Ryze

Intro:

The main page for Ryze's basic information from the League of Legends website:
Ryze <--- Link

Ryze used to be an AP medium range caster, excelling at team fights particularly due to his Spell Flux ability and AoE damage.  Currently, Ryze has been revamped entirely, and requires an entirely different build relying on maximum mana, but also gains a huge amount of survivability compared to his previous state.  Even though he is considered a "recommended" champion by Riot, it is in my personal opinion that Ryze is a very difficult champion to play, and queue-ing with a decent Ryze is far and few between.

Runes:

Your rune set should be 9 magic penetration reds, 9 scaling mana regeneration in yellow, and blue can be your choice of cooldown reduction to max out at 40%, or 9 more scaling mana regeneration.

Masteries:

Your masteries should follow a 9/0/21 build, making sure to stop once you reach Archaic Knowledge in your Offense tree, and to take all mana related masteries in Utility.  Make sure to get your improved Ghost and Flash in your Utility tree.

Summoner Spells:

It is VERY important to use Ghost and Flash with Ryze because for one thing, he's not exactly a very fast moving champion, but most importantly it's to be in the right spot, at the right time.  Ryze's Rune Prison can be extremely annoying when used in conjunction with these spells.  Also note that Rune Prison is a snare, and NOT a stun, so make sure to stay medium range away when you continuously throw your spells at their team.

Ryze is a very versatile champion when it comes to his role on the team, and can lane anywhere.  He is a great ganker, solo midder, and a consistent magic damage dealer in team fights.
Your starting item should be this:

Starting item:

+2 hp potions

There aren't any excuses you can make here when choosing your starting item.  The Sapphire Crystal is a broken starting item for Ryze, because the skills you will be adding first GREATLY increases your damage as they add bonus damage based on your maximum mana.  Mana regeneration early game should not be hard at all for Level 30 summoners if you went the correct rune set above, and added the mana regeneration masteries.  This also allows you 2 hp potions so you shouldn't have a problem with harassment.

Pre-laning:
  • Not much to say here, Ryze needs a lane because he can't jungle at all.  Try to get a lane with a strong ranged DPS, or another AP disabler to set up some instakill combos.  Really fun to do this with Morgana or Lux because you can chain snares.
  • If going into the brush, wait for your partner to lead.  If this is not possible, and Ryze is the stronger of the two, then you messed up, and shouldn't have went for it anyways.
  • When laning mid, abuse your Overload on them because it has a very good damage to mana usage ratio, and actually hits pretty hard early game.

Laning Phase DOs and DON'Ts:
  • DO last hit minions as this has become much more important now; the remade Ryze has significantly less farming ability early game as his ultimate no longer grants additional AP, and you won't be adding points into Spell Flux either anymore, nor will it gain a damage benefit from AP.
  • While periodic Overloads are a staple in harassment, you should also considering using your skills all at once to burst them with damage and lower your cooldowns due to your passive, Arcane Mastery.
  • DO communicate with your team mates, as Ryze will mostly be located on an outside lane, and has the perfect moveset for early game ganks.
  • DO keep an eye on your mana, Ryze has difficulty early game with this, even with the mana regeneration runes, if you don't have enough mana for one Rune Prison, you need to base fast.
  • DO get close to the enemy champions you can kill if you have a point in Spell Flux.  Just snare them to stay out of range, and you can use yourself as a conduit to deal bouncing damage and lower their magic resist to chain with other spells.
  • DO use the abbreviation OOM to tell your team mates that you are "out of mana."  If you're a good Ryze, your team should be hearing this a lot.
  • DO NOT start fights you can not take by yourself unless your safety is ensured with an ally champion.  Ryze is entirely based on skill based combos, so basically if you don't kill them all at once, they can easily overtake you.
  • DO NOT ever "wait" to use your skills, Ryze has some of the best cooldowns in the game, and are meant to be spammed.

Metagame Options:

So you've done a sufficient job during the laning phase and are up to level and gold, where to go from here?

Your choices in items:

Tear of the Goddess: first item
Sorcerer's Shoes: Second or third item
 Or:
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Second or third item
Kage's Lucky Pick: Second item or not at all
Glacial Shroud: Can be third, fourth, or fifth item
Fiendish Codex: Anytime, but mostly benefits early game
Catalyst the Protector: Anytime, but mostly benefits early game
  • You should turn your Sapphire Crystal into a Tear of the Goddess as fast as you can, and then it's fine to leave it as is for most of the game.  Note that it should only be converted to Archangel's if you have a majority of the mana bonuses from that.  This is because Archangel's mana boost is 1 skill to 3 seconds, and Tear of the Goddess is 2 skills to 6 seconds.  See how you can get more stacks with the Tear?
  • Your choices in boots also differ by your playing style.  If you're fixed on the tradtional style of Ryze play, you should buy Sorcerer's Shoes for the magic penetration.  If you're a fan of the new Ryze skill set and already have CDR runes in your blues, you can consider the Ioanian Boots of Lucidity to max out at 40% CDR.
  • This is an optional item during the metagame, and is really only to be used when you are losing, but not so bad that the game is thrown.  It will allow you to gain gold even when being pushed back.  If you're going with a Deathfire Grasp, this is a requirement anyways.
  • Glacial Shroud adds mana to boost Ryze's damage output AND armor for survivability.  The passive is also Ryze's favorite thing in the whole world, more cool down reduction.  Also builds into a Frozen Heart which is absolutely devastating in additional damage and degen aura verses carries.
  • Need some cheap 10% CDR? Can't decide between a Deathfire Grasp or Morello's Evil Tome?  This is your best friend, especially early game, well only early game.
  • The item Catalyst the Protector can so damn annoying if you can get it early enough as you have a lower time to level up, and can activate the effect more quickly.  It gives him limitless early game spam and heal.   Buy this if you plan on going Rod of Ages for a more beefed up build.  It can also be built into a Banshee's Veil which adds damage, and the effect, as you know, is an amazing spell shield passive.  You will probably need one or the other per game, so this item is core.

    250g, lasts 4 minutes

    Another viable option around the middle of the game is an Elixir of Brilliance.  It adds some temporary AP, and CDR.
      Your Late Game Options:

      Still versatile as ever, Ryze has multiple choices in final builds that other champions simply do not have.

      Tear first, upgrade around 2/3 mark in game
      Third, fourth, fifth item, earlier if facing a lot of magic damage
      For magic penetration, second or third item
      Or:
      For CDR, second or third item
      Burst damage and CDR
      Third, fourth, fifth, even sixth item versus AD teams
      Only when you know you're going to win
      Only when you can't finish a Deathfire Grasp
      A solid third or fourth
      Situationally when you need more survivability
      Always last
      • The Archangel's Staff should typically be built when your Tear of the Goddess is almost maxed out, as 1000g for the upgrade is simply not worth it, and slows down your mana bonuses.
      • Banshee Veil is absolutely overpowered on Ryze because it negates the one thing that can kill him - disables, not to mention it adds damage to Ryze's mana based abilities.
      • When it comes to the shoes, buy according to your play style
      • While not as great of an item on Ryze as it once was, the Deathfire Grasp is still very viable to burst with, and it has a whopping 15% CDR passive.
      • Frozen Heart is a situational item and not a core item as the benefits, including the degen aura, primarily effect AD based champions, and as such, should only be used in a game versus a lot of attack damage.
      • Ahhh, the Mejai Soulstealer, you may be asking why on Ryze when he has such horrible AP ratios, and the truth is that his AP ratios ARE garbage and will do little benefit for you.  Only buy this if you are the best there ever was, because the bonus at 20 stacks is game over.
      • I consider the Morello's Tome as an option, only when your build up for a Deathfire Grasp has been interfered, you can recycle your Fiendish Codex into this.
      • A staple for many "AP tanks," the Rod of Ages benefits Ryze as much as it benefits all magic damage champions that need some survivability.  This is very viable if you can get your Catalyst the Protector early in the game.
      • Your main job is not to slow down the enemy, but to snare them.  If you're having trouble getting away due to hp problems, the Rylai's Crystal Scepter will make you harder to kill and adds a slow to your skills.  This really benefits only your Overload, but even then, it helps a lot, as you can spam your skills.
      • When it's late in the game and you have nothing else to buy, there is one last option to counter all their magic resist they have stacked up.  I recommend only buying the Void Staff late game if you can buy it all at once.

      Late Game:

      Your skill points should look like this:

      Level 1: Overload/Rune Prison/Spell Flux
      Level 2: Rune Prison/Overload
      Level 3: Overload, make sure to have 2 in Overload by Level 3
      Level 4: Spell Flux
      Level 5: Overload
      Level 6: Desperate Power
      Level 7: Overload
      Level 8: Rune Prison
      Level 9: Overload
      Level 10: Rune Prison
      Level 11: Desperate Power
      Level 12: Rune Prison
      Level 13: Spell Flux
      Level 14: Rune Prison
      Level 15: Spell Flux
      Level 16: Desperate Power
      Level 17: Spell Flux
      Level 18: Spell Flux
      • Only add Spell Flux first if you are on an outside lane and your ally is about to initiate them in brush.  They will be really close together and it will bounce, causing a lot of Level 1 damage.
      • Your primary goal is to max Overload first, and Rune Prison second, making sure to take Desperate Power at 6, 11, and 16.
      • Ryze's metagame and Ryze's late game are played the same way.  It's all about judging your fights, and using your combos.  Early game is different; however, because you have to be mindful of your mana.
      • You can farm creeps when you have significant damage output with your ultimate, while healing yourself with spell vamp.
      • Your ideal combo is to activate your ultimate first.  Previously, this would be activated after Rune Prison, but after the updates, Rune Prison simply does too much damage to not be used with the ultimate.  Secondly, you should use Overload to lower your cooldowns, and then use Rune Prison third.  Understandably, this is not always the case, and you may need to use your emergency snare first.  After the initial combo, you simply need to use Overload and Rune Prison on the squishies and mobility based carries every time your cooldowns are up.  This is possible due to the new Ryze build having much more hp, armor, and magic reist.  Spell Flux is a waste of a click when it comes to hunting down champions, the waving my hand in the air animation takes too much time anyways when you need to do 1500 damage in 6 seconds, and should only be used to farm creeps.  Also note, that the ultimate adds AoE damage to your spells, and you should use this to your advantage for maximum team fight damage output.

      The new Ryze certainly is a huge change, despite most of the skills having the same animation.  It has changed the play style, item build, and even skill sequence.  One thing I have to say about the revamped Ryze is that it is certainly much easier for new players to use than he was before.

      Fin
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