Hello, I'm ******ed ******. Garbage Riven main here. I've been feeding since the start of Season 3 and consider myself to be pretty decent at the game. I decided to test out Riven support after reading this guide by xdartvaderx. There are a lot of things in his guide that I disagree with, so I decided to make a guide of my own. Check out his guide too, you may like it.

OLD: Ah, yes. The question on everyone's mind. You see, ever since The Brutalizer was removed and the wonderful Spell Weaving and Blade Weaving masteries were removed, Riven's suffered. Without those things, Riven's lost some damage and her optimal build path has changed significantly (for the worse, in my opinion).

The whole "League of Tanks" meta also isn't very fun to play against as Riven. She's just not able to blow up enemies quite like she used to, not nearly as easily at least. So I figured since I can't necessarily destroy tanks very quickly, why not build her as a tank instead of a fighter? I get to keep the utility by sacrificing damage. I wasn't too disappointed, but I wasn't impressed by any means. I just ended up being outclassed by popular top laners like Malphite, Ekko, and Sion.

After taking Riven to Top, Jungle, and Mid to no consistent success, I stumbled onto a Riven Support guide that gave me the idea of trying her in the support role. I loved the idea, I got to keep the utility and I wasn't a high priority target to focus in team fights. Riven's ability to travel long distances over a short time period makes her really good at being able to force bot lane skirmishes and roam to other lanes.

TL;DR: You become fairly tanky while keeping the utility of your abilities, you also aren't a high priority target in team fights so you won't be destroyed instantly if you get caught out of position.

• Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Early AD is helpful, it helps you take trades you otherwise wouldn't be able to take. Your AD scalings are high and having higher AD also provides you with a higher shield.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Health: 4 Health seals for negating more damage for the first few levels. These combined with your Relic Shield will have you sitting at a solid 666 health at level 1.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: 5 Armor seals for damage reduction from the enemy ADC, armor seals are also worth more than health seals late game.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: 7.5% Cooldown and the rest of your items will leave you at 45%. Alternatively you can run 6 MR glyphs with 3 flat cooldown glyphs, if you do so then you should replace an armor quint with a scaling cooldown quint. That brings you to 5% flat cooldown and 5% additional cooldown at level 18, allowing you to reach the cooldown cap of 45%.
  
• Greater Quintessence of Cooldown Reduction: 2.5% additional cooldown which adds up to 10% when combined with the flat cooldown reduction glyphs.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Armor: More physical damage reduction which helps a little early and outscales health later, I believe these are the best quints to run because of the harass you are going to take during lane, melee supports tend to get harassed quite a bit.
  

This list is how I feel about the lane partners Riven lanes with. This list is by no means set in stone, it's always subject to change.

God tier lane partners

Aggressive/High DPS carries that synergize well with Riven's kit.


Draven: Powerful early game damage and insane snowball potential makes him a force to be reckoned with. He's able to follow up very nicely when you all in the enemy bot lane and you're able to CC the enemy long enough for Draven to get a clean ultimate off.


Jhin: A lovely lane partner to have, his Deadly Flourish and Curtain Call are all easily landed on targets once you've run up and CC'd them. His 4th shot is extremely powerful, you're able to walk up with Jhin and CC the enemy as he fires his 4th shot and you both should be able to retreat relatively safely while he reloads. If an enemy steps on one of Jhin's traps, you're able to run in and keep them CC'd so they take the damage from the trap if you act quickly.


Kalista: A personal favorite of mine, she's a very lane dominant champion and you are able to consistently proc her W passive with ease. Once you both get level 6 it's going to be very difficult for the enemy bot lane to beat you in a 2v2. Her aggressive playstyle and kit work really well with you.


Lucian: My second favorite lane partner, his mobility paired with his burst damage and lane dominance makes him another amazing carry. He's able to follow up on you when you engage and he will provide a very nice amounnt of DPS. One of the main reasons I enjoy laning with Lucian is because he's got his dash, it helps him escape from engages and jungle ganks very well.

Great lane partners

Strong carries that work well with Riven.

Decent lane partners

Not bad by any means, I just do not prefer laning with them because I feel their kits or playstyle don't mesh well with Riven's.





Unsure what tier Maokai would fit under. This is more for fun/cheese instead of competitive play, but he's a fun "ADC" to lane with. You can stack his passive very quickly which helps him sustain through laning phase until he gets stronger late game. You two have got a good all in because of the CC and constantly healing he will get from his passive.

Broken Wings - We max Q last because unlike Riven's other abilities, the cooldown remains the same (13 seconds) regardless of the amount of points we have into the ability. Take this ability level 2 for the mobility, it also makes it very easy to proc Thunderlords.


Ki Burst - Riven's W is viable to max first, though I choose not to. The cooldown reduces by 1 second per rank, starting at 11 seconds. The damage increases by 30 per rank, starting at 50. I sometimes take a point in this at level 2 when against Blitzcrank, if he pulls you and you stun as soon as you can, he won't be able to follow up with a Power Fist.

Valor - This ability is my favorite to max first. When casted, Riven dashes a short distance while also gaining a shield. It can be used to dodge, reposition, and block damage. Like Riven's W, this ability shaves 1 second off of its cooldown per rank, starting at 10 seconds. Max rank, you have a dash that blocks 210 (+100% bonus AD) damage every 6 seconds. With 45% cooldown, it's about a 3.3 second cooldown.


Blade of the Exile - Riven gains 20% AD as bonus damage for 15 seconds, but that's not what makes it great for support Riven. She also gains bonus range on her Q and W. When you have maximum cooldown, this is massive. You can get several spell rotations off in that amount of time, potentially knocking up and stunning multiple enemies.


Wind Slash - The second part of Riven's R, she unleashes a wave of energy in a cone, dealing physical damage to all enemies hit, increased by 2.67% for every 1% of the target's missing health. The maximum damage increase is 200% when the target is missing 75% of its health. Save it until the enemy is at lower health to get the most damage out of it or use it if the duration of your ult is going to run out.

Oracle Lens I love this item, it's amazing on Riven. Her mobility allows her to sweep a huge area which allows your team to clear plenty of wards.

face of the mountain and Locket of the Iron Solari are easily my favorite two items to build. Granting 10% coooldown each(Locket no longer gives 10% cooldown. Core build and build order may need to be changed.) , they both also provide shields. Face of the Mountain will shield an ally for about 250 damage late game and Locket will shield all nearby allies for an additional 250-270 late game as well.

Dead Man's Plate adds even more mobility to your kit while also giving you the ability to slow a target, great purchase if you're in need of armor and would like increased mobility and some damage.

Ohmwrecker +30% movement speed while near turrets is really nice, making you even more mobile than you were before. Very good against AD heavy teams. If I were to pick this up it'd be in place of Locket of the Iron Solari

+ Great in team fights
+ Arguably the most mobile champion in the game
+ Spammable abilities with no costs
+ Amazing ability to chase and CC multiple targets
+ High skillcap
+ Strong 2v2 skirmisher
+ Very fun to play
+ Quick and effective roams
+ Tanky!

- No innate sustain
- If you aren't familiar with the basic Riven mechanics then reliably taking trades will be difficult.
- No abilities that buff or heal your allies
- Melee, meaning no poke
- Can be zoned
- Negligible damage

Riven's lane phase as a support is similar to Alistar's. Depending on the lane you can choose to be aggressive or passive.

Playing aggressive will only be rewarding if you're able to capitalize on enemy mistakes. If you feel you can safely proc Thunderlords on the enemy without taking much retaliation harass then go for it, over time you'll start to get them within kill range for your all-in. Make sure your ADC is on the same page as you before you go for any plays. Playing against champions like Jhin, Zyra, Vel'Koz, Kog'Maw, Twitch, Urgot, and Annie are all lanes that I would play aggressively.

When playing passively you'll just want to babysit your ADC, ready to peel them from any engage. The Thunderlords rule still applies, but careful not to blow all your spells when the bot lane can engage on your carry. Playing against champions like Leona, Blitzcrank, Morgana, Tahm, Kennen, Lulu, and Braum are all lanes I'd play pretty passively.

Champions like Sona and Soraka can be played either way. However, if you don't manage to burn their summoner spells or kill them when you all-in them, they'll heal up and outsustain you.

If you decide to opt for the Thunderlord's keystone, here's what your ability cooldowns will be at level 18.

Q: 0% CD: 13 seconds
45% CD: 7.15 seconds

W: 0% CD: 7 seconds
45% CD: 3.85 seconds

E: 0% CD: 6 seconds
45% CD: 3.3 seconds

R: 0% CD: 60 seconds
45% CD: 33 seconds

*Only applies once you have ~40%+ cooldown* After using your first Q charge, it can be casted twice more within 4 seconds, with the timer resetting after each cast. If you always wait a few seconds to reactivate your Q, you will be able to weave an E in between each Q cast.

When you start with your E you will be able to take the first 2-3 hits from Gromp/Krugs when leashing for your jungler without losing much health. DO NOT get caught in the red area if you don't have Valor up. You can potentially get stuck behind Krugs if you don't have Valor to help you dash through them. If you do end up stuck behind Krugs it will take you slightly longer to get to lane and you'll end up taking a large amount of damage. You want to be standing in the green zone when you're auto attacking so you are closer to lane.


Once the first enemy bot turret is down, you can take the following paths to get behind your enemy. From there, you'll be able to force a fight that favors you (assuming you and your carry are even in CS/items or stronger than the enemy bot lane). Ward up to make sure you don't run into the enemy jungler.

I'd just like to point out that I buy tears during the last moments of the game when I am dead and won't be respawning before the game ends. It was a habit I developed a long time ago and I decided to stick with it just for the hell of it. I don't buy them in the middle of the game, contrary to popular belief.