Hello and welcome to the beginners guide League of Legends‘ most brutal champion – Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia – “Today is a good day to die.“ Jarvan IV is known for his 4 active skills that specialize in crowd control and efficient ganking while inflicting high damage outburst to the opposing enemy.

Introduction:

Jarvan IV is a melee AD champion who uses his skills to close the gap upon his enemies, trapping them in an AoE radius, making them easy prey for him and his teammates.







He is mostly played as a jungler due to his high-mobility skills, as well for his knock-up and slow disables. If performed well, you can become a massive tank for your team, a decent off-tank, or a brutal destructive force for the enemy team. This Jarvan IV Guide will show you most of the perks how to get there.

He is also known for his aggressive playstyle, jungle dominance, and exceptional combo-flow mechanics. If the jungle is not an option for you, Jarvan IV can be played as an excellent top lane tank as well, due to his % driven passive. If the top lane and the jungle are not your picks, he can be even played on the mid lane as full AD destructor, but I do advise you to get experience with the champion before trying out the full-offense mid lane position.

What are Jarvan IV’s Abilities and their use?

To begin our Jarvan IV’s Guide on his Abilities, we’ll start from his passive to his ultimate. Reading through, you will find out how to use them, what are their synergies, and how to pull out the full potential of their damage. Buckle up, Jarvan IV’s skills are savage.

1. Martial Cadence (Passive)

Jarvan IV’s passive is a significant damage outburst that he inflicts on his first attack. Once inflicted on an enemy, it triggers an on-target cooldown of 6 seconds. Meaning the same target can’t be affected with his passive in the given duration. The passive itself has no cooldown, which allows you to alternate your attacks between enemy champions for full damage potential.

The damage of Martial Cadence is incredible. It deals 8% damage of targets’ current health, with a minimum of 20-damage and capped at 400 damage against non-champions. It combines with all on-attack effects, such as Lifesteal and Critical Strike, but can be parried, blocked, and dodged if blinded.

Jarvan IV’s passive is a great tool in the early stages of the jungle, as well as a champion poking and minion last-hitting mechanism during the laning phase. On the laning phase, it’s easy to inflict it on the opposing champion every time it comes of cooldown, while in the jungle simply spread it out on all camp monsters for the full damage potential.

Video courtesy : Riot Games – League of Legends

2. Dragon Strike (Q)

Dragon Strike is Jarvan IV’s main damage output. He extends his lance in the target direction (770 range with 90 collision radius), dealing physical damage to all enemies he hits with it (80/120/160/200/240 (+120% of your AD on each level)), and most importantly, reduces their armor (10%/14%/22%/26%) for 3 seconds.

In the early levels of Dragon Strike its damage is not that significant. The great advantage is its % driven armor reduction. This will allow you to inflict a large amount of damage with your auto-attacks to your enemy. Also, its cooldown is short (10/9/8/7/6), and mana-cost low (45/50/55/60/65), and like his passive, it makes an excellent poking mechanic, as well as a minion last-hitting machine.

The biggest importance of this spell goes to its combination with(Jarvan IV’s third spell – E). Jarvan IV throws his flag withwithin 860 range, marking the ground with it. He then extends his lance withtowards, pulling himself towards it. While being pulled towards, Jarvan IV knocks up all enemies he collides with for 0.75 seconds.

With its low mana-cost, great damage output, long range and knock up synergy, Dragon Strike’s fusion with Demacian Stand conjures into one of the best ganking mechanics throughout the entire League of Legends spell-arsenal, making Jarvan IV an exceptional jungler like no other. More of Demacian Stand will be given on its spotlight below.

Video courtesy : Riot Games – League of Legends

3. Golden Aegis (W)

Golden Aegis is a unique defensive spell that fits perfectly with Jarvan IV’s engage mechanics. When activated, it grants Jarvan IV a base shield of 60/85/110/135/160 and slows down his enemies for 15%/20%/25%/30%/35% in 625 radius for 2 seconds. Additionally, Jarvan IV gains 2%/2.25%/2.5%/2.75%/3% of his maximum health for each enemy champion he slows within the given radius.

This is why this champion has one of a kind skill-mechanics flow. While engaging into the entire enemy team with his E – Q combo, knocking them for a brief period of time, Jarvan IV can instantly gain an enormous shield providing him the tankiness to withstand a vast amount of damage from the entire enemy team. But keep in mind that Golden Aegis has a cooldown of 12 seconds on all levels, making its momentum crucial in the brink of battle.

Video courtesy : Riot Games – League of Legends

4. Demacian Stand (E)

Without Demacian Stand, nothing of mentioned would be possible. Besides it provides all the given synergizes, it has important key stats as well. When skilled, Demacian Stand grants Jarvan IV permanent attack speed. And when cast, it deals magical damage of 80/120/160/200/240, and grants bonus attack speed of 20%/22.5%/25%/27.5%/30% to all nearby ally-champions.

It’s also noteworthy to mention that Demacian Stand provides vision. It allows you to scout bushes, see if the enemy jungler is doing blue/red buff and potentially Smite it with your summoner spell over the wall. You can even scare off your opponents if you’re not detected. Lastly, the fusion of Dragons Strike and Demacian Stand allows you to jump over walls, making it an excellent chasing mechanic, as well as an escape from the enemy threat.

Video courtesy : Riot Games – League of Legends

5. Cataclysm (R)

Jarvan IV’s arena on the battlefield. With his ultimate Cataclysm, Jarvan IV leaps unstoppably within 650 range on a selected target, creating a circle of impassable terrain (325 radius), traping all enemies for 3.5 seconds, and dealing a large amount of damage (200/325/450 + 150% of your AD on all levels) to all enemies trapped within.

If your enemies have used their escapes before your E – Q combo, Cataclysm is a perfect trapping mechanic for you and your teammates to finish them off. The synergies with Jarvan IV’s Cataclysm are limitless. Most popular to be mentioned are Orianna’s, Malphite’s, and Kennen’s ultimate combinations.

On these, I will thoroughly explain in the Synergy section down below. Lastly, the mana-cost of Cataclysm is decent of 100, but the cooldown itself is long (120/105/90). This implicates to be wary when timing your synergies with your teammates.

Video courtesy : Riot Games – League of Legends



You might also want to check the new summoner spell: Backtrack

Jarvan IV Guide on Gameplay and Itemization

Jarvan IV Guide on Gameplay

When it comes to Jarvan IV’s Guide on Gameplay and Itemization, your lane choices are limitless. You can play him as a jungler, top laner, mid laner, and even as a support. The playstyle varies from offensive to tanky or choosing the golden middle as an off-tank. It all depends on how you want to play him.

His best potential lies within the jungle, and I will give you a guide on how to do it, step-by-step. By following this guide, you will master the champion, with other lanes becoming a piece of cake in no time. Lets go.

Before entering the game, be sure to select Smite as your summoner spell. It deals high, true damage against minions, and without it, jungling would be extremely hard. At the beginning of the game, you start with 500 gold. This allows you to buy your first jungling item called The Hunter’s Machete, with additional 3 health pots.

The Hunter’s Machete gives you 35 additional damage and 10% Lifesteal against jungle monsters, while 3 health pots give you enough sustain to finish your first jungle route. For your first spell choose between Q and E. Both are good as one reduces armor, and the other gives you attack speed.

Jungle – Ganking Route

Your first jungle route should start at the Blue Buff, due to Jarvan IV being a mana-dependent champion. Ask for assistance from your teammates to help you clear the Blue Buff. Don’t worry, they will have enough time to return to their given lanes. When you grab your blue buff you will be level two and have your E – Q combo.

Since your teammates helped you on the Blue Buff, you now have Smite and the Red Buff is a-no-problem for you. After you’ve taken your Red Buff, clear the camp next to it (the Golemites). You will now gain level 3, having all 3 spells at your disposal, and ready to gank. But before that, you’ve spent all your health pots. You’ll need to go back to base for regen and additional items (best for ganking are boots).

Now is the time for your first gank. The principal is simple. Look at your teammates’ lanes and see which of the lanes is mostly pushed from the enemy side. More the enemy pushes his lane, higher the chance of a successful gank.

Notify your teammate of your gank, then jump your enemy from behind with your E – Q combo. You will also have the slow from your W, and if your teammate has a disable of his own, then the enemy is surely going down. By repeating this process, you and your teammates will become an unstoppable force in a matter of minutes.

Jarvan IV Guide on Itematization

As you start gaining gold, your item build should form like this. If you want to go aggressive, upgrade your Hunter’s Machete to Stalker’s Blade – Warrior. It will give you 60 damage and 10% cooldown reduction. If you want to go tanky, upgrade it to Stalker’s Blade – Cinderhulk, it will give you 300 health, with additional 15% health and immolate – a burning aura that damages all nearby enemies. Both of these upgrades will upgrade your Smite to be castable on enemy champions. Doing so, it will deal pure damage upon them and stealing 20% of their movement speed for 2 seconds.

Your next item on Jarvan IV Guide on Itemization, is your core item – The Black Cleaver. The Black Cleaver gives you all stats that Jarvan IV needs – health (400), damage (40), and crucial cooldown reduction (20%). Additional to The Black Cleaver’s stats, you will gain 4% armor reduction that stacks-up to 6 times on the same target.

What’s pleasuring about this is that it stacks with your Q’s armor reduction as well. Lastly, it grants you a 20% movement speed on each attack for 2 seconds, giving you additional mobility to cut down your enemies down.

The next core item Jarvan IV needs is Hydra. For the tanky version, go with the Titanic Hydra. It will give you 40 damage, 450 health, and 100% health regen. But if you want to go for the offensive version, go with the Ravenous Hydra. It will give you 80 damage, 12% lifesteal, and like on Titanic, 100% health regen. Both Hydras have on-activation effect, which I will leave for you to explore.

Midgame

Since they will surely have at least one AD Carry, you will also need at least one tanky armor item. The choice is vast, but there are few that work best with Jarvan IV. The best one, in particular, is Randuin’s Omen. It grants you 60 armor and 400 health, with additional on-enemy-hit 20% critical damage reduction and attack speed slow of 15% for 1 second. What’s great about this defensive item is its activation mechanic. It works in the same way as your W – slowing enemy’s movement speed around you.

For your last two items, it depends on your opposing team. If they have more magical damage, go for(50 damage, 10% cooldown reduction, 50 magic resistance), and(10% cooldown reduction, 450 health, 100% health regen, 55 magic resistance).

On the other hand, if they have more physical damage, go for one from these two and swap the second one with The Guardian Angel. Besides 40 armor and 45 damage, The Guardian Angel also gives you the ability to resurrect at the spot when taken down. You will resurrect with 50% of your base health, and 30% of your maximum mana, while the cooldown of The Guardian Angel will be 300 seconds.

But keep in mind that you can always switch the order of items dependant on your playstyle. Full offensive, tanky, combination of two to go off-tank, you name it. Keep in mind that this Jarvan IV Guide can serve you at your beginnings. Eventually, you will think of your own guide in no time, and remember, practice makes perfect, and with perfection comes your true-self. With this, we conclude our Jarvan IV’s Guide on Gameplay and Itemization.



Who are Jarvan IV’s Counters?

Riven When playing Jarvan IV on a lane, this champion can provide a great threat. Its damage output is just enough higher to beat Jarvan IV in a 1v1 combat. The key to beating this counter is your momentum of engaging after he uses his spells.

Kha’Zix As a jungler on his own, Kha’Zix with his high damage output on an isolated target makes lots of trouble for Jarvan IV when he’s alone in the jungle. He can clear jungle faster than Jarvan IV, and invade his jungle to steal his Buff , or even kill him when he’s just about to finish it. Defensive warding placement is essential for this one.

Malphite As one of the tankiest champions in the game, Malphite is one rock-solid pain in the ass. With his shield % based passive, and attack speed slowing E, Jarvan IV really can’t do much to him on the top lane. There is no solution for Malphite, just farm and act like he’s not there.

Who are Jarvan IV’s Synergies?

Orianna

Jarvan IV synergizes best with Orianna. With her ability to attach her magnetizing ball on Jarvan IV, he can leap into the entire enemy team with his ultimate, allowing Orianna to pull everyone towards him with her ultimate, immobilizing them, dealing a high-burst of damage, while in the end, Jarvan IV finishes them off with his E – Q combo. Good stuff.

Malphite

This rock-solid pain in the ass is not much of a pain when he’s on Jarvan IV’s side. The principal is the same as with Orianna. Jarvan IV leaps in, Malphite dives in with his ultimate, they both cast all their spells, and voila, everybody’s pretty much dead.

Kennen

I really can’t tell it the third time. You get the point.

If you ever feel lonely, this might help: I paid a woman to play League of Legends with me. They’re straight pros, no noob plays.

Jarvan IV Beginners Guide Final Notes

If you’re a League of Legends fanatic who is looking to learn a new, fun, yet brutal champion, with exceptional ganking skills and high carrying potential, then my friend, Jarvan IV is the champion for you. He is dominant through public games, as well as he is in the ranked system. With this said, we conclude the Jarvan IV Beginners’ Guide, and as he loves to say – “No quarter for the wicked“!