Graves · Jungle
Graves Guide
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
Graves belongs to Riot's Marksman class and is played mainly as Jungle (100% of the public matches we measured). It attacks from range (425 units) and uses mana. In this guide you play it as Jungle: your job is to clear camps efficiently, gank the lanes that can win and control dragons, grubs and Baron. The kit brings crowd control (knock-up) with New Destiny and mobility with Quickdraw. Its ultimate is Collateral Damage. Riot rates it 8/10 in attack, 3/10 in magic, 5/10 in defense and 3/10 in difficulty.
Strengths
- High physical damage: Riot rates it 8/10 in attack.
- Crowd control: New Destiny applies a knock-up to set up kills.
- Mobility: Quickdraw lets you reposition, engage or escape.
- Easy to pick up: Riot rates its difficulty 3/10.
Weaknesses
- Falls behind if the early ganks fail: every wasted trip is lost farm.
- Predictable if you always play it the same way: adapt your build to the enemy team.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Standard buildBalancedRecommendedThe default path: Stormrazor, Yun Tal Wildarrows and Blade of The Ruined King give the attack damage, critical strike and attack speed this class relies on. Pick it when you have no reason to adapt. Built from Riot's item tags and the champion's class; Riot publishes no build statistics.
- Crit buildOffensiveAdvancedAll-in on damage: Lord Dominik's Regards, The Collector and Infinity Edge stack attack damage, critical strike and armor penetration. Choose it when you're ahead or the enemy team is fragile — it gives up safety for kill pressure.
- Defensive buildDefensiveSituationalKeeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Bandlepipes. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
Builds
Standard build
When to use it
The default path: Stormrazor, Yun Tal Wildarrows and Blade of The Ruined King give the attack damage, critical strike and attack speed this class relies on. Pick it when you have no reason to adapt. Built from Riot's item tags and the champion's class; Riot publishes no build statistics.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
1100%- JungleMain100% of matches
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Scuttle Crab
- 2Dragons
- 3Voidgrubs
- 4Baron Nashor
- 5Atakhan
- 6Gank mid
Guideline, not a measurement: a scaling jungler starting red side. Farm efficiently, contest the scuttle and trade for dragons rather than forcing early ganks.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Stormrazor
- 2Yun Tal Wildarrows
- 3Blade of The Ruined King
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Inspiration
Shards
Summoner spells
Flash
Smite
Crit build
When to use it
All-in on damage: Lord Dominik's Regards, The Collector and Infinity Edge stack attack damage, critical strike and armor penetration. Choose it when you're ahead or the enemy team is fragile — it gives up safety for kill pressure.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
1100%- JungleMain100% of matches
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Scuttle Crab
- 2Dragons
- 3Voidgrubs
- 4Baron Nashor
- 5Atakhan
- 6Gank mid
Guideline, not a measurement: a scaling jungler starting red side. Farm efficiently, contest the scuttle and trade for dragons rather than forcing early ganks.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Lord Dominik's Regards
- 2The Collector
- 3Infinity Edge
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Domination
Shards
Summoner spells
- Flash
- Smite
Defensive build
When to use it
Keeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Bandlepipes. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
1100%- JungleMain100% of matches
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Scuttle Crab
- 2Dragons
- 3Voidgrubs
- 4Baron Nashor
- 5Atakhan
- 6Gank mid
Guideline, not a measurement: a scaling jungler starting red side. Farm efficiently, contest the scuttle and trade for dragons rather than forcing early ganks.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Mercurial Scimitar
- 2Maw of Malmortius
- 3Bandlepipes
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Resolve
Shards
Summoner spells
- Flash
- Smite
Abilities
New DestinyPassiveGraves' shotgun has some unique properties. He must reload when he runs out of ammo. Attacks fire 4 bullets, which cannot pass through units. Non-champions struck by multiple bullets are knocked back.Passive — applies a knock-up. It works on its own: play around it.
QEnd of the Line13/11.25/9.5/7.75/6s80 mpGraves fires an explosive shell that detonates after 1 second, or after colliding with terrain.- Cooldown
- 13·11.25·9.5·7.75·6
- Cost
- 80
- Range
- 925
WSmoke Screen26/24/22/20/18s70/75/80/85/90 mpGraves fires a smoke canister at the target area creating a cloud of smoke that reduces sight range. Enemies caught in the initial impact are dealt magic damage and have their Move Speed reduced briefly.- Cooldown
- 26·24·22·20·18
- Cost
- 70·75·80·85·90
- Range
- 950
EQuickdraw16/15/14/13/12s40 mpGraves dashes forward gaining an Armor and Magic Resist boost for several seconds. If Graves dashes towards an enemy champion, gain two stacks of True Grit instead. Hitting enemies with basic attacks lowers the cooldown of this skill and refreshes the resistance boost.- Cooldown
- 16·15·14·13·12
- Cost
- 40
- Range
- 425
RCollateral DamageUltimate100/80/60s100 mpGraves fires an explosive shell dealing heavy damage to the first champion it hits. After hitting a champion or reaching the end of its range, the shell explodes dealing damage in a cone.- Cooldown
- 100·80·60
- Cost
- 100
- Range
- 1000
Strategy
1Early game
Start with your jungle pet and Smite, plan a full clear towards the lane you want to gank and show up when that lane has the enemy pushed and without Flash. A gank works when the lane is pushed towards the enemy tower and the enemy has used Flash or their escape: pick those moments instead of forcing a bad one.
- Early items: B. F. Sword and Cloak of Agility.
2Mid game
With Stormrazor and Yun Tal Wildarrows, play around the next dragon or Baron: take vision with your laners first, then force the fight or trade the objective across the map. Your spikes are level 6, when Collateral Damage comes online, and each completed item: Stormrazor first, then Yun Tal Wildarrows.
- Core items: Stormrazor, Yun Tal Wildarrows and Blade of The Ruined King.
3Late game
Late, Smite decides Baron and Elder: stay close to the pit when it's up and never get caught farming on the far side of the map before an objective spawns.
- Late items: Death's Dance and Mercurial Scimitar.
4Team fights
In fights, enter after the enemy uses their key crowd control and land New Destiny on the carry; keep Smite for the objective, not for damage. Use Collateral Damage where it hits the most enemies or catches the key target.
5Playing against Graves
Riot's own advice for facing this champion:
- Graves deals mostly physical damage so Armor is an effective counter.
- Leaving the Smoke Screen's area of effect removes the harmful effect immediately.
Tips
- Smoke Screen can be used both to escape and to set up a kill.
- Using Quickdraw to get into range and delivering a point blank Buckshot can do lots of damage.
- Rush Stormrazor: it's the item that speeds up your clears and your ganks the most.
- Before an objective, reset and buy wards: fight it with full health and Smite ready.
- Gank the lane with crowd control: two stuns in a row are worth more than any damage.
- Plan fights around Collateral Damage: without it, Graves is far less threatening.
Matchups
Strong against
Graves attacks from 425 units and Amumu from 125: every skirmish in the jungle happens at a distance they cannot answer.
Graves attacks from 425 units and Briar from 125: every skirmish in the jungle happens at a distance they cannot answer.
Graves attacks from 425 units and Ekko from 125: every skirmish in the jungle happens at a distance they cannot answer.
Weak against
Burrow / Un-burrow (knock-up) lets Rek'Sai pin Graves down before Quickdraw gets them out.
Bola Strike (root) lets Rengar pin Graves down before Quickdraw gets them out.
Blazing Stampede (stun) lets Udyr pin Graves down before Quickdraw gets them out.
Works well with
Piercing Darkness from Senna keeps Graves alive, and Graves is the damage the team needs to protect.
Help, Pix! from Lulu keeps Graves alive, and Graves is the damage the team needs to protect.
Caretaker's Shrine from Bard keeps Graves alive, and Graves is the damage the team needs to protect.
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 16.19.1.
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