---

Hello there Summoners, I'm PoisonedScarlett and this is my first guide, like ever. Nami is one of the first support champions I decided to try and I absolutely adore using her and it can get you and your team out of sticky situations. Hope this guide has been proved useful to you.

She is a good support champion when you utilize her well. By knowing how to use her crowd control skills like Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave, using her will be like a charm and you can lead your team to victory. (That I cannot really guarantee)

Before we start:

CC = Crowd Control
AoE = Area of Effect
CS = Creep Score
ADC = Attack Damage Carries
APC = Ability Power Carries
CDR = Cooldown Reduction

---

---

Exhaust is a good choice for Nami or typically, any support. It can for one, stop enemies from running, or let your carries escape before any enemy with gap closing abilities catch up. Despite it's long cooldown, it shouldn't be underestimated as it can be crucial as less damage can equals to your allies having higher chances of surviving. Flash. Such a classic, it can be used for any role. I usually use this for escaping, because I strongly suggest that you stay behind your carries at ALL times, unless you're risking to die early to give them some delicious fried fish. So you don't need it to close any gaps.

Alternatives

---

Invisible text!
Clairvoyance isn't used so often, but it's understandable. However, it's still good for map awareness. We usually use it to check bushes, Baron or Dragon. Even if it can be used globally, I'm not really big on it. It's up for personal preference.

Heal is not really something I would use, because if you keep a good eye on your teammates, not all of them should be low health. It's not one I would recommend, but it comes in handy in team fights when Ebb and Flow is on cooldown. It could be a lifesaver in many situations.

Clarity is one I hopefully wish that none of you have to resort to. Despite Nami's mana pool being very low in the beginning, you don't have much use for it if you know how to manage your mana and not spam your skills. What's more, the base is just a recall away, so try to avoid the Summoner's Spell unless you really can't live without it.

---

Invisible text!always stay behind your carries!

Other possibilities

---

Invisible text!
Briefly, I've tried Biscuiteer and Explorer , and it has been proven slightly effective. You could use Explorer to check if anyone was in the bushes and even if they destroyed it, it wouldn't make you disheartened since it was free. Biscuiteer is like your typical health and mana potion, so you can decide for yourselves if you want it.

Intelligence can also be added for more CDR, if you really think the cooldown is too long for your liking. If you can bear with it, then you shouldn't add it. It can still come in handy though.

Hardiness or Resistance can also be a choice to max out. A little bit more armour or magic resist won't hurt -- except by buying Runic Bulwark will give you more than enough armour and magic resist. (who am I kidding, how can you ever get enough?)

---

Invisible text!Invisible text!
Greater Mark of Attack Damage is a weird pick I admit, but I grew fond of it due to the damage it could deal in early game, that comes in a package with Pickpocket because it deals some damage (and it isn't minimal) and at the same time gives you gold. So win-win situation right there!

Greater Seal of Armor and Greater Glyph of Magic Resist, is of course for armour and magic resist, no surprise there. Those runes don't really have any multi-functional thing going on, but it helps when you didn't max out Hardiness and Resistance .

Greater Quintessence of Gold gives you more gold which agains makes up for your lack of farming. And now it's 5 gold per second with Wealth which means every a free ward every 2.5 minute.

Other picks

---

Invisible text!

For those who lack the same order I do, you could simply put armour for the marks instead of the seals, but mana regeneration can also be another good alternative instead of damage, because some of you might not be ones that like to poke. The choices are huge, but the constants must be the Quintessence of Gold, along with the armour and magic resist.

---

Invisible text!Invisible text!

> > >

For people who are confident that their Aqua Prison or play Nami quite often, I suggest you max out Aqua Prison first, shortly with Ebb and Flow following soon after. I've never really tested out Tidecaller's Blessing but it would not really be that effective at time, but I might try it some time soon. To add on, the cooldown for Aqua Prison can be very tiring so it's a good thing that you max it out first because it will save you the hassle from waiting a few more seconds when you need it. Always remember to add Tidal Wave at level 6/12/16.

---

Invisible Text!

> > >

The only thing that differs this from the first is that you max out Ebb and Flow first. It's not a bad thing frankly -- I do this sometimes when I completely don't trust my sense of timing and danger. Trust me -- it happens to everyone. It's only two clicks, which is pressing W and your targeted ally. Simple! Let's face it, you can't possibly click the ground and expect it to heal and your ally is pretty easy to click. Well the same as just now, max Tidal Wave right after Aqua Prison and then finally Tidecaller's Blessing. Easy. Simple. Clear.

---

Surging Tides

Invisible text!
Nami's passive, Surging Tides comes in handy during many occasions. Either way, it all goes down to running. As long as any abilities that touch your allies, they will run faster, which can close gaps or allow them to escape. An always active passive, so make sure you use it well.Invisible text!

Aqua Prison

Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds
Magic Damage: 75 / 130 / 185 / 240 / 295
As a Support, Aqua Prison isn't for damage, it is more of stunning and giving your carries a chance to hit your enemies and deal a decent damage. In Ability Sequence, I voiced out that if you are confident that you can hit the target well, you can go ahead and max it out. If you don't trust your skill shots just yet, max out Ebb and Flow first.

Another use for this particular skill is when your teammates are running away and there are opponents chasing you, make sure you throw an Aqua Prison in, because the exact same way you and your carry are running in, they are bound to run that way too. Thus, your chances of hitting the enemy is pretty damn high.Invisible text!

Ebb and Flow

Cost: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 mana
Heal per Bounce: 65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185
Magic Damage per Bounce: 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230
Ebb and Flow is by far my favorite skill about Nami. It heals and harasses, and my note to you is: do not spam this skill and make sure you always aim your allies first.

To add on, when you are chasing an enemy, you can take advantage of the fact your ally is close enough to you and also close enough to the enemy, just use Ebb and Flow. It can finish off the opponent. It's better to kill off the enemy then let them come back as a threat.Invisible text!

Tidecaller's Blessing

Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 mana
Cooldown: 11 seconds
Tidecaller's Blessing may seem like a skill that isn't very good, but it can actually be very handy in situations. Along with Surging Tides, your allies movement speed will be increased which can seem like the summoner's spell, Ghost, except this only works for 6 seconds or after 3 hits. It increases one's magic damage for basic attacks and it can also be used for escaping.

I suggest you max this last, because either way, when you're laning with your ADC (I highly doubt it would be an APC), your carries will need that extra boost in speed from your passive and for the magic damage, it doesn't really do much until team fights as you can apply to the APC, which will be more effective on them.Invisible text!

Tidal Wave

Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+70% AP)
Slow: 50 / 60 / 70
Cooldown: 120 / 110 / 100

One of the best CC skills for support. Tidal Wave not only knocks up the opponents and stops ultimates like Katarina's Death Lotus or Miss Fortune's Bullet Time which can be deadly if you don't stop it.

One of the biggest advantage of Tidal Wave is it's long range of 2750, which is almost half a lane. Which gives you the opportunity to use it, even when you can't personally be near the team fight. (Let's hope this never happens because you should never roam alone). It buys a few second for your team which can be crucial so that they can refocus and burst down the opponents that have a lot of damage.

However, try not to use it's maximum range or it will take a long time for the attack to reach there and by the time it reaches, your allies might already lost most of its chance of winning the team fight. Bummer~ This skill should not be used to finish off enemies, so you don't use it at the near end of a fight, instead maybe wait for other ultimates to come in before you cast it and make sure no one can stop the ultimate when you use it.

---

Starting Items

sight wardsight wardsight ward

My starting items as you can see are 3 Sight Wards, a Faerie Charm for more mana regeneration, 2 Health Potion and one Mana Potion.

Any support would know that warding is a crucial part of the game. Without wards, your team will be almost blind to your enemies' movements, and some people might not report that the opponents they are laning with are missing. That is very bad.

For Faerie Charm, those who opted for mana regeneration runes, you should instead buy a Rejuvenation Bead because you don't really lack the mana regeneration. The Health Potion and Mana Potion is for more durability so that you can stay in lane longer -- constantly using Ebb and Flow on yourself instead of your ally is never the answer.

Building in Progress

Invisible Text!

philosopher's stone

The next time you recall back to your base is probably you're either dead, low health and potion-less or you have enough money to purchase items. I would go for Sightstone first as it gives out free wards and it is a lot better than buying sight wards constantly. For example, every time you return to base, you buy 3 wards. That would be 225 gold. By the end of the game, you would have at least spent 2250 gold on wards alone when you could have purchased Aegis of the Legion earlier. So Sightstone helps you save gold and give you free wards, so why the hell not? Next I would try to get Philosopher's Stone or simply at least get Rejuvenation Bead so you only have to spend less when you go to shop again. So I would say you get about 1200 gold before you recall for the first time and that's when you're about level 6/7/8.Soon after, you get Boots and Kindlegem which provide you some CDR that can be useful for skills with long cooldown like Tidal Wave and it can be built into Shurelya's Battlesong or Locket of the Iron Solari later. But in case you died earlier (that would really suck) I would say go for Boots because you would clearly need it to run faster as they ganked you, or you were nowhere near the turret when you were killed. Don't forget to get the wards too!

Mid-Game

Invisible Text!

Invisible Text! Invisible Text!

I would want to rush Ruby Sightstone as soon as possible as it gives you some sustain with the health it provides and also it gives out free wards. If you need Vision Wards because you are up against champions like Twitch or Evelynn go ahead and make room for it. Invisible Text! The next item I go for is usually Locket of the Iron Solari because of its unique passive and it can also sustain you and your allies in a teamfight. Let's face it -- an extra shield to absorb some damage for you isn't that bad at all. If your team already is tanky enough, I would say go for Aegis of the Legion first. Invisible Text! For Shurelya's Battlesong I would actually put it in the choosing section BUT it's one of the items that can potentially save your allies while they are escaping and chasing is pretty useful in many situations. Plus, it pairs up well with Locket of the Iron Solari so you can activate both and it works like a charm.

Invisible Text! Invisible Text!

Boots and Enchantments

There are several boots to choose and well my most common buy is the Ionian Boots of Lucidity, that gives me CDR for Tidal Wave so it can be up for the next team fight. If your team is still sailing smoothly with no big threats in the opposing team, go for this. Now for Sorcerer's Shoes, it's only bought when your team is doing okay in general but your APC doesn't deal much damage. You buy some magic penetration to help with that problem as it is known that most people neglect to buy Magic Resist until they are a big threat. Invisible Text! Next up is Mercury's Treads. This is more for magic resist, I wold say always pay attention to the score board as as a support, you should have durability too. It's always good to get some magic resist before it's too late and you start freaking out. Ninja Tabi isn't one I would normally buy as I already have sufficient armor from Locket of the Iron Solari and the other items that you have to choose from later like Iceborn Gauntlet and Runic Bulwark. Mobility Boots. For this, you can still you can consider. It can help you move around swiftly to keep up with warding, allow you to run faster to escape or help your teammates.

Choosing Progress

Invisible Text!
For the segment to choose the other 2 items in your build, for this I can only tell you the options, but not what to buy as some are more of situational items that just comes in handy I guess. Read on!

Invisible Text! You could never go wrong with Runic Bulwark, or that's my own personal preference. It gives you health, magic resist and armor, something that can give you durability in the team fight and at the same time have a unique aura that gives your allies more mana and health regeneration along with more armor and magic resist. A little more of those can come in handy in fights.

Invisible Text! For Morellonomicon, it might not seem useful at first glance. That's what I thought too. But, if your enemy team is tanky with things like Warmog's Armor or Frozen Mallet, it can come in handy by not allowing them to regenerate as much health as before which eases your task a bit, so this could potentially be the item you need when facing too many tanky enemies.

Invisible Text! Twin Shadows can come in handy when you have fast running enemy champions like Master Yi, Blitzcrank or Rammus. you can also stack movement speed 6 times and it gives you ability to power to make your skills deal more damage. Quite a good buy and it is not that costly, so do consider it when you're getting frustrated from constantly chasing.

Invisible Text!

Invisible Text! Iceborn Gauntlet which is slightly similar to Twin Shadows, is more of using its passive to slow people right after you use a skill. Like Ezreal, using Nami might sometimes cause you to spam skills like: RQWE. So after the knock up and stun, you slow the person to give them 0 chances of escape. Fool-proof plan and it guarantees a kill.

Zeke's Herald I would go for Zeke's Herald when I have 2 or more ADs on my side. It gives them extra damage and lifesteal, along with more CDR which is good in general. Despite it being quite costly, it'll still a good option.

Invisible Text! It gives you more gold every 10 seconds and it gives your allies more mana regeneration. Shard of True Ice comes in handy when you try to stop the enemy champions from chasing your allies as the blizzard fundamentally slows them. If used right in a team fight, it could really turn the tables to your favor.

---

Invisible Text!
As a support, I feel the need to always reiterate this. Always keep the map warded for vision!

• Always keep the tri-bush warded. You don't need the enemies to have the element of surprise on their hands. It's always nice to be prepared for a gank, or when you know there is more than two enemies in your lane.
• Vision Ward the Baron and Dragon. If they start to fight it, you have a chance of knowing their locations and possibly intercepting and getting the buff and gold instead.
• Make sure to ward your jungle to make sure you enemy's jungler is not in your area and to make sure your jungler can get the buffs he needs.
• Ward your enemies' jungle too! It tells you where they are going and you can tell your allies where they are going to strike.
• I would say ward the entrances of the jungle just in case. You never know when someone might try to backdoor into your base.

These are the various champions that you will probably be supporting in bottom lane and from here you can learn if your damage output with your carry will be low, medium or high. This segment was relatively easy to write, thanks to my fellow friends that were willing to play different ADCs for me to support.Invisible Text!

Aatrox Nami and Aatrox together can be quite potent, as when you land Aqua Prison, he can easily close the gap and knock up the enemy once more with his Dark Flight. Aatrox has a burst potential and thus this is a good combo as long as he is aggressive enough and fast enough to follow up your stun. Always pay attention to his health though, because the longer it takes him to use the passive Blood Well, the better. You need the passive to be unused just in case there's a gank and he can get out of it alive.

Ashe ]Due to Ashe’s passive, Focus, it allows her critical damage to build up and it can be very painful. Along with her Volley and Frost Shot, it is guaranteed to secure the kill as the enemy is constantly slowed, unless they flash away of course.

Caitlyn Nami and Caitlyn together can be a very deadly combo. When you cast Aqua Prison, Caitlyn can place a Yordle Snap Trap which traps the enemy for a few extra basic attacks. The enemy will try to flee after the damage done, but Caitlyn can easily stop it by using Piltover Peacemaker or Ace in the Hole to secure the kill.

In summary to this entire guild, Nami is a good support champion but she isn't the best. Through much practice along with motivation and determination, she can be mastered so well that you can really send your teammates sailing towards victory.

Bring these tips with you to the battlefield.

• Stay behind your carries
• Position yourself in a place where you can help your team and yet at the same time not die.
• It's okay to twist the build a little, it's always according to situations
• Do not be overly aggressive
• Don't be afraid to take the damage for your carry. If they don't feed or die, it will be worth it in the end.

A Support should never be under estimated just because they don't deal damage. They can actually ace the team when you the odds are against you. So even if I do love Nami, the others also stand at par with her. Enjoy your days playing League of Legends (and hope this mermaid won't get nerfed)

That's all I have for the summoners out there! There will be more champion match-ups and Nami vs other supports along with an FAQ just in case. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

May the tides be at your command. Be victorious!

9 July 2013

Publishing of guide