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Nautilus Build Guide by Demonsedge90

Support 14.21 Echoes from the Deep

Support 14.21 Echoes from the Deep

Updated on October 23, 2024
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Demonsedge90 Build Guide By Demonsedge90 165 17 718,236 Views 6 Comments
165 17 718,236 Views 6 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Demonsedge90 Nautilus Build Guide By Demonsedge90 Updated on October 23, 2024
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Runes: Engage

1 2 3
Resolve
Aftershock
Shield Bash
Conditioning
Overgrowth

Domination
Sudden Impact
Ultimate Hunter
Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+10-180 Bonus Health
+10% Tenacity/Slow Resist

Spells:

1 2 3
Standard
LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None
Introduction
Hi, my name is Demonsedge, and I've been enjoying my time at League of Legends. I can't say enough about this game.

When I choose to play support, I will pick Nautilus because I love how simple his setups and combos are. Therefore, I will offer an in-depth look into Nautilus's itemization and team setups while sharing some tips and tricks as you read through the guide.

Please enjoy this guide and be able to follow my suggestions to understand how Nautilus works optimally.

So let's kick things off in style with my guide on Nautilus - The Titan of The Depths.


Nautilus - The Titan of The Depths
Vanguard, Tank
Specialties: Durability, Engage, Lockdown
Why choose Nautilus?:
- He's a simple champion to pick up and can be fun to play.
- Provides heavy crowd control engages, sets up good picks for carries, and is good at absorbing damage when you need to get objectives such as dragons and baron nashor.
- Has great playmaking potential while still being an effective frontline asset.

I always enjoy taking him on the rift when playing league matches, and I hope you will too.

Pros & Cons
Pros
+ Self Peel
+ Great roaming support
+ Effective team fight potential
+ Strong backline access
+ Strong crowd control options
+ High damage for a tank
Cons
- Limited disengagement potential
- Susceptible to constant harass
- Mana intensive
- Ability animations are easy to spot
- Team reliant
- Slow to leave fights

Abilities


Staggering Blow
|Target Immunity: 6 |

Nautilus' basic attacks become empowered by dealing bonus physical damage (based on level) and rooting the target (duration based on level).

This effect can only occur on the same target once every few seconds.


Dredge Line
| Target Range: 1,122 | Width: 180 | Speed: 2,000 | Cast Time: .25 | Cost: 60 Mana | Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 |

Nautilus hurls his anchor in the target direction that stops on the first enemy or terrain hit.

If the anchor hits an enemy, it deals magic damage and reveals them dragging them toward Nautilus while he dashes toward them. It also roots the target hit.

If the anchor hits terrain, Nautilus dashes to that location and 50% of Dredge Line's cooldown and mana cost are refunded.


Titan's Wrath
| Effect Radius: 250 | Cast Time: None | Cost: 80 Mana | Cooldown: 12 |

Nautilus shields himself based on a % of his maximum health for up to 6 seconds. While the shield holds, his basic attacks are empowered to apply to the target and surrounding enemies.

Targets hit with the empowered autos take magic damage over time, with half dealt immediately while the other half applies after 1.25 seconds.

Also look to acquire chemtech dragon's when possible as they increase the shielding values immensely, thereby increasing your durability in team fights and skirmishes.


Riptide
| Effect Radius: Wave 1 - (0 - 350) / Wave 2 - (215 - 465) / Wave 3 - (350 - 590) | Cast Time: 0.25 | Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 Mana | Cooldown: 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 |

Nautilus sends three waves of explosions that radiate from him over 0.561 seconds, each dealing magic damage per wave to enemies hit and slowing them, which decays over 1.5 seconds.

Damage from subsequent waves beyond the first deal 50% less damage.


Depth Charge
| Target Range: 1,500 / 2,250 / 3,000 | Effect Radius: 525 | Speed: 275 + 466.67 Per Second | Cast Time: 0.46 | Cost: 100 Mana | Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 |

Nautilus sends out a Depth Charge that chases the targeted enemy champion, accelerating over time and creating eruptions every 0.264 seconds in its wake that also, briefly granting sight of the area. Enemies hit by the blasts dealing magic damage and are stunned and knocked up.


Upon reaching the primary target or when it moves too far away, the Depth Charge erupts a final time. The primary target takes increased magic damage, then are stunned and knocked up for the same duration as before.


Combos:

In this section, I will share some of the effective combos for Nautilus that are simple to understand and that you can apply while playing summoners rift (draft and ranked) games.

- - Auto - - - Auto

Auto - - - Auto -

- Auto - - - Auto


Tips & Tricks:

Playing As Nautilus:
- Titan's Wrath resets Nautilus' basic attack timer.
- Nautilus cannot move or attack while Dredge Line is in flight but can cast Titan's Wrath and Riptide during the dash.
- Riptide deals 150% damage against jungle monsters. Very nice when helping your jungler take camps or neutral objectives.


Playing Against Nautilus
- Play behind minions to avoid being hit by Dredge Line.
- If Nautilus uses Riptide right next to you, hold in place until the ripple effect finishes before running. Running sooner will cause you to be hit by the secondary explosions, causing you to take additional damage and slow.
- While Titan's Wrath shields Nautilus, he can deal large amounts of area of effect damage with his basic attacks.

Game Plan as Nautilus

In this section, I will outline the things to focus on/consider at each game stage as Nautilus.

- Early game: Your primary focus as support involves establishing as much vision as possible to protect both you and your bottom lane partner from incoming enemy dives. Doing this will ensure that both of you are safe and can react quickly.

With the aid of your support item ( Steel Shoulderguards or Pauldrons of Whiterock), you will earn gold passively, and with the charges it offers, you will also be sharing gold with your team.

Be sure to gain as much gold & experience as possible to acquire your core items while also getting ahead in your matchup. Also, be sure to roam when you can (hitting other lanes or setting up deep wards), letting your bot lane know when you do so they can play safe while helping your teammates.

Setting up a freeze (holding the minions just outside your turret) or trading with the enemy can ultimately deny them gold & experience.

- Mid-game: By now, you should be gathering with your team and focusing on team fighting and objective securing ( baron nashor, rift herald or dragon). Continue to place vision throughout the mid-game, and always try to block as much damage as possible for your team.

- Late game: If your games reach this stage, you'll want to be with your team on the frontlines and continue to put up wards around primary objectives while also grabbing dragon soul, elder dragon & baron nashor, which are essential to close out the game if ahead. Make sure to deny your opponent these objectives.


Things to consider:

- Rotate towards early dragons or other objectives to assist your jungle. Also, be sure to gather enough experience so you'll be relevant to your team and be able to soak up the damage needed for your backline carries to take over the game.

- If a team fight erupts during your games, always consider the risk of the upcoming battle, meaning will you impact the outcome of that fight or objective, or does your team come out on top without you being there?

- When deciding to enter combat with Nautilus, you should be mindful of where you are during the fight (positioning) and also be aware of where the enemy is when attempting to engage with your abilities.

Always be mindful of this when playing Nautilus.

Summoner Spells



Default

It's an integral summoner spell that should be a 100% pick in all your games. Another important reason is that if you get caught in the wrong spot, you can Flash out to safety or easily dodge a crucial ability.

Secondary Options

This spell can be a good alternative against very mobile/ Assassin or strong mage champions that can burst you down quickly. Also great to use on targets you want to slow down or reduce their incoming damage (includes bonus damage from Sheen-related items & abilities)

You won't typically see this on tanks or other support champions since they mostly favour Ignite or Exhaust. However, if you pick this up as Nautilus, it will still be helpful for you and your bot lane due to its small movement speed and healing effect that you gain.

This spell allows you to wear down the opponent dealing true damage and cutting their healing in the process, making it easier to secure a kill when in a duel with another champion. Ignite is your other go-to spell in most games, as Nautilus. If too many Ignites are present, opt for another option if necessary.

Vision Control



Control Wards can be placed anywhere on the map, revealing and disabling enemy wards within a 900-unit radius. Control Wards function similarly to the Oracle Lens trinket displaying stealth & camouflaged based champions ( Twitch, Rengar, Evelynn and Kha'Zix) that approach them. As support, you will buy this most of the time since you want to clear your vision as much as possible.

Farsight Alteration (available at level 9) is one we avoid with Nautilus when playing support since your job is to deny vision.

Oracle Lens is your best choice for Nautilus and should be acquired on your first back so you can start denying enemy vision and protect critical areas of the rift while making dives more accessible for you and your team. Formidable when dealing with stealth champions who plant traps, such as Teemo, Shaco, & Nidalee. It's also beneficial against champions who use stealth as a means to engage/disengage, like Twitch, Pyke, Wukong or Shaco.

Stealth Ward is the default trinket as Nautilus, revealing units within a target location. With a maximum of three wards to place, you'll create sightlines for you and your team when roaming the rift. Great when side laning/placing deep wards in enemy territory or getting vision on objectives ( baron nashor & dragons).

Upon the completion of your support item ( World Atlas), you're granted four Stealth Wards, giving you the option to mix and match between the different trinkets above, making vision placement and denial much easier to control around the map.

Stats To Consider
- Armor/Magic Resistance: The best stats to have on Nautilus. Always look to obtain them when itemizing for combat.

- Health: This stat is essential for fights, adding another layer of survivability when playing Nautilus. Providing excellent synergy with Titan's Wrath & offers additional durability in combat.

- Ability Haste: A useful stat for Nautilus when looking to use abilities more often. Not something we aim for above all others, but it is still good to consider.

- Movement Speed: As Nautilus, it can help with roaming, keeping up with enemies & dodging skill shots.

- Attack Speed: Not heavily prioritized on Nautilus outside the rune shard option we get (explained below), so we typically ignore this stat in every other way.

- Ability Power: As the tank of your team, your main goal is to take damag, not deal it. For Nautilus, it's best to skip this stat and aim for a more defensive style with more defensive stats.

Which Boots & Why?
Boots of Swiftness > Slow Reduction
When you have to deal with slows such as Ashe arrows or other movement impairing abilities, that would leave you slowed and make it hard for you to escape fights.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity > Ability Haste
I'd pick these in the games where you feel casting your abilities will do you more in team fights. They also give you access to summoner spell haste, which is good when you want to get your Flash or any other spell you currently have sooner and create a significant impact.

Mercury's Treads > Magic Resistance & Tenacity
There will be games where crowd control is plenty, then. So I would take this pair for the tenacity and magic resistance. They are also a good option if the whole team you are facing is mainly magic damage heavy.

Mercury's Treads are also great when combined with the tenacity & slow resist rune shard, or chemtech dragon's gaining even more resistance to crowd control effects.

Plated Steelcaps > Basic Attack Damage Reduction
As a tank, these Boots are fantastic for you because of the armor they provide. The reduction makes it easier to soak up damage for your backline and provides durability against substantial attack damage or auto-attack-focused champions.

Itemization
Starter Items
Your standard support option for Nautilus, offering sustain and income gain over the course of your matches.


Then you might be asking: Well, Demonsedge, how do I complete the support item quest?

-> -> -or- -or-

That's a great question, and here's how:
You'll receive your first charge before the first three melee minion units perish.

When charges are available, always use them when possible, as it increases your gold gain and your teammates.

When executing cannon minion, melee minion or a caster minion, you'll gain a fixed amount of gold with each charge. At the same time, your nearby teammate will earn the total value of the executed minion.

Damaging champions will yield higher gold values (compared to executing minions), allowing you to quickly complete your support item.

Either strategy is effective when looking to complete your support item.


Core Items
Provides damage reduction via redirected post-mitigation damage for a specific nearby ally and then healing yourself for a percentage of the damage they deal to champions. It's a very nice pickup if you have the means to soak up tons of damage in prolonged fights.
Locket of the Iron Solari is a potent option for Nautilus. The shield provided can help in near-death instances should they arise. Effective against burst heavy or damage over time champions.
A great alternative item for Nautilus when you need sustain/durability in team fights and skirmishes. The passive effect regenerates max health out of combat once you have acquired enough health (through keystones, runes, items or levels) to trigger it. The regeneration effect will only apply after taking no damage from minions or champions—great synergy with synergy with Titan's Wrath for more shield strength.


Abyssal Mask grants a debuffing aura that reduces their magic resistance and increases yours by the same amount for each cursed enemy. It's potent when you want to amplify the damage of your team's magic sources on the enemy.
Synergizes well with Nautilus because of how easily you can trigger the shield effect, plus you can stack it on top of Titan's Wrath and Shield Bash for more durability. I suggest picking this up; in games where you require more survivability during fights.
Very efficient when dealing with manyimmobilizing effects or against teams with magic damage based abilities. This item will allow you to sustain burst damage champions like Brand/ Morgana or Teemo with heavy-dot damage play styles.
Using Heartsteel makes you exceptionally durable in team fights, allowing you to turn your health pool into a damaging tool against the enemy. Titan's Wrath benefits greatly from the increased health, ensuring you have big shielding for key fights, absorbing damage from key spells or auto attacks. Synergizes with items that scale with health (ex: Abyssal Mask, or Sunfire Aegis).
Iceborn Gauntlet is an effective option for slowing down your opponents every so often. It helps to prevent your target from escaping you or your team.
With Jak'Sho, The Protean, you'll improve your durability over time during combat with the enemy. A solid option to consider as Nautilus in every game.
Kaenic Rookern is an excellent defensive option, granting Nautilus a shield (similar to Galio's Shield of Durand) that helps to absorb any damage you take from magic-based sources ( Ahri, Rumble, LeBlanc, Brand) in combat.
It gives you decent health, magic resist, ability haste and % base health regeneration. We get this item to have increased healing and shielding strength, which is great when looking to pop a more robust Titan's Wrath shield in combat.
Best taken on Nautilus against melee champions such as Yasuo, Yone, Rengar or opponents who love to get up close and personal. Also very useful against full attack damage team compositions.
An excellent item for grievous wounds as Nautilus when struck byon-hit basic attacks. Very helpful against auto-attack heavy teams and healing from champions ( Nami, Sona, Red Kayn) or items ( Immortal Shieldbow, Bloodthirster) that pose a threat.
It is an excellent asset in vision control when paired with your Celestial Opposition or Solstice Sleigh support items. Providing access to all four Stealth Wards in your support item while also increasing the amount of Control Wards you can hold and increase the amount placed on the map. It benefits your team when opting for more vision control around important objectives and map locations.
Zeke's Convergence on Nautilus is a cost-efficient option that creates an area of effect slow field (that also damages enemies caught within). It provides improved chase-down potential against targets you want to eliminate.

Runes
The following keystone & rune choices are great for Nautilus and will complement him in combat. Always pay attention to the enemy team comp, plus your item builds when selecting your runes to get the most value in each game.


Keystone Runes:

-Immobilizing an enemy champion with Glacial Augment will cause glacial waves to emanate from the target you hit, slowing any affected champion that crosses them. In addition, each glacial wave reduces the damage of all targets affected by 15%.

The damage reduction helps your allies become more resistant to enemy attacks and abilities while affected by the glacial augments effect; however, you will not receive less damage from targets affected.

- Aftershock will trigger when you hit any of yourimmobilizing abilities on targets, giving you bonus armor and magic resist then dealing 25-120 magic damage + 8% of your bonus health to all nearby enemies in the shockwave. This keystone will make you more durable in team fights and can be the difference between life and death.

- Pick up Guardian helps to shield you and an ally from harm. Now if you or another partner would take 90 − 250 (based on level) damage within 2.5 seconds or lethal damage from an enemy champion, monster or turret, you both gain a 45 − 120 (based on level) (+ 12.5% ability power) (+ 8% bonus health) shield for 2 seconds. Great against burst-heavy champions.


Domination Runes:

- Cheap Shot deals 10-45 true damage based on level upon damaging a target afflicted with crowd control effects (cooldown 4 seconds). Great for Nautilus because he has access to many crowd control effects, which allows easy application of this rune in team fights.

- Ultimate Hunter is great for Nautilus because his ult has a stun/knock-up component. It's a good team fight initiator, effectively locking down targets running away or near dead targets you want to finish.


Inspiration Runes:

- While Flash is on cooldown, it is replaced by Hextech Flashtraption (hexflash). After channelling hexflash, you will blink to a new location within a range of 200-425 depending on channel time (20-second cooldown, reduced to 10 when entering champion combat).

- Biscuit Delivery is an excellent form of sustain after trading with the enemy while also giving you more time in lane without the need to back too often, ramping into your core items and allowing for better item spikes.

- Using Cosmic Insight, we can gain more summoner spells, active item haste, and trinket haste. In addition, it can increase our chances of surviving battles and creating game-changing play opportunities during team fights and skirmishes.


Precision Runes:

- Triumph allows you the ability to sustain yourself after a fight earning health and additional gold with each kill or assist obtained. That might not seem like a lot at first, but it can add up quickly and allow you to purchase critical items faster.

- Legend: Haste is the default rune for most Nautilus builds compared to the other legend runes. It also gives you more access to your key skills much sooner, allowing for more impactful engages against the enemy.


Resolve Runes:

- Demolish is a way to press lane faster because it will allow you to damage turrets based on 35% of your max health within a 45-second window. In addition, it helps with sieging turrets faster, thus giving you more freedom to roam sooner.

- Shield Bash will provide additional damage when in combat after being shielded from either ability ( Titan's Wrath) or item effects. When the shielding disappears, you have 2 seconds to hit the enemy with an empowered auto attack based on 8.5% of your last shield + 1.5% bonus health.

- Look to Conditioning as your choice for a quick resistance boost. Increases your armor and magic resist by a flat amount and then by a percent amount. This rune can be very helpful when you need extra survivability and late-game durability.

- Second Wind is a great rune when you want to engage with the enemy because it allows you to regain some health back after a skirmish or team fight. Stacking health through items or runes in conjunction with this rune will strengthen the healing regeneration.

- When dealing with heavy burst teams and you feel like getting more damage reduction, then pick up Bone Plating. It will allow you to reduce the damage of the following three spells or basic attacks by 30-60, depending on your champion level, within a 1.5-second window (55 cooldown timer).

- Overgrowth will help you gain some health throughout the game (3 per 8 monster/ minion deaths, then acquiring 3.5% more max health at 120 minions absorbed). Now that might not seem like a lot since in the time it takes to get 200 health, you could buy a Kindlegem or any other health item; still, free stats are good no matter where you get them and work nicely with your other runes in the build.

- Revitalize increases your total heal and shield power by 5% , further increased by 10% while under 40% health. It synergizes with the shielding effects from Titan's Wrath/ Fimbulwinter, along with improved sustain from other healing/shielding based items purchased.

- If you get matched against heavy crowd control teams, Unflinching an excellent rune , as it will grant additional durability upon being immobilized in combat. Strong choice into champions such as Lux, Morgana, Galio or Maokai.

Rune Shards


When deciding on what rune shards (whether offensive or defensive) to pick for Nautilus in each of your games, you have to factor in a few things in champion selection.

Offensive Shards

• Do I need attack speed? Autos on Nautilus can feel very slow, so this is an excellent option when chaining an auto attack after landing Dredge Line.

• Do I need additional ability power? Nautilus will avoid this option if you're more inclined to be a frontline presence on your team.

• Do I require any ability haste? Again, we can choose this option, but other options might be more valuable.


Defensive Shards

• Do you need more movement speed? An excellent choice for improved roaming from lane to lane with Nautilus.

• Do you need tenacity & slow resist? Very useful for Nautilus, improving his durability againstimmobilizing effects.

• Do I require more health? Both the scaling health and flat health shards can benefit Nautilus (improving the effectiveness of Titan's Wrath. It is a viable option in games where only one type of resistance is needed, along with being efficient in mixed damage team comps.


Always pay attention to the team compositions you are fighting when mixing and matching the rune shards listed above with your Boots and items. It's a sure way to improve your overall survivability in games.

Summary
There are many ways to build Nautilus, but hopefully, this guide made it easier for you to understand what abilities/items and runes work well together and how to make the most of his kit.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and will refer this to your friends and fellow gamers looking for tips and tricks.

Contact me in the discussion section for any questions or thoughts you wish to share. I'll be happy to discuss things with you and see how I can make sense of anything you need answers for to the best of my ability.

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