I have been using Nautilus since release and have tried and tested a variety of build types with him, from a full AP nautilus going 14/1/12 in one particular game which i put down to some luck rather than a solid build so in this guide i will share my more tank based build which i have had good success with and has racked me up some nice wins.

Feel free to experiment though, at the end i have included my AP build if you want to try it for a laugh.

For Runes i take Armour, Magic Resistance and Movement Speed.

Armour and MR - To help give him some extra sustain at the start, and to allow a faster jungle without having to rely too much on a heavy pull from team mates.

The Movement Speed Quints are to give a nice boost (+masteries) of 6.5% total that should help him get on par with some of the other champs.

I take Riptide 1st as it has the shortest cooldown and is therefore the most useful at the start.


I then double up on Titans Wrath for lvl 2 and 3 for the shiled, but please do note that it is weak until lvl 2/3 when it finally becomes very useful for jungling quickly.


At lvl 4 i take dredge line so that i can begin ganking lanes, always ask your teammates to give you a heads up, by preparing the lane for a gank as Nautlius is not the fastest champ around the map.


IMPORTANT! If playing with an organised team/friends it is good to take Dredge Line at lvl 2 instead of 4 so that you can make a quick and devastating gank at bot after picking up wolves and blue. they will not have warded yet and armed with dredge line and riptide its usually a guaranteed first blood

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From lvl 4 onwards i usually max Riptide and Titans Wrath before finishing Dredge Line last, as so long as you have 1 point in it its useful. And of course as always you take points in Depth charge asap at levels 6,11,16.

Merc's Treads are great as they offer MR as well as 35% tenacity, this added to the 10% from Juggernaut mastery and you have a very strong 45%



Aegis of the Legion is a great item, and is considered one of the best in the game in terms of what you get for the price you pay. I rush this as my first big item and you will really notice the difference.



Frozen Heart gives you 500 mana which as Nautilus you will certainly need. It gives 20% CDR which stacked with masteries puts you around 30% by lvl 18. It also gives a whopping 99 armour and reduces enemy attack speed by 20%. It's such a great item.



Quicksilver Sash is great due to the unique passive which is basically cleanse on a 90sec cooldown. It also gives you 56 MR to improve your tankyness.


THIS IS THE CORE OF THE BUILD. This puts you at 220 Armour and 185 MR at level 18. The slight Downside is the lack of health...so here is where you make choices based on how the game is going...



Pure Health but will require quite some farming to buff.



Health, even more Armour and a slow + damage to go with it.



Health and bonus slow from attacks


Health,
Mana and AP..and after 10mins it gives more Health than Rylai's so a better choice in my opinion.


AND FINALLY...



Why? Because the game should be over and if it isn't then get this to add some nice damage to you spells. I got 2 once after the core items as i was doing well and Depth Charge did some mean damage which is always fun.


PLEASE NOTE:


In some cases you may want to sell Aegis of the Legion and buy:


For the Armour, MR and of course the second chance



Against a team with hard hitting AD carries


Against a team with a lot of AP, with the bonus of HP regen and increased movement speed.

Your aim is to jungle fast and communicate with your team. When you are heading up tell them to bait the lane. Then when pushed come from behind and use E, then autoattack for a stun then bring them in with dredge line for another stun. they should now be dead.

You need to always be involved in team fights. Nautilus has such a strong initiate its unbelievable. For this i hit W, initiate with Q, then hit E and my team usually does the rest. If not, hit R to pick up the kill.

The best technique i find is to lead with E, then hit W and pick up some easy farms in lane. in jungle i start with an autoattack for the stun, hit E then W, then E again.

OR..




Give this a try if you are having some fun games with friends and it's nothing too serious, you may be surprised at how well it works or may just find yourself a useless slow juggernaut shuffling around trying to pick up a kill, either way its all for fun so not to worry...and if you do rack up some sweet kills then the satisfaction is AWESOME!!