This section will teach you all about basics, who is Nocturne, what is his primary role, is he viable in Ranked play, etc. If you think that I may add anything at all in this section, please PM me about it, directly, and tell me what should I additionally add. You can skip this section if you consider yourself an experienced Nocturne player.


Nocturne is a Melee, Damage-Per-Second(DPS) champion, meant to be played as a tanky bruiser jungler, able to survive a major fight, but also be able to take down the enemy carries, distract the enemy team globally, and get out safely.

Nocturne does snowball, although I do NOT personally suggest it, because snowballing in a Ranked games is not viable, and even if you try it, I believe that there is a 95% chance to fail. When I bought Nocturne, I had nearby 40 Normal Game Wins. Now I have around 650, and I repent every game i snowballed as Nocturne.

Nocturne is also a great Solo Queue champion, being seen in all ELO games, from lowest, around 700 to 2400. What does make Nocturne so viable?
He isn't too difficult to play although using his ultimate does require some skill, mostly on targeting, angles, positioning and timing.

What is the key thing to playing Nocturne? The answers are, nuff said, good timing, a bit of patience, some skill, a working brain and a clever team, of course.
In the start, you may need a bit of practice on timing your abilities, picking your targets and ganking, but after you read my guide, I promise you, this will all look so easy! :)

Starting the guide generally, we need to make a good old list of a champion's Pro's & Cons. Pro's are, basically, positives of something unlike Con's, which are negative facts about something, regardless of it's kind.

---

My runeset is quite simple, and I believe that the runeset I use is the most standard setup for most AD junglers, there are a few exceptions.



I use 6 Greater Marks of Desolation, and 3 Greater Marks of Strength. Setting up my runes like this make me deal a lot more damage early to mid game, both to champions during my ganks, and to all of jungle monsters, which basically means that my jungle speed goes up. I used to go full Armor Penetration, but my damage output increases if i switch 3 of my Armor Penetration runes for 3 Flat Attack Damage ones. I'd rather not change my runes, but if you'd really like to, then you can take 7 Greater Marks of Alacrity for flat Attack Speed, and 2 Greater Marks of Desolation, for Armor Penetration, as TheOddOne does.



Seals are the rune slots meant for defensive Runes. And therefore, I prefer taking 9 Greater Seals of Resilience, and each of them gives me 1.41 Armor points. In total, I get 12.69 Armor points, which is great & makes my jungle cleaning much easier. With Armor runes, I am literally much more durable and sustained, and i can go back at level 4 with 3/4 of 100% HP Left. Although i NEVER tried replacing these runes, a VIABLE option would be 9 Greater Seals of Vigor, if not rushing Wriggle's Lantern, or 9 Greater Seals of Fortitude, although with these i wouldn't get so much sustain as with the other two.


Glyphs are, meant to be filled with utility runes, regardless of which kind. My main Glyph choices are 9 Greater Glyphs of Shielding, which provide me with precious amounts of Magic Resistance later in the game. Taking Flat MR runes would be a very bad idea, because early in the game, I usually rush Mercury's Treads and buying them mostly fills in my needs for Magic Resistance. Still, flat ones are viable if you decide to change the boot type and rush a major MR item later. Another viable choice would be 9 Greater Glyphs of Alacrity, but that would be risky and it would leave you unprotected unless you obtain a good defensive anti-AP item.


Quints are the most standard Rune slots and they can be filled with any kind of Runes, regardless of their type. I ALWAYS take 3 Greater Quintessence of Strength, which give me enough Attack Damage early to mid game, and they are suiting my needs until the middy game starts. These would be the best choice, because they make your heal a bit stronger, and basically you can clear the jungle a bit faster. You can replace these with 3 Greater Quints of Desolation, or 3 Greater Quints of Alacrity.

Masteries are points similar to Talents in World of Warcraft. You can use them while in the Game Lobby to increase your In-Game statistics, and they basically help you throughout the game depending on which Masteries did you learn. There are 3 Mastery Trees: Offensive, Defensive & Utility tree.

---

My Masteries are 21-9-0. That means I spend 21 point in Offensive tree, and 9 Mastery points in Defensive tree.

_____

We will now discuss about my Offensive Mastery Tree. I start off by taking two points in Brute Force , and two points in Butcher . Both of these increase the damage I deal, with the exception that Butcher does that against minions & monsters. I spend 4 points in Alacrity , so I get 4% increased Attack Speed which is very average early game. That unlocks me some upper masteries. Four points in Deadliness for per-level attack damage bonuses make me hit a bit harder throughout the game until i reach level 18. Then we take Weapon Expertise for 10% Armour Penetration. Not much, but when you have to fight a tanky champ, it's a precious must-have mastery. I take a point in Lethality for increased Critical Damage(10%), even though I do NOT utilize critical chance in my build, I may find it useful if I snowball. The Vampirism mastery is pretty self-explanatory, we need as much lifesteal as possible for more sustain, and thererfore, we spend 3 points. We spend 3 points in Sunder for more Armor Penetration, and finally, the Executioner mastery for easier finishing off.

_____

Since I spent 21 point in the Offensive Mastery Tree, we got 9 points left to spend in either Mastery Trees. I choose the Defensive one. Why taking defense over utility? - Nocturne isn't that mana hungry(Not enough to take Mana and Manareg. masteries), he can also go Wraith's->Lizard Elder path, because all he needs his mana for, is to cast the Duskbringer, and eventually his other abilities while ganking. So there is, basically, a little bit of sense to partly waste the rest of the points on utility. So I decide to lucidly spend the rest of my points by placing 9 points in the Def. Mastery Tree. I spend 3 points in Hardiness for some Armor(More Durability), and I spend two points in Tough Skin to block some of the damage i'd otherwise take from the jungle mobsters. I spend 3 of 4 points in Durability for some nice per-level Health bonus, and finally the last point left in Veteran's Scars . That would be pretty it. With my Masteries set like this, I simultaneously deal more damage because of the 21 point I spent in the first tree, and also block and repent lots of damage from my Runes and 9 points I spent in the Defensive tree. I'd like to note that going 21-0-9 IS also viable, but not as good as 21-9-0. Again, Nocturne doesn't lack any Utility.

In this section, we'll be discussing about Summoner Spells & stuff to take on Nocturne.

---

Smite is a pretty self-explanatory spell. Without Smite, you are no jungler, nothing more then a roamer or walker. Smite is a pretty much must ****ing have spell, because it brings so much good to you & your team. 1st of all, you have a secured Baron, Dragon & Buff control, which means that you can Smite-steal, counter-jungle etc. Game objectives such as Baron & Dragon are pretty much game changing. Stealing one of those, if not both then just the Baron kill is crucial for you and your team. Smite gives you such an opportunity, and basically increases your chance to steal/take the buff. If you disagree, please write me the reason below in the comments. Thanks!



Flash is my 2nd primary spell which I personally do ADORE. Flash certainly is one of the best, if not the best spell currently available in-game. Basically, I consider this spell as a best friend, because it gives you so much new possibilities. With Flash, you can escape from a chasing enemy champion, chase down a fleeing enemy champion, teleport over walls, juke around, and generally do much more things. Eventhough it's been nerfed recently, it's still a great spell making you capable of achieving a whole lot of things that you actually couldn't do without it. Flash makes almost each attempt to counter-jungle successful, so generally, take this spell, it will often win you a war.

---

Ghost is probably the best available spell to take instead of Flash(Still not better enough). I have noticed that many off-tanks benefit greatly from this ability. Activating Ghost literally makes you a Ghost. You gain a lot of bonus Movement Speed in a certain percentage, and you gain the ability to ignore unit collision while moving. Generally, it means that you can pass through the minion waves without going around them. It's just a great spell, and I usually switch it with Flash whenever the enemy team has a hardcore runner/chaser(i.e Singed, Garen, Ahri etc.) This implies only if you're playing a Ranked game & seeing the enemy team composition.



Exhaust is also a very strong offensive ability, which makes you a deadly counter-jungler in case you decide to take it instead of Flash. On activation, your target will lose a big percentage of Movement & Attack Speed, which basically works against most junglers except when it comes to facing Fiddlesticks or Nunu & Willump. This spell is also a great disabler of the enemy AD Carry/s, regardless of the situation, considering that the carry often deals most damage in the team. When to take the Exhaust? I remember that I took it once in a ranked game where the enemy team had Xin Zhao as a jungler. And then i brought a conclusion that you'd want to take the Exhaust when the enemy team's jungler heavily relies on Attack Speed & roaming around( Warwick, Xin Zhao, AD Fizz etc.).



This is the last spell that, I believe, could work well along with Nocturne. Why? Well, basically Nocturne is meant to be a mobile assassin supposed to quickly take down the enemy carries, and be capable of tanking some damage to get out safely. These facts bring us to the conclusion CC = Death. Be careful when taking this ability, and do it if the enemy team really has a dangerous CC composition, i.e Sona, Warwick, Malzahar, Ashe & Skarner in one team. Cleanse would pretty much win you that game i believe, eventhough they all seem to have a clear and big damage output.

---

In this section, I made a short review of Nocturne's skillset, and I explained the basics about his abilities. After a few hours of exploring around, mostly on League of Legends Wikia, I have been brought to the conclusion that Nocturne is really meant to be played either as roamer or a jungler. Lane Nocturne is very unpleasing, and can't do much for his team unless played perfectly.



(Passive):This is Nocturne's passive ability, and I believe that this is the reason why he can jungle so well. 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. Using Nocturne's auto-attacks reduces this cool down by 1 second. It's a great passive, which actually makes you so durable and quickly. Stacking great amounts of Attack Speed will make this ability activate itself more often, but that's not viable in Ranked play.




(Q): This is Nocturne's first ability. It costs 60/65/70/75/80 mana, and it's a linear skillshot nuke dealing 60/105/150/195/240 (+0.75 per bonus attack damage)
. Activating this ability creates a black shadow trail, that extends with every target struck with it. While on it's trail, Nocturne gains Movement Speed Bonus: 15/20/25/30/35% par level, and Attack Damage Bonus: 15/25/35/45/55 per level. This is Nocturne's bread & butter, and this makes most of his ganks literally 99% unavoidable. Duskbringer can hit stealthed units, but it will not reveal them. They will, however, still leave a Dusk Trail behind them. Cool down lasts 10 seconds.




(W): This is Nocturne's second ability. Passively, he gets 20/25/30/35/40% Attack Speed bonus. When activated, he creates a magical barrier, which lasts 2 seconds, which will actually block the next negative ability going towards Nocturne. IF the shield blocks an ability, his Attack Speed buff will be doubled for 5 seconds. Casting this ability costs 50 mana, and it's cool down lasts 20/18/16/14/12 seconds.




(E): This is Nocturne's third ability. It's a target-click ability, and on activation, Nocturne will basically make a shadow bond between him and his target, which will last 2 seconds. If the bond menages to stay in one piece, then the target Nocturne aimed at becomes feared for 1/1.25/1.5/1.7/2 seconds. Using this ability costs 60/65/70/75/80 mana and the cool down lasts 15/14/13/12/11 seconds. This ability also deals 50/ 100/150/200/250(+1.0 per ability power) magic damage, but that's barely notable.




(R): This is Nocturne's ultimate. On activation, the whole map LITERALLY becomes struck in a purple shadow, greatly reducing the enemy team's line of sight, disabling their vision. After activation, Nocturne can activate this ability again to launch himself into one of the enemy champions in range of 2000/2750/3500 units, dealing 150/250/350(+1.2 per bonus attack damage) physical damage. Using this ability costs 100 mana, and the cool down lasts 160/130/100 seconds.
This is a very potent ultimate, allowing Nocturne to easily finish off fleeing targets, or begin a teamfight by attacking the enemy team's AP/AD carry. Never use this ability to steal a kill or just randomly deal damage. Paranoia can also be used to help yourself or an allied champion escape the enemy team or juke around.

In this section, I've explained the right way to max your abilities throughout the game, and of course I wrote the reasons why do I think that that's the best way to do it. Voila!

---

I take a point in Duskbringer at level 1 and max it by level 9. I need it for additional Attack Damage so I can clear the jungle faster, and for stronger ganks. Very self-explanatory. I take a point in Unspeakable Horror at level 2, and I max it 2nd, by level 13. I preffer maxing this ability early for stronger ganks, prolongued fear duration and lowered cooldown. You can also level up Shroud of Darkness 1st, but that's risky and you may drop in damage and output generally.

I take points in Paranoia whenever I can, AKA at levels 6, 11 and 16. I believe that this is the standard way to max your ultimate unless you are Udyr, which is the other case. I max Shroud of Darkness last, and i take a point of it at level 4. I believe that the only purpose of this ability is the utility actually, and the passive Attack Speed isn't really much.

This section is meant to explain the core items in my build, and also explain their purpose. Why do I use them, how do they synchronize with each other etc. The items I listed below are a must-have in my opinion, and therefore, I highly suggest you to main them as well.

---

Spa

Wriggle's Lantern Is my 1st Core Build item. It's quite a standard item for the most junglers, except for some that do not use a lot of Auto Attacks. Basically, you get this item for Lifesteal, Armor & a nice Attack Damage bonus. It generally gives you all you need to jungle successfully, and additionally you get a free source of sight wards, plus a 20% chance to practically Smite a minion or a monster. Quite self-explanatory, you really need this item, and you can hardly jungle without it. This item is certainly a great thing to have, and I'd highly suggest you buying right after you obtain your Tier 2 Boots.

Spa

---

Spa

Mercury's Treads, or at least any other Tier 2 Boots are a 100% MUST-HAVE, which basically, are gonna increase your Movement Speed for a great amount, making you move much faster and after you obtain a pair of any Tier 2 Boots, you'll generally move around quickly, be able to chase down, and many other things. Mercury's Treads are by far, the best pair available in the game at the moment IMO, they are just so much great. You get lots of Magic Resistance, enough to cover you early game until you obtain a better MR item, & additionally you get 25 Tenacity points, which reduce CC effects affecting you, and basically make you much more durable. You can replace these with Berserker's Greaves if the enemy team has one or two major CC Champs, like Soraka or Jax, or maybe Mobility Boots if your team needs you to gank more and jungle less. Ninja Tabi are also very viable in case the enemy team has 2 or more HARD AD champions, like Master Yi or Nocturne.

Spa

---

Spa

Frozen Mallet is my 3rd core item, and I myself, consider it as a very important and profitable item which literally makes you impossible to escape from. You get 20 Attack Damage from it, which honestly, is pretty much a ****py amount, but nevermind, that's forgivable. You get 700 Hit Points, which is the 2nd main reason we buy this item, Nocturne is squishy, so we need to repel that squishiness. Plus, you get the passive effect I mentioned above. Overall, this item is absolutely fantastic, makes you bulky, gives you a little bit of AD, and that insane passive making you a godlike chaser. Pretty much a great item, so yeah, you definitely do want it in your core build.

Spa

In this section, I've listed a few items that I consider good offensive tools to buy on Nocturne. These are just my thoughts about certain items, you can consider changing the build yourself.

---

Spa

Wit's End is one of my main offensive items. It literally makes you both more dangerous & tankier. With the 40% Attack Speed bonus, you can basically hit much faster, and produce the slow from Frozen Mallet more quickly. You get about 35 Magic Resistance generally, plus the Magic Resist you'll passively stack by Auto Attacking. Quite a profitable item, very powerful mid game, and I prefer buying it right after I buy Boots & Wriggle's. However, this item is a bit weak later in the game, and therefore I love switching it with something better.

Spa

---

Spa

Bloodthirster is quite a standard AD item. It provides you with 60, and when fully stacked, 100 AD, plus a bunch of stackable Lifesteal. I believe that this item is meant for snowballing but even if it is, it's just a great item which I usually obtain if my team keeps owning the opponent team. Although it's a bit expensive, it's still a great item which can be very profitable for an offtank like yourself. Buy it when you're obviously winning, mid to late game, but if you play as an assassin, then do it earlier.

Spa

---

Spa

Last Whisper is also one of my favorite offensive items, because it's just so much helpful when it comes to fighting a tanky team. As you can see, the only moment when you should buy this item is when the enemy team has a lot of Armor-stacking champions i.e Rammus, Malphite, Warwick etc, but otherwise it's simply not worth buying, because it gives you armor penetration equal to the 40% of your target's TOTAL armor, so the more armor they have, the more ArPen you get. Otherwise, not worthy buying.

Spa

---

Spa

Infinity Edge is a pretty self-explanatory item. It's a beast item on every single AD champion, and eventhough it costs nearly 4K Gold points, each point is worth it. This item provides you with 80 AD points, 25% Critical Strike Chance And basically increases your crits' power by 50%. It's an awesome item, but very expensive and therefore, you should buy it if you are getting quite fed, or just outplaying the enemy team. A great snowball thingie effective against all opponents.

Spa

---

Spa

Maw of Malmortius is a new item that came out quite recently. It's an item meant to be bought when the enemy team has a very powerful single-target nuker, like Veigar or Akali, so you can repel their nukes. You passively get both Attack Damage & Magic Resistance, so this item kinda looks like an improved Wit's End, but with AD instead of AS. To be honest, this item isn't meant to be bought on Assassins like Nocturne, but on pure bruisers that are supposed to rush in & deal tons of damage, like Olaf, Riven or Shyvana. However, it's still a very nice & strong item, but still very situational.

Spa

---

Spa

Youmuu's Ghostblade is a really, really cool item, which I often purchase in the ending phase of early game. Crazy active, useful for chasing, kiting, running away, assassinating and 1v1 fights. Additionally, you get Armor Penetration, Attack Damage and Critical Strike chance. You get all of those for less then 2700 Gold points. I often include this item in my main build.

Spa

---

Spa

Madred's Bloodrazor is another very situational item that provides you with AS, AD & Armor. The main reason you get this item is it's passive, you deal 4% Magic Damage equal to your target's Max. Health. Pretty self-explanatory, a great item to counter those tanky bruisers without any resistances, like Malzahar, Volibear, Gragas etc.

Spa

---

Spa

Phantom Dancer is a very strong item for any assassin out there. It provides you with Crit chance, Movement Speed & lots of Attack Speed. However, if I buy it, then I do it for the same reason as for Infinity Edge: Owning the opponent team. PD is not that expensive, but unless you have Infinity Edge, it's quite useless, although it seems great early to mid game where it boosts your output. Not viable in ranked unless you're snowballing.

Spa

---

Spa

Executioner's Calling is another VERY situational item providing you both with Lifesteal & Critical Strike Chance. It's like nerfed Ignite that doesn't deal damage. I mostly purchase it if the enemy team has a champion with annoying healing abilities so i can counter them with this item's active, like Vladimir, Dr. Mundo, Volibear, Warwick etc. Unless they do, this item is fairly USELESS.

Spa

In this section, I've listed a few defensive items I consider worthy enough to be mentioned in this guide of mine.

---

Spa

Banshee's Veil is my personal favorite defensive item. It's just so great, for many reasons. It provides you with 350 HP & Mana, which makes you bulky, plus you get around 56 Magic Resistance, which is also fantastic. And finally you get another spell shield in case your Shroud of Darkness goes on cool down. Overall a fantastic item, I absolutely adore buying it, and i believe that the right moment to buy it is when you have one last slot left, later in the game. Generally one of the best defensive items available for purchase.

Spa

---

Spa

After I purchase Frozen Mallet, the 1st item I mostly obtain get after it is definitely Atma's Impaler. This item is amazing. It gives you nearly 50 Armour, which is great for a bruiser like yourself. It gives you 18% Critical Strike chance, which is also fair, crits increase your damage output. And finally, the passive ability which converts a small percent of your maximum HP into Attack Damage. Well I think I explained everything. It synchronizes fantastically with Frozen Mallet(Fratma) & Banshee's Veil, giving you about 50 AD with around 3000 Hit points. Cheap and effective. Buy this item.

Spa

---

Spa

Randuin's Omen is a very strong situational item. It's one of the best defensive items in the game, namely against autoattackers. I don't like getting it every game, but situationally it can be too good to pass up. It provides you with a nice HP boost, lots of armor and HpReg. Passively, it gives you a chance to slow your attacker for about 30%, and when activated it drains the nearby units' Attack & Movement Speed.(Quoted from PsiGuard, thanks pal)

Spa

---

Spa

Spirit Visage is a FANTASTIC early to mid game situational item which I mostly buy if the enemy team has a dominating AP carry, i.e LeBlanc or Cassiopeia. The passive is great, it makes your own passive heal you more, and the HP, CDR & MR bonuses are awesome. A very good item, but very situational and not viable later in the game unless you're a Vladimir/ Warwick/ Volibear. Cheap and effective. Switch it later.

Spa

---

Spa

If you decide to buy Guardian Angel, I believe that you'll lose a percentage of your total HP, but in return, you basically get a new life in case you get kill'd, you get lots of Armor and MR, and the most important, you literally become the less important target. Well that's what I think. Whenever I see someone wearing a Guardian Angel, I always try ignoring him and killing him last, I really don't know why. A great item, worth buying later in the game.

Spa

---

Spa

Quicksilver Sash is a VERY situational item, and i buy it if the enemy team has a prolonged CC abilities, like Infinite Duress, Hemoplague, Soul Shackles, Ignite etc. It gives you a lot of MR, but the reason you'd really buy this item is it's passive: remove ALL CC effects currently affecting the wearer. Quite a cheap, underused but very strong anti-CC item, worth buying.

Spa

---

Spa

Frozen Heart is also a GREAT item, but I rarely buy it, only when the enemy team has a dominating AD Carry, like Tristana, Master Yi, Fiora and other champs utilizing Attack Speed & stuff. It provides you with a ton of mana, lots of armor and a great passives, 20% CDR & Reduction of nearby champions' Attack Speed.

Spa

Before you even think of jungling, you, of course, need to know the basic information about monsters in jungle. Their purpose, re/spawning time etc. Their respawning period depends of their kind, which means it depends of the monster type. Knowing the respawn time for monsters will enable you to successfully counter-jungle and make your own schedule in a game.

I use the standard Blue Buff Aggressive route, which enables me to reach level 4 approximately at 3:30. Cloth Armor & 5 H.Pots, Starting at the wolves camp, proceeding to blue, going to wraiths' camp, & back to wolves. Proceed to Red, go golems, back & focus on ganking further in-game. That's the short way to explain how do I jungle.

---

After purchasing a Cloth Armor and potions, and taking a point in Duskbringer, I proceed to the wolves camp. I take down wolves with a small help which is not necessary, but the more help I get, the better. I proceed to the Blue Buff Golem camp, and I basically take it down with a nice leash to reach level 2, where i take a point in Unspeakable Horror. Now, we have two options: Gank top/mid or proceed to wraiths.

If you chose option No. 2, kill wraiths, go back to wolves, take another point in Duskbringer, go take the red buff. After you do it, proceed and kill the lesser golems. Level 4. Take a point in Shroud of Darkness, and go gank bot. Let's say you got a kill.

Buy Boots, and you need to have 2 health potions. Go wolves, and proceed top. Go for a gank, try for a kill. If you got it, go steal the enemy team's bigger lesser golem, and go straight mid for a gank. Scored another kill/assist! Well, maybe, durr.

Go back, buy Tier 2 boots & Madred's Razors. Now go to the blue buff's camp. Think about your mana pool..Do you need more Mana regen, or not? If yes, then take the buff for yourself. If not, give it to your AP carry.

Go take wolves, wraiths, red, golems and proceed to botlane. Try for a gank, and hopefully get a kill. Go back, buy boots and go STRAIGHT to the dragon's cave. Ask your support for assistance, and try taking dragon. If successful, go mid and TRY for a kill, if possible use your ult for it so you'll have a bigger chance to score a kill. You should have your Heart of Gold and hopefully, a Phage.

What to do in midgame? Right now, you want to focus on helping your solo top lane. That's the 1st priority. Next thing on the list is to farm along and help your bot lane. When you pass by your midlane, give it a gank.

Start building some durability item, i.e Fratma combination. It won't take you much time, maybe about 10 minutes. Do it by grabbing kills, counter-jungling etc.

Try to take the Dragon every time it spawns, it will help you a LOT. Be sure to have a vision ward on both Baron & Dragon, to secure their safety.

Keep doing like this until you obtain first 2 major items.

The late game. The beginning of the end. Ha :)
Be sure to have a ward on both Dragon & Baron caves. Even if you're owning all the time, leaving the buff to the enemy team may be a critical loss.

Move in group. Don't go alone. Don't risk, as it's very dangerous to die later in the game, your team needs all champions to be fully capable, no?

Decide which final item you're gonna buy. Examine the stats on the Tab button, check the enemy team's statistics. Who's owning? Who's not?

Try killing at least 3 champions in the opposite team. Head for the Baron. Win the game. Vote up on my guide and have a long and joyful life :3

In this section, I'll try to explain how to properly act in a teamfight, without failing.

---

Nocturne is an assassin, even if we build him as an AD bruiser. His role is to get inside the fight, assassinate the enemy team's either AP or AD carry, and safely get out. There are not many champs able to perform all of these things(e.g Talon, Katarina), but fortunately, if played correctly, Nocturne can also seamlessly do all the things i've listed above.

- First thing you should know is not to approach face to face. Unlike Talon, Nocturne doesn't have any stealth, or jump-to abilities, except his ultimate with a decent cool down, which is not that cool. So each time you enter a teamfight, be absolutely sure to approach from behind and jump to the squishier carry, regardless if it's the AP or AD.

- If your team has a good initiator, e.g Rumble, try timing your ultimate along with his initiation. It will break the enemy team's LOS and make your approachment fantastic, plus, they will not be able to see your team approaching them. That will both scary AND hopefully split the enemy team considering they won't be able to communicate for a few seconds because they won't be able to see each other.

- Don't be afraid to enter a battle a little bit after it's started. Nocturne can approach a fight from afar, and as a great chaser due to his Duskbringer, he can easily finish of fleeing targets. Also, be sure to activate your items each time you fight, e.g Youmuu's Ghostblade's active, or Randuin's Omen's active etc.. So yes, Nocturne CAN enter a middle of a fight, and still do well, unlike most carries.

- If the enemy team splits, don't be afraid to attack whoever you can. E.g if you had Gragas in your team, whose ultimate splits units struck in it, it wouldn't be wrong to focus the closest target to you, regardless if it was the enemy team's jungler, carry etc..
Also, use the adventage of your ultimate whenever you have a chance to do so. Paranoia really confuses lots of players, so don't be afraid to cast it.

- Stay away from the middle of the fight. That's bad. Always be on a little distance, away from the enemy team's tanks, considering they'll always look onto CCing you. CC will literally collapse all of your plans, and CC means death for every single assassin in the game. So yes, avoid being in a middle of a teamfight, it will probably kill you before you can perform your objectives.

That's pretty much all you really need to know about teamfights.

(NOTE: CREDITS GO TO APOTHEOSIS)



Warding is way too over looked by many teams. I'm going to show you how to ward correctly, or at least how my team and I ward. The ward possibilities are obviously endless for 5s. These are the primary areas that you and your team will be warding each and every game.

Order of priority; Use Sight Ward and Vision Ward where necessary:


Baron/Dragon Wards:
However you decide to set these up with your team, whether it be orderly among the team or supports only buy wards, make sure these are always laid out! Baron and Dragon are what we're primarily keeping an eye on here. Early in the match it's not as important obviously, however, you still need to know whether top, mid, or bot will be set up for a gank when enemy laners/junglers are wandering about. These early kills can help the enemy sculpt the rest of the match and land a victory. We don't want to be allowing the enemy to kill either Baron or Dragon. That's a good chunk of gold that will distribute among their team, not to mention Baron's handy buff. Again, don't overlook these wards!

Note: I would recommend using Vision Ward for these locations, especially Baron mid-late game. If not Vision Ward, then make sure someone, usually the tank, has Oracle's Elixir for discovering enemy wards.

Self Privacy Wards:
There's orange points at top, mid, and bot hiding locations. I would hope that your entire team would try to ward the areas entitled to them. These wards are not entirely important, however, they are lifesavers. Junglers and wandering laners will use these bushes to set up for early kills. If you're pushing your lane, then it would be a good idea to ward the bush(s) that is closet to you.

Team Privacy Wards:
These are crucial wards to put out when the match can go either way by eliminating possible ambushes when pushing minions or entering your own jungle.

Game Changing Wards:
Of course all of the wards posted on the map are capable of changing the outcome of a game, but these wards are placed in a location that both teams will always drift by. Reasons to go through the wards (for both teams): Getting to Baron and dragon, changing lanes, shifting from allied jungle to the enemy's jungle (either by self or team) to steal mobs/buffs, shifting as a team to gank the enemy team, etc. If you just have a ward on either Baron and/or dragon, you can still miss the enemy slipping by into your jungle never knowing it. This allows enemies to set up ganks. Therefore, these wards change the outcome of a game because you know whats coming.

Invading Wards:
I thought it was appropriate to name these wards in this manner because you can enter their bushes knowing whether they're there or not before you attempt to set up a gank. The enemy usually walks through these bushes hoping to freely enter their jungle for experience/gold and/or buffs.

Buff Wards:
Monitor your's and enemy's buffs with these wards. Good to set in your own jungle if they start playing dirty and snatching buffs early game from your jungle. These wards are primarily for the junglers of each team.

That would be all folks! I hope that i succeed in teaching you how do I play Nocturne in Ranked Games, even though my ELO isn't high. Try to play smart, be clever, ignore your greed and be a teamplayer.

-Sincerely, RealmriderX1, in the dark room across the bed :) <'3

This section is meant to be here so I can place the SS's of games I played as Nocturne.

In this section i'd like to say thanks to certain people:

• Jai, for everything she's done for this site
• PsiGuard, for suggesting me a lot of good things which certainly made my guide a LOT better
• GrandmasterD, for actually giving me an idea to change my guide and make it better
• da_neo, for giving me first votes and tips
• Koksi, for supporting me so far
• Infectious Lepar, for reviewing this guide
• Many other people that supported me so far