Riven Build Guide by Fateful

Introduction:

Greetings, just a short statement that I am not a pro nor do I claim to think as good as them. Take my build with a grain of salt in those aspects. I simply enjoy Riven and wanted to share the way I build her and the thought process that went into my decisions. That being said this is not the only way or even the "best" way to build Riven as far as I know. Part of the game is adapting to your own needs and building according to your enemies.

Pros / Cons.

Pros

Cons

Summoner Spells.

- I love exhaust it has so many uses on a range of champions both AD and AP. Do you see running up to your entire team? Exhaust! Did just pop and is charging at your face? Exhaust! It's too good to pass up.

- I prefer taking ghost over flash because I'm comfortable with it. Don't use ghost if you don't like it or know when to really utilize it. It's more of a preference here.

- Again a viable choice I prefer ghost but never forget that flash is a get out of fail free card or a chasing ability for someone who just flashed over a wall.

- A good summoner to counter certain enemies like , , , , , , , and

- If you really really hate getting CC'd you might like this however I don't feel the need for it.

- Jungle Riven is viable and fast however this is not a jungle guide. I will possibly look into editing a jungle build in but currently I'm just getting the standard business out of the way.

- I personally don't use this on Riven but if you love split pushing or not relying on covers for your lane then by all means go for it.

Masteries.

Mastery trees recently got revamped. I'm sure many people are still experimenting with what works the best. I updated them to reflect what I currently use. But otherwise I'm still trying out different combinations. There seems to be little point in going Utility anymore, the exp boost is far out of reach to be worthwhile.

Runes.

The runes I chose to use are what I think fit Riven quite well. Remember that these might not appeal to you or your play style feel free to experiment you might find something that works way better than what I use.

Greater Mark of Desolation - ArPen is an amazing stat on most ADs. Now you might be asking, "But Riven mainly uses skills and AD runes complement that better". Sure AD runes are good considering Riven even has an AD ratio on however keep in mind you will be auto attacking with your passive up to properly maximize dps.

Greater Seal of Vitality - These I've found to be quite nice considering you start with Doran's you will only get more tanky. And Riven's downside as a melee is that before you max you are a bit squishy.

- These accent Riven so well with and you'll be hitting close to the CDR cap which is bad news for your opponents.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation - Self explanatory see the ArPen marks. I feel there are quite a few quintessences Riven could benefit from. The others I would recommend would be or either if you want to be more tanky or have increased mobility. I like ArPen because it makes you such a threat even against opponents with a good chunk of armor.

Core Items.

- This item is everything you could ask for it has nice early game AD, much needed CDR, and to top it off some more ArPen. What's not to like?

- I prefer these boots simply because with these and you'll be nearing the CDR cap which is really good.

- I personally love this item it gives you an awesome AD boost as well as the perfect passive. After attacking 3x you'll have shredded a whopping 45 armor off of your opponent.

- Built from your this only expands your already awesome item and gives you crit and a sweet active to boot. If you don't normally buy or have used Ghostblade I like to use it mainly when chasing or fleeing just because during combos the AS boost will be wasted.

- This baby once you farm it out packs a nasty 100 AD along with a smooth 25% Life Steal.

- I only really recommend this item towards the end of your build (if the game is lasting that long) but you should be getting defensive items before you think about an IE unless you are absolutely crushing the opposing team.

Situational Items.

- These I find handy when you're facing an extremely CC heavy team. Yes you'll lose a valuable 15% CDR from however what will CDR do for you if you can't move or use skills? If you really do not want to lose the CDR you can possibly get although it's not an optimal item for Riven you'll pretty much use the slot solely for Tenacity.

- I like this item I really do it makes you tanky and has a nice passive snare. I personally never have too many problems chasing down opponents with Riven considering her and are pretty good gap closers when used properly. But if you find one too many foes escaping your grasp this might be for you.

- Did feed that 7 kills and he's 2 shotting you? Time to get this piece of equipment! Giving you a jaw dropping 100 armor and an amazing damage shield returning 30% as magic damage (keep in mind this can be mitigated with MR) but the damage returned is calculated as if you had 0 armor so it's bad news for those super fed ADs.

- Has surprise 'd you one too many times? Then it's time for this marvelous gem! Giving you a nice bit of magic resist and health (the mana is kind of wasted) it also blocks a skill every 45 seconds. If you're pretty good about dodging pre-teamfight poke skillshots (Yeah I'm looking at the eating full range s like they are going out of style) this item will save your .

- If you don't like then you can look into this. I'd only recommend it if you've already built a heavy hp item like or . Otherwise you'll be dying only a bit slower.

- I'd only suggest getting this if there is a or eating you alive. The active is pretty nice for chasing or escaping but it's better to let your tank get one of these.

- I've seen quite a few Riven's use this (Mostly due to the spotlight and not knowing how to build her) and honestly it's not a bad item. It gives a good bit of armor and some magic resist but it's most useful trait is that if you die you'll instead resurrect with a bit of health (no mana necessary lol) this is also extremely useful for saving your from losing stacks or losing an .

- Is pressing and winning more than Charlie Sheen? I think it's time to bring out this puppy! A fairly cheap item giving a decent amount of magic resist however the main point here is it's active ability to completely remove all debuffs from you. It's like them having a but without the huehue.

- Now with my build you have a flat 51 ArPen with finished. And a total of 96 Arpen on a target you've attacked 3x with . Now unless atleast 3 people on their team have a you'll be bringing most people pretty close to no armor except for tanks. That being said I see no real point in buying this unless the opposing team is extremely armor heavy.

- This is a pretty good item on many ADs. Particularly useful against and possibly even an amazing shot.

- I'm really not a fan of snowball items due to how quickly some situations can go bad and well... you die. If you are entirely confident in your ability to not die and possibly rush a then go for it. But personally I stay away from these items.

Riven's Skills.

(Broken Wings is a 3 part ability. The first 2 uses cause Riven to dash forward and deal damage while the 3rd use causes Riven to leap and knock enemies back. The knock back closely resembles 's Arcane Smash){Left Box: These are Riven's passive stacks from using skills}{Right Box: These are 's stacks the 3rd being the knock back}(Ki Burst has a relatively small range but is a decent burst + stun ability. A quick tip is that you can use it during 's charge animation taking away the cast time)(Valor is a small dash that scales quite well from AD. It is useful in both chasing and escaping granting you a damage shield as well as either closing a gap or increasing the distance between you and your enemy)( is Riven's ultimate. When activated it gives you a 20% AD buff and increased range on all of your abilities. Keep in mind that even if you immediately use after casting you will keep all of the benefits for the same duration.(Wind Slash is a frontal cone execute in the sense that it does more damage the lower your opponent is. I've found this extremely useful for someone feeling safe behind a turret or someone that just flashed over a wall)(Wind Slash does have a cast timer so be very careful aiming it)

Teamfighting and You!

Okay so you've stepped away from the 20 minute farm fest and are all grouping up and trying to push turrets or secure buffs/dragon/baron/etc. What do you do now? What is Riven's role in teamfights? I'll tell you! Riven excels at disrupting you can knock opponents around and temporarily stun multiple enemies. I've interrupted a lot of things that probably would have wiped out our team. Found a at wraiths about to out into mid, so I hit and proceeded to kill him while his game breaking ult got ruined. Is using to kill off one of your teammates? Hit x3 and stop him! Riven has many uses be sure to take advantage of them and don't mindlessly use your cooldowns on suboptimal targets. Be smart and play smart! It's as simple as that.

Summary:

So you got to the end. Pat yourself on the back. If you read through this entire guide I appreciate it and hope you enjoy playing Riven as much as I do. This is my very first guide on MOBAFire so keep that in mind before being too harsh on it please!