Graves plays like a ranged AD carry in the jungle. He clears fast, duels hard, and scales into a mid-range damage threat. His shotgun rewards close-range combat — all pellets hit at point-blank for maximum damage.
Abilities
Skills Overview
P
New Destiny
Passive
Graves' 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.
Graves' auto-attacks fire 4 pellets in a cone. All 4 hit at close range for massive damage. Each auto needs to reload — E resets ammo.
Q
End of the Line
Skillshot · AoE · Bounce
Graves fires an explosive shell that detonates after 1 second, or after colliding with terrain.
CD: 13/11.25/9.5/7.75/6 · Cost: 80
Q bounces off walls for double damage. Always Q toward a wall in jungle fights for the bounce burst.
W
Smoke Screen
AoE · Smoke · Nearsight
Graves 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.
CD: 26/24/22/20/18 · Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
W creates a smoke cloud that nearsights enemies inside. Drop it on the enemy team in fights to blind them.
E
Quickdraw
Dash · Armor Stack · Reload
Graves 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.
CD: 16/15/14/13/12 · Cost: 40
E dashes and reloads 1 shell. It also stacks True Grit (armor). Use E between autos for constant reloading.
R
Collateral Damage
Skillshot · AoE · Knockback
Graves 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.
CD: 100/80/60 · Cost: 100
R is a long-range execute. The shell explodes in a cone behind the first target hit. Use it to finish fights.
Skill Leveling Order — Max Q first, then E, then W · R at 6 / 11 / 16
| Level | Q | W | E | R | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Take E — dash + reload for clear | ||||
| 2 | Take Q — wall bounce damage | ||||
| 3 | Take W — smoke screen | ||||
| 4 | Level Q | ||||
| 5 | Level Q | ||||
| 6 | R — Collateral Damage unlocked | ||||
| 7 | Level Q | ||||
| 8 | Level E | ||||
| 9 | Q maxed ✓ | ||||
| 10 | Level E | ||||
| 11 | R rank 2 | ||||
| 12 | Level E | ||||
| 13 | Level E | ||||
| 14 | E maxed ✓ | ||||
| 15 | Start leveling W | ||||
| 16 | R rank 3 | ||||
| 17 | Level W | ||||
| 18 | W maxed ✓ |
Itemization
Recommended Builds
Starter Items
Gustwalker Smite
MS burst.
450g
Long Sword
AD for early clear.
350g
Core Build
Duskblade of Draktharr
Lethality + invisibility on kill. Snowball tool.
3100g
Ionian Boots
CDR for more Q and E uptime.
950g
Edge of Night
Spell shield + lethality. Prevents CC from interrupting your engage.
2900g
Youmuu's Ghostblade
Lethality + MS active for chasing.
2900g
Situational
Death's Dance
Bleed passive + heal on kill. Survivability in extended fights.
3300g
Lord Dominik's Regards
Armor pen vs tanks.
2900g
Maw of Malmortius
Magic damage shield vs AP threats.
2800g
Duskblade → Edge of Night → Youmuu's. Full lethality for one-shotting squishies.
Bruiser Core
Eclipse
Omnivamp + shield. Sustain in extended fights.
2800g
Plated Steelcaps
Armor vs AD-heavy comps.
1100g
Black Cleaver
Armor shred + HP. Each pellet stacks cleaver.
3100g
Death's Dance
Bleed passive. Survive burst, then heal on cleanup.
3300g
Eclipse → Cleaver → Death's Dance. Use vs tanky comps where lethality falls off.
Runes
Domination Primary
Dark Harvest
Stacking execute damage. R + Dark Harvest finishes low HP targets.
Sudden Impact
Lethality after E dash.
Eyeball Collection
Free AD.
Treasure Hunter
Bonus gold on unique kills.
Precision Secondary
Legend: Alacrity
Attack speed for faster auto-attack pattern.
Coup de Grace
Execute damage on low HP targets.
Shards
Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health
Gameplay
How to Play Graves
01
Early Game
Fast Clear, Invade, Duel
- Start Red → Raptors → Krugs → Wolves → Blue → Gromp. One of the fastest full clears in the game.
- Graves wins almost every 1v1 at level 3. Invade weak junglers aggressively.
- Q against walls in river fights for double damage. Always position near terrain.
- E stacks True Grit armor. In extended fights, keep dashing to stack maximum armor.
- Kite camps with auto → E → auto for constant reloading and DPS.
02
Mid Game
Skirmish King, Objective Control
- First item spike makes your burst lethal. Look for picks on isolated enemies.
- W smoke screen on the enemy team in dragon fights blinds them for easy objective takes.
- In skirmishes, position near walls. Q bounce + close-range autos deal massive damage.
- Split camps with laners if ahead. Your clear speed means you can take enemy camps on rotation.
- Use R to finish fleeing enemies. The explosion cone behind the target catches nearby enemies too.
03
Late Game
Secondary Carry
- You're a secondary carry. Position like an ADC but use E to kite forward aggressively.
- W the enemy team in teamfights. Nearsight cripples their ability to target your carries.
- E stacks make you deceptively tanky. At full True Grit stacks, you have 100+ bonus armor.
- R is an execute. Save it for finishing low HP targets, not opening fights.
- In Baron pit, position so Q bounces off the pit walls for maximum DPS.
Teamfighting
How to Teamfight as Graves
Graves is a mid-range carry in teamfights. He deals damage like an ADC but positions more aggressively thanks to E armor stacks.
1
Setup — Position Near Walls
Before engage
01
Stand near terrain for Q bounce damage.
02
W the enemy team to blind them.
03
Let your frontline engage first.
Don't E into the enemy team. Use E for kiting and repositioning, not engaging.
2
DPS — Auto + E Kite
Mid-fight
01
Auto → E → Auto for constant DPS with reloading.
02
Q toward walls for bounce damage.
03
Stack True Grit with E dashes for armor.
3
Execute — R to Finish
Cleanup
01
R fleeing enemies for the execute.
02
Chase with E dashes.
03
W to prevent enemy vision of your position.
R explodes in a cone behind the first target. Line up enemies for multi-hit R damage.
Tips & Tricks
Advanced Mechanics & Hidden Tech
Advanced mechanics for Graves.
Basic
Pellet Damage
All 4 auto-attack pellets hit at point-blank range. Always auto at close range for maximum damage. At max range, only 1-2 pellets connect.
Intermediate
Q Wall Bounce
Q deals double damage when it bounces off terrain. In jungle, always Q toward the nearest wall. In lane, Q toward the river wall.
Basic
E Reload
E reloads 1 shell and dashes. Use it between autos for infinite ammo. The pattern is: auto → E → auto → natural reload → auto → E.
Advanced
True Grit Stacking
Each E use in combat stacks True Grit (bonus armor). In extended fights, you become surprisingly tanky. Don't waste E outside of combat.
Intermediate
W Usage
Smoke Screen nearsights enemies — they can only see directly around them. Drop it on the enemy ADC in teamfights to blind their targeting.
Advanced
R Cone Geometry
R's explosion cone is wider than the initial shell. Aim R to hit a frontliner — the explosion cone behind them hits the backline.
Matchups
Counters & Matchups
Graves struggles against champions who outrange him or have hard CC to lock him down. He excels against melee champions he can kite with E.
Click any matchup to expand tips & how to play against them
Loses Against
Kindred outranges you and contests your marks. Her R negates your burst execute.
Contest her marks aggressively. You win close range — force fights in tight jungle corridors.
Kha'Zix's isolation damage one-shots you. His R stealth makes it hard to land all pellets.
Fight near teammates to negate isolation. W his stealth for vision.
Rammus taunts you and thornmail reflects your rapid autos. Your physical damage feeds his armor.
Avoid fighting Rammus. Focus the opposite side of the map.
Wins Against
Amumu can't reach you. E kites his Q and your burst kills him before he can R.
Invade his jungle early. He can't fight you at any point.
Evelynn is squishy and you outdamage her in every fight. She can't kill you through True Grit armor.
Invade her pre-6. She has no combat power early. Track and kill her repeatedly.
Karthus can't escape your E chasedown. You kill him faster than his DoT kills you.
Invade at any point. He has no escape and no dueling power against you.