Nasus Build Guide : S6 Challenger Nasus Guide -detailed matchups

Introduction

- About the Author -
Hi everyone, I"m QwickPL, and yes, I’m from Poland. I am master tier, EUNE player, so I am expirienced enaught to share my toughts about Nasus. After end of season two I was playing top lane only. My main champion is Nasus, I have over 300 games with him, so I decided to share my knowledge with you. I worked on this guide for over 100 hours, and I put my heart in soul into it. If you do have any thoughts or improvements, please leave a message in the discussion segment. Constructive criticism is really appreciated! Take a look on main friend channel "Foxy Riven".

- A few things to keep in mind -
To me, Nasus is a great but underrated solo queue champion. Why is he underrated? Probably because he doesn't see much competitive play, due to his very weak early game. Contrary to popular believe, this does not mean that he's extremely weak. I even feel that he does not have a real counter (besides time, which he needs to stack up his Q). Does this mean that Riot made an uncounterable champion? In a certain way, yes. What do I mean by that? He gets countered quite easily by team-compositions focused on early aggression, because the game ends before you reach your godly stage of the game. But in solo que your enemies can't cooperate between enough to perform the "early aggression" team-composition.

- What does this guide cover? -
In this guide you will find basic stuff about playing Nasus, as well as in-depth information.

This guide will show you the way to survive early game while farming passively. If you are doing it correctly you will become a tanky top laner with big amount of damage, and possibility to 1vs1 everyone, because Nasus is hyper cary whose scales with farm. Unfortunately to become this late game monster you need to itemize accordingly. This guide will give you the tools to maximize your CDR, without sacrificing any tankiness. It also provides knowledge about certain matchups.

- Last edited -

2015-10-08

- My proffesional League Team -

http://nvisgaming.pl/

- Follow me on Twitch -

Build Summary

Extremely Qwick Guide

7v andv 2 vv| v9 vor v9vv
Greater Mark of Armor Penetration

6v andv 3 vv| v2 vand v1v

5/25/0

R>Q>E>W

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Start	Early - Mid Game		Late Game
	VS AD:		Finish:
	VS AP:		Finish:

Powerful Pros / Critical Cons

Pros

+ Doesn't have a hard counter
+ Natural sustain
+ Hyper Carry (scales with farm)
+ Extremely Tanky
+ High Damage
+ Anti-Carry due to Wither
+ AoE armour and magic resist debuff
+ Strongest Split Pusher in the game
+ One of the strongest duelist in the game
+ Extremely strong ulti
+ Everyone Love Dogs <3

Many people will be surprised after reading "Nasus doesn't have a hard counter". But it's true because any champion can't kill him or really deny him, if he is played well, because of his passive () and .
__________________________________________

Nasus is the second most tanky champion in the game (after Dr. Mundo). He does not need to buy damage because of his Q, , which offers an infinite increase in damage output.
__________________________________________

Nasus is also a hypercarry who scales with farm, so you don't need to be aggressive in the laning phase. Just focus on farming. If the enemy can zone you out, just bite the bullet and try not to die. You will outscale your opponent eventually.
__________________________________________

Additionally, if your bottom lane lost lane, and the enemy adc is fed you can just use on to cripple him.

Cons

- Weakest early in the game
- Reliant on farm
- No Dash/Escape
- Very easily kited
- Very easily poked
- Low amount of CC

Nasus has a few major weaknesses, but you can avoid those by playing and itemizing correctly. This is what I mean by that:

If he loses top lane, and gets zoned out of Q farm he becomes useless late game. Luckily we have
from , and additionally you can do a level 6 "All in". (If you don't know what that is you can check it in the Detailed Tips section.)
__________________________________________

Unfortunately Nasus can be easily kited in team fights, because he doesn't have any dashes. This is compensated in the late game by having ,
, boots with , and even . This way we have +600 movement speed, and an AoE slow.
__________________________________________

Nasus can be ganked easily, because he doesn't have any escapes. That’s why we should sit and farm under the tower until we are able to win 1 vs 2 fights.
__________________________________________

Unfortunately Nasus is poked down quite easy. Luckily we have a huge amount of lifesteal from .

Abilities

Soul Eater: Passive
Nasus drains his foe's spiritual energy, giving him a natural 10 / 15 / 20% .

Explanation

This passive is amazing. It allows you to heal up during laning phase, and lane against much stronger opponents until you are farmed enough to kill them. Additionaly, if you force enemy laner to back of you can easily lifesteal before he comes back.

Siphoning Strike: Q
Cooldown: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4
Cost: 20 Mana
Physical Damage: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+ 100% AD) (+3 [+6] per enemy killed by Siphoning Strike)

Explanation

Siphoning Strike is very original and funny ability which scales with farm. It heals you for big amount of health(due to your passive) and when a creep, tower, champion or even ward dies from your Q it stacks damage. So each time you successfully last-hit with Siphoning Strike, 3-6 points of damage are added to the damage of the next . This damage can snowball crazily; on the other hand, a Nasus who doesn't last-hit is not going to scale well into late game, what can make enemies.

Tips and Tricks

You level up your Q first to lower it's cooldown(so you can stack faster). What with early Glacial Shroud and Kindlegem is leting you last hit all minions with your Q.
You want to use your Q for last hits in order to ramp up its damage, and then one shot every.
This ability resets your auto-attack. (If you don’t know what that means you can check it in the Tips and Tricks section).
This ability procs Sheen.
Can be used to destroy towers very fast.

Wither: W
Range: 600
Cooldown: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11
Cost: 80 mana
Slows for 5 seconds from 35% to: 47% / 59% / 71% / 83% / 95%
Max attack speed slow: 23.5 / 29.5 / 35.5 / 41.5 / 47.5%
Duration: 5 seconds

Explanation

This ability has the one of highest levels of slow in the game. If you find any enemy away from his team in later stages of the game just pop Wither on him, and kill him because he is completely vulnerable. Max this ability second when you are up against auto-attack reliant champions like; , , , , or ranged champions with big amounts of CC like; .

Tips and Tricks

In a teamfight, you want to Wither the auto-atack reliant champion. You don't want to and Wither the first champion you see - unless you know it will guarantee a kill.
Use this ability to catch up to an enemy, or to escape one.
Against champions like Teemo or Vayne you can use this ability during laning phase to minimize their damage output.
With 40% CDR this ability can be cast every 6,6 seconds when maxed.

Spirit Fire: E
Range: 650
Cooldown: 12
Cost: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 mana
Initial Magic Damage: 55 / 95 / 135 / 175 / 215 (+ 60% AP)
Magic Damage Per Second: 11 / 19 / 27 / 35 / 43 (+ 12% AP)
Total Magic Damage: 110 / 190 / 270 / 350 / 430 (+ 120% AP)
Armor Reduction: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
Diameter of AoE: 800
Duration: 5 seconds

Explanation

Spirit Fire is an ability with high team fighting potential due to the AoE armor and magic resist shred. Additionaly because of the same thing it's great in 1 vs 1 fights. Max this ability second when you are up against all melee champions, not based on auto attacks; , , , .

Tips and Tricks

Most of the people don't know about the armor and magic resist shred, you can use this to win fights.
After Withering someone, cast Spirit Fire ahead of where they're walking, so they take more damage (from the damage dealt AND from the shredded armor), or they’re forced to take a detour if they want to avoid it.
Don't cast this on minions during leaning phase, because it would push your lane to the enemy tower,. This way you can't stack your Q.
In team fights you should cast it under the enemy adc to minimize his armor.

Fury of the Sands: R
Cooldown: 120
Cost: 100 mana
Health Gained: 300 / 450 / 600
Max Health to Magic Damage Ratio Per Second: 3% / 4% / 5% (+ 1% per 100 AP)
Total Max Health to Magic Damage Ratio: 45% / 60% / 75% (+ 15% per 100 AP)
Total Possible Magic Damage (to a single enemy): 3600
Total Possible Bonus Attack Damage (from a single enemy): 229.5
Diameter of AoE: 350
Duration: 15 sec
Others: Gives an extra 50 attack range

Explanation

Extremely strong ability. It's giving Nasus more damage depending on the enemy champions around him, huge chunk of health, and a lot of damage in an AoE around him.

Tips and Tricks

This ability don't have cast time so you can cast it while runing.
You can use this ability if you want to bait someone to dive you.
Stand in middle of the enemy team to maximize damage, which you are doing.

Q: But doesn't Spirite Fire do more damage?

You want to level up before if you are being incredibly denied, because almost all Nasus damage is coming from his stacked Q. For me only two champions can denied Nasus from farming Q, and . But to date I wasn't playing against that good Teemo player(I"m in diamond two), so 99% of you shouldn't max Spirit Fire anytime. But still I did special build for maxing E first(check on the top of the side).

The importance of Cooldown Reduction

Powerful Pros / Critical Cons

Pros

+ Doesn't have a hard counter
+ Natural sustain
+ Hyper Carry (scales with farm)
+ Extremely Tanky
+ High Damage
+ Anti-Carry due to Wither
+ AoE armour and magic resist debuff
+ Strongest Split Pusher in the game
+ One of the strongest duelist in the game
+ Extremely strong ulti
+ Everyone Love Dogs <3

Many people will be surprised after reading "Nasus doesn't have a hard counter". But it's true because any champion can't kill him or really deny him, if he is played well, because of his passive () and .
__________________________________________

Nasus is the second most tanky champion in the game (after Dr. Mundo). He does not need to buy damage because of his Q, , which offers an infinite increase in damage output.
__________________________________________

Nasus is also a hypercarry who scales with farm, so you don't need to be aggressive in the laning phase. Just focus on farming. If the enemy can zone you out, just bite the bullet and try not to die. You will outscale your opponent eventually.
__________________________________________

Additionally, if your bottom lane lost lane, and the enemy adc is fed you can just use on to cripple him.

Cons

- Weakest early in the game
- Reliant on farm
- No Dash/Escape
- Very easily kited
- Very easily poked
- Low amount of CC

Nasus has a few major weaknesses, but you can avoid those by playing and itemizing correctly. This is what I mean by that:

If he loses top lane, and gets zoned out of Q farm he becomes useless late game. Luckily we have
from , and additionally you can do a level 6 "All in". (If you don't know what that is you can check it in the Detailed Tips section.)
__________________________________________

Unfortunately Nasus can be easily kited in team fights, because he doesn't have any dashes. This is compensated in the late game by having ,
, boots with , and even . This way we have +600 movement speed, and an AoE slow.
__________________________________________

Nasus can be ganked easily, because he doesn't have any escapes. That’s why we should sit and farm under the tower until we are able to win 1 vs 2 fights.
__________________________________________

Unfortunately Nasus is poked down quite easy. Luckily we have a huge amount of lifesteal from .

Sumoners Spells

Summoner Spells

Teleport

The best summoner spell for top lane Nasus, try to use this on tower to lower its cooldown. Did someone gank you? Let's go back to the base, heal up, buy items, and teleport back to the tower. Did you take too much damage to stay in your lane? Go back to your base and teleport back in time to catch the minion wave at your tower. Does your team want to do an early dragon? Nasus's ultimate is one of the best abilities to do dragon with, and teleport makes it possible and get there, or back to your lane, fast. Are you pushing enemy top tower while a team fight erupts? Go ahead and teleport there.

Ghost

I take on Nasus in 90% of my games, because he needs extra movement. Otherwise he would be kited easily in team fights. Additionally he needs extra movement speed for higher kill potential and to run away easily when getting ganked.

Flash

I"m taking flash only against few top laners, like: (because you need to flash his ultimate].

Smite

Smite is needed only in the jungle.

Masteries

5 Offensive/25 Defensive/0 Utility

W
H
I
C
H

sp

M
A
S
T
E
R
I
E
S

// This masteries allows you to survive early game, while farming your Q. Additionally it's giving you biger team fight potencial by ,
and .

Q: Is this the best set-up for Nasus?
//Propably yes because this masteries are giving ideal composition of Utility, Tankinnes and Damage. But, to be honest, Nasus is very versatile. So lets see other possible choices:

9 Offensive/21 Defensive/0 Utility

This masteries are the most agressive you can take, they are very good against champions with weak early game like , , .

4 Offensive/17 Defensive/9 Utility

This masteries are the most passive you can take. They are good with and health potions start.

Runes

Q
U
I
N
T
S

is very good rune againts AD champions, because it's giving you big survabiliti in early game. Unfortunately armor is very effective only to 40 points, so three "Armor Quintessence" aren't the same effective as two "Life Steal Quintessence", and one "Armor Quintessence".

is very good rune againts AP champions, because it's giving you big survabiliti in early game. Unfortunately magic resist is very effective only to 40 points, so three "Magic Resist Quintessence" aren't the same effective as two "Life Steal Quintessence", and one "Magic Resist Quintessence". But sometimes I"m using three "Magic Resist Quintessence" + start againts , because it's very hard lane.

Q
U
I
N
T
S

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______________________________________________________________________________________

M
A
R
K
S

Greater Mark of Armor Penetration

Greater Mark of Armor Penetration is the best rune for Nasus, because if you grab armour penetration marks you get a %damage boost that scales throughout the game, on your Q and auto-attacks.

Greater Mark of Armor Penetration

M
A
R
K
S

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S
E
A
L
S

is the best rune for Nasus because it's giving you hp which scales idealy with .

is teoriticaly good rune againts AD top laners, but you don't need that much armor at level 1.

S
E
A
L
S

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______________________________________________________________________________________

G
L
Y
P
H
S

Three are necessary statistic againts AP top laners.

Six are very good in every single situation. They are giving you, with , 10% CDR, what is leting you stack faster your q, additionally it's gives you 40% CDR with and .

Three are very good againts AD top laners, because you don't need magic resist in this matchups, additionaly it's scales realy well into the late game againts AP champions.

G
L
Y
P
H
S

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______________________________________________________________________________________

Items

Before I make a list of what items are good to get, let me start off by explaining what stats to prioritize when building on Nasus and why.

HEALTH

Nasus doesn't scale good with anything except farm, so buying health, armor or magic resist is the best you can do. Additionally, tanky items are allowing you to stack up your Q easier because of the CDR. Besides this, Nasus doesn't need to buy more damage, because his base damage is extremely high already.

COOLDWON REDUCTION= DAMAGE= HEALTH

Ideally works with all of Nasus’ abilities, because it's increases your damage primarily due to a lower cooldown of
, but also other abilities; , and . Additionally a lower cooldown of Siphoning Strike makes you heal more, due to .

SHEEN

Sheen is very important because your Q procs it. Normally you should have 110 base AD and a 2,4 sec cooldown for your Q, so;
110 (AD) / 2,4(cooldown of q) = 49 damage per second from Sheen. Additionally it works amazing with your extra AD from ultimate, .

STARTING ITEMS

WARDING TOTEM

It's the best trinket to start with. It's giving you some map control, which is defending you from ganks, and makes counter ganks easier. Then upgrade it to yellow upgrade for more map control.

+

OR

The best starting items against champions that deal mostly magic damage. This starting items cause that you can build faster. It's realy good against champions like; ,
, , because they can't kill you at the beginning of the game.

You should buy this start against every champion that deals mostly physical damage like; ,
, , , .

It's the most defensive start from all. It's good against APC's who have a strong early game, like; , , . Unfortunately this start prevents you from buying CDR fast.

CORE ITEMS

FROZEN HEART

SHEEN..

One of the best items for Nasus, almost always essential. Buy it

Always against hard AD laners, because it provides armor, mana, and CDR which gives damage due to a lower cooldown on your Siphoning Strike. Buy it as your first or second item.

TRINITY FORCE

ICEBORN GAUNTLET

SPIRIT VISAGE

One of the best items for Nasus, almost always essential. Buy it against AP laners, because it offers health, magic resist, and CDR, which gives damage due to the lower cooldown on Siphoning Strike. Additionally, Spirit Visage is great to regenerate your HP after trading due to its unique passive. Buy it as your first-third item depending on how hard you get poked out of your lane.

Late game and more damage oriented of the two possible upgrades from your Sheen. Get this only if you are ahead, because it lacks tankiness. It synergizes greatly with Nasus, because Sheen is a must on Nasus, (just like extra movement speed, health, and even attack speed and crit chance) while you are using Fury of the Sands due to the extra AD you get from it.

Mid game and the tankier upgrade of the two possible upgrades from your Sheen. Get this item against a full AD team. Additionally, buy it if you are behind, and your enemy laner deals attack damage (after Frozen Heart of course). You can also buy it if you somehow get early kills, and you want to increase your power in mid game.

DEFENSIVE ITEMS

DEFENSIVE
ITEMS

Assuming you have bought , ,
and or . Ideally, you will want two more tanky items. But which items should those be? This part of the guide focusses on presenting you your best options.

BEST DEFENSIVE ITEMS

DAMAGE

It's the best item for off-tanks, while being a damage item as well. How? Sunfire Cape’s "Unique Passive" is extremely aggressive, it's the same as 3 or 4 long swords which hit every single enemy around you every second. Buy this item if you are ahead and your team is behind, because damage is making you carry easier.

TANK

This is a more tanky item than
due to having more armor and a specific unique active and passive. Buy this item always over Sunfire Cape if you are behind or if one of your carries is fed, so you can defend them more easily.

TEAM FIGHT

The best item for team fights due to having a great aura and active, just don't buy it if you want to split push. You can buy this item instead of if you are ahead and you want to protect your team.

Dead Man's Plate

The best sixth or fifth item to get, if you can't get to enemy cary's, and you need some armor.

Sterak's Gage

The best fifth item to buy. It gives you big amount of HP, AD, and great passive ability

OTHER DEFENSIVE ITEMS

ARMOR

MAGIC RESISTANCE

Righteous Glory
The best sixth or fifth item to get. It's giving you sufficient statstics and the best active ability. Don't buy this early on in the game because you will be to squishy.

Thornmail
On most champions it's the best fifth or last item, but not on Nasus. Why? Because we have a better option;
. Besides that, it's a very good item especially combined with , against a full AD team or against an over-fed ADC.

Ohmwrecker
Great item againts full AD Teams. It's giving nice statistics, and great active ability especialy if you are ahead. Good to buy after Frozen Heart againts full AD Teams.

ZZ'ROT PORTAL
Realy good againts heavy AP Teams, because it's giving much magic resist, and armor which you will allways need againts enemy adc. Additionaly it gives prety good active which is realy good for defending, or destroying enemy base.

BANSHEE'S VEIL
The best item against every AP assassin. You can buy this item instead of if you are going to split push.

Quicksilver Sash
Very good item against; ,
, and
due to their extremely long disables.

OFFENSIVE ITEMS

OFFENSIVE
ITEMS

At the start I want to say, all offensive items besides , , , and (in certain situations) are just bad, and I don't see why you should buy them besides for fun.

IF AHEAD

Very good item, which scales extremely well with your stacked Q, and your extra AD damage from your ultimate. Additionally it's a very effective item against tanks like: Mundo or carries who are stacking armor. Besides this, armor penetration does apply on towers. Buy this item while you are ahead, and always with , not , because that would make you too squishy.

Youmuu's Ghostblade

Buy it instead of when the enemy team doesn’t have a tank.

AGAINST INFINITE CC

Good as last item, against , , or due to their extremely long disables.

BOOTS AND ENCHANTMENTS

MERCURY'S TREADS

The best boots for Nasus. It's giving some very needed magic resist, and Tenacity which with cause that you are very harder to kite.

ENCHANTMENT: DISTORTION

Very good enchant, but besides extra movment speed while using
and it's almost useless. I recomend this enchant if you like to team fight, because it's giving you big speed advantage for duration of team fight.

NINJA TABI

Very good, but only against full AD teams, or against team which have really low CC and big amount of attack damage. It isn't the best boots because you are losing Tenacity from Mercury's boots.

ENCHANTMENT: FUROR

Very good enchant, and my favorite. Because it's giving you extra movment speed every time you hit something, which works great with . Buy it if you would like to split push.

IONIAN BOOTS OF LUCIDITY

Very situational boots. You can buy it if you are ahead in early game, and you want to increase your advantage.

ENCHANTMENT: HOMEGUARD

Very good enchant if the enemy already destroyed your first tower, and you want to go back to your lane fast.

TRAP ITEMS

BLADE OF THE RUINED KING

It's good item, but is way better.

ESSENCE REAVER

Better buy , the cooldown is almost useless for you.

ATMA'S IMPALER

Sunfire is better. Count it if you want to.

THE BLACK CLEAVER

is way better because it applies armor penetration from the first attack. With TBC you have to stack it first.

BOOTS OF SWIFTNESS

Bad because it makes you squishy. Of course you can buy it for fun, because with
you become a very fast doge.

RAVENOUS HYDRA

is way better, because anyways it's your fifth or sixth item, and in late game you need to kill only ADC, so Hydra unique passive is just useless.

THE BLOODTHIRSTER

Of course it's the funniest item on Nasus, because +200 hp from one Q is hilarious. will give you way more tankiness though and because of that reason you can deal damage for much longer.

ENCHANTMENT: CAPTAIN

It's not he bust enchantment, very expensive, and with a bad aura. because in real situation only two champions will go hard on enemy carries: the top laner and the jungler. Additionally, junglers are mostly more mobile than top laners, so you are buying this enchant for nobody.

FROZEN MALLET

It might look good, but we don't need any more slows because of . Additionally, or + is way better.

MANAMUNE

It might look fine, because Nasus is a very mana-dependent champion, but not that much.

Calculating Item-Effectiveness (only for very competent players)

Before we continue our "Nasus Guide". I want to teach you something. It’s called "calculating item-effectiveness". Let's take a look at ;

costs 720 gold and it gives 40 armor. Frozen Heart gives 100 armor so:
100(armor): 40(armor)= 2.5 | 2.5* 720(cost of Chain Vest)= 1800 gold.

Frozen Heart gives 20% CDR which you counts for 600 gold, because CDR is extremely effective on Nasus (10% CDR counts for 200 gold).

Next, Frozen Heart alo gives 400 mana which counts for 700 gold because costs 400 gold, and mana isn't very effective on Nasus.

Additionally, you need to add ’s Unique Passive, which counts for 450-1200 gold (depending on the situation and amount of AD champions in the enemy team), because gives 15% of attack speed.

So lets add everything:
1800(gold for armor) + 600(gold for CDR) + 700(gold for mana)+ 600(gold for Unique Passive)= 3700 gold

So for 2600 gold you have item for 3700 gold, but everything depends on situation. Why?

Lets take a look at Shyvana
Armor? Effective. CDR? Almost useless. Mana? Sux.
So for 2600 gold we have item for 2600 gold, believe me, that’s not a good price for a lategame item. Additionally if the enemy team has 4 AP champions, armor is way more useless. So for 2600 gold we have an item of only 1800 gold...

Counters and Synergies

Nasus is very strong in teams with a lot of CC, so ask other players to take for example: , , , , and (The best possible champion to have on your team due to her ).

Favorable Matchups

+ Auto Attack Champions
+ Squishy Champions
+ Poke Champions
+ Champions with AoE damage

Nasus counters auto attack-reliant champions because of his . Besides that, Nasus is very strong against squishy champions like; , , because of his armor shread from , and really big mid game damage. Besides that he is strong against poke champions such as; ,
… because he can heal up all their damage due to . Finall, he is strong against champions with AoE damage like; , … because they are pushing lane to the tower, which allows Nasus to farm up.
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Counters

- Ranged Champions
- Champions which can easily denied
- Champions with Crowd Control
- Champions with high Kite potential

Nasus is bad against some ranged champions, especially; , and . They can outpoke his sustain, until you’ve bought your first defensive item. Additionally they are hard to all-in.
Unfortunately, champions with huge burst in the early game can deny him somewhat as well (,
, , , ). Besides this, champions with a lot of CC and Kiting potential (
, , ) are really strong against him, because they are hard to all-in.

Farming

FARMING

This is super important for Nasus. You should be doing it all the time. Sometimes it's even more important than killing the enemy laner.

FIRST MINUTE
Stand in the middle of the lane and wait for the enemy minions to arrive. You should move to the bush above you if melee minions target you. Due to this all enemy minions should target your first melee minion, Which makes your minions lose, and the lane will push towards your tower which is beneficial to focus on stacking your Q.

FARMING UNDER THE TOWER
Thanks to the two runes you are able to hit every minion two times with your auto attacks, allowing you to take every single CS under the tower. It's really hard and needs a lot of practice though (even I still have some problems with that).

Sometimes you will have problems with last hiting, in situations like this the best way to cs is to use on this one minion. Beware to hit other minions with it, because it prevents you from last hiting them.

FARMING IN MID GAME
In mid game, be sure to buy enough wards while farming because you are easy to gank. Additionally, if your enemy laner is, for example, you can just ignore him and farm, because he is really hard to kill.

HOW MUCH STACKS DO I NEED?
(You can reach GOD level only if you chose to split push)

MINUTE

10 minutes

20 minutes

30 minutes

40 minutes

BAD

-70

-200

-400

-600

OK

+80

+280

+500

+700

GOOD

+100

+330

+620

+950

GOD

+130

+420

+750

+1200

Nasus Gameplay

NASUS GAMEPLAY

Don't read this before Abilities section, because in abilities seaction you will find way more imporatnt informations. Additionaly you can find some base matchup knowledge in "Counters and Synergies" section.

ON SPAWN > EARLY LEVELS
Depending on the enemy laner, buy the correct starting items (before game starts check "Starting Items" chapter); if you don't understand how matchup goes, check matchup explanation at the top of side, or start with and 3x s. Don't forget to buy your .

Let's go to the top lane. As Nasus, you want to last hit as many minions as possible you can with , to raise the damage of your Q, but remember to not push your wave because it leaves you open to ganks. Try to keep wave around your tower, so you won't get ganked. Try to avoid your enemy in early game, as you are mainly concerned about farming your Q.

LAST HITING
The ability to last hit is a fundamental skill of every player, especially player. Landing the killing blow on an enemy minions or neutral monsters awards you by big amount of Experience, Stacks and Gold. Creep Score is even more important then kills or assists, because it's the easiest, and most safe way to get gold, often used as a measure of how successful you are at laning. Additionaly last hitting as a top lane Nasus is the most important thing. Because usually, you will be up against hard to kill tanks.

ENTERING MID GAME
We enter mid game, with +150 stacks and a or . Now you can start to be more aggressive in the lane, if your enemy is weak you can even try do deny him. After a while you should get +200 stacks and your sheen. Now you should feel your power rising. Yup, it's your moment to shine. You should start to do something; push the tower, perform a gank at the bottom lane, or start to kill the enemy laner. Of course you still need to focus on stacking your Q. You can even 1 vs 2 if you are up against two AD champions like; and
. Just keep your enemy laner with 1/2 hp and wait for enemy jungler to gank. Next you should buy items which are giving you the maximum amount of CDR: 40%. Besides this, you need to rush if you’re ahead, or buy // if you’re not.

ENTERING LATE GAME

We enter late game and have two possible ways to play it.

TEAM FIGHTS

It's easier and propably better way to play late game Nasus. If you choose this way to play try to buy
as fast as possible. In team fights you need to always the enemy ADC, but don't rush on him if nobody in your team is going to help you. Remember that you have the same damage output as a normal carry (or even more), so don't engage on the enemy team first, let the do that. If the Jungler or Support don't engage first, just focus on defending yourself and your carries. If your carries are fed, focus on defending them. Additionally, if the enemy team has more CC then don't rush on enemy carries because they will kill you before you can deal any damage. But the most important thing to do as Nasus is to come around enemy team, and catch them from back.

SPLIT PUSH

A harder and situational way to play late game Nasus. A more optimal choice if your team is behind. I can't tell you everything about it, but I will give you as much information as I can. First you need to inform your team what are you doing. You can tell them it like this: "Guys, we can't win this game only by defending, so please defend the base while I am split pushing. When they are coming to gank me please engage on the rest of the enemy team if they stayed mid lane". Secondly, you always have to put wards at the side of the lane you are pushing, or ask your team to do so. You need to have eyes everywhere. Furthermore you need to be able to 1 vs 1 everyone in enemy team easily. In addition, don't stack your q too much, just push the lane to the enemy tower. And at the end don't use this strategy if your team is ahead. I did it a few times and I lose some games because of it.

DETAIL TIPS

WALL WITHERING
Wither can be cast over walls if you vision of your enemy. Additionally you are getting vision of enemies by using Spirit Fire.

MAXIMIZING LIFE-STEAL
It is always better to auto-attack a creep to low health and finish him with in order to maximize life-steal and minimize lane push, because heals you by the same amount no matter how much damage you actually do to the enemy/minion. What I mean is that when a creep has exactly 1 health, you can use to gain a stack and you’ll receive the full amount of life-steal as when the minion would have full health.

"ALL-IN", WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
You are going "All-in" on someone while you are using all skills at the same time (summoner spells included). It's very popular on assassins like Zed, but you can do it as Nasus as well. It's very effective against ranged champions, because they are very good at harassing, while mostly being bad at a straight fight. If you want to maximize your chance of winning, you need to start an "All-in" under your tower, because in this situation enemy need to survive longest possible time to enter his safe zone, under his tower.

USING FURY OF THE SANDS FOR HEALTH REGENERATION

Pros

+ Extra flat health
+ Your enemy will be confused (He thinks he is getting ganked)
+ After 100 seconds your enemy might think you still don't have your ultimate, so you can use it to beat him

Cons

- You are easier to dive
- You can die even when your own jungler ganks
- You are not dealing damage with your ultimate

CHASING WITH ANIMATION CANCELING
This is something you'll be doing very often as Nasus and thus something you should be great at. Watch this guide, it should help you out when you have not yet developed that skill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked

Answers

Q: Why should I invest a point in ?

// It's my personal preference, the same as taking Fleet of Foot in utility tree.

Q: WAITING FOR MORE QUESTIONS

// WAITING FOR MORE QUESTIONS

Conclusions

- The End! -
I'm in love with Nasus. I can' tell more then that. ;D I hope this guide has helped you with playing Nasus. Please don't hesitate to comment and/or give suggestions regarding anything I have outlined above. I will happily respond to any questions.

- PayPal Donation -
I worked on this guide for very long time. You can donate some money if it helped you.

- Special Thanks -
I want to thank everyone for reading this looong guide. But besides this I want to give one huge thanks to "Foxy Riven", because he helped me to improve my guide after publishing it. And at the end I want to say thanks to every single guide maker, because I learned a lot from them;

S6 Challenger Nasus Guide -detailed matchups

S6 Challenger Nasus Guide -detailed matchups

Choose Champion Build:

Recommended Items

Spells:

Ghost

Teleport

Items

Ability Order

Soul Eater (PASSIVE)

Siphoning Strike (Q)

Wither (W)

Spirit Fire (E)

Fury of the Sands (R)

Threats & Synergies

Riven

Renekton

Irelia

Jax

Pantheon

Fiora

Maokai

Gnar

Rumble

Nasus

Rengar

Hecarim

Lee Sin

Darius

Sion

Akali

Garen

Spells:

Ghost

Teleport

Items

Ability Order

Soul Eater (PASSIVE)

Siphoning Strike (Q)

Wither (W)

Spirit Fire (E)

Fury of the Sands (R)

Spells:

Ghost

Teleport

Items

Ability Order

Soul Eater (PASSIVE)

Siphoning Strike (Q)

Wither (W)

Spirit Fire (E)

Fury of the Sands (R)

Threats & Synergies

Sion

Garen

Spells:

Flash

Teleport

Items

Ability Order

Soul Eater (PASSIVE)

Siphoning Strike (Q)

Wither (W)

Spirit Fire (E)

Fury of the Sands (R)

Introduction

- Last edited -

- My proffesional League Team -

Build Summary

5/25/0

R>Q>E>W

Powerful Pros / Critical Cons

Abilities

Explanation

Explanation

Tips and Tricks

Explanation

Tips and Tricks

Explanation

Tips and Tricks