Differences in Dominion
This is a guide to what to expect in Dominion. If you already know what to expect, skip this.
So you line up for your first fight in Dominion, not sure what to expect. There's two or three people in your team who've played before, and they're shouting out orders to you that don't make sense. After standing on the starting platform for about thirty seconds, you start to fall asleep, when suddenly, the path opens and everyone's shouting "GO GO GO!!!" and you're wondering "Why the rush?" And before you know it, your team's losing.
I will not lie, Dominion is brutally fast. I get goosebumps of joy every time I think about it. It's what Riven was made for - raw back and forth fights for inches of land, rather than cowering behind mobs of minions smacking them with your Q to slooowly build up exp. In Dominion, you start off at level 3. Goodbye half your early-game. Each team has 500 points in their Nexus, with your goal to force the enemy to lose points. How you lose points, I will discuss later. How you gain points...I will not discuss.
Dominion starts off with a long countdown on your starting platform in which you buy your items, assign your 3 skill points, discuss strategy with teammates, and otherwise just twiddle your thumbs while you stare at the map. There are five towers arranged in a pentagon, three top, two bottom. The usual tactic upon starting is to have one or two people rush the bottom tower closer to you, one person to rush the top-right tower, and two to get the tower at the very top of the map. It's key to hold at least three towers, because the team with more towers is the one that's winning, and is forcing the other team to lose points from their Nexus. Once one team's points hit zero, big explosion, congratz you win.
Killing doesn't matter as much any more because of a beautiful thing called the Crystal Scar Aura. What it does is passively give you exp and increase your gold income rate, along with a bunch of other buffs that make armor and magic resistance less useful than they were before. The nice thing about this aura, especially for Riven, is that you hit level 4 within the first thirty seconds of starting the game, meaning more Ki Burst, and less early-game. Wait, so why doesn't killing matter? Not only do you gain exp and gold passively, making gains from kills less important, but killing doesn't keep people out of the field too long, at least in early-game. The map is small, and towers are very close to spawning points. Sometimes, you might be doing them a favor by sending them back across the map in full hp to protect a tower under attack right next to their base. Sure, you force their team to lose two points, but you have to be selective about killing sometimes. That's a first.
There are buffs all across the map. One buff for each team in the center that increases hp and whatnot, speed wells at three points around the jungles that increase speed for a short amount of time, and my personal favorite - health packs. That's right, packs that give you health. Right away, not regen over time like poor health potions. And it's all geared towards the high-speed nature of the game. Low on health? Snag a health pack and keep running. Need to go faster? Dive into a speed well and watch Riven run like Usain Bolt. Still not feeling it? Go to the center and...wait...a...long...time...to get that random buff that's there. Alright, so that's not fast-paced.
In the end, it's all about taking towers. Towers do the same damage as always, but you can stop that by having someone start channeling their powah into the towah (ok that was bad) to keep it busy. Usually, unless you're sure all five champions are on the other side of the map, you want to bring a buddy when you take a tower. One to break off and keep the enemy at bay while the other finishes charging. As Riven, your job is to keep the enemy at bay if the need ever arises. More kills for you ;) Wait, kills don't matter! >:O Just do it for the dead bodies.
So, there you have it, my rundown on Dominion.
If you hear the Gods of War III theme song playing when you look at this picture, +1 rep from me.
Summoner Spells
I know, I know. You're looking at this guide and thinking "WTF,
Ghost and 
Flash? You noob, why so much mobility!?!?!?" Well, don't downvote me just because of that. There's a method to the madness. Like I've said, mobility is key to playing Riven in Dominion.
Flash is useful for chasing and escaping in general. Per-game, I can attribute at least one kill to a well-timed and well-aimed Flash. I've seen people bash it for its long CD and general lack of utility as compared to its usefulness in Summoner's Rift. But honestly, choose it or ignore it at your own risk. Pack it, or watch would-be kill get away to heal, then come back right away to fight for your towers.
The reasons for packing
Ghost are a bit more subtle. I've once gone against a team where every single opponent packed ghost, bought boots right off the bat, and used Ghost the moment the game began. They rushed top and bot, and had 3 towers before we even had 2. Then they played epic defense the rest of the game, and thrashed us the entire game. When we tried to attack, they ghosted in and saved their own asses. When we left towers undefended, they ghosted in and stole them before we had time to blink. Seriously, Ghost is the little boost you're dying to have when running to save a tower from falling into enemy hands when you can't afford to make a detour to grab a speed boost. It's the boost you use to get through minions and get away faster when Flash is on CD and your Valor has been tried and failed. It's useful in so many ways it's not even funny.
AlternativesNot convinced? Fine -.- I'll give you the rundown on the alternatives.
ExhaustWorks great carrying over from Summoner's Rift. Functions the same way, helps to slow down what would otherwise be a hectic and fast game. Especially great on stalling that annoying Tryndamere until his ult wears off. But, since killing isn't as important as defending or capturing towers, may not be the best choice.
IgniteNot my preferred spell, since the game is too fast-paced for DoTs, and heals aren't as common when you don't have time to sit around and heal, unless you're tower-sitting. And if you're standing still with Riven, you're not doing something right. Still, a nice thing to shut down Swains with...if you ever bump into a Swain.
HealDon't laugh. It can help you stay in the field just long enough to reach that Heal Pack, then turn around to smack that Xin Zhao that's been chasing you all around the map because you were at half-life. I packed this one before I realized the full potential of Ghost.
GarrisonGreat for defending towers and attacking towers early-game. Late-game, not so useful.
CleanseOh the noes, you've been slowed by one of Teemo's shrooms while rushing to save one of your towers! Cleanse and get there faster! Mostly for survivability of yourself and your towers. Otherwise, not that important.
Bad Alternatives
ClairvoyanceSome people like bringing this. I don't. Most of the map is illuminated anyways, and where it isn't, you can easily explore for yourself in groups. The map's so small that the only time you'll be using this would be to see how far that Teemo's progressed towards one of your undefended towers.
ReviveI guess if you want to revive right away to save a tower in danger, this would be somewhat useful. But with the insanely long CD, you won't be using this much. I'd rather pack Flash.
PromoteCool, you now haz giant minion. Treat him well, feed him cookies, and he'll...well...he won't do much for you, to be honest. Again, I'd rather pack Flash.
No, Just No
SmiteCool, you can kill minions faster! With Riven and with this build, you can 1HKO them anyways with Ki Burst.
ClarityOh no, you're out of mana! What's that, Riven doesn't use mana? Sucks for you once you've brought this into the game.
Teleport,
Fortify, and
RallyDamn hackers...
Skill Sequence
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for Riven's skillset. So much so that when playing with other characters, I sometimes catch myself accidentally hitting E to sidestep an incoming skillshot...only to find myself hit by said skillshot instead. Seriously though, don't brush off any of her skills as just things that are there to help build up charges for your passive, especially in Dominion gameplay. Each and every one is a beautiful piece of work that, in the right situations and in the right hands, can make the difference between victory and defeat.
Broken WingsGives you key bursts of mobility when dancing in and out of range of enemy towers or bursting towards the speed boost areas of the map. Also great for building up charges while chasing down enemies fleeing back to their towers, then hitting them with a juicy crit that sends them back to their maker.
I max this last because the CD doesn't decrease with leveling and because the damage it offers pales in comparison to Ki Burst and the damage you get in between smacks with Broken Wings. But seriously, don't forget to pause in between each slash in order to let your charges hit. Otherwise, amid the Ki Bursting and Valoring that people do, you're wasting charges.
Ki BurstEasily the bread and butter of any Riven player in Dominion. Here, in the fast-paced gameplay, the supposedly insignificant stun that Ki Burst provides suddenly becomes key in holding people back just long enough for your teammates to come in and wipe the floor with the opposing team. And that's without touching up on the damage. Seriously, with this build. I can take down a third of the hp bar on the average champion, a quarter of the bar for tanks like Rammus, and as much as half the hp bar for Talons and Shacos.
And while Broken Wings may deal more damage altogether, the fact that this does all that damage
at once, and stuns the enemy too, makes this the go-to skill for tearing down teams. Why would you pass up AD for off-tanking and other whatnot in face of such terrifying damage? WHY!?!?!?
ValorAt first, people saw this skill and moaned over the short distance you move. But even that little distance is great when dodging skillshots or moving within the safe range of towers. And the shield, when stacked with AD, can be incredible. Again, why would you ignore AD when you can easily stack a couple hundred on a great shield like this? Max this as soon as you're done maxing Ki Burst.
Blade of the ExileThe icing on the cake. Once you get this ability, and have sufficient cooldown with
Ionian Boots of Lucidity and
The Brutalizer, use it when you enter fights. Use it when you're going in for the kill. Use it when you see a guy running away with low HP and think you can finish him off with a well-aimed Wind Slash. Use it when you're about to go down, and want to leave your mark behind.
Use it before you die. Use it to keep from dying. Use it anywhere and everywhere, because the damage boost it gives you is a beautiful piece of work in and of itself. Add on a manageable cooldown and the fact that Riven doesn't run on magic, and you have one scary ult that makes Riven even more dangerous than she already is.
For Blind Picks, use it before the opposing Riven does. As I've learned both the easy and the hard way, the first to reforge her blade is usually the first to wipe out the other team.
Items
Here we go. The big one.
Dominion generously gives you 1375 gold to start with, which opens up a huge range of possibilities. But of course, there's the catch. Speed being the crucial element it is, it's probably safe to sink 1k gold into a fully-upgraded pair of boots right off the bat. Which is what I do.
Ionian Boots of LucidityIt's funny how Noxian characters tend to be improved drastically by this item. First Katarina, now Riven. Start off with it before you even leave the platform; the speed and CDR are both worth it.
Youmuu's GhostbladeMost builds don't finish this item until late into the game. But with its myriad boosts and its relatively cheap component prices, unlike items building off of B.F. Sword, this is a great item to finish early on, piece by piece, with money you get early on. Start with the Brutalizer to round off your CDR and set you up for the rest of the game, then finish up with the rest of the item whenever you want, sooner if you're cheap like me, later if you're willing to tough it out and save up for the next item.
Infinity EdgeI get it all the time. People trash Infinity Edge for Riven simply because it focuses so much on critical hit chance, which is useless for Riven's abilities. Yes, yes, yes, that is all true.
BUT, ladies and gentlemen, have you all forgotten Riven's passive,
Runic Blade? Damage from this is at least, if not more, important, as damage from Riven's abilities, and one that critical hits actually benefit. Having gained more than half my kills through following up skills with regular hits, and having ensured many of those kills thanks to critical hits, I can safely say that this item
does belong on Riven, and no player should ignore this item without at least considering the merits of this item.
Edit: As proof of power, I went ahead and ran some tests with this build. Sadly, screenshots don't seem to work while playing LoL. However, I will display the results. Trust me if you will.
At level 18, with the build complete, no bonus from passive, critical hit damage was:
958 on average
With bonus from passive, critical hit damage was:
1138 on average
With Blade of the Exile, critical hit damage was:
1358 on average
Now, this was against minions and creeps in Twisted Treeline, with Bloodthirster substituted for Sanguine Blade. Still, make of it what you will. With 42% crit chance with this build (not sure what other numbers are being shown) this will land stupidly good amounts of damage over a short amount of time. Even if the enemy has armor, this still does crazily good damage. In an actual Dominion match with all items up except Last Whisper, I still landed 600 damage crits on a Malphite with an armored build. So before you bash critical hit chance on Riven, consider the proof.
Frozen MalletWait, what? Isn't there an item that replaces Frozen Mallet in Dominion? Yes, yes there is. It's called
Entropy and in my humble opinion, it's inferior in almost every way. Frozen Mallet gives you many times more hp than Entropy, though at a cost of a significant chunk of AD. So, what in the world would cause me to choose hp over AD!?!?!? Well, come on. Riven needs something to keep her alive. Even the almighty raw AD itself can't save Riven if she's reduced to just another Yi or Talon who lands a half-dozen hits then bites the dust. 700 hp versus 200-odd hp is no contest, even in the face of 20 AD versus 70 AD. Frozen Mallet all the way.
But AD and hp can be gained through other ways, so is it still viable to get Entropy over Frozen Mallet? No. Why? Simply put, the passive. Entropy has the measly 25% chance of slowing the enemy on normal attacks, just like Phage. Frozen Mallet does it on all normal attacks. In a fighting style where you don't chain together normal attacks, 25% chance doesn't cut it. The passive of Frozen Mallet remains very viable in Dominion.
For those of you who say that it's impossible to get classic items in Dominion, think again. I have taken a screenshot, shown far below, of me winning a match in Dominion with Frozen Mallet. Yes, it's possible. And it's better in almost every way when compared to Entropy.
Sanguine BladeI've always been on the edge about Bloodthirster. Having to stack 40 times based off of kills, which you lose in huge chunks when you die, just doesn't appeal to me. Sanguine Blade, for Dominion only, is - in my opinion - a much better sibling of the Bloodthirster. Based off of hits instead of kills, with much bigger gains per stack, is a greater way to go. Of course, there's always the little things. The stacks last only 4 seconds, and added up, they're not quite up to the Bloodthirster's lofty standards. Still, they're nice to have, and the item is cheaper to boot.
Just note that this item, compared to other items, isn't as critical to the build. It's just a nice damage item with some added survivability for those who want it in the heat of battle. I personally get Infinity Edge first and get this after Frozen Mallet, but that's a personal choice that comes from a reckless playing style. Speaking of which...
Last WhisperLike many things of mine, this last item here is a tossup. You can go for Last Whisper for armor penetration. I included it here for variety's sake. I find that a second Infinity Edge is equally viable, and in some cases, a better choice. But Armor Penetration is always a nice thing to have in case some Malphite or Rammus comes along to ruin your day. Poke a hole in their armor and send them back to their maker.
AlternativesFine, fine, fine. I've shown you everything, and you still demand your Atmog's build or what have you in your glorious Dominion build. So I've included some other items here, what works, and what doesn't.
Boots of SwiftnessSaw this mentioned in
Zemiazas's description of Riven in the quintessential
Dominion Guide. Yes indeed, Boots of Swiftness are viable on Riven. However, I personally do not recommend them over
Ionian Boots of Lucidity. The reason being is that while you get the extra point in speed, which this guide strongly encourages, the CDR from the Ionian Boots is still more valuable, at least in my eyes. But, if you find yourself struggling to catch that Janna and have no problems with CD, go ahead and make the switch.
Boots of MobilityThey serve the same purpose as Boots of Swiftness, but are arguably far less valuable. Don't get me wrong, they're great for moving around the map. However, the time you'll want the speed the most is when you're chasing down enemies running away from your towers, towards the safety of their own towers. And that's where Boots of Mobility drop down to essentially Ionian Boots minus the CDR. I wouldn't pack them for Riven due to her tendency to be in combat rather than out of combat. But each to their own.
Mercury's TreadsArguably the most viable item on this list. With such a fast-paced game in Dominion, CC can be brutal. Tenacity in one form or another can only help, and Mercury's Treads are probably the best Tenacity item out there for Riven.
Cloak and DaggerA viable alternative to Mercury's Treads that also gives Tenacity. The other bonuses aren't that important, though the critical hit boost could be useful for auto-attacks.
ThornmailDefense in an AD build!?!?!? Yes. But not for the reasons you think. Thornmail is great for tactical retreats in the face of scary offensive auto-attackers, or for diving head-first into incoming ganks, hoping to take down as many people as possible. Reflect some of that incoming damage from Tryndamere or Yi, and watch them die before you do.
Sunfire CapeAnother good item for charging into ganks. Arguably better than Thornmail with its generous amounts of hp and usefulness against AP casters in comparison to Thornmail. But it gives considerably less armor.
Atma's ImpalerIncreasing AD based on your hp is always a plus. Though this build doesn't focus on hp, you can always try to pair this with Frozen Mallet for some decent results, though nowhere near as good as packing that second Infinity Edge. Or you could get...
Warmog's ArmorInvariable goes with Atma's Impaler as seen above, to form the infamous Atmog's build. Take this build, replace the Sanguine Blade with this and Last Whisper with Atma's, and you have an off-tank build. Fine, if you want to play it that way. But all that hp will result in only a few more seconds of survivability, and takes away much-needed damage to hit down runners who will come back to haunt you and your towers.
Randuin's OmenA more expensive Warmog's with lower hp and hp regen, in exchange for some armor, CDR, and a slow passive. Fine, if you want, but it's much less effective with Atma's, and doesn't really work in a build without Atma's.
Spirit VisageGood, but not great. Gives some Magic Resist and hp, along with some CDR, which doesn't do much after you have Ionian Boots and Youmuu's.
Force of NatureThe better Magic Resist item. Its tremendous hp regen is somewhat diminished, due to the Crystal Scar Aura, but the other bonuses are nice.
Quicksilver SashIf you see an enemy
Warwick, get this so you don't get shredded by his suppress. Otherwise, don't.
Guardian AngelI would not get this, partially because the revive is just asking for you to be killed twice, and only actually brings you back into play if the enemies leave you, i.e. when friends come to beat them off your dead body. Otherwise, it's overpriced and lackluster. I guess its only use would be to force enemies to baby-sit you until you revive, then kill you again.
TiamatThought I'd go over this one, due to the popularity of a certain AoE build out there. No, Tiamat is not viable for Dominion. The passive it gives is a marginal bonus in comparison to the crucial sacrifices you'll make to have it on your lineup of items. Enemies tend to be grouped together less and will attack and retreat from several angles, limiting the chance of you actually hitting multiple enemies with Tiamat's passive down to a very low margin. So don't go bringing your AoE build into Dominion. It just isn't smart.
The Road
Alright. I've talked about the build, now how to use the build, and how not to.
Early-GameRiven starts off with great speed, and with the boots and a
Ghost right off the bat, you'll have your towers before the enemy does. You can literally storm top, picking up the speed boost along the way, then camp till reinforcements arrive in the form of your slower teammates. Dying here doesn't matter much if you take one of the enemy down with you.
Riven excels at taking unguarded towers, and with towers changing hands often early-game, you should do it often to pick up some free points. You don't even have to fully take it, and it's probably safer to retreat the moment you see anyone coming, if you haven't finished neutralizing it, or if you see at least two people coming after you neutralize it. Going after the buffs in the center isn't worth it here. You as a mobile DPS are needed more in keeping the pressure up on the enemy. Let tanks take the buff instead. If you see friendly towers under attack, speed to them to keep them under your control. Defense is your first priority.
Late-GameNo mid-game!?!?!? Not really. I find that in Dominion, there are really only the early phase, where things are chaotic and towers change hands quite often, and late-game, when revive times start piling up and towers change hands much less. In late-game, Riven truly shines, able to tear through enemy ganks. Be careful here though, as dying 1 for 1 with the enemy isn't as worth it late-game where offense is involved and deaths tend to favor the defender more. If there's a lull in the combat and you count at least 2 enemies dead, feel free to pick up the center buffs to keep you in the field longer.
If you're losing, keep up the pressure. Practically half of my victories have come from pushing on from a bad start, one of them where my team was down by 200 points, but came back to win by 8. The trick is to stack points whenever possible, and to pick up minion kills on the road to enemy towers. All the gold will help you to build up AD and keep enemies off the field, and it doesn't matter if the enemy can see you walking on the road. If you're good, they'll learn to fear the Riven and either over-focus you with 3+ champions, or avoid you altogether in favor of easier roads.
By the end of the game, if you have 3 towers, sit and hold. Harassing for that 4th tower isn't worth it. If you have 2 or less towers, organize an all-out assault one one tower, and get a stealthy friend to go for another. You should play the draw for any assaults, keeping incoming champions busy while your friends take down the tower. Your AD will either kill incoming champions, or severely weaken them for friendly ranged or tanks to pick off. Either way, by the end of the game, given the right teammates and a little bit of luck, you will enjoy a hard-earned victory by following this road to Dominion.
![Give Enemies a Ticket to Lulu Pain Train [ Azubu Blade ]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ou-1TzHDX1s/UJ0R2EqI67I/AAAAAAAAAWg/TNv0JuIgt0I/s1600/3QmiE.jpg "<span class='tit'>Give Enemies a Ticket to Lulu Pain Train [ Azubu Blade ]</span> <br /><span class='desc'> Check the guide...</span>")
Good Hands becomes more useful in Dominion when a few seconds in revive time becomes the difference between winning and losing a tower. I keep the defensive points in even for this offensive build mainly because they're just nice to have and because the other typical boosts provided by the utility tree are pretty useless when you automatically get exp and gold. But other than that, that's pretty much it for Masteries. On with the show.
Greater Mark of Might: With the Crystal Scar Aura, you already get natural armor penetration. So instead of building what's already being boosted by Last Whisper and a passive aura, why not build up the raw AD for abilities instead?
Greater Seal of Shielding: With magic resistance a little on the low side, and Jax prowling the Crystal Scar, there's no reason not to bring up magic resistance to at least par with armor, even if both are a little on the low side. Not to mention, the Crystal Scar Aura increases magic penetration less than armor penetration, making any bit of magic resistance you have more valuable. This is about buying seconds of your life to take down an enemy with you.
Greater Glyph of Focus & 
Greater Glyph of Celerity: Cooldown reduction is critical for fast chaining of skills, making this one one of the more important runes for this build.
Greater Quintessence of Swiftness: This one is a tossup. I chose Swiftness because of the need for speed in Dominion, though anything from more to more CD can work just fine here.
