Hey there, thanks for taking your time to check out this guide. After reading a lot of poor quality Nocturne guides and builds I decided to create an account with the sole purpose of sharing my way of the nightmare with you lot.

I decided to update the build simply because my way of playing nocturne had changed slightly, my prioritise had changed and I actually started to jungle too. I'd still like to start off with a disclaimer: This is a guide more than just a build. If you're not a fan of text and looking for a TL;DR version, this is not for you.

The guide consists of two builds. One for laning and one for jungling. Rune choice, masteries, skill sequence and other explanations can be found below.

The cheat sheet should only be used as a guide. Both builds require a steady income (kills/farming is required) therefore you might not be able to follow the cheat sheet 100% if you're having a bad game or if you're solo queueing and ending up with proper R-tards (we've all tried that...)

Aight, lets begin with the summoner spells. As you can see I've included Ghost in both builds for the sole reason of Nocturne not having ANY WAY OF SLOWING DOWN HIS OPPONENTS. A well timed flash, stun etc. can counter almost any gank, thus being able to chase down your enemies is crucial imo.

Also, most of my choices are based upon normal modes (Blind Pick). While playing ranked (Draft Mode) you can counter most of heroes by picking different summoner spells. The cheat sheet displays the ones I use most commonly.


For laning I prefer Exhaust again for slowing purposes, but also if you're facing some hardcore harassers, you don't want to end up being killed when you try to kill them. Exhaust works both offensive and defensive. Slow combined with Cripple is great for first blooding and the dmg reduction is sick if they're trying to first blood you.

For jungling I pick Smite. This should go without too much explaining. Nocturne is a great jungler, but he's no Warwick... You don't clear the woods in 3,5-4 minutes nor do you run out with above 50% health, therefore Smite is greatly needed.

Other handy summoner spells could be:

Teleport -- I love this spell on assassins. Wards placed around the map is worth gold when the tough, mana starving Jarvan IV runs out to get a golem buff. Simply teleport to your ward and devastate him. The problem with teleport is, if you can't beat someone 1v1 or you're not 100% sure Sion isn't hiding in the bush behind Jarvan IV.. You could end up dying and not use this spell at all - bit waste of a summoner spell, eh? Tower rescuing is always awesome, but yeah.. It's not really your job as an assassin, obviously everyone should help out defending towers, but if the choice is between killing Annie and saving Top lane's outer turret... Annie's your target.

Ignite -- I love ignite because it can counter self healing and finish off people running with those 5 hp into their turret. If I was playing ranked and I could see the team had heavy selfhealing ( Dr. Mundo, Olaf, Master Yi, etc.) I'd probably go Exhaust/Ignite to counter their dmg/self healing and to destroy them in a gank.

Flash -- I like flash a lot, because of the offensive and defensive uses (if you havnt figured already, I'm fond of stuff that work both ways.) Flash is an insanely good summoner spell. I however, would not pick Flash unless I was playing ranked (again with the ranked, lol). If I can tell escape artist would be awesome, I'd pick Flash instead of Ghost.

Cleanse -- Cleanse is awesome for ranked games. You can actually end up in normal modes vs. NO CC AT ALL. Thus I avoid cleanse most of the time (a well timed Shroud of Darkness can counter most stuff, but we'll get to that later.)

Summoner spells TO AVOID:

Clairvoyance: Leave that for supporters, you need your summoner spells to gank, not to scout.
Clarity: Nocturne does, like most AD heroes with mana end up starving. Don't fear tho, golem buff will do just the thing for you, and he's easily soloable.
Fortify: Again with the defending towers.. Leave that for tanks/supports.
Heal: Not worth it.
Rally: Rally is good if you're against a really, really heavy team which you can't tell unless you play ranked, thus it's not a summoner spell of your choice.
Revive: No. Just no.


Shouldn't need to explain these any further really...

I'll just explain the runes for both builds very shortly.

Laning

: These runes allows you to deal a great amount of damage in low level + help your regen slightly. Nocturne does starve on mana, but Clarity runes combined with an occasianl golem buff should should make sure you don't go OOM too fast. You can't avoid running OOM, but stacking mana regen any further will gimp your dmg and result in a worse performance than if u had been OOM (yes I did the testing....).

Jungling

: For jungling I normally go with the set displayed in the cheat sheet. The additional armor is to make the jungling experience more smooth + it also (combined with the magic resistance) makes you a nasty ganker. You don't want to be easy to kill once you show up outside the jungle... Nocturne has a low base armor/resistnace and health pool, thus sometimes I even go with HP Quintessences just to make him anything but squishy while jungling (also very viable if your team is not scouting for you, flat HP Quintessences can ave your *** from a level 1 gank).

Before the update the cheat sheet displayed what I found to be core items for Nocturne, but seeing as I've changed the setup a bit, I will use this section to explain every pick + some other picks I've found very handy. This section will be divided in a laning section and a jungling section, thus it's gonna be A LOT of text... (you can always skip to the items you're wondering about..)

The optimal setup itemwise would consist of 4 items to increase your DMG, 1 to boost your movement speed and 1 to increase your survivability.

Anyways, let's start off with

LANING

:

So... What should I buy first?

At first the choice is between Doran's Blade and Doran's Shield depending on the enemy setup, if they have strong low level harassment. You'll still deal great dmg at level 1-3 without any additional +dmg items (because of the ArP runes) therefore the shield is often more handy because it increases your chance of surviving a lot. Armor, health and regen is actually quite handy.
I was once allowed to go mid with Nocturne (let me just say it was an awesome game.. lol), but if you're allowed to go mid (don't count on it.. really..) buy a pair of Boots and 3x Health Potion.

What about movement?

Anything goes really, and it's all about (yes, you've guessed it) the enemy setup. No guide can provide you with THE boots of choice, but merely display you the options, thus this part is gonna be exactly the same in the jungle version. You have 3 choices to pick from really:
Berserker's Greaves, Mobility Boots and Mercury's Treads. If they have very little/no CC and you're comfident with how your AS, go for Mobility. If they've little/no CC and you don't think you'll hit fast enough (keep in mind Shroud of Darkness provides an additional 40% AS at level 18) go for Berserker and ofc.. If the enemy team is full of silence, CC, etc. you go for Mercury. :)

What about my damage?!

The items listed in the cheat sheet is what I consider to be quite good for Nocturne. There's plenty of damage, lifesteal and attack speed... If you're not satisfied here's some items you could go for:

Last Whisper -- yeah, I'm in love with ArP. This item will make squishies slightly squisher and will most likely result in some more kills. Last Whisper doesn't make you a tank-killer however, that's what Madred is for. Now, in all honesty, I'd never suggest you go for the tank in a team fight. But once the carry is dead and Shen is standing there looking annoying, Madred is gonna help you take him down.

Phantom Dancer -- AS and Crit are both very nice. I wouldn't take this over dmg unless I was dissatisfied with my AS. Following the items in the cheat sheet, you're gonna hit fast.. and you're gonna hit hard. So unless you wanna hit faster... (keep in mind there's a cap on 2.5 attacks per second).

Wriggle's Lantern -- the ward + teleport is always fun to play around with, but this is really an early/mid game item. The armor, lifesteal and DMG is minor at level 18.

Sword of the Occult -- a sexy, yet risky item. Yes, 100 dmg and 15% movement speed is ace, but this really requires you're not going to die. And in all honesty, even how defensive you play/build you can always end up being WTF raped. I don't normally go for the Sword unless I'm playing premade.

Manamune -- You can actually stack this up pretty nicely, but with Clarity runes and an occasional golem buff, you shouldn't be in severe mana problems.

What do I build to ensure my survival?

In the cheat sheet for laning, I use Frozen Mallet as a survivability item. The 700 health is really decent, and should not be underestimated. However, depending on the enemy team setup (yeah I know, I've said that before) you can build some different items to ensure you're not getting Annie raped - we're talking tank items here...

Vs. heavy melee you can't stack HP because you might end up forcing them to buy Madred's, thus a Thornmail/ Sunfire Aegis is pretty decent and can help you take down those attacking you. Force of Nature or Warmog's Armor vs. 5 AP carry can save the day for sure.

Does this mean Nocturne can tank?
No.

As you may have noticed, the item build/priority is very different from the laning part. This is basically to show you the items I like to play around with, they're equally good to use whther you start in the jungle or in a lane and will all result in you being disgustingly awesome and will cause your enemies to yell out "/all OMG OP nocturne noob no skill hero".

Following the cheat sheet you'll hit harder, be squishier but destroy a target before his friends can react and come to his aid. This is imo the idea of Nocturne, which is also the reason I've grown very fond of jungling.

Other times of movement, survival and DMG items can be found in the Items for LANING section, because there's no reason to type the same thing over and over again (even tho I really like to).

Oh the masteries....... They should be pretty forward to understand however there's a few remarks I may need to add..

Most Nocturne builds out there put 1/3 points in Archmage's Savvy instead of Cripple. I don't see the point in boosting your AP by 0.2. This does not make a difference damage-wise on Unspeakable Horror, but reducing your Exhaust target's armor and magic resistance by 10 increases you and your team mates damage on the target.

Same goes for my points in utility. Was I to use Teleport I'd spec into Spatial Accuracy and was I to use Ghost I'd spec into Haste - this should be quite obvious, I prefer Good Hands instead of regen because SHOULD I end up dying, I wanna come back to slaughter Annie and pay my revenge as soon as poossible ;)

As I've mentioned earlier, Noctourne mana starves, I tend to pay the golem a visit to get his buff, or kill anyone who has it. With the buff, you can't run oom.. It's literally impossible (well, probably not, but I never tried it, lol). This is also the reason why I spec into Utility and not Defense is because I want Utility Mastery .

Why 2/2 Utility Matery instead of Havoc ?????

:
Nocturne needs the golem buffs for aslong as possible to rape as much as possible. Havoc is surprisingly weak compared to 15% longer duration on the buffs.. But that's just my opinion. I've tried out both ways and ended up doing more dmg with Utility Mastery than with Havoc.. But yeah, give it a shot. This is just a guide no need to follow it strictly.

Now the spec. This is going to be really brief and I'd gladly answer questions you have concerning the build. I spec the same regardless of laning/jungling so here goes...

On the cheat sheet my prio was obviously Duskbringer. That is because I find it to be a great harass when laning and it can most definately help you finish people hugging their tower. Also, having Duskbringer at level 1 can EASILY get you first blood before minions spawn. Standing ready to bush-gank is one thing Nocturne is very good at. It is also a very nice DMG boost in the jungle

Unspeakable Horror over Shroud of Darkness because while AS is good, a CC is godlike below level 18 and the longer you fear someone - the better. No need to worry about Karthus ulti and whatnot, 1 point in Shroud of Darkness still saves the day! :)

In this section I will explain my jungle route as the title states.. ^^

Strategy

:

1) Golem buff: Starting off at the Golem to steal his buff is the way to go. With the mana regen you can use your spells to clear the jungle. Use Smite in the beginning. Having someone to scout for you is always nice and if someone should be kind enough to pull it for you too you might not even have to pop a potion. Health Potion + Nocturne's Passive is what's keep you alive in the jungle.
2) Wolves.
3) Wraiths.
4) Depending on luck, crits and when you popped Smite, it should be off cooldown and you can take the Lizard buff. Fearing the Lizard with Unspeakable Horror and spamming Duskbringer should ensure a kill. If you're getting too low. Give up, don't die in woods as going b to regen is a hell of a lot faster than waiting to spawn in well.
5) Twin golems (yes, I like to call them that)..
6) Head b to rest and then out to gank.

You should be level 4 by now and with Golem/Lizard buff you're ready to shread fear across the map. Helping out the guy solo laning is always a good idea unless he's doing fantastic on his own. I always try to get a kill in mid (don't sit around in a brush for hours.. you'll lose far too much xp then) because that way my mid-laner will get an exp. advantage we can use later on - same goes for the guys duo-laning, but I prefer helping out the bloke in mid first unless they're having problems. Getting a kill in mid is hard tho, you have to make sure he hasn't warded the area around mid and he has to be agressive for you to get up behind him blocking the way to his turret. If it's too much of an issue, skip him till you have ulti, no need to lower your xp.

7) Can you not get a gank going, continue killing creeps in woods - if the enemy team doesn't have a jungler you can take their buffs too (leave 1 of the smaller adds alive to piss the hell out of them when they run in to get a mana buff - this will prevent the golem/lizard from spawning).

If they have a jungler: Nocturne is not really an anti jungler like Warwick... However, he can deal a great amount of dmg at low lvl. If the enemy's Warwick is jungling, try get a cheap kill when he's soloing the drake (normally around level 3-5). Otherwise try not to engange in a 1v1 vs. warwick, it's too stupid.

Golem buff while laning

:

Once you hit level 4, you should have enough health to take down the golem. Having the blue buff will ensure a lot more harassment + greater chance of killing your enemies. It's not a waste to pay the golem a visit, just make sure your laning partner can take care of his lane on his own.

Now, to end this I will share some of the tricks I've learned so far.

Noctourne's abilities have a really good purpose both defensive but also offensive:

Duskbringer is good to finish off someone running, but it's also great to give you a headstart away from being ganked (before you leave combat and your Mobility Boots kick in)).

I normally open up with Shroud of Darkness (this is also explained in the ingame tips, and it works 9/10 times). People tend to get surprised when you're come out of nowhere and trying to bash their heads in, they tend to cast some sort of disable. With SoD up, you'll arbsorb it and get a mad AS bonus. Also, seeing as Nocturne is rather new, if you're facing another Nocturne save your SoD for when he casts Unspeakable Horror on you. The disable will be absorbed and you can disable him and run or nuke him down - whatever's easiest.

Hiding in a bush with a team mate and being ready to cast Unspeakable Horror on Annie as she approaches is a good starter as well. She'll most likely react too late and be disabled, thus giving you loads of time to take her down. Unspeakable Horror can also be used to lock someone tower diving, thus the tower will help you take them down and it can be used to disable someone fed and run off like a little girl ;x

I'm a big fan of Paranoia. It's a great finisher if someone tries to run (altho, it's not smart to tower dive with it - again, you can't tank towers). But it's also great to help your team mates run away from a gank, limiting your enemies vision is a mad disable and can make sure your Sona gets out alive. I normally use Paranoia as a finisher (or frag-ulti like my friends say.. lol) you can also use it supportive for your team. You might be out of range to get the Dash off, but popping Paranoia can help your team mates get a kill on someone farming.


Now, this is obviously my first guide. So be kind, ok? ;) I'd love some feedback, be it negative or positive.