Ryze theorycraft. Ryze version 936 (I lost count)

Today, I want to discuss our re-re-re(re?)-rework Ryze! I have done some stalking and have theorycrafted some and I think I have some ideas! I will lay out setups via the Runes, Masteries, and summoner spells, as well as some builds and some simple tips for utilizing the skills efficiently. Feel free to join in the discussion below!

Runes: 9 armor/scaling health seals, 9 Mpen marks, 3 AP Quints, 6 Scaling CDR glyphs, and 3 mana/scaling mana glyphs.

Reasoning: The seals are pretty basic, as well as the marks. For Quints the other choice that many may go with is Movement Speed. However I feel that with the masteries and with his ability to consistently proc his double stacked runes, he doesn't really need the extra MS. 3 scaling CDR glyphs give you a good amount of CDR to toy with heading into the game, seeing as a regular build doesn't sport as much as we may desire. Finally, the mana/scaling mana are just to enhance some scalings and allow us more spells in rotation. You can use scaling ap or some MR, but I just preferred these :).

Masteries: So the 2 mastery pages I have toyed around with are 12-18-0 or 0-18-12. So far I have been primarily using 0-18-12. You have the option of either going Stormraider's Surge or Thunderlords Decree. The decision is pretty much up to you, though I feel like having the extra MS from stormraiders makes it very difficult to kill you. It allows you to space much easier and reposition. I have been using the 0-18-12 page because you have a large amount of damage in your kit already. Having the extra kite and tankiness will make you not only a threat, but a major nuisance as well. Much like a popular mastery page on Riven, you focus on increasing frustration and defensive power.

Setups: 12-18-0: Ferocity- Sorcery, Double-Edged Sword/Feast, Vampirism, Oppressor. 0-18-12: Resolve- Recovery, Explorer, Runic Armor, Insight. For both: Cunning- Wanderer, Assassin, Merciless/Meditation, Dangerous game, Intelligence, Stormraiders/Thunderlords.

The double edged sword vs Feast is merely a playstyle difference, and if you get abused a lot and need sustain I'd do Feast. I run explorer over Tough Skin to help roaming for my ult. You can run Savagery over Wanderer, I am still in testing for this. Finally, Merciless vs Meditation is a tricky one. You do a very large amount of damage already, the Merciless really amplifies the large "crits" your Q does on a Spell Fluxed target. However, the Meditation would allow for a much larger amount of sustain in the laning phase, and would allow you to sit on a refillable potion without much of a need to go to corrupting potion.

Summoner Spells: Flash and Teleport. These spells provide you with the ability to reposition via Flash, and assist your team via the teleport. You can also use teleport to be able to back for major items like Tear or ROA, and return to lane without consequences.

Build path: So far, the build path has stayed pretty much the same, with the only difference being the incorporation of a morellonomicon as a 3rd item. Some details here.

Starting items: There are 3 different starts. 1: Sapphire Crystal and refillable potion. 2: Dorans ring and 2 health potions. 3: Corrupting potion. Personally, I highly recommend going with the 1st. This allows you to have slightly increased stats as well as more resources to cast spells, all via the crystal. The crystal also allows you an early tear of the goddess which escalates you into your spikes faster. The refillable potion is a really efficient tool that can give you lots of long term sustain, as well as provide the option of upgrading to the corrupting potion if need be.

Core items: Archangels Staff/Seraph's Embrace, Rod of the Ages, and Void staff

Build order: (I will use my recommended start for this, other starts still result in the same order). Sapphire crystal and refillable potion > Tear of the Goddess > Catalyst > Rod of the Ages > Archangels staff.

The above build order provides lots of resources and sustain that allows you to stay in lane to farm up the more expensive items. Getting the Tear first allows you ample time to start stacking it. Following that you get your ROA for the same reason. Then you move on to finish boots and Archangels to complete your core.

But wait Pengod, you said Void Staff is a core item! Yes, it is. But it is not REQUIRED to be the 3rd item built, it is just extremely potent being in the build overall, usually as a 3rd or 4th item. Which I will explain below /

Here I will have optional items and placement of the Void Staff.

Offensive items: Morellonomicon- This is going to be a 3rd or 4th item, and usually the choice to delay the Void Staff to the 4th item. This item provides everything Ryze needs: Mana regen, CDR, and AP and really makes it hard to duel if you require any sustain.

Deathcap- A really powerful item for champions with strong AP scalings and high amounts of AP. Ryze doesn't have very strong AP scalings, but, this will move towards your passive very well.

Void Staff- A core item, you have a large amount of flat damage and tons of powerful scalings. This item will give you a massive spike and should be built 3rd or 4th (depending on if you need this or Morello more).

Defensive items: Frozen heart- A very strong item. If the enemy has lots of auto AD, or just a lot of AD in general, then this is a great defensive pickup.

Banshees Veil- As previously stated, you want to be able to space and kite around, so you really don't want to be stuck by any CC. This is an amazing item to give you some tankiness and help keep those nasty stickies from getting on you a lot.

Guardian Angel- Of course is an amazing defensive item. It's really difficult to kill you once, let's make them do it a second time!

Rylais Crystal Scepter- You can proc this on enemies so easily. The best part is that it all of Ryze's abilities are coded as single target, allowing for the most potent of conditions on this item. Very nice for kiting and offers some tankiness.

Hextech GLP-800- Really need to test this one, as if you went this item, you would skip ROA. I am testing this some more but, if you require the slow and need the immediate stats it might serve well. Probably no but, we'll see.

Boots: Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Just gives you the last of the CDR that you need and the summoner reduction is amazing for you. Sorcerers Boots are OK but, meh.

Items I don't really suggest: Zhonyas Hourglass- This item isn't really needed though unless you absolutely NEED the active on it. There are many other items if you need armor that I think would suit him more. You require a lot of spacing and movement which this just delays.

Abyssal Scepter- Good if they have a lot of AP that can really stick to you or can burst you down. Not really needed but, the CDR and MR are ok at best. Don't really require the passive due to your Void Staff being there.

A decent overall build would be: Seraphs Embrace, Rod of Ages, Ionian boots of Lucidity, Morellonomicon, Void Staff, and Guardian Angel/Rylais Crystal Scepter.

So finally, I want to cover Ryze's abilities and some interactions with a few tips. All interactions from Spell Flux will be listed under that spell.

Passive (Arcane Mastery): Ryze's maximum mana is increased by 5% per 100 AP--- This is 5% of your BASE mana (mana pool your champ has innately). Build AP > get mana > more scalings for damage and shields and more resources to cast them.

Q (Overload): Ryze unleashes a runic blast in the target direction, dealing magic damage to the first enemy struck and consuming all of his Runes. If Ryze consumes 2 Runes, he shields himself from damage for 2 seconds and gains bonus movement speed for the duration. --- A pretty potent poking tool. The biggest part of this ability is that if you cast any other ability, the CD of this ability is reset! This is an extremely powerful spell in your rotation. Some tips for the runes: You consume them on cast NOT on hit. You stack runes by using your other basic abilities, and they last for 4 seconds. The shield is extremely useful and you should look to proc it whenever possible in a fight. This, combined with the extended W active, will give you a lot of protection. One really interesting interaction with the rest of his kit? Leveling your Spell Flux increases it's bonus damage on Spell Flux.

W (Rune Prison): Ryze instantly deals magic damage and roots the target enemy for 1 second. --- Pretty simple. Point click root. Use this after Spell Flux and before Overload to help stack up runes to give your shield. Useful to kite or just simply run away!

E (Spell Flux): Ryze hurls an orb of runic energy at the target enemy, dealing magic damage and marking them with Flux for 3 seconds, causing his next basic ability against them to consume the mark and gain bonus effects. --- Your bread and butter ability. This ability has a lot of complexities with it, allowing it to be a very interesting ability to look at and use in combos and leveling.

Bonus effects: Overload- Consumes the mark and deals increased damage. If other enemies around it are also marked, they are also consumed and dealt the damage. The bonus damage is increased by the level of Spell Flux.

Rune Prison- Consumes the mark and increases the root duration to 2 seconds.

Tips: Use this at the start of your combos and as often as you can. This will allow you to increase your damage output. If you use Spell Flux on a target that is already marked, the mark will spread to nearby enemies. This also occurs if you kill a target with Spell Flux, or kill a marked target with another basic ability. This ability allows you to push waves extremely fast, as well as zone and poke enemies in the minion wave.

R (Realm Warp): Ryze channels for 2 seconds, during which he opens a portal around him, and upon successfully completing the channel, he and all allies within the portal blink to the target location.--- This ability is great for escaping with your group, pulling extra minions for a siege, or to flank a lane. The most interesting part of this ability is the factor of teleportation of multiple units. Quick note: This ability can only be ranked up twice. The 3rd ranking was added on to Q, giving it the ability to level 6 times!

Ability ranking order: So after some research and some thinking I've come up with 3 different build paths. The first is one that I expect to be the most used, the 2nd is an alternate that will see some play. The 3rd however, is one that I crafted myself that I think might hold some decent results behind it. Still in need of testing but, we'll see. Quick note: All of these start with a choice of Q or E at level 1 (though I highly suspect that E will be the most popular), then getting the other, or getting W, at lvl 2. Finally, get whatever you don't have yet, at level 3. I will then list the order in which to max abilities. I won't list his R, but just know to level it when possible. Here they are!

1: Q/E > Q/W/E > w/e you haven't taken. Max: Q > E > W

2: Q/E > Q/W/E > w/e you haven't taken. Max: E > Q > W

3: Q/E > Q/W/E > w/e you haven't taken. Max: Q/E > W. So here's the thought: I looked at his scalings, and a lot of his combo power comes from his Q on a marked target. So leveling E makes that stronger. But, leveling Q gives more flat damage. So if you guys know how Jayce levels his abilities, it'll be similar to that. For those who don't, Jayce levels his Q > E >W, and then alternates levels in his Q and W. so level 4 he does Q, 5 is W, 6 is Q. You see what I'm saying? It's actually what influenced the fact that on live Jayce doesn't have the option of leveling ult anymore. So anyways, I thought that you could do the same for Ryze with his Q and E! At level 4 get another Q point, 5 is E, 6 is Q, and so on and so forth.

Let me know what you guys think! Anything you agree or disagree on? Anything I can do to improve on these?