build hinges on getting the Bloodthirster early on. This little beauty makes all the difference. Once you get your BF sword, not even the full thirster, Riven hits harder than you could imagine. Her burst will drop squishes in a matter of seconds. Tanky characters might be able to withstand the initial onslaught… That’s why you have your mobility. Run those scalawags down with surprising ease. Riven’s Q makes for a great chasing ability. Not only are you closing distance, but unleashing massive hurtin’ power as you do it.

Provided you have a bit of skill, Riven will snowball out of control once the bloodthirster is acquired. Afterward, it’s essentially an all tank build. You’ll be dishing out unfathomable amounts of damage while withstanding nearly everything they can muster.
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Skill Sequence

Simple. Level the Q first followed by W, then your E. From that point on put all your points into Q whenever possible and W if it's not. And of course level your ultimate at every opportunity. I use the shield for utility/mobility only. Take the kill spells and reap the rewards in blood and gold.
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Combo Attacking

Use an ability, attack, use an ability, attack. This is the standard Riven advice put forth by nearly all players. It’s ****. Trash. Useless tidbits handed out by noobs who read it on another guide.

Every time you use an ability, Riven is awarded one charged attack. This can stack up to 3 times. Now, it doesn’t matter if you use 3 abilities right in a row or attack between each one. It stacks up to 3 regardless. Meaning if you used all 5 combo moves one after another, you’d be losing 2 charged attacks. The only thing you have to make sure is to not use more than 3 abilities in a row without auto-attacking at least once before it would be the 4th ability in a sequence. Often times you want those 3 abilities right up front. Auto-attacking between them slows your damage output in critical times. In many situations it’s better to spam the abilities up to 3, auto attack once or twice depending how the battle is going, then use the remaining abilities to either attack further or retreat.

The basic combo I Use for Riven:



Q, Q, followed by a W, then the final Q. You can put the shield in the combo at any time. It is fight based, so use it only when you see them about to unload abilities or if you wish to cover distance or gain an extra charged attack.

A quick note here. Riven’s W is a stun… which essentially stuns her for a split second while casting. This is not a smooth stunning ability. She juts her sword into the air while doing so, a minor delay, yet noticeable.

To combat this you MUST use a Q ANYTIME after using a W, unless of course you are retreating or using it as utility only. In a fight you plan to win, save a Q for use after the W. If you hit the w, your next auto-attack will not come immediately after. This makes it wise to follow with a Q. By doing this you completely negate the stuns delayed casting animation and follow right into another big damage burst attack while also gaining an additional charged auto-attack.

It is also wise to withhold using the W against champions possessing channeled casting abilities. Katarina for example. Her ultimate is useless with the press of a W. A well timed, well planned W can save your life. Many play Riven as a button masher. Hit her attacks as often and as fast as possible. Not a good idea for the thinking Riven player.

Her shield (e) provides a wonderfully useful, and varied ability. When fighting skill-shot based opponents be sure to save this for dodging or closing the gap. You can avoid most damage by simply dashing out of the way.
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Jungle Gear

Basic early build:

-Grab your cloth armor and 5 pots

If you have been successful with a few early ganks and have the money to show for it... hold off on the boots and vampiric scepter. Instead, go straight for a BF sword. But so and so's guide said --- blah blah blah! So you take a few extra seconds moving around. Your ganks will be amazing with the BF sword! You'll be able to afford boots in 30 seconds or a few minutes later at most anyway.

Next get the boots. Move on to the vampiric scepter and finish the bloodthirster asap.

If your early game isn't going so hot... get the boots and vampiric scepter before the BF sword.
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What to wear

This Riven build contains 3 core items. All others after are situational depending on what the enemy team composition contains.

The items are (in order):



- Bloodthirster

- Warmog or Frozen Mallet (Warmog if you want more survivability, frozen if you want a slightly more kill oriented build)
- Thornmail or Randuin's Omen


I use the ionian boots of lucidity always. I don’t waste time on a brutalizer for the pitiful cooldown reduction time. The CD boots along with your runes already give you a 25% CD. Around 10% at level 1 from runes alone.

Other items I’m fond of:



- Guardian Angel
- Thornmail
- Maw of Malmortius
- Force of Nature


The guardian angel can be replaced by many things. I often only use it once before selling for another item until the cooldown timer refreshes.

Recently I have been using the Maw of Malmortius instead of the force of nature. Unless the enemy team has a tons of AP or an early fed AP caster, I don’t see the need for the FoN, especially if you have a warmog and GA already.

A glass cannon Riven can be shutdown easily. A stun or silence leaves you out in the open, defenseless like a sitting duck waiting to be picked off. If you are doing spectacularly well, it is often worth getting say, another bloodthirster instead of a defensive item. This might allow you to finish the game before the opponents have a chance to build up any real damage against you.

Riven’s high natural burst damage allows her to be built in a sturdy fashion with minimal sacrificing of attack power.
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Slight change to equipment

Since the Atmas armor took a big hit it is no longer advisable to purchase this item. The scanty 1.5% AD increase is laughable. You're better off grabbing another armor intense piece. I now enjoy the thornmail, randuin's, or even frozen heart. WHAT!?!? Frozen heart on Riven?? She doesn't even use mana! True. However, the frozen heart offers a HUGE amount of armor, while also slowing enemy attack speeds. If the enemy team is attack speed based and has several champs of that nature doing well, go ahead and grab the frozen. Otherwise stick with thornmail, randuin's, or guardian angel.
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Summoner Spells

I take flash and smite always. I am a position fighter and as such don't benefit as much from the ignites or exhausts. This is personal preference however.
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Clearing the forest

Riven's least favorite place. Killing monsters allows her to gank and buy items. That's it. Don't get stuck in the PvE mode. Kill, kill, kill. The name of the game.

I’ve tried numerous builds when jungling. A vampiric scepter is nice, as it builds directly into the bloodthirster. However, Riven is not extremely strong against the monsters early on. With a vampiric scepter alone, you will be left pretty weak or be forced to go back more times than necessary. This hurts your ganking ability. Your life force.

It is advisable to get the cloth armor and 5 pots. This allows you to stay near full health during the entire early jungling phase and in return, making your ganks that much more potent.

The next buy, depending on how well you have done, can either be a vampiric scepter or BF sword. Maybe level 1 boots if you’re behind or have the extra money.

Some criticize the lack of boots on my build. I don’t bother with the level 2 until a while later in the game. The blue buff is almost a necessity for my jungle Riven. After the first 3 or 4 you CAN give them away, but the CDR is lifesaving. With the blue, and her 2 abilities which allow her to cover distances quickly, you are able to dart around the map very swiftly without the level 2 boots. And in doing so your build is open up to more damage or survivability items. Having a warmog or frozen mallet early on instead of the level 2 boots is definitely a tradeoff I will make any day as Riven. Using flash along with the movement abilities I rarely have a problem escaping from sticky situations.

Pathing:



Start at red. Hit level 2 and immediately go for a gank. Instruct your allies to let the lane push. It is rare I don’t secure a kill or assist as Riven after taking the red. If the lane refuses to push, you may get the wraiths while you wait or head down to the golems. If the lane is almost ready to be ganked, it’s better to take the wraiths and conserve health as opposed to fighting the golems.

After red, wraiths, and golems, you may take the wolves and blue or look for a gank. This is the basic pathing. After red there really is no set path. Your eye should be focused on ganking rather than which camp is best.

Counter-jungling:



Some guys you **** up easily, some guys will **** you up easily (early on, a short time later no one can touch you). Watch the map and choose your counter-jungling carefully. I find it better to gank lanes than venture into the enemy woods.

Notes:



To be a truly effective Riven you MUST have successful ganks early on. She’s not as bad as xin when it comes to needing a snowball. But a fed early game Riven is extremely lethal. She starts strong and ends strong.

It is basically a race to the BF sword and bloodthirster. Get this item… and few if any can match you.
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Entering the fray

This is for after the laning phase. When every battle is a potential fight to the death. No poking, no harassing. Kill time. Riven’s specialty.

When engaging in combat there is one important rule to remember: DO NOT WAIT TO CAST YOUR ULTIMATE! This ability lasts for a good length of time, giving you increased damage and range on your spells. Many Riven’s will start fighting, wait, wait, wait, then pop the ultimate when things are going south or they want to finish.

Pop it when entering the fray! Get and maintain the bonus damage from the start. Do not use the windslash (second casting of the ultimate) until they are good and weakened. It works off a % of their missing health. Think of it as a finishing blow only.

The cooldown is relatively low on her ultimate. At the same time, be sure not to trigger the ability too early. If you see a straggler and KNOW their teammates are not around, feel free to pop the ultimate and dismantle the goon. If you are unsure of the enemy’s position, hold off. You might need the extra damage in the potentially ensuing team battle. It’s not a big deal to cast it against a single opponent and run away if the opposition arrives. The cooldown is short.

In team fights your job is to wade in landing your Q combos on as many people as possible. Sometimes withholding the W, again, depending on the enemy champs and if a stun to disrupt any spells would be beneficial. If not, go ahead and hit that baby whenever you get it for the extra damage and kill time. As Riven you WANT the enemy team to glob onto you. Let them circle and surround you. The more the merrier you say as your Q smashes down on them with an ungodly force.

If your health is getting dangerously low then feel free to stun once more, dash out, and use your Q to retreat a ways. If they chase, continue to run as your team scores damage on them. If they don’t, then circle right back around for another landing of the combo. Rinse and repeat. In general Riven does best when right in the middle of the action. Stay in as long as you can dealing massive amounts of damage and protecting your squishies with the W.

And let’s not kid ourselves… save that ultimate for killstealing all day! The most I’ve gotten is a quadra kill from a single windslash ability. Riven is one of the few characters I have scored a PENTA-KILL with, and boy, are they ever satisfying.
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The Morning After

Riven is a highly entertaining, brutally effective, and intense character. Her play style is not for everyone. But those who enjoy a nice in your face--up close and personal way of combat (coupled with excellent escape tools) will fall in love.



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