Hello, I am xmotoby, and welcome to my Graves jungle guide! This is a simple guide; it only contains what I think is necessary to know.

My favorite kind of champion to play is marksman, but I do not like the ADC role. My favorite role is jungle, so to find a champion that fits the criteria is difficult. This leaves me with very few choices ( Kindred and Graves). Graves fits my preferences perfectly.

Graves is a unique champion. His basic attacks are short-ranged but longer than melee, knock back non-champions and are limited to 2 shots without reloading. He is an AD caster, and so benefits from AD, armor penetration, crit chance, and attack speed.

Pros:

+ Great burst, dueling, and outplay potential + Lots of escapes + Deceptively tanky while doing a lot of damage + Fast and healthy clears + Can carry very hard

Graves has a very strong early game: His clears are fast, and his basic attacks keep the monsters away, thus reducing the number of auto attacks he takes. He is a strong duelist throughout the whole game while also providing a lot of AOE damage. When ahead, he can easily 1v1, 1v2, or even 1v3.

Cons:

- Short basic attack range - Not very useful when behind - High mana costs - High damage spells ( End of the Line and Collateral Damage) can be dodged.

Like every champion in the game, Graves does have weaknesses. If he gets behind, he won't do much damage, won't be very tanky, and never has a lot of crowd control. His short basic attack range makes fighting champions like Caitlyn difficult. Lastly, his abilities cost a lot of mana.

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I use generally use 12/18/0 masteries, getting Thunderlord's Decree for reliable burst with a flat damage build. Another good mastery is Warlord's Bloodlust , which would be better if you decide to go with a crit build. I personally don't like Stormraider's Surge , but some do.

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Fury gives 4% attack speed, which is nearly a full quintessence. It's more useful than Sorcery in my opinion.

Fresh Blood gives extra damage on the first autoattack on a champion, which is good for ganks.

Natural Talent gives extra damage. We don't really need more sustain because Graves has an extremely healthy clear and lifesteal doesn't really do much until we have more damage anyway.

Bounty Hunter gives Graves a good flat amount of damage. Since Graves is a "carry" type champion, after killing 2 or 3 different champions, Bounty Hunter outclasses Oppressor .

Savagery makes us do more damage to minion camps, which helps us clear faster. Also, since Graves' AAs can hit more than 1 target at a time, they apply the extra 5 damage to all of the minions.

Runic Affinity makes buffs last longer, which is good since you will have them for most of the game.

Merciless synergizes very well with Collateral Damage as a sort of an execute.

Dangerous Game makes us live after killing someone when we otherwise wouldn't.

Precision is good overall. Some penetration for free is good before we get Youmuu's Ghostblade.

Thunderlord's Decree gives quite a bit of burst damage, which graves can pop extremely quickly.

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Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed helps early clears quite a bit by reducing time between attacks and reducing reload time.

Greater Mark of Attack Damage boost early game damage a lot, and help with last hitting minions.

Greater Seal of Armor helps you take less damage from camps and towers.

Greater Seal of Scaling Health gives a good amount of health since Graves doesn't really need extra resistances because of his Quickdraw. HOWEVER, with the advent of BOTRK being really popular, health is less valuable, so armor may be a better choice depending on the enemy team.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist give some MR at higher levels. You could also take CDR glyphs if you are confident.

Flash is the best spell in the game. Use it to finish off escaping enemies, escape over walls when Quickdraw and Collateral Damage are unavailable, and dodge skillshots like Dark Binding.

Smite is totally necessary to jungle. You need this to get the jungle item, to secure objectives, and to smite minions.

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I wouldn't take any other spells.

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New Destiny is Graves' passive. It makes his basic attacks unique by knocking back jungle camps, which is why Graves takes so little damage in the jungle. To kite jungle camps, hit the minions and walk backward. Repeat this over and over in a circle (so that the minions don't lose patience and reset) so that the minions spend more time running than attacking. When farming jungle or dueling for a long time, use End of the Line and Smoke Screen when you are out of shotgun shells. You can cast spells while simultaneously reloading to do the most amount of damage in as little time as possible.

End of the Line is Graves' main damage ability. It does AOE damage and DOES NOT go through walls. Instead, it bounces off walls immediately, giving enemies less time to react. Max it before Quickdraw and Smoke Screen

Smoke Screen is Graves' only magic damage ability. It reduces sight range and slows enemies in it, and is therefore very useful in teamfights and dueling. If you are strong, use Smoke Screen ahead of a running enemy. They will either have to go around it (free damage), run through it (free damage), or stop and fight you (likely will result in a kill). Max last, after Quickdraw.

Quickdraw is one of Graves' most useful abilities. It is a short ranged dash that can go over small walls. It also grants a stack of True Grit, which gives Graves more and more armor and magic resistance. Use Quickdraw after one or two basic attacks. Quickdraw is an basic attack reset, which means you can get an extra attack in in a short amount of time. If used first (unless it is just used to get closer to an enemy), it is wasted. Max after End of the Line but before Smoke Screen.

Collateral Damage is Graves' ultimate ability. It is a long ranged skillshot that deals damage in a cone and knocks Graves back. Use Collateral Damage last if possible. The knock back makes it hard to hit the enemies afterward if they are still alive. Collateral Damage can be used to kite backward if needed. It can also be used to escape over a wall. Max whenever possible.

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Combos:

While farming:

End of the Line->AA-> Quickdraw->AA

Ganking before level 6:

Smite-> Smoke Screen->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> End of the Line

Ganking after level 6:

Smite-> Smoke Screen->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> End of the Line-> Collateral Damage

Assassination combo:

Smite-> Smoke Screen-> End of the Line->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> Collateral Damage

Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior gives a lot of cheap damage and CDR. Too good to skip early game.

Ninja Tabi are really good right now. They make the amount of jungle damage you take just about 0, and since BOTRK-abusing champs are popular now, they are extremely gold-efficient. If you are up against a lot of AP/CC, get Mercury's Treads instead. If you are fed to the heavens early, get Boots of Swiftness to keep ganking.

Serrated Dirk is a good half-item early game as flat lethality boosts the amount of damage you do by quite a bit. I like to build this into Youmuu's Ghostblade as it is one of the best items for Graves. It provides damage, CDR, lethality as well as a movespeed active, which helps with catching fast champions.

Black Cleaver is another great item for Graves. It gives some AD, but what makes it great is the Phage passive and %armor shred. Because Graves aas are made up of pellets, he can fully proc Black Cleaver with just one aa.

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duskblade of draakthar

duskblade of draakthar is a good item on graves for burst. It provides mostly raw stats, not much utility.

Bloodthirster is a good item. It's better than Death's Dance vs %current health damage (BOTRK, bloodrazor, Kindred). Against %missing hp damage ( Jinx ult and most executes), Death's Dance is better. Really though, it is personal preference and you can build both if you want.

Infinity Edge is probably the highest damage outputting item in the game for marksmen. However, it is expensive and the build path is not very convenient. I only build it if I have lots of extra gold to spend and don't really need other stats (rarely).

Last Whisper is a great item ONLY if you're up against a team with 2+ armor stacking tanks. Build it into Lord Dominik's Regards if you must 90% of the time. Build Mortal Reminder if you are up against a Dr. Mundo or Swain.

Phantom Dancer is a neat item. It lets you duel more effectively, though I don't really like building crit on Graves.

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Maw of Malmortius is a good item. I would build it against high AP burst teams. The 10% CDR is nice too.

Mercurial Scimitar is a really good item for Graves. It has damage, magic resist, lifesteal and an anti-CC passive. NOTE: Quicksilver Sash no longer drops abilities like Death Mark and Chum the Waters.

Sterak's Gage is a good generally anti-burst item. Since Quickdraw gives free resistances, the health works pretty well.

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Elixir of Iron is good late game if you need a little boost to tenacity and don't need Elixir of Wrath's damage and sustain.

Elixir of Wrath is good if you have no lifesteal in your build yet or if your team does not need a tank.

Control Ward is always good to have around. Buy one before you want to take Dragon or Baron so you can clear out wards if needed.

Oracle Lens is good to buy if the enemy team actually knows how to ward (not very often at my elo). It is also good against champions like Rengar, Talon and Twitch if no one wants to buy a Vision Ward.

Farsight Alteration is useful to check bushes and objectives without getting too close. The cooldown is longer now than before, so I only buy it occasionally.

Early Game:

Early game, at low elo, against most junglers, you can take their topside buff first with your toplaner to set the other jungler behind. Farm up. If there is an easy gank, go ahead, but never try to force a gank. 90% of the time, it will just be a wasted effort. Don't be afraid to fight the other jungler 1v1 because you will likely have Quickdraw True Grit stacks, which make Graves extremely tanky early game.

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Mid Game:

By this point, you should have 2-3 of your big items. If you are doing fine or are ahead, try to force fights by trying to catch your enemies in 1v1's. If you are behind, farm as hard as you can. Keep Dragon and Rift Herald warded and take them if there is a good opportunity and it is worth it. Dragon importance IMO: Elder>Infernal>Mountain>Cloud>Ocean

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Late Game:

By this point, everyone should have nearly full build. Team fights will happen non-stop. Your job in team fights is not to engage; you are not tanky enough. Your job is to Smoke Screen the assassins who try to kill your carries and delete them instead. Keep Baron warded and take it if there is a good opportunity, but don't take Baron if you could get an inhibitor or win the game instead.

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ALWAYS REMEMBER:

NEXUS>INHIBITORS>TURRETS>BARON>DRAGON>KILLS>FARM

Thank for reading through my guide! If you liked it, please upvote. If not, leave a comment or PM me and I will take what you have to say into account.

Thanks to jhoijhoi for writing guide crafting tips!

MY OTHER GUIDE(S):

PILTOVER DUNKAGE