Hello there! The name is Michael, a.k.a. ArcFox. I have reached level 30 some time ago and have played about 800 Games in total. I'm playing on the EU-West servers, so don't bother trying to add me if you are playing in the US. ;-)
Quite many of my games I have played with Nocturne already. And I'm impressed of his abilites. He's not OP in my eyes as quite many call him, but the synergy of his abilities is just wonderful and with this guide, I'd like to inform you about this fantastic Champ. I'll try to explain his abilities, his laning capabilites, etc. Whatever you expect from a good guide, I'll try to include it. :)
One thing: About jungling. Chances are I'm not the best jungler, so I thought about Nocturne and his potential on a lane, whether it's top, bot or even mid. He is awesome concerning harassment and pushing. To make it short, his laning capabilities are extremely good. I'm not saying though that Nocturne is a bad jungler. In fact, many people have proven to me that Nocturne has a lot of potential there as well and is one of the faster champs to efficiently clear the jungle. Still, with this guide I'd like to tell you more about Nocturne in general and how a good lanebuild looks like.
Whenever you aren't fully sure what the abilities do or how to use them, scroll down. At the bottom of this page you'll find the section about Nocturnes abilities, their damage output and advice on how and when to use them.
And before starting, some basic information for those of you who already know how to play. This is a CD Reduction build for Nocturne focusing on him playing on a lane, not in the jungle. If needed, even playing mid. I harass a lot, but CD Reduction does not imply you spam your abilities without thinking! CDR Nocturne has one big purpose: To not have his abilites on CD during most of the teamfights and by that be viable to your team.
Just to make something clear before we start, this is a detailed guide about Nocturne and everything related to him and my build. However, if you're the kind of guy that just wants some simple informations, there is a so called "Quick Reference" section where everything is listed as short as possible. I have no real intentions to make this guide shorter but to improve readability I used quite many spoiler tags. If you want to know more about a certain section, simply click the spoiler button.
Thanks for reading this guide and I hope you enjoy it!
I invested a lot of time and work into my guides. If you really like them why not buy me a coffee? ;-) You can use the link below to donate any sum that you want via PayPal. Every coffee bought by this money will be directly invested into my guides, I promise! :)
Some people have asked me if this guide maybe isn't TOO detailed for those of you who just want to get a quick glimpse at the items, masteries, runes, etc. To solve this problem, I decided to create a so called "Quick Reference". Everything is in here, as short as only possible. Keep in mind that everything mentioned here is explained in the various sections of this guide.
Starting Item (offensive) or (defensive) or (early harassment after recall)
Core Items during Early- and Midgame + + + [item_icon=Stark's Fervor]
If you get fed during Earlygame:
Replace [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] with
Offensive Options for Endgame Items or or or [item_icon=Madred's Bloodrazor] or
Defensive Options for Endgame Items or or or or or or or or
Interesting (very situational!) Options for Endgame Items or [item_icon=Tiamat] or or or
Masteries
Standart 21/0/9
OR
Modified 21/6/3 if going for a bit more survivability.
- [14.07.2011] Updated the guide to the latest patch.
- [04.07.2011] Introduced a lot of spoiler tags to improve readability. Fixed minor issues. Moved the Quickreference to the top of the guide.
- [23.06.2011] Updated the guide to the latest patch including the changes.
- [16.05.2011] Minor fixes. Added my experiences concerning Tenacity.
- [10.05.2011] Included the latest patch in various sections. Added a new section about Tenacity. Updated the itemoptions and build suggestions.
- [29.04.2011] Completely reworked the runes section and included spoiler tags for improved readability. Updated the quick reference. Added a section concerning armor penetration/reduction.
- [...]
- [27.03.2011] Published the first version. :) The changelog only shows the 5 most recent changes. For the last 4 click on the spoiler button.
If you have any questions or suggestions, just use the comment system! I'm opened to all ways of constructive feedback. :) If you want, you can even add me ingame if you need help with Nocturne. Remeber though that I'm only playing on EU-West servers.
Changelog - Patch History
- [23.06.2011]Patch 1.0.0.121
There are no changes to Nocturne or items that he could use. He got a new skin! :D Not sure yet how it looks but in the Leone champion spotlight it looked kinda badass! Nothing fancy in this patch. Yorick got buffed nicely so don't underestimate him!
Added minimap range indicators for long range (non-global ) spells such as Nocturne’s Paranoia and Ashe’s Hawk Shot
Small but helpful addition if you watch the minimap. If not, learn to use it. ;-)
- [23.06.2011]Patch 1.0.0.120
There are no changes that directly adress Nocturne but quite a few concerning items that Nocturne could use during his fights. Boots of Mobility will now mark you in combat for receiving/dealing any damage, even if it is shielded
Philosopher's Stone health regen per 5 reduced to 18 from 22.5 and mana regen per 5 reduced to 8 from 10
Eleisa's Miracle cost increased to 500 from 400
Quicksilver Sash cooldown decreased to 90 from 105
The change to the Boots of Mobility is a minor one and only affects low-elo Nocturnes who like to faceroll the enemy team.^^ The other changes however are quite interesting, but not in a good way. The nerfed my beloved Philosopher's Stone! :( The mana regen per 5 got reduced by 2 points down to 8. This is not a very dramatic change but it means that during the Earlygame you have to use one or maybe two abilities less then what you're used to. Also they increased the upgradecost of Eleisa's Miracle by 100. It's still a nice option, but seriously only if you have to face a lot of CC. Very, very, very, very, [...], very nice however is the change to Quicksilver Sash! They reduced the cooldown making this item even more viable if fighting against annoying ultimate spells like the ones from Malzahar or Warwick.
Lifesteal and spell vamp are no longer reduced if the damage done is shielded
Maximum gold for killing a player on a long kill streak reduced to 500 gold from 1000
Minimum gold for killing a player on a long death streak reduced to 15 gold from 90 gold
Gold rewards for kills where the target is on a 3 kill or 3 death streak or less should give comparable amounts or even more gold than before
Experience granted for kills is now determined by the dying champion's level. Killing champions higher level than you will now grant more experience while killing champions lower level than you will now grant less experience. Killing equal level champions is unaffected
These changes were.. unexpected, perhaps? It's nice that Lifesteal doesn't get reduced anymore but those changes to the gold streaks... Well, I can't tell if it's a good or a bad change, we'll have to play a few games to see how it changed the overall gameplay.
- [10.05.2011]Patch 1.0.0.118
Duskbringer's damage reduced to 60/105/150/195/240 from 60/110/160/210/260 Paranoia's damage reduced to 150/250/350 from 150/300/450 and fixed a bug where Paranoia caused a hitch the first time it was used
Awww... Riot come on, why the nerf? The damage reduction of Duskbringer is annoying if you think about the last patch as well. And nerfing his ulti even more is not a good idea. Level 2 deals 50 less damage, level 3 even 100 less damage which is quite a lot. The reduced range the last patch brought us was already extremely annoying, now it's getting worse. Oh well, that's truely a nerf. I can accept the change concerning Duskbringer but nerfing his Paranoia even more seems odd.
New Stat: Tenacity
About Wit's End:
- No longer burns mana but still deals 42 magic damage on each hit
- New Passive: attacks increase your magic resist by 5 for 5 seconds (stacks 4 times)
- Combine cost reduced to 550 from 700
I added a new section concerning this new stat called Tenacity. In addition they made one item almost completely useless for Nocturne: Wit's End. Before it was a nice option if you face champions with a low manapool like Alistar where you can efficiently shut him down. Now it gives you a little bit magic resist and costs 150 gold less. I can only imagine this item to help your Midgame a bit concerning the damage output but it stills costs too much. If the enemy has only a little bit magic resist this item is useless as you can't improve the magic damage of this item and never should.
- [26.04.2011]Patch 1.0.0.116
Fixed a bug where Paranoia would follow targets over variable amounts of distance depending on spell rank
Updated the following 'move-to-unit' spells so they will fail less often: [...] Paranoia, [...]
It's not a bug, it's a feature! Oh.. wait. We're not talking about Microsoft now, are we? Okay, then it's more of a bugfix. Nothing more. The second thing made me wonder a bit though what exactly they meant.
Some Words Before We Start
___ Welcome to ArcFox's Guide to Nocturne - The Eternal Nightmare! ___
With this guide I'd like to tell you more about this fantastic champ. And what better is there to start talking about then the Item Build which follows next? With my playstyle I go for cooldown reduction meaning I can use my abilities more often. There is a cap of 40% CD Reduction. The game does not allow more, even if your items would give you. I combine this with as much AD and Armor Penetration as needed since every ability of Nocturne scales with AD and the reason I choose Armor Penetration is selfexplaining. I do this for one simple reason: Nocturne isn't like Master Yi, his abilites actually ARE useful and DO a lot of damage. Simple thinking: You need them as often as possible, of course without wasting them.
If you don't know his abilities yet, please scroll down to the bottom of this page before you continue to read, as I have explained every ability of Nocturne, what exactly it does, how you can or should use it and how that ability affects your damage output. It is essential that you know what Nocturne is capable of and even more important, what he is NOT capable of. Being a tank would be the most obvious answer just to give you a simple example.
Some think that Nocturne is an assassin, striking with his ultimate spell Paranoia out of the darkness (bush), killing his opponents in a direct combat before he leaves again. Some think that Nocturne is best suited in the jungle, leveling without his allies and without the enemy knowing where he is. Some think his harassment and pushing skills are so viable to the team they name him a carry. Some others think he's just OP. I say, he's everything out of these statements! Wait, actually he ain't OP >.>
It depends a bit on how you want to play Nocturne, but you can be both, Assassin and Carry. He has great potential on every lane, even mid, and he's one of the faster champions who can clear the jungle efficiently. Whatever you do however, Nocturne remains squishy. Squishy is a popular word to describe a champion who can't take much damage. The less damage he can take, the more squishy he is. And Nocturne is definitely one of the more squishy champions available. But that also implies his damage output is quite high, right? Actually, yes and no. He's not a nuker, meaning he can't kill a champion with one big massive attack. He needs all his abilities and his auto attacks to efficiently kill an enemy.
What makes Nocturne so interesting is the aspect, that his abilities scale very nicely with attack damage. Meaning the more AD you have, the more damage your abilities do. I very early saw this potential and decided to try out a new build for Nocturne, one that focuses on cooldown reduction and having much AD. It was clear to me that he ain't a pure DPS champ, meaning he shouldn't just focus on his Auto Attacks and like Master Yi run towards an enemy and use the right mousebutton for winning. Of course this does not mean you should forget about his auto attacks, but still, getting as much attack speed as possible isn't worth it. Not for Nocturne.
___ I hope you enjoy this guide and feel free to comment if you have a question or just want to say thanks. :) ___
[ CD Reduction ] Item Build Summary - Core Build
This section now explains the core itembuilds. During the past few weeks I have found more then just one to be effective. Thanks to Fruz I have experimented with different items during the Earlygame and the early Midgame. It depends a bit on how you want to play Nocturne. All builds have one thing in common however! They all focus on getting enough CDR in combination with your runes so you will definitely have 40% CDR or at least you'll get very close to this value.
Remember this:
If you think about selling an item for another later core item, only sell it for the finished item! And think thoroughly about what you are selling. Don't sell Philosopher's Stone if you're having mana problems. Don't sell Doran's Shield if you're dying a bit too often (asuming you started with it instead of another item), etc. And keep in mind you don't have to say all your gold until you can buy a finished item, as most items consist of smaller items who already help your gameplay a lot.
Itembuild Nr. 1 - [CDR | ArPen | Early Harassment] Starting Item: 1. Doran's Blade (aggressive approach)
OR 1. Regrowth Pendant (get your core items sooner)
OR 1. Doran's Shield (defensive approach. Good for beginners)
You need to get the Philosopher's Stone as soon as possible, as it massively improves your gameplay. If you started with a Regrowth Pendant teleport back as soon as you have the 365 gold to buy the Stone or if the opportunity is good enough to stay then do so until you collected 715 gold for your Boots of Speed as well. Your next big step after getting your basic boots is Youmuu's Ghostblade. Try to rush your The Brutalizer as it will help you a lot. After getting the Brutalizer, you could think about getting the Ionian Boots of Lucidity first, but it's situational. They don't improve your damage output, they just make you faster. Don't build them first if you want to continue farming on your lane. It's a little funny if you manage to get Avarice Blade before finishing the Ghostblade as this will make it a bit cheaper. 0,5g per sec seems like nothing but if you recall two minutes later to get your Ghostblade you gained 60gold.
Now, your [item=Stark's Fervor] has to follow. Always start with Emblem of Valour as you need the lifesteal. Starks Fervor will not increase your AD, so this ain't the best combination if you are constently trying to gank enemy champs and only fight for a few seconds before leaving again. The bonus aura helps your team a lot, so Stark's Fervor is most effective during teamfights. It's a good allrounder item for Nocturne.
About the recent change to Philosopher's Stone:
Yes, Riot nerfed this item. My beloved item. :( It's not a very dramatic change but you get 2 HP per 5 less, which is acceptable, and 2 Mana per 5 less, which is kinda annoying. The change isn't bad enough to completely rework the itembuild. 2 Mana per 5 less means during a period of 5 Minutes you get 120 Mana less then before and therefore can't use two, maybe three abilities that you normally could have used. Again: The item is still viable to Nocturne. It got nerfed, but Riot didn't make it useless for Nocturne.
This core build focuses on using your Duskbringer a lot to both harass the enemy champs and efficently farm a creepwave. While your AD ain't very high, you're great at pushing and harassing and can aid your team a lot. Not the most efficent build if you get fed early and need to focus on yourself rather then your teamplaying abilites. If this happens, leave [item=Stark's Fervor] out and start with an item out of the Offensive Options as you will need to maximize your damage output to keep the advantage you gained. The Bloodthirster is the best option for this, as the lifesteal will greatly help you.
Alternative Itembuild - [CDR | ArPen | Early Harassment | Midgamedominance]
Very similar to the first build you build the same items except for one. Leaguecraft user Fruz gave me the idea and after some testing I can tell you it's definitely worth it but has some disadvantages as well. This build changes [item=Stark's Fervor] and replaces it with another The Brutalizer. During the rest of this guide I will still focus on itembuild Nr. 1 but don't worry, I'll explain to you what makes this particular build good as well.
If you add a The Brutalizer you do it for two reasons. The first one is obviously that you have to pay less gold as a The Brutalizer only costs 1337 gold while [item=Stark's Fervor] costs 2550. The more interesting thing is about the stats this item will give you. Let's take a detailed look. +25 AD, 15 armor penetration and 10% CDR. Combined with your other items you will have +65 AD (10 from Doran's Blade, 30 from Youmuu's Ghostblade and 25 from The Brutalizer) plus 40% cooldown reduction (15 from Ionian Boots of Lucidity, 15 from Youmuu's Ghostblade and 10 from The Brutalizer) as well as 56 armor penetration (20 from Youmuu's Ghostblade, 15 from The Brutalizer, 21 from runes and masteries).
During midgame this is a lot, especially concerning the armor penetration. Your items give you 40% CDR meaning you can focus on other runes then Greater Quintessence of Celerity for the CDR. You'll have a very strong Midgame and this is the time of the game this build will be the most effective. Problems will occur if you make it into the Lategame. The Brutalizer is not an acceptable lategameitem meaning you will have to sell it for a better item. The sell value is 936 gold meaning you will have lost 401 gold. If you don't manage to kill during the Midgame this will definitely hurt. In addition you'll have to be careful what runes to choose. Don't focus too much on your Midgame or you'll face disadvantages during the Lategame. It's a more risky build then the first one but can pay off nicely if you manage to dominate the Midgame. Try it out. I had some nice games with this already. But as mentioned before, if you don't manage to use this advantage during Midgame you'll suffer a bit during Lategame. Be careful about this nevertheless.
From here on, you will have to decide on your own depending on the enemy team, your style of gaming, your teammates and how the match already went. There is no "ultimate" build for Nocturne that works in every situation. Actually, there ain't one for any champ. Just remember: Those items mentioned above represent the core itembuild of a CDR Nocturne focusing on AD. While your damage output might not be the highest on the field, you can use your abilites often and by this be very viable to your team. This isn't a build for someone who wants to win on his own without thinking about teamplay. Actually, League of Legends isn't the game for someone who wants to do this.
Just remember: Whatever you do, Nocturne still remains squishy! Don't be too cocky, even if fed!
[ CD Reduction ] Item Build Summary - Itemoptions
Once again, as there is no ultimate build, you have to vary your itemchoice after building the core itembuild. It depends a lot on who you have to face. Below are Offensive Options, who focus on Nocturne dealing out a lot of damage but not thinking about how squishy he is. If however he is way to squishy for the current fight, you'll have to think about some Defensive Options. And of course, for the more risky and experienced of you, there are some Interesting Options that are very situational, but can pay off very nicely if used correctly. Read the descriptions, they should be enough to give you an idea when an item is effective and when it's not.
Offensive Options:
1. The Black Cleaver {-- One of the best choices due to it's massive flat armor penetration in form of a debuff after using your auto attacks. 3 stacks meaning 3 auto attacks will reduce the targets armor by 45 for 5 seconds. During this time both your abilities and auto attacks will hurt a lot.
2. Infinity Edge {-- Expensive, but it gives you a lot of AD and massively improves your crits. Viable for both your abilites and your auto atacks. A very effective but also quite expensive choice.
3. The Bloodthirster {-- Nice AD and Lifesteal. If maxed out, +100 AD and +25% Lifesteal are a lot. Keep in mind you loose the bonus AD and Lifesteal upon death so you'll have to play it safe or you won't benefit much from this item as it's not worth the gold.
4. [item=Madred's Bloodrazor] {-- Only effective against tanks with a lot of HP and not too much Magic Resist due to the expensive price! If your enemies go for a lot of Magic Resist, don't even think about this item.
5. Last Whisper {-- Really effective against tanks with a lot of Armor or to counter a Thornmail. Not really effective against everyone else though.^^
Defensive Options:
6. Frozen Mallet {-- Health, AD and a nice Slow. Could even be an offensive option, though +20 AD really ain't much.
7. Hexdrinker {-- Underestimated item. If having problems with a lot of magic damage Hexdrinker improves both your defensive AND your offensive capabilites. It also doesn't cost that much! Think about it!
8. Guardian Angel {-- Very straight forward. You die? Nope you don't. :) At least not now. Keep in mind though your team has to help you or in many cases the enemy champs will kill you again after revival.
9. Thornmail {-- In case you have problems with their DPS Champs. Not a good choice if they only have one non-fed DPS champ or if you die too fast due to enemy AP champs.
10. Banshee's Veil {-- Can be useful, though your Shroud of Darkness has this effect already. If the enemy team has a lot of stuns/snares/silence, this CAN be useful. Don't just buy it for the Magic Resist though, as there are better items for that. If you don't focus much on harassment, the bonus +375 mana are a nice option. Still an expensive one though.
11. Quicksilver Sash {-- If you face a lot of CC and Banshee's Veil is too expensive for you this item is perfect. You even get a bit more Magic Resist. :) Keep in mind though you have to activate it every time you need it. Learn to remember is the best advise. Thanks to the recent change in cooldown this item is getting a lot more powerful. :)
12. Frozen Heart {-- You might want to think about this item giving you CDR, Mana, Armor and a nice passive if you face a lot of CC and/or AD DPS champs and desperately need Mercury's Treads but don't want to loose the CDR.
13. Cloak and Dagger {-- Gives you 25 Tenacity which greatly helps you against a heavy CC team. If you want a more DPS like approach this item is the right option concerning Tenacity. If not look at the item below. It's a bit expensive though and please don't think about this item if you don't need Tenacity. You mainly buy this for the CC reduction!
14. Eleisa's Miracle {-- Since you already go for a Philosopher's Stone this only costs 400 gold more and gives you a nice amount of Mana Regeneration as well as Tenacity. If you don't need the Tenacity though this item won't help you much so don't consider it.
Interesting Options:
15. Sword of the Occult {-- Costs 1,369. Question is just when to buy it? I sometimes go for the SotO when I got some kills/assists and usually not before having The Brutalizer and Boots of Speed, as both are too essential for your ganking skills. It is a nice option, but you need to keep those stacks up. In case you die a bit too often (loosing stacks) or if you don't kill that much, it might get you off the CDR path without you having an advantage in AD. If you can keep those stacks up though you'll be fed in notime. :)
16. [item=Tiamat] {-- I just love the passive effect. 50% splash damage is nice. +50 AD as well. It's not really for teamfights though, as your enemies usually don't group up for the Tiamat to be really effective. If you don't focus on harassment, the mana regeneration is worth a try. Mainly used in funbuilds.
17. Sword of the Divine {-- Interesting Passive and Active (Armor Penetration! Yay!), though keep in mind you don't get any AD and this is best suited for DPS champs and Nocturne isn't a pure DPS champ. Nice if an enemy like Jax focuses on dodge.
18. Hextech Gunblade {-- Interesting for three reasons: Nice +60AD, +20% Lifesteal/+25% Spellvamp and it's active. If you forget to use the active though this item ain't for you, as +75 AP don't give you that much, especially for that price. +75 AP means your Unspeakable Horror deals 75 more damage. Wow...
19. Trinity Force {-- Yes, it has almost everything you need. But did you look at the price? 4070 for giving you a BIT in EVERYTHING ain't that good compared to e.g. Infinity Edge giving you a LOT in AD and crits. You should only think about Trinity Force if you have way too much money. Those +250 HP don't make you less squishy, don't forget this when considering this item.
All in all that makes 19 items that can be useful for you. Once again, I can't stress it out enough, it depends on the whole situation what items you need. There is no order in this items listed above. All can do their job pretty well, it just depends what enemy you are facing. This isn't a general phrase to make me look like I know something. You'll never be a good champ if you don't develop your own way of fighting and by that I also mean that you think about what you buy, when you buy it and why you buy it.
Unworthy Items:
1. Wriggle's Lantern {-- Only interesting for the ward and the lifesteal. Yes, it's cheap with 1600, but +23 AD ain't much. +30 Armor is nice though if your having some HP problems. You can forget about the other passive. It ain't worth it. For a CDR build this item can't replace any of the early core items as they give you CDR. And building a Lantern instead of [item=Stark's Fervor] or even The Bloodthirster really isn't an option.
2. Guinsoo's Rageblade {-- Gives you too much AP what you don't need as only Unspeakable Horror scales with it. Not enough AD and attack speed to be effective for Nocturne.
3. Executioner's Calling {-- 1600 ain't much, but for this one, it's too expensive for Nocturne. It improves your lifesteal and your crits, but since Nocturne isn't a pure DPS champ and shouldn't be played like one this does not give you the advantage you might hope for. The active is nice though. Still not a good choice.
4. Shurelya's Reverie {-- It is possible to build this out of your Philosopher's Stone, but think about this: The HP reg and mana reg don't give you very much. The amount of mana reg does NOT solve your mana problems if you focus a lot on harassment. It DOES however help you in every other case. 1400 for upgrading the Stone to this is too much for Nocturne. You don't need the CDR anymore and buying this just for the active is way too expensive.
5. Phantom Dancer {-- I personally don't like it. Once again: You ain't Master Yi. Don't forget your abilities. It doesn't give you any AD at all to improve them.
6. Manamune {-- Yes, this item solves your mana problems after selling the Philosopher's Stone during Mid- or Lategame and with 1350mana from this and your base mana of 845 at lvl 18 this means 2195 mana. Manamune will only give you a total of +63,9 AD. You also need quite a lot of time, at least 20 minutes, before getting the bonus +1000 Mana. Due to misscalculations I recommended this in earlier versions but to be honest, it's absolutely not worth it.
7. Berserker's Greaves {-- I've seen many Nocturnes use this. Honestly, you don't need it. There is only one reason in favor of these boots and that is the low price. Nothing else. Youmuu's Ghostblade and [item=Stark's Fervor] already give you a lot of attack speed and your Shroud of Darkness can give you a massive boost. So what do you need those for?
8. Wit's End {-- Due to the latest patch the manaburn of this item got removed. Now it gives you a little bit magic resist. If you need the magic resist there are better options in this price segment like Hexdrinker. If the enemy has some magic resist this item get's nearly useless as you can't and never should improve the magic damage with magic penetration.
Remember to vary it a bit as you see fit! The more you know and anticipate about your enemy the better you are. :)
[ CD Reduction ] Item Build Summary - Build Suggestions
As there are quite many items you could choose after finishing the core itembuild I mentioned above, here are some suggestions to give you an idea. Those builds ignore the gold and time needed to get them and of course are for a level 18 Nocturne. They are just meant to give you an idea what influence those items have on a CDR Nocturne. Nothing more. They are very situational, so don't build them if you don't understand when a certain build is considered effective and when it simply feeds the enemy. Again, these are just ideas! There are a lot more combinations then those few listed here and all of them are situational.
Also please note that there is no certain order in this builds. The first one is not the best one and the last one is not the worst one. Also I consider those six items a group and I only talk about this certain group without telling you what item to buy first. These suggestions are just ideas on what an impact they have on your way of gaming. Nothing more, nothing less. Use the spoiler button if you want more detailed informations on a certain build suggestion and why I consider it effective in certain situations. It depends too much on your current situation if you should get the fourth item before the fifth or after. So unfortunately I can't help you with this problem.
Again, as some people can't understand it, these suggestions are ONLY recommended in very certain situations. Every build has pro and cons. Don't ever think there is an ultimate build that wins in every situation, no matter what you are facing.
1. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] - Total cost of 15.697 gold
Full CDR and AD with enhanced armor penetration focusing on harassment and auto attacks and avoiding CC. Perfect for killing squishy enemies within seconds. Too squishy for teamfights though! If you only get a few spells, you'll survive. If they focus you, you die very quickly.
Detailed Informations:
This itembuild focuses a lot on auto attacks and low CDs on your abilites. It's the combination what kills squishier champs very fast. Thanks to Youmuu's Ghostblade's active in combination with your Shroud of Darkness, The Black Cleaver and [item=Stark's Fervor] you get a lot of attack speed while getting up to 106 armor penetration thanks to your runes/masteries, Youmuu's Ghostblade, [item=Stark's Fervor] and The Black Cleaver. Infinity Edge gives you a lot of AD and crits massively improving both your auto attacks and your abilities. And Banshee's Veil is simply to avoid unnecessary CC.
This build has not the highest possible AD but it's the combination of your very fast and critical (15% from Youmuu's, 3% from masteries and 25% from Infinity Edge making it 43%!) auto attacks and your abilities. Perfect for killing squishy enemies. Be very careful in teamfights though as you yourself are squishy as well.
2. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] [item_icon=Tiamat] - Total cost of 15.427 gold
Full CDR with enhanced lifesteal. You regenerate HP within seconds, but you lack AD. If you DON'T face much CC, this makes you less squishy in teamfights. Care for stuns/snares though, as they kill you. Extremely efficient for quick farming or defending your own base.
Detailed Informations:
This build focuses massively on lifesteal. You'll have up to 45% lifesteal (20 % from [item=Stark's Fervor], up to 25% from The Bloodthirster) as well as a lot of attack speed and [item=Tiamat]'s passive. This is a very effective build for defending your own base or to fight creeps in general. Your worst enemy though is crowd control.
Any form of CC is very deadly to you, especially stuns or snares as you focus quite a lot on your auto attacks since it's the lifesteal that keeps you alive. In teamfights this ain't a very effective combination because the enemy champs usually don't group up enough for [item=Tiamat] to be really effective.
This whole build is more like a funbuild because in many situations there are builds who are a bit to a lot better then this one. I wouldn't call it a waste but it's extremely situational and you'll be very dependend on your teammates.
3. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] - Total cost of 15.002 gold
Full CDR with improved armor penetration and enhanced survivability. Makes you less squishy, but not a tank either. Care about your mana, as your items don't help you at all!
Detailed Informations:
This build here is a very defensive one. You'll have to focus on your basic advantages. Those are your abilities in combination with low CDs and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active. The Black Cleaver is meant to enhance your damage output by giving you AD and a way to achieve a lot of armor penetration. Frozen Mallet and Guardian Angel both concentrate on keeping you alive. The slow from Frozen Mallet is a nice one and can help you in a chase or an escape but it's not a gamechanging effect. Don't expect too much from this. In addition, don't get too reckless while your Guardian Angel is active. If the enemy team decides to focus you alone not even this item can help you. They will simply stand next to your corpse and kill you the second this item revives you. There is nothing you can do in such a situation and only your teammates or pure luck can get you out safely.
4. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] [item_icon=Madred's Bloodrazor] - Total cost of 17.022 gold
Full CDR going for DPS with some AD. You kill towers within split seconds due to Duskbringer and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active. Don't forget you're still squishy though! Not a very good build for teamfights. And keep in mind you don't regenerate your mana very efficiently so you will have to use 9 x Greater Seal of Clarity runes to improve your mana regeneration as you will have to use Duskbringer a lot for the increase in AD.
Detailed Informations:
This here is a more DPS like approach. You focus quite a lot on your auto attacks. And you'll need Duskbringer a lot due to the increase in AD that you get. It's an extremely effective build against towers thanks to your armor penetration, massive attack speed (every item except for your boots increases this!) and a nice crit chance of 33% (15 from Youmuu's Ghostblade, 15 from Trinity Force and 3 from masteries). Also you can quite quickly kill tanks not focusing on magic resist or too much armor. If a tank however focuses entirely on magic resist this will make your [item=Madred's Bloodrazor] nearly useless and even up to 106 armor penetration can't help you against a 400 armor Rammus. The worst tanks are those focusing evenly on magic resist and armor as you can't penetrate both efficiently at the same time. Also please note that this build doesn't really help your mana situation and you're quite squishy. Since you focus on your auto attacks this means you'll have to be at the front line of the fight. Don't try this build if you face nukers like Veigar or Brand because they can manage to kill you within a second or two if they want to.
5. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] - Total cost of 15.272 gold
Full CDR with added AD and armor penetration at its best. Keep in mind that it gives you nothing if you penetrate all the armor if you don't deal out any damage, that's why I chose Infinity Edge. A considerable option if facing tanks with way to much armor. Sidenote: If you penetrate more armor then the enemy actually has his armor will drop below zero, meaning you will do additional damage!
Detailed Informations:
Now this build is simply about armor penetration. Nothing more, nothing less. You can penetrate up to 106 armor + 40% of the target's current armor. Very effective against anyone focusing on armor, especially against towers. Only recommended if you don't face health problems as this is quite a squishy build. Unlike the build above you don't have to be at the frontline of the fight all the time since most of the armor penetration helps your abilities as well. Right after the initiate of a teamfight you should try to be a bit behind your tank before switching to your auto attacks. There ain't really more to say about this build. It's all about this massive amount of armor penetration and whether or not this is useful.
6. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] - Total cost of 15.982 gold
Full CDR with enhanced armor penetration, AD and lifesteal. A build I truely love. Very efficient, but you're very squishy as well and harassing a lot will give you manaproblems. Don't even dare to intiate a teamfight as that will get you killed.
Detailed Informations:
To be honest this is the build I like the most. You have a lot of AD, lifesteal and armor penetration. The lifesteal will keep you alive if you don't face much CC but be very careful about this as stuns or snares are extremely deadly. I can't tell you much more then to try this out the next time you play Nocturne. ;-)
In addition, your basic attack combo of using your abilities in combination with low CDs and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active is an extremely well way to get rid of any squishy champ. Seriously, if you don't face any kind of CC that stops this process you kill him within a few seconds. But please always keep in mind you're squishy and lifesteal is your only way to help yourself meaning you'll have to be aggressive to increase your survivability. Sounds paradox but believe me, this has saved my ass many times already.
7. - Total cost of 15.882 gold
Full CDR with a nice amount of AD and enhanced survivability. The allrounder. You're good at pushing combined with your Ghostblade's active, ain't the most squishy one but can deal a nice amount of damage to an enemy champ in a fight.
Detailed Informations:
This is THE allrounder build. You're quite good at killing champs and towers alike, have a nice amount of AD and lifesteal and Guardian Angel and Banshee's Veil both help you a lot concerning the survivability part. You don't have a lot of attack speed so you have to keep in mind to use Youmuu's Ghostblade's active and (if possible) the secondary effect of Shroud of Darkness for increased attack speed. A nice build for training purposes. You don't kill very fast but you don't die very fast either.
8. - Total cost of 14.177 gold
Partial CDR with some added AD going for pure survivability. Only recommended if you and your team face ENORMOUS problems with their CC and damage dealers as you have to sacrifice 15% CDR for better boots. This makes you less squishy, but you don't deal out much damage either. Still good for focusing on towers though.
Detailed Informations:
This is an extremely defensive build. It won't work in every situation and just like the second build suggestion it's extremely rare for this to be fully effective. You sacrifice 15% CDR for boots that help you against CC, you buy a Quicksilver Sash to furthermore reduce the effects of CC on you and Frozen Mallet and Guardian Angel help your survivability by increasing your resistances and your HP. Once again you'll have to focus on your basic advantages. Those are your abilities in combination with lowered CDs and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active. The Bloodthirster is your most offensive item and you desperately need to get the bonus AD and lifesteal.
Please don't consider this build to be very effective in many situations. It's way to defensive. It can pay off if your whole team was playing too offensive and you have to switch to a more defensive approach. It's extremely situational and not for people new to Nocturne.
9. + or or ... - Total cost of 12.562 gold + the last item
Full CDR with enhanced survivability and protection against CC. The last item is the most offensive one and depends on what you focus. There are more options than just these two mentioned. Basicly, every item out of the offensive options section that gives you AD is fine. You can resist CC quite nicely and ain't very squishy anymore, but keep in mind you don't deal a lot of damage either!
Detailed Informations:
I tried this build out once because I was thinking of another funbuild but in fact it's actually quite useful. You have full CDR since Frozen Heart gives you 20% and you can get Mercury's Treads to reduce the time that annoying CC is bothering you. It's a more defensive build though as Frozen Heart and Guardian Angel both concentrate on keeping you alive. You'll have quite a lot of armor so it's most effective if fighting DPS champs like Ashe or Master Yi. The last item is up to you and should be a very offensive one. Usually I'd suggest Infinity Edge but other items are fine as well as long as they either concentrate on a lot of AD or at least some AD in combination with armor penetration. Please don't think about a Last Whisper. You need more AD than this item can give you. Penetrating a lot of armor does not help you if you can't deal out much damage.
10. [item_icon=Stark's Fervor] - Total cost of 14.317 gold
Full CDR with enhanced protection against CC and a nice amount of AD, AS and Lifesteal. It's mainly a build to present you a use for the new Tenacity item. If you face a lot of CC this item will help you without you having to sacrifice 15% CDR.
Detailed Informations:
This build focuses on three main aspecsts: Full CDR, a nice damage output and a high amount of Lifesteal. It's a bit more DPS like but you still need to manually increase your attack speed with Youmuu's Ghostblade's active and your Shroud of Darkness. Since the new added stat Tenacity allows us to chose another item if we don't want Mercury's Treads we can go for Eleisa's Miracle greatly improving our Midgame due to the massive increase in Mana Regeneration. If you don't need the Tenacity consider another build though. The first build is quite similar to this one but instead of Eleisa's Miracle I take Banshee's Veil since it can not only save you from CC but also from some hurting abilities.
Basicly, that's it. I hoped this few builds could give you some ideas what to try out the next time you're playing Nocturne. Once again, these builds are very situational. There is no ultimate build for Nocturne that works in every situation. But I guess you've read this quite a few times already in my guide already, eh? ;-)
[ CD Reduction ] Item Explanation - Starting Items
Why are you choosing this? Why are you choosing that? Well, here are some thoughts about core items, nice items and unworthy items. First, I'll start with the start. The Earlygame is for some the most important part of a game as it can decide a lot, especially if someone gets fed. I listed every single item that you can buy during the start and why or why not you can choose it. Keep in mind we're focusing on a CD Reduction | AD build.
Worthy Starting Items
1. Doran's Blade - 475 gold.
It's just wonderful. +HP, +AD and lifesteal. What more do you want?
2. Doran's Shield - 475 gold.
This also is a nice option. +HP, +Armor and +HP Reg. Use it to train with Nocturne before switching to Doran's Blade as your starting item OR if you are facing a lot of CC or ranged champs this might even be a better choice.
3. Regrowth Pendant - 435gold.
Might be interesting for one and only one reason: To teleport back around level 3 and buy your Philosopher's Stone. It improves your early harassment a lot, but keep in mind this makes it hard for you if you think about going for first blood. If you're new to Nocturne, better use Doran's Shield.
Very Experimental Starting Items
1. Long Sword - 415 gold.
It gives you +10 AD. Wow. Doran's Blade also gives you +10 AD. And +100 HP. And 3% Lifesteal! The only argument pro Long Sword is that you can get your The Brutalizer sooner, but it makes you more squishy compared to Doran's Blade or even Doran's Shield even if you take a Health Potion with you. If you have a good lanepartner who can heal you, you can try this item and try to rush your Youmuu's Ghostblade.
2. Vampiric Scepter - 450 gold.
The lifesteal is nice, yes, but you don't attack that often to use it to it's fullest potential. In case you are facing some CC or the enemy use Exhaust on you, they will most probably get first blood due to you being more squishy than with Doran's Blade or even Doran's Shield. If you think about jungling, this item is a nice option. But definitely not on a lane.
3. Boots of Speed - 350 gold.
These boots make you faster, yes. But you have to think about two things: These boots don't increase your survivability much. Yes, you can better dodge some harassment or outrun an enemy champ sometimes. In a direct 1on1, you're still very squishy. There is a synergy between these boots and early harassment, as you can use both Duskbringer and Umbra Blades in a more efficient way. It's still a risky choice though. Only for the more experienced of you.
Unworthy Starting Items
1. Meki Pendant - 390 gold.
Read the passage about Philosopher's Stone. You'll understand why I prefer the stone over Meki. Especially if you think about it as a starting item. Like Long Sword, you face the missing +HP and Lifesteal or +Armor/+HP Reg making you more squishy during the Earlygame and of course you loose the +10 AD bonus. While it improves your harassment, this can backfire on you if the enemies strike while you have your abilities on cooldown.
2. Dagger - 420 gold.
Oh c'mon. Didn't I already mention somewhere that Nocturne isn't a pure DPS champ? Don't play him like one! This does not improve any of your abilities, it does not make you less squishy, it just lets you attack a bit more often. Don't forget you are a melee champ after all! Not even worth a try.
3. Cloth Armor - 300gold.
Do not even think about taking this if you go on a lane. It can be useful if you're jungling and you're not very experienced at it, but it's definitely a very bad choice if you think about a lane. Just NO!
Other items don't even need a description. They ain't good for Nocturne. Simple as that. - - - -
This item costs 800g, gives 400g back if sold and + 0,5g/sec. Meaning after 13min and 20sec you are at +-0g. (0.5g/1s * 800s = 400g ; 800s = 13,3333 minutes). So much concerning the price.
The mana reg is the reason why I choose this item. Some people told me about Meki Pendant being the better choice. It's a hard decision, but the stone wins 2:1. The Meki Pendant has a very nice price, since it only costs 390g, while the stone costs 800g, so 0:1 for the stone. BUT the stone has not only a better mana reg, it also gives you a very nice amount of HP reg. 1:1. Also, if you know something about math, the stone will repay itself after 13min20sec. If kept longer, you even GAIN a little bit of gold before selling it. What's your answer to this, huh Meki? 2:1
Also there is a new stat called Tenacity that Riot included in the latest patch. Before that patch we used Mercury's Treads for this but now we can choose to upgrade our Philosopher's Stone into a Eleisa's Miracle for better stats and 25 Tenacity meaning the duration of a lot of CC is reduced by 25%. If you don't need the Tenacity please don't consider this upgrade though. 400 gold might not sound like a lot but this item will block a slot in Lategame and the additional Mana Regeneration ain't THAT great if you only buy it for this. It still helps you a lot if you're already facing mana problems during the Midgame.
I simply love the Ghostblade. The Brutalizer is already nice, giving you +25 AD, +10% CD Reduction and +15 Armor Penetration. But the Ghostblade can top this! +30 AD, +15% crit chance, +20 Armor Penetration, 15% CD Reduction and a very nice active. Don't forget to use your Ghostblade as often as possible! 60sec CD ain't much if you can get that Tower/Dragon/Champ down. :)
This is a CD Reduction build after all. Personally i think there are only two and a half boots worthy for Nocturne.
Those are Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Mercury's Treads and Boots of Mobility as the half one. With the Ionian Boots and your Youmuu's Ghostblade you are at 30% CD Reduction already. Those missing 10% can easily be achieved via runes and masteries, as you can see in the other sections. So at lvl 18 you are at 40% CD Reduction, which is the maximum.
3. b) Mercury's Treads
This is only an option if you are having a lot of trouble with CC AND magic damage and your Shroud of Darkness can't save you. Compared to other items giving you Tenacity this item gives you 10 Tenacity more meaning those forms of CC are reduced by 35% just like you're used to if you buy this item. If you need both, the additional 10 Tenacity and the magic resist you can think about this item. If not, then don't buy it.
Don't just take it for the magic resist, as you will loose 15% CD Reduction. Paranoia at lvl3 has a CD of 100sec. With only 25% CD reduction you have to wait 15sec more with the Treads than with your Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Think about it. Paranoia is your best nuke as it scales extremely well with Attack Damage. Some would argue now that you could go for the blue buff. But seriously, you can't have it ALL the time. With the Ionian Boots, you not only CAN have it all the time (the effect, not the buff^^), someone else in your team can go for the blue buff, since you don't need it.
3. c) Boots of Mobility
This is something I have seen on some Nocturnes and what I have tried out a few times. In combination with Duskbringer and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active you will most likely be the fastest champ on the battlefield easily chasing a running enemy. But again, think about the CD Reduction. AND think about the missing MR and passive of Mercury's Treads. Those boots only pay off if the enemy team is playing kinda bad. So they ain't really an option.
Okay, now I'll need some explanation.
Stark's Fervor is a very mighty item for a DPS champ. It gives you +20% Attack Speed and as a bonus aura +20% Lifesteal, +20% Attack Speed (meaning +40% Attack Speed for you!), and +30 HP Reg. It also reduces the armor of nearby enemy champs by 20. It's everything you can dream of. AND it supports the whole team, as most of the effect is the bonus aura.
You COULD go for a more offensive item, but think about it. What more is there concerning the dmg output then Attack Speed and Armor Penetration? Correct, it's only Attack Damage for you. For 2550gold, you don't really get something comparable to Stark's Fervor. Items like The Black Cleaver or The Bloodthirster cost more then 3000 while less expansive items like Last Whisper, Wriggle's Lantern or Hexdrinker don't increase your DPS value as much as [item=Stark's Fervor] does it. And even though I try to focus on AD then Attack Speed it doesn't mean Nocturne only does damage with his abilities! DPS in combination with Duskbringer and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active destroys towers within seconds!
With your farming skills and a few kills/assists, this can be done quite fast, around the 20:00 minutes mark, sometimes even sooner. This will definitely increase both your pushing skills as well as your teamfight skills. In case you are having problems getting those five items there is a little trick. [item=Stark's Fervor] is a very essential item for you, but it does not give you any AD for your abilites meaning Youmuu's Ghostblade is during the early midgame the only item that gives you AD. If you're having problems with your damage output being too low at this moment you could think about going for a more offensive item after you built Emblem of Valour, as you need the lifesteal from it and buying [item=Stark's Fervor] after you increased your AD. If you really don't like this item, there is another trick: It's called The Bloodthirster. It improves both your AD and your lifesteal. Don't forget though that [item=Stark's Fervor] also gives it's aura to nearby allies, making it a viable item for not only you but your whole team!
Items during Mid- and Lategame
Well, most of the explanation has already been done in the Item Build Summary section. From now on it really depends how your enemies play, how your team plays and how you yourself play! Once again, this isn't a general phrase to make you believe I know something and therefore am better than you. You NEED to analyze the enemy team and think what items are useful to you. The best champs are those who know what happens on the battlefield and who know how to adept.
Look at the short descriptions that I wrote to each and every item. This should be enough to give you a hint, what item makes sense in what situation and the itembuild suggestions also should give you enough to think about. If you want though, I can explain those combinations even further, maybe even talk about itembuilds I DON'T recommend. Leave a comment if you want it. :)
[ CD Reduction ] Item Explanation - AD Price Calculator
I made a list recently. Not just any, I calculated how much gold I have to pay for a single AD point if buying a certain item. And I thought I might as well share that list with you. It's sole purpose is to inform you how expensive an item REALLY is, as Nocturne needs AD for both his standart attacks and his abilities making it the most important stat of them all. Use the spoiler button to read it.
The items are sorted by their initial cost. I only cared about the AD those items are giving. Any active or passive or other stats are not calculated in this ratio. It's simply a gold : AD ratio. Nothing more.
7. Sword of the Occult - 1.369 gold. +10 AD / 0 stacks
136,9 gold per AD. +10 AD / 4 stacks
45,63 gold per AD. +10 AD / 8 stacks
27,38 gold per AD. +10 AD / 12 stacks
19,55 gold per AD. +10 AD / 16 stacks
15,21 gold per AD. +10 AD / 20 stacks
12,45 gold per AD.
13. [item=Tiamat] - 2,070 gold. +50 AD
41,4 gold per AD.
14. Manamune - 2,110 gold.
845 is the maximum mana Nocturne has at level 18 without any items. +20 AD / 2% of 350 + 845 = 23,9 AD
48,06 gold per AD. +20 AD / 2% of 350 + 845 + 500 = 33,9 AD
39,14 gold per AD. +20 AD / 2% of 350 + 845 + 1000 = 43,9 AD
33,02 gold per AD.
20. The Bloodthirster - 3,000 gold. +60 AD / + 0 AD bonus
50 gold per AD. +60 AD / + 20 AD bonus
37,5 gold per AD. +60 AD / + 40 AD bonus
30 gold per AD.
21. Frozen Mallet - 3,250 gold. +20 AD
162,5 gold per AD.
23. [item=Madred's Bloodrazor] - 3,800 gold. +30 AD
126,66 gold per AD.
24. Infinity Edge - 3,830 gold. +80 AD
47,875 gold per AD.
25. Trinity Force - 4,070 gold. +30 AD
135,66 gold per AD.
Interesting, isn't it? It's obvious that a stacked Sword of the Occult has the best gold : AD ratio, but would you have guessed that a full Manamune is on the third place right after a full The Bloodthirster? Oh well, we all know +100 AD is simply cool. :)
CD Reduction Build? Seriously? Why?
Okay, some of you might ask now why I'm going that much for CD Reduction. Sit down and listen while I'll do the math.
Masteries:
3 % CD Reduction due to Sorcery.
6 Armor Penetration due to Sunder.
Quite a lot more DPS Value due to most skills in the Offense-Techtree.
Starting at level 1 you have:
20,94 Armor Penetration (Runes + Mastery)
3,39% CD Reduction
Meaning your Duskbringer has a CD of 9,66sec instead of 10sec. Okay, that ain't much yet. But we're just starting. During the first few levels, you won't notice much CD Reduction. So don't spam your abilites.
Next milestone: Level 6 ( Paranoia at level 1)
Around level 6 you should have:
1. Doran's Blade
2. Philosopher's Stone
Maybe even
3. Boots of Speed
Meaning you have:
20,94 Armor Penetration
5,34% CD Reduction
Your Duskbringer is now at level 3 doing 160 damage + AD bonus with a CD of 9,466sec instead of 10sec. Still ain't much, huh? We need to improve this. If playing mid I usually teleport back around level 6-7 when I reach 1150 gold. If playing on a sidelane, I aim for the same amount though sometimes you are simply forced to teleport back earlier. 800g for Philosopher's Stone and 350g for Boots of Speed. While those items don't increase my damage output, they give me the ability to continue harassment and even furthermore are viable for ganking and / or escaping ganks. Nothing annoys me more then to be out of mana in a critical situation where you can get a kill / escape the enemy. If you are forced to recall even earlier try to go for Faerie Charm as it is needed for a Philosopher's Stone.
Next milestone: Level 11 ( Paranoia at level 2)
Now the fun starts. The range increase is what makes Paranoia now a very good ability. At level 1, the massive CD and low range are quite annoying. Considering your items you should have by now:
1. Doran's Blade
2. Philosopher's Stone
3. Ionian Boots of Lucidity
4. Youmuu's Ghostblade
5. At least something for your [item=Stark's Fervor], maybe already an Emblem of Valour if not the [item=Stark's Fervor] itself. Depends on your kills/assists and how many towers are already destroyed.
Meaning you have:
40,94 Armor Penetration
30% (items) + 3% (mastery) + 4,29% (runes) = 37,29% CD Reduction.
Your Paranoia now on level 2 has a CD of 84,58sec instead of 130sec! Did somebody say "Ganker's Heaven"?
Oh shit, it's Math! Hey hey, don't run. I'll do it, you just have to listen. ;-)
With your Ghostblade you should be around 130 Attack Damage meaning if you initiate a fight with Paranoia (level 2 now) you deal 300 + 1,2 * 130 = 456 damage while penetrating 41 Armor. If fighting squishy enemies this is a very serious nuke. If you time and aim it right, your Duskbringer (level 5) follows dealing 260 + 0,75 * 130 = 357,5 damage increasing your Attack Damage by 55 afterwards. Finally within the first auto attack your Unspeakable Horror (level 3) follows, dealing 150 magic damage over 2 seconds. Within the first 3 seconds of your fight only your abilites already dealt 456 + 357,5 + 150 = 963,5 damage with 813,5 of them penetrating 41 Armor. And I didn't even count your auto attacks that deal 185 damage (130 + 55 from Duskbringer) each while penetrating 41 Armor! Or your crits who deal out 388,5 damage (200% + 10% from 3 x [mastery=Lethality] of your normal Attack Damage) with a probability of 17% (15% from Youmuu's Ghostblade and 2% from 3 x Deadliness)! And all of them with enhanced Attack Speed due to Youmuu's Ghostblade's active and maybe even [item=Stark's Fervor]. If you already got your [item=Stark's Fervor] all the non-magical damage in this passage penetrates 61 instead of 41 armor, don't forget that! ;-)
Also, about the CD Reduction at level 11:
Your Duskbringer now has a CD of 6,27 seconds instead of 10 seconds. If cast shortly after your ulti you either kill him within those 6 seconds OR you can aim another Duskbringer at him! And of course follow the trail he leaves behind. :)
Your Shroud of Darkness is still at level 1 but now has a CD of 12,54sec instead of 20sec. That helps a lot blocking enemy spells.
Your Unspeakable Horror at level 3 has a CD of 8,15sec instead of 13sec. Those 5 sec can be extremely helpful as this is the ability that fears your enemy. Use it whenever possible in a 1on1!
You see why CD Reduction is important to me? Not only can I harass quite often with my Duskbringer, not only can I block more spells due to Shroud of Darkness having a lower CD, not only can I fear my enemy more often during a fight, I also have my ulti, my best nuke, ready in most teamfights due to the low CD it already at level 2 has!
When you reach level 16 to level Paranoia up to the last level you have an amazing 39,24% CD Reduction as well as at least 61 Armor Penetration (41 plus 20 out of [item=Stark's Fervor])., maybe even more if you went for The Black Cleaver or Last Whisper or even both. Your Paranoia now has a CD of 60,76 seconds instead of 100 seconds. Use this advantage, strike at those champs that wander the Field of Justice on their own and fu##ing win the game! :)
Hope this section pointed out why the CD Reduction is important for Nocturne. As stated before, he ain't Master Yi. He ain't simply a DPS Champ. All his abilities are extremely helpful in various situations and scale great with Attack Damage. Don't ever forget that if you think about how you want to play Nocturne.
Armor Penetration - The More The Better?!?
Armor penetration is this one big topic that many people think about. Just like almost everyone else I made the mistake too that I thought it would be effective to stack it. The more armor penetration I have the better is my damage output, right? The answer is NO! There are some problems with armor penetration. I'll enlighten you.
There are four different ways how to deal with physical resistance also called armor. Those are:
1. Percentage armor reduction (as far as I know only five abilities in total, one from Jarvan, Renekton, Nidalee, Trundle and Urgot each) 2. Flat armor reduction (only [item=Stark's Fervor] and The Black Cleaver + some champion's abilities) 3. Flat armor penetration (e.g. Youmuu's Ghostblade or Sunder) 4. Percentage armor penetration (as far as I know only Last Whisper)
This is also the order in which those effects are applied. There is a major difference between armor reduction and armor penetration! Only the armor reduction has the possibility to drop a champions armor below zero! Armor penetration won't do us this favor. It will stop at zero making it quite difficult to get someone below zero armor. Why? Because reduction is applied before penetration! Look at the order above. Only the orange points are able to drop someone below zero armor and they are the first ones. If Nocturne has both [item=Stark's Fervor] and The Black Cleaver he could get up to 65 armor reduction. This could bring someone below zero armor meaning Nocturnes attacks and abilities deal extra damage but by the time he's able to buy these two items almost every champion has already more armor. And unfortunately there is no other way for Nocturne then using these two items.
Always look at the enemy team first before you buy an item that gives you armor penetration! You don't benefit much from 100 armor penetration if only one enemy champ has that much armor!
Tenacity - Please What?
Use the spoiler button to read a section about Tenacity - What is it, when do I need it and what items are worthy for Nocturne?
The latest patch 1.0.0.118 made a small but important change: It added a new stat called tenacity. I guess you all know Mercury's Treads. These boots were the only item having tenacity before the change, though it wasn't called tenacity back then. Here the detailed description from the patch:
Tenacity reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, snares, sleeps, silences, blinds and immobilizes by 1% per point. Multiple Tenacity effects do not stack, but Tenacity does stack multiplicatively with other disable reductions (for example Irelia's Ionian Fervor).
Those forms of CC mentioned above where reduced by 35% if you bought Mercury's Treads. Now those boots have 35 tenacity which is the exact same effect. But Riot also included three new items all having tenacity. Why? Because they don't want everyone to pick Mercury's Treads! There are a lot of other boots as well. For Brand I always use Sorcerer's Shoes and in my Nocturne build I recommend Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Until now I couldn't use this tenacity effect. Now there are some items that are worth taking a look at.
Please keep in mind all those items can't be build into something better! They all represent a finished item mainly giving you tenacity and some other bonus effects. They don't cost a lot but they ain't high tier items like e.g. Infinity Edge or Rabadon's Deathcap! You don't buy them for the stats but for the Tenacity. If you don't need it then don't consider any of these items as it will definitely hurt you!
Let's see how good they are for Nocturne.
1. Cloak and Dagger - 1450 gold - Made out of a Cloak of Agility and a Dagger +20% Attack Speed +20% Crit Chance +25 Tenacity
It's a nice option but a bit expensive and it's more of an option for a more DPS like approach. Those additional AS and crit chance only pay off against enemy champs in direcet melee combat. If you don't need the Tenacity because the enemy team doesn't have much CC then don't even think about this item.
2. Moonflair Spellblade - 1200 gold - Made out of a Blasting Wand +50 Ability Power +25 Tenacity
You don't need ability power so don't even think about this item.
3. Eleisa's Miracle - 1300 gold - Made out of a Philosopher's Stone +25 Health Regen per 5 sec +20 Mana Regen per 5 sec +25 Tenacity
You pay 400 gold more then what you already paid for your Philosopher's Stone for two reasons: 25 Tenacity and 20 Mana Reg per 5 seconds. If you don't need either one of these two then don't think about this item. The additional Mana Reg is a bit too expensive (don't forget the Stone gives you 0,5gold per second and by that can repay itself!) and doesn't improve your damage output assuming you don't run out of mana. If you only need the Tenacity you'd be better off with a Cloak and Dagger since it improves your damage output. If you however truely need the Mana Reg and the Tenacity, this item is perfect for you. Try it out! :)
Skill Order
Pretty straight forward.
You need Duskbringer to harass and outfarm the enemy.
You also need Unspeakable Horror in case he decides to attack you. Shroud of Darkness is extremely helpful in case you get ganked or attacked and have to escape OR if you attack the enemy and want to decrease the damage you have to take from him. That's the reason why I skill it at level 3. The increase in Attack Speed is also very nice concerning your farming capabilites, but don't forget this ain't your damage dealing ability. From then on I focus on Duskbringer whenever possible, maxing it at level 9. The rest should be clear.
Sidenote:
Don't use your Shroud of Darkness after you first leveled it to block the enemy's spells every time it's possible. You'll get out of mana extremely soon! Before I don't have my Philosopher's Stone I ONLY use it in case of a gank. It simply costs to much mana and you can heal up quite a nice amount of any damage taken via your Umbra Blades.
You could also focus a bit more on Shroud of Darkness for the increase in Attack Speed after you maxed Duskbringer at level 9. Depends a little on the enemy team and your farming. Still, you need the fear from Unspeakable Horror in ganks so don't neglect it!
Pros / Cons
Now, for a quick summary, let's take a look at the positive and negative aspects of playing as a CDR Nocturne.
Postive Aspects of a CDR Nocturne
- Great synergy between his abilites
- Good for ganking as his abilites have a low CD
- The enemy team is more careful about attacking towers
- Spellshield to block enemy abilities
- His abilities scale nicely with AD
- If provoked can massively increase his Attack Speed
- Efficient pusher
- Can quickly destroy towers
- Great early harassment
- His passive ability keeps him alive
- Moves quite fast with help from his Duskbringer
- Can clear the jungle quite fast
- Can play very well on a sidelane
- Can hold and even dominate the mid if the player has enough experience
- Nice synergy between his Paranoia and Clairvoyance
Negative Aspects of a CDR Nocturne
- His damage output is not the highest on the field
- He can be quite squishy depending on how you play him
- Enemys fear his ultimate and (usually) don't overextend if he could be nearby
- Needs a lot of AD to improve his damage output, as his abilites alone don't do much damage
- Is extremely manahungry during the Earlygame
- If using Duskbringer for better movement, this costs him an insane amount of mana.
- Can't and (usually) never should initiate a teamfight
Okay, we're done concerning Nocturne and this build. Let's focus on runes, masteries and other things you have to keep in mind before starting the game as they have a massive impact on how your playing experience will look like.
Preparing The Game - Masteries
This would be the most typical build for him. It's a very straight 21/0/9 with Exhaust being one of my Summoner Spells. It's upgraded to [mastery=Cripple]. In case you prefer something else over Exhaust, you unfortunately have to waste the masterypoint in [mastery=Archmage's Savvy]. If you want to take Ghost with you, get the point out of Good Hands and put it into [mastery=Haste].
Though i personally like this one a bit better:
21/6/3.
While I still keep the 3 points in Perseverance for the increased mana reg, I prefer the combo Resistance / Hardiness over Awareness and [mastery=Utility Mastery]. +6 Armor and +6 Magic Resist make Nocturne a bit less squishy. Only the point taken from [mastery=Utility Mastery] actually hurts. But oh well.. You can't have everything, can you?
Preparing The Game - Summoner Spells
Useful Summoner Spells
1. Exhaust
Combined with [mastery=Cripple] this gets extremely powerful. In combination with your Unspeakable Horror you can easily kill an enemy champ. Most efficent during Earlygame and in a 1on1 fight. Quite handy in teamfights if you use it on a DPS champ like Master Yi.
2. Flash
A very defensive option allowing you to deal the maximal possible damage before retreating. It massivly increases your survivability. What else can you hope for? ;-)
3. Clairvoyance
In case someone is low on HP and you have your ulti ready, this spell reveals the enemy so you can ulti-jump him. It's efficiency is quite low concerning the offensive part, since this gives you just a kill once every few games. If you're a teamplayer though this can help the team a lot if you manage to reveal an enemy like e.g. their jungler approaching you and your team. Don't underestimate this spell!
Sometimes useful Summoner Spells
4. Ignite
It does a nice amount of damage, but it's not worth upgrading in the techtree. Still a nice spell though as it deals true damage.
5. Clarity
Helps you during the Earlygame when you face manaproblems. You MIGHT want to consider taking this, but don't expect a massive improvement to your gameplay. You could however take it if going on a sidelane with a partner when both of you have manaproblems during the first few levels and you both want to focus on early harassment. Very experimental.
6. Smite
If you want to jungle, you'll need this. As simple as that. More about this in the jungling section.
7. Ghost
Now I need some explaining.
Ghost isn't really needed since your Duskbringer does exactly this! The effect is longer than Duskbringer but still, in quite many cases Duskbringer fails to let you escape Ghost wouldn't have made a big difference. Ghost can give you a kill sometimes, especially if you have to hurry to an ally for Paranoia but think about this: If you are following this guide this means you are going for CD Reduction. You stay on the trail of Duskbringer for about 3 seconds and it has a CD near 6 seconds. Since you're squishy, you ain't the one in a teamfight who walks into the enemy group. You only have to skip a small distance of about 3 seconds before using Duskbringer again. It's a bit more risky then Ghost, but it allows you to take another Summoner Spell. In addition, don't argue about the increase in movement speed. A Ghost upgraded to [mastery=Haste] gives you +35% speed over 11,5 seconds. Duskbringer gives you +35% AS WELL with it being at level 5 meaning you're level 9 or better. It only comes down to the time you can use this buff. Yes, Ghost in combination with Duskbringer works extremely well, but so does Duskbringer with Youmuu's Ghostblade's active. The question is: Do you really need this? Do as you like but I think Duskbringer and Youmuu's Ghostblade's active usually are enough for you to choose another Summoner Spell. I'm not saying taking Ghost is a wrong decision though.
NOT useful Summoner Spells
1. Cleanse
Not worth taking. You have your Shroud of Darkness for this. In case you face too much CC just buy a Quicksilver Sash as this item has almost the exact same effect + Magic Resist.
Other spells don't even need a description. They ain't good for Nocturne. Simple as that.
1. Clairvoyance and Ghost {-- Upgraded to [mastery=Haste]
Both work very nicely on Nocturne and since Ghost can be used defensivly and offensivly, it's a very well working combination. The low CD of Clairvoyance makes it an essential spell if you want to support your team. And sometimes it helps you gaining sight on a lost enemy for your Paranoia.
2. Flash and Exhaust {-- Upgraded to [mastery=Cripple]
Cripple is extremely effective during Earlygame, in a 1on1 or even a 1on2 in case you want to kill one enemy and keep the other one quiet. In combination with Flash you can jump out of a critical situation quite easily while doing a lot of damage before you have to retreat. This combination is a little risky though, you need some experience to know when to retreat using Flash and when it's better to stay for another second or two.
3. Ignite and Exhaust {-- Upgraded to [mastery=Cripple]
Offense at its best. Keep in mind you have no spell to help you escaping a critical situation. Only recommended for more experienced players or if you have a supporter in your team who can heal you.
Preparing The Game - Runes
Runes have a massive impact on your gameplay. They can decide a lot. They can give you a massive advantage throughout the Early-, Mid- or even Lategame. They can keep you alive where you normally would've been dead already. They can be the reason why you managed to kill that certain champion where normally you wouldn't have been able to do so.
But they have a disadvantage! They cost you a lot of Influence Points.
The picture above represents the core rune setup that I use every time I play with Nocturne. This isn't a "you must take those and no other runes!" section. I'll get into detail concerning every type of runes and explain which ones work and which ones you definitely should avoid. Since this is a CD reduction build after all the above picture still represents a very well working setup! But since not all of you have the IP for buying all those runes let's take a look at other possibilities. Click on the spoiler buttons for more details concerning a certain type of runes. Runes not mentioned are simply not for Nocturne and shouldn't be considered when thinking about a rune setup for him.
In addition I've added a little rating behind those runes to give you a little hint during which phase of the game those runes are the most effective. Some work out extremely well during the Earlygame but suck during Lategame so you always have to be careful about your runes! Yay! means it's very effective, o.k. ain't very effective but not bad either and urks.. means it's not effective at all.
Marks
It's a litte tricky concerning Marks. They are your most offensive runes and Nocturne needs something to improve his damage output. That's what marks usually do for every champion. Armor penetration seems like the best choice but if you already have other marks some can help you as well. Let's take a look which ones can work out.
1. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Desolation ( Earlygame: o.k. | Midgame: Yay! | Lategame: Yay! ) +1.66 armor penetration - My personal choice!
They give you 14,94 armor penetration in total. Combined with 3 points in Sunder means you start with 21 armor penetration. That's quite nice during the Earlygame and penetrates already the whole standard-armor of some champs. Combined with your core items also granting you armor penetration this gets extremely effective during Mid- and even Lategame.
2. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Strength ( Earlygame: Yay! | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: urks.. ) +0,95 attack damage
I find those runes interesting in one scenario: Going for a full runebook of flat AD runes. You'll get +21,7 AD at start. That can be a lot and massively improves your Earlygame. If you already have those runes try them out. If not, don't buy them just for this. The longer the game goes the more AD will be reduced thanks to the enemy champs stacking armor. And if you didn't manage to get some kills thanks to this early advantage your runes won't help you much during the Lategame!
3. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Malice ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: o.k. ) +0.93% critical chance
If and only if you already have these runes you can try them out on Nocturne. If you want an a bit more DPS like approach so you can be an efficient pusher this will help you. You won't benefit much against champions though as this is very luck based. In combination with Youmuu's Ghostblade and Infinity Edge this gets quite powerful during the Mid- and Lategame but again, it's luck based. You don't get as much crit chance as e.g. a Tryndamere could get meaning a pure crit build ain't good for Nocturne.
I absolutely don't recommend: 1. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Alacrity +1.7% attack speed
Nocturne isn't a pure DPS champ like Master Yi. He needs his abilities a lot meaning he needs both AD and armor penetration to improve this. Going for a lot of attack speed wastes a lot of potential concerning his damage output in general.
2. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Might +0.13 attack damage per level (+2.43 at champion level 18)
The don't give you no real advantage during the Earlygame and get less effective the longer the game continues thanks to physical damage reduction called armor. If the enemy champs don't focus a lot on armor this runes would be perfect. Since most actually get some armor and you don't know what they'll do before the game starts this runes won't pay off in most cases.
3. Setup - 9 x Greater Mark of Furor +2.23% critical damage
Absolutely no! Nocturne isn't a champ that goes for a lot of crit chance. And improving those few crits that he actually has doesn't give him that much. A way to risky option that won't pay off in most cases.
Seals
Seals are the most effective concerning regeneration or physical damage reduction. This can be dodge, HP runes or flat armor runes. For Nocturne I find the flat armor runes the best ones as he is a quite squishy champ and they are extremely effective during the Earlygame. But let's take a look at other possibilities.
1. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Resilience ( Earlygame: Yay! | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: o.k. ) +1.41 armor - My personal choice!
Massively improves your Earlygame as you can take more damage from both creeps and AD based champions. Keep in mind Nocturne only has a base Armor of 17 (at level 1!) or later 80 (at level 18!). Everything else comes via Runes, Masteries or Items.
2. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Clarity ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) +0.065 mana regen / 5 sec. per level (+1.17 at champion level 18)
Nocturne can be very manahungry and this runes help him a lot concerning that part. They are per level meaning they ain't effective during the Earlygame and don't help you very much during the Midgame but get quite helpful during the Lategame.
3. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Defense ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) +0.15 armor per level (+2.7 at champion level 18)
Compared to the flat armor runes they don't improve your survivability during the Earlygame and are quite similar during the Midgame. They exceed the flat runes after level 10. They can work out very nicely during the Lategame but not all games are that long! Keep this in mind when considering this rune setup.
4. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Strength ( Earlygame: Yay! | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: urks.. ) +0,43 attack damage
I find those runes interesting in one scenario: Going for a full runebook of flat AD runes. You'll get +21,7 AD at start. That can be a lot and massively improves your Earlygame. If you already have those runes try them out. If not, don't buy them just for this. The longer the game goes the more AD will be reduced thanks to the enemy champs stacking armor. And if you didn't manage to get some kills thanks to this early advantage your runes won't help you much during the Lategame!
I absolutely don't recommend: 1. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Regeneration +0.11 health regen / 5 sec. per level (+1.98 at champion level 18)
Actually, you have bigger problems then HP reg. You need mana reg for harassment or something to make you less squishy. HP reg ain't the solution for that. At least not for Nocturne.
2. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Replenishment +0.41 mana regen / 5 sec.
These runes don't make a difference during the first 6 level. Mana reg per level runes exceed flat mana reg runes after level 6. You still need a mana reg item with this rune setup. So where exactly is your advantage?
3. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Evasion +0.75% dodge
I personally don't like them. They give you 6,75% dodge chance in total. Only if you're really lucky you'll dodge two attacks in a row which helps you. If you only dodge one simple attack every now and then you don't really benefit from this.
4. Setup - 9 x Greater Seal of Vitality ɉ+1.08 health per level (+19.44 at champion level 18)
Don't help you very much. They would give you 175 HP at level 18 but honestly, the 12,7 armor from flat armor runes reduce so much damage during the game that these additional HP absolutely don't pay off compared to armor. Even less compared to per level armor runes.
Glyphs
Glyphs are a bit tricky. They are the most effective at magical stuff. For me glyphs mean survivability against nukers or heavy AP caster. That's also called magic resistance. There are some other possibilities as well but I really recommend to think about your survivability. Nocturne is quite a squishy champ.
1. Setup - 9 x Greater Glyph of Shielding ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) +0.15 magic resist per level (+2.7 at champion level 18) - My personal choice!
They don't really help you during the Earlygame but they massively improve your survivability against enemy champions that deal magical damage. Since you're a melee champ after all you need something to help you so you don't die after a second or two. These runes greatly help you at this. Nocturne has only 52,5 magic resist at level 18 without items/runes/masteries. These runes add 24,3 MR at level 18.
2. Setup - 8 x Greater Glyph of Celerity ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) -0.05% cooldowns per level (-0.9% at champion level 18)
They give you 7,2% CD reduction at level 18 and combined with all core items you even overcap a little by having 40,2% CD reduction. Also note that these are only 8 runes meaning you can chose a ninth glyph with another effect. It's not much but hey, at least something.
3. Setup - 9 x Greater Glyph of Focus ( Earlygame: o.k. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) -0.65% cooldowns
You'll start with 5,85% CD reduction and it'll go up to 38,85% with your core items and masteries. Those missing 1,15% are acceptable enough for you to consider this.
4. Setup - 9 x Greater Glyph of Strength ( Earlygame: Yay! | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: urks.. ) +0,28 attack damage
I find those runes interesting in one scenario: Going for a full runebook of flat AD runes. You'll get +21,7 AD at start. That can be a lot and massively improves your Earlygame. If you already have those runes try them out. If not, don't buy them just for this. The longer the game goes the more AD will be reduced thanks to the enemy champs stacking armor. And if you didn't manage to get some kills thanks to this early advantage your runes won't help you much during the Lategame!
I absolutely don't recommend: 1. Setup - 9 x Greater Glyph of Warding +1.49 magic resist
While they could help you during the Earlygame a bit against heavy AP caster like Ryze, MR per level runes exceed these flat MR runes after level 10 making these runes here quite ineffective compared to per level runes.
2. Setup - 9 x Greater Glyph of Knowledge +1.42 mana per level (+25.56 at champion level 18)
No big early advantage and they improve neither your damage output nor your survivability. They just allow you to use a few more abilities if you already used all your standard mana. If this doesn't happen they don't help you at all.
Quints
Quints are a hot topic. They can improve various aspects and some bonus effects can only be found on quints like increased movement speed. I personally use CD reduction quints but these ain't the only possibilities. Let's take a detailed look.
1. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Celerity ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: Yay! ) -0.13% cooldowns per level (-2.34% at champion level 18) - My personal choice!
They give you 7,02% CD reduction at level 18 which is exactly the difference that you need to reach the cap of 40% combined with your core items and masteries.
2. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Desolation ( Earlygame: o.k. | Midgame: Yay! | Lategame: Yay! ) +3.33 armor penetration
They give you +10 armor penetration at start which massively improves your damage output throughout the game. A very offensive option. And please keep in mind you will have to use your qlyphs to get the missing CD reduction!
3. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Malice ( Earlygame: urks.. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: o.k. ) ɉ+1.86% critical chance
If and only if you already have these runes you can try them out on Nocturne. If you want an a bit more DPS like approach so you can be an efficient pusher this will help you. You won't benefit much against champions though as this is very luck based. In combination with Youmuu's Ghostblade and Infinity Edge and your nine Greater Mark of Malice this gets quite powerful during the Mid- and Lategame but again, it's luck based. You don't get as much crit chance as e.g. a Tryndamere could get meaning a pure crit build ain't good for Nocturne. And please keep in mind you will have to use your qlyphs to get the missing CD reduction!
4. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Swiftness ( Earlygame: o.k. | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: o.k. ) +1.5% movement speed
Three of those mean +4,5% movement speed meaning 387 movement speed just with standard Boots of Speed. This CAN help you but is quite situational. In general a high movement speed means you're more effective at every part of the game. Since Nocturne is a melee champ this improves his chasing/escaping abilities but isn't very helpful in teamfights. Best during Earlygame when you're faster then others. And please keep in mind you will have to use your qlyphs to get the missing CD reduction!
5. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Strength ( Earlygame: Yay! | Midgame: o.k. | Lategame: urks.. ) +2.25 attack damage
I find those runes interesting in one scenario: Going for a full runebook of flat AD runes. You'll get +21,7 AD at start. That can be a lot and massively improves your Earlygame. If you already have those runes try them out. If not, don't buy them just for this. The longer the game goes the more AD will be reduced thanks to the enemy champs stacking armor. And if you didn't manage to get some kills thanks to this early advantage your runes won't help you much during the Lategame!
I absolutely don't recommend: 1. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Clarity +0.24 mana regen / 5 sec. per level (+4.32 at champion level 18)
Nocturne might be manahungry but that doesn't mean you should use your quints to improve this. There are far better quints for him then these mana regeneration runes.
2. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Defense +0.38 armor per level (+6.84 at champion level 18)
Don't use tank runes on Nocturne. He needs to kill meaning he needs some offensive runes as well. Giving him only defensive runes is TOO defensive and seems more like a disadvantage to me.
3. Setup - 3 x Greater Quintessence of Shielding +0.37 magic resist per level (+6.66 at champion level 18)
Glyphs for cooldown reduction and this for survivability? Won't pay off. MR Glyphs and CDR quints give you +24,3 MR and 7,02% CD reduction while CDR Glyphs + 1 MR Glyph and MR quints give you 7,1% CD reduction and +22,68 MR. Math has proven me right. This combination sucks.
Some Thoughts About Jungling
Okay, now about jungling with Nocturne.
I personally ain't very experienced with it to be honest. I'm not a jungler at all since Nocturne is the first champ worth calling my main that has the possibility of jungling quick and effectively. I can only recommend other guides to you if you really do NOT want to try this guide out. During the following days and weeks, I will try to get some information on jungling with Nocturne. Maybe, but only maybe, I'll update this section and will tell you how to jungle with Nocturne and turn him into a CDR killrobot. I can give you some general infos though that I have gathered during my matches watching hundrets of junglers.
Jungling is about five main things:
1. Time
You have to get the XP as fast as possible. The faster you are the better you are compared to mid or a sidelane. If you can't even keep up with top or bot concerning how fast you level, you definitely need to improve your jungling skills. If you can compete with mid, you're doing a good job. At least concerning the time.
2. Counter-Jungle
A Jungler who doesn't have to fear any intervention from the opposite team is always somewhat "effective". A good jungler can face an encounter, maybe even get a kill if the enemy champ is alone or weak / squishy. Think about this when you jungle at low HP. The less HP you have during the jungling process the easier it is for an enemy champ to ambush and kill you. Especially if you think about stealing the blue or even red buff from the opposite jungle. Don't be too predictable, as escaping a gank also screws up your timing concerning the buffs or the XP you get, but that's a problem every jungler has to face, not just Nocturne.
3. Timing / Ganks
In case there are no attempts to screw up your jungling plans or you succesfully solved those encounters, you will need to gank either a sidelane or mid to be truely effective. You also have to think about the time you come out of the jungle for a gank. Many junglers I have seen were fairly late. They came as a level 6 champ to a sidelane where the enemy champs almost reached level 6. Actually, often enough they already did level. Fighting against ultimate spells isn't the best idea, even if your enemies have low HP. If you have to recall before going for ganks you might want to think about the damage you take while jungling and take a look at how to improve this so you can gank without the disadvantage in time when recalling to heal up.
4. Stealth
The possibility for a jungler to be everywhere and nowhere is viable to every good team. Let's assume you ain't too predictable, it means the enemy team has to prepare themselves. They have to think about overextending on that tower twice before doing so. They have to spend money for wards in case they don't take Clairvoyance with them. Heck, they sometimes even have to think about pushing whether or not it gives them a disadvantage in case you come for a gank.
5. Teamplay
A good jungler has to watch the minimap. A sidelane has problems? Maybe you should try to gank? Mid needs to recall but the opponent is very good at pushing? Maybe you should skip your jungling and head over to mid to prevent the enemy team from attacking your midtower? Think as a teamplayer, help your mates if they are experiencing problems. You're the jungler, you're stealthed. Keep this in mind! There are some obvious positions where people position wards, but still, it is an advantage to be everywhere and nowhere. Don't go to a lane if you don't want to gank as you're stealing both gold and XP from this lane!
Mid Action
This section is heavily discussed and I know why.
"Nocturne mid? WTF? O.o" is a very common reaction if you announce you'll take the mid.
What many people don't know is that Nocturne has great midpotential. His harassment with Duskbringer is very effective if you also use it to kill a creepwave. His Umbra Blades let him regenerate a lot of HP. Unspeakable Horror and Shroud of Darkness do their part in case your opponent decides to attack you.
His biggest problem is him being a melee champ and many people think that only ranged champs are allowed to play mid since they are the most effective ones except for some very few selected melee champs like Kat or Vlad.
Vlad actually is a very good example. Nocturne can quite easily terrorize him playing mid. Nocturne's advantage is his very effective harassment and the combination Unspeakable Horror / Shroud of Darkness in case his opponent gets too cocky. Against melee champs like Vlad, there is no doubt he can compete. The tricky part is playing with Nocturne against ranged champs. Especially a champ like Ashe can outrange him forcing him to hug his own tower. He can harasspush her back to get gold and XP, but it costs way too much mana forcing him to hug his tower once again or even to recall.
I don't really recommend Nocturne playing mid in a ranked game. I guess noone would let me do so if not playing a premade 5on5. But imagine you don't have a ranged carry in your team. I'd go that far to say Nocturne is at least in the Top3 concerning the best melee champs playing mid.
If you're playing mid with Nocturne and your enemy harasses you even better than you can harass him let it rest a bit, try to focus a bit more on the creepwave to push him back to his tower while still gaining XP and Gold. IF you really have problems either try to gank a sidelane to get a kill / assist and by this get an advantage (without forgeting about the midtower!!) OR call for help. If this doesn't help or if your teammates can't help you due to the enemy champs don't hesitate to switch if somebody in your team is more experienced in midplaying.
Strategic Tips - Intro
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As some of you might know I've also released a guide about Brand - The Burning Vengance. After I first published it I thought of another section that both guides missed, but is very essential. And here it is, after some time I finally present you, the "Strategic Tips"!
Okay, let's get serious again. During this and the next sections I want to explain some of the more advanced strategies or the more complicated situations that you'll face during your games. There are some things that Nocturne is very well at. One thing is called harassment and I refered to this a lot during this guide. Now some of you might not exactly know about this or want some tips, so this was basicly the first thing that I had in mind. The other thing is zone control. It's about pushing an enemy back behind a certain line without killing all the creeps. Nocturne is not the best at this just to tell you before we start but it's still a very viable tactic that you should keep in mind while playing.
Before we start there is still one thing for me to do. To thank TheHeretic and his Playing To Be Evil Guide. If you ever find the time please read this as I truely love all those things he talks about and I refer to quite a lot during the next sections. Of course you don't have to have read this for understanding the next sections but reading this will definitely help you. The guide might be a bit outdated concerning the champs he's talking about but except for that the content is even today still very essential.
Strategic Tips - Early Harassment
Ahhhh, the good old harassment. If you harass somebody it basicly means you are extremely annoying to him. If some general words are allowed it means that you deal a lot of damage without the sole intention of killing him. Now this might sound paradox to you but there is one essential key to this strategy: It's called dominance. This is what we want to achieve with this strategy. We want to dominate the enemy, we want to force him to play a defensive role, we want him to make a mistake and die. But we never ever want to get careless or even reckless. Harassment isn't about kills. Not mainly. It's about psychology. An enemy won't attack you if he fears you. And building a lot of fear greatly helps you during the entire game. And how to achieve this? With harassment. Whenever he approaches you you'll have to make clear who's the boss. That does NOT mean you simply throw all your abilities at him and hope he backs off instead of killing you while every ability is on cooldown. Early Harassment goes hand in hand with zone control, but that is something I'll talk about in the next section. Let's focus on some informations about the lanes first before I'll focus on the harassment.
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If you look at the lanes during the game you'll notice something. Some two-champs combinations rock the lane while others.. well.. let's say they love to hug their own tower. But is that really only because of the champions? If you take a closer look you can basicly split those lanes into three archetypes. TheHeretic called those the Stalemate Lane, the Massacre Lane and the Dominant-Submissive Lane. Now what does he mean and why is this important for our little Nocturne here?
The Stalemate Lane
A low percentage of lanes fit into this archetype. There is a balanced number of ranged and melee champs fighting each other. You face those lanes if you have to fight against someone who outranges you but isn't good enough to bully you because he fears either your damage or the damage from your lane partner. It's a kinda weird combination because in a stalemate lane both teams neither play a very aggressive nor a very defensive role. They simply hit the creeps and sometimes very few attacks or abilities fly towards the enemy but that's it. The fear of a gank or simply a failure is too big.
The Massacre Lane
If I'd take a guess this is probably the lane Nocturne fits perfectly into. TheHeretic says only about every fourth lane fits this archetype but with Nocturne it could be even more. It's mainly involving melee champs and a very aggressive approach. Problem is: Both teams are extremely aggressive and neither one wants to play a defensive role. This results in a lot of direct combat and rapid fluctuations in HP. Nocturnes abilities, especially his passive Umbra Blades make this archetype even more tempting. But it's not the best type. Usually either luck or a slightly better harassment make the difference between failing and killing. You could also put their enemy tower under "luck" if this makes you feel better but honestly, if you want to put it there you're way too aggressive. During the game I mean.
The Dominant-Submissive Lane THIS is the best type. Or the worst, depending on what side you're at. Very early in the game someone will make a horribly effective move. Very bold and normally stupid but this time it simply worked. It's kinda like dodging a bullet out of a pistol and catching the second shot with you bare hands. The opponent will simply think "What...the...fuck..." and retreat. Normaly only the attempt to catch a bullet will kill you. But this time your bold little move had some magic in it. And it worked, they fear you. You are the dominant player and can toss them around like you want. They are your bitches, they are defensive and try to avoid you. It's a massive disadvatange for them because you have complete control over them and their actions. Never ever be that bitch! You can easily farm the creeps while they stay behind. You can deny them gold or even xp with your massive zone control. For instance, Mordekaiser is extremely effective at gaining the dominant role because of his shield which blocks damage and his very nice damage output.
Eventually, your bitches will revolt. If you liked the image let's stay in it. Imagine they retreated after you catched the bullet and came back minutes later with an MG. And they're very curious if you can dodge or even catch those bullets. And to be honest, sometimes League of Legends is about stupid moves. Things that already sound horrible. But if you're a lucky bastard and those brave but stupid moves actually work you'll be a legend. So fight them back if they try to revolt and don't let them take over your role. If they force you into a defensive role it's all over because the Lanephase ain't long enough for another change and the only thing your enemies have kept in mind is that they simply have to attack you long enough. They won't fear you. And that's really a disadvantage. Because scared people tend to do mistakes. They run when fighting is a way better option. They fight when running is their only mean of survival. Sometimes they ain't even sure what to do because they think the situation is simply too fucked up. And chaos is in most cases a massive disadvantage. If you add some luck though this can be pretty hardcore for you but that's another story and not very likely.
Thanks for telling me about the lanes but how exactly does this affect Nocturne?
First off, you'll have to know in what type you're in. It massively changes the outcome of the Earlygame. Believe me, you'll want to be in the third archetype in all your games and of course you'll want to be on the dominant side. Now how do we achieve this? Harassment is our best option for this. Let's analyze our abilities for this.
1. Umbra Blades (Passive)
This keeps you alive and deals a nice amount of extra damage. Concerning harassment the extra damage is what pays off. A sudden and unexpected increase in damage almost always scares them. Combined with the increase in AD from your Duskbringer this can be a nice option. But don't rely too much on it. If the enemy realizes it takes you up to 10 seconds until you get that bonus damage again he won't be scared anymore.
2. Duskbringer
Your most viable option concerning any form of harassment. Aim it at an enemy and hit him hard! But that's not even everything. You can scare him pretty much with the improved movement combined with a lot of extra damage. Don't overuse this as using only the ability without the improved movement and extra damage won't be a very scary attack. Yes, it does damage, but not that much! And we want him to remember that this is a painful ability, don't we?
3. Shroud of Darkness
Not a good option for harassment. The sudden increase in attack speed can hurt pretty much but it's nothing you could use to scare him. Whenever you need this increase it's about killing an enemy, not scaring him.
4. Unspeakable Horror
Many people fear this ability. What for? The fear! People fear this for the fear! :D
Okay, let's put the bad jokes aside, the fear effect is what scares people. Many people tend to flee whenever you use this on them. The bond between you two is what they want to destroy. You can exploit this pretty easy. Make sure that EVERY SINGLE TIME you use this ability on your enemy you deal a lot of damage to him. He will connect the damage to this ability and get scared every time you use the ability on him. And believe me, this has already saved my ass. Small example: There was once a quite fed Miss Fortune that wanted to chase me (I bet my ass she would've killed me) but retreated the second I used Unspeakable Horror. Why? Because her brain told her so. Why? Because her brain reminded her of the various occasions that happened before where I used this ability and at the same time beat the crap out of her.
Small Sidenote:
Care about your mana. Using this during the Earlygame doesn't really help you as the damage from it ain't worth it meaning you'll have to use it when you want to attack someone with everything you've got. And that drains a lot of mana!
5. Paranoia (ultimate)
Not good for the early harassment as you get it with level 6 but during Midgame this can terrorize people. They fear your ganks. During the loading screen many think "Oh...damn. It's HIM again...". And no, I don't mean you. I mean Nocturne. But again, this ain't about harassment. This spell is about killing people or sometimes saving an ally. But not more.
Strategic Tips - Zone Control
You want to know something about zone control? Sure, just click the spoiler button! :)
This is a nice example of zone control. The situation in levels is a bit fucked up and as you can see I'm playing the defensive role but even a negative example is still a good one to learn from. What exactly is this so called zone control now? It's about gold and experience points. And about denying. Now some people have played Defence of the Ancients before, called DotA. Zone control is not the form of denying that you guys are used to. Zone control is about pushing the enemy champ away from the creeps and taking all the gold and XP for yourself. And since he's too far away he doesn't get gold or XP. Let's analyze the above picture a bit more.
There is a nice example in this image. Look at the small red circle. There is an enemy creep with extremely low health. He will die for sure within the next second as there are still some of my creeps nearby that attack him. I'm standing near my own tower. Why? Because I fear Singed. The reason is simple, he's 4 levels above me and pretty fed. This fear of his damage output is what made me retreat. The green circle is an approximation where you have to stand so you can get the XP if the creep dies. As you can see, I'm not in the circle which means I don't get any XP if the creep dies. This is called "outzoning". If you outzone an enemy it means you push him exactly behind this circle. He can't get any gold because obviously he can't use any attacks on the creeps. But he also can't get any XP because you've pushed him pretty far away from those creeps. If they die, all benefits simply vanish. This is something you'll always want to achieve.
But it's kinda hard with Nocturne to be honest. His Duskbringer is the most efficient spell concerning harassment and combined with Unspeakable Horror and a little extra damage from Umbra Blades you could manage to push an enemy back. But it's risky and has another problem: You rely a lot on Duskbringer! If he dodges it and stays away from the trail your damage output will be significantly reduced. If on the other side he stays behind his own creeps you'll also hit those. Zone control is about pushing an enemy champ away without pushing the lane. You won't get an advantage concerning the zones if he's pushed back but all of his creeps are already dead. So always be careful about this and keep a balance between harassment and pushing.
This Passive is most viable to you during Early- and Midgame. Whether you lane top, mid, bot or even jungle, it keeps you alive and deals a nice amount of extra damage. The extra damage isn't much, but 20% more damage in one strike shouldn't be neglected! Keep in mind the more creeps you get with this surrounding attack the more HP you will regenerate! Later on you can easily farm a creepwave within split seconds with this in combination with your Duskbringer!
Concerning the Damage Output of Umbra Blades
This is a very nice "baby nuke" as I like to call it during the early game. In one strike you not only hit multiple enemies, you also do more damage. Okay, it's just 20% more, but still. Better than nothing. This ability is mostly used for farming and healing up though as the additional damage isn't what wins a teamfight. Still it's nice if you manage to hit two level 1 champs with it as those are the moments where those additional 20% damage actually pay off.
Push Option Nr.1!
If aimed correctly you can attack a whole creepwave and in combination with your Umbra Blades you can easily farm creeps on your own. If possible, try to aim it at creeps AND the enemy champ as that's harassment in combination with pushing at its best. Though that ain't always possible.
Harass Option Nr.1!
What do I have to say, aim it at your opponents and hit 'em hard! Keep in mind though that this skill costs you a lot of mana and at lower levels harassment WILL get you out of mana very quickly. Also try to anticipate the enemy! He is always running around? Maybe you should aim a bit next to him than directly at him? Then if he moves to "escape" your Duskbringer he actually runs right into it.
Movement / Escape Option Nr.1!
If you stand in the effect of Duskbringer, it gives you two viable options for moving somewhere: A bonus to movement speed and the ability to ignore collision. You CAN use this to harass enemy melee champs if there are a lot of creeps between you, since you can practicaly hit n' run. Very good in combination with your Umbra Blades. In case someone chases you, use the Duskbringer to help you escape by aiming it in the direction you move. You WILL stop for a little split second, but afterwards you will move much faster. Meaning if the enemy is already very close to you and there are no creeps that could block him, it doesn't give you shit. What a pitty. >.<
Towerdestroyer Nr.1!
Yes, this ability is EXTREMELY viable to you if you want to push a tower down. Remember the bonus to attack damage? Don't be afraid to "waste" some mana by using this ability without hitting anyone. In combination with Youmuu's Ghostblade's active you will not only hit more often, but also deal more damage! :)
Chase Option Nr.1!
If you hit an enemy champ with this ability, he will leave a trail behind him. Meaning while you chase him you get a nice bonus to Movement, Attack Damage AND it even continues! Don't get to reckless concerning towerdives though. Duskbringer DOES give you a massive increase to Attack Damage, but that doesn't mean you can kill everyone you see. ;-)
Concerning the Damage Output of Duskbringer
Duskbringer scales very nicely with Attack Damage. You deal 0,75 more damage per ADpoint. Also you deal (60/110/160/210/260) damage, which is a very nice amount. Keep in mind you also have a nice amount of Armor Penetration via Runes/Masteries/Items. And with 40% CD Reduction you can use this ability every 6 seconds instead of every 10 at level 5. That's a nice improvement in every situation you need it. Especially if you want to destroy a tower.
A Banshee's Veil for free. :) Simply awesome.
Time it right and you can piss off a lot of champs. As an example, you don't have to fear Kog'Maw if you kill him. In case of a gank, it's actually very GOOD that he now decides to run to you to explode near you. Time it right, and Kog'Maw explodes without you taking a single HP as damage. Another very good example is Karthus. You don't have to fear his ulti, as you can simply block it with this ability. Always save some mana for this ability if the enemy team has a Karthus!
To be a bit more general: Learn to anticipate. If you know what the enemy could and would use out of his four abilities, you will win. If you know Eve is coming and is already standing in the same bush as you are, use your Shroud of Darkness and be happy Eve not only didn't do any damage and stuned you, you also got increased Attack Speed for a few seconds!
Sidenote: Please don't use it if you get attacked by a tower, it does NOT block an attack from the tower. It ONLY blocks abilities. I have seen quite many people wasting their mana for this. Maybe because it looks cool? -.-"
Concerning the Damage Output of Shroud of Darkness
Yes, even Shroud of Darkness affects it. When you succesfully block an enemy ability, every bonus you have to Attack Speed doubles for 5 seconds. That's a MASSIVE increase. There's just one problem. You can't trigger this increase whenever you like it. If you are lucky you can trigger it while standing next to the tower trying to destroy it. Only do this if the tower has low HP as you WILL get a shitload of damage standing there for only 2-3 more seconds. Sometimes it's worth the try, just not if some CC Champs approach.
In case of a teamfight, it's a little different. It's very useful to use this ability at the beginning of a teamfight because during the next 5 seconds you actually DO have an advantage with this massive increase in Attack Speed.
Always use it if encountering an enemy champ alone. This skill needs a few seconds until the fear is casted. During this time some enemy champs might even trigger their ulti to attack you. I have seen countless Nunu/Fiddle/Galio/etc. trying to ulti me just to get feared a sec later. ;-)
In case of a teamfight, it's a bit tricky. You are very squishy, so running into the mob isn't an option for you. You can either go for the most squishy one and initiate YOUR (not the teams'!) fight with a Duskbringer / Unspeakable Horror combi or save the ability for another champ that tries to attack you after you started to attack somebody else.
ALWAYS remember to use this ability if you are chased by a (DPS) Melee Champ that is faster than you. He has to stay in range to kill you so you either fear him with this ability or with it's range in case he isn't fully sure he will get you. With ranged champs it's more tricky, but sometimes these 2 seconds (on level 5) of being feared can make the difference.
Concerning the Damage Output of Unspeakable Horror
Unspeakable Horror has an interesting damage output as it scales directly with your Ability Power. The problem is just that this is your only ability that does so. And turning this ability into a nuke by creating an AP Nocturne? Umm... Just and simple: NO! Even a hybrid ain't really worth it as the CD is quite high (6,6seconds with 40% CD Reduction) and your other abilites ain't doing the damage you are used to. More important for your Damage Output is the fear. If the enemy moves around doing nothing it not only keeps you healthy, you also gain more time to attack him. Simple as that.
Gankers Heaven. Maybe that would describe it better? ;-) This skill changes the passive gameplay, as enemies have to fear you coming out of nowhere. While you are flying, don't forget you can still cast your other abilites! In combination with Duskbringer and perfect timing you land on him with him being damaged by Duskbringer imidiately after your Ulti hit him. Paranoia is also extremely good for last hits! In combination with Flash you can kill an enemy champ having low HP and standing next to his tower and you only get a single tower hit.
(I think it's impossible to hit him with Duskbringer BEFORE hitting with your ulti if you fly. You fly way faster then Duskbringer moves towards the enemy champ. But I only tried it a few times. Trickshot, anyone?)
Also don't forget about the reduced sight radius of all enemy champions. They have a very small area they can see for 4 seconds with the minimap showing nothing at all. If the enemy team is chasing an ally, don't be afraid to use your ulti to both scare the enemy team AND get their line of sight from your ally so he can escape safely.
Sidenote: Paranoia on lvl3 has a 100sec CD, with 40% CD Reduction it means you can use this skill every 60 seconds. Think about it. THAT's Gankers Heaven! ;-) Though during lategame you usually won't find lonely champs that are willing to be ganked.
Concerning the Damage Output of Paranoia
This now scales EXTREMELY well with Attack Damage. Not only does it do (150/300/450) damage, it also deals 1,2 more damage per ADpoint you have. Say hello to my little Nuke! :) Don't be afraid to use it even if your enemy is standing next to you! It's the ability that deals the most damage out of your four and squishy enemies WILL get paranoid. :)
Love
