Full Build Friday - Riven the Exile [Orc Exemplar] (Patreon)

This one was a request that I probably would have gotten to eventually, but was encouraged to step up my schedule for her a bit. She turned out to be a fun but slightly tough build to put together.

As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choices may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

Let's hop to it for this build for Riven the Exile from League of Legends!

RIVEN THE EXILE

CHARACTER Riven Konte

SOURCE League of Legends

BUILD GOALS

o    An orphan who arose to prominent position in the Noxus military, Riven struck out on her own after witnessing the depths of depravity they would go to

o    She accidentally killed an Ionian elder while shattering her enchanted runeblade, but contentedly took up a life of farming as recompense for what she had done

o    Within League, she is a mobile fighter with situational defensive tools and high sustained damage even from her shattered runeblade

o    Whenever Riven uses an ability, her Runic Blade passive gains a charge. Her attacks consume charges to deal extra damage

o    The first of these abilities is Broken Wings, which can be activated up to three times. The first and second casts are dashes with slashes from her sword. Her third cast is similar, but also knocks back enemies

o    A bit more simple is her Ki Burst, which just damages and stuns enemies around her

o    She gains another dash with Valor. This also grants her a shield upon arrival

o    Her ultimate is Blade of the Exile, restoring and empowering her blade while increasing her range. It can be recast as Wind Slash to unleash a wave of damaging energy in a cone

Summary of Goals: Riven is a swordswoman who possesses quite a bit of magical and area effects as seen with her Ki Burst and Wind Slash. She has some considerable mobility from her Broken Wings and Valor while we’ll likely be looking for temporary HP for the shielding effects of the latter. I have some ideas to represent her broken and fully forged sword though the knock up might require some finagling.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Battle Ready Orc

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Constitution

o    Ancestry Feat: Orc Ferocity

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (T)

o    Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare

Background: Martial Disciple

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Warfare Lore (T), Survival (T)

o    Background Feat: Cat Fall

Class & Subclass: Exemplar

o    Class Ability Boost: +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (T), Medicine (T), Religion (T)

o    Class Feat: Energized Spark – Air

o    Ikons: Gleaming Blade, Scar of the Survivor, Thousand-League Sandals

o    Equipment: bastard sword, breastplate

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +1, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +1)

To begin this build and to make things a bit more interesting, I’d use the orc ancestry. You could use human with little trouble, but even Pathfinder’s largely sanitized orcs are still very combat-capable and focused, which I think fits for a Noxus champion. The war-like nature of the nation lends to both the battle ready heritage and the martial disciple background for her as well. She has some survivability in her kit thanks to her Valor and she often builds lifesteal, which influences the inclusion of Orc Ferocity. Given the effects of her abilities, particularly those seen with her Ki Burst and Wind Slash, we need to mix her martial abilities with some area effects. The two best options for this are magus or exemplar and for this build, I found myself going for the latter. I think it makes for a slightly more straightforward build and we can use Energized Spark for the air element. In addition to letting her transform the spirit damage from her kit into slashing damage, it also just matches with her air-themes, such as Wind Slash. As for the exemplar’s Ikons, we can find some more self-sustainability with Scar of the Survivor, the speed of her dashes with Thousand-League Sandals, and then perhaps most importantly, her Gleaming Blade. You could go for a Barrow’s Edge if you want more ways to stay in the fight, but I like the transcendence of Gleaming Blade. It could potentially let her squeeze in the three Strikes of her Broken Wings with slightly more ease. She could do a regular Strike and then make a Flowing Spirit Strike with two Strikes at a slightly better than full multiple attack penalty Strike. Equipment-wise, I’d use a bastard sword to represent her blade. Switching between wielding it one- or two-handed will be a decent way to represent it in its shattered and complete forms.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Guardian Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler

o    Skill Increase: Society (T)

o    Gear: ring of discretion

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Root Epithet: The Brave

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (E), Stealth (T)

o    Gear: +1 bastard sword, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Steel on Steel

o    Skill Feat: Slippery Prey

o    Gear: bracers of missile deflection, +1 bastard sword, squire’s tabard, ring of discretion

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +4.5, Dex +1, Con +3, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +1)

o    Ancestry Feat: Scar-Thick Skin//Victorious Vigor

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (E), Nature (T)

o    Gear: +1 striking bastard sword, bracers of missile deflection, bracelet of dashing, squire’s tabard, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion

The immediate Guardian Dedication is a bit of a weird choice and doesn’t really suit her outside of the acquisition of Taunt and heavy armor proficiency that it gets us. However, it is part of my greater plan that I can’t entirely act on just yet. Before we can further explore it, she very importantly picks up Steel on Steel. This ikon is imbued into her weapon and can either release a cone, as per Wind Slash, or emanation, as per her Ki Burst. It is a very important feat for the build and honestly manages to cover a solid chunk of it. We’ll probably have to represent the knock back of her third Broken Wing through Athletic maneuvers, which makes Titan Wrestler a bit of a necessity. We did see her captured in one of the League music videos, which led to me including Slippery Prey as well though I could also see her using Additional Lore for Warfare Lore. When it comes to general feats, Fleet gives her more Speed and I specifically took it so that when she Strides half her Speed thanks to her Brave epithet, she can Stride 15 feet instead of 10 feet. Rounding out this block is her ancestry feat, which is a tiny point of contention. I like Victorious Vigor as a way for her to gain temporary Hit Points per the shield from her Valor, but that’s a pre-master feat. If your GM won’t let you take that, I’d go for Scar-Thick Skin as she bears plenty of them.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Basic Defender – Shoulder Check

o    Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess

o    Gear: +1 breastplate, +1 striking bastard sword, blazing banner, bracers of missile deflection, Jack’s tattered cape, squire’s tabard

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Dominion Epithet: Peerless Under Heaven

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (M)

o    Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 breastplate, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking bastard sword, bracers of missile deflection, bracelet of dashing

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Advanced Defender – Armored Courage

o    Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance

o    Gear: stalwart’s banner, ring of the ram, lesser grub gloves, +1 breastplate, +1 striking bastard sword, demon mask

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Undying Ferocity

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (M)

o    Gear: +1 resilient breastplate, boots of bounding, stalwart’s banner, lesser grub gloves, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking bastard sword

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +1, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +2)

o    Class Feat: Mauler Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Battle Cry

o    Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient breastplate, banner of piercing shards, boots of bounding, ring of the ram, +1 striking bastard sword

We can use Basic Defender for Shoulder Check. This is mostly another stepping stone, but the ability to make others off-guard isn’t a bad representation for her knock back or her brief stun. More importantly, she can immediately follow that with Advanced Defender for Armored Courage. While it can only be used once per hour, the temporary HP that this provides is a great way to represent the shield of her Valor. That pretty much finishes up what I wanted from the guardian (there were other ways to get temp HP with the barbarian’s Renewed Vigor coming to mind, but that would have taken way longer), so we can go ahead and take a Mauler Dedication for tenth level. I want to get into this for some of her bigger smashes, and this will be a solid way of doing so even if it’s only getting her crit specialization when she’s two-handing her bastard sword for now. My decision to focus a bit on Intimidation for her is mostly due to her performance in the Awaken music video and because it does fit in well with the whole Noxus forces that she was brought up in. That’s my idea behind her skill feats for this block while Toughness and Undying Ferocity alike help her hang in the fight. Furthermore, the latter of these provides her with some temporary Hit Points when she uses Orc Ferocity, which again serves to represent the shield of her Valor. This level also provides her with a dominion epithet, which I would probably take for Peerless Under Heaven. This means that she’ll have the critical specialization of her sword even if she’s one-handing it and can frighten foes after her Spark Transcendence. One of the other reasons I liked this was for the Battle Hymn to the Lost class feat as another cone area effect for her Wind Slash, but I couldn’t actually fit the feat into her build.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Incredible Initiative

o    Skill Increase: Religion (E)

o    Gear: +2 striking bastard sword, armbands of athleticism, grievous weapon rune, +1 resilient breastplate, boots of bounding, stalwart’s banner

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Advanced Defender – Ring Their Bell

o    Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat

o    Gear: +2 resilient breastplate, +2 striking bastard sword, impactful weapon rune, armbands of athleticism, banner of piercing shards, flaming weapon rune

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Lifeblood’s Call

o    Skill Increase: Religion (M)

o    Gear: +2 greater striking bastard sword, +2 resilient breastplate, greater ash gown, impactful weapon rune, armbands of athleticism, grievous weapon rune

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Slam Down

o    Skill Feat: Sacred Defense

o    Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking bastard sword, greater stalwart’s banner, +2 resilient breastplate, impactful weapon rune, greater demon mask

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +5.5, Dex +2, Con +4.5, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +2)

o    General Feat: Fast Recovery

o    Sovereignty Epithet: The Last Ruler

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (L)

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater banner of piercing shards, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking bastard sword, greater ash gown, skirmisher’s coat

We have the familiar-looking Ring Their Bell giving us an honest-to-goodness stun, as long as we jump through certain hoops and the use of Slam Down is similarly inspired by the knockback of Riven’s third Broken Wing. Making people prone is the next best thing to a knockback, or a stun in some cases, and a great way to force them to eat up action economy. We do take one more Intimidation skill feat for the block with Terrified Retreat, but then I’d switch tracks and go for Sacred Defense. This is the whole reason behind my investment in Religion, which I don’t think otherwise really fits her. But this is yet another way to gain the shield from her Valor. Incredible Initiative helps her get the jump on foes while Fast Recovery is pretty typical for my League builds. My choice to include Lifeblood’s Call is a little shaky, but it works decently well with her Orc Ferocity while the extra damage matches the empowerment that she gains from Runic Blade. I really wish that they would add more sovereignty epithets to that exemplar as I find myself using the Last Ruler once again since we have invested in Intimidation.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Crown of Rule

o    Skill Feat: Battle Prayer

o    Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, box of unspoiling (type IV), propulsive boots, +2 greater striking bastard sword, greater stalwart’s banner

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Rampaging Ferocity

o    Skill Increase: Religion (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater striking bastard sword, greater flaming weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, propulsive boots, greater banner of piercing shards

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Crashing Slam

o    Skill Feat: Skeptic’s Defense

o    Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking bastard sword, quickstrike weapon rune, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater boots of bounding

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Diehard

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient breastplate, bracers of strength, major stalwart’s banner, +3 greater striking bastard sword, greater flaming weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +3, Con +5, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +3)

o    Class Feat: Hammer Quake

o    Skill Feat: Scare to Death

o    Gear: +3 major striking bastard sword, +3 greater resilient breastplate, commandant’s scabbard, major stalwart’s banner, quickstrike weapon rune, bloodthirsty weapon rune

We do get a feat I know that I’ve never explored before with Crown of Rule, which is another attempt at representing her Ki Burst. It is a burst rather than an emanation and deals minor damage, but it also forces enemies in the area to fall prone as a free action if they fail their save, fitting the stun effect. Crashing Slam improves her Slam Down, letting her work some damage into it, and then I was a little disappointed by the level twenty exemplar feats, which led to me taking Hammer Quake since her third Broken Wing can knock back a few foes in an area per the prone that this inflicts. Battle Prayer is a natural companion to Sacred Defense even if it’s mostly me taking advantage of her legendary Religion. Skeptic’s Defense can help her throw off mental domination just like she throws off shackles, and then Scare to Death is just the best skill feat in the game. Rampaging Ferocity is a massive improvement to her Orc Ferocity before she finishes out with Diehard as she’s come close to the end more than once in her life yet has managed to pull through.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Aside from the archetypes I’ve already invested in, Riven could probably make use of a fighter archetype, which has Vicious Swing and could further build into Furious Focus. Dual-Handed Assault could also be a good fit for her for when she wants to quick-swap her Striking style. Brutal Finish from mauler could also be good while I could further see a Barbarian Dedication just as another way to bump up the damage of her Runic Blade. Not to add yet another multiclass option, but I also originally considered magus for this build given the way she uses her effects, which could instead make for a solid archetype option.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Riven the Exile is a battle ready orc exemplar with a storied career as a martial disciple from her service to Noxus. Her array of ikons help to resemble the variety of powers and effects that her runeblade provides her with, making her a rather versatile warrior. By using the exemplar class, we can gain an Energized Spark for air, given her association with the element. A bastard sword helps her further switch up her playstyle with its one-handed nature possibly resembling her broken blade whereas dual-handing it will be for her fully reforged blade. For the enhanced damage on her attacks provided by the Runic Blade passive, she has the extra spirit damage provided by her Gleaming Blade’s immanence. Broken Wings is a three-hit effect that you could potentially resemble with a regular Strike followed by a Flowing Spirit Strike for slightly better odds or just make a trio of Strikes for the basis of it. Of perhaps greater import is the knockback effect that the third hit of this provides, which we’ll use the likes of Slam Down for. There’s also mobility associated with this and her Valor and for that, we have her Brave epithet letting her Stride as a free action along with the Thousand-League Sandals simply increasing her Speeds. We need an area effect for her Ki Burst, and we can find one in Steel on Steel or Crown of Rule. The latter of these can knock creatures prone, the effect of which is pulling double duty to resemble both the stun of this effect as well as the knockback of Broken Wings though we do also have the guardian’s Ring Their Bell for that. While we’ve already covered the dash of Valor, for the shield it provides, we have the likes of Armored Courage, Sacred Defense, and potentially even Orc Ferocity with the way it can stave off death. To finish out on her Blade of the Exile, Riven can switch to dual-handing her bastard sword for greater damage while Steel on Steel once more comes into play for the cone of her Wind Slash, its element further flavored by her Energized Spark.

This willful and woeful warrior woman wades into worrisome wars without worry, wielding a wounded weapon and the whispering wind to whittle and wound ne’er-do-wells.

Have a fantastic Friday!