7/28/2011: So after having huge success with a new build, I decided to include it in the guide. It has very nice attack, armor, MR, HP and almost 500 MS. Tell me what is not scary about a Nasus with these items running faster than most people? If they have more magic damage, just switch out Randuin's for banshee's veil.

Here we are again. You might have seen my Anivia - The Artic's Fury guide so you might have an idea what to expect. The one thing that never changes about my guides is a simple concept and one rule. This is my second build so hopefully it will fare better than my first!
We will be focusing on dps/tank Nasus and not pure tank. Nasus does not fill the role as a pure tank half as well as others and his damage output compared to other true tanks is much higher.




1. THIS IS A DYNAMIC BUILD!!
"What does that mean M0b1us?" some might ask. Well to answer that you can read it on my other guides or I could just say that this build will change over time and all legitimate ideas from the comments will be put into the build and evaluated.

2. If you see something you don't like, tell me about it BEFORE voting. As mentioned above, I will change this build as often as needed.

So now I would like to introduce my take on Nasus, the Curator of the Sands.

Start off with At first it is just to enable you to use Siphon Strike and more often. You can change your starting item around, I just like it cause it builds into the 'must have' item for Nasus.

Now upgrade to . Sheen and Siphon Strike both last the exact same time when activated. This make it much easier to last hit minions with Q and dramatically increases damage output. Later on it will become

Then comes . If you can skip it and get Emblem of Valour, don't. Instead grab and get it later.

, my preferred choice of boots. You are going to drop a lot of damage and you need minimum time taking CC.

Now take your and upgrade it into Emblem of Valour. (BTW, isn't 'Valour' spelled 'Valor'?) This will help keep you and your laning partner (if you have one) in lane for the rest of the laning phase.

Then comes . The idea of this build is to debuff the enemy and buff your allies. What better item than Aegis to do it?

NOTE: If someone else is planning to get this, then you should get a stronger tank item. I will explain further in the "Alternate Items" Section.

Now we start to finish , grab a ASAP. If you can buy as well, wait for another 600 gold and buy trinity.

Upgrade time again. This time get . Gives your allies life steal and increases your DPS power.

Next up is . Several items can replace this and should depending on the enemy team. The CDR is great and lets you use Q often.

Last item is also situational. As of now it acts as a filler item (just to make the build look complete) is helpful cause many people will try to focus a non-pure tank Nasus down.

Ok, Nasus has so many options that I think almost any strong tank item can be used depending on the situation. So I am going to list common items that you can use if your build. I will further explain each item later, but for now I will just give you a short explanation. Hang tight with me, all these items should be taken into consideration.
To make things easier, I am going to organize them so that you can just pick and choose which one you need for certain situations.

DPS

If you are finding that you are not the only tank, consider getting this. Huge increase in power. Most of the time you will not need it.


Great for breaking tanks stacking armor.


Good for ripping tanks apart. If you are the primary tank, then don't get.


Strong choice. AD boost and life steal boost.


Again, best if you are not the only tank. Great item for back dooring.

Magic Resist

Great item for anyone. If there is a lot of enemy CC, get it.


Helps bring down some of the magic damage caused by mages and DPS characters with bloodrazor.


Increase life steal, CDR and magic resist. Cheap item that will carry it's weight and more.

Armor

Good for breaking high AS teams.


I would think about this one. It could mess up your last hitting SS, but great in any other aspect.


I love this item in some situations. I had a tryndamere that would only focus me. So I got this little toy and it destroyed him. If you are the focus of DPS champions, get it.

Health

Large HP boost and has amazing synergy with Atma's. At first I scoffed at this on Nasus, but recently I have found great success with it.


This is just a theory I had. You are a tanky champion but lack any form of taunt. Getting this may entice the enemy to stop you from gaining stacks. If you do get 20 stacks, well now they have to deal with an extremely bulky anti-carry. Scary thing to see 20 stack leviathan on Nasus.

Multi-role

Great for heavy AD teams and gives you a boost. Helps to increase the chance that you get a crit with your SS.


Can't kill that carry that is kiting you? Well Frozen mallet will help greatly with that. With your wither and your auto attacks that carry will have to find another way to run.


Free wards, armor, chance to do extra damage to minions and life steal? What's not to like?


AD bonus with a nice passive and MR. Good all around and pretty cheap.



READ ME! I will go further into detail about each item as I have more time to test them. Also if you have another item that could be valuable please tell me and why you think I should include it.

So as I said before, Nasus has a lot of options. So I am going to post some item combos that have worked with great success for me.

Warmog's Armor + Atma's Impaler + Force of Nature
Wow, just wow. I can't believe the success I have had with this. Trinity Force and merc treads will still be in your build. Finish up with Starks or another tanky item.

UPDATE: 4/6/2011
Black Cleaver + Zeke's Harbinger + Spirit Fire = A whole lot of armor reduction.
45+20+40 = 105 Armor reduction. Only the bulkiest tanks will be able to withstand you. A great combination if you are going more DPS.
This idea was offered by GreenTemplar

UPDATE: 4/27/2011
Aegis of the Legion + Zeke's Harbinger
After thinking about the brief questioning of Trojan995; I decided to include my findings and post them. So thank you Trojan995!
Let's say you were playing against a champion with 100 armor. That would be a 50% damage reduction from physical attacks. So if you were able to hit 200 damage on her each time, then you could hit 400 if she had no armor.
Now you have Stark's, so now she only has 80 armor or 44% reduction.
400 - 400(44/100) = 224
So Stark's basically gives 24 AD to ally champions. Add the 8 from Aegis and you have basically given them each a pick axe.


IF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTION, PLEASE POST YOUR IDEAS!

These runes are just guidelines. Feel free to experiment and try other ideas.

Compared to seals and marks, glyphs give the greatest MR. Also CDR glyphs are very helpful throughout the game and make it easier to farm up Siphon Strike faster.


Mana regen is very helpful on Nasus as you will want to last hit with Q as much as possible. I also suggest that any defensive runes would help greatly as well, but mana regen just makes your laning phase a bit easier.

Greater Mark of Desolation
Yes, you are a tank but you are a killer to. Knowing that, armor pen will help you break carries and true tanks.


When are these never helpful? Nasus's early game is subpar compared to most other champions. The extra health will be worth it.

Rune's aren't my focal point, so feel free to make any suggestions! I will post any suggestions with their explanations below this line!

One thing you should know, teleport is probably my favorite summoner spell. So I usually just leave that as a fill in.

You will be targeted and you do not have the bulk of most tanks like Malphite or Shen. So cleanse will help remove all CC that hits you so that you can take out the high priority targets.

Flash, as most of you know, is a very controversial skill. The reason for that being most people use is only as an escape mechanism. However it is equally a deadly offensive maneuver as well. However you are Nasus so your escape is rather lacking other than the fact your base MS is 325.

Minimum time spent losing experience and gold? Yes! The longer you lane the better, but the longer you lane and less time spent walking is even better. Late game it helps you be able to move around the map quicker.

Unless there is an enemy Mundo, this is not worth the space. You have minimal long range harass so ignite will mainly just be used to hurt healing targets.

Who doesn't like a skill that is the bane for DPS champions? However you basically have a built in one that gets stronger over time. Still it is funny to watch the target be withered then exhausted as soon as it wears off.

A common spell, helps with chasing and escaping. Nasus doesn't have many escape methods so this would be a good replacement.

Ok, big misconception of Nasus is to use his Spirit Fire to farm. Unless it's a huge wave, farm with your Siphon strike. It is critical that you get this as high as possible. Other than that sheen will help last hitting with siphon strike much easier.

NOTE: Your skill priorities will change depending on where you are and who you are facing. Please refer to the skill sequence section for further details.

Ok, this is a very simple concept to explain. So let's cut to the chase.

Always start with Siphon Strike as your first skill. It is important that you get as much farm on this as possible.

Nasus is one of the best 1v2 champions in the game. However this status is not obtained by maxing Q first. If you are in a 1v2 lane (you being the 1) level up until you can clear a whole wave with it. Then continue maxing your other skills.

Against a 1v1 lane, keep it even. I personally like to keep Siphon Strike a bit ahead and and at the same level.

Note: The skill sequence is very dependent on the enemy team as well as yours.
If the enemy has all AS champions, Max very early.
If your team is all tanks and the enemy is all tanks, max Siphon Strike and first.

READ!! READ!! READ!! READ!! READ!!
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Like stated at the beginning, this is a DYNAMIC BUILD. So please post ideas and suggestions so that I may enhance the build to include those ideas. No build is the perfect build, hence why I want you to share your ideas.

I am also looking for comments on the formatting. I have one other good build (you could count my Sivir build but it is rather lackluster even IMO) so I would love any helpful tips.
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READ!! READ!! READ!! READ!! READ!!