EPTI bring you now the updated Ryze guide based on his recent rework. Think of this post as a compendium of TL disussions on how to play the new Ryze. I'll update as needed and continue to listen to input from others.
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Formerly the Glass Cannon of LoL, Ryze is now a caster carry who gets his damage out of items that provide utility and tankiness for most champions. Ryze gets a two for one deal out of those items, and by late game with enough support from your team you should be a constant force.
Masteries
9 0 21
Standard Caster offensive masteries, and a focus on the utility masteries for mana and cooldowns. This is exactly the same as before.
Runes
Quints: Mana or MPL
Marks: Spell Penetration
Seals: Health or MP5
Glyphs: Mana or MPL
I've changed this so you can choose based on your preference or playstyle. I prefer the idea of flat mana instead of mpl for a better first few levels. I also prefer health seals to give me better survivability later on, but if you want MP5 and manage not to take much damage in lane yourself, your harassment will be better early on than usual.
Summoner Spells
Ghost - Good for both escaping and closing the gap on offense.
Flash - Ryze is still pretty weak, especially early game. This is good for escaping. Also good if you need to close the gap quickly for a W-Q combo to finish someone off.
Cleanse - You might want to consider this now too, especially if you don't trust your tanks and support to keep you from getting focused and destroyed in fights. I've had a few games lately against high CC teams where I got completely shut down and this would have helped.
Build Order
Don't start with E anymore because it sucks for harassment and farming now. I start with Q, which is now what I use for those things. Next I get W and then E. I alternate between leveling Q and W from here. I pick up R at lvl 6 but I've actually been maxing out Q and W before I pick up rank 2 of R. Lvl up E last because it's only used for its CDR with your passive and its MR reduction.
Items
Focus on things that give you mana. Don't even worry much about AP. Tanky items with mana are more beneficial to your overall game than mana items with AP. Mana scaling is good and AP scaling is bad on Ryze. He is so squishy that if you stack archangel's or something like that you won't have the survivability to do anything.
Sapphire Crystal - Start with this and 2 health pots.
Catalyst the Protector, Tear of the Godess - Pick these items up first along with tier 1 boots. What you build first should depend on how laning is going. If you're taking a lot of harassment go catalyst. If you are dominating then keep your advantage by getting an early start to mana stacking with tear.
Sorcerer's Shoes - Still need your magic pen to eat through standard MR. Finish these after the catalyst and tear.
Banshee's Veil, Frozen Heart - What you build first is based on the game and what kind of damage the enemy team is mainly dishing out to you. You may even want to just build the glacial shroud and decide from there. Either way, the CDR given by frozen heart will put you at the 40% cap with your masteries.
Archangel's Staff - You can finish your tear into this now, as you should already be pretty tanky.
Void Staff - For teams stacking MR.
Lich Bane, Rylai's, Guardian Angel - For the last item slot it's kind of situational and based on personal preference. For more damage output go with the Lich Bane. If you want to really try to be the 'Ashe of magic' get the Rylai's, although I found its slow not to be very beneficial so I'm not sure if I like the item on the new Ryze. It gives no mana as well. Guardian angel if you want more survivability.
Rotation
Generally you just want to reap the benefits of your passive to lower cooldowns. Q-R-W-E-Q-Q-W-Q or something like that. The focus is no longer to start with the snare every time and launch a combo. You're basically spamming Q as much as possible and hoping to get multiple snares off in a fight if you can. The ult isn't really that important anymore as it currently stands. Sometimes I even save the snare so I can stop the advance of a champion who is a big threat.
General Overview and Playstyle
The first few levels will be tough. The mana cost on Q is a lot so you'll find yourself oom if you spam it too much. You can still use it wisely for harassment though. Try to last hit and even occasionally use Q for that purpose. I usually take a duel lane because I find that even with Ryze's new increased range there are still plenty of champions with better range who will go mid. I can't even remedy this by bouncing E off a minion anymore because it doesn't do much damage.
The good thing though is that the items you need for midgame damage are cheap as hell. You might be surprised how much of a presence you can be early-mid game armed only with a catalyst and tear. As you get these mana items you can begin to spam Q and be really annoying. In teamfights act like the standard carry and stand back while continually launching spells. You can do better sustained damage now, but far less burst. However, I find that when I'm chasing stragglers with low health I can play the same way as I did before, for example flashing in and unleasing a combo for the kill. This is honestly the only aspect of the new Ryze that is still fun for me since the playstyle has completely changed. You're no longer an assassin; you're only good on ganks if your snare helps your teammates work with you to bring someone down.
As you may know, the spell vamp on Ryze's ultimate is pretty much useless compared to the old AP boost; I no longer pop my ult really unless it's a teamfight and everyone is close, or I need that little bit of extra CDR to land a kill. I use it if there are a lot of minions around my kill target too. The AOE damage is reduced so you can't clear minion waves as well, but I find that I can still use it to this end and it works alright.
Again depending on your teamcomp you may get a lot of kills or rack up a lot of assists. I find that sometimes since I can no longer burst champs down, that my teammates get the kill after I've done most of the damage. A kill's a kill though, and it's not like you're getting snowball items anyway. As usual your lane pushing ability and tower killing skills are pretty bad so don't overextend without sufficient help.
Old post is below in spoiler box, for historical reference.
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryze - The Rogue Mage
I realize that I don't have many posts on TL, but I do lurk a lot and read the other guides/discussions. Ryze is my favorite champion, and really the only one for which I feel comfortable writing a guide. Mainly I just wanted to finally have a thread here to discuss the champion in case anyone else had some good input. I'm definitely open to other opinions on builds.
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Ryze is known as the Glass Cannon of LoL; the mage that has the best burst damage in the game. However, if he isn't played smart he is easy to kill. He's one of the squishiest champions and has no innate escape abilities. This build embraces that fact and relies on the player to work off of his strengths and use common sense to compensate for his weaknesses.
Masteries
9 0 21
Standard Caster offensive masteries, and a focus on the utility masteries for mana and cooldowns.
Runes
Quints: Ability Power
Marks: Spell Penetration
Seals: Health
Glyphs: Cooldown Reduction
Some people go for health quints but the idea behind this playstyle is that you position yourself where you won't take extra damage, and the items give you a decent amount of health anyway.
Summoner Spells
Ghost - Primary escape mechanism, also good to close the gap between you and the enemy for a snare.
Flash - Get this to play Ryze as the assassin he is supposed to be. I almost always use this offensively; many players think they are safely out of Ryze's limited range, only for me to flash in and nuke them to death before anyone can do anything about it. Can also provide another escape mechanism for Ryze which is nice since he doesn't have any to begin with.
Build Order
I always start with E because it's good for early harassment. I think Ryze is better off in a duel lane, and I love when champions stand too close together away from their minions. The bounce can take down both of their healths drastically even at level 1. Pick up W next for the snare and then Q, your nuke. After that I usually get one more point in E before level 6 to help with harassing and farming, after which I prioritize W and of course R whenever available. It's good to have the longer snare once the teamfights begin. Level E next and Q last. Although Q is Ryze's nuke, it scales better with mana than spell levels.
Items
Doran's Ring - I start with this because it gives me everything that is important to Ryze.
Rod of Ages - Health for more survivability, mana for better Q damage, and AP to hit harder with everything else. I usually rush this item first.
Sorcerer's Shoes - For the basic magic pen that is usually needed. I usually get the boots of speed while building rod of ages and finish this off shortly after I finish that.
Rylai's - A good amount of health as well as AP and a slow. By now you should have a good amount of health and you can even take some hits. The slow isnt good for single targets because you have the snare anyway, but the reason I like it is because if you pop your ult on grouped players in a teamfight, it slows everyone and helps your teammates finish off stragglers.
Deathcap - To vastly increase your damage for the late game. If you can cast freely and there isnt too much MR around you should be doing massive damage by now.
Void Staff or Abyssal Scepter - If there's a lot of MR being stacked on the opposing team. I'll get the void staff if there isnt much of an AP threat on their side and the scepter if there is.
Now it's just open to survivability items depending on what you're up against and how much you're being targeted. Banshee's is great because it'll give you mana too, Guardian Angel, or even a Zonya's if you'd like to go into a stasis until your cooldowns are up again.
No CD reduction? As has been said before on TL your masteries and runes alone with your passive and a blue buff will allow you to cast your spells really as much as you can. I only once picked up CD boots and this is when there was virtually no MR being stacked and the team was terrible.
General Overview and Playstyle
The difference between a good Ryze and a bad Ryze is positioning and timing. Most new Ryze players will either feed or rack up a lot of deaths to go with their kills, because they get caught in a bad spot and destroyed quickly. As a true assassin you want to strike quickly and efficiently and then get out.
Remember that your auto attack is weak. This is not to say "don't use it" though. You just have to know when it's safe to stick around and do so. There have been many times when I've nuked someone down to a sliver of life and just one or two auto attacks were needed afterwards to land the kill.
This is much more often the case going 1v1 than in a teamfight. If you think sticking around auto attacking after your nukes in a teamfight might be dangerous, just back off out of range until your cooldowns are up again. You aren't helping your team THAT much with the auto attacks, and 99% of the time it's more useful to instead go back in a few minutes later and know that you can help net another kill.
The basic game plan is to stay back and let your tanks initiate. Don't initate because you are getting impatient and you think you can nuke someone for a kill right away, unless it is certain that you can get the kill in one combo and the enemy team is far enough away that you can reposition yourself in back afterward. This judgement takes practice, but by now I frequently flash in and take someone out to give my team the advantage.
Your combo starts by snaring with W, then using R to turn on the AOE and extra AP, reduce magic resistance with E, and get the finishing blow with Q. Then go back in and hit the next target with W->E->Q. Don't worry about saving your ult most of the time because the cooldown is ridiculously short for an ult. I use it even on single targets because it increases my AP and kills nearby minions. Chances are I'll have it up again for the next fight.
Again, use judgement though. Your ult is situational. Sometimes you use it just to send someone back to base. Sometimes you'll need to clear minions quickly. The only time not to use it obviously is for example when the enemy Rammus is alone with full HP and a banshee's veil and your team isnt there. You won't get a gank so don't waste it. Also, in a teamfight wait to cast your spells until you know you'll hit someone meaningful. This is basic stuff we should all know.
Using this I usually do well whether I win or lose the game. Ryze can carry, but you will also notice that you may rack up assists like a support or tank. This is good and means that you're having a big effect on the teamfights as a whole while still having very good killing power.
I realize that I don't have many posts on TL, but I do lurk a lot and read the other guides/discussions. Ryze is my favorite champion, and really the only one for which I feel comfortable writing a guide. Mainly I just wanted to finally have a thread here to discuss the champion in case anyone else had some good input. I'm definitely open to other opinions on builds.
==
Ryze is known as the Glass Cannon of LoL; the mage that has the best burst damage in the game. However, if he isn't played smart he is easy to kill. He's one of the squishiest champions and has no innate escape abilities. This build embraces that fact and relies on the player to work off of his strengths and use common sense to compensate for his weaknesses.
Masteries
9 0 21
Standard Caster offensive masteries, and a focus on the utility masteries for mana and cooldowns.
Runes
Quints: Ability Power
Marks: Spell Penetration
Seals: Health
Glyphs: Cooldown Reduction
Some people go for health quints but the idea behind this playstyle is that you position yourself where you won't take extra damage, and the items give you a decent amount of health anyway.
Summoner Spells
Ghost - Primary escape mechanism, also good to close the gap between you and the enemy for a snare.
Flash - Get this to play Ryze as the assassin he is supposed to be. I almost always use this offensively; many players think they are safely out of Ryze's limited range, only for me to flash in and nuke them to death before anyone can do anything about it. Can also provide another escape mechanism for Ryze which is nice since he doesn't have any to begin with.
Build Order
I always start with E because it's good for early harassment. I think Ryze is better off in a duel lane, and I love when champions stand too close together away from their minions. The bounce can take down both of their healths drastically even at level 1. Pick up W next for the snare and then Q, your nuke. After that I usually get one more point in E before level 6 to help with harassing and farming, after which I prioritize W and of course R whenever available. It's good to have the longer snare once the teamfights begin. Level E next and Q last. Although Q is Ryze's nuke, it scales better with mana than spell levels.
Items
Doran's Ring - I start with this because it gives me everything that is important to Ryze.
Rod of Ages - Health for more survivability, mana for better Q damage, and AP to hit harder with everything else. I usually rush this item first.
Sorcerer's Shoes - For the basic magic pen that is usually needed. I usually get the boots of speed while building rod of ages and finish this off shortly after I finish that.
Rylai's - A good amount of health as well as AP and a slow. By now you should have a good amount of health and you can even take some hits. The slow isnt good for single targets because you have the snare anyway, but the reason I like it is because if you pop your ult on grouped players in a teamfight, it slows everyone and helps your teammates finish off stragglers.
Deathcap - To vastly increase your damage for the late game. If you can cast freely and there isnt too much MR around you should be doing massive damage by now.
Void Staff or Abyssal Scepter - If there's a lot of MR being stacked on the opposing team. I'll get the void staff if there isnt much of an AP threat on their side and the scepter if there is.
Now it's just open to survivability items depending on what you're up against and how much you're being targeted. Banshee's is great because it'll give you mana too, Guardian Angel, or even a Zonya's if you'd like to go into a stasis until your cooldowns are up again.
No CD reduction? As has been said before on TL your masteries and runes alone with your passive and a blue buff will allow you to cast your spells really as much as you can. I only once picked up CD boots and this is when there was virtually no MR being stacked and the team was terrible.
General Overview and Playstyle
The difference between a good Ryze and a bad Ryze is positioning and timing. Most new Ryze players will either feed or rack up a lot of deaths to go with their kills, because they get caught in a bad spot and destroyed quickly. As a true assassin you want to strike quickly and efficiently and then get out.
Remember that your auto attack is weak. This is not to say "don't use it" though. You just have to know when it's safe to stick around and do so. There have been many times when I've nuked someone down to a sliver of life and just one or two auto attacks were needed afterwards to land the kill.
This is much more often the case going 1v1 than in a teamfight. If you think sticking around auto attacking after your nukes in a teamfight might be dangerous, just back off out of range until your cooldowns are up again. You aren't helping your team THAT much with the auto attacks, and 99% of the time it's more useful to instead go back in a few minutes later and know that you can help net another kill.
The basic game plan is to stay back and let your tanks initiate. Don't initate because you are getting impatient and you think you can nuke someone for a kill right away, unless it is certain that you can get the kill in one combo and the enemy team is far enough away that you can reposition yourself in back afterward. This judgement takes practice, but by now I frequently flash in and take someone out to give my team the advantage.
Your combo starts by snaring with W, then using R to turn on the AOE and extra AP, reduce magic resistance with E, and get the finishing blow with Q. Then go back in and hit the next target with W->E->Q. Don't worry about saving your ult most of the time because the cooldown is ridiculously short for an ult. I use it even on single targets because it increases my AP and kills nearby minions. Chances are I'll have it up again for the next fight.
Again, use judgement though. Your ult is situational. Sometimes you use it just to send someone back to base. Sometimes you'll need to clear minions quickly. The only time not to use it obviously is for example when the enemy Rammus is alone with full HP and a banshee's veil and your team isnt there. You won't get a gank so don't waste it. Also, in a teamfight wait to cast your spells until you know you'll hit someone meaningful. This is basic stuff we should all know.
Using this I usually do well whether I win or lose the game. Ryze can carry, but you will also notice that you may rack up assists like a support or tank. This is good and means that you're having a big effect on the teamfights as a whole while still having very good killing power.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/ScSsz.jpg)
