Nocturne Build Guide by PsiGuard
| Health | 3210 |
| Health Regen | 30.5 |
| Mana | 845 |
| Mana Regen | 14.1 |
| Armor | 267.69 |
| Magic Resist | 161.8 |
| Dodge | 0 |
| Tenacity | 35 |
| Movement Speed | 415 |
| Gold Bonus | 0 |
| Attack Damage | 149.8 |
| Attack Speed | 52.875 |
| Crit Chance | 0%S |
| Crit Damage | 0% |
| Ability Power | 0 |
| Life Steal | 25% |
| Spell Vamp | 0 |
| Armor Penetration | 10.24 |
| Magic Penetration | 0 |
| Cooldown Reduction | 0% |
Recommended Runes
Early Core
Ability Sequence + Notes





Masteries + Notes
Introduction
About the Author
Hi, I'm PsiGuard and welcome to my
Since Nocturne's teaser, I wanted to buy him. I was in love with his lore, his art style and his gameplay mechanics. I bought him shortly after his first freeweek when he was still orders of magnitude stronger than anyone else in the game. Despite repeated nerfs, I kept an eye on his strength compared to other junglers was delighted to see him remain a strong pick. When the new season 3 jungle came, Nocturne rose again to be one of the top picks in competitive play. He is still one of my favorite champions and one of my preferred picks when I need to play an aggressive jungler.
About Nocturne
Later in the game, Nocturne best serves the roles of peeler and assassin. With proper itemization, Nocturne can use
LoL Terminology
(for any abbreviations you don't understand)Synergies
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Masteries
|
|
This is my preferred setup for jungling Nocturne in the Season 3 meta. The 9 points in offense are essential for basic jungle speed and DPS against enemy champions. 21 points in defense compliment a defensive build, which is pretty much the only way to play Nocturne viably at a competitive level. You may have some variation such as taking
|
Runes
|
M A R K S |
|
___ |
M A R K S |
|
S E A L S |
|
___ |
S E A L S |
|
G L Y P H S |
|
___ |
G L Y P H S |
|
Q U I N T S |
|
___ |
Q U I N T S |
Summoner Spells
|
This spell is absolutely necessary on every single jungler. If you think jungling without
|
|
|
|
A very powerful spell to have on a team,
|
Abilities
- When
Umbra Blades is ready, try to position Nocturne in the middle of a group of enemies for heavy damage and lifesteal.
Umbra Blades and
Wriggle's Lantern make it easy to heal up after a tough fight without having to recall to base.- Using
Umbra Blades and
Duskbringer effectively can allow you to push a lane very quickly, or do heavy damage to the enemy team.
Duskbringer isn't just useful for chasing. Fire it at a group of champions to wear down their health safely. This is especially strong if you have blue buff.- Using
Duskbringer when retreating can save your life, just make sure you keep moving after you use the spell. - The attack damage increase from the trail on
Duskbringer helps when killing champions, clearing creep camps, and even pushing down towers.
Duskbringer acts like
Ghost, allowing you to pass through minions, which makes it a useful tool for chasing or escaping through a minion wave.- The
Duskbringer trail left by an enemy can be used to follow them, even if they've broken line-of-sight.
- Blocking a spell with
Shroud of Darkness doubles the passive attack speed bonus, allowing you to take down enemy champions or towers even more quickly.
Shroud of Darkness has a long cooldown. Sometimes it is better to get hit by a weak spell so you can block a more dangerous one later.
Shroud of Darkness is easiest to use on abilities with slow particles, such as
Morgana's
Dark Binding or
Taric's
Dazzle.
Shroud of Darkness is a simple way to dispatch traps like
Bushwhack / Pounce and
Yordle Snap Trap without being revealed. You can also absorb
Teemo's
Noxious Traps without taking damage or being slowed.
- You can use
Unspeakable Horror to fear
Jarvan IV when he uses
Cataclysm on your ally. This may allow your ally to escape. - Fearing blue golem and red lizard with
Unspeakable Horror will cause you to receive less damage. Baron and Dragon however, are not disabled by this spell. - If you use
Unspeakable Horror on
Vladimir, his
Sanguine Pool will not break the chain, allowing you to fear him if you stay in range.
- Sometimes it is better to approach a fight normally and save
Paranoia for a chase. - If you are chasing multiple weakened champions, use
Paranoia, dash to the farthest champion, then fight your way backwards. This technique can land you double or triple kills. - You can use
Paranoia to dash past towers towards retreating champions. - The global sight reduction from
Paranoia can be used defensively to juke enemies or prevent them from coordinating. Using the brush can also allow you to isolate and pick off enemy champions without being seen.
Ability Sequence
This is a pretty standard skill sequence for Nocturne, and shouldn't require much deviation. Take
Of course, always get a point in
Itemization
|
These are really the only starting items taken by junglers in season 3, with few exceptions. For 300 gold,
|
|
|
|
|
When to get Wriggle's Lantern
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warding
It is the responsibility of everyone on the team to ward the map, but it is especially important for junglers to do so, since the jungler needs to provide buffs and map control as well as ganks.
Buy wards whenever possible, and watch for when allied wards by dragon or baron are going to expire. Make sure that dragon is warded once it has spawned, and ward baron constantly late game. Warding allied buffs is a good way to prevent counter-jungling. Remember, your
Wriggle's Lantern provides free wards on a cooldown. Be sure to make use of these wards throughout the game to save money. You can use
Vision Wards to counter-ward at dragon or baron, or you can buy an
Oracle's Elixir for some more extensive ward sweeping. If you notice the enemy team is getting a lot of wards, this will help your own team regain some map control.
Note: This is assuming you're purple. Simply mirror the positions if you're on blue side.
These show the best, non-situational (i.e no lane brush wards) positions to place wards, assuming you are winning as the purple side.
Mirror the positions of the wards if you need defensive wards in your jungle as well. This is especially important if you plan on counter-jungling, to prevent the enemy jungler from stealing your jungle while you are absent.

For a more detailed guide on warding, click here.
Jungle Spawn Timers
Before you begin jungling, you should definitely know the basics.
As you improve your jungling and become a better player, these spawn times are very important to know if you want to perfect your jungling and counter-jungling. Keep these spawn timers in mind when you play and get in the habit of typing out times when Baron or Dragon will respawn. I would advise enabling chat timestamps if you haven't already, especially if you're just learning to keep track of spawn timers. Any time your team witnesses the death of dragon or baron, you'll be able to note the time in the chat log down to the exact second.
|
|
|
|
For a more in-depth guide about basic need to know jungling, visit Hahano's Jungling 202: Beyond The Basics
Jungle Routes
If there is a ganking opportunity during your route, feel free to interrupt your jungling if your team needs your help, or if you can pick up a kill or assist. You can easily gank any time after red buff, but you may want to try an earlier gank if an opportunity presents itself.
A note on
Smite-less leashes: Though "leashing" as it was formerly known is no longer a reality in season 3 due to the new monster targeting algorithms, you can still kill a major buff camp pretty quickly with the help of a few teammates. If you have 3 or more teammates helping you clear your first buff and they give you a lot of damage, you might not need to use
Smite. If this is the case, you can save your
Smite and go straight to your other buff for a fast level 3 or even counter jungle the nearby enemy buff if you feel safe doing so.
The Blue Buff Route
- Start at wolves and hit them with
Duskbringer. I usually stand beside one of the small wolves instead of in front of the big wolf in order to ensure that my Q hits all of them. You can get an ally to soften up the wolves after you hit them if you can trust them not to accidentally kill one. - Kill the Blue Golem, preferably with some help from your nearby laners. Fire
Duskbringer through the golem and make sure you stay on the trail when attacking it. Use
Smite to last-hit the golem so the enemy jungler can't steal it.
Note: You may choose to gank the nearest sidelane at this point since you should hit level 2 while the laners are still level 1. Keep in mind that you won't have red buff, so your Q and E combined with your laners CC and damage will have to be enough.
- Go to wraiths next. Stand behind the blue wraith and fire
Duskbringer through the camp towards your red buff. This will prevent the enemy mid laner from spotting your Q trail. Revealing your location to the enemy team will allow the enemy jungler to counterjungle you more easily, while the lane that you are farthest from will be able to play aggressively without fearing ganks. - Go back and clear wolves again. This is faster and easier on your health bar than clearing double golems.
- Head to the Red Lizard. You'll probably want to use a
Health Potion now, so go ahead and pop one when you start the camp. Stand behind the Red Lizard and fire
Duskbringer towards the curved brush. This will ensure that the enemy jungler can't see your trail over the wall and it also allows you to pull the lizard into the brush if you expect someone to try to steal it. Make sure you last-hit it with
Smite. - Finish by clearing wraiths again, being sure to stand behind the blue wraith and firing
Duskbringer towards your red buff. It's usually a good time to gank right after you clear this camp, so you don't want to alert the enemy mid laner to your presence.
Using this route will ensure your blue isn't stolen while you're jungling and will get you to level 4 quite quickly. The mana sustain from Blue Buff makes this route ideal if you plan on jungling to level 3 or 4 instead of ganking early. Always try to get some help from your nearby laners as it will speed up your initial clear significantly as well as giving you more health for ganks.
The Red Buff Route
- Clear wraiths first. You can get an ally to soften up the wraiths after you hit them if you can trust them not to accidentally kill one. Stand behind the blue wraith and fire
Duskbringer through the camp towards your red buff. This will prevent the enemy mid laner from spotting your Q trail. Revealing your location to the enemy team will allow the enemy jungler to counterjungle you more easily, while the lane that you are farthest from will be able to play aggressively without fearing ganks. - Head to the Red Lizard. You should be getting a leash for this buff. Stand behind the Red Lizard and fire
Duskbringer towards the curved brush. This will allow you to stay on your Q trail and keep your AD bonus while the lizard runs after the ally who leashed it. Use
Smite to last-hit the lizard so the enemy jungler can't steal it.
This is a simple, but aggressive jungle route designed to give very early ganks, usually at level 2. Don't use this route if you don't plan to gank before level 4 or your red buff will expire much earlier than it would in a Blue Buff route. You'll also run yourself low on mana if you do nothing but clear camps, so it's better to start Blue Buff if you want to farm your jungle.
Counter Jungling and Recovery
Counter Jungling
Counter jungling is an great way to boost your effectiveness while weakening the enemy jungler. Some champions are more resistant to counter jungling than others, so you need to know your opponent before attempting any high-risk counter jungling. Knowing each junglers likely paths and jungle speeds will allow you to predict their start location and movements, making it easier to steal creep camps or even buffs. Using wards or an allied ability that grants vision will make it possible to use
A common occurrence of counter jungling often happens right at the start of the game. Experienced players and coordinated teams will often choose to roam the map early, before minions spawn, looking to pick off lone enemy champions and take control of one area of the jungle. If your team has a strong level one presence (usually some CC like
Note:
Later in the game, counter jungling usually prioritizes control over the enemy blue and red buff. Stealing the enemy blue buff later on will usually give your AP carry an edge in mid lane since they can lane with your blue buff while you deny the enemy mid their blue buff. Some junglers, like
You can also steal small camps if you're in the area and it's safe to do so. If you do steal an enemy small camp, leave the smallest monster alive so the camp won't respawn until the enemy jungler comes by to clear it. Keep in mind that the biggest monster in the camp always holds the greatest amount of XP and gold, so you'll want to make sure you at least get that one.
The key to counter jungling is information. You have to know or at least suspect where the enemy jungler is and keep in mind how long it would take for nearby enemy laners to reach you. If you notice the enemy jungler ganked top lane at level 2 and started red buff for example, you know that they won't be at their blue buff and if you're close enough, you can probably steal it without them even knowing. Wards are also a great way to keep an eye on enemy buffs and attempt to steal them with
Recovery
Sometimes you'll find yourself against a strong counter jungler like
In the season 1 jungle, recovery routes were altered jungle routes that maximized your sustain in the absence of one of your early buffs. Since season 2, the small camps can be cleared more easily and spawn quickly, so specific routes are generally not necessary. If you lost your blue buff at level one, usually you should group your team to your red buff (unless you can take their blue) and start there instead. If you arrive at your red and find it's been stolen, simply move on to the next available camp and clear it. If you find yourself behind in gold or XP due to counter jungling, the best way to recover is usually to clear camps continuously and deny the enemy jungler any further opportunities.
Jungle defense is also an important part of your response to being counter jungled. Defending your own jungle relies on a combination of map awareness and team coordination. The key to stopping an enemy from counter jungling is to know where they are ahead of time (usually with good ward placement) and coordination with nearby laners to group to whichever camp the enemy jungler is going for. Even the strongest junglers won't be able to handle 3 or 4 champions in the middle of enemy territory. Your laners will always be closer than the enemy laners and there will be no nearby tower for the enemy jungler to escape to. If you manage to catch and kill the enemy jungler in the act, you'll usually see yourself start to catch up very quickly. Ward the entrances to your jungle and the brush curving around your two buffs and you'll be able to prevent any further counter jungling.
Ganking Tips
The earliest level that Nocturne can effectively gank is level two with
Duskbringer and
Unspeakable Horror. His ganks after level 6 are phenomenally powerful. Also remember that red buff will improve your ganks a lot, especially before 6.
When your team mates are ready, initiate a gank (unless your ally has a strong initiate) by pinging the target, then hitting the enemy with
Duskbringer. It is important that this ability lands so that the target will leave behind the trail to boost your MS and AD. When you are close enough, hit them with
Unspeakable Horror and block incoming enemy spells (especially CC) with
Shroud of Darkness. If the enemy does not die or uses
Flash, use
Paranoia and dash to pick up the kill if you can. Be careful when tower diving, as Nocturne doesn't have a lot of health early game. If your minions have drawn tower aggro, follow the target and wait until he/she exits the tower range (he will likely keep retreating out of range), then dash with
Paranoia to avoid drawing tower aggro entirely. If the enemy turret hugs, judge for yourself if you can dive him or not. Just don't take any unnecessary risks and be wary for clutch heals, shields and CC if they're tower hugging.
After level 6, you can gank using
Paranoia as your initation, which allows you to completely bypass ward coverage since you don't have to use the standard gank paths which are usually warded. Walking up from your own tower and ulting into the lane is usually the safest way to avoid wards. Make sure your laner is in position to follow up on your gank because when you cast
Paranoia, your target will likely retreat to his tower.
Note: For some lane matchups, initiating the gank yourself will be doomed to failure. If the enemy champion has a lot of mobility or a strong CC, try to get your laner to engage them in combat before revealing yourself. It's a lot easier to gank a target that over-commits and blows cooldowns before they know you're there. This strategy works best when your ally has some strong CC with which to pin the target.
A gank does not have to net a kill to be successful. You may damage an enemy enough so that they have to play passively, or even recall to base. Forcing an enemy to use a summoner spell or ultimate can leave them without an escape mechanism, giving your team mate(s) the advantage in that lane. Once your gank is finished, return to the jungle, push the turret, take dragon or recall to base. Remember to pick up more buffs if you can before your next gank.
Team Fights
As an assassin, Nocturne performs best when executing ganks and flanking enemies. He is also a good split-pusher, and can quickly push down a tower if your allies can occupy the enemy team. Though Nocturne isn't quite as strong in group fights as he is in small skirmishes, he can still perform well, especially with a more durable build. Here's how to do it.
One or two champions on your team should be the designated initiator. Usually this initiation will take the form of a powerful CC spell, perhaps accompanied by a
Flash. If your
Malphite uses
Unstoppable Force, or
Ashe fires her
Enchanted Crystal Arrow, you know the fight has begun. You can also act as your team's initiator by using
Paranoia to enter the fray, but this is generally not as strong as other initiations, so if you have an initiator on your team you should usually let them do it.
Once your team has engaged the enemy, you have two options. The first is probably the most intuitive, that is to assassinate an enemy carry.
Duskbringer and
Paranoia are both good ways to reach your target quickly and you should use
Unspeakable Horror and your
Randuin's Omen to CC them while you focus them down. Keep in mind that this will usually put you in a very vulnerable position in the team fight, so you'll have to burst your target quickly or wait to jump in until the enemy team is split or CC'd by your allies if they have AoE CC like
Curse of the Sad Mummy. Hitting your
Shroud of Darkness at the right time is especially key here since being hit by a CC while you're in the middle of the enemy tank line will probably get you killed. The extra AS is also nice for killing your target more quickly.
The second approach is to peel for your carries, which generally puts you in a safer spot, but doesn't make use of as much of your kit. Assassinating isn't always an option, especially if the enemy has a lot of CC or you're behind at this point in the game. When this is the case, peeling for your carries will be your main duty. Typically you'll see enemy bruisers and assassins close in on your squishy AP and AD carries. Your job is to keep your carries safe (especially your AD carry) and tank for them if possible. Activate
Randuin's Omen to slow approaching enemies and use
Unspeakable Horror on the most dangerous target. As long as you slow your enemies' approach and output some damage onto them, your AD carry can usually DPS them down pretty quickly. If your carry is completely safe, you can look to use
Paranoia to quickly switch into an assassin role. This is usually the case when your team starts to win the fight because the bruisers are dying and you can use your excellent chasing abilities to hunt down low targets. If you have an option of whom to kill at the end of the fight, go for the most likely kill, the AD or AP carry, or whoever is the most fed on the enemy team. Generally all three of these will be the enemy AD carry, but it doesn't hurt to adjust your targeting priorities if they have a fed
Riven or something who's almost dead.
If your team emerges victorious from the battle, push a lane, grab a buff, or kill Dragon or Baron. Attack minions and monsters to restore your health, or just recall to base if you need to do some shopping.
If you lost the fight and you're still alive, you'll probably need to retreat to your base and get your health back. Work with whomever else is still alive on your team to defend your towers. Unless the enemy team is really strong or it's late game, they'll probably use their minions to push rather than tanking a tower directly. Use
Duskbringer and
Umbra Blades to quickly clear their minion wave and force them to tank your tower or back off, though only proc
Umbra Blades if it's safe enough to do so. If the enemy team is clearing an objective like dragon or baron instead, you'll generally have to just leave them. You can try to steal dragon if it's safe or baron if you're desperate (and confident you can get it), but most of the time you'll just have to bide your time until your teammates respawn.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading my
Nocturne guide, I hope that some parts of it prove useful to you. If you appreciated my guide or approve of my build, feel free to hit the Like button up top. Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions below and I will try to get back to you. I appreciate criticism, as long as it's constructive.
A special thank you to those who have supported my guide with votes, Scout points and advice that have been instrumental in bringing my guide to the level of quality it is today. I'd also like to specifically thank jhoijhoi for her insights into some coding techniques that I made use of in all my guides.
Thanks to jhoijhoi for the awesome banner!
change log|
|
|
Latest on MOBAFire TV
More Mobafire Video
Scheduled Tournaments
|
MOBAFire Community Cup NA May
Registration Open
|
|
Dominate Dominion #57
Finished
|
|
Dominate TT #10 (NA)
Finished
|
|
Dominate Dominion #56
Finished
|
Drop-in Games
![]() |
MOBAFire Inhouses
Registration Open
|






Build Guide
Discussion (587)











