Jarvan IV is an amazing initiator but many times I find people building him the wrong way and not using him to the fullest of his abilities. I see some people building him completely DPS which isn't bad but just isn't right. You are an initiator so you need to have some bulkiness. This build focuses on being the first person into battle and the last person out and still retaining a ton of HP in a team fight.






As the royal family of Demacia for centuries, members of the Lightshield line have spent their lives waging war against any who opposed Demacian ethics. It is said that every Lightshield is born with anti-Noxian sentiment in his blood. Jarvan IV is no exception, even though he is the first Lightshield born to the age of the League of Legends. As his forefathers had before him, he led Demacian troops into bloody engagements with Noxian forces, and on many occasions he has bled alongside wounded allies and fallen comrades. In his most crushing defeat, he was outmaneuvered and captured by a Noxian battalion under the command of Jericho Swain. This mistake nearly cost him his life at the hands of Urgot, but he was rescued by the Dauntless Vanguard, an elite Demacian strike force led by Jarvan's childhood companion, Garen.

Those close to him believed that his capture changed him. Xin Zhao was quoted as saying: ''His eyes never seemed to look at you, only through you to something he could not look away from.'' One day, without warning, Jarvan IV handpicked a squad of Demacian soldiers and left Demacia, vowing to find ''atonement''. He began by tracking and hunting the most dangerous beasts and bandits he could find in northern Valoran, but he soon tired of such prey. Seeking something that only he understood, he ventured south of the Great Barrier. He wasn't heard from again for nearly two years. After many had assumed the worst, he returned to glorious fanfare on the streets of Demacia. His Demacian plates were adorned with the bones and scales of creatures unknown. His eyes bore the wisdom of someone twice his age. Of the twelve soldiers who had departed with him, only two returned. In a tone as cold and steady as steel, he swore to bring the enemies of Demacia to their knees.

''There is only one truth, and you will find it at the point of my lance.''
- the ''last words'' of Jarvan IV at his failed execution.

Health 2040 at 18 (510 + 90/level)
Mana 775 at 18 (265 + 30/level)
Speed 315
Armor 68 at 18 (17 + 3/level)
Magic Resist 52.5 at 18 (31.25 + 1.25/level)
Critical Chance 0%
Health Per 5 Sec 4.02 at 18 (1.64 + 0.14/level)
Mana Per 5 Sec 2.9 at 18 (1.37 + 0.09/level)
Range 175

5-29-11: Replaced Wriggle's Lantern with Randuin's Omen in the third build.

7-03-11: I changed the third build to be a lot more tanky and have really nice damage threw the use of Warmog's Armor and Atma's Impaler. I also added the Force of Nature for some really nice health regeneration and serious magic resist!

-Amazing survivability
-Good Damage output
-initiator
-Lots of crowd control with Cataclysm Snare (Kinda) Golden Aegis is a AoE slow and a shield and Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike used together gives a knock up



-No actual burst damage
-Needs teamwork
- Cataclysm can work against your own team
-Low mana pool
-Needs skill to play
-People expect you to ALWAYS initiate even when your not in a good position.
-Movement abilities can go threw Cataclysm

I created a new build for people to start using to counter the current metagame. This is the 4th Jarvan build that is up and it's brand new. You will find that it works really well against the current metagame.

Long Sword This is always my starting item with Jarvan IV because it gives him better last hitting capabilities combined with Martial Cadence. Also be sure to grab a Health Potion. The Long Sword will be changed into a The Brutalizer later.

The Brutalizer Build your starting Long Sword into this item. It gives you some nice armor penetration and cool down reduction to be able to use your shield and skills more in them team fights. The Brutalizer is nice to have early because it gives you good last hitting capabilities and it will be later built into a Youmuu's Ghostblade.

Boots of Speed Its always good to get some movement speed at this point into the game. Your enemy probably at this point has boots too so get them to avoid ganks and correct your position. You will later build these into Mercury's Treads after you get Madred's Razors.

Madred's Razors Once you get this item it will make you so much better of a farmer. I recommended getting the Red Lizard buff at this point and if no one needs Blue Golem buff, take that too. This item helps you build into an effective off-tank quickly. Up grade this to the Wriggle's Lantern as soon as you get your Mercury's Treads.

Mercury's TreadsI only really need to say one word here and that word is "initiator". You need to jump in first and take all the crowd control effects like a boss the magic resist is pretty nice too!

Wriggle's Lantern This is probably the MOST cost efficient item in the league. It also suits Jarvan IV quite well. You get to keep the Unique passive of Madred's Razors so farming will never be a problem and you get a 18% life steal. This also gives some nice armor and attack damage worthy of a off-tank or Tanky DPS.

Warmog's Armor You have some armor so now its about time to get some HP and some health per 5. This will improve survivability by so much. This is the key item to power up a strong Atma's Impaler which is the next item in the build sequence. If you don't like the Warmog's Armor then you can get a Sunfire Aegis instead. It will not give as much health but it will give you armor and 40 damage a second to surrounding enemy champions when you decided to use Cataclysm. It also will help you farm easier than Warmog's Armor.

Atma's Impaler With the combination of Warmog's Armor you will get some nice attack damage. The critical chance and armor are also nice. The critical chance might not seem to good but it will be after we get the Youmuu's Ghostblade. With the addition of 45 more armor who's complaining?

Youmuu's Ghostblade Probably my favorite item in the game. this gives EVERYTHING you need. Armor penetration is pretty awesome. Who doesn't need cool down reduction? Insane attack speed and move speed are just a bonus! This item is most effective when you trap someone in your Cataclysm. If they don't have some sort of skill to escape or Flash then they are as good as dead. You can also use this to chase a fleeing enemy. It works so well with Jarvan IV that it's not even funny.


FREE SLOT!

This is pretty much a slot to do whatever you want to do. I normally end up getting a Banshee's Veil though. I just LOVE the block 1 skill every 30 seconds. It also improves his late game mana pool a good amount. It also gives you some more Health Points which means more attack damage due to Atma's Impaler.

NOTE: Give me some ideas about a last item and I will make a situational section!

Martial Cadence

Jarvan IV's first attack on his target deals 10% of the target's current health as bonus magic damage, this caps at 400 damage. This effect cannot occur on the same target for 6 seconds.

Dragon Strike

Jarvan IV extends his lance through his opponent, dealing 70 / 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 (+1.10 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and lowering their armor by 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26% for 3 seconds. If its lance contacts his standard it will pull Jarvan IV to its location, knocking up all enemies in his path.

Cooldown 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds | Cost 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana

Golden Aegis

Jarvan IV forges a shield protecting him for 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 per nearby enemy champion) damage for 5 seconds and slowing surrounding enemies by 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% for 2 seconds upon activation. The shield adds more mitigation for every enemy champion nearby when activating.

Cooldown 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds | Cost 75 mana

Demacian Standard

Passive: Grants Jarvan a bonus 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26% attack speed and 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 armor.

Active: Jarvan IV throws a Demacian flag to a nearby area, dealing magic damage to enemies in the area and granting his passive benefits to nearby allies and again to himself for 8 seconds.

Cooldown 12 seconds | Cost 60 mana

Cataclysm

Jarvan IV heroically leaps to an enemy champion, dealing 200 / 350 / 500 (+1.5 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and creating a circle of impassable terrain around them for a 3.5 second duration. Jarvan IV can destroy the area by activating it again. Champions can still leave or enter the area by using teleport abilities.

Cooldown 120 / 105 / 90 seconds | Cost 100 / 125 / 150 mana

Marks

9x Greater Mark of Desolation-
Purchase Cost: 410 IP: single
Purchase Cost: 3690 IP: 9x
+1.67 armor penetration: single
+15.03 armor penetration: 9x

Armor penetration will make you so much more damage and because I get items like Youmuu's Ghostblade that give more armor penetration, you will be doing a lot of damage even when the enemy is getting armor. With all the Armor penetration in my build you will have +60 which is more than enough to dominate tanky champions.


Seals

9x Greater Seal of Defense-
Purchase Cost: 410 IP: single
Purchase Cost: 3690 IP: 9x
+0.15 armor per level (2.7 at champion level 18): single
+1.35 armor per level (24.3 at champion level 18): 9x

Because Jarvan IV is an initiator so the extra armor is nice. I would rather have the per level runes over the flat ones because they give a greater armor amount at level 10+. In a lot of games getting to level 10 occurs pretty fast and a lot of the time many champions are still sticking to their lanes so having a lower armor amount early game isn't too bad now is it :)


Glyphs

9x Greater Glyph of Celerity-
Purchase Cost: 410 IP: single
Purchase Cost: 3690 IP: 9x
-0.05% cooldowns per level (0.9 at champion level 18): single
-0.45% cooldowns per level (8.1 at champion level 18): 9x

Cool down reduction on Jarvan IV is pretty important. You will be able to harass a lot better with Dragon Strike. It allows you to knock up more champions in a after amount of time with Demacian Standard and Dragon Strike combo. Another good thing about cool down reduction is it keeps Golden Aegis off cool down so you can initiate when you need to. At low level Golden Aegis has a really long cool down so having Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction and Youmuu's Ghostblade will help greatly maximize the amount you can use it.


Quintessences

3x Greater Quintessence of Desolation-
Purchase Cost: 1025 IP: single
Purchase Cost: 3075 IP: 3x
+3.32 armor penetration: single
+9.96 armor penetration: 3x

The reason why I chose these quintessences is the same reason why I chose my marks.

Ghost Ghost is amazing on Jarvan IV because you can use it to chase and too flee from battle. Early game you can use it to get back to your lane when needed. If you take Haste it's an even better summoner spell giving you an additional 8% faster move speed for 1.5 more seconds.

Exhaust I normally take this because it gives you more crowd control than you all ready have. It can really help prevent their carries from getting kills in team fights or in 1v1s. you can also use Exhaust to chase and to escape if needed.

Flash Always a good summoner spell on ALMOST anyone. This really helps getting into the right position and to initiate. Almost a must on Jarvan IV.

Clarity Jarvan IV is an initiator and has a low mana pool. You NEED to initiate in team fights and if you have no mana you are useless and have to blue pill. This summoner spell will fix this problem.

Teleport I don't use this but it is good if want to return to your lane quickly and then not miss out on a ton of EXP and gold. You can also use it to protect your towers or help out a lane that is getting pushed badly.

Ignite If you want to get some easy kills mainly early game then take this. Don't forget about the healing and regeneration debuff it gives to your enemy. This is the Dr. Mundo and the Tryndamere killing tool! Its funny because it cripples both Undying Rage and Bloodlust for Tryndamere and cripples both Goes Where He Pleases and Maximum Dosage on Dr. Mundo.

Thank you ewkinaz for these pictures!


Thank you YoshiX for this amazing screen shot!

This concludes my guide for Jarvan IV but I will make many more updates in the near future. Be sure to leave a comment and don't forget to rate!