League of Legends Jayce Guide: Best Build, Runes & Combos

Jayce is a versatile top lane and mid lane champion known for his unique ability to switch between ranged and melee forms in League of Legends. With a powerful early game and high burst potential, Jayce excels at poking enemies from a distance and finishing them off with quick all-ins. His kit allows for aggressive trades, fast wave clear, and strong lane control, making him a dominant laner when played well. In this guide, we’ll break down the best build, runes, items, and combos you need to master Jayce and take over your lane.

Jayce Abilities Overview In League of Legends

Passive – Hextech Capacitor
Whenever Jayce switches between Cannon and Hammer Stance using his ultimate, he gains bonus movement speed and becomes ghosted (can move through units) for a few seconds.

Q (Cannon) – Shock Blast
Fires an electric orb that explodes on impact, dealing damage in an area. If the orb passes through Acceleration Gate (E), it travels faster, farther, and deals increased damage.

Q (Hammer) – To the Skies!
Jayce leaps to a target enemy, dealing damage and slowing them briefly on impact.

W (Cannon) – Hyper Charge
Grants three rapid-fire auto attacks with bonus attack speed and damage, making it ideal for burst trades or turret shredding.

W (Hammer) – Lightning Field
Passively restores mana with each auto attack. When activated, it creates an electric field around Jayce that damages nearby enemies over a few seconds.

E (Cannon) – Acceleration Gate
Places a gate that boosts movement speed for allies who pass through it. Shock Blast (Q) becomes a long-range, high-damage skill shot if fired through this gate.

E (Hammer) – Thundering Blow
Knocks an enemy away and deals damage based on their maximum health. Great for peeling or setting up all-ins near walls.

R – Mercury Cannon / Mercury Hammer
Jayce’s ultimate lets him switch between ranged (Cannon) and melee (Hammer) forms, changing his abilities and adapting his playstyle for poke or close combat.

Mastering when to switch stances and combo your abilities is the key to dominating with Jayce in both lane and teamfights.

How To Play Jayce In League of Legends

Best Summoner Spells For Jayce

The best summoner spells for Jayce are Flash and Teleport. Flash gives Jayce essential mobility for escaping ganks, chasing down kills, or pulling off surprise burst combos. Teleport helps him maintain lane pressure, farm safely, and join fights or objectives across the map. If you’re playing mid lane Jayce and want more early kill pressure, you can swap Teleport for Ignite, but for top lane, Flash + Teleport is the most consistent and reliable setup.

Best Runes For Jayce

The best runes for Jayce are from the Inspiration and Sorcery trees. Take First Strike as your keystone for bonus damage and gold during poke trades. Follow it with Magical Footwear for free boots, Biscuit Delivery for early sustain, and Time Warp Tonic if starting with a potion-based build. For the secondary tree, go Sorcery with Manaflow Band to boost mana regen and Scorch for extra poke damage in lane. This setup maximizes Jayce’s early-game harass and lets you snowball with consistent ranged poke and all-in potential. Use stat shards for Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, and either Armor or Magic Resist based on your lane matchup.

Best Build For Jayce

The best build for Jayce in League of Legends focuses on maximizing his poke and burst damage. Start with Youmuu’s Ghostblade for lethality and mobility, followed by Eclipse for sustain and shield during trades. Grab Ionian Boots of Lucidity to reduce cooldowns and keep up pressure. Next, build Manamune, which will later turn into Muramana for massive bonus damage on abilities and autos. After that, pick up Serylda’s Grudge for armor penetration and a slow effect on abilities, then finish with Edge of Night or Maw of Malmortius for survivability depending on the enemy team’s comp. This build turns Jayce into a poke-heavy lane bully who can burst down squishies and stay mobile in fights.

Best Combos To Learn For Jayce

The most important Jayce combo to learn is the Shock Blast (Q) + Acceleration Gate (E) in Cannon stance, which sends out a fast, long-range, high-damage poke that can chunk enemies before a fight. For burst trades, start in Cannon stance and use Q + E, then instantly switch to Hammer stance with R, leap in with Hammer Q, drop W for AoE damage, and finish with E to knock them back. That combo looks like: Cannon Q → E → R → Hammer Q → W → Auto → E. Another strong all-in combo is Hammer Q → W → Auto → E → R → Cannon Q + E + Auto + W. Mastering fast stance swaps and smooth animation cancels is key to maximizing Jayce’s damage and catching opponents off guard.

Conclusion

Jayce is a dominant laner and versatile champion in League of Legends who rewards precision, quick thinking, and aggressive play. With the right build, runes, and clean combos, he can poke enemies down from afar or dive in for explosive kills. Whether you’re playing top or mid, mastering Jayce’s stance swaps and ability timing will let you control the lane and carry your team with high-impact plays.