Starter Guide: Mana Machine Ryze (Mid) Mid

Mana Machine Ryze buys mana and gets both damage and durability out of it. Overload (Q) resets, Rune Prison (W) holds people still, and Desperate Power (R) heals him through the fight.

Ryze is the Season 3 champion where the defensive item and the damage item are the same item. Arcane Mastery takes 1 second off his other cooldowns every time he casts, so the rotation never really stops. Overload (Q) scales with +6.5% max mana, which is why a mana pool counts as damage on him.

• Starting Items: Doran's Ring and 2 Health Potions (or Tear of the Goddess).
• Core Build Rush: Sorcerer's Shoes (magic penetration ensures spell-machine-gun rotations slice through enemy magic resist), Rod of Ages and Archangel's Staff / Seraph's Embrace (Ryze's abilities scale directly with maximum mana +6.5% max mana on Overload Q; RoA and Tear build a deep mana pool for both damage and durability, transforming into high AP and a protective mana shield), and Frozen Heart (provides 400 Mana which directly boosts spell damage, 95 Armor, and 20% CDR to reach the 40% CDR cap for machine-gun spell rotations).
• Situational Options: Desperate Power (R) + Banshee's Veil (ultimate grants AoE spell damage, movement speed, and 25% Spell Vamp to heal back to full health while Banshee's blocks CC), Void Staff, Will of the Ancients, and Guardian Angel.

• Flash and Teleport (or Ignite).
• Max Q (Overload) first for primary mana damage and passive CDR %. Max W (Rune Prison) second for snare duration. Max E (Spell Flux) third for MR shred. Level R at 6, 11, 16.

Combos worth drilling

• Machine-Gun Combo: Q (Overload) -> W (Rune Prison) -> Q -> E (Spell Flux) -> Q. Arcane Mastery passive reduces all cooldowns by 1s on every spell cast.
• Desperate Power Vamp: Pop R (Desperate Power) -> unleash machine-gun combo into minion wave or teamfight to heal 25% spell vamp.

Mistakes to avoid

• Don't skip basic attacks early: Weave auto-attacks between spells during early laning trades.
• Don't run out of mana before Tear stack: Stack Tear of the Goddess with Q; rush Rod of Ages for max mana scaling.

• Early Game (Levels 1-5): Farm with basic attacks and Q Overload. Stack Tear of the Goddess continuously by weaving Q spellcasts.
• Mid Game (Levels 6-11): Complete Catalyst and Tear. Use Q -> W -> Q -> E -> Q spellweaving combos to lock down enemies during skirmishes.
• Late Game (Levels 12+): Turn on Desperate Power (R) for AoE spell damage and 25% Spell Vamp. Become an unkillable 4,000 Mana battlemage machine-gunning spells every 0.5 seconds.