Hi, my name is HeartÓfDarkness and i am a casual player on EUW. This is my very first guide, so feel free to comment, i would love to receive some feedback, to improve this guide. U can also give me a thumbs up if u like my work.

I started playing LoL in season 2. As i got a little bit better into the game, i heard about Nocturne, and instantly fell in love with his design and kit. It took me really long to scrape up the IP since i was only playing coop games (hahaha). Since then he is my all time favourite champion.

My guide is maybe not what u would expect from a GUIDE, it doesnt show the most efficient way of playing Nocturne. I just want to share my build with the LoL community.

Warning, this guide contains unexplaned so called fold expressions, if u are new to the game, u might take a while to figure them out. I also dont explain every item or ability, so again u will understand the content of this guide better, if u are an advanced player.

Thats a little bit about my person, let's get started!

Pros

• Decent Jungle Sustain
• Strong early-mid game
• Can stick to targets easily thanks to Duskbringer
• Can be played as Assassin or Bruiser
• Good Dragon Conrtol
• Very Strong Counter Jungling
• Strong post-6 ganks with Paranoia
• Spell Shield Shroud of Darkness

Cons

• Not the best jungle clear speed
• Falls off Late Game
• Can be difficult to recover from an early deficit

Let's dig a little deeper into the rune page:
The first page, wich i use in most cases is the standard Nocturne Rune page, featuring Lethal Tempo as keystone.


This keystone is really good for fighting early, it pops instantly as soon as u use Duskbringer to pursue a champion.


Triumph is essential for teamfights, when u get chunked low, and it can also help u survive greedy plays.


Alacrity is very common for auto-based champions. U gain stacks by achieving the following:

100 points for champion takedowns
100 points for epic monster takedowns
25 points for large monster kills
4 points for minion kills

100 points marks the next milestone of +1.5% atkspd, capping at 10 stacks (Max +18%atkspd)


This pretty much explains itself, its usefull for finishing off champions.


Since Paranoia is very strong when going for kills, i would recommend using Ultimate Hunter. If u feel like u need attack speed or healing switch to Relentless Hunter or Ravenous Hunter.


U gain 7 Lethality and 6 Magic Penetration, when using Paranoia or Flash.
Cheap Shot is also a valid option, but the dmg doesnt scale with AD, therefore i like Sudden Impact better.



My secondary Rune page, using Dark Harvest as a key stone, comes to action when facing a squishy enemy jungler who is easy to fight, or if the enemy team has little to none Tankiness.


I like to run Dark Harvest to balance out Nocturne's weak late game scalings. This makes u stronger the longer the game goes, plus it has a decent ad scaling (0.25 bonus AD) and resets on takedowns.





VS
Choosing the last Rune, is a little game dependent.
While Coup de Grace offers 8% overall damage wich is better against tanks, Legend: Alacrity can reach up to 18% attack speed, and is better arround
mid-game plus it accelerates ur jungle clear speed.

In this chapter, i will explain Nocturne's abilities and how to use them. I will also tell u about some neat tricks that i know.



This passive, giving u a little bit sustain when jungling early on, is not the best passive u can get, but its ok. It's pretty cool that it received an AP scaling, but that doesnt cause anything if u dont build Guinsoo's Rageblade.

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I really like this ability!! It helps u clear jungle camps faster, its awesome when ur chasing somone, u can even use it as some kind of escape mechanic. Furthermore, it has some serious Dmg and range on it, giving u the last chunk of dmg whenever somone seems to escape from u.

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This is ur spellshield, it lasts for 1.5 seconds, if u can block a spell during this time, u will get the passive atkspd buff on this ability doubled for the next 5 seconds. It can be either ur saving grace, or it can cost ur life. Learn the animation of some specific abilities, so u can react fast enough to block it. Usefull trick: use Shroud of Darkness to block Dragon's auto attacks for extra attack speed.

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The well known ominous purple shackles...this is not a DoT, as u could think in the first moment. It actually deals dmg twice, when u cast it on an enemy, and when the fear goes off. The Dmg on it is pretty weak and scales with ap since it is magic dmg.

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This is what makes Nocturne who he is, DARKNESS. The map turns black for enemies, reducing their sight radius, and it keeps them from sharing vision, duration is 6 Seconds. U can then launch urself at a target, dealing a quite good amount of dmg (150,275,400+1.2/bonus AD). Try to look for ganks whenever this is off cooldown. U can use this when doing Baron/Dragon, to stop enemies from spotting u. Be carefull to not lose vision of ur target or step out of range.

• Put one point into Paranoia whenever u can.
• Max Duskbringer first for the dmg and atkdmg steroid.
• I max Unspeakable Horror next, because the fear duration and dmg goes up.
• Shroud of Darkness is maxed last, because it is not as efficient as the Fear.

This is the most important section of a guide(IMO), the item build section. Here i will explain when and why i build wich item. I have tested many builds on Nocturne, and found out that some items that seem to be good, totally failed my personal test (cinderhulk for example). I won't explain EVERY item, but if u want some more information, leave a comment.

Starting Items

I prefer Machete over Hunter's Talisman, since u restore life with every auto, and my early playstyle is kind of mana saving.


Control Wards instantly disable other wards, and reveal Champion based units, like Noxious Trap or Jack In The Box. Don't forget to buy one from time to time, for vision control.

Trinkets

This is good for early vision control, since u need to ward ur jungle early, for the case of an opposing counterjunglers. Later on i switch it out.


It is important for mid game Dragon Fights, since u should deny ur enemy team vision arround dragon area.


Blue Trinket is really usefull, when watching out for mid game picks. It goes pretty well with the range on Paranoia, so u can instantly collapse on off guard carries.

Boot Choices

Mobies are my number one choice and i rarely use anything else, because i think it is very important to move arround the map fast, and get more ganks off.


Build Mercs if the enemy team has a lot of cc. They also help against heavy Magic dmg comps.


Ninja Tabi are good if the enemy team has a lot of AD champions, besides building health is more efficient if u already have armor.

Jungle Item

VS
I like Warrior better when goin for an Assassin Build, while Bloodrazor seems better for an Off-Tank build. In the end the choice is urs, but it has to be said that Bloodrazor can kill tanks faster, and Warrior is better for soft, squishy targets.

Damage Options

Absolute Best DMG item for Nocturne, it contains AD, Cooldown Reduction, Lethality and a 90% slow. I always build this right after finishing Mobility Boots and Stalker's Blade - Warrior


40 Attack Damage on an item that gives u a second chance in teamfights is pretty huge i think, also 40 armor are not bad either. I run this Item every game, and i think it is essential for Nocturne's Item build.


This item is just too good, to leave it out of my preferred build. It is really expensive, but it gives u a ****load of stats that are usefull. Death's Dance combined with Spirit Visage makes u incredibly hard to kill, and u will be able to duel really well.


Really good item as follow up for Duskblade of Draktharr. The sats are almost identical, but Youmuu's makes u more mobile, i prefer Death's Dance over this, but in different situations, u will make more use of Youmuu's Ghostblade.


I really like this item on Nocturne. It gives u a faster jungle clear, and a really strong first strike against ur prey. It works pretty well with Infinity Edge and also Duskblade of Draktharr, because of the slow effect.


Build Infinity, when running a one-shot or crit build, 80 AD, 25% crit Chance and 25% more crit dmg are absolutely beautiful stats. Get B. F. Sword first, and finish this after Statikk Shiv.


Maw is pretty cool, because it provides Dmg AND Magic Resist. wich means u can build dmg even if u are falling behind.


This item changes lots of things, when being ahead early. I build it when i go for a one-shot build, since the sheen proc does a whole lot of dmg. It works really well combined with crit and high cdr items.


Dmg Hydra is a really cool item, because of the wave clear, the lifesteal and raw ad it offers. Every time i build this, i get Tiamat as my first item, so i can farm up then gold faster, the auto attack reset is also nice.


Black Cleaver is a really solid item, i build it mostly for the movement speed burst and of course the huge amount of CDR. It can work pretty well, when facing tanky enemies.

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Not sure about there 2, i use them rarely since they seem kind of niche to me. Sanguine Blade is definetly good for counterjugling, but u lose stats when teamfighting. Umbral Glaive is really affordable, offers some nice stats for Assassins, and helps u control vision in Dragon/Baron area.

Tank/Defensive Options

Steraks is a pretty good finishing item in every build, it provides survivability and most important bonus health if u get focused. And since the rework it is even better because of the tenacity, wich is really good for Nocturne.


Get this if u want more armor and/or Health, the movespeed+empowered attack effect is also nice, but i think the dmg is not really noticable. U could swap this out for Randuin's Omen if u have a hard time dealing with crit champions like Draven, Yasuo or almost every auto-attack based champion.


This is pretty good, if u want to be harder to kill. It is better in addition to some life steal stats, for example if u have finished Death's Dance, this item will solify ur dueling potential and survivability.



This is more or less a troll item, but it could still work, if u dont need to build specific resistances. Or if u are building 1 dmg item and straight tank after it. The regen passive will only trigger at 3000 HP (Hp granted by this item count).



This Item is just perfect if u are snowballing early, because it will increase ur burst by a lot. Also it provides some nice waveclear, wich will boost ur jungle clear immensely.

Nocturne's strength lies in early-mid Game. His early ganks are really potent IMO, because a 1.25 seconds fear is hard to escape without flashing. As u will face ability-based mid lane champions most of the time, it is very important to time ur Shroud of Darkness right, for successfull ganks.

This it the time when Nocturne can really shine. At this time u should have finished ur Jungle item Skirmisher's Sabre. My priority for early items is Mobility Boots, because it is really important to reach camps and lanes faster.

U should always focus on Dragon, so don't forget to ward it frequently. Control Ward and Oracle Lens are really important tools for vision control arround Dragon and Rift Herald.

Late game phase starts when the map is open for teamfights, and ur team starts to group, this is at about 27-30 minutes. Nocturne's overall strength falls off pretty hard late, but if u make the right decisions, u can still be victorious.

Team Fighting

Number ONE Rule for Late Game fights:
Dont start a teamfight on ur own, u are not the tank. There are other champions to do those things, champions with more HP and CC.

The best moment to enter a team fight is, when ur tank is already in. U should choose a priority target to collapse on, ADC or Mage. Be carefull with Shroud of Darkness, it could really make the difference. When adc and Mage are dead, i tend to go for softer targets next, because in most cases the full tank survives anyway, so there is more time left to siege towers and objectives.

If the teamifight went well, and u have 3-4 members on ur team alive, i would recommend sieging towers before killing Baron Nashor.

I dont mention split-pushing in this guide, because i personally dont like Nocturne as a split-pusher. There are other Champions that are better at tasks like this, e.g. Shaco, Zed or Talon.

Nocturne as a Champion is:

• Super Fun to Play
• Fairly Easy to learn
• A very effective Off-Tank/Assassin Jungler

So if you're looking for a champion to add to your collection, give Nocturne a shot.

Special Thanks to:
Spooky Jungler
(#1 Nocturne WW) for helping me improve my build.

Thanks, for reading my guide, if u like it support me with an upvote. If u want me to change anything or u have any other question, feel free to comment.

U can also add me in-game:
HeartÓfDarkness (Server EUW)