Nocturne, a champ usually built for the jungle, in fact can be a viable top laner. Currently, i main nocturne top and have an 80% win rate in Silver 3. Now i know to some, this may not seem like much, but i do believe Nocturne top can be a considerable threat. You will want to focus mainly on being an offset tank who can still deal hefty damage. Luckily for Nocturne, you can build in an abundance of different items. He benefits greatly from both tanky items and offense items, as he has built in damage buffs (his Q). Attack speed is also a vital tool for Nocturne as it allows him to activate his passive better. This is my first guide and i do not know how to format everything, so i will just be typing it all up.

Masteries: go 12/18/0 with points in the following order:

Ferocity:
-5 points in fury
-1 expose weakness
-5 natural talent
-1 bounty hunter

Cunning:
-5 wanderer
-1 assassin
-5 merciless
-1 dangerous game
-5 precision
-1 thunderlords decree

Build:

Starting items: Dorans blade | Health pot

Rush items:

If winning lane > Blade of the ruined King | Ravenous Hydra | Deaths Dance
'You will want to choose from either one of these items because it allows sustain in lane and can allow you to continually harass and win trade with auto attacks'

If losing lane > Dead mans plate | Spirit visage | Banshee's Veil
'When you are losing lane as Nocturne, you are going to want to build a bit of resistances. You can also choose to rush these items because lane is difficult and you have no other options'

Boots: I highly recommend you just use Berserkers greaves as you do not want to deviate too much from damage output, because Nocturne will need it. Either options Ninja Tabi or Mercury treads.

Final items:

You can go many different ways with Nocturne in terms of your final build. Usually, my build will consist of 2 defenses items, 1 boot and 3 offensive items. You can really change what offenses items you want, as Nocturne can use ALOT of different items. For defences, your going to really want to only have Deadmans ( for excellent movement speed ) and either a choice of Spirit or Banshee.

Counters: This is an important sector for Nocturne, this is because Nocturne is either going to be SUPER strong against people or SUPER weak against his laning opponent.

Biggest counters:

No.1 > The number one Nocturne counter would have to be Trundle. I cannot stress enough. A good Trundle will absolutely dominate you. With almost nothing to spell shield other than his ult, you will always lose trades no matter what. Trundle will heavily rely on his auto attacks, and Nocturne early game will not have enough damage or sustain to counter it

No.2 > Garen is another annoying counter to Nocturne. With only the Ult being able to be spell shielded, you are at a sever disadvantage. Put it into this scenario 'your playing Nocturne and you are currently at 100 hp in lane, a Garen is approaching you with his Q, you have either two choices, 1. --> Block the Q with spell shield to remove silence, or 2. --> Get silenced and block Ult'. Right now you may be wondering, "how does scenario 2 work?" the answer... it doesn't, therefore Garen will always be able to kill you.

Important fact: People with enhanced auto attacks will be able to go through Nocturne spell shield and still APPLY damage, whereas in most cases Nocturne's W will be able to negate all damage from a single ability.

Key note for Nocturne counters: If your opponent has enhanced auto attack abilities e.g Trundle and Garen, then that can put you at a disadvantage. However this does not always prove to be a lethal counter to Nocturne in some cases. An example for this would be Rengar. Although Rengar has a strong auto attack enhanced ability and it cannot be blocked (Q), you are still capable of using your W to your advantage, to gain the atk speed buff. Rengar E is a great spell to block as it does deal decent damage, and prevents you from getting rooted. Therefore you can continue to fight stronger.

Who Nocturne is strong against:

>Tryndamere: Nocturne can beat Tryndamere top in most cases. This is mostly due to how Tryndamere interacts with Nocturne. When Tryndamere engaes into a fight with Nocturne, you are going to want to just Q his to allow some damage out put. Once he gets near low health, start to fear him, over the channel time, you need to carefully calculate your autoattacks because in doing so, you are able to prevent Tryndamere from Ulting. But what if i do not get the fear off at the right time? If you are unsuccesful in fearing Tryndamere, you will need to bring him down to his ultimate, and back off. Once his ultimate wears off, as Nocturne Ult onto him and engage in a fight again. (This type of strategy will work best at level nine, as you can get the blue trinket).

>Rengar: Despite one of Rengars abilities being able to break through your spell shield, you can still utilise his other abilities , to gain atk speed. Once Rengar initiates onto you, you are going to want to throw your Q out to him and immeidately commence the fear channel. Prolonged fights with Nocturne are dangerous early, because of his fear.
>Zed: Zed will deal negative damage to you. Once he uses his ultimate to intiate onto you, W, to block the 'pop' and commence fear, as it will disrupt his "All in".

>Yasuo: A good Nocturne will NEVER be able to get affected by Yasuo ultimate in lane. Yasuo cruciallly needing the ultimate, will be at a sever disadvantage. Although Yasuo's windwall is capable of blocking your Q, you simply need to fear him in a fight to prevent his properly using his windwall.

>Jax: Standard Jax initiates consist of an "E" (counter strike) before hand into a jump. To avoid the Jax initiate, W as he lands so that you nullify his engage, after this, E, and he will simply have auto attacks to hurt you.

>Malphite: Some Malphites will deal medium to no damage at all, depending on what they build. To counter Malphite top, all you need to do is look out for his ultimate in fights, as that is what packs the most punch, and provides cc for either the jungler to come in, or for him to fight you. Other then that, all you need to do after, is to punish him with Q, E.

>Renekton: Depending on how good the Renekton is, you will be able to destroy him. A key note to look out for is his W. It will steal deal damage to you, but the stun will not trigger. After this you are going to repeat the Q, E and fight. However i do suggest that once the fear lands, you back off, as it gives time to escape. Another trick to utilize, is the fear before Renekton gets to ulti. If the Renekton is bad, they will ult when they get low, allowing for you to fear them and not allowing them to use it. But, if they are good, then they will Ultimate as soon as you engage into a fight.

Standard "All in" Combo for Nocturne:

Q,W,E,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA,AA, ( yeah you get the point. You can compromise with the W, but you may just want to have it activated as you go in. Note, you WILL deal ALOT of damage early, as you are carrying thunderlords).

Runes:
+12 Magic Resist
+11 Physical Damage
+6.8% Attack speed
+9 Armor

'You can change them if need be. I just use this as it gives me a little attack speed and decent resistances with damage'

What do i need to do to play Nocturne top successfully?

There are many reasons as to why it is important to manage yourself as Nocturne top. It is not terribly easy and not terribly hard to play Nocturne top, you just need to manage when and where you attack.

What NOT to do when playing Nocturne top:
- Harass or poke with Q (this will deplete your mana bar quickly)
- Use individual abilities to trade with opponent (need to always "all in" when trading to be successful
- Excessively use W (be smart, don't just waste W all the time, read your opponent)

Other notes:

You will find yourself always having to rely on Auto attacks. Therefore use abilities sparingly, and only when necessary. Nocturne is a good chaser and runner. He gains movement speed when chasing a feared enemy, and has Q to back him up too. He can run away well, because of the Q movement speed benefit and fear. When running and low, E the person chasing you, as they may walk away feared, in another direction.

Utilizing your passive well is key. Always use your empowered auto attack in the MIDDLE of a minion wave, to receive the most value of healing.

'it is also worth using your ultimate in a close fight when both players are low, this is because, the initial activation of your ultimate has no cast time, therefore allowing you to remain auto attacking, then cast your ultimate on the person in front of you, to put more damage output'

Nocturne W also block damage and spells from Baron :D, it does not work for dragon. Nocturne W will negate ALL DAMAGE from spells and their effects. (unless auto attack empowered)

Last words: Nocturne will slowly fall of a bit late game, as most people will have full build and be able to prevent the assassination on the adc. Nocturne has an insane early to mid game, and is still strong enough to 1v1 most people late game.