NEVER FORGET TO ROAM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
YOU ARE ABLE TO, SO JUST DO IT.

This Nocturne Guide is for midlane Nocturne.
I'm a OTP Nocturne Midlane player with 1,5 Million Mastery Points.
I played Nocturne almost since release.
My first years were Nocturne on toplane,
but after trying out a lot of runes and some other lanes,
mid seems like the best fit for him, in my opinion.

In my first year I played Nocturne on botlane.
Soon after, I played him 2 years on toplane.
And now for almost 7 years im playin him in midlane.

funfact: I've never played Nocturne in Jungle before.

Always Exhaust and Flash.
Most midlaner are "burst"-champions,
usually they burst damage within seconds.
A good usage of Exhaust is a win in almost every match up.
You have no escapes with Nocturne.
Once you're in, you're dead or you've succeeded.
Flash is your only escape but also your kill secure spell.

Starting
Depending on your play-style i recommend:
- Cull: if you play super safe, maybe u already have experience in farming against ranged champs or mages
(high gold advantage could snowball - getting 100g for 100 minions + 350g for finishing Cull + 180g for selling -> 630g).
- Doran: only if you're not used to just go this one for safety reasons

Comparison:
- Cull: 7 AD, 3 healing per hit, (+ gold income passive by killing minions)
- Doran: 8 AD, 3% Lifesteal, 80 HP

Basically Cull healing is more than Doran's Lifesteal if you're still under 100 AD anyway.
Only thing different would be the 80 HP, but if you play safe having 80 HP less wont hurt you.

Try to ward botside in river pixel brush or drakes.

Rush Berserker's Greaves, the attackspeed is essential.
if you back with not enough Gold try to go:
- Boots of Speed (300g)
- Long Sword (350g)
But don't forget to finish Berserker's first!

Then go for Serrated Dirk (1100) and Cloak of Agility (600g)
if you back with not enough Gold try to go:
- Long Sword (350g)
- Cloak of Agility (600)
Don't underestimate 20% crit! This can change a lot.

And always buy red Wards if possible. VISION IS KEY.

Sanguine Blade is definitely the most important item on every Nocturne.

Statikk Shiv is a very good wave-clear but also very good for pushing since its working on buildings as well.

Mortal Reminder is very important against healing champions.
Not talking about midlane match-up - think for your team!

Black Cleaver gives you HP and the passive is just helping in every way.

Maw of Malmortius: essential against most AP midlaner since exhaust wont be ready all the time.
(rush Hexdrinker in early if your enemy is too strong)

Dead Man's Plate: if enemies are mostly AD you should consider going with this item.

If enemies are mostly squishy you might go with:
- Youmuu's Ghostblade
- Umbral Glaive (BUY THIS IF YOU FACE TEEMO)

Skilling Priority is always:
Q > W > E and always skill R on 6, 11 and 16.
THIS IS HOW YOU ALWAYS SKILL.

High damage is very important in this Nocturne play-style.
That's the reason why you skill Q first.

And because you don't skill W that fast -> rushing Berserker's Greaves is very important

try to focus on practicing your W - Spellshield usage.
Do not just Spellshield when you R - Ult someone.
Timing is very important - always consider what you want to block with your spellshield and focus on spellshielding this exact ability, its usually a CC Ability.
(example: Sylas -> most of the time use W to counter his stun; but at Sylas Lvl 6 you can also spellshield his Ultimate stealing. Timing is important.)
(another example: Mordekaiser -> usually W his Q (mace) its the highest damage output of Morde; but at Morde Lvl 6 you can also spellshield his Ultimate so he wont bring you into his death realm)

Primary path is Domination
Dark Harvest is pretty underrated but its a huge thing on this type of Nocturne.
I played a lot of Nocturne in midlane and i tried out a lot of runes on him.
I can assure you Dark Harvest is damn good.
(but you can also play Electrocute if you're that type of person)

Next is your personal preference.
- i usually go with cheap shot or sudden impact, but all 3 are pretty good on Nocturne.
(i just think cheap shot is more worth since u don't have your R all the time for sudden impact)
- i usually go with ghost poro, but this is also a preference thing here

Definitely go with Ultimate Hunter this type of Nocturne is build around having his R up as fast as possible.
this is very good for your team as well.
also you wont to have this rune fully stacked that's why you consider ganking/roaming more often.

Secondary path is Precision:
Presence of Mind is the thing you'll need.
Mana is Nocturne's greatest enemy. Since you wont build mana-items, this is the way to go.
Against Energy-Champions like Akali things can get ugly. Consider playing safe and youre fine.
Do not over-use your Q for farming, only if it's really really needed.

Legend: Bloodline is very important since you're missing out on Lifesteal-Items

Next is:
- Adaptive
- Adaptive
- and depends on AD or AP midlaner you go with Magic Resist or Amor (obviously)

You will win most of the time in most match-ups.
Your passive together with "Legend: Bloodline" will give you a lot sustain in lane.

Your strongest weapon is your W - Spellshield.
CC Abilities from enemies are usually useless against Nocturne if you use it correctly.
As already mentioned:
Do not just Spellshield when you R - Ult someone.
Timing is very important - always consider what you want to block with your spellshield and focus on spellshielding this exact ability, its usually a CC Ability.

As Nocturne midlane you have to act like a second jungler. its important to farm in your lane, but also to secure objectives! Gank lanes! Help all lanes you can help, play together with the jungler try to gank with him together a lane!

Try to ward botside in river pixel brush or drakes.

Some match-up tips and informations/examples:

Sylas
most of the time use W to counter his stun;
but at Sylas Lvl 6 you can also spellshield his Ultimate stealing.
Timing is important.

Mordekaiser
usually W his Q (mace) its the highest damage output of Morde;
but at Morde Lvl 6 you can also spellshield his Ultimate so he wont bring you into his death realm

Fizz
his damage output is sometimes way too high.
(Maw of Malmortius is usually key to win this match-up)
Match-up is winnable but still a high threat.
for me its a must BANN.

LeBlanc
She has less cooldown on every ability than Nocturne,
makes it hard to W - Spellshield the right spells.
Also her passive can be pretty annoying.
But overall - winnable.

Katarina
there's not much to say about Katarina.
This match-up is usually a win.
But her roaming can make her fed and her lategame CAN be stronger than Nocturnes for sure.
Winnable but always be careful, don't give her a lead through getting kills on ANY lane.

Garen
Garen is a huge lategame carry.
if you go against a Garen, always try to gank toplane, so he wont get a lead. his lategame CAN be insane.

Nasus
Nasus is also a huge lategame carry.
if you go against a Nasus, always try to gank toplane, so he wont get a lead. his lategame CAN be insane.
Especially, you can block his Q with your W- Spellshield,
but the damage is still going through your W - Spellshield.
Most important block his Slow - W, since it's a point&click ability,
blocking it can be hard, focus on his play-style and learn,
how to W - Spellshield in the right moments.

Easiest Match-Ups are:
Malzahar
always E him first if he R - Ult you his ult will stop when hes feared.
but if you know how to time you can block his ult with your W if you focus on his R usage.

Yasuo
W - Spellshield his "knock-up" Q and its GG.
he can't ult you if you're not in the air.

Zed
W - Spellshield his R - Ult and you're fine.
still be careful, he does a lot of dmg even without his R- Ult.

Spellshield is definitely what defines Nocturne Midlane.
Learn it's usage, how to time it against the right champions
and winning shouldn't be far away.

VISION IS KEY. especially for your R- Ultimate usage.
but yeah, VISION IS KEY.

Have fun with my Nocturme Midlane Guide.
:)