Draven Build & Rune Guide

Draven is an unpopular ADC that you won’t see much of on the Rift. With an exceptionally high skill ceiling, most ADC players don’t want to invest the time and effort in learning a single Champ. But for Draven masters, almost any matchup is a good matchup for them. Boasting insane basic attack damage plus lifesteal, good Draven players can be on 200 health and still get a double kill. Let’s see what makes him so good.

What Is Draven’s Playstyle

Draven’s playstyle is based entirely around his passive. While we will explain the passive ahead, it consists of gaining stacks and getting additional gold per Champion takedown based on those stacks. Draven players are usually very aggressive and eager to take trades, but positioning is key as he has very low mobility. Surviving is essential for this Champion to dish out a lot of damage.

How Do His Abilities Work?

Draven’s kit does not have a lot of variability. His Q is linked to his passive, while W gives him temporary offensive stats like attack speed. His E can be used as a small disengage tool or to cancel important ability casts, while R is a global ultimate that can wreak havoc anywhere on the map, even though the terrain.

League of Draven (Passive)

As we mentioned earlier, Draven's passive is directly linked to his Q. The passive allows Draven to get stacks from different actions like catching a Spinning Axe, killing minions or jungle monsters, or destroying structures. He can also gain stacks for consistently killing minions or traps. If he can successfully meet all the conditions, he gains an additional 2 stacks.

The stacks are called Adoration. Their purpose is that every time Draven gets a Champion kill, those stacks are converted into additional gold. He gets an additional 40 (+2.5 x stacks) gold for each kill but consumes all Adoration stacks in the process. Draven loses 75% of his stacks on death.

Spinning Axe (Q)

Spinning Axe is the easiest way to get his Adoration stacks up. Once activated, Draven gains an empowered auto attack for 5.8s. Each time this hits a target, the axe ricochets off the target and lands somewhere near Draven. If Draven manages to catch this axe, the ability is refreshed, and he gains Adoration stacks.

The location where the axe will drop is determined by Draven’s movement, but it can be hard to get an understanding of at first. Dropping the axe results in the termination of the ability.

Blood Rush (W)

Draven’s W sends him into a bloodthirsty frenzy where he gains bonus attack speed for 3s and a decaying movement speed boost, plus a ghosting status effect for 1.5s. Abilities like these are extremely helpful when engaging with an engage support as your auto attacks are that much more devastating. It is worth noting that catching a Spinning Axe resets this ability’s cooldown.

Stand Aside (E)

Draven has only one disengage tool if he is ever getting engaged upon and that is his E. Stand Aside depicts exactly what the ability accomplishes. Draven throws his axes in a line, dealing physical damage to all enemies hit and knocking them back. This ability not only slows them but also interrupts channels which is the most important aspect of this ability.

Whirling Death (R)

One of the few pure-damage global ultimates in the game, Draven’s Whirling Death allows him to throw two axes in the targeted direction. The unique part is that as soon as the axes hit an enemy Champion or touch the edge of the map, they will return to Draven, damaging enemies in its path. The ability can also be recast to recall the axes.

Whirling Death grants a small field of vision, does physical damage, and can even execute enemies based on the number of Adoration stacks Draven has.

Draven’s Build Path (Items + Runes)

Draven has a pretty straightforward meta-build path that everyone is likely following. This is because these items work exceptionally with Draven’s kit, so there is no need to change the build.

Items

• Starting Item: Doran’s Blade is the go-to starter item for Draven, as it is for most ADC Champions. Longsword is not very effective on Draven as he does not have a lot of range and needs that sustain lifesteal against the constant poke and harass.
• Core Build: For your core build, go for Essence Reaver as your first item. Since Draven can constantly proc his abilities, Essence Reaver’s passive, Spellblade is extremely effective and can amp up his damage. Follow this with Infinity Edge to further enhance your auto-attack damage. You can buy his mythic Immortal Shieldbow as a third weapon, which is a common purchase for him.
• Situational Items: Even though Immortal Shieldbow is your 3rd pickup, we mentioned it as a core item because no other mythic works well on Draven. Eclipse can work in certain matchups but not all. Your situational items are Bloodthirster for more sustain and Lord Dominik’s Regards, especially if you need to break down high-health, beefy tank Champions.
• Boots: Always rush Bereserker’s Greaves on Draven for extra attack speed.

Runes

• Primary: Lethal Tempo. As with all other auto attack dependant ADCs, Draven also excels with Lethal Tempo. It is also easier for him to stack it due to auto attack resets with his abilities. Follow it with Triumph, Legend: Bloodline, and Last Stand. Draven is very aggressive and will prioritize fights over farming.
  
  Triumph keeps refilling his health bar if he gets a takedown. Legend: Bloodline and Last Stand help him survive, even while taking huge amounts of damage and dealing more damage while low on health.
  
  
• Secondary: For secondary runes, go Eyeball Collection and Treasure Hunter. Eyeball Collection gives you scaling damage, while Treasure Hunter provides you extra gold to snowball the game.

Final Thoughts

Draven is definitely a hard Champion to play, but his snowball potential is very high. As he gets so much extra gold from various sources, you can get ahead with just a few kills. If this is the playstyle that interests you, one where you can farm Champions instead of minions, give Draven a try and see if you like him.