High Elo In-Depth Riven Guide 12.3





YT Rivenfour (ign: riven vore)

- 60% WR Masters(when I hit it for the 1st time) + (i decayed)

- play with 2 fingers for abilities

DUDE IM GETTING TILTED IK THIS THING IS NEW BUT WHY IS ONLYGUIDES SO WEIRD TO USE, I DELETED LIKE 4 OIF THESE WHEN I WAS MAKING PROGRESS

edit: it was my internet

Why to play Riven

Always strong any meta High skill ceiling Very rewarding for good mechanics and lots of snowball potential

You don't need to be the best mechanical player to be good at Riven (i fail flash combos cuz i play with 2 fingers) You just need to know how to string her abilities together And most of the time it's better not to use them anyways.

Has no hard counters. Though, some matchups may be impossible to get a lead on, it's ok cuz Riven scales well.

The only issue is her lack of sustain so you must play smart with trades.

Runes

Always Conqueror

Without Conqueror, you will do 20%~ less damage. If you want to win, go Conq.



Legend Tenacity or Alacrity?

Tenacity 99% of the time

Alacrity the 1% of the time enemy team has no CC.

It's hard to play Riven when you can't move. Just make life easier for yourself.



Coup de Grace or Last Stand?

Pretty much Last Stand 100% of the time

Resolve (best tree)

Makes laning phase 10x easier



Bone Plating

Bruisers/hard matchups who will hit you thrice(ex: Jax, Sett, Wukong).

Lets you get lvl 1 push easier and get lvl 3 wave crash.

Then you have some options(cheater recall, rotate for scuttle, or ward enemy JG).



Second Wind

Go when...

- Against hard Ranged matchups

- Bone plating is useless(ex: Poke Tanks, Voli, Fiora, GP, etc...)

Against harder matchups(ex: Ranged, Fiora, etc...) Go Doran's Shield for more sustain.

Against easier matchups(ex: poke tanks) Go Long Sword for faster buys



Unflinching

With Legend Tenacity + Unflinching this lets you actually play the game instead of being perma CC'd.

If enemy team has 3 or more people with CC It is a MUST HAVE

Also gives Slow Resistance, so it's good against teams who slow as well

You don't have to buy Merc Treads You already have lots of Tenacity.



Shield Bash/Revitalize

Basically filler runes for when you don't want Unflinching but still want BP/SW

Bone Plating + Shield Bash

Second Wind + Revitalize

• BP + Tenacity
• SW + Tenacity
• BP + Shield Bash
• SW + Revitalize

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Sorcery

For certain scenarios

Don't go if you need Unflinching





Transcendence

Always go Transcendence

You can go CDR mini rune if you don't need damage early for quicker CDR spike



Gathering Storm

For scaling.

Can go when against Tanks or easy matchups. Only go if you are confident you won't lose lane solo.



Nullifying Orb

Anti-AP

Good when enemy Top + Jungler are AP. Better if other lanes are AP(ex: Morde top, Nidalee jg, Viktor mid).

I also like going Hexdrinker 1st when Top or Jg are strong. then building to Goredrinker.

You can also get Maw 1st if enemy is 4+ AP



Nimbus Cloak

Nimbus + Ignite for move speed. Can be used against weak ranged laners(ex: Gnar, Ryze, Vlad)

or particularly Darius. Nimbus makes it easier to move in Darius Q and chase him.

• Scaling
• MR
• Nimbus + Ignite

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Summoner Spells



TP

GO ONLY WHEN YOU CAN WIN SIDELANE 1V1 WITHOUT IGNITE OTHERWISE DON'T



Ignite (best)

Good this patch after TP nerfs

For melee or weak ranged matchups.

Makes some lanes favorable matchups against some bruisers(ex: Wukong, Renekton, Jax)

or weak ranged matchups with Nimbus(ex: Gnar).

GO ALWAYS EXCEPT WHEN AGAINST SOME TANK TOPLANERS + THE WHOLE ENEMY TEAM U CAN 1V1 IN SPLITPUSH



Exhaust

For Tryndamere. Not necessary but can work lol.

Combo Tryn to make him R -> he engages on you -> you Exhaust -> Get ur CD's back



Skill Path

- Q max 1st always

- I prefer E max 2nd, W works too,

- Get W lvl 2 if you manage to get the lvl 1 push AND ur laner is the type to walk up to fight(melees).

- Get E lvl 2 if you are getting pushed into OR if ur pushing and ur laner can poke you(ranged)

- you can default to E lvl 2 if not confident on what to go.

UPDATE: I THINK IT'S BETTER TO GO W MAX 2ND WHEN YOU ARE GOING BEHIND/LETHALITY BUILD

• Skill Path

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Build

Start

- Long Sword + 3 Pots: For easy matchups or short trade matchups. No refill

- Doran Blade: When the enemy can force an all-in with dashes(ex: Jax, Wukong)

- Doran Shield: When you go second wind into ranged/poke matchups or just for sustain

- Buy a refill anytime after first back until you don't need it anymore



Mythic



UPDATE: GORE SUCKS BUT IT'S THE BEST MYTHIC MOST OF THE TIME

SOMETIMES YOU CAN GO ECLIPSE OR PROWLERS

PROWLERS AGAINST FULL RANGED TEAM

ECLIPSE AGAINST TANKS/BRUISERS (THIS ITEM IS ACTUALLY GOOD ON RIVEN)

ECLIPSE HAS BETTER 1V1 THAN GORE, BETTER TEAMFIGHT THAN DIVINE

UNLIKE DIVINE, IT IS USEFUL OUT OF 1V1S WHILE STILL BEING USEFUL IN 1V1S



Boots





Default to CDR shoes cuz they are good

Steelcaps when enemy is 3+ AD auto attackers. Also get Death's Dance along with it

I usually never go Merc's because after the 50% tenacity you get from runes you will never need more. Though if you don't have Unflinching or are against lots of AP then you can get Merc's.

If you're gonna sell boots, you can pretty much buy any item, but here are some recommendations



Youmuus can give you the missing MS from boots

GA if you are useful to the team or have a big bounty

Visage for MR

Randuin's for armor



Itemization

I'll try to keep it simple

All items are pretty much good but what is important is the build order.

Lethality items

good when behind because they are the cheapest items to buy and you can be useful by one-shotting anyone who doesn't build defense (usually by bushcamping)

Defense Items

does NOT matter when behind cuz u do nothing anyways. Defense is only good when you are ahead/even.



( Black Cleaver ): Go against Tanks, Bruisers, or anyone building armor. Makes ur dueling rly good. Go 2nd if ur against 2 or more Tanks/Bruisers



( Death's Dance ): Go against squishy high damage comps. Rly good after they changed the bleed to apply to both AD and AP. Go 2nd if ur not against... true dmg champ(ex: Vayne, Camille) or a ranged/tank laner.



( Rav Hydra ): Go if ur planning to farm a lot. Makes counter jgling ez pz. Gives sustain. Good against tanks bcuz they will try to poke you out and you can keep farming Go 2nd if... - you are the only AD on ur team (you need to get money for more AD) - plan to farm - against 1 tank(who is your laner) and the rest is squishy. Don't go last item

Buy Cleaver after Hydra.



( Maw o' Malmortius ): Go if enemy has strong AP. Shield is big and gives omnivamp. Go 1st if enemy team is 4+ AP Go after Gore if you went Nullifying Orb.



( Syrelda's Grudge ): Go for more armor pen if Cleaver is not enough. Dueling gets better. Makes your abilities Slow. Only buy this after getting Cleaver (if you need more armor shred) - bcuz gives no defense stats and sucks early. Last Whisper might be ok to sit on after 1st item for early armor pen(haven't tested)



( Guardian Angel ): Go when FAR ahead(like a full item ahead enemy teams items). Protects your bounty. Makes enemies reluctant to focus you. Don't get when behind/even, cuz it's a waste of gold. U can also buy it late game(if u are actually useful).



Assassin Items



( Youmuu's ): Go if u are behind and/or want to roam. Go 2nd if u are planning to roam and/or are behind. Usually don't build after 3rd item(but 3rd item is ok)



( Serpents ): Go if enemy has lots of shields. Go 2nd if majority of enemy team has shields. Buy later if enemy support has shields(works on Steraks, Gargoyles, Locket too). Usually buy it 3rd item



( Edge of Night ): Go when against engage(ex: hooks, TF card) Makes engaging on someone easier (ex: can be used to block Vayne E). Go 3rd item when behind OR if ahead/even... after 2nd item when you can block an important spell.



Grievous Wounds

Don't rly need GW early since u prob have ignite.

You also don't rly need GW if u have an enchanter sup with Putrifier

I prefer mortal > chainsword



( Chainsword ):

REALLY GOOD NOW CAN BUY WHENEVER



UNLESS YOU HAVE 100+ HASTE, GO CHAINSWORD



Quicksilver Sash

Only go if enemy has 1-2 LONG CC(ex: Malzahar R). QSS is 1 time use so not good for multiple CC (that's what tenacity's for)

- Silvermere Dawn for HP

- Scimitar for Crit



Trinket

Keep Yellow if you have 2 wards up

Get Blue lvl 9 when ahead/even, so u don't have to facecheck and risk death

Get Red when behind + after laning, so u can get a cheese kill from bush

Build Orders Visualized



Everything below is about how to lane and stuff. If you want u can skip to combos and wallhops which r at the bottom.

For future clarity, when I say Ahead/even or Behind, I mean you as Riven, not ur team.

Minion Waves

Slow Push

Just last hit the minions while ur pushing

Good early. Makes a big minion wave. There is no matchup where anyone can fight you into a big minion wave(still have to play smart though) You can even 1v2 with Ignite. Then you get lots of time to do whatever after you shove under tower

Position where you can trade with them when they go for CS so you can deny minions. If they try to all-in you, fight while staying close to your wave. If they walk up to CS, trade with them. You can always walk back into ur wave for safety.

If you chunked the enemy, you can pressure a dive and deny the big minion wave you made.

If not, you can always just recall, deep ward, or roam because the wave will bounce back to ur tower anyways.

Fast Push

Clearing wave quick to get out of lane immediately

Bad early.

You can't push fast enough for 1 wave to crash under turret (unless u are right next to their turret).

Since you don't have a big minion wave, you are easily freezable/gankable.

Once you can 1-shot waves, fast pushing becomes better. Fast pushes are good for matchups you outscale since you can avoid trading. Make sure ur laner doesn't freeze by walking with the wave. If they don't freeze, da waves will meet back in the middle of lane. U can fast push again

Since you are fast pushing, you don't have to lane, making early champs who want to fight you sad.

But do NOT fast push into matchups who outscale YOU. You want them to lane with you so you can punish them before they scale.

General wave stuff

Don't get close to a minion wave that's pushing into you. (Unless u are baiting) Losing ur HP can lead to a dive. Stay in XP range while farming stragglers Wait for minions to push into you where you can farm safely.

You can threaten a freeze if you... - can kill your laner - have your Jungler near you for a gank - ur laner is missing and u can't pressure turret plates.

When you are slowpushing, you are the one with a minion lead. Slow push to get a big minion wave under your enemies tower. Since you crashed a big wave, you have time. You can... - recall - pressure the enemy under turret(if you can 1v2) - or deep ward in the enemy JG

If u have a ctrl ward, u can put it the bush at krugs OR bush near blue cuz Junglers don't check there often.

Deep ward spots (covers most entrances and exits)

ctrl ward spots

Gameplan

Try to look for mistakes the enemy makes WHILE limiting your own mistakes.

The #1 mistake I used to make is not playing with the wave. You have no sustain so you must trade smart. Trading under a minion wave will chunk you so DONT DO IT. Riven scales well, so to be consistent, aim to go even, ` But look for mistakes ur enemy will make(using CD's, fighting in minion wave, etc...) This is how you be consistent and you can snowball without throwing your games.

Laning Phase

Against Melee

If not leashing, get to the middle of the lane so you can start autoing the wave for the lvl 1 push.

Only go thru bush lvl 1 if you win all-in.

Against some champs who have stronger lvl 1 than you, u gotta let the wave push. Then, from ur turret, you can slow push.

However, sometimes they will let u hit the wave and u can get the lvl 1 push anyways.

If u get the lvl 1 push...

- Try to get 3~ autos more than ur opponent on the wave. Don't overpush tho.

- Last hit the 2nd wave(u should ward after done)

- On the 3rd wave, fast push and shove wave into turret. From there u have prio, which u can... - cheater recall - help ur Jungler with scuttle - or deep ward in enemy JG.