Nocturne Build Guide by meowfire

Introduction

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Pros / Cons

Pros + Good jungle sustain + Can clear jungle camps fast + Has hard CC + Can ulti past ward (won't be seen when ganking) + Good gap closer with Duskbringer + looks like a boss When ganking he can use Paranoia to come out of nowhere, and can follow-up with his Duskbringer to chase. His Unspeakable Horror fears the enemy making his ganks effective. Umbra Blades heals you, and also clears camps/minion waves fast.

Cons - Not the biggest damage output - Relies on duskbringer to chase an enemy - Not the best at escapeing - Long cd on Paranoia - level 1 Paranoia has small range - mana hungry I almost never wanna give mid the blue buff due to the high mana cost on all my abilities. some other junglers might have a higher damage output Fiora Master Yi. Duskbringer can miss leading to a fail gank.

Abilites

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Duskbringer This is Nocturne's main gap closing and attack damage steroid. it is very useful for chasing/running away from enemies. If it hits an enemy champion, a trail is left behind it making you deal large amounts of damage if not otherwise. The only bad thing about Duskbringer is that it can be hard to hit the enemy champion.

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Shroud of darkness Very similar to Sivir's Spell Shield, Shroud of Darkness gives Nocturne passive attack speed. when activated a shield forms around nocturne for a few seconds, if nocturne blocks an ability the passive is doubled for a couple seconds. I use this ability when I Paranoia a champion. They will most likely panic and waste a critical CC ability like Light Binding allowing for an easy kill.

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Unspeakable horror Nocturne's only hard CC abilities but has many various uses. So what this does is attach a bind to a targeted enemy for a short duration. Once the duration has ended and the enemy has not broke the bind by running away, the target is feared. Normally this is used for securing a kill when ganking so the enemy doesn't run away. But it can be used to stop a pursuing enemy or fear a monster to they stop damaging you.

Masteries

I take 9 in offense for a little extra damage when jungling

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I take 21 in defense to have better jungle sustain, and to take reduced damage from monsters

// My masteries focus on defense more then offense because not only do i want to take reduced damage when jungling but i build Nocturne an off-tank or bruiser. Q: Question:Why don't you focus on damage so you can kill the monsters faster? // Answer:Because the jungler is focused during a gank and it is important to be able to soak up that damage.

Runes

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• I take the standard flat AD quintessences and attack speed marks, so I get a good damage output
• I find it better to take scaling AP glyphs because mages don't have much starting AP.
• And for seals I take flat armor runes rather than scaling ones because it reduces the damage I take from monsters early game.

Spells

I always take Flash for the great use of utility, it can be used to close the gap for a kill or escape from and enemy by flashing over a wall. I strongly recommend this spell.

This is a must if you are jungling. it is possible to jungle without it but I wouldn't recommend it.It helps your clear time greatly and can be used to steal red/blue buff or baron/dragon.

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A good spell for a jungle for one reason.... NINJA GANKS! what's better then teleporting to a ward behind your enemy and getting first blood?

laning phase

• During this time you will be jungling more than ganking.
• It is important to not fall behind and become under leveled.
• Gank the lanes that are being pushed really hard or are doing poorly, if all lanes are ok continue to jungle.

Ganking

One of the key factors that can win a game is ganking.It can help out a lane a lot and turn the lane around.


A ganker can do quite a few things

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1. Kill the opponent(s) thus making them lose farm and experience.
2. Help turret diving and securing a kill.
3. Scare off the lane opponent(s) making them back off.
4. Join in a lane to take down turret. (This does not mean taking their farm and staying in lane)

TIP: When using Paranoia try to stay behind a wall and away from any spots where there could be a ward.

Ganking as Nocturne!

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Start either with your Paranoia or your Duskbringer to close the gap and use Shroud of Darkness when you get close to the enemy.Follow up with your Unspeakable Horror to fear them so your ally(s) can catch up with them.Continue to ruin their day until you get the kill.

Jungling

Starting off

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I recommend going to blue buff first and tell your team you will be taking it smiteless. If your team doesn't really help you its ok cause i've solo'd blue smiteless before. Next I clear the wolf camp and head to red buff. Now you use smite to clear red fast.
Note: You could use smite on blue because you will be lvl 2 and could kill the elder lizard.

Later on...

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I mean unless you see a lane rally far pushed and it needs help that will benefit you, just continue to clear jungle camps. Remember to not get under leveled!

Counter Jungling

Invading

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Ok so you can invade their blue buff with your whole team or steal red buff if you're in blind cause it wont be watched over. Invading is pretty straight forward, you go with whole team to blue buff before it spawns and take it from the enemy. Most of the time you kill some enemies and gives your team a pretty good adv.
Note: If you steal red make sure your red is warded, to prevent it from being taken back.

Counter Jungling

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There is 2 types of counter jungling. One is called stealing, where u sneak in enemy jungle and take the buff when it spawns. The other is called..well.. just counter jungling and is when you are pushed to other teams base and you go around clearing their jungle while they play defense.

Warding

This is if you are purple. mirror the image if on blue.

If planning on counter-jungling it is important to ward the enemy red and blue buffs.

Team Fights

• As the assassin your job is to focus and kill the enemy carry when a team fight starts.
• The tank would initiate normally unless your the off-tank.
• If you are the off-tank wait for an opportunity where a player has bad positioning and kill him with the help of your team ASAP.
• doing this will give a 4v5 adv.
• Because you are an assassin remember that glass cannons are your priority but not hitler. You should not be diving into their team to kill the adc in the back.

Important things to remember!

1.When using Paranoia make sure the enemy is not near any bushes and not about to go into the fog of war, or you will sight of them and won't be able to dash.

2.Wait for an opportunity to cast Duskbringer so you won't miss or if they try to Flash out.

3.Only gank lanes during early game if the lane is pushed and you think it will benefit you.

Summary

Overview

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To sum it up Nocturne is an assassin or off-tank that excels in ganking and securing kills. He is so good he is played in the LCS, and is relatively easy to use. Nocturnes kit gives him great ganking capabilities and can be both offensive or defensive. It might be hard to master him completely but is a good pick in any game.

Edit Log

• Published on 8/5/2013
• Fixed spelling and grammar, edited runes and changed some mastery points. 8/6/2013
• Updated guide. 10/1/2013
• Added Assassin build, fixed minor errors 11/2/2013