Normal Skill Order

Max order: R > Q > E > W

Start Q for the poke and the armor shred. Take E at level 2 so you have your flag combo ready. Grab W at level 3 for the slow and the shield. From there, max Q first, then E, with points in R whenever available.

Q is your damage and your lane control. In Mayhem ARAM, the lower cooldown and higher shred on Q let you trade effectively against squishy targets. You land a Q, you force them off the wave. You miss a Q, you lose pressure for a few seconds.

E second gives you more attack speed for your team and lower cooldown on your reposition tool. The flag stays relevant longer, which helps when you are sieging or defending under a tower. W is a one-point wonder; the shield scales with health and the slow duration does not improve with ranks, so there is little reason to max it early.

Augment-Influenced Skill Order

Max order: R > E > Q > W (if you get attack speed or on-hit augments)

If your augments push you toward an auto-attack build—something like attack speed, on-hit damage, or bonus true damage on hits—shift your priority. Max E second or even first depending on how strong the augment is. The Flag provides a massive attack speed aura. In Mayhem, where fights are constant and stats are inflated, that aura becomes a team-wide damage buff.

With a heavy attack-speed setup, you drop the Flag, you auto, and you let the augment do the work. Q becomes a tool to gap-close or shred armor for your follow-up autos, not your main damage source. You still take Q at level 1 for the early trade, but you stop putting points in after rank 1 or 2.

Max order: R > Q > W > E (if you get survivability or shield-power augments)

Rare, but possible. If you roll augments that increase shield strength, healing, or damage reduction, and your team already has damage, you can pivot to a tank-disruptor role. W max gives you a bigger shield on a lower cooldown. You run in, pop W, soak damage, and disrupt with Q and R. E becomes just a reposition tool, so you leave it for last.

Adjustment Triggers

  • Enemy team is double or triple melee: Stick to the standard Q max. You can shred their frontliners and poke them down before the fight starts. Melees have to walk into your Q range to trade, so you control the pace.
  • Enemy team is full ranged poke: Consider E second for the attack speed to help your team clear waves faster. You need to thin the wave before it reaches your tower, or you get pushed in and poked down. The Flag helps your mages and marksmen clear.
  • You get an early augment that buffs abilities directly: If the augment adds damage or a cooldown refund to your Q, keep maxing it. If the augment adds on-hit effects or attack speed, switch to E max. Let the augment dictate the build, not habit.
  • Your team has no other engage: You might need R at level 6, 11, and 16 no matter what. But if you fall behind early, consider putting an extra point in W before finishing E. The shield helps you survive the dive when you go in.

Cost of Choosing the Wrong Order

Maxing W first or second when you have damage augments is a waste. You turn a potential threat into a low-damage meat shield. The enemy can ignore you, walk past you, and kill your backline. You become a minor inconvenience instead of a kill threat.

Maxing E first when you have no attack-speed synergy is equally inefficient. You get a strong aura but no one to use it. If your team is magic-damage heavy or ability-focused, the attack speed from Flag does little. You lose the poke and armor shred from Q, and your trade pattern becomes weak.

Delaying Q max against squishy comps means you lose your only reliable ranged threat. Jarvan's Q poke is what makes him dangerous in the early and mid-game. Without it, you are just a champion waiting for R to come off cooldown. In Mayhem, where games move fast, that downtime loses objectives and loses fights.

The wrong order also messes with your all-in timing. If you max the wrong skill, you might hit a power spike later than the enemy. You go for a combo, you expect a kill, but the damage is not there. You die, you flame, you tilt. Skill order is not just about numbers; it is about hitting your windows when they open.