Hey guys! My name is bktheadpantheon and I've been playing Nasus for quite some time now. Nasus has always been an interesting pick, but with recent changes to his ult and e in patch 7.15, Nasus has become a stronger and more consistent pick. Nasus is a stacking tank/fighter; he's able to dish out damage while building mostly tank. This makes him easy to pick up and master, and he plays well in many situations and matchups.

This is my first guide, so bear with me and feel free to discuss the guide in the comments section.

EDIT: Apologies for any weird formatting/lack of images; still trying to get used to MOBAFire's guide builder :(
UPDATE: Nearly done the guide! Should be done laning phases, farming and summary chapters by the end of the week! Open to any suggestions/recommendations on the guide; all help is appreciated :)

Pros

+ Easy to farm with q
+ w gives lots of uses (peel or engage)
+ e does % armor reduction-useful against tanks and increases your q dmg
+ Can get really tanky while still dealing lots of dmg
+ With ult active, you can spam q to delete their carry
+ Safe champion since you don't rely on kills
+ The longer the game, the stronger the Nasus
+ Objective taking god
+ Great splitpusher
+ Who doesn't love sitting top all game and farming?


Cons

- Weakest early game of almost all champions
- Will prbly take a lot of dmg early game and might feed top a bit
- Can get locked down with roots, stuns, silences, etc.
- Useless if denied farm-no stacks, no tri-force, no purpose
- Early game stacking can leave you somewhat mana deprived
- Prone to early game ganks
- Team frustration and getting flamed since all you do is sit top and farm

Teleport

As Nasus, always take teleport. Faster back to lanes, cross map ganks, backdoors, etc. Teleport is extremely versatile, and there should never be a reason as to why you won't take it.

Flash

Flash is a must have on almost every champioin; use to engage or disengage. It can save your life from a gank or set your team up for a victory. Flash is also very versatile, and shouldn't be overlooked.

Ghost

Ghost is another viable summoner spell on Nasus since you can use it to chase down stragglers and targets or to finish of a kill. You can use it in place of Stormraiders Surge, or just if you didn't proc it in time. Ghost can also be used for escapes, but less helpful than flash in that regard. If you plan on taking ghost, you'll prbly want to replace flash with it since teleport is too important to not take.

You want flat cdr so you can stack better early game with a shorter cd on your q. Flat Armor for the added protection since Nasus is weakest early game. AS runes help you farm while AD runes buffer the damage from your q. Scaling MR Resist since the only MR item you build is Spirit Visage and also since you won't need it until late game where you participate in teamfights more. If you don't have or/are missing runes, don't bother getting them unless you don't have anywhere else to spend the IP; RIOT plans on reworking the whole runes system so don't bother wasting IP if you don't have runes yet. Read more here:

EDIT: Preseason changes, as mentioned here: are coming live on November 8th! Notable changes including masteries and runes becoming tied together (you can experiment with new builds on the link above), the level cap (30) getting removed and IP becoming permanently replaced by Blue Essence.

Stormraiders surge is easy to proc as Nasus, and the slow resistances can be helpful when you wanna chase down and finish off any stragglers. The other 12 points should go into the resolve tree for the added tankiness and Insight helps reduce cds on flash and tp.

If you want to run tank nasus masteries, go grasp of the undying for added lane sustain, and the other 12 go into the cunning tree towards either greenfather's gift or dangerous game. I prefer greenfather's gift since it has a low cooldown and you can easily proc it just by stepping in bush during teamfights or laning phase. Dangerous game can be helpful, but you aren't the type to rely on the restored health and mana to finish fights; q is low mana cost and you get health back from your passive.

Generally preferred skill sequence is R>Q>E>W, with an extra point in Q at level 3. Obviously max Q first since it's your main source of damage and also to make it easier with stacking. E next because of the % armor red. as well as the fact it's your only long range poke. W last because you only need 1 point in it to be effective during trades and skirmishes.

Now that you know what to do as Nasus, the question becomes "What is my role on the team?" This is often the greatest dilemma Nasus players face, given their choice between: THE ULTIMATE SPLITPUSHER, The Frontline Tank, or RAID BOSS NASUS. As appealing as each title sounds, each role depends on your team comp and how they're performing.

Are your adc and mid laners fed but you're team has one to none tanks? You'll want to be the Frontline Tank who soaks up the damage and lets the carries do the carrying. Warmogs armor might be a smart choice here since you'll be able to quickly recover hp you lost during the teamfight when emerging victorious or running with your tail between your legs.

Is your team behind the other team? Is your adc complaining about the enemey Rengar and how they're going 12/0/12? Is your support inting by going mid bc your adc is 0/20/1 with 10cs? Time to unlock RAID BOSS NASUS and carry this sorry team to Challenger. You'll still want to go tank build in order to soak up all the damage your puny opponents try to do to you in order to survive the teamfight and delete everyone with your 100000000 stacks on Q.

Maybe your team comp is really solid and they've been doing fine without you. Or perhaps your team is ahead in kills but behind in objectives. Or maybe the other team is so fed, you can't engage in a teamfight without being deleted instantly. Splitpusher Nasus is the man for you. Continue stacking top or bot while splitpushing and taking their towers, inhibs, wives, children, etc. If your opponents try to come after you, just delete them for more stacks or recall and tp in for that epic backdoor game winner.

No matter who you are, there's a Nasus role for everyone to indulge in; go outside, get stacks and find the role that fits you and your team best!

Doran's Shield:

Good item for health regen and sustenance in lane against bullies like Darius and Riven. Shield Slam also helps to stack early since you're Q won't be doing as much damage.

Doran's Ring:

Take if you think you'll need the mana since Nasus is pretty prone to ganks without mana, especially if you're busy farming. The ap also boosts your E which can be good poke against hard lanes and staying mana healthy by farming is always a win-win for nasus.

Cull:

If you think you can reach 100cs fast and safely, grab cull for the extra gold and on-hit health.

Control Ward:

Optional item, you'll take it instead of 1-2 health pots (depends on your starting item). Can help prevent that early gank, especially with the likes of Shaco, Lee, and Xin Zhao. Also helps setup ganks for your jungler by clearing wards in the river brush.

Tri-force

should be your spellblade item of choice if you run standard Nasus because of the role you serve on your team. Since you'll be splitpushing more than your tank counterpart, you won't need the zone created by gauntlet. Additionally, if you're trying to carry, the rage aspect of tri-force gives you mobility and chase potential, making it easier for you to erase the other teams carries.

Iceborn Gauntlet

is the spellblade item for you if you want to be the frontline tank Nasus instead of backline fighter diver Nasus. Against low-elo players, the icy zone of gauntlet can be effective since most of the enemey teams' frontline champs will just clump up and try to get rid of you (which will obviously fail). Gauntlet also gives more tank orientated stats compared to Tri-force which gives offensive/duelist orientated stats.

Spirit Visage

Good mr, cdr and health regen. With the buff to the passive (20%-30%), SV is now pretty busted on Nasus and should always be picked against every team comp, mostly because of the passive.

Dead Man's Plate

Good armor and health, gives mobility with ms, and the dreadnought blows add damage to your Q; perfect! If the game goes on late enough, you can sell your boots since Dead Man's will give you good enough ms and get another tank item.

Frozen Heart

Armor, cdr, mana and great passive. Useful against many team comps and also very cheap to build. Downside is no health.

Randuin's Omen

Health, armor, and really useful against crit champs like Yasuo and Yi.
Slows attack speed and reduces crit damage. Active can be used to chase or escape, similar to the Righteous Glory active.

Sterak's Gage

Good health, increases ad and good passive for surviving teamfights. Not as useful since you aren't a large ad tank like Darius, but if you build another ad item likes DD, could be useful.

Sunfire Cape

Similar Stats to Dead Man's Plate, but has a good passive. Immolate can be helpful if you're going frontline tank Nasus

Thornmail

Take it against a heavy ad enemy comp since it gives good armor and also returns some of the ad damage dealt to you.

Warmog's Armor

Health and cdr plus a passive which can pretty much restore your whole health bar within a few seconds. Useful if you need to continue fights/objective taking/lane pushing after you wind up low on hp. Good item for frontline tank Nasus.

Gargoyle Stoneplate

Great item considering how cheap it is and how much resistance you gain;
up to 80 armor and mr each!!! Active can double your health, but reduces your dmg output;
doesn't matter if you're the frontline tank since you need to soak up damage for as long as posible. A must-have if you go frontline tank Nasus.

Guardian Angel

After the changes to GA to make it a buy for fighter/ad champs, Nasus also benefited from the new build path and stats. Gives ad and armor while passive can revive you after you tank for the team or die tryna get that pentakill. Either way, GA is a good and solid endgame item to have under many circumstances.

Early-Game:

This is Nasus' weakest point in any game. You'll likely have no escape until lvl 3, leaving you prone to the early lvl 2/3 gank by an aggressive jungler. Another issue with Nasus is his damage output. Nasus, generally speaking, won't reach a good amount of stacks until the 9/10 minute mark. This means that you're nearly useless for around 33% of the game. Opponents will likely play aggressive and try to deny you farm/snowball early. If you can't get 1-2 kills within the first 8 or so minutes (with or without your jungler), I'd recommend farming safely under the turret. The key to Nasus' early game boost is getting a kill or two early, otherwise you'll have to wait until late game to scale into the monster meant to be.

Mid-game:

This is where Nasus starts kicking. You should have 2-3 items completed from your final build, and working towards tank items. Your q should be pretty heavy by now, but you should also be able to take some beatings for your team if they need it. This is where you start looking for teleport ganks and teamfights since your power and survivability has increased. If your team is fine without you, focus on stacking and splitpushing in open lanes, be it top, bottom or mid.

Late-Game:

Not much to be said here. You should be able to one-shot any squishy carry on their team, regardless of how many times you've died throughout the game. If you've played your cards right, your build should also be nearly complete and so should the game. If you didn't play it right and screwed up somewhere, fret not because as long as the game goes on, your power scaling goes on (HINT: Splitpush and farm!).

Farming is critical to the success of Nasus. If you struggle farming/can't even farm, I don't know why you're reading this guide; go play support.

Nasus can be a bit tricky for first-time and inexperienced players because you'll likely over-estimate the damage on his q when last hitting. Perfecting last hitting with the q is something that comes naturally; the more you play him, the more awareness you'll have of the damage.

Another important thing is to prioritize stacks. Unless you're running high-cdr rune/masteries, your q will have a moderate cooldown. This means that you won't be able to last hit every minion you see. Watch the health bar of nearby minions and how much damage they're receiving; also take into account who your minions will target once you last-hit their prior target. Always prioritize cannon minons first, then casters, the melee (assuming location of minions are irrelevant). Cannon minions first bc of their high-stack value, while casters come second since they have lower resistances, meaning they can't take as many of your minions' hits. Thats also why we leave melee minions for last, since they're tankier than casters and can take more of a beating, giving your q more time to reset.

Thank's for sticking through with the entire guide! If you didn't and just came here for the summary, I'd recommend going back and reading in-depth some of my suggestions and tips :).

To summarize, Nasus is a versatile champion, who can remain tanky while consistently dealing huge amounts of damage. He has innate sustain and his entire kit works together really smoothly. Unfortunately, all of his damage comes from his q, which is reliant on the progression of the game, your laning opponent, and how well you farm/perform against this lane. Keep in mind that Nasus is a scaling champion, so his power won't become evident until mid/late game. Nasus can be used as a splitpusher or as a teamfighter; all dependant on your team comp.

Play Nasus, Understand Nasus, Adapt your Nasus, Improve your Nasus, and Become Nasus.

Once again, thanks for reading through the guide and feel free to over suggestions in the comments below!