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Riven
Patch 16.2.1
TopDifficulty
Very Hard
Strength
Early
Mid
Late
Win Condition
Snowball your lane through mechanical outplays, then use your mobility to exert pressure in side lanes. In teamfights, look for a Flank or Flash engage onto the enemy backline to delete the ADC/Mid before they can react.
Playstyle
High-mobility AD caster bruiser that thrives on animation canceling, short burst trades, and snowballing through superior mechanical outplays.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- +Extreme mobility with and allows for creative engage and escape routes
- +Manaless kit lets you spam abilities and stay in lane longer than resource-heavy opponents
- +High AOE crowd control with and third strike for teamfight disruption
- +Massive execution threat once is active, especially against squishy targets
Weaknesses
- -Extremely high skill floor; failing the 'Fast Q' combo significantly reduces your DPS
- -Very fragile if is used poorly or is on cooldown during an enemy's burst
- -Highly item-dependent; falling behind makes you a 'stun bot' with zero damage
- -Short range makes you vulnerable to being kited or poked out by ranged top laners
Abilities
Every time you use an ability, you get a stack (up to 3). Your next auto-attack consumes a stack for bonus damage. Never spam spells without weaving autos; you lose roughly 30-40% of your total damage output.
A three-part dash. The first two are for gap closing or damage, the third is a knock-up. You can hop small walls with the third strike. Timing this with move commands is key to the 'Fast Q' mechanic.
An instant point-blank stun. Use this to interrupt enemy dashes (like Lee Sin Q2) or to guarantee a safe auto-attack before dashing away with .
A short dash that grants a shield. It has a high cooldown early, so don't use it just for mobility unless you're safe. It can be used to mask the startup animations of , , or .
Gains bonus AD and increased range on all attacks and abilities. The second cast (Wind Slash) is a cone-shaped execute—it deals more damage based on how much health the enemy is missing.
Teamfight Role
Assassin/Disruptor Hybrid
You want to wait for the main engage, then use and to reach the backline. Use to stun multiple people and 2 to finish off low-health targets.
If your team is behind, play peel. Use and 3 to keep divers off your own ADC.
Combos
The Fast Q
-> Click Ground -> Right-Click Enemy -> -> Repeat
The most important Riven mechanic. Clicking the ground cancels the animation, allowing you to auto-attack much faster. Essential for high DPS.
Standard Short Trade
-> -> Auto -> away
Use to get in range, stun with , land a empowered auto, then use to block any return damage while you retreat.
Burst All-In
-> -> -> -> Auto -> 2 -> 3
Cancel the animation with . Stun them immediately so they can't flash the Wind Slash. Use 2 before the final 3 knockup ends.
Doublecast Engage
-> (wait 0.25s) -> + simultaneously
Inputting and at the exact same time after an dash makes both spells fire instantly. Great for surprise burst.
Power Spikes
| Spike | Why |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | combined with allows you to out-duel almost any champion if you land all three strikes and autos. |
| Level 3 | You have your full trade pattern. Access to shield and stun makes you incredibly hard to trade back against. |
| Level 6 | gives you a massive AD boost. Most opponents are in 'kill range' from 60% HP if you have Ignite. |
| Level 11 | Second point in and usually high Ability Haste by this point means your shield is on a very short cooldown. |
Tips & Tricks
- •You can use to cancel the animation of 1 and 2, making your engage much smoother
- •The third strike of can hop over many walls in the jungle; practice the 'krugs' wall to escape ganks
- •Wait until the last possible second to use the next charge of to keep the ability active longer and cycle your cooldowns
- •Your is instant; use it the moment a Jax or Fiora tries to jump on you to negate their momentum
- •Always check the enemy's armor; if they rush Plated Steelcaps, stop forcing trades and focus on farming for your core items
- •You can hide the 1 activation by using it during the dash of 3
Common Mistakes
- ✕Spamming all three charges immediately→You lose all your mobility and damage pressure for the next 10+ seconds, leaving you open to a lethal counter-all-in.
- ✕Using purely for mobility when approaching an enemy→You have no shield to block their return damage, meaning you'll lose the trade even if you land your full combo.
- ✕Using 2 (Wind Slash) at the start of a fight→The damage scales with missing health; using it early results in minimal damage and loses your best execution tool.
- ✕Forgetting to auto-attack between abilities→You fail to utilize , resulting in not having enough damage to finish kills you should have easily secured.
- ✕Holding for too long in a combo→The enemy can Flash or use a mobility spell to escape your 3 or 2, which are the core of your damage.
AI-generated guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached