Riktor — Patch 1.63 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: B | Web: S+ | Web: S+ | Web: S | Web: B | Web: S | Web: A] Pro play (RPL 2026): 23 picks, 69.6% WR, 10.3% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked. Ranked S+ on zathong.com. Ranked S+ on metatierlist.com. Ranked S on pillarofgaming.com. Ranked B on commonsensegamer.com. Ranked S on 1v9.gg. Ranked A on richmanshop.com.
Riktor — Warrior Guide
Key Insights
- Passive: bush buff takes 1.5s to stack, pre-position before the fight, not during it.
- Q: landing the follow-up smash auto resets Q to a 4s cooldown, so your real Q cooldown in a fight is 4s, not base.
- Q: bush gives an airborne on dash; river extends the smash auto's range. Two different payoffs from one button.
- W: two 0.75s invincibility charges. Blocking a hard-CC ability with either charge stuns the attacker.
- R: the five-hit detonation is the kill tool (300 + 100% AD true damage, 1s silence), not the 36 + 10% AD zone tick.
Strengths
Battle Instinct's terrain buffs punish open-field fighters who can't match it.- Two
Retaliate charges make him nearly unkillable against ability-heavy assassins. 
Jungle Strike's bush-buff airborne plus instant reset bursts harder than most S-tiers.
Mark of the Hunter's five-hit silence shuts down mages and assassins mid-fight.
Weaknesses
- Battle Instinct's 1.5s window lets enemies bait him out of his terrain buff.
- Retaliate does nothing against basic-attack carries like Tel'Annas or Laville.
- Mark of the Hunter has no pull; mobile enemies like Butterfly just walk out.
- No escape when both Retaliate charges are spent and enemy follow-up CC lands.
Matchups
Abilities
PBattle Instinct
Riktor adapts to his environment, gaining buffs based on terrain type for 1.5s. Brush: +15% attack speed. River: +20% movement speed. Normal ground: -10% damage taken. Additionally, Riktor gains a small movement speed boost while transitioning between buff zones.
1Jungle Strike
Riktor dashes forward, dealing 40 (+40% AD) physical damage, then strikes with his fanged sword for 100 (+100% AD) physical damage. His next attack becomes a smash that grants bonus magic damage. If this hits, cooldown resets immediately (cooldown: 4s). With Brush buff: enemies are knocked airborne. With River buff: increased attack range.
2Retaliate
Riktor raises his sword in defense, taking no damage or CC for 0.75s. Then counterattacks with 250 (+150% AD) physical damage. This skill can be stacked up to 2 uses. If Riktor blocks CC with this skill, the counterattack stuns enemies for 1s.
RMark of the Hunter
Riktor detonates a magic circle, marking all enemies in the area. Marked enemies take 36 (+10% AD) true damage every 0.5s and are slowed for 5s. After marked enemies are hit 5 times, the mark detonates, dealing 300 (+100% AD) bonus true damage and silencing enemies for 1s.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Jungle Strike | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
| 2Retaliate | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
| RMark of the Hunter | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Onslaught
Assassinate
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Bush Ambush Full Rotation
PR112Pre-stack the bush buff for 1.5 seconds, pop ult first so the true-damage zone is active before you dash in, Q for the airborne, immediately smash-auto to reset Q, second Q to stack two more hits toward the ult detonation, W to block the panicked counter-ability and stun, then finish with the smash auto for the fifth mark, this is your optimal kill combo in the slayer lane.
River Skirmish Chase Punish
PR121Use the river movement-speed buff to close the gap before ult, then Q to cut off the dash escape, auto for the reset, W if they counter, and second Q to lock in the fifth mark on a fleeing target, best used at Dragon pit entrances.
CC-Flip (Anti-Engage)
2R11When the enemy engages first, absorb their CC-ability with W to trigger the stun, immediately ult while they're stunned and can't exit the zone, then run the Q reset chain to hit five marks before they recover, turns their initiation into a free kill.
Expert Video Guide
Rov สอนเล่น Riktor ตัวโหดที่คนเล่นน้อย (ฉบับมือใหม่) — MYRMIE
Gameplan
Riktor's first spike is Broken Spear: the armor shred works with his true-damage ult detonation to push his effective damage well past his raw AD. He is lane-dominant from level 4, when both W charges are online and Q's reset pattern is set. His peak sits in the window between Omni Arms and Fenrir's Tooth, where every Q-reset chain triggers Omni Arms' magic-damage proc and turns the five-hit ult detonation into a burst no squishy survives. He softens slightly in the final minutes if the enemy clusters, since grouped targets peeling for each other can walk out of his ult zone.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →From level 1, establish bush-buff priority on your side of the slayer lane, last-hit from the bush whenever possible so the 1.5-second stack is always ready for the first aggressive trade at level 2.
- →At level 4, when you have both W charges, look for a bush-passive Q trade: walk into bush, wait 1.5 seconds, then Q into the enemy laner; if they CC you, W it and stun them, then finish the trade.
- →Avoid pushing the wave under tower in the first three minutes, you want river access for the movement-speed buff to rotate if the jungler calls for early Abyssal Dragon vision.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →After Broken Spear, rotate to Dragon fights via the river so your movement-speed buff is active during the approach, arrive faster than opponents expect and ult before the fight's opening CC lands.
- →Use your two W charges to body-block for your own carry in mid-game skirmishes; a stunned enemy assassin mid-combo is a larger swing than any individual kill you'd get going solo.
- →Track the enemy jungler's path and pre-stack bush buffs at the slayer-lane bushes before they gank, if they walk in, Q airborne them immediately and let your laner clean up.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →In late-game team fights, never enter the frontline first, let the allied tank or initiator absorb the enemy's CCs, then W one of the follow-up abilities, ult immediately, and dive the carry with the bush or terrain buff already active.
- →With full build, your five-hit ult detonation will one-shot most mages and marksmen through Blade of Eternity's passive; target the enemy damage dealer over the tank even if the tank is the initiator.
- →If the enemy team is kiting around objectives, use the river movement-speed buff to flank and cut off their retreat path to base rather than engaging from the front where terrain buffs are neutral.
Pro Tips
- →You can deliberately toggle between terrain types mid-fight to keep your passive transition speed boost active as a pseudo-dash, walk from open terrain to river and back to bush to maintain the brief movement burst between buff stacks, making you harder to kite during the 1.5-second pre-stack window.
- →Against double-charge users like Florentino, bait the first W-blockable ability by walking in without committing to Q, then when they throw the second ability expecting no W left, use your second charge to stun them at their most committed moment.
- →The smash auto-attack that resets Q has a slightly longer range than Riktor's normal auto, use this to get the reset from just outside the enemy's counter-attack range, especially against melee laners who trade back immediately after eating a Q dash.
- →In the late game, cast Mark of the Hunter slightly before your team's initiation rather than during it, the slow is already ticking on the priority target when the fight starts, so even if they try to escape through the chaos, they're moving at reduced speed before they realize the fight has begun.
Riktor is the right slayer main for Diamond-plus players who want a hero that rewards game-reading over mechanical gymnastics. His ceiling in coordinated play, especially with CC supports like Baldum or Grakk, is among the highest of any warrior on the current Thai server. He punishes one-dimensional laners, flips engages with a well-timed Retaliate stun, and closes through true damage that scales cleanly late. The habit to build is pre-stacking Battle Instinct's bush buff before every trade, not during it. That 1.5-second window, respected consistently, is the gap between a good Riktor and a great one.
Riktor — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Riktor good in the current ROV patch?+
Riktor is firmly S tier on the Thai server right now, sitting at a 69.6% win rate across Diamond-and-above games, one of the highest raw win rates in the slayer lane. His terrain-adaptive passive and two-charge W keep him resilient in the heavy-CC meta while still putting out the true-damage burst that punishes squishy backlines.
What is the best build for Riktor?+
Core build is Hermes' Select, Broken Spear, Omni Arms, Fenrir's Tooth, Hercules's Madness, Blade of Eternity. Broken Spear's armor shred amplifies the true-damage ult detonation beyond what the tooltip implies, and Omni Arms turns every Q-reset smash auto into an extra magic-damage proc that stacks the five-hit silence faster.
How do you counter Riktor?+
Hit him with sustained basic-attack damage (which bypasses Retaliate) or enough mobility to leave Mark of the Hunter's zone before the five-hit detonation. Butterfly, Murad, and Tel'Annas all qualify. In lane, force trades in open terrain away from bushes and river to cut off his passive buffs, and never lead with a CC ability he can eat with W and convert into a stun.
Is Riktor hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium. The core loop of stacking terrain buffs, resetting Q, and timing W blocks is learnable in a few games, but optimizing the 1.5-second passive window and knowing which ability to block with W takes real knowledge. Strong pick for players already at Diamond who want to climb; raw beginners leave a lot of his power on the table.