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Nautilus Build Guide by

[14.12] Bring Nautilus Back to the Role He Was Born For, With GIFS!

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Nautilus Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion More Nautilus Guides

Runes:

Resolve

Aftershock

Shield Bash

Conditioning

Overgrowth

Inspiration

Magical Footwear

Cosmic Insight

Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+10-180 Bonus Health
+10-180 Bonus Health

Spells:

Flash

Mosstomper Smite

Items

Start

1st Back

Core

Boots

Armor Items

Mres Items

Mixed Resistances

Full Build Examples

Common

Vs Heavy AP Damage

Vs Heavy AD Damage

Ability Order Full Clear (Gank Lvl 4+)

Nautilus Passive Ability

Champion Build Guide

Changelogs

-June 19/06/2024 [Patch 14.12]: This Guide has been published. This is my 1st guide.

Table Of Contents

Introduction

x About Me
x Why Nautilus Jungle?
x Pros & Cons

Champion

x Primary Runes
x Secondary Runes
x Items

Additional Info

x Tips & Tricks
x Changelogs

About Me

My name is IenaLaurence (formerly known as Laurence). I've been playing League of Legends since Season 3, although I’ve taken several extended breaks (typically alternating one year of playing with one year of break) because I enjoy exploring a variety of games. I recently returned to League five months ago after a five-year hiatus. My primary roles are jungle and mid, and I currently hold a Gold rank (last split Platinum). I main Shen and Nautilus because I favor tanky champions that provide substantial utility for their team, I like to let others shine. I have a passion for experimenting with off-meta builds and strategies, pushing them to their limits to see how effective they can be when fully optimized.
BE CAREFUL: My English could be really bad

Why Nautilus Jungle?

Nautilus is a tank with a lot of crowd control and significant early game damage that often catches enemies off guard.
His weakness was jungle clear, but with the new item , he became much quicker and that's why you should buy this item on your first recall.
As a ganker, Nautilus excels and can effectively gank almost any champion in the game. However, be cautious against , , , and due to their strong level 6 power spikes.
The bot lane and the mid lane are particularly easy to gank because ADCs are generally squishy, and most mid laners (except for ) lack sufficient mobility.
Don't hesitate to use your Dredge Line on terrain to navigate the map (cause it has a reduced cd on walls). Nautilus is slow, so targeting walls and enemies to pull yourself around the jungle is crucial. Every second counts for Nautilus, especially when making impactful plays.
As a general rule, avoid dueling as Nautilus unless you have lane priority, meaning your laners can quickly come to assist you. While you can win some duels, it should never be your main focus. Nautilus thrives as the frontline tank, initiating fights, and providing crowd control to protect your team and secure objectives.
Lastly, by going jungle, you will end up with more gold than playing support, allowing you to be really tanky and annoying for the enemy team.

Pros & Cons

PROS

+ Very Tanky
+ High Burst Damage in Early
+ High CC
+ Excellent Peeling

CONS

- His damage falls off in prolonged fights
- Lacks Mobility
- Slower First Clear than meta junglers
- Can't Solo early Drake

Primary Runes

GRASP OF THE UNDYING

I tested this rune, and it's not entirely bad, especially if you try to leverage it in the early game. The issue is that since your build doesn't include a rush for or , it will be quite suboptimal compared to Aftershock. This is because, in our kit, the only ability that scales with health is our W, but health isn't a primary source of damage for us, unlike for Skarner, who, in patch 14.12, uses Grasp even in the jungle because he rushes (or ) as his first item. This rune is not recommended!

AFTERSHOCK

Aftershock is an excellent safe pick because it synergizes well with our entire kit and is easy to proc, providing a decent amount of damage and resistances.

GUARDIAN

Guardian can be an effective option if your team has reliable carries (and players). However, it is highly situational and should be selected based on specific team compositions. Therefore, it tends to be more valuable in a premade group. This rune is pretty meh.

DEMOLISH

Demolish is an excellent rune for the mid/late game as its tower damage boost can be game-changing. It also helps secure the first tower with your laner in the early game. However, since your primary role isn't to destroy towers, might provide more value. That said, I wouldn't completely discourage using Demolish; it's still a great rune that performs well. Give it a try and see if it suits your playstyle better!

FONT OF LIFE

This rune is designed to provide sustain in the lane. Since you're not a laner, you wouldn't benefit much from it. Simply put, it's not worth it.

SHIELD BASH

This rune grants free resistances when you use your W, which is crucial for Nautilus since his kit lacks inherent resistances like 's W or 's passive. It also provides a significant damage boost that scales with both your health and your shield, and don't forget that your shield scales with your health as well. This makes it valuable throughout all stages of the game, especially in the early game where the additional damage can be the deciding factor in whether an enemy laner dies or survives during a gank, and also in duels against the enemy jungler.

CONDITIONING

Conditioning, much like , is a reliable rune choice for Nautilus, whose kit lacks inherent resistances against physical and magical damage. Since you're not a laner, going without an active minor rune for the first 12 minutes isn't a significant drawback. When you're not up against aggressive invading junglers like , ,, or , opting for Conditioning over is always the best choice.

SECOND WIND

Similar to , this rune is designed to enhance sustain during laning phases, and because of this, its benefits may not be substantial enough to justify its use. This rune is not recommended!

BONE PLATING

Consider using Bone Plating if you expect frequent invasions in the early game, especially against champions with high early damage.

OVERGROWTH

Overgrowth is a beneficial rune for Nautilus, steadily increasing his maximum health as minions and monsters die nearby, which makes him progressively tankier throughout the game. While the health gain may seem modest compared to purchasing health items, free stats are always beneficial, especially when they boost your W shield. If you are not building items that benefit from (such as and ), this rune always provides more survivability to you.

REVITALIZE

Choose Revitalize if your build includes both and . Otherwise, opt for instead.

UNFLINCHING

This rune is not recommended as it provides little benefit when playing tanky and using most of the time.

Secondary Runes

In this part of the guide, I will skip some rows since none of the three options given are recommended.

INSPIRATION

HEXTECH FLASHTRAPTION

This rune is unexpectedly helpful on Nautilus, enhancing his ganking versatility and providing effective opportunities to catch opponents off guard from various angles.
Feel confident using Flash or Hexflash in every gank; this rune is tailored for such plays and is crucial for achieving successful ganks.

MAGICAL FOOTWEAR

Magical Footwear is a safe pick for Nautilus because it not only grants 10 bonus movement speed (especially beneficial given his base speed of 325, which is among the lowest in the game,if we don't consider and when they are not in their mounts) but also saves you 300 golds, providing a significant tempo advantage

CASH BACK

Just a worse . This rune is not recommended!

COSMIC INSIGHT

Cosmic Insight is an evergreen rune as it allows you to use your and more often, especially when paired with . Don't hesitate if you're not fully making use of the second part about item haste, as the first part alone makes the rune worthwhile!

APPROACH VELOCITY

This rune is excellent in matchups where you need to catch highly mobile champions like , or when your team has a good amount of crowd control, making easier both your ganks and engages in mid and late game team fights.

JACK OF ALL TRADES

Nothing to say, not much value with our build. This rune is not recommended!

DOMINATION

CHEAP SHOT

This is an excellent rune for Nautilus, dealing 10-45 true damage (based on level) to enemies affected by crowd control effects every 4 seconds. Given Nautilus’s , , , , are all CCs, he can consistently activate this rune. This makes it a highly effective choice for maximizing damage output and can make a difference in all phases of the game.

TASTE OF BLOOD

Like this is a laning rune. This rune is not recommended!

SUDDEN IMPACT

Cheap Shot is just better on Nautilus. This rune is not recommended!

TREASURE HUNTER

Treasure Hunter is a rune for champions that need their power spike item, such as or . You don't really need golds given by this rune. You are a champion that wants to make assists rather than kills because you are already good. This rune is not recommended!

RELENTLESS HUNTER

Even though it was nerfed in patch 14.10, this rune still retains its potential, especially in the jungle. The choice between this and comes down to personal preference.

ULTIMATE HUNTER

Having your ultimate available more frequently, especially one with a relatively high cooldown, is always advantageous. This is particularly true for an ultimate that provides point-and-click crowd control and has the potential to hit multiple targets.

Items

Let's break down the items in the guide to figure out when to build them and when to pass.

Must Buy

Fated Ashes has really shaken things up for AP champions like Nautilus, known for their slower clears than meta junglers. This item significantly boosts your jungle clear speed while also keeping your health high.

Liandry's gives all you need: health, hp and burning damage that can be easily AOE applied with . Most of games it will be the only source of damage you need.

Armour

This item is another source of damage that you can pick up for Nautilus, which is very useful against teams with melee champions and dealing AD damage. Of course, if you see that an AP carry on the opposing team has gotten excessively fed (such as ), delay this item to rush an or a instead.

Useful against teams with champions relying on basic attacks like or who also build lifesteal. However, as Nautilus, you lack any form of taunt, making this item quite unreliable on him. Therefore, it's worth considering whether to opt for another armor item. Typically, you will end up building alone for anti-heal, and completing this item as the second-to-last or last item is advisable due to its poor gold efficiency.

Thanks to patch 14.10, which buffed this item, if you build it after and/or , and if the enemy team isn't too far ahead, you'll find yourself tanking a lot of hits thanks to the healing it provides.

You build this item only in matchups where you need movement speed to catch people. For instance, if the enemy is playing Top or there is a on their team.

With crit damage being so strong in the game right now, this is a solid choice to reduce the damage you take from crit users.

After the repeated nerfs in recent patches, this item has gone from a must-buy to an incredibly situational choice. Only build it if your team has a highly fed ADC or bruiser. Otherwise, you're just wasting gold.

Magic Resist

This item is a budget-friendly MR choice for Nautilus. It cuts the MR of nearby enemies, which is handy if your team packs a lot of AP damage. Plus, it amps up the damage on your , , and .

It's an incredible item that gives you a magic shield scaling with 18% of your maximum health! It's a must-buy in many games.

If the enemy team has AP champions that deal magic damage over time, such as , this is always the best choice.

If your team isn't heavily AP-oriented and/or the enemy team lacks tanks to justify , there are no AP threats to justify , and there's no magic damage over time to warrant , nor do you need , then build this instead. It at least offers better lane pushing power.

Mixed Resistances

This item is a go-to for almost any situation you encounter. It enhances your tankiness with essential stats, increasing both Armor and Magic Resist further when engaged in combat. It synergizes perfectly with as well.

A versatile cheap item that's always valuable, regardless of the game. It provides essential stats like Armor, Magic Resist, Ability Haste for more frequent abilities, and HP. The active also grants a 360 shield to each teammate in late game, equivalent to over 2 per ally, translating to a decaying gold value of 960 gold per affected ally (4800 gold if all allies are shielded) for 2.5 seconds. It becomes even stronger with , increasing the shield to 396.

An affordable item offering a wide range of valuable stats for Nautilus, along with an AoE aura that slows and deals damage after landing your R. While not as powerful as other item choices, it's still worth considering.

Boots

Choose these if the enemy team has a strong auto-attacker other than the ADC (e.g., , , , ). You won't build it solely for armor because Nautilus already has high base armor.

Opt for these if the enemy team has a lot of crowd control (CC). Note that Airborne, Drowsy and Suppression are not reduced by Tenacity.

If neither of the above conditions apply, Ionian Boots are one of the most gold-efficient boots in the game. They provide 12 Summoner Spell Haste (more and ) and 15 Ability Haste for just 600 gold. If you are considering or solely for their resistances, it’s often not worth it; you will be building other items for resistances anyway.

Tips & Tricks

Despite Nautilus having a straightforward and older kit, there are mechanics that differentiate a Nautilus main from an average Nautilus player. In this section of the guide, we will delve into the combos I am familiar with and analyze them. You will find GIFs accompanying the explanations to aid your understanding.

COMMON COMBOS

Q+E

[/tr]

Description: This combo cancels the casting time of the animation, resulting in a smoother execution and making it harder for opponents to react.

E+FLASH

This combo is useful in situations where the target is not too far away, but you want to avoid the risk of missing your . By performing this combo, you can cancel the animation of your while quickly closing the distance to the target, dealing damage, and slowing them simultaneously.

UNCOMMON COMBOS

Q+W

Description: You typically use to cancel the animation of your basic attack so you can do another one. Therefore, the primary situations where you'll employ this combo are when you're the first to engage in a team fight, before the enemy team can use their crowd control on you.

Q+R

Description: This combo allows you to cancel the animation, resulting in an almost uncounterable chain CC. It should be used in situations where you're confident your team can eliminate the target during this CC window. Without this combo, the target might easily escape using or other abilities.

Q+R (TWO DIFFERENT TARGETS)

Description: This combo has limited practical applications but can be valuable in situations where you need a greater knockup range than alone provides. It is primarily used in specific team fights under certain conditions. The combo involves positioning yourself within range of a nearby target while also having a more distant target within range. Execute the combo by casting on the distant target, then immediately using on the nearby target at the start of the cast time.