Nasus Build Guide by awwsmm
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Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Introduction
I call this stack the panzer stack because of all the armor penetration and armor dropping abilities. This stack rips tanks apart, renders the durable dps useless and can be exetreemly heavy DPS. The thing that inspired me to make this stack was a game I was playing as Udyr. It was late in the game and I was 10/3/6 so as you can imagine I was ripping. Then there whole team got guardian angels, and then the DPS got madreds also and mages got Zhonias ring. 10 minutes later they pushed us out of their nexus and won the game. The amount of raging in the chat room after game was... well hilarious. But still I was mad and in turn I started expirementing which charecter was a huge panzer. Belive or not I did better with Nasus against tanks then Kog Maw. I think this stack can still use work please explain why you voted and please make some suggestions!
THIS GUIDE IS COLOR CODED! YAY!
I have decided to color code my stack, depending on how useful the information is.
Green= Read it, it will make you better/ help explain things
Yellow= Should Read, option for the guide if you don't want to follow it exactly.
Blue= Can read, my opinions mainly
Red= Not as important information, story's etc.
Lore
The enigmatic creature known as Nasus came to the League from a faraway world, and served as part of a vast and learned desert empire. There he was a respected and enlightened individual, having been made the Keeper of the Great Library. However, he was also part of a race of animalistic creatures that served as the rulers and protectors of the people. War was never more than a breath away, as others of his kind craved to enslave the people and claim totalitarian sovereignty. In the midst of a heated battle, just as Nasus was about to slay his treacherous brother Renekton, he was summoned to Runeterra. It didn't take much to convince him that Champions were needed to fight against the injustice here and he took up a place in the League of Legends. These days, he is the Keeper of the Sands, feeling most at home in the crumbling ruins of the Shurima Desert.
''The Keeper of the Sands, though contemplative, is not to be trifled with.''
Abilities
- Nasus strikes his foe, dealing damage and increasing the power of his future Siphoning Strikes if he slays his target.
Nasus's next attack will deal 30/50/70/90/110 ( + ) physical damage. Siphoning Strike permanently gains 3 damage whenever it kills an enemy.
Cost20/25/30/35/40 ManaRange300
- Nasus ages his target, decelerating their movement and attack speeds over 5 seconds. Nasus ages his target, slowing their movement and attack speed by 35% and reducing it further by 3/6/9/12/15% each second for 5 seconds.
Cost100/100/100/100/100 ManaRange700
- Nasus unleashes a delayed spirit flame at a location, dealing damage and reducing the armor of enemies who stand on it.
After a brief delay, the target area becomes desecrated. Enemies in the area have their armor reduced by 20/25/30/35/40 and are dealt 20/34/48/62/76 (+0.2) magic damage each second. Cost70/85/100/115/130 ManaRange650
- Nasus unleashes a mighty sandstorm that batters nearby enemies. While the storm rages, he gains additional Health and drains nearby enemies' max health and converts it into bonus damage for the duration of the skill.
Nasus becomes empowered in the sandstorm for 15 seconds, gaining 300/450/600 health. While the storm rages, he deals 3/4/5 (+0.01)% of nearby enemies' health each second (240 damage max per second) as magic damage and converts it into bonus attack damage.
Cost150/150/150 ManaRange20
- Nasus drains his foe's spiritual energy, giving him a natural 10/15/20% lifesteal. The lifesteal value increments at levels 1,6, and 11.
Runes
For runes I use them to maximise Nasus's utility in lane and his duribility in a fight. He needs the health quints for his weak hitpoints in the start. Along with the quints for durability I use dodge seals, along with the masteries it protects Nasus from some heavy DPS and can win some fights with some champs like Master Yi who take a piss while he just auto attacks. With Nasus I have lots of mana but no regen so for glyphs I get some really mana regen per level cause in this stack the stat is lacking completly. And finally I add armor penatration Marks, if you look at the items there is armor dropping itmes in the beginning but no real penetration. So with the runes it will further boost panzer abilities and give you a easier start with minion farming and starting armor.
Masteries
For masteries I use a 21 in offense 9 in defense and 0 in utility. The purpose for this is grabbing all of the major DPS masteries in offensive and then grabbing some dodge for some survivalbiliy. I find no real use in utility unless you want to grab exp regen or want to use ghost instead of flash, which I would still not recomend going into utility due to the loss of Nimbleness.
Items
The items I use are for being a panzer, this build works best when there is some heavy defensive charecters on the enemy team and even if there are not then this build can still dominate. The item I use to start is the Mana crystal, this allows you to stay in lane longer, hit more Siphoning Strike. When you have gotten the sheen for essential damage output grab the Bezerker Greaves, the stack in early game seriously lacks attack speed, in later game you can trade them for ninja tabi to get more survivalbilty. Next get the 
Targon's Brace, this is a great item for keeping a push alive and not to mention works great with nasus's passive life steal. Another option instead of this is just a 
Vampiric Scepter, I only use this for
The Bloodthirster if their team is not that tanky. After the Targon's Brace get the 
Trinity Force, this is when you really start to hurt along with the 
Phage effect some movement speed and some extra survivability. Now grab the 
The Black Cleaver, with the damage attack speed and the passive their is almost no way you can be stopped. Next grab a extra Vampiric Scepter you just need the extra life steal for survivability. Now it is time for the 
Zeke's Harbinger about now you should be doing great if not well farm more minions and get further in the stack, if someone has this item already grab The Bloodthirster. Now 
Youmuu's Ghostblade, this is where you will rip and can watch them tremble in your presense. Finally finish things up with the The Bloodthirster, the extra attack damage it is great, minion farming bonus and it uses that Vampiric Scepter you've been holding on to!
Optional- You can get a Doran's sheild to start if you are not comfortable with a 
Sheen
Optional- 
Aegis of the Legion is good but I prefer other items, if anything I would get the Targon's Brace and then get it before the Black Cleaver replacing one of the final items.
Optional-Finish things up with the ghostblade and guardian angel (awsome passives) these items give you more surviability, speed, armor penetration, and of course cools things that spiral around you! There is no need for the extra vampiric cepter.
Tiamat- This is good, but I find that you get all of those splash bonuses but I think that other itmes give much better stats and are much more rewarding for Nasus.
Madreds Bloodrazors- Great item if the enemy team is building up lots of health and not too much armor
Sunfire Cape- Good item if you are getting ripped apart, I would only suggest this if there is very high enemy attack damage and are full of assasins.
Builds
The Essentials:
Heavy Attack Damage:
Heavy Ability Power:
If there are alot of caster just take the the heavy DPS stack and give it Mercury Treads instead of Ninja Tabi
Skill Sequence
For my skill sequence I stack up siphoning stike, I know that anyone can farm minions with the rank 1 siphoning strike but I use it for damaging champions and the cooldown reductions. I always grab the ult when I can (obviously) and I dont have a preference what you want to rank up after that, I like both of those abilities and you have the choice what order you want to rank them up in.
Do whatever sequence fits your gameplay- just don't spam your abilities too much.
Summoner Spells
I find that being a panzer is sometimes difficult if you get foucused. Lost of dodge chance can only save you from so much so I also grab and exhaust which also has a useful slow. Flash is a great ability for going for a really quick escape, use it after you have the wither on them so they can't keep up with you then flash, this will make them hopeless in catching you.
Alternative Spells:
Teleport: Good move for moving in and out of fights, not mentioning it's great for laning
Ghost: Great for escapes and chases, I use this spell if I feel like laughing at people who try to chase.
Cleanse: Great for getting out of sticky situations, as Nasus your lifesteal is most of your durabilty so use this spell so you can continue to hit hard.
Ignite: This is good for getting first blood, reducing heals (just for mundo <3) and well adding some range to finish off some low health loser.
Bad spells:
Heal: This spell is good if you are a complete idiot, there are so many better options
Revive: The only way I could see anyone really using this spell is if they want to intentionally feed.
Clarity: This spell is useless late game and is useless early game too unless if you spam spirit fire and wither alot.
Rally: Another useless spell
Fortify: Don't use this, though it comes in handy their are more usefull spells.
Smite: You want to kill minions with your siphoning strike, not a summoner spell.
Clarivoyance: Nasus is extreemly short range so why even use this?
Game Play
The way that you play Nasus is carefully, refrain from too much chase and be cautious in early game. Siphoning Strike is what you use to nuke champions and get minions, use it whenever its available. Wither has multiple purposes, not only can it cause a major single target slow but it also lowers the enemies attack speed, use it for both purposes. Spirit Fire is not a ability to spam, having a high mana cost and low damage output it is not for harrasing your enemy. Instead only use it when you are in melee combat, it drops armor considerably. Nasus's ult is awsome, one of the reasons Nasus is one of my favorite champions. Not only does it wipe out health per second of the surrounding enemies it buffs up your stats very high. Together his moves can allow him to take out tanks easy and wipe out enemy DPS. But Mages are the problem, make sure you catch up to them and hit them in melee range, lifesteal is what will win you the battle, along with the durability from your ult. Lastly do not forget your ult will give you more health, so you can use it to escape or live through some serious damage. Don't forget to siphoning strike towers especially when you have your Sheen, it will rip them apart. One game I had 7 tower kills as Nasus just because of how much damage the Siphoning Strike dealt to them.
Team Fights
Nasus is deadly in team fights and has some great ways to dominate the other team.
Hear is the order of abilities in a fight:
(Whenever available)
Explanation: Wither is great for catching up to them and making them weaker in a fight, leading with this spell allows for them to stay in your Spirit Fire for longer. Use Spirit Fire when you have caught up to them and use it in the direction they are going in or right in the center of were they are. Now ult, you mave have taken damage but this will make your enemy pee their pants, they will either run or fight. Now Siphoning Strike them and watch it as it rips apart your opponents.
Pros / Cons
Pros:
Great Farmer
Good Natrual Panzer Abilities
Awsome slow
Health bonus ult
Cons:
No real ranged abilities
No significant crowd control
People want him to be a tank
Champions with significant range will eat you for breakfast
Why Not Tank?
Nasus is not meant to be a tank charecter, he can be played as a sub tank or a durable dps. Honestly I think Nasus is known as such a bad champion for the fact that he is considered a tank, he is not. All of his abilities either hurt tanks, slow down dps (1v1) or just add on to his damage. The only way I can see Nasus as a tank is his ult, which give him some stats but honestly that is not enough, he needs damage to maximize his potential.
Crit Chance?
I have tried to fit in as much crit strike as I can into this build, unfortunatly I suck when I try. The purpose of a crit Nasus is to deal vasts amount of damage with your siphoning strike and auto attacks through luck. I think that if you add too much crit Nasus becomes a too squishy for a fighter. I find that there is no balance inbetween crit and durability therefore It is a little lacking in this stack.
Farming
When farming as Nasus always try to last hit minions with Siphoning Strike. It has a short cooldown so you can just auto attack and use the ability to get the kill. What really made me realize DPS Nasus is better was when they buffed up his siphoning strike, it has double the minion effect as before, so LAST HIT.
What to do if your laning partner is taking literally all of the minions: well you have three options, either stack up siphoning strike and hope for the best, Ask to switch lanes with a ally wich can be risky for your exp, or just jungle for a bit to make the Siphoning Strike powerfuller and come back into the lane and take the minions.
Summary
This stack is mainly for killing tanks it also works well against DPS. Use it carfeully and still make sure to foucus the people that deal damage first, alothough you kill tanks easy they don't deal as much damage and you can still kill the DPS quicker. Anyway I hope you have great games with this stack, Good Luck and Have Fun!
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