Build Guide by LinkAway

Nunu, The Yeti Rider


History :

The Freljord is an unforgiving place, a mountainous land covered in snow and ice. Travel, especially in the winter, can be very dangerous. The elements often claim even those who have spent their entire lives there. The boy known as Nunu is one of those who fell prey to such tragedy. One day when he was a young child, Nunu rode on his father's back as they returned from a trapping expedition in the mountains. An unexpected blizzard came upon them, forcing them to seek refuge in a cave. The tempest lasted for days. Nunu's father had to leave to find food, but never returned. Eventually the blizzard cleared and the young child lay dying on the mountainside. Fortunately, this was the land of the yetis, powerful beasts with whom Nunu's father had secured an arrangement for safe passage. A young yeti boy named Willump found Nunu and brought him home. From then on, Nunu was raised by the yetis. When the League of Legends was formed, the yetis knew they needed a champion. Riding his brother Willump, Nunu became that champion.

''Imagine what Nunu will be like when he grows up!''


Pros and Cons :

- Pros :

- Good survability
- Good burst of damage
- Ulti able to one hit a full team
- Amazing staying power in lane with consume
- Hard harassing with Ice Blast
- Cheap to buy and easy to play
- Buff his allies with attack and movement speed with Blood Boil
- Can eat invocations like Annie's Tibbers, Heimer's turrets, Shaco's boxes ... with Consume
- Good in Early, Mid and Late game

- Cons :

- Can be hard to manage mana
- Ulti can be broken by stun, silence, etc ...

Summonner Skills :

- Ignite : Great to finish a target or to engage a fight, but i prefer it because it gives +10 AP, which is great for early game.
- Ghost : Makes you run faster, what else ... You can join your teammates on other lanes quickly etc ...
- Exhaust : Snare or Life savior, though i dont take it because Blast already give me enough snare, and i rarely need the blind to save my life
- Clarity : If you're beginning with Nunu, you'll find the need of mana. If you really do, this will help you.
Other skills doing well on Nunu : Fortify, Cleanse, Flash

Gameplay of Nunu :

- Early Game / Mid Game

At early game, all is about harassing your opponent so he doesnt get XP / Gold from creeps. The Ice Blast is perfect for this. When you're lv5, the blast should be Lv3 and already deal 1 or 2 squares of the HP bar of the ennemy. If he's a melee, just go on his creeps' backline and blast him whenever he comes close enough. He'll just find himself backing to base constantly or asking mates to help him out. With this you'll easily outlevel and outgear them. If you're facing a ranged hero, you should play more self and stay on your magic creeps line, but still harass whenever possible.
Try to keep Blood Boil always on on you, you'll get passive effect sooner and will be more effective at harassing.
Stay in lane as long as you want with Consume. You shouldn't be forced to back before the Lv8 to buy at least boots and Blasting Wand.
When going into a teamfight, you can go first and throw ulti in when you're well enough placed. The ennemies will focus on going out of you're ulti (which is hard since they're nice slowed) and not on your mates assault. Use Blood Boil on a DPS ally and snare the targets running away to make your team able to catch them easily.

- Late Game

This is where your nuclear power is showed out. Catch lonely ennemies with Blood Boil on (always, like in Early/Mid) and snare them with Ice Blast. You should have enough AP to damage them for about 500 with only your blast. Follow and blast them until they die. In teamfight, just go in and use ulti, snare effect will be stacked with Rylai's effect, so they can run out of Absolute Zero unless they've got Purge, or it's a Master Yi or something. When it explodes, you'll likely see a lovely bunch of " - 1500 " and also probably a few frags! Your ulti can make your team win, use it wisely. Dont waste it on a solo target.
If your team is in danger, like a huge wave of creeps on your Nexus, just run in and use ulti to save it, but if ennemy team is on your nexus, you're in a bad way to win anyways.


Build :

Nunu's build mostly depends on the opposite team, so on his survability items. Listed above build is for facing a regular mixed team, but you might have to face full melee, or full caster teams or so

- Full melee build

Doran's Ring
Ninja Tabi
Rod of Ages
Thornmail
Rylai's Crystal Staff
Zhonya's Ring
Replace Doran's Ring by any AP or Armor item, such as a Frozen Heart or a Void Staff

- Full caster build

Doran's Ring
Mercury Threads
Abyssal Scepter
Nature Force / Banshee Veil
Rylai's Crystal Staff
Zhonya's Ring
AP / MagRes item

If you are facing a Mixed Team, you can get boots of Mag Res or Armor depending on what you'll fear the most. Usually, getting Ninja Tabi, followed by Abyssal Scepter and Guardian Angel gives you about the same amount of Armor and Mag Res.

- Items nice to get in any situation

Guardian Angel (saves your *** so often ...)
Mejai Soulstealer (only if you're sure about your Kill/Surviving capacity)
Quicksilver Belt (cleanse)
Will of the Anciens (nice AP boost + Spell Lifesteal, combined in a Halo)
Randuin's Omen (to face Base Attacks / Melee teams)
Philosopher Stone (taking as first item with Rejuvention pendant, good regen of HP / Mana and gives you gold)
Deathfire Grasp (if you're facing several tanks at once)
Chalice of Harmony (if you have mana issues)

Ending :

Thanks everyone for watching at my new (and first) guide for Nunu. Though I think you should build it the way you like, by watching differents points of vue on a few guides and taking what you think is useful / good for you, which would enable you to create your own build and play your own way. I believe it's the only way to control well a hero !
Dont forget to rate / comment and help me to improve my build !!