Hello everyone. I'm Hazardis, but also go as Sieghardt in other games/accounts. I've been playing League since around season 7 and peaked at Master 300-something LP a couple of seasons ago, until unhappiness with the game led me to take a long break from it.

I used to OTP Skarner before and up until his rework last year. Some readers might recognize me as the author who made the most upvoted and viewed Skarner guide on MOBAFire, from before he was reworked. I am also the creator of the award-winning guide for Yorick Jungle.

This time, I bring a guide for Nautilus in the Jungle, a pick that has become viable in recent patches thanks to direct buffs to Nautilus himself, and to tank items such as Bami's Cinder and Sunfire Aegis, not to mention the current meta favoring tank pocket picks to counter all the assassins that are running rampant in the role.

A lonely legend as old as the first piers sunk in Bilgewater, the armored goliath known as Nautilus roams the dark waters off the coast of the Blue Flame Isles. Driven by a forgotten betrayal, he strikes without warning, swinging his enormous anchor to save the wretched, and drag the greedy to their doom. It is said he comes for those who forget to pay the “Bilgewater tithe”, pulling them down beneath the waves with him—an iron-clad reminder that none can escape the depths. Nautilus needs little introduction: everyone knows him to be a champion that provides an extreme amount of Crowd Control, is called to the frontlines of fights to tank for his team, and can turn the game unplayable for the enemy carries if left unattended. Finding success across every elo, including pro play, he is a champion every tank player should have in their pool, especially now that he has received buffs specifically aimed at making him viable in the Jungle role, where he demonstrates to be a strong pick.

PROS + Beginner-friendly + Fast & easy Jungle clear + High & reliable Crowd Control + Extremely durable + Good against engage and poke comps Nautilus has a straightforward kit and gameplay pattern which won't take you more than a few games before getting comfortable with, although this doesn't necessarily translate into a low skill ceiling since his engage tools offer a lot of versatility in all game situations, whether you are disengaging or engaging. He is also a great counter to enemy teams that consist of assassins or poke champions, thanks to his durability and long-range effectiveness that turn his mere presence into a treat. Dredge Line is also one of the funniest abilities in the game; you are guaranteed to laugh when hitting it from odd angles.

P Q W E R

CONS - Low mobility - Lackluster damage - Easy to invade - Mostly single target - Reliant on teammates following up Although the dash from Dredge Line can technically count as mobility, Nautilus's movement is slow and predictable, making him an easy target for skillshots. He also has little damage by himself until he finishes his Ability Power items, and even then, his damage will be below that of bruisers, marksmen and assassins. Although Depth Charge can hit several targets, most of Nautilus's Crowd Control only apply to one target at a time, meaning that you have to pick your targets intelligently in teamfights, or you will find yourself having wasted your cooldowns on a lesser treat.

Aftershock is the runeset you will be taking for most of your games on Nautilus, but Phase Rush is too good of an option to pass up on in certain matchups and can make a very difficult game feel a lot more playable; even then, I wouldn't recommend running it every single game due to it being famous for creating bad habits, and also for having less synergy overall with Nautilus' kit and purpose.



Aftershock: It will grant you a considerable amount of extra Armor and Magic Resistance every time you apply hard Crowd Control on any champion, which will happen effortlessly since Nautilus' Auto Attacks, Dredge Line and Depth Charge all activate it. The bonus will only increase with bonus resistances provided by items, and its burst of damage increases with your bonus Health, making it a perfect fit for the tank playstyle.

Shield Bash: The shield from Titan's Wrath provides a consistent enough source of shielding to activate this rune, for a small bonus to your damage and survivability during fights. Also synergizes well with other elements in this setup that scale from bonus resistances, such as Conditioning and Jak'Sho, The Protean.

Conditioning: At the 12 minutes mark, you will gain bonus Armor and Magic Resistance with no further input from you, and will also gain small bonuses to any amount of said stats you gain from items and other sources such as the Mountain Dragon. This effectively translates to bonus gold value from all of your purchases, and becoming tankier passively throughout the entire game on a condition that you will meet 99% of the time anyway.

Unflinching: Nautilus applies a lot of Crowd Control, but he is also the target of it very often. When this happen, this rune allows you to gain extra resistances that remain after the Crowd Control effects have worn off, making you more apt to survive during the fight and keep moving around.

Additional notes:

Magical Footwear: You will gain Slightly Magical Boots through normal gameplay, and even quicker into the game if you pull off any successful ganks or Jungle skirmishes early in the game. Saving 300 gold on Boots while also getting an extra 10 Movement Speed out of them is simply too good for almost every Jungle champion in the current meta to pass up on.

Approach Velocity: All Crowd Control applied on enemy champions either by yourself or your team will provide you with a small but useful boost to your Movement Speed, which will be easy to upkeep thanks to Nautilus' endless amounts of it. This will prove the most useful when you are trying to stick to a target that is dashing away from you while your abilities are coming back from cooldown, and also when executing Ganks when one of your laners has Crowd Control by themselves.



As for the Sorcery tree, in the games where you go with Phase Rush:

Phase Rush: It's the reason we take this tree in the first place. The burst of Movement Speed offers really high value even in situations where you wish to keep fighting in close range because you will find it much easier to dodge skillshots, chase, flee or reposition, as the situation sees fit.

Nimbus Cloak: Taken mostly because it's the only good choice among all the options in this slot. A small burst of Movement Speed every time you use Smite can come in handy, but the bonus after you use Flash can be really noticeable when you are using it defensively, or if you need to cover any extra distance after flashing.

Transcendence: You will naturally gain 10 Ability Haste through normal gameplay, which is valuable since it increases the amount of times you get to use Riptide while farming, and also decreases your downtime after you have engaged on targets with Dredge Line. The cooldown refund on takedowns part of the rune is largely irrelevant otherwise.

Waterwalking: You will be spending a considerable amount of time during the game crossing the river as a Jungler, so getting extra Movement Speed while you're on it is only the right choice. The bonus stats will make a considerable difference when you're taking an objective on your own, and also if you find yourself fighting with the enemy Jungler over an objective or the Rift Scuttler, especially the very first one that appears at 3 minutes 30 seconds into the game.

Conditioning and Unflinching are taken with this setup for the reasons already explained above, but also because I find that they offer the best value as secondary runes, since no combination you could make with the Inspiration or Precision trees could offer as much value with so little player effort involved.

Rune shards: +8 Ability Haste and two scaling Health shards are the best for making your early game clears quick while also not giving up on mid and late game prowess. You could swap one of the Health shards with the one that grants a flat +65 bonus to it if you wish for a quicker first clear, but I find it largely redundant given how quickly Nautilus can clear the Jungle in the current patch without it.

Flash is arguably the most fitting choice for summoner spell to pair Smite with, because you would have a much harder time outplaying opponents without it. It helps you chase, flee, land and dodge skillshots, land Staggering Blow on targets that are running away or kiting you, go past terrain, etc. No other alternative to it opens up nearly as much outplay potential.

Gustwalker Hatchling is the best Jungle pet to run on Nautilus since it hleps compensate for his biggest weakness: lack of mobility. It will make you move faster around the Jungle when you finish clearing camps and passing through Brushes, which will make a big difference when you are fighting near the river or in a Jungle quadrant and need to chase or flee from opponents. The other only alternative that is even worth considering would be Mosstomper Seedling, but it's currently too underpowered to choose over this anyway.

There are currently two ability sequences that I recommend, and will vary based on what is needed for the game you are playing in particular.

Maxing Riptide first is a no-brainer for Nautilus Jungle since it's his main source of damage not only for camps but also against champions and lane minions, and you want that damage to be as high as possible so as to not lose more time farming than necessary. Titan's Wrath second follows this same philosophy since points into it add to its AoE damage on-hit, making your clears faster, while also making you tankier thans to the larger shield value. As is standard, take a point in Depth Charge at levels 6, 11 and 16.



With this sequence instead, Dredge Line is the second ability to hit max level for the sake of lowering its cooldown, and also for a small but noticeable boost to single damage target, which comes in handy when you need to help burst someone down in particular. I take this in games where I'm comfortably ahead in the early game, so that the lower cooldown on the hook can help me engage more often to push the advantage, but it's also a better path when you're up against two or more poke champions that you need to engage upon or risk losing the teamfight before it's started. Think of champions such as Ziggs, Xerath, Ezreal, etc.

Despite his very simple kit, Nautilus has a few combos worth keeping in mind to give his abilities creative uses in situations the enemy won't expect, and also to show mastery with the champion.

Dredge Line onto terrain Dredge Line is not only to hook champions, but also terrain. Aim it onto nearby walls when you are escaping from an enemy to create distance quickly, or also when chasing in case your target is being bodyblocked by allied minions or other champions that aren't worth hooking into.

Riptide + Dredge Line Riptide can be cast at any point of the animation for Dredge Line, regardless of whether it connects with something or not. This makes for a great escaping tool since any enemies near you at the time of cast will be Slowed, while you are dashing away from them.

Depth Charge + Flash Depth Charge will knock back enemy champions that are in its way, not only whoever you selected as target. What many don't know is that it can be repositioned mid-cast since it depends on where Nautilus is standing, so using Flash before the cast is completely done can help you hit champions near you that would otherwise be outside the path of the current.

Dredge Line + Auto Attack + Titan's Wrath + Riptide + Depth Charge For a full combo on a target you want to burst, engage on it with Dredge Line and immediately issue a command to Auto Attack. Right after, cast Titan's Wrath for its bonus damage, then Riptide. End with Depth Charge once everything else is on cooldown.

Even if you don't purchase it directly, the game will set Stealth Ward as your trinket by default after you leave the base, and is generally the best trinket to take at the start anyway. You will get one charge of it right away, and you'll gain another by the time you can Recall for the first time.

Additional notes:

The best situation in which to start with Oracle Lens instead is if someone on your team - or even yourself - wants to force an early invade into the enemy Jungle. Taking this will help clear vision and make sure your team remains unseen during the process.

You will take Gustwalker Hatchling as adviced, as it helps compensate for Nautilus's lack of mobility. Pay attention before you leave the fountain for the first time in the game, as any item purchases you have made at the start will be unrefundable after this point, and you'll be stuck with your choice of Jungle pet for the rest of the game.

Bami's Cinder is a component worth rushing again after its buffs on patch 25.18 since it can now keep up better with damage items, while still providing the same boost to your durability early on. Even though taking this over Fated Ashes first will delay your first full item powerspike by 900 gold, it's a valid tradeoff for the sake of not dying too quickly in fights and having some Ability Haste early.

Fated Ashes is one of the best components to rush to increase your clear speed on any Ability Power champion, and is best purchased in games where the enemy Jungler doesn't have enough kill threat early for you to worry about being bursted down.

Amplifying Tome should be your default purchase when you don't have enough gold for anything better. You need several of them for both Liandry's Torment and Hextech Rocketbelt, so they will never go to waste.

Dark Seal has its most value as early as possible into the game, regardless of whether you can stack it up with takedowns or not. The amount of Health and Ability Power it provides can boost your clear speed considerably, and it's not a bad idea to hold onto it in case you can streak several assists without dying later.

Additional notes:

Liandry's Torment is a great fit for Nautilus given how easy it is for him to apply its damage over time effect to multiple targets, and keep it going during a fight. The raw damage from it will ensure your Jungle clear speed stays up to par with most meta Junglers, and its build path is convenient in the early stages of the game.

Sunfire Aegis received buffs on patch 25.18 that made it viable in the Jungle once more. Its damage output helps boost your clear speed slightly, but the important part about this item is how it adds to your overall survivavility, and also how it provides the Ability Haste necessary early game. Take it over Hollow Radiance when the enemy team is mostly Attack Damage champions.

Hollow Radiance is the alternative to Sunfire Aegis you should take in games where Magic Resistance takes precedence over Armor due to the composition of the enemy team. Additionally, its passive damage effect is more consistent since it activates on target death, making not only your Jungle clears faster, but also your minion wave clears when you go cover a lane.

Plated Steelcaps is the go-to purchase when the enemy Jungler (or the majority of champions on the enemy team) is an Attack Damage champion, which only becomes more efficient against Auto Attack-heavy champions like Viego, Master Yi or Briar. Don't hesitate to choose them if you need the extra Armor too.

Mercury's Treads are my favorite boots to run because of the 30 Tenacity; Nautilus tends to tank a lot of skillshots and Crowd Control, so anything that reduces the time spent affected by them is going to stack up massive value throughout the course of the game.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity are considerably cheaper than the options above and the Ability Haste they provide will increase your damage output by virtue of making Riptide available more often. It's a good pickup in games where you don't particularly need as many resistances as possible, like when you have a considerable advantage on the enemy team after the early game.

Frozen Heart offers many things Nautilus is in dire need of: a high amount of Armor and Ability Haste, and some Mana which happens to be necessary due to the champion's high Mana costs, and the fact that you run out of it quickly when fighting outside of the Jungle; besides, it's relatively cheap. Best purchased against heavy Attack Damage teams.

Abyssal Mask is one of the best tank items to choose from when you need additional Magic Resistance at a low cost, and it can also be seen as a damage item since it will increase all magic damage that enemy champions near you suffer, making any Ability Power carries on your team stronger by default. Best purchased against heavy Ability Power teams.

Additional notes:

Hextech Rocketbelt is one of the best stat sticks in the game currently, providing a high amount of Ability Power, Ability Haste and Health for an insanely low price; and this is before we account for the additional dash its active use provides, which you can use to chase targets, flee from them, or juke enemy abilities before throwing your Dredge Line.

Jak'Sho, The Protean is easily the best choice for a tank item to go for when you have been stacking Armor and Magic Resistance through other items already. This item has native synergy with the runes you are likely to be running, namely Aftershock, Conditioning and Unflinching, so the value of several elements of your build will increase passively thanks to it.

Spirit Visage has great synergy with Nautilus by increasing the shielding from Titan's Wrath, your native sustain from farming camps in the Jungle, and the shield from Locket of the Iron Solari if you decide to build it. Its value goes even higher if you have taken any amount of Ocean Drakes or the Ocean Soul, or if your team has an enchanter support focused on sustain, such as Soraka.

Randuin's Omen proves to be massively value in almost every game this season due to how strong Critical Damage is currently, with almost any AD Carry champion that builds critical items proving to be a powerhouse in the mid to late game, as well as Junglers such as Graves or Rengar. With this item, you'll be capable of surviving the burst from these champions long enough to use your abilities in a fight.

Dead Man's Plate may seem lackluster due to its low gold efficiency, but all the bonus Movement Speed and Slow resistance can come in clutch in games where the enemy champions will slow you down often, or outrun you during fights naturally. Better purchased when running Aftershock instead of Phase Rush.

Thornmail is an obvious purchase when you are up against champions that rely heavily on healing, like Briar or Warwick, but is a nice purchase overall given its very low price and how much Armor it offers. It also allows you to hold on to a Bramble Vest from early in the game without ending up wasting an item slot later on.

Force of Nature is preferable over Spirit Visage or Kaenic Rookern in games where the enemy team's magic damage is more based on sustain rather than on burst. Think of champions like Cassiopeia, Anivia or Swain, who are likely to give you long fights where the stacked Magic Resistance and Movement Speed from this item will make a difference.

Locket of the Iron Solari offers great defensive stats in relation to its price, which is extremely affordable for a Jungler. In games where the enemy team has a balanced mix of Attack Damage and Ability Power, or you want to reach item powerspikes or full build earlier in the game, opting for a support item becomes viable. Choose this over Zeke's Convergence if you want to offer utility to your team in the form of shielding.

Zeke's Convergence is another low cost, high efficiency support item you can go for in games where you want to operate on as low gold as possible, or hit powerspikes sooner. It offers similar stats, so the only reason to choose this over Locket of the Iron Solari is if the enemy team has several champions that go into melee range, since that is when this item's ability will be most valuable.

HOW TO GANK: Learning the blind vision spots is of utmost importance when it comes to approaching a lane quickly. Stick to the walls or other terrain if you're approaching from the river, and pop your Oracle Lens as you're approaching the bush; if you spot a Ward, don't waste time clearing it since Nautilus's Attack Speed is too slow, and just keep going before the enemy has too much time to react. Always make sure to ping your laners (responsibly) around seconds before you decide to go for it.

WHEN TO GANK: As Nautilus, going for a Gank before level 6 is absolutely an option that you should consider in games where you have volatile lanes. Examples of volatile lanes include when both supports down in bot lane are engage supports, when both top laners are melee ands especially if they are lane bullies, or when both mid laners are melee assassins. Nonetheless, since it's hard to consistently pull this playstyle successfully, always seek to full clear like normal until level 6 which is around the time when the Voidgrubs spawn, and you're likely to fight the enemy Jungler and laners in the river for them.

WHOM TO GANK: I really advice you to not waste any time ganking any laner that has died before 4 minutes, or that by the 10 minutes mark has at least 3 deaths; that's all the proof you need that they don't know how to lane properly and that they're not worth trusting with any resources. You're better off focusing on lanes near live objectives who are also even or not losing by too much, and especially in volatile matchups such as the ones described above.

JUNGLE TRACKING: In this season, tracking the enemy Jungler properly is more important than ever due to how much priority early objectives such as Voidgrubs have at all stages of the game. A good rule of thumb to follow the enemy Jungler in the first minutes of the game is: if he started on the same side of the map as you for the first clear, he will remain on the same side as you for most of the first 10 minutes of the game, assuming that A) you have focused diligently on farming your camps, and B) he hasn't wasted too much time hovering around mid or the sidelanes before the first objectives have spawned.

At the very start of the game, you should move to the top side river if you're playing on blue side, or the bot side river from red side. Stay in the Brush near the river (either the one in the middle of the river, or the row of Brushes next to the mid lane) for a few seconds to assess if there are any enemies showing themselves on the map.

Stay until around 65-71 seconds into the game, after which you can drop your first Stealth Ward in the Brush or pit near the buff opposite to where you will start to defend against early invades from the enemy Jungler that might otherwise catch you by surprise. It is better to place it defensively rather than offensively, as this Ward will allow you to perform your first full clear free of worries, and you doing an invade is less likely to work than an invade against you.


A full clear of your Jungle (6 camps + Rift Scuttler) is the most advisable strategy for your initial clear, and you should always do it leashless so ping your teammates away and give them an optimal start to the game instead of having them waste time leashing for you. Be wary of possible enemy invades or counterjungling while you're still in the first quadrant. The most consistent route, and my personal favorite, is to do Crimson Raptor -> Ancient Krug -> Red Brambleback, then moving on to the opposite quadrant to clear Murk Wolf -> Gromp -> Blue Sentinel, and then finish by taking or contesting Rift Scuttler.


Note that when clearing the second quadrant, you want to stick to the logic of clearing the smaller camps before taking the buff camp. This is for the sake of making their respawn timers be as close to each other as possible, so when you go back to clear them again, you won't have to wait around for either of them to finish respawning, and be as quick and fluid as possible.


Below is how it's done when you prefer to start from the blue quadrant. The same order logic applies, so you will do Murk Wolf -> Gromp -> Blue Sentinel -> Crimson Raptor -> Ancient Krug -> Red Brambleback -> Rift Scuttler.


The main downside of this route is that you end in a more awkward position, as the placement of Ancient Krug and Red Brambleback is farther from the Rift Scuttler compared to Gromp and Blue Sentinel, meaning that you will get there later. Still, it can be smart to take this route instead in order to catch or avoid the enemy Jungler strategically, or to set your pathing in a way that favors the first spawns of Dragon or Voidgrub regardless of what side of the map you're on.

Analyze the state of your lanes after you are done taking the Rift Scuttler. If the sidelane or mid lane don't seem easy to Gank, take the downtime to explore the enemy Jungler's quadrant to gain vision of taken camps, drop a Stealth Ward on the enemy's Crimson Raptor if you have a charge available, and blow the Scryer's Bloom that spawns on it, then move to where you began your clear to take that quadrant camps' second spawn before you Recall to spend your gold.

If the Dragon is alive or the next one is coming up, move to the bot side to gain vision control around it and prepare an ambush on any approaching enemies with smart uses of your Oracle Lens and Control Wards. If the Rift Herald is alive, play around top side on your next rotation. Atakhan is almost always worth fighting for, but if you have to choose between your own tempo elsewhere in the jungle or contesting it, it's not something you should be going out of your way for.

If you are at a disavantage and your team lost all of the Tier 1 towers, go into your own jungle more carefully from there on. Nevertheless, it is really important that you do your best to hover around your laners as they catch and push waves on mid and the sidelanes since the enemy may attempt to collapse on them to set up numbers advantage for an upcoming objective respawn.

The late game is when Nautilus has stacked enough resistances to be able to withstand the damage from 5 champions for a respectable amount of time in fights, so this is when you should look to group with your teammates to either seek winning fights that turn into a turret destroyed or a neutral objective taken, or to protect them from enemy assassins or skirmishes that look for isolated picks. Nautilus has poor abilities to push lanes or pressure lanes by himself, so your presence is better off spent near your teammates and around objectives.

As the Jungler, however, you should try to let yourself be seen on the map as less as possible, meaning not standing in the middle of the lane where your laners are catching waves and moving in sight of everyone. Instead, stay hidden in nearby Brushes and use the terrain intelligently to either surprise an unsuspecting enemy that is trying to engage, or to set up your own engages from unseen angles to increase your chances of success.

At this point of the game, famously anti-tank champions such as Vayne, Fiora or Yasuo become more problematic than ever for you as they can melt through your resistances when at 4+ items completed; so they should be your priority targets in fights, even ones that the enemy team engaged first.

Thank you for making it to the end of my guide, I hope you have learned enough to be able to try out Nautilus Jungle with enough confidence in your first games. Since it is a relatively new pick in the meta, expect the guide to be updated as new builds, setups and strategies become stronger on the champion as enough data gets gathered from people starting to play him. The Jungle meta as a whole is likely to shake up a bit since we are in Worlds season, so that will also be considered at the time of updating with new information.