Talk:Riven/@comment-79.189.27.218-20120926100133/@comment-4834593-20120927172743

(that Anon post two above this one is mine btw, I'm now making a longer and clearer post because I have more time)

Ionian Boots is indeed a good idea, but if you can't stay alive, try it with Mercury Threads. Brutalizer can be a good idea, but I'm not really happy with it - so far only bought it to get the "feeling" a bit, and know if it's as good as many say - because Youmuu's Ghostblade is really bad on her. Why exactly, I will explain a bit below.

Early game, if you find yourself having problems with the enemy laner, and he is physical damage, you'll sometimes need to buy Wriggles Lantern. It's isn't a really good item on Riven, but that 30 armor and the life steal can make the difference against champions like Yorick or Jax. Against AP tops it's just that Mercury Threads is a must. You can't do really much else, except maybe Hexdrinker, though that is not a good item on Riven, imo.

After that, buy Brutalizer if you want, but it's not a must. Wheter you buy it or not, now go for a Bloodthirster. Two items that will make me kill you if you take them at this point are Trinity Force and Frozen Mallet. Just so that you are warned. This is because Bloodthirster (without stacks) gives slightly about 1000 damage and 60 shield in a combo. Not even counting bonus damage from ult. I did, however, count in it's active and activation passive stack. It would give 20% more damage, so that means 200 more damage. 1200 damage in a full combo for 3k gold, increasing to 2000 when you stack it up? Always worth it. Compare: Frozen Mallet gives 400, for the same price, and Trinity Force gives you 600 + 3-4 times 150% of your BASE attack damage. Which is something about 300-350 damage. For more gold. 1600 (half Bloodthirster stacks) vs 400 vs 900-950. I'd know it.

As you see, Bloodthirster is straight out OP on Riven. Learn when to initiate, learn combo's like Flash - Ki Burst for instant stun, learn when to max which ablity (Q when winning lane, W when equal lane, E when losing lane), and learn how much damage you deal in a full combo without having to calculate it, and you are already more dangerous than a Frozen Mallet - Atma's Impaler - *insert other random bruiser items* Riven with full build. Also don't recall if you need health. Just farm some neutral camps. Your shield blocks the damage while you life steal up.

Took me a bit longer to get to this than I expected, but next item is a Guardian Angel. You are a squishy champion with only melee abilities, if you have Guardian Angel, they need to think if it's worth focusing you, instead of them just killing you. The point that you have Bloodthirster is normally the point laning phase is over. In other words, the point that team fights start, and you can even get focused down.

After the Guardian Angel, there are more items that are good on Riven. Check if your damage is enough or not (differs from game to game). If it is enough, go for a Frozen Mallet for those moments all dashes are on cd or you are chasing Nidalee. It sometimes makes the difference, and it also gives you some more survivability. Just promise me to NEVER build it before Bloodthirster + Guardian Angel, as both are far superior on Riven. If you don't feel you have enough damage, take another Bloodthirster.

After this, you got two item slots free. You can, if you want, buy a Frozen Mallet (if you don't have it), a Maw of Malmortius, Last Whisper (just buy this when you see Chain Vests pop up) or just some Bloodthirsters (as they are OP on Riven, as I said).

Now, to make sure you also indeed get that 2k damage per Bloodthirster I mentioned (one single note: it is of course before armor reduction), make sure to combo in one of these ways (assuming you ult at the start and kill in the end) (AA = autoattack, though I guess you know it... Better say something unneeded than forget something needed):

R - E - AA - W - AA - Q - AA - Q - AA - Q - AA - (AA (optional)) - R - (AA (you should aim for killing with the ult active, but you won't always be able to do that))

R - E - Q - AA - W - AA - Q - AA - Q - AA - AA - (AA) - R - (AA)

Those are the best ones to use. Use E as first dash, then use dashes to get in range to stun and autoattack your enemy. I only mentioned those two because, if you use more dashes at the start, you will waste passive stacks. While those are the thing that makes Riven so strong. Try to avoid needing more than two dashes. Of course, you can also swap in flash and ignore one or two of those dashes.

One last thing, if you are doing really well, you can buy Sword of the Occult. Remember, however, that it is not hard for enemies to focus you, and they will most likely ingore the fact you have a Guardian Angel if you also have a Sword of the Occult. I must say I have done it at most one time in all the time I play Riven.

Hope that was enough. Or should I say "hope you didn't give up reading"? ;)