Ryoma — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Liquipedia RPL: B] Pro play (RPL 2026): 45 picks, 46.7% WR, 19.9% pick/ban rate. Note: pro meta may differ from ranked.
Ryoma — Warrior Guide
Ryoma is the closest Arena of Valor gets to a true samurai: a slayer-lane warrior who bleeds opponents out with extended-trade dominance rather than burst windows. What separates him from other physical carries is the architecture of his kit. Every five seconds, Naginatajutsu turns a mundane auto into a ranged cleave that also slows, punishing opponents who try to poke back or disengage. Layer that passive onto Reverse Slash's backflip repositioning and the long-range stun on the tip of Piercing Slash, and he controls space without ever committing recklessly. His ultimate, Wrath of Izanagi, gives him enough mid-fight sustain to survive trades that would delete a squishier attacker. He earns his S-tier label honestly this patch: the popular double-warrior comps flooding Thai Diamond lobbies give him a consistent dance partner, his core six-item build comes online faster than most slayer rivals, and Broken Spear's armor-shred timing at first back lines up perfectly with the tempo of early Dragon fights. He is not a one-button hero; passive timing and W placement have a genuine skill ceiling. But anyone who has climbed past Diamond on a melee warrior will find the learning curve rewarding rather than frustrating.
Strengths
- +Naginatajutsu's five-second empowered auto gives Ryoma one of the highest extended-trade damage floors in the slayer lane, letting him out-sustain and out-damage warriors who lack comparable auto-attack enhancers.
- +Reverse Slash functions as both an offensive dash and a reactive dodge, giving Ryoma exceptional safety against skill-shot-reliant junglers who invade the slayer lane.
- +Piercing Slash's tip-of-range stun is a reliable setup tool that bypasses the need for a dedicated support, making Ryoma a genuine teamfight contributor even when arriving solo.
- +Wrath of Izanagi's built-in lifesteal per hit means that with Hercules's Madness and Muramasa in the build, Ryoma can survive deep dives into two or three enemies and still come out healthy enough to disengage.
Weaknesses
- −Piercing Slash's stun only procs at maximum range, so against opponents who fight at close-quarters, like Skud or Taara, Ryoma's primary CC is functionally unavailable unless he pre-positions with Reverse Slash.
- −His passive requires a full five seconds between empowered autos, meaning burst-heavy assassins like Murad or Quillen who kill in under three seconds can negate his trade pattern entirely.
- −Ryoma has no hard escape beyond Reverse Slash, and a single root or suppression effect after he burns Q leaves him completely stationary and vulnerable to follow-up CC chains.
- −His early laning before Broken Spear is weaker than his mid-game dominance suggests, he loses the armor-shred race against warriors who have flat-penetration items at first back, so over-aggressing at level three or four invites losing trades.
Abilities
PNaginatajutsu
Every 5 seconds, Ryoma's next auto attack deals bonus physical damage to the target in a line and slows them for 2 seconds. Enemies at the end of the attack take 50% increased damage.
1Reverse Slash
Ryoma leaps backward while slashing forward, dealing physical damage to enemies. If Reverse Slash hits an enemy hero, reduce this ability's cooldown by 3 seconds.
2Piercing Slash
Ryoma unleashes a sword wave in a straight line forward, dealing physical damage to the first target. Subsequent targets take 50% reduced damage. The enemy at the end of the wave is stunned for 0.75 seconds.
RWrath of Izanagi
Ryoma slashes forward 4 times, dealing physical damage with each hit. Each hit that strikes an enemy hero restores health to Ryoma.
How to Use Ryoma's Kit
Track the five-second internal cooldown religiously, the empowered auto is ready far more often than most opponents expect, and landing it at max melee reach to hit the 50% bonus-damage sweetspot is the difference between winning and losing a trade. The attached slow is not decorative: it is your primary chase tool after a Reverse Slash lands and your best gap-close denial when an enemy jungler dives your lane. Never waste the proc on a minion when an enemy hero is in range; holding it for even one second to catch a fleeing target can turn a forced recall into a kill.
The backflip is the mechanic that defines Ryoma's safety profile, use it to dodge a skill shot and simultaneously deal damage rather than blowing it as a pure escape. The three-second cooldown refund on hitting an enemy hero means an aggressive Q into a trade can feel nearly spammable, so press it early in a duel to immediately bank that reset for the next exchange. The most common mistake is aiming it away from danger without considering the slash arc, the damage fires forward relative to your landing position, so be deliberate about what you face before pressing it.
Piercing Slash is a linear skill shot that deals full damage only to the first target it contacts, with the stun reserved exclusively for a target at the very end of its range, this dual-range mechanic is non-obvious and is consistently misread by opponents, making it your primary CC tool in both solo fights and teamfights. In lane, fire it past the minion wave at the enemy hero to connect the tip; in fights, use Reverse Slash to create distance so the enemy sits at the skill's maximum reach before you cast. Avoid shooting it into a cluster of minions between you and your target; the wave will eat the full-damage hit and the stun will land on a caster minion.
Four sequential physical strikes, each healing Ryoma when they connect with an enemy hero, make this ultimate a sustain engine rather than a pure execute tool, commit it mid-trade once your Hercules's Madness shield is broken to stack the healing on top of the Madness burst. Do not open with the ultimate expecting to delete someone in one rotation; instead use Q and passive first to confirm the enemy is committed to the fight, then layer R to sustain through their damage while the four hits accumulate. Against mobile targets, use Piercing Slash's stun immediately before casting so all four hits land cleanly rather than wasting two strikes on a dashing hero.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Reverse Slash | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | · | · | · |
2Piercing Slash | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | · | · |
RWrath of Izanagi | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Onslaught
Assassinate
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard Trade
P21Open with the empowered auto to proc the slow, immediately fire Piercing Slash at maximum range for the stun, then Reverse Slash forward into the stunned target for the damage-and-reset; use the follow-up auto to sustain the pressure, this is your bread-and-butter 1v1 lane kill pattern.
All-In Kill Combo
21PRUse this when the enemy is already below 60% health, Piercing Slash tip-stun into Reverse Slash dash to close gap, then detonate your passive empowered auto before immediately casting Wrath of Izanagi so all four R hits land on a slowed, locked-down target.
Flicker Initiate
2RP1Fire Piercing Slash at an out-of-range priority target, Flicker into the tip of its range so the stun lands, then immediately cast Wrath of Izanagi for the four-hit sustain burst, save Reverse Slash for repositioning or disengaging if the dive goes wrong.
Anti-Dive Response
1P2RWhen a jungler invades and closes on you, Reverse Slash backward to dodge their engage skill and face them, proc your empowered auto into their body, then Piercing Slash at the gap you just created to land the stun before finishing with the ultimate's healing.
Gameplan
Ryoma's first spike is level 4, when all three basics are available and his passive starts dictating trade rhythm. His real breakpoint is Broken Spear: the armor shred turns his physical damage from respectable to lane-warping, and most slayer opponents can't match his DPS from that point. The two-item spike of Broken Spear plus Omni Arms is when he should force Dragon fights. Wrath of Izanagi maxed, plus Hercules's Madness in the fourth slot, makes him nearly unkillable in sustained 5v5 brawls. He weakens slightly against fully-itemized tanks in the final minutes if he hasn't built Muramasa by then.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Respect enemy waveclear in the first two levels and focus on last-hitting — Ryoma's passive isn't fully impactful until you have all three basic abilities and a feel for the five-second rhythm; rushing a trade before level three is the number-one cause of unnecessary early deaths.
- →At level three, begin pressuring the enemy laner with the passive-W-Q trade pattern whenever the minion wave is even or pushing toward their tower, denying them safe farm and threatening a tower dive if they overextend.
- →Ward the river bush and play slightly back when your jungler has not shown — Ryoma with Reverse Slash on cooldown is a free kill for any roaming assassin, so map awareness is the most important non-mechanical skill in this lane.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →Complete Broken Spear before any major objective contest and immediately apply pressure to the slayer tower — the armor shred forces opponents off the tower faster than almost any rival warrior item spike.
- →Join Dragon fights as the secondary engage or the follow-up to your support's initiation; use Piercing Slash's stun to lock down whoever the team is focusing, then layer Wrath of Izanagi for the healing sustain that lets you stay in the teamfight longer than the enemy expects.
- →If your laner recalls after you take tower, rotate mid and look for a Piercing Slash tip-stun on the enemy mid-laner — Ryoma's CC is under-respected by mage players who have never faced him, and a surprise stun into your midlaner's follow-up is a free kill.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →Build Hercules's Madness as your fourth item and position as the initiating bruiser in teamfights — you want to absorb one or two abilities to crack the Madness shield, then pop Wrath of Izanagi while the burst-damage buff is active for maximum healing and damage overlap.
- →Do not solo-engage onto the enemy team's carry if they have hard CC remaining; instead, use Reverse Slash to bait out a displacement skill, then re-engage on the now-cooldown-spent backline.
- →In the final minutes, split-push only if your team has a clear vision advantage — Ryoma with Blade of Eternity takes towers rapidly, but he cannot escape a coordinated five-man collapse without Flicker available.
Matchups
Ryoma is a strong first-pick only when you have confirmed your team has one of his CC synergy supports, Grakk, Annette, or Ormarr. Without a reliable setup partner, leave him for second-phase draft where you can see the enemy's CC inventory. Ban Murad in every game where Ryoma is your intended carry; that matchup is not winnable through skill alone, it is a kit mismatch. Butterfly and Quillen are less panic-worthy: in the Butterfly lane, rush Muramasa third instead of fourth so the raw armor pen offsets the evasion procs. Against Alice, keep Reverse Slash off cooldown at all times and treat it as reactive, never proactive. The Quillen matchup is just about playing safe until Broken Spear; once you have the shred, extended trades flip heavily your way.
Ryoma gets countered by
MuradMurad's two-phase ultimate removes Ryoma from the fight entirely, bypassing Wrath of Izanagi's healing window and redeploying him into a worse position, Ryoma has no invulnerability frame to avoid the suppression.
QuillenQuillen's burst combo resolves faster than Ryoma's five-second passive cycle, meaning Ryoma never gets to proc Naginatajutsu before he is already at critical health, making any extended-trade advantage irrelevant.
AliceAlice's point-and-click root from Strangling Thorns locks Ryoma in place after he burns Reverse Slash, turning his only escape tool into a setup for her entire kit.
ButterflyButterfly's evasion passive causes Ryoma to miss physical attacks entirely on proc, neutering both his Naginatajutsu empowered auto and the physical hit count of Wrath of Izanagi at the worst possible moments.
Ryoma synergizes with
AnnetteAnnette's wind-wall ultimate pushed grouped enemies directly into the tip range of Ryoma's Piercing Slash, guaranteeing the stun on multiple targets and setting up a free Wrath of Izanagi on a bunched team.
GrakkGrakk's hook pulls an enemy hero to a fixed point, the exact spacing Ryoma needs to land Piercing Slash's tip stun, making their combination one of the most reliable crowd-control chains in the current patch.
OrmarrOrmarr's Earthshatter knock-up holds enemies in place long enough for Ryoma to close distance with Reverse Slash and detonate a fully-charged Naginatajutsu before the target can react.
MalochMaloch's Cleave absorbs the enemy front line's attention and peels for Ryoma simultaneously, letting Ryoma operate freely in the side of a teamfight and land full four-hit ultimate rotations without being chain-CCed off the carry.
Pro Tips
- →You can use Reverse Slash diagonally into a wall to reposition around terrain rather than purely backward, this makes Ryoma nearly uncatchable in the river and jungle corridors when used correctly.
- →The 50% bonus damage sweetspot on Naginatajutsu is a specific range that most players never consciously aim for; stand just outside the enemy's attack range before firing the empowered auto so the projectile hits them at its extended tip rather than at melee distance.
- →Wrath of Izanagi's healing scales with physical lifesteal items, meaning Omni Arms and Muramasa passively amplify its sustain output, do not sleep on this interaction when calculating whether you can commit to a deep dive.
- →Against opponents who learn to stand on top of you to nullify Piercing Slash's tip-stun, use Reverse Slash to create exactly the right distance and immediately fire W before they can close the gap again, the timing window is tight but it is a learnable rhythm that turns your weakness into a read-punish.
Ryoma is the slayer lane's most complete warrior on the current Thai-server patch. He rewards players who invest in understanding his trade rhythm over players who simply press buttons in sequence. His depth lives in the interplay between the Naginatajutsu timing window, the defensive utility of Reverse Slash, and the positioning needed to land Piercing Slash's tip-stun. If you are a Diamond-plus player who wants a slayer carry that scales through all three phases, brings real CC in teamfights, and punishes opponents for misreading your range, he is the best investment on the roster right now. The thing to master is the Naginatajutsu sweetspot: land that extended-tip empowered auto consistently and the rest of the kit falls into place.
Ryoma — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ryoma good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. Ryoma is S tier on the Thai server this patch on a 15.8% pick rate and 4.1% ban rate, numbers that reflect genuine high-rank respect rather than casual popularity. His 46.7% win rate sounds modest but is typical for contested S-tier heroes drafted into unfavorable matchups by players trying to force them; in the hands of someone who understands his trade patterns and item timings, his real performance is much stronger.
What is the best build for Ryoma?+
Thai-server consensus runs Gilded Greaves into Broken Spear as the mandatory core; the armor shred is non-negotiable and should be rushed before any other offensive item. Follow with Omni Arms for the hybrid auto-attack amplification, Hercules's Madness for the burst shield that works with Wrath of Izanagi's healing, then Muramasa for penetration against itemized tanks, and Blade of Eternity as late-game insurance for teamfights.
How do you counter Ryoma?+
He is most reliably beaten by heroes who resolve their damage faster than his five-second passive cycle: Murad's ultimate suppression and Quillen's full-burst combo both kill him before Naginatajutsu resets, making them the highest-priority picks into him. A hard point-and-click root like Alice's after Reverse Slash is on cooldown also leaves him stationary for any physical dealer to follow up. Avoid prolonged auto-attack trades at any stage; that is exactly where he wants to be.
Is Ryoma hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium. His buttons are simple enough for a new player to function, but optimizing him needs conscious tracking of the five-second Naginatajutsu cycle, deliberate Piercing Slash range management to hit the tip-stun, and knowing when to commit Wrath of Izanagi mid-fight rather than opening with it. Beginners find him far more forgiving than a true assassin, but Diamond-and-above players who treat him carelessly will keep losing trades they should win.