Pros
— Being one of the game's most versatile enchanters, Nami has no shortage of crowd control, healing and damage in her kit. Her main ability, Ebb and Flow, keeps your team topped off while damaging enemies simultaneously! She has three ways of crowd controlling enemies with Aqua Prison, Tidecaller's Blessing and Tidal Wave, the latter being capable of changing the outcome of teamfights if used correctly. Nami also brandishes a nice amount of extra utility in the form of a movement speed buff in Surging Tides and extra damage with Tidecaller's Blessing. All of this together makes for an amazing jack-of-all-trades styled support that's a great partner for almost every ADC, with a good early game and amazing engage potential.
Cons
— Nami shares the same cons with most enchanters, she's fragile and immobile, making her an easy target for assassins, divers and engage champions like Zed, Nocturne and Nautilus, the threat of facing these champions forces Nami to use her Tidal Wave in order to survive, and most times, that might not even be enough. Nami's abilities are also quite medium ranged and easy to see coming, her ultimate is very slow, and her main crowd control ability, Aqua Prison, is infamous for being hard to land. Using her Q to it's full potential is essential for her gameplay, so it might take a couple of games until you get used to it.
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Passive - Surging Tides
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— Nami's abilities grant bonus movement speed to allied champions hit, decaying over 1.5 seconds. The bonus is doubled from Tidal Wave.
— Pretty straight forward passive, you will naturally speed up your team while casting abilities, this includes Tidal Wave and Aqua Prison. Helpful during skirmishes for both engage and disengage, becomes even faster when using Staff of Flowing Water due to the stacked movement speed.
— You can cast Q and E on your ADC and yourself when leaving base in order to reach lane a bit faster. |
Q - Aqua Prison
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— Nami launches a bubble at the target location, dealing magic damage to enemies hit and suspending them for 1.5 seconds, during which they are revealed.
— Aqua Prison is by far her hardest ability to use, but there are ways to ease the enemies into a hit! Start by using Tidecaller's Blessing on yourself (Alt + E for a fast input), attack them with an auto-attack or a W before launching Q, a lot of times the slow is all you need to land that crucial bubble.
— Of course, you can use Tidal Wave before using Q, the knock up + slow is more than enough to guarantee a stun, just be aware that enemies can Flash or dash away if you throw miss the knock up timing.
— Avoid throwing bubbles mindlessly as most enemies are already expecting it and will be able to dodge it (it's your only form of hard CC pre level 6, use it wisely!), wait for them to overextend, get locked into an animation (like an auto attack or a channel) or use it in advance to counter a predictable movement skill, like a targeted dash i.e. Zenith Blade
— Landing bubbles consistently comes with time, don't be afraid to trust your instincts as it's all trial and error like with any other champion. |
W - Ebb and Flow
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— Nami unleashes a stream of water onto the target champion or herself, which then bounces to nearby unaffected champions up to twice, alternating between enemies and allies.
Ebb and Flow heals allies and deals magic damage to enemies, with each bounce modifying the effectiveness of the next by -10% (+ 10% per 100 AP).
— This is her bread and butter ability, you should always max Ebb and Flow first as it consistently fulfills your main job as a healer with damage capabilities.
— Proper W usage is essential and one the factors that differentiates a good Nami player from a great one. The main gist of it is the bounce aspect, using it on an ally or yourself will bounce it to a nearby enemy and then back to another ally champion or yourself, therefore resulting in more healing during a fight. Using it on an enemy will have the opposite effect, resulting in more damage. Be mindful of the range so you won't accidentally fumble the bounce and end up with a singular heal/damage when fighting.
— Using Ebb and Flow on yourself followed by Tidecaller's Blessing is a quick way to get damage on a nearby enemy when poking. If you feel like attempting to do this will turn into a trade, instead use E preemptively on yourself and then W on them to regain some life back and win the trade.
— It's really easy to spam the healing on your ADC during the laning phase, so be mindful of your mana, bringing Inspiration secondary with Biscuit Delivery helps with this issue, but in order to avoid it altogether, focus on looking for angles where healing your ADC can result in a bounce, therefore granting you a Manaflow Band stack and some extra damage on the enemy.
— Since patch 14.7, Ebb and Flow got some changes, one of them being aimed at the -10% effectiveness per bounce. Now you gain 10% more effectiveness per 100 AP, meaning that once you reach 100+ AP, your bounces will be stronger than your initial use of W! This changes Ebb and Flow's usage during the mid-late game, as an example, when looking to heal the most amount of health possible to a single ally, you should use W on a nearby enemy or yourself first (Of course that during teamfights it becomes hard to track everyone's positioning and if multiple bounces to the right champions are guaranteed, if that's the case, healing the ally directly might be the safest choice). |
E - Tidecaller's Blessing
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— Nami blesses herself or an allied champion for 6 seconds, empowering their next 3 basic attacks or abilities to each deal bonus magic damage and slow enemies for 1 second.
Empowered abilities that apply area damage only deal 33% − 66% (based on level) of the bonus damage to non-champions.
— Tidecaller's Blessing is at it's best when used as an aggressive tool of extra utility, when casted on your ADC, the slow allows them to catch up to enemies in situations where they wouldn't be able to. This ability shines in three specific scenarios:
— When used with Imperial Mandate, ally attacks empowered by Tidecaller's Blessing will immediately proc the item, dealing extra damage and granting movement speed to the both of you. It's the perfect combo and the best spell for Mandate.
— You can cast it while projectiles are still in the air, i.e. if you see that your Varus's Piercing Arrow is about to hit an enemy and he just needs that tiny boost to grab the kill.
— The slow can be used as a setup for other important abilities, like ally or personal CC (briefly mentioned before with Aqua Prison). |
R - Tidal Wave
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— Nami surges a tidal wave in the target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies hit, knocking them up for 0.5 seconds, and slowing them for 2 − 4 (based on distance traveled) seconds.
— An amazing teamfighting ultimate, Tidal Wave's can be used to knock up multiple enemy champions during fights. When doing so, aim for the backline so your team can easily reach it with the double movement speed granted by Surging Tides and eliminate the carries due to the slow.
— Tidal Wave can be casted defensively to peel for your allies or get rid of enemies that are on top of you. Don't be afraid to use it on a single enemy if needed, preventing deaths is more important and way more safe than risking huge playmaking waves.
— The wave is quite slow, giving enemies enough time to avoid it if they're far away from you, a lot of times the threat of being hit by it is enough to ensure some good usage, but in order to guarantee hits, use R to follow up ally CC, close chokepoints and inside jungle corridors. |
Summon Aery
— Summon Aery is the best keystone for Nami, it amplifies your poke and enchanting spells with no cooldown needed! Manaflow Band is a must for a mana user like Nami; Transcendence's level 11 spike is really strong during fights and stacking AH is essential for an enchanter, you can swap it for Absolute Focus in damage oriented builds; Scorch is really good to increase Nami's damage output during the early game, but it tends to fall off later on, can be swapped for Gathering Storm if you're playing purely for scaling.
— Inspiration is the most consistent secondary tree. Biscuit Delivery helps you get through lane with more ease and Cosmic Insight reduces the cooldown of your spells. Even though you can't go wrong with these two, there are other secondary tree options. |
Resolve
— Inspiration can be swapped for Resolve for more defensive power. Bone Plating ensures that you'll be able to take some extra hits from hard hitting champions and lanes, you can swap it for Second Wind against heavy poke lanes (like Caitlyn, Xerath and Ezreal) or for Font of Life for even more sustain. No matter the first rune, you'll always, always go with Revitalize second when using this tree, the healing benefits are extremely valuable for enchanters and Nami is no exception. |
Domination
— Another alternative is Domination, it's best used when paired with AP focused builds that have Mejai Soulstealer in them. Ideally you should use Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm with this secondary. |
Flash
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— Everybody's favorite spell, Flash! You'll use this every game, it's invaluable due to it's wide range of uses. Survivability, mobility, combos, clutch plays, you name it, Flash does it all! |
Ignite
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— Great for early game skirmishes, Ignite is just what you need to finish off low HP opponents or reduce the healing that they receive. Recommended against enemies that you have a chance to win lane against or enemies with high amounts of healing, examples: Nilah, Soraka and Lulu. |
Heal
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— The best defensive option for an enchanter, Heal gets stronger as you build more heal and shield power items. Recommended when you need survivability and your ADC is using a combat/tempo spell like Ghost, Ignite or Teleport instead of bringing Heal themselves. |
Exhaust
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— Defensive alternative to Heal, you will make the best use of Exhaust when against DPS champions that you can easily reach and use on before they can fully dish out their combo, examples: Zed, Irelia and Lucian. |
World Atlas
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— As a support, World Atlas + 2 Health Potions is the only viable option for a starter pack! Avoid having 3 stacks of this item so you can finish the quest as fast as possible. Attack champions and towers to get more gold, if not possible, execute minions for your ADC, prioritize cannons and minions that they would lose naturally or to towers. |
Bandleglass Mirror
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— Aim for this item when going to base for the first time, it grants all of the stats Nami needs and can be used as a component for multiple items, so you don't have to commit to a single one initially. |
Boots
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— You can rush boots if you need the extra movement speed to dodge skill shots or to roam. Ideally you should upgrade them after your first item. |
Control Ward
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— Always buy these to control vision around key spots, but be mindful with your gold since supports don't get too much of it and you need it to get items as quickly as possible. |
Oracle Lens
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— Swap your trinket for Oracle Lens after upgrading your support item. Use it to sweep areas where enemies have warded recently. |
Dream Maker
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— The perfect upgrade for enchanters, Dream Makker offers both offensive and defensive power to your allies. Useful in almost every scenario, you can't go wrong when picking this option. |
Solstice Sleigh
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— Another great versatile option, Solstice Sleigh shines when the lack of mobility is the issue, mainly for disengage. Recommended against melee champions that are hard to run away from. |
Zaz'Zak's Realmspike
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— Mainly used by mage supports, Zaz'zak can be the extra boost you need to secure that kill. Recommended when using AP oriented builds or if you're feeling extra aggressive. |
Imperial Mandate
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— Also known as Nami's signature item, thanks to her being the best user of it in the game, Imperial Mandate will be your first item on most games, it's easy to activate, deals a bunch of damage and grants extra movement speed to the user and their ally. Try to purchase it as your first item, other options are viable in different scenarios (like games where your team already has too much AP or games where early game damage isn't going to help compared to other stats). |
Moonstone Renewer
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— Thanks to her W changes, Nami now heals for a significant amount that can be increased when using Moonstone Renewer. This item is amazing when bought as a second or third (Can be used as your first item if you're going for a healer build), the stats are great and the passive has no extra requirements. Recommended as a core item. |
Shurelya's Battlesong
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— Great item! Shurelya is a versatile option as it's active can be utilized for both engage and disengage. Try to purchase it if your allies have little mobility and could use the movement speed to catch up to enemies (Ex: Darius and Sett) or if the enemy team is super mobile and this item's active could help the disengage. |
Echoes of Helia
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— Proficient in both healing and damage, you'll find yourself using this item on most games due to how strong it is currently and it's inherent synergy with Nami when taken into account how well she uses it compared to other enchanters. Great third item option, and second if you want a bit more aggressive power over the extra healing that you would get from Moonstone Renewer. |
Ardent Censer
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— Ardent is the ideal item for on-hit champions, granting them extra attack speed and damage every time you empower them! purchase it if your team has 2-3 attack speed users or an ADC that is greatly benefited from it, examples: Lucian, Kog'Maw and Varus. |
Staff of Flowing Water
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— Ardent's counterpart. Instead of empowering on-hit users, this item benefits casters instead, and that includes Nami herself! Buy this item instead of Ardent Censer in games where your team doesn't have enough attack speed users/has way more AP champions, in this cases, the extra movement speed + AP is way more helpful. |
Dawncore
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— The enchanter version of Rabadon's Deathcap, Dawncore scales extremely well and greatly increases your healing capabilities. Admittedly, it's quite pricey, but it's worth it nonetheless. You can purchase it as early as a second item if you don't see any other items being more useful than pure healing and shielding power, but be careful when making your build around this item, do not get it if you're planning on purchasing a non-mana regen item ( Morellonomicon, Locket of the Iron Solari, etc...) so you can make the most use out of it's passive. |
Redemption
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— Classic AoE healing item, Redemption shines on teamfights and games where your comp allows your team to crowd near each other so you can maximine the amount of healing per cast. Essential option for healing builds when paired with Moonstone Renewer and Dawncore! Would avoid purchasing it if both teams are full of squishy champions and assassins in such a way that the high mobility + one shot potential makes it hard to properly use it's active effect. |
Mikael's Blessing
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— An item with a great niche, purchase it against teams with dangerous crowd control abilities. A well timed Mikael can save your ADC's life or even remove the CC quickly enough so they can keep chasing enemies. |
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
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— Ability haste is one of the most important stats for enchanters, this pair of boots gives you a nice amount of it + summoner spell haste (which is ALWAYS good) for a cheap price, you'll find yourself puchasing these 99% of games, they're just that strong. |
Boots of Swiftness
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— If you find yourself in a game where the enemies have access to a lot of slows, crucial skillshots or if it's just hard to survive and mobility could make a difference, opting for these boots instead of Ionian Boots of Lucidity might be a good choice! |
Vigilant Wardstone
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— The requirements and the price usually throw people off from purchasing this item, but there's a lot of value to having it on your build, the stats are great and more vision is always good. Recommended mainly against stealth enemies that can be revealed, like Evelynn or against enemies that make use of areas without wards, like Fiddlesticks. |
Morellonomicon
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— Anti-healing item, it's very cheap and absolutely necessary against champions with a lot of healing, like Soraka or Aatrox. If you need this item, get Oblivion Orb early and upgrade it as your last item, the component has just as much anti-healing as Morello, so you won't be losing much by focusing on other items first. |
Mejai's Soulstealer
Locket of the Iron Solari
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— Mainly used by tanks, but viable on enchanters due to how it's active gets stronger with heal and shield power. Recommended against burst champions, the shield and the stats are more than able to save you and your nearby teammates. |
— Detailed descriptions on how to face every common support. |
matchups
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— EVEN MATCHUP 2.5/5 DIFFICULTY— Alistar is a tank support whose main form of engage is his Headbutt + Pulverize combo, it's targeted, so keeping your distance is the only way to not get caught by it. Though if he manages to dash to you, use Aqua Prison on your feet immediately to stop him on his tracks, if timed correctly, he'll end up pushing you to safety instead of throwing you up in the air.— Be aware of nearby bushes and areas where you don't have vision, most Alistar players run Hextech Flashtraption to make use of these locations to get on top of your team with ease.— Shurelya's Battlesong usually works against Alistar as you can CC him with Tidal Wave & Aqua Prison and activate the item so your ADC can escape.
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— EVEN MATCHUP 2.5/5 DIFFICULTY— Bard is a roaming jack-of-all trades support, he can do a bit of everything, but is especially good at enabling plays for his team. Keep nearby walls warded so Bard can't bring his jungler with him by using Magical Journey. You can also throw an Aqua Prison while enemies are traveling through the gate to catch them, although it's easier to land it right as they arrive.—His Q, Cosmic Binding, stuns if it lands on two targets or a wall, so don't stick too close to your ADC in order to avoid that. Bard is rather vulnerable without that ability, so dodge it and engage with Tidecaller's Blessing.
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— HIGH RISK MATCHUP 5/5 DIFFICULTY— Catcher supports are Nami's worst nightmare and Blitzcrank is unarguably the most iconic of them. Dodging Rocket Grab is ESSENTIAL, hide behind minions or retreat to your tower if necessary, getting hit by it usually results in certain death. Rush Boots on your first back to void hooks with more ease, upgrading them into Boots of Swiftness is a great option here, but Ionians are also viable if Blitz is the only threat that Boots of Swiftness can help with.— Rocket Grab takes up most of Blitz's power budget, punish them after it's used. Most Blitzcranks will opt for engaging with Overdrive instead so they can secure a hook with Power Fist's knock up, throw your
bubble at them as soon as you see them speeding up towards you.
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— RISKY MATCHUP 4/5 DIFFICULTY— Brand excels in AoE damage and damage over time effects, it's crucial that you avoid his skills so you can maximize your own potential. Ward bushes if you see him trying to take control of them, Pillar of Flame becomes way harder to dodge if you don't have vision on him.— Distance yourself from minions as Brand can get free poke on you by using Conflagration on them. If you do get caught by one of his skills, be ready to dodge Sear, it's his only form of CC and avoiding it allows you trade back with your own abilities.— Crowding together is exactly how Brand usually wins fights by himself, keep a safe distance from your allies if Brand is nearby, the moment you see his ult reaching you, run to the opposite direction from your team so it can't bounce to anybody else.
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— EVEN MATCHUP 2.5/5 DIFFICULTY— Braum's strength come in protecting his team with his shield and CC'ing the enemy team with his ability. The main thing that you need to take from this matchup is the cooldowns, avoid ulting his team at all costs if he still has Unbreakable up, good Braum players will be looking for ways to block dangerous skills, your ultimate included.— On the bright side, Braum still gets affected by abilities he blocks, so while ulting his shield isn't that effective as he's the only one who's tanking the knock up, using Aqua Prison on it certainly is! Braum's hitbox gets larger when he uses Unbreakable, making it easier for you to land your bubble on him, keep this in mind when playing against him.— Since you're a ranged champion, Braum will try to look for angles to land Winter's Bite on you, as a way to both poke and engage due to the slow, avoiding it is crucial to win trades.
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— Detailed descriptions on how to play with every common ADC. |
synergies
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— STRONG SYNERGY— Being the game's most complex champion, Aphelio's auto attacks feature a bunch of different effects, but don't feel intimidated by him! You don't have to learn each and every one of them to know how to properly play with him.— Making use of Tidecaller's Blessing is quite easy when he's your ADC due to this long range projectiles and turrets. Watch out for Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle, it's his poke tool, use E on him as soon as you see him throwing it out.— Gravitum, the Gravity Cannon is his only form of CC and works great with Nami as you can stack the slow with your E and easily land Aqua Prison on rooted/slowed enemies.
— He gets a lot of use out of Ardent Censer, core purchase when playing with him.
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— STRONG SYNERGY— Much like Nami, Ashe's core strenght is crowd control, and you two enable each other greatly.— Her attack range is longer than most ADCs, the passive slow enables your engage with Tidecaller's Blessing or even guarantees a bubble. You can also enable her engage with Tidal Wave, making it nearly impossible for enemies to dodge Enchanted Crystal Arrow.— Ashe's main weaknesses are how fragile and immobile she is and for that you can purchase Shurelya's Battlesong so she can move faster around fights. Ashe is also one of the best users of Ardent Censer, try getting your hands on this item as fast as possible to increase her damage output.
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— STRONG SYNERGY— Excelling in range and burst damage, Caitlyn does exceptionally well with Nami due to their early game strenght. Focus your gameplan around bullying and winning laning phase if she's your ADC.— Caitlyn has a lot of long range projectiles that you can empower using Tidecaller's Blessing, during trades, this ability helps Caitlyn close distance on enemies so she can weave in more autos or land Piltover's Peacemaker.— When healing her, be mindful of Caitlyn's long range, if she uses 90 Caliber Net at max range, it's possible that your W won't bounce reach the enemies.— Try fishing for bubbles or R + Q as Caitlyn can use Yordle Snap Trap under enemies to get a free headshot that usually results in a kill with her full combo.
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— STRONG SYNERGY— One of the strongest early game ADCs, Draven is a lane bully that you can enable in ways that other enchanters can't.— Using E + W on Draven the moment he speeds towards enemies is usually the boost he needs to win trades, walk with him to put more pressure onto enemies, use the bushes if necessary.— Stand Aside throws enemies in a direction and slows them, use Aqua Prison after he throws out this ability to force enemy Flashes or to grab kills.— Imperial Mandate works great with Draven, the extra burst damage and movement speed are perfect for his gameplay style.
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— STRONG SYNERGY— Ezreal is a super safe ADC to play with, great poke, range, mobility and versatile to lane with.— Use Tidecaller's Blessing to increase the damage of his projectiles, mainly Mystic Shot.— Focus your gameplan around poking, go inside bushes, use Ebb and Flow and auto attacks. No need to feel pressured into engaging, Ezreal's main goal is to sail smoothly and safely through the laning phase while slowly chipping down enemies.— While Ezreal doesn't make the best use out Ardent Censer, it is a viable option if your team has one or two other champions that benefit from on-hit effects. Alternatively, you should purchase Staff of Flowing Water, it's perfect for Ezreal as all of his abilities scale with AP!
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