LoL Wild Rift Jarvan IV Build & Guide (Patch 5.0) - Runes, Counters, Items, Ability Analysis

S Tier

Class: Fighter

Recommended Lane: Jungle

Best Jarvan IV Wild Rift build guide for Season 11 Patch 5.0 of WR. With our Jarvan IV guide you will learn which items to build, runes to select, skill order, who counters Jarvan IV, and how to use abilities properly.

Recommended Builds

Starting Item

Boots

Core Items

Complete Build

Runes

Starting Item

Boots

Core Items

Complete Build

Runes

The heir to the throne of Damacia is Prince Jarvan IV who inspires his troops with his fearsome courage and selfless determination. Jarvan IV is a versatile champion who can be played as an assassin, a bruiser, or a tank. But no matter how he is built, Jarvan IV is a great ganker and initiator who can lead his team to victory.

Jarvan IV Wild Rift Build Recommendation

Here are Item Build Recommendations that works on this champion and which are the best build for Jarvan IV Wild Rift in this patch.

The Demacian Prince

This is the standard build for Jarvan Wild Rift which makes him tanky enough to survive the front line but still be able to deal good amount of damage. This is the recommended build for beginners looking to learn Jarvan IV.

Black Cleaver – Grants HP, damage, movement speed, and ability haste but its main useful stat is the armor reduction which stacks with Jarvan’s Q, Dragon Strike. With both armor reduction applied, tanks will melt to Jarvan and his team’s attacks.
Sterak’s Gage – Grants huge amounts of HP and bonus AD. The lifeline passive which grants a shield when your HP drops below a certain percentage grants you a little more margin of error when it comes to initiating.
Mercury’s Treads – Provides magic resistance and tenacity which is useful when you are fighting against high AP team comps. If you are fighting against AD and auto attack based team comps, build Plated Steelcapss instead. Upgrade with the Stoneplate Enchant if you want an additional survivability when initiating. Otherwise, build Glorious Enchant for the bonus movement speed to run down your enemies.
Guardian Angel – Provides AD and armor as well as the resurrect passive which allows you to fearlessly initiate even on the enemy’s full team because you’ll revive anyway. (But of course do not do this if you’re allies are too far away)
Amaranth Twinguard – In-combat durability
Dead Man’s Plate – Grants HP and armor as well bonus movement speed and magic damage on max momentum stacks. Expending max momentum stacks will also slow down the enemy who receives your first attack which makes you more dangerous on pick offs.

The Lethal Prince

This is a full offensive Jarvan IV Wild Rift build which should only be built if you have another tank who can initiate because it has a high damage output in exchange for less survivability. This is a high risk high reward build that should only be used if you are confident on playing Jarvan and if you are confident about your matchup.

Youmuu’s Ghostblade – Grants AD and armor penetration. It also grants bonus magic damage and movement speed on maximum momentum stacks and expending max momentum stacks grants bonus attack speed.
Duskblade of Draktharr – Grants AD and armor penetration as well as bonus physical damage that also slows down the enemy which activates when you are unseen for at least 1 second like when coming from the side when ganking.
Trinity Force – Provides a huge spike in your damage output because of its bonus attack speed and Spellblade passive which grants additional damage to your auto attack after casting an ability.

Runes for Jarvan IV in Wild Rift

Conqueror – This is the standard Keystone Rune for Jarvan because he is a tanky jungler who stays on the battle for a longer period of time and with this rune, as the fight drags on, he’ll be stronger. Electrocute is a good option for a burst damage Jarvan because it grants bonus damage to combo attacks.
Brutal – Grants a flat AD and armor penetration bonus which helps in clearing the jungle as well as in fighting champions especially in the early game.
Hunter – Titan – Provides bonus HP and tenacity for each unique takedown which synergizes well with the tenacity from Mercury’s Treads.
Pathfinder – Grants bonus movement speed when moving inside the jungle, river, and in bushes which is a great advantage in roaming and ganking.

Spells

In our Jarvan IV Wild Rift Guide, here are the best champion spells that you can equip on him.

Smite is a necessary summoner spell for Junglers because it is impossible to gank without it because of its passives, Hunting License, and Tooth and Nail, which grants several bonuses when fighting and killing jungle monsters. Smite can be upgraded after killing four jungle monsters into the Challenging (red) Smite which deals true damage and grants a damage buff or Chilling (blue) Smite which deals true damage and steals the movement speed of the enemy. Upgrade into the Blue smite when in a winning game and upgrade into the Red smite when in a losing matchup.

Flash is the most versatile summoner spell in the game. You can use it for both offensive and defensive situations which makes it an invaluable tool all game long.

Skill Order

3rd, Demacian Standard, is acquired at level 1 because the attack speed bonus is a big help in killing your first jungle camp but it is maxed second because 1st, Dragon Strike, is maxed first as it is your main source of damage. 2nd, Golden Aegis, is maxed last because it provides enough utility at its first level and it doesn’t scale well. Get a point in your ultimate Ult, Cataclysm, whenever possible.

Abilities

Martial Cadence

Passive

The first attack against an enemy deals bonus physical damage equal to 8% of their current Health (6 second cooldown per unique enemy).

Dragon Strike

Active

Extends Jarvan IV’s lance, dealing 90 physical damage (90 + 130% bonus AD) and reducing the Armor of enemies hit by 10% for 3 seconds.

If the lance contacts a Demacian Standard, it will pull Jarvan IV to the Demacian Standard’s location, knocking up enemies in his path for 0.75 seconds.

Golden Aegis

Active

Unleashes a regal aura that slows surrounding enemies by 20% for 2 seconds and grants a shield that absorbs 65 damage for 5 seconds.

Absorbs 12.82 (2.1% max HP) more damage for each nearby enemy champion.

Demacian Standard

Passive | Active

Passive: Gains 30% Attack Speed.

Active: Throws a Demacian Standard that deals 80 magic damage (80 + 80% AP) and remains in place for 8 seconds, granting ally champions 15% Attack Speed.

Tapping this ability while near a Demacian Standard will cast Dragon Strike towards it.

Cataclysm

Active

Heroically leaps to an enemy champion, dealing 200 physical damage (200 + 170% bonus AD) to nearby enemies and creating an arena of impassable terrain around them for 3.5 seconds.

Cast again to collapse the terrain.

Abilities Analysis

Innate: Martial Cadence

Martial Cadence adds bonus damage on Jarvan’s first auto-attack to his enemies based on their current HP. It has a separate cooldown per enemy.

To clear jungle camps faster, attack the monsters one by one. You can accomplish this by dragging the attack button to your next target.

Q | 1st: Dragon Strike

Jarvan attacks with his lance in the target direction to damage and reduces the armor of enemies hit. If there is 3rd, Demacian Standard, in the direction where Dragon Strike is cast, Jarvan will dash forward and knock up enemies hit.

Dragon Strike is Jarvan’s main source of damage. It has an amazing AD scaling and the armor reduction works well not only for Jarvan but for his allies as well.

The dash that happens in combination with 3rd, Demacian Standard, is Jarvan’s way to initiate ganks and clashes. Make sure to cast the 3rd, Demacian Standard, in the direction the enemy is heading to.

You can buffer the skill and change its direction using Flash. Remember to do the Flash while Jarvan is in the dash because if you do it too early, the dash will be canceled instead.

You can also use the Dragon Strike + 3rd, Demacian Standard to escape. Additionally, when you have enough levels in Dragon Strike and ability haste, you can use Dragon Strike twice in a single cast of Demacian Standard.

W | 2nd: Golden Aegis

Golden Aegis slows down enemies around Jarvan and grants him a shield depending on the number of enemies slowed.

Golden Aegis is used in conjunction with his 3rd + 1st combo to slow down enemies after they are knocked up. The shield is just a bonus but it helps to keep your HP up during the early game clear and it will also help you survive initiating into the enemy team in the late game.

You can use this ability while dashing towards your enemies.

E | 3rd: Demacian Standard

Jarvan throws a flag which is the Demacian Standard that damages enemies where it is planted and it grants bonus attack speed to allies around it. Jarvan is also granted passive attack speed bonus.

Demacian Standard is usually used in combination with 1st, Dragon Strike, for the dash and knockup. You can press the ability button for Demacian Standard again if 1st, Dragon Strike, is available. What happens if you do this is that 1st, Dragon Strike, will be automatically cast towards the flag. This is the recommended way of doing the combo, especially for beginners.

Demacian Standard cannot be re-casted if the range of 1st, Dragon Strike won’t be able to reach the flag. If you already did the combo, you cannot re-cast Demacian Standard to do the combo again but you can still manually point 1st, Dragon Strike, towards the flag to dash for the second time.

Once you have enough levels of Demacian Standard and ability haste, you can re-cast it but it won’t result in two flags. The former flag will disappear as soon as you drop a new one.

Demacian Standard reveals the area where it is cast so use it to look inside bushes and over walls.

R | Ultimate: Cataclysm

Jarvan jumps towards the target enemy champion damages all enemies in the area and creates an impassable terrain around the target.

Cataclysm deals a good amount of burst damage and the terrain is a good setup for wombo combos. Most notably with Miss Fortune’s Bullet Time.

But Cataclysm’s terrain can also block your allies so make sure to re-cast it if it is doing negatively more for your team than for your enemies.

Enemies can also Flash or use their abilities to go out of the terrain so make sure to burn their mobility abilities first.

Combos:

Standard engage: 3rd + 1st + 2nd + AA + Ult + AA

Against high mobility: 2nd + A (Wait for Flash or Dash) + 3rd + 1st + AA + Ult + AA

Jarvan IV Early Game Guide

Jarvan IV excels at early game ganking. After every camp or two, gank a lane near you or towards the part of the jungle you are going to farm.

At level 1, it is a best-case scenario for you if your teammates will leash you on your Red buff so you can gank mid immediately afterward.

Your 3rd, Demacian Standard + 1st, Dragon Strike combo can easily burn the enemy’s Flash or bag you early kills.

You fall off in the late game so get as many kills and support your team in the early game as much as you can.

Jarvan IV Late Game Guide

In the mid game and late game, Jarvan IV works best as an initiator. After his releases his combo, he does not do that much damage so engaging with your team is a must.

It is great if you can use your ultimate on multiple enemies but if you can use your Ult, Cataclysm on one or two important enemies, preferably the ADC or APC, it will already cause a big impact to the fight. Remember to recast Ult, Cataclysm if you are blocking your allies with it.

You can support your ADC by simply dropping an 3rd, Demacian Standard near them to increase their attack speed.

Synergies

For our Jarvan IV Wild Rift Guide, we highly recommend using him with the following champions as they synergize well with him.

Orianna is one of the best champion you can pair with Jarvan IV because her combo is absolutely devastating when paired together with him. These two champions can wipe out an entire team by themselves when given the right opportunity.

Miss Fortune’s Bullet Time can absolutely demolish the entire enemy team when paired with Jarvan IV’s Cataclysm.

All Jarvan IV Wild Rift Counter Champions

In this section, we’ll specifically show champions that can easily counter Jarvan IV in Wild Rift.

Graves can easily avoid Jarvan IV’s abilities because of his Quickdraw passive which he can also use to escape Cataclysm’s terrain. He also stacks Grit which increases his armor so he has a natural counter to Jarvan’s ability to reduce armor.

Wukong can easily interrupt your initiation with his ultimate, Cyclone and he can bypass the terrain made by your ultimate using his 3rd, Nimbus Strike.

Pros & Cons About Jarvan IV

Here are some pros and cons if you are playing with Jarvan IV in Wild Rift.

Pros

Jarvan IV is a safe pick for the jungle role because of how versatile he is. He is strong at all stages of the game and he has an above-average jungle clear speed.
He has good early game ganking potential. He can find success in ganks as early as level two.
Jarvan IV has an amazing team-fighting presence. He reduces the armor of his enemies and at the same time increases the attack speed of his allies which greatly benefits his AD teammates. He also has a great initiation ability which can turn around a fight in a blink of an eye.

Cons

Jarvan IV is vulnerable to counter ganks because part of his damage relies on increasing the damage output of his allies so if he encounters the enemy jungler in the early game, especially the high tier ones like Lee Sin, Olaf, or Xin Zhao, he’ll definitely lose.
He relies on increasing the damage output of his allies to be successful as a jungler so if teammates do not know how to play around him, it will be hard to carry the game.
Despite being a tank initiator, Jarvan IV can be weak when ganged up by multiple enemies and he will die fast if not backed up by his team.

FAQ's About Jarvan IV in Wild Rift

How good is Jarvan IV in Wild Rift?

Jarvan IV is a (Tier S) champion. He works well in the early game but he falls off hard in the late game and he relies on follow-up damage from his teammates if his burst damage fails to finish off targets.

What role / lane should I play with Jarvan IV in Wild Rift?

Jarvan IV is mostly played in the jungler as a ganking bruiser/assassin. In the late game, he transitions into a bruiser initiator. He can also be played in the Baron lane.

What abilities do I level up with Jarvan IV?

What items should I build with Jarvan IV?

The standard core items for a bruiser Jarvan IV are Black Cleaver and Sterak’s Gage and if you want to play him more as an assassin with burst damage, Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Duskblade of Drakktharr, and Trinity Force are his core items.

What Runes should I use when playing as Fizz?

Conqueror – This is the standard Keystone Rune for Jarvan because he is a tanky jungler who stays on the battle for a longer period of time and with this rune, as the fight drags on, he’ll be stronger. Electrocute is a good option for a burst damage Jarvan because it grants bonus damage to combo attacks. His other runes are Brutal, Hunter – Titan, and Pathfinder.