05/04/2011 - Replied to questions and downvotes. Most of them were troll votes.
- Moved greater mark of desolation from optional to recommended runes.
- Moved Greater Mark of Magic Resist from recommended to optional runes.
- Fixed the items, it had apparently caused a lot of confusion, since most people did not read the guide, and only looked at the build. Trinity Force is now listed instead of Frozen Mallet.

17/02/2011 - Updated the abilites section with a few details.
- Redid the skill order. Maxing Wither much faster now, and also maxing Spirit Fire at level 9 and not 10.
- Added a new section where I explain my skill order. Go have a look.
- Updated the layout of the changelog, making it less cluttered.
- Changed the items:
- Removed Randuin's Omen due to late game lag of health, the item being to anti physical and not anti magical and the fact that it is hard to remember to use it. Ad
- Moved Aegis of the Legion to an ealiere point, making it usable early - mid game where it is needed the most.
- Added Warmog's Armor for the great health it gives and even though Nasus does not need a lot of health regeneration due to his passive life steal, it is good for him anyway.
- Changed the last item (this item should be replaced by Sheen) from Banshee's Veil to Force of Nature
- Made the Build Order more detailed, showing which items to buy first for certain items (such as Giant's Belt before Chain Vest when building Sunfire Aegis.).
- Updated the Items and Situational Items sections.
- Added a new section to masteries called "Why not these masteries". If you wonder about me not picking some masteries, that you think I should, go check it out and you might find an answer.
- Added important information in the "Not level 30 yet?" in Masteries, that I had forgot to write. If you are not yet level 30, go check it out
- Updated my recommendation of Exhaust in my "Summoner Spells" section, since I had not updated it since Riot buffed Exhaust.
- Updated the Patch Log layout to make it less cluttered.
- Updated the Patch Log with patch notes from patch v1.0.0.111.

07/01/2011 - Updated the abilities section by adding the info about AD scailing with Fury of The Sands.
- Fixed a spelling mistake in the update log below.

1/01/2011 - Updated the masteries section with a better layout, making it easier to read and find the information you need.
- added a "Not level 30 yet?" section you both the masteries section and the runes section.
- added a buying order for runes in the runes section. Go check it out, if you do not have all the runes already.

30/12/2010 - Changed masteries; I removed 3 points in and the 1 point from and added the 4 points to .
I did this change since quite a few have insisted on putting points in , but most people wanted to take the points from , i have decided to take the points from and . looks awesome at first sight, but that is it. I did some math, and the amount of MP/5 i get from this, is almost 1 and the HP/5 is almost 2; this regen is end game and not early game, where Nasus needs the MP/5 the most. This is so low, that it makes absoloutly no difference so the points in are much more beneficial.

14/12/2010 - Removed the second sunfire cape due to the patch v1.0.0.107 and added Banshee's Veil instead. Patch notes for Sunfire is here:

Upgrade cost increased to 800 from 700
Passive is now unique

13/12/2010 - Changed greater mark of vitality to Greater Mark of Magic Resist for more information read the "Runes" part of my guide. Click here to jump to Runes.

• Recent Changes
• Pros and Cons
• Abilities
  Skill Order
• Runes
  - Not level 30 yet?/buying order
  - Other Runes
• Summoner Spells
• Masteries
  - Why these masteries?
  - Not level 30 yet?
• Items
  - Situational Items
• Laning and Play style
  - Laning Partners
• Work In Progress
• Final Words

Pros
Great for supporting his team by debuffing the enemy team
Able to lane long, or quickly recover for a team fight(passive)
Is often targeted in a team fight

Cons
Often runs out of mana
A bit "squishy" early game. A bit like Jax, so no towerdiving before level 6 ;)




Patch Notes

v1.0.0.111
* Fixed a bug where attack damage granted by Fury of the Sands was not showing in your stats/character sheet
- A bug fix. I do not really think that anyone is going to notice this, because who looks at their character sheet when they have popped their ult? Some might take a quick look at the stats, but it is a bugfix, and it is great that Riot is fixing the bugs out there.
* Fury of the Sands now updates the buff tooltip to explicitly state how much attack damage granted
- Finally! This is something I've been waiting for ever since I started playing Nasus. I was lucky to find a thread on leagueoflegends.com where a few guys had tested it against dragon and other minions and calculated the amount of AD recieved, and that was then later confirmed by one of the guys at Riot, and I then included it in my guide.

v1.0.0.109
* Base movement speed increased to 325 from 320
- Nice buff. Great for his ultimate. And for fleeing or chasing of course.
* Siphoning Strike damage bonus per kill increased to 3 from 2
- This is just great! 50% more bonus damage from kills is just great! Really improves Nasus.




Soul Eater(passive)
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.

This is a great passive, it allows him to jungle(though, it's not worth it to jungle with Nasus; He is an awesome laner:)), to lane for longer periods of time and to get back to pushing turret after a team fight where you would normally have to go back to spawn.

Siphoning Strike
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 an additional 30/50/70/90/110 damage (+). Siphoning Strike permanently gains 3 damage whenever it kills an enemy.

This is an awesome skill. It is going to be your bread and butter early and mid game. It's great for last hitting, and it deals quite a big amount of damage, if used to last hit a lot. Also remember that this kill resets your auto-attack, so it is very important that you don't mash your q button. Press it right after you've made an auto-attack. If you are doing this, you will see a great increase in your damage output (remember to do this against turret too).
I put 1 point in this at level 1 so I can start building up the damage on this spell

Wither
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.

Pretty self-explanatory. A great slow with a decent cooldown. This skill will ensure many kills for your team. It can also be used to slow chasers when trying to escape.
It is very important to notice that it doesn't only slow movement but also attack speed! This is great for throwing on the AD carry in a team fight making them almost useless.
I put a point in this at level 4, so I have the slow for laning and fights in the lanes(it can also save you and your laning partner from a gank) and then I start maxing it from level 12-15, so it can be used for team fights in mid game.

Spirit Fire
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.

This skill has many uses. It actually has more uses than I can mention, but I will mention some of them; it is a great farming tool when thrown into the middle of a minion wave. This usually keeps the enemies on the lane away from your minions. But there is also the part that says "reduces armor". Now this is the best thing about the spell. At rank 5, it reduces the armor of enemy champions by 40! And since it reduces the armor, it can also go below 0. The AD carries on your team will praise you to the skies when you use this spell in the middle of a team fight!
This is the first spell I max, due to the amazing farming capabilities and the 40 reduced armor. Why only 2 points in it before level 8? Because at level three, this spell deals too much damage to caster minions, and you do not want that, since you are going to lose a lot of last hits that way; You want the minions low hp, so you can go last hit them with you Siphoning Strike, but not too low, so your minions are going to get the kills.
It is important to remember not to spam it. It costs a lot of mana for Nasus, so don't you use it on every single minions wave. Use it if they are pushing, to prevent it. Use it if you need to push a little more. A nice ground rule (Ground rule, as in something you can do if you are still learning Nasus) is to use it when the minion waves with the cannon come. I personally use it, apart from the cases above, every time I am at full mana; another ground rule: If you have full mana, use a spell, unless it is just before something that might turn into a teamfight where you are gonna need all of your mana for success.

Using Spirit Fire (watch on Youtube for HD 1080i): Play Video
Fury of The Sands(ultimate)
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, gaining 300/450/600 health. While the storm rages, he drains 3/4/5 (+0.01)% of nearby enemies' health each second (240 damage max per second) and converts it into bonus attack damage.

This is an extremely nice ultimate. It increases your chance of survival in a teamfight, in increases your damage in team fights and it either makes people run away from you, or focusing you, because they want to take you down, since you suddenly became a major threat. The only thing about this skill is when to use it. Never use it in the start of a team fight, use it when everyone is standing close, so your ultimate will drain hp from more enemy champions. It can also be used when you have lost a lot of health; the bonus damage is great. It is also great for the mid of a teamfight when you are about the 70% of hp. The increased HP actually demoralize the enemies, since it becomes quite har to take you down.
The added bonus damage is quite nice, even when tanking. Combined with Sheen it makes your Siphoning Strike hit very hard. The amount of AD recieved by this spell is 5% of the damage dealt (from the drain). This means that you get 1 AD every time you deal 20 damage with the drain, 10 every time you deal 200 damage. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. Especially when around a lot of enemy champions/minions.
Another thing that makes this spell awesome is the duration. It is not just 4-6 seconds as a lot of other ultimates, giving you the upper hand in fights.
I of course, max this skill ASAP.


In this section I intend to explain my skill order, and hopefully answer the questions you might have.
I start off with a point in Siphoning Strike at level 1. I do this because this is the spell with the largest damage output, so it is good for first blood. I also put a point in this, to start building up the damage on this spell as fast as possible.
At level 2 and 3 I put points in Spirit Fire to start pushing. These skill can change who is pushing, and if you are already the one pushing, it just makes it harder for the enemies to try and push.
At level 4 I put a point in Wither since you of course need this slow in case of ganks or fights.
The point in Siphoning Strike at level 5 is to make it easiere to last hit and also increase your damage a bit.
From level 7 to level 10 I max Spirit Firefor maximum damage and armor reduction in the teamfights that usually start a bit after these levels.
After this I just max Wither ASAP (after ultimate of course) to maximize the slow, making it very hard to escape teamfights for your enemies, and to disable those AD carries.
Once Wither is maxed, I put the last points in Siphoning Strike



I take 3x since Nasus is a tank, and a quite squishy one early game, so he really needs that extra HP.
I take 9x because there is a need of magic resist in every single game, even attack damage champions(most of them) have at least 1 skill that deals magic damage.
I take 9xgreater mark of desolation These runes are excellent on Nasus, since they make Siphoning Strike hit like a truck, and they work against all kinds of champions (tank, ad and ap). If you are having problems with AP nukes, check the "other runes" section.

I take 9x because Nasus runs out of mana all the time, these runes really helps to minimize the amount of trips back to spawn. And there is nothing worse than running out of mana in a team fight. Using these runes also allows for more tanky items, since you don't have to worry about mana regen items.

Not level 30 yet?/buying order
If you are not level 20-30 yet, do not buy any runes. It might be tempting, but don't; it is a waste of IP. Wait until you reach summoner level 20, and then start buying runes. Start out by buying , then , then and at last .


This is a section with other runes that you can you use. I recommend the runes above, but there is not a big problem in using the runes below.

. This is a pretty standard tank rune. Quite good against AD champions, especially when combined with dodge masteries and Ninja Tabi. The reason I don't recommend these, is that I personally prefer the mana regen runes way more. Using these runes might make a big need for mana regen which can solved by buying a Chalice of Harmony. This has to be replaced later, and at that point you might experience a few mana issues. A second reason why I don't take this rune, is that I never have problems with AD champions, so I see no great need for anti-AD runes.
Thanks to Searz for recommending these runes.

since I've lately had a few problems with fed casters, and I extra magic resist is always needed. I take Warding instead of Shielding, since does not give the same amount of magic resist as Mark of Warding before level 15.


I take ghost because it allows you to move to the places where the action is happening in no time + it is great to use for chasing and in teamfights so no one can escape the wrath of your ultimate.
In my opinion every tank has to have teleport. It is great for so many purposes. It allows you to save a turret, to push a turret, to go back to spawn and buy items and to quickly help teammates or join a team fight if you happened not to be around.
This are the ones that I use, and that I recommend the most, but the ones below are also valid.
Quite a nice spell. Most people either overrate it or underrate it. It is not the best, but it is nor the worst. Great for laning, and great for turning a teamfight.
A great summoner spell, especially after the buff. This spell should only be used as a slow early game, mid and late game your Wither should be used for this. Mid and late game you should use exhaust as a disable on carries. Use it on the carry that you think are going to do the most damage to your team; do not use it one the carry that is surrounded by 3 of your team members, use it on the Miss Fortune or Ryze standing to the side, getting ready to smack out some damage.

Summoner spells that are ok

A very underrestimated spell. This is great in teamfights, and great when pushing turrets. But remember! Only pick this spell, you have 2-3 AD champs on your team (A part from you). AP champs don't really gain anything from this.
An awesome spell. Great throughout the entire game. It grants you the most important thing in the game. Map awareness. It could be checking for ganks early game, checking dragon, checking baron etc. But it would be better to let a support or someone who is going to specc improved Clairvoyance have it.
Another nice spell. Great for defending a turret when the backdooring Yi is hackin' and slashin' at your turret, giving you and your team enough time to get over there and kill him.
A nice spell, but it is not really important since as long as your ultimate is popped and you've thrown your Spirit Fire, it doesn't really matter if they stun you. They just wasted it on you instead of on the carry. But it might help you out of some sticky situations in early game.
A nice spell, might get you into range of your slow, or save your ***, but i don't really like this spell on most tanks.
Yes. That is right. Revive. No it is not a bad summoner spell. It just useless on most champions. But when playing the tank, it is incredibly important to be with your team at all times! So if you die, your team is basically useless. This allows you to always be tanking. But what makes this spell bad? The eight minute cooldown...

Summoner spells not to pick:

Unless you are jungling, this spell is useless.
You bought mana regen runes, you specced more mana regen, and you want clarity? You are not supposed to spam your spells that much.
Not on a tank. You are not supposed to kill steal your carries' kills. Your job is to make your carries get kills, not take them.

IMPORTANT: If you choose any other summoner spell than the one I recommended, remember to adjust your masteries after that spell, so you can improve it (unless it is Rally of course).




For masteries I get 16 in defence for the increased HP, dodge and armor/MR and 14 in utility.

Defensive = 15:

Resistance: I put 3 points in this, increasing my magic resistance by 6. This is a flat amount so this is 6 magic resist at level 1-18. Magic resist is important for a tank, so he doesn't get nuked by casters.

Hardiness: I put 3 points in this, increasing my armor by 6. This is a flat amount so this is 6 armor at level 1-18. Armor is important for a tank, so he doesn't get eaten by AD champions.

Evasion: I put 4 points in this, increasing my dodge chance by 2%. It is a low amount, but it is the best of the defensive talents at this tier, and dodge is never bad for a tank.

Nimbleness: This is quite nice, as you are most likely gonna dodge attacks in teamfights, so the 10% increased movement speed allows you to keep enemies withing range of Fury of the Sands.

Harden Skin: I put a single point in this, blocking 1 physical damage, as there is no need for more points spend in defense, before I can put points into the next tier. The 1 physical damage blocked is decent. It is not, but it is never the less the best option you have.

Veteran's Scars: I put 4 points in this, increasing my health by 48. This is by far the best talent you can get in defense. The 48 hp can be crucial early game and can often be the difference of loosing or winning the battle for first blood.

Utility = 14:

Spatial Accuracy: Reduces the cooldown of Teleport by 5 seconds and reducing the time spend from clicking, till you actually arrive at the destination. The reduces delay can sometimes be crucial.

Haste: A great talent. Not only does it increase the movement speed of Ghost by 8%, but it also increase the duration, by 1,5 second. This is one of the best summoner spell improvements.

Good Hands: I put 3 points in this, reducing the time dead by 10%. You might think that the 3 points in reduced time dead ( ), is a waste of mastery points, but think about it. You are going to a die as a tank, I am not denying that, the amounts of deaths will vary, but you are going to die. Without you, the tank, your team is incapable of winning a team fight and in some cases they can't protect a turret, because they are 4-5 attacking it, and they have to fall back and let the turret be destroyed, so the less time you are dead, the less chance of you losing your game :).

Awareness: I put 4 points into this, increasing my experience gain my 5%. This is great, since it allow me to reach higher levels faster, possibly winning a lane fight, because we are level 6 and they are level 5. This can also be a turning point for midgame teamfights or reaching level 11 fast, so you can kill Baron.

Utility Mastery: I put 2 point in this, increasing the duration of neutral buffs (Golem buff, lizard buff and baron buff) by 30%. This is great for Nasus, since all buff are good for him, and he needs the Golem buff, so it is great if the duration is increased bt 30%. It is also important to notice that it is not just lizard and golem, but Baron buff too, giving your team a major advantage in teamfigths for a longer period.

Meditation: I put my last 3 points in this, increasing my MP/5 by 5. This is a great mastery for Nasus, since he is so mana hungry, and the best part is that it is flat Mana Regen, allowing for more Siphoning Strike and Spirit Fire spamming early game.


You might wonder why I don't have any points in perseverence(Increases your total health and mana regeneration by 2/3/4%.). This mastery looks great at first sight; but only at first sight. I did some math, and the MP/5 and HP/5 from this master is (25*0,04) 1MP/5 and (48*0,04) 1,92(2)HP/5 at level 18. This outcome is too low to be any good. I would consider it if the was the bonus at level 1, but sadly, it does not give the 1MP/5 before end game.

The next mastery I've recieved a few questions about is Strength of Spirit. Let us take a look at what i does first.
"Increases your Health Regeneration per 5 seconds by 0.33% of your maximum Mana.". It is possible to spend three poitns in this, if you do it is 1% of your mana that is given as Health Regen. Once you have all of your items, this is 14.6 health per 5 second. Yes, this does sound quite nice, but you already have Warmog's Armor and possibly Force of Nature. Not only does these two items give more than enough health regen, but Nasus doesn not need health regen. His passive makes him the only tank with lifesteal, and with a 20% lifesteal, he does not need any extra health regen, and that is why I choose to spend the three points more wisely.

This is the way I recommend that you build your masteries. This is the mastery build that has served me the best, but if you really insist, you can go 21/9 if you want.

Just spend your masteries in the order I explained above and it will fine, but always remember to put points in improved [insert your masteries here]. If you follow my advice, and you are let's say level 11 you are going to have 9 points in defence and 2 points in utility (improved teleport and ghost).




Explanation
I start out with this item, because it is a great item, and it is going to help you all the way to mid game. The health, armor and HP/regen is great for the cost of this item.

The Doran's nerf and how it effects Nasus
The Doran nerf, if you do not know yet, is that they incresed the cost of the three Doran's item to 475 from 425, so you cannot buy a Doran's item and a potion anymore.
I know the nerf of the three Doran's item was a bit harsh for some champions, and some even had to change their builds, but it almost did not change a thing for Nasus. He does not need a potion due to his Soul Eater, even though it was nice with a potion before, it was not needed.

Mercury's Threads These are the boots thay you want to grab most of the time. The reduced CC is nice, making you able smack out more damage and by that making the enemies focus you. The magic resist is also pretty nice, and since you get the boots early, they might help you lane against a champion like Annie or Ryze.

Sheen is just an awesome item for Nasus and his Siphoning Strike. This really increases the damage you deal to enemies and increasing the chance that they will focus you in a teamfight. And since the Siphoning Strike buff, that made every minion kill with this ability give 3 more damage to the ability instead of 2, Sheen really makes Nasus hit like a truck. The mana from this item is not useless, and the first item to be bought when getting Sheen, is Sapphire Crystal.

This is a must-have for any tank! It is really a great item, as it does not only support me, but also my teammates, making the chance of success in a team fight higher. The stats of this item is quite nice too. It gives the three things you need: magic resist, armor and health. Do not skip this item.

With this item, Nasus becomes almost unkillable once he pops ultimate. The health from this great and with Nasus' great farming capabilities he'll be able to make good use of this item's passive.

This is such a great item with Nasus. The Health and armor of this item is just awesome. And this spell increases your damage; this item + Spirit Fire + your ultimate is really going to melt some faces.
Look at the situational items for more information on what to pick here against a caster team

This is a must-have for any tank. It lets you stay in the team fight without having to run away, and you will often get a good laugh as the other team gets really pissed, when they just thought they killed you, and you then rise again and kick their ***es.
The stats are also pretty nice, it gives a fair amount of armor and magic resist that is just going to make you even more unkillable.



Replacements for :
This is pretty simple.
If you face a team with 3 or more AD champions, pick Ninja Tabi.
If you face a team with 3 or mor AP champions or a team with 3 or more CC spells mercury's threads
If you somehow end up facing a team with very little CC, use Ionian Boots of Lucidity, since cooldown is great for your ultimate.

Replacement for :

If you are playing against an entire team of 3-4 Ap champions and they rely a lot on a single dangerous spell (such as Karthus, Annie, Nunu, Galio, Nidalee etc.), replace Warmogs with Banshee's Veil. If you are against a team of 3-4 AP DPS (such as Ryze, Swain, Cassiopeia, Fiddlesticks etc.) you should replace Warmog's with Force of Nature

Replacement for :

If the enemy team is 4 or above AD champs (including the tank), go for Thornmail. If they are very attack speed dependant you should buy Frozen Heart. It gives a nice amount of armor, some mana which is not bad for Nasus (especially if you do not have the mana regen runes), great cooldown reduction(20%), allowing you to use your Fury of the Sands more often and the passive decrease of attack speed is great.
Randuin's vs Frozen Heart
These are the two items you can chose between when fighting heavy AS team. I personally recommend Frozen Heart, since the decreased attack speed is constant in a range of 1000. It also gives 20% CDR which is quite good.
Randuin's Omen on the other hand, gives health and only 19 less armor. The passive for Randuin's Omen is actually better than Frozen Heart's, since the decrease of attack speed is not 20%, but 35% and Randuin's slow movementspeed too. The drawback is that they have to target you, and when they do, there is only 20% chance to apply the effect to the target for only 3 seconds, and team fights usually lasts longer than that. But wait, Randuin's Omen has an active too! The active is great, since it applies the passive effect to all enemies within range of the item for atleast 2 seconds. The problem here, is that people forget to use Randuin's atleast 4/5 times.
One last drawback is that Randuin's has been nerfed a lot lately, It used to have a CDR of 15%, but it is now only 5%.
The range of Frozen Heart is larger than the range of Randuin's Omen's active, so Frozen Heart has an advantage against ranged champions.
The conclusion is, if you are used to play with active items, and know how to use them wisely and often, get Randuin's Omen. If you do not use a lot of active spells and you are fighting a lot of ranged AD champions or you want some cooldown reduction, you should pick Frozen Heart

If the enemy team is 3 or above AP(if the tank is AP/tank hybrid Nunu/Galio/Singed/Vladimir, include the tank here), you should build Force of Nature. If you've already decided to built Force of Nature instead of Warmog's Armor, you should buy Banshee's Veil. Banshee's is awesome not only against AP, but also vs physical champs. It gives ok health, but the passive can be used to jump in front of your teamates and take the hit of an ultimate like Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow.



End game replacement for :

If you are done with the build, and the game is still going on, there is a lot of choices for you to replace Sheen with:
If you have no problem with staying alive, but you would liek to increase your damage, you should upgrade Sheen to a Trinity Force.
If you have followed the core build, but the enemy casters are starting to burst you down too quick, you should replace Sheen with Force of Nature or Banshee's Veil. Click here to decide which one to pick.
If you have followed the core build, but the enemy AD champions are getting you down too quick, you should replace Sheen with Thornmail, Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen. Click here to decide which on to pick.
If you have followed the core build, but both the AD champions and AP champions are dropping your health too fast, you should replace Sheen with another Warmog's Armor.
If the enemy team escapes team fights too often and your Wither just isn't enough, replace Sheen with a Frozen Mallet.


End game replacements for Aegis of the Legion.
This item is great early, mid and late game, but if you happen to finish your entire build, you can replace this item, with any item that you feel you need. Read the description above to decide which item to pick, in most cases you should pick something to counter their most fed champion. If they have a damn fed Yi, buy one of the armor items. If LeBlanc is fed like mad, buy one of the MR items. If they are all quite fed, buy Warmog's to counter both.







Early game you want to go to wither top or bottom lane. When playing Nasus as a tank, he should not go mid, but if there is no other mid champions, you should be the one to go, but don't you ever go mid if there is capable of going mid. You should be careful when picking laning partner. It has got to be a champion that does not need a lot of minion kills, because you will take most of them. Your laning partner also has to able to dish out some damage, and have some kind of disable, because even though your slow is awesome, you need more than that to stop Master Yi from running away. It doesn't really matter if it is an AD, AP or hybrid champion; Nasus is good at laning with anyone. It is very important to last hit with Siphoning Strike all the time, if you don't, you won't get all the gold you could have gotten, and Siphoning Strike will be weak late game. Placement of Spirit Fire is also very important. You want it to hit as many enemy minions as possible, but even more important, use it to keep enemy champions away from your minions. When your minions are about to attack the enemy turret, throw Spirite Fire around your minions. This will stop the enemies from attack your minions and that way you will get more damage on the turret.
In midgame you should keep on last hitting with your Siphoning Strike and you don't really have to stay to stay in your lane as much anymore. If they are close to pushing a turret in another lane, teleport over there and push push push! You should mainly be around mid at this point, since in 95% of the games the mid game team fights starts here, and without you in a team fight, your team is going to lose.
Now this is when it gets really fun to play Nasus. You can survive a lot and deal great damage damage. This is when pushing turrets becomes extremely important. Always stay in front of your team. You can soak up a lot of damage, and regen again with passive on minions. You are a really great initiator at this point and this is how you can initiate:
Mark one from the other team, cast your slow on him and then rush towards him, then throw you Spirit Fire. Assuming that all of your team follows you, you will either kill the enemy champion, or the enemy team will rush in and a team fight has begun. Pop your ultimate and cast Spirit Fire as often as you can. Remember to keep using Siphoning Strike on the squishies, it hurts real bad, and might be the difference between taking out the carry and losing the team fight. This action will often make the carries focus you, because a Nasus with ultimate popped who keeps hitting hard with Siphoning Strike, can scare the hell out of any carry. Save your slow for when someone is low hp and then cast it on them so they can't escape. You can also use it, if one of your own is about to die; cast it on the guy attacking your teammate, it is such an extreme and long period slow that most chasers will give up immediately.



In this part of the guide I will tell you about which champions you should lane with whenever you can, which champions are ok to lane with, if you can lane with any of the recommended, and about which champion you should not lane with.


These are all the champions that you at any time should try to lane with. All of these combos the pair will benefit greatly from laning together. In general you want to lane with some good burst damage, but there are of course a few exceptions. You also want to be with someone who can farm minions by themselves. Yes you need minion kills for Siphoning Strike, but the spell has a cooldown, and you don't really need minion kills other than that, since the items you need aren't that expensive, so it is great to give some of the other minion kills to the carry you are laning with.

Akali - Nasus and Akali is a great combo. First of all, Akali is a nice champion who is capable of farming minions quite well. This combo is also great for lane kills; just throw Wither and they will be unable to escape as Akali is bursting damage upon them, and you might get a siphoning strike or two in.

Annie - Another great combo. Annie can farm minion just as well as Nasus. When laning with Annie, kills are certain part of the laning phase. Once she stuns an opponent, go hit him with Siphoning Strike, and if they are still alive, throw your wither, making them unable to escape the next ball of doom from Annie.

Ashe - Now see this is where Ashe belongs: on a lane with Nasus! This combo is insanity. Ashe farms well, but not too well. And your Wither and her Frost Shot is hell for anyone. This will allow Ashe to get a lot of hits on her target and combined with Spirit Fire, this little combo is going to hurt big time!

Corki - A quite nice combo. Corki is another great farmer. But what makes this combo hilarious, is Spirit Fire and Gatling Gun. They are gonna go below 0 armor, and Corki's attacks are gonna hurt, aswell as your Siphoning Strike. Also, Corki is most likely not going to die. It is very hard to get Corki, if the enemy is slowed with Wither and Corki flies away with Valkyrie.

Evelynn - When laning with Evelynn, you have to be a good pusher, since Evelynn is going to run around stealthed most of the time, and Nasus is one of best pushers. And again, Wither is awesome for Evelynn's damage output, letting her spam Hate Spike even more.

Fiddlesticks - Again, a great combo. Fiddlestick farm well, and Wither helps Fiddlesticks greatly. It helps his Bountiful Harvest, making enemies stay in range for longer time and it of course helps Crowstorm making them unable to escape, and take the entire damage from this spell.

Gangplank - Funny combo. Gangplank farms well, and with your Wither Gangplank is gonna get several hit with Parrrley. It also helps if Gangplank fires his [[cannon barrage], making them unable to get out.

Irelia - Quite nice together on a lane. Irelia is a decent farmer, and Nasus and Irelia can survive a lot with the help of Transcendent Blades and Fury of the Sands. They are also a quite good combo killing on the lanes. When Nasus slows a target, Irelia really gets to get some true damage hits on the enemies.

Jax - Amazing burst combo. Especially if it is an AP Jax. Jax uses his jump combo( Empower + Leap Strike), you use your Wither, you hit with Siphoning Strike and Jax gets three hits for his Relentless Assault which in most cases results in death or severe injuries.

Katarina - Absolutely an awesome combo. Katarina is another decent farmer, but what makes this combo great, is Wither and Death Lotus. This is in most cases a certain kill unles the target has Flash.

Karma - A great laning combo. These two can besically lane forever. With Karma's heal, shiled and Nasus' passive lifesteal, they are not going back unless they get really low. Since then both have AOE spells, they are great at pushin too, and there is a big chance that they are going to get a turret. They both have great slows and descent damage, so so the y are quite good at killing too.

Kennen - Another nice combo. Great farmer, but sometimes too good, not letting you get all the minion kills you need, but just tell him not to use his Lightning Rush + Electrical Surge combo on minions. When fighting, this is an AOE hell. Wither + Mark of the Storm + Spirit Fire + Fury of the Sands + Slicing Maelstrom is not a situation 2 laners want to be in.

Kog'Maw - Great combo for amazing damage. And once again, your Wither is the main ability in this combo. It works wonders since Kog'Maw had great AS and great damage, making him get a lot of hits on the enemy, and if Kog'Maw against expectations dies, wither is great for Icathian Surprise. Spirit Fire works wonders for Kog'Maw especially since Kog'Maw has Caustic Spittle :) We are basically talking true damage in a fight ^^



Don't worry; more comming up soon! It is just taking a hell of time testing all of these combos alphabetically ;)



Good, ok and bad laning partners comming soon!
Videos explaining tactics comming soon!