Welcome to my Nocturne guide! I won't testify to be some sort of genius at playing Nocturne, but this is the way i play him. Feel free to leave any suggestions, opinion or comments.

Not too long ago, I purchased this champion already thinking: "This champion is going to be sooo OP" After a while of playing with this champ and testing many strategies, just as I thought, I felt he was totally broken. After observing several other Nocturnes fail with jungling and their builds, here I am writing this.

Although I do agree that Nocturne is an incredible jungler and may excel at it, I feel that Nocturne also has an extremely strong lane presence. He has good harass, good survivability, a way to regenerate health, AOE attacks, and escape abilities. This is only my opinion

P.S This guide was meant for Summoner's rift.

Pros
Great farmer
Excellent chasing ability
Godlike Ganker
Strong lane presence
Strong Jungler
1v1s and singles out targets very nicely
Great throughout the whole game (Early, mid and late)
His ultimate is one of the most epic in the game.
Looks badass without a skin


Cons
Squishy
Vulnerable to CC's
Requires confidence in your skills
Mana hungry if played too aggressive

Health- 440 (+85)
Mana- 215 (+35)
Damage- 54 (+3.1)
Attack Speed- 0.640 (+1.8%)
Range- 125
Armor- 17.5 (+3.5)
Magic Resistance- 30 (+1.25)
Health Regeneration- 7.0 (+0.73)
Mana Regeneration- 6.2 (+0.46)
Movement Speed 320

Dusk Bringer
Nocturne throws a shadow blade which deals damage, leaves a Dusk Trail, and causes champions to leave a Dusk Trail. While on the trail, Nocturne ignores unit collision and has increased Movement Speed and Attack Damage

Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana
Physical Damage: 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+0.75 per bonus attack damage)
Movement Speed Bonus: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35%
Attack Damage Bonus: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60
Cooldown: 10 seconds

This skill is arguably one of the best. It makes Nocturne a total beast at chasing farming, harassing and ganking. Not to mention the 60 Attack damage and 35% speed boost. Lets compare. 60 damage is the equivalent of a 1850G BF sword + a 415G longsword. The speed bonus boosts you up more than Summoner Ghost does. $#!%!

Shroud of Darkness
Nocturne empowers his blades, passively gaining attack speed. Activating Shroud of Darkness allows Nocturne to fade into the shadows, creating a magical barrier which blocks a single enemy spell and doubles his passive attack speed if successful.

Cost: 50 mana
Cooldown: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds
Passive Attack Speed Bonus: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%

With this skill Nocturne gains free a Banshee's Veil? It works exactly like Sivir's Spell Shield, but there are some tweaks. At level 1 this skill has a 20 second base cooldown, while Sivir's has 28. At level 5 both spells have a cooldown of 12 seconds. While Sivir's shield may restore mana, Nocturne's makes him so much deadlier. It gives a base attack speed bonus, which doubles in the event of a successful spell block. Which means, at level 5 the base attack speed bonus is 40%, doubled making it 80%. $#!%.
The catch is, while Sivir's Spell shield lasts for 3 seconds, Nocturne's only lasts for 2.

Unspeakable Horror
Nocturne plants a nightmare into his target's mind, dealing damage each second and fearing the target if they do not get out of range by the end of the duration

Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana
Cooldown: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 seconds
Total Magic Damage: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+1.0 per ability power)
Fear Duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds

Damn... It must have been the greatest idea ever to give an already amazing DPS champion a disable. Enough said. His insane chasing prowess makes it extremely hard to avoid the fear. The fear duration increases with level, so maxing this would be a good idea.

Paranoia
Nocturne reduces the sight radius of all enemy champions and removes their ally vision in the process for 4 seconds. He can then launch himself at a nearby enemy champion

Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 160 / 130 / 100 seconds
Physical Damage: 150 / 300 / 450 (+1.2 per bonus attack damage)
Range: 2500 / 3250 / 4000

Oh $#%# where did everyone go? *G-G-Godlike*... -Kicks computer-
This skill is what everyone knows Nocturne by. This unique ultimate creates global effect of reducing all enemy's vision by 300. It also prevents the opposing team from having shared allied vision for the skill duration. According to Ezreal, Nocturne's ultimate overrides Twisted Fate's ultimate (TF won't be able to see anyone). This skill makes everyone $#!% bricks.

After level 6, this is a great initiation, and after that, it is great at isolating enemy champions for some 1v1 action. (It is also really good for tower diving)

Paranoia does not have to be used as an initiation. It can also be used to quickly charge at an escaping enemy at the end of a team fight. It can also be used at point blank range for the extra damage.

Umbra Blades-
Every 10 seconds, Nocturne's next attack strikes surrounding enemies for 120% of his physical damage and heals himself for 15 / 20 / 25 per target hit. Nocturne's basic attacks reduce this cooldown by 1 second

This passive is what makes Nocturne excel at farming and laning. He can easily regenerate lost health, and farm entire minions waves with a nice Dusk Bringer + Umbra Blades. This innate deals 120% damage, so even in 1v1 situations, this will aid you in slaying an enemy champion.



I decide to Max: R>Q>E>W, while putting early points in E and W. When you put the early points in, and the order is situational. If you have an enemy such as Urgot in your lane, getting W at level 2 would be great. If you feel that you and your partner (if there is one), can go for an early first blood, get E at level 2. First blood is easily achieved with help from someone such as Shen, Sion, Singed and other people with disables. Not to mention you have exhaust and ghost (hopefully).

I choose E>W for a few reasons. The major one being - The higher level Unspeakable Horror is, the longer the fear. Also, the damage on unspeakable horror is actually not too bad early game. It increases by 50 each level, and reduces it's cooldown by 1 second. Although attack speed may seem like something nocturne would love, you can live without it for a bit early game. The only way you would see slight difference is if the enemy Nocturne maxes W>E. (You'd both block eachother's Unspeakable horror with spell shield, thus the enemy Nocturne gains more attack speed.)

I'm just going to zoom past this section.

I picked what I would think are standard DPS runes.
Armor pen Marks and Quintessences are mandatory. I chose Mana Regeneration per Level Seals and Flat magic resist Glyphs can be swapped out for something more suitable to your preference such as Dodge Chance and Cooldown Reduction.


Masteries as Nocturne are pretty flexible. I chose 23/6/1 for my preference.This is because I feel dodge can work miracles, but its just not my thing. You may wish to go with 21/9/0 or maybe even 0/21/9. It's all up to you.


I choose to go for Ghost and Exhaust for my summoner skills. Exhaust their carry, right after Paranoia and Unspeakable horror and you've basically ensured a kill. Ghost allows easy Escapes, Chases, Ganks and more.

Other plausible choices include:

Ignite- Sometimes the enemy will get away with that little block of HP that you can't seem to demolish. Solution! Ignite is also very good for
Flash- Nocturne has no blink type ability (Other than his ultimate, which you usually want to save). This can be very annoying and frustrating at times. However, with all the speed boosts I provide with my Nocturne guide, this proves to be slightly unnecessary.
Cleanse- I feel cleanse is great on any champion in general, especially carries. Great skill and makes up for Nocturne's vulnerability to CC.
Teleport- Generally a great skill in my opinion, that you can put on any champion. Allows quick purchasing and laning early game, and map control late game. You may want to bring this along if you have a Teemo on your team.
Smite- Smite for Jungling if you're that type of person. Enough said.

First I'd like to say, I understand this build is incredibly squishy/glass cannon, but it works (Get survivability in the end). Also, remember, this is how I play Nocturne. Feel free to change it to your preference.
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I choose to start off with a Doran's Blade. I'm sure you've all heard this many times but, 475 for 100hp, 10 attack and 3% life steal? That's basically 60G for an extra 100hp and 3% life steal (In comparison to long sword). If you dislike Doran's Blades or Doran items in general, possible alternatives would be: Longsword + Pots, Boots + Pots, Doran's Shield. As a side note, I feel it is unnecessary to stack Doran's blades on Nocturne.

With Nocturne's insane farming abilities, it should be a breeze to rack up 1450G on your next trip back for Boots of Swiftness and a Vampiric Scepter. Even though most people may feel or think the bonus speed from Dusk Bringer is enough, I feel that movement speed is a must need for Nocturne. Since he is an excellent ganker, mobility will allow you to clear the map and ult for the kill. The life steal from the Vampiric Scepter in combination with Umbra Blades will allow you to jungle whenever you want (If you lack a jungler) with ease, and help with the laning phase.
An alternative for boots would be Mercury threads. I'm not a big fan of Berserker greaves but it is a plausible alternative.

I find that with Dusk Bringer providing some nice damage, buying fast B.F swords and what not will not be needed, so I aim for some life steal and attack speed.

I aim for 2000G+ on my next trip out. For the next few items, it depends on your preference. I personally prefer rushing a zeal for the nice movement speed and attack speed bonus, followed by Brutalizer which is simply an overall excellent item for Nocturne, and any DPS character for that matter. Armor pen... Attack damage... Cooldown reduction... Enough said. . If I am unable to farm the required gold, for a Brutalizer, I would simply go back with an Emblem of Valour and farm for my 1337G.

With a Zeal and Boots of Swiftness, you would be moving at a passive movement speed of 437. With level 5 Dusk Bringer, your movement speed is increased to 529. If this is not enough, you still have your ghost. (+Exhaust) With these items, you are already a beast at ganking, farming, pushing and whatever else you need to be doing.

After acquiring the 3 Items stated above, I choose one of them to upgrade. I usually end up choosing my Emblem of Valour, and trading that for a Stark's Fervor. Then I upgrade my Brutalizer into a Youmuu's Ghostblade. These two items work miracles. -20 armor from the Stark's, 20 armor pen from the Youmuu, and 30 armor pen from runes and asteries? That means you ignore 70 of any champion's armor. $#!%. Not to mention the incredible speed boosts you gain and life steal as a bonus.

Finally I upgrade my Zeal into a Phantom Dancer. Now you will be running at around 460 movement speed. It should be a breeze running up to someone who's been caught over extended, Ultimate him and secure a kill.

For my last available slot (Without removing Doran's Blade) I purchase a B.F Sword and transform that into an Infinity Edge. By the time you get this item, the game should already be over or nearing the end, so this is just like the finishing touch. The damage, critical chance and unique passive is just too good to pass on.

If the game is still going on, the you can trade your Doran's Blade for a situational item. I find that a Frozen Mallet just ROFLSTOMPS the enemy team. Other good suggestions may be, Black Cleaver, Banshees Veil, or a Bloodthirster.

Remember, This is MY way of playing Nocturne.
Total build cost: 15735
Total Cost Excluding Last Two Items: 8405

Nocturne simply owns throughout the entire game. Early game he dominates lanes most of the time, mid game he is a godlike ganker and farmer, end game he can demolish the enemy team as a carry should.

EARLY GAME
First things first... which lane does nocturne take? To be honest, Nocturne is actually a beast at any situation. He can easily take mid and dominate champions such as Annie, he can 1v2 quite easily and be a strong partner in 2v2 or 2v1 lanes.

With your first point into Dusk Bringer, you can use it to harass enemy champions, last hit minions that would put you in danger from enemy champions if you were to basic attack, and it is great for getting a first blood with a good partner. Make sure you do not spam it too much. Nocturne is quite mana hungry, and you want to preserve a set amount of mana for Q->W->E, in order to snab a kill.

When low on HP is is important to make sure your Umbra Blades hits as many minions as possible. However, do not be too greedy. Sometimes it requires you to be in the middle of the minion wave, making you overextend slightly. This allows champions such as Ryzeto harass you as much as they want with their snare combo. Even with your Shroud of Darkness, you do not want to walk into the enemy's spells. This is because your spell shield is not Sivir's. Nocturne's Shroud of Darkness WILL drain mana when spammed.

By level 6, if you've farmed enough go back and buy your Boots and Vampiric scepter. You can clear jungle minions while looking for opportunities to gank. (This is easily done with Dusk Bringer and Umbra blades). I prefer to get the red buff before ganking but it is up to you. When you are waiting for a gank the timing of Parnoia is key. Look for someone such as Sion to first stun, and then you can dash in. However, in the case of someone such as Master Yi as an ally (who doesn't have a disable), wait for the enemy to overextend before using Paranoia. The darkening of the screen should be a good signal of when your ally should go in for the gank. REMEMBER TO PING BEFORE YOU GANK. I don't know why, but for some reason a lot of people gank without even telling allies, wasting time and/or giving the enemy a free kill.

MID GAME
Mid game for Nocturne is very similar to early game, just with more toys. Nocturne is a great farmer throughout the entire game, and you should use this to your advantage. Clear the jungle when you can, and if you see a build up of enemy minions, decimate it. I usually find that I reach the 150 minion mark before anyone else in 90% of my games. (Heimerdinger is so... blehh) During team fights (if any), go for the champions who stay at the back. This includes Ashe, Malzahar, Annie... etc... Because your ultimate clears distance incredibly fast, with the aid of your team you should be able to take one or two of them out.


End Game
By now you should be considered totally broken and be demolishing the enemy team. Your role during team fights remains the same, and you should be looking for Lizard and Golem buffs to take. This Nocturne build lacks the life steal to solo Baron Nashor, so don't get over confident. I find that sometimes I get way too cocky as Nocturne late game and I dive past 2 turrets for a kill. You are still quite squishy, and vulnerable to CCs, but if anyone dares challenge you... you can easily slaughter them.

You are also a great pusher, able to move across the map at great speeds. If there is a huge stalemate, don't be afraid to push the side lanes (Maybe even get a turret) before returning for a big push.

Thanks for reading my Nocturne guide (:

Please feel free to Leave a Comment, Suggestion or criticism.

Also, please pardon and errors, misinformation or typos.

Have fun ;D