Welcome to my guide for playing Ryze! I can assure you that this is the correct way of playing him at this meta; and if you think otherwise, we can duel it out :D. This guide will include many of Ryze's pro's, con's, and tons of details that will help make you a better Ryze player!

Ryze is actually one of the best solomid champions in the game (next to Ahri, Morgana, Orianna, Karthus Etc). He has a spammable skillset, and fairly low cooldowns. What skills you level first, and how you use them all are factors on what separate the good Ryze players, from the incredible Ryze players. He is best built as a hybrid AP/Mana champion, due to his recent buff/nerf from the Spectator Patch. He is still viable people! Before the patch, he was built too tanky, with tons of mana; now Riot has nerfed his mana ratios a bit, and buffed his AP ratio's, which is pretty good considering how secretly OP he still is.

For the exact patch notes, please visit: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=2077255

Pro's

• Can hyper-carry.
• Has both burst and sustained dmg.
• Has VERY short cooldowns.
• Very strong mid-late game

Con's

• Vulnerable to combo disruptions.
• Pretty weak in early levels (1-6)
• Needs alot of farm.
• Very dependent on blue buff early on.

The Pro's definitely outweigh the Con's for Ryze.

Playing as Ryze will feel something like this

Offense

Brute Force (3/3) - Easier last hitting.
Butcher (1/2) - 2 bonus damage to minions ? Last hitting will be a breeze, mixed with Brute Force.
Sorcery (4/4) - CDR on Ryze is necessary.
Arcane Knowledge (1/1) - Magic Pen to penetrate those MR Runes/Items the enemy team may have.

Utility

Summoners Insight (1/1) - 15 Second CD on Flash is a must if you need to get out of sticky situations.
Expanded Mind (3/3) - An extra 216 mana at level 18 is great; synergizes well with your Core Items.
Swiftness (4/4) - Movement Speed is also needed on Ryze; for chasing or escaping. synergizes well with his ultimate.
Meditation (1/3) - Mana Regen that you're going to need. Don't forget, Ryze is mana hungry early.
Transmutation (3/3) - Spell Vamp synergizes well with him mid-late game.
Runic Affinity (1/1) - Longer blue buff? Sounds good to me!
Awareness (4/4) - Extra Exp ? Synergizes well because Ryze needs levels fast!
Intelligence (3/3) - Like the Sorcery mastery, CDR is a necessary.
Mastermind (1/1) - Works well with Summoners Insight for the extra CD on flash; Ignite as well.

These masteries are for a passive early game, which will benefit you much more mid-late game.

Red's - Magic Penetration (Standard Red's For Any AP Caster)
Yellow's - Health Per Lvl (Survivability For Early Levels)
Blue's - Extra Magic Penetration/Flat MR (The extra MPen + Sorc Shoes + Haunting Guise = True Damage early on.)
Quint's - Movement Speed (Movement Speed for chasing and escaping. Mixed with your ult, you'll be at an above average MS compared to other mid laners.)

9.69 Magic Pen (Without Masteries + Items)
174.96 Health at Level 18 (Without Masteries + Items)
10.43 Magic Resist [Flat] (Without Masteries + Items)
4.5% Extra Movement Speed (Without Masteries + Items)

Now imagine, with these good stats without masteries or items. With the items and masteries provided, you'll do a ton of damage, while having loads of sustain, and a better chase/escape option.

Very good summoner spells. Ignite which is used to finish off another champion, and Flash to escape ganks/etc.


: Good for setting up ganks.
: Low on health and don't wanna miss a creep wave ? This is the spell for you!

When Ryze casts a spell, all other spells have their cooldown reduced by 1 second.



This is what makes Ryze into a magical machine gun. Understanding this innate ability is what allows you to continuously spam his spells and why we build Ryze using the items that I have chosen. Even though nothing about the passive changed, you will most likely faceroll qwe, qwe, qwe thanks to this passive.



Passive: Ryze gains 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10% cooldown reduction.

Active: Ryze blasts enemy unit for 60/85/110/135/160 (+40% of ability power) plus 6.5% of his max mana in magic damage.

Cooldown 3.5 seconds

Cost 70 mana

Range 650



This is your bread & butter. Overload is your all-purpose Range 650 poke(nothing compared to his old range) , kiting spell, and straight damage dealer wrapped into one. Stock 3.5s CD timer with scaling 2% CDR per rank, this spell is the reason we can build 40% CDR so inexpensively, trigger Arcane Mastery as often as we do, and deal as much raw damage as we do.



Ryze traps an enemy unit, preventing them from moving for 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 and dealing 60 / 95 / 120 / 165 / 200 (+60% of ability power) plus 4.5% of his max mana in magic damage.

Cooldown 14seconds
Cost 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120mana
Range 625



Rune Prison is why everyone fears playing against Ryze. Range 625 snare that can't miss or be juked, this skill deals its damage instantly as the prison is cast.




Ryze unleashes a bouncing orb of magical power which bounces to enemy units or himself, up to 5 times. Each bounce deals 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 (+35% of ability power)(+1% of max mana) magic damage and reduces the target's Magic Resistance by 15.

Cooldown 14seconds
Cost 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120mana
Range 625




After the Spectator Patch, this spell become much more than a MR debuff, but now it scales incredibly well late game. I usually use this for harrasing, and proc'ing .



Ryze becomes supercharged for 5 / 6 / 7 seconds, gaining 15 / 20 / 25 % spell vamp, causing his spells to deal 50% AoE damage, and granting him 35/45/55 movement speed.

Cooldown 70 / 60 / 50 seconds

Range 200




Ryze get's a buff, in which he gains a big amount of spell vamp, does AoE damage, and gives him movement speed for a certain amount of time. This ultimate can be used for farming, sustain, and teamfights. It also can be used as an escape mechanism if you're "Desperate"!

The Normal Skill Build Is:

> > >

We max first for obvious reasons.

We usually max next, due to it's high nuking/spamming potential.

After, we max for the snare, and the fact that it does a good amount of damage as well.

Finally, we max because it's only used for a harrass tool early-mid game, but it scales incredibly well late game, especially with AP.

There are many ways to combo Ryze's abilities, but I find 2 in particularly good:



> > > > >

This can kill opponents at full health, but it leaves Ryze defenseless.



> > >

Even if you're a new Ryze player, this is what you'll usually use as your bread and butter combo.

NOTE- These items are completely situational. Remember to analyze their team comp before you buy any of the following items. I am not responsible if your team yells at your for building QSS against a team full of AD's. Carry on reading.

Aside from the core build provided, these are some situational items that may benefit you.

It provides good sustain, and some extra damage. Very situational.

After the Spectator patch, I don't feel that this item should be in any Ryze's build anymore, due to the fact that you can build the Catalyst into a Rod of Ages, and benefit much more. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good item, but I wouldn't recommend unless you feel that you need it against a burst champ to disrupt their combo.

Good against teams with ton's of AD damage, and it also give you some AP which is nice. The active ability is also a great asset to stay alive in team fights.

Like the above mentioned, this is a good item for a team with AT LEAST 3 AD's. The passive is like a bulletproof vest per say, and returns some damage back to them.

A good item if you're the others teams main target.

It's not bad, but it's not really fit for your build. I mean, it has AD, which Ryze doesn't use often; he's more spell oriented. Just build the Tear into an Archangels.

This item is way out of your league. For it's price, you barely benefit from it in my opinion.

Makes you pretty tanky against other AP's.

I never built this item pre-nerf. Now that it has been nerfed, it's just more of a reason NOT to build it. Ryze already has enough burst.

After trying it out, I found out that it's a very good item for early game. Combined with , you'll be doing a shit ton of true damage.

This is my final item. Sell your (if you do decide to get it early), and buy this.

This item gives you a HUGE AP boost, but I rarely get it because of the fact that Ryze with mana is a bit more powerful then Ryze with purely AP.

That's just my two cents on certain items that have been suggested to me by other Ryze players; if you would like my opinion on another item, just say so in the comments section.

Ryze has a VERY weak early game, and is countered by alot of other champions. If you feel that you need more power against your lane opponent, grab a and . If not, start with and . Focus on last hitting, and I cannot stress this enough.

FARM FARM FARM

Don't try to harass in the early levels because your mana WILL be depleted in about 4-5 spell casts, so it's best to play passively until level 7, and farm until you have enough to get your . Buying wards is a necessary; as soon as you get enough to get your catalyst, get about 2 and ward both sides of the river. Ask your jungler for blue buff if he doesn't need it the second time it spawns.

TL;DR : Farm, Play Passively, and ALWAYS place wards.

Now you've made it past Ryze's early game terror. At this point, you should be harassing, and trying to get that kill. Rush your RoA once you get enough, and keep on farming/harassing until you get your or . If you'd like, you can help your bottom lane if they're having trouble, and gank. With your runes and masteries, chasing and escaping shouldn't be a problem for you. At this point, you should be pretty strong. Now it's your time to shine. Once you have enough, get your into . From here, just keep on ganking, pushing your lane, and farming.

TL;DR : Now it's your time to play aggressive. Use your combo's to grab easy kills, and rush your core items. Gank, gank, gank.

This is your time to show them who Ryze is. At this point, you should be almost done completing your build. Grab a for extra survivability, and damage. The rest of your items should be situational.

Do they have alot of AD ? or

Do they have alot of AP ? or

Do you feel that you need more power ? or

Being Focused ?

The world is yours. Pick your items based on their team composition.

During team fights, you always want to use the combo's I listed in the "Skill Combo's" Chapter. This will help your team win team fights with ease. Faceroll, faceroll, and faceroll.

At this point, you're pushing their inhibitor, and winning the game. Congrats!

TL;DR : Finish your core build, push push push, pick your final items based on their team composition ; faceroll.

I have actually tried jungling Ryze in a normal game. It's pretty fun in my opinion.

Red's: x9 Flat Mana
Yellow's: x9 Armor
Blue's: x9 Flat Mana
Quint's: x3 Flat Mana

Your skill order should be > > > whenever you're jungling Ryze.


Use these masteries to jungle.


Wolves > Hard Leash on Blue (Smite) > Wraithes > Golems > Red (Smite) > Wolves


Start With +
Go for a whenever possible, and follow the above mentioned build.

My favorite chapter. This will explain how to counter these champs, or how to sustain yourself enough to survive into late game.

Difficulty 5/10
Ryze has such an advantage on Ahri. Just get Boots and three pots, dodge her skillshot's, and harass. Simple as that. However if she Charms you and uses her full combo on you, she can destroy you. She has high mobility, so remember to always dodge her skillshots.

Difficulty 9/10
Cassio is THE hardest counter to Ryze. Ryze is horrendous early game and cannot fight back harass worth jack. Cassio can literally charge at you at level 1 and nearly kill you. Ryze will go OOM trying to counter harass faster than Leblanc can kill you. Cassio has the absolute upperhand in damage and mobility until Ryze gets his core items. Best thing to do is to ban her, or just farm farm farm if she's not banned.

Difficulty 8/10
Any good xerath can easily beat ryze in lane. Xerath has a much farther range, rendering ryze's poke useless. If Ryze can close the gap between them, he can do some damage.

Difficulty 7/10
Brand isn't that much of a counter to Ryze. Start with boots, and just dodge his skill shots. Focus on last hitting.

Difficulty 7/10
His E is sort of like Q ability; very powerful DoT spell. I would start with a and a to play aggressive against him early game. Playing passively will get you killed against a malzahar.

Difficulty 5/10
Veigar's R, which specialises in demolishing heavy AP casters, does a lot less to him since Ryze scales off mostly mana. Also, since Ryze usually builds tanky, Veigar is really ineffective against him.

Difficulty 5/10
Much of Kennen's burst comes from him hitting his Q. Just get a Banshee's Veil,and this will render a lot of Kennen's early game poke + burst useless.

Difficulty 4/10
Ryze can easily counter morg; just play passive until Lvl 6, then at second back, you should have + and blue buff => harass her with your Q even if she shields, you will deny her.

The only REAL counter to Ryze is Cassiopeia, and this can be easily solved by banning her.

• Do not use abilities on minions early in the game. Save your abilities and mana for harassing your opponents, zoning and denying them their farm and experience.
• Farm as much as possible, but do not steal minions from your teammates, especially when they tell you not to.
• You should always carry at least one Health Potion with you to counter Ignites, poisons and similar attacks.
• When you have blue buff be very careful not to die as by doing so you not only die and give your opponents gold, but also buff them and significantly lower the survival chances of your teammates, especially if a good mana user gets the buff.
• Remember, are you friends.
• Learn Smart Casting! It is ideal for Ryze as all of his abilities require you to choose one specific target. This way of casting is also faster and lets you spam abilities, which Ryze does throughout the entire game, at your will.

Ryze, when played right is a killing machine and I think this build comes as close to perfection as I have ever seen. I do not want to say that it is the only way to play Ryze, the Rogue Mage, but I personally do not see any other option.

I beleive that Ryze is a top tier solo mid champ, and is very strong at the moment.

This is my first guide, and looks like it will be my best.

Please remember to like if the guide helped you master Ryze, and ask questions in the comment section below.

Thanks!