Welcome curious Summoners to Partybus' Mad Scientist Builds.

Today we have the most fun champ I have worked with to date, Nautilus.
(This is also my first guide!)

To me, Nautilus is fun because he is the closest thing to Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Also, I am a big fan of barrier, and what's better than having Barrier+bleeding+AoE AAs for a skill? Lastly, there is no sound more satisfying than the clunking of Nautilus's anchor smacking an enemy upside the head. You'll be hearing that often...

I have used this build countless times and believe it is mathematically sound for this Champ.

I will keep this guide straight to the point as a GPS with no detours. I initially did not want to share this secret build, but I am determiend to spite Trick2G. (story in outro)


Without further ado,

GET OVER HERE!!!

These runes we run ensure our midgame POWERSPIKE is capitalized while still getting bang for our buck. Runes aint cheap folks.

With that said, since Naut's power spike is in the mid game, scaling runes > flat runes. I have shared my most comfortable page setup so I would not advise deviating too much, however keep in mind these are still being tinkered with.

Attack speed - absolutely crucial. The 16% allows us to hit faster and more often.
The passive's AA animation is sped up, and we can get more hits in with our W.

CDR - absolutely crucial as well for obvious reasons. Scaling CDR may work as well.

Magic Pen - we hurt even if they start building MR (once they catch on its too late). These can be traded for crit chance runes to double down on AAs.

Armor - were going top lane, nuff said.

Percent health - more shield with W, provides more bang than flat/scaling runes.

MR + Scaling MR - More or less same amount of MR as all flats, leaving slots for other things.

Scaling AP - A little bit never hurt nobody ;)

There are two different masteries that are ideal: Grasp of the Undying and Fervor of Battle

Less than ideal but effective is Warlord's Bloodlust , especially if you run crit runes. (The heal is whatever, its the periodic movement speed that we abuse to time our engages.)

other than that were done here

Cons

-Slow movement
-High Cooldowns in early game
-Damage output drops if shield is popped
-Extremely high mana usage

Pros

-Low Cooldown on

Riptide and Depth Charge late game
-Can proc Trinity Force passive often
-Enemy teams do not focus you in team fights
-Good engage with Dredge Line
-Can CC enemies into oblivion
- Titan's Wrath makes AAs AoE + Bleed
-Can eliminate carries with this build.

FUN PART!

---

Starter Pack

---

Starting sets up the first 10 minutes of the game, so choose wisely.
Dark Seal + 3x Health Potion
or
Doran's Shield + Health Potion


Run Dark Seal very often, its the best set-up when you want to be aggressive and need sustain ( Darius, good traders like Riven)

Run Doran's Shield if you have to turtle, mostly against great pokers. Titan's Wrath will soak damage and proc the passive of Doran's, giving us leverage. Great vs Teemo

---

==========Mid Game=========

The damage items almost always stay the same, only defensive items change. Rush that Tri, get a defense item, clobber your opponents till you are rich, and keep getting those items.

These items mean nothing if you cant get kills.

The number one important thing in laning phase: USE SKILLS WISELY. Naut has a specific rhythm for engaging and disengaging, because he is severly limited by his mana pool.

The first couple of waves, what you want to do is proc Staggering Blow whenever the opponent goes to CS. Land that free hit, maybe even an extra AA, and then disengage until you can proc again.

If the enemy is super aggressive and attacks you head on, show him why he must put respeck on your name with Titan's Wrath. The shield and a couple of thwaks will make your opponent hesitant to trade if he's smart.

Keep this rhythm of conservative, forced-my-hand mana usage until level 3. By now, a smart opponent must have realized every time he attacks you, your shield puts the trade in your favor. So well have to be more aggressive and pick fights.

Per usual, whenever enemy engages minions Staggering Blow + AA, until they start chasing you to do damage back. Once your opponent is conditioned to want to fight you after Staggering Blow. punish them with Titan's Wrath AAs + Riptide. If they flash, dash, or otherwise get away from you, Dredge Line puts you right back in their face to thwak them again. Bonus points if Staggering Blow procs again.

If your enemy is dumping lane and you're fighting from your tower, Nautilus is in his most ideal trading situation. Use all the CC you can to keep opponents trapped under turret, while thwaking away. I have countless Double kills from baiting top lane + jg dives, only to have them both snared under turret and Titan's Wrath shielding their damage.

Once we are mid game, our combo will look something like:
Depth Charge -> Dredge Line -> Titanic Hydra+ Grasp of the Undying+ Staggering Blow+ Trinity Force (all in one AA) -> Titan's Wrath+AA -> Riptide+ Trinity Force proc'ed AA.

If youre into numbers, grab the lotion and tissues because the formula for this combo at level 11 looks like

450+(80%AP) -> 80+(75%AP) -> 40+(10% MaxHealth) + (3% MaxHealth) + 68 + (200% Base AD@ level 11=173) -> subsequent AA's with (AA+70+(40%AP) -> (up to 350+(60%AP).

Simplified:
In the best possible scenario, at the end of your total combo, damage (not including base AA damage) would be in the ballpark of:

1161 + 13%MaxHealth + 215%AP + (70+40%AP)*n, where n = number of hits while [[Titan's Wrath] active.

For the pedantics: this simplified formula is a rough estimate to provide a snapshot of damage if you want to see what the damage really is, find out in game.


Often as Nautilus we will be juggling the roles of engager/peeler/frontline for the team. The key to successful fights is to commit to one strategy at any point in time.

If you must engage with Dredge Line stay as front line, do your combos, and do not run away.
---unless---
you must peel cause a carry is caught out, always Depth Charge the diver, to CC them and buy time for everyone to react and defend your carry. We will have a split second decision once we launch the diver in the air to either:

use our CC combo to secure the kill for our team,
use

Dredge Line to return to front line.
Riptide to slow enemy team and make a counter-dive on their carry

Use your gut to make the right decision

If you can save Dredge Line for when the enemy escapes, you'll increase chances of getting a kill.

This build is bonkers. Seriously, you have to try it our for yourself.

Think Im crazy? You are not the only one! Even with the tremendous success my build creates, I have faced alot of adversity for my mad scientist builds. Most famously, at PAX East 2014 I told Trick2G about my Naut build, and he laughed at me and walked away.



I am determined spite him. Try this build out, and if it works for you, you're welcome.


This is the first post of my mad scientist builds, and first build shared. Expect updates especially with S8 rune rework and more builds to follow!