Looking for a champion who can make excellent picks? Are you leaning towards a tank with a lot of crowd control? If yes, we might’ve found the perfect champion for you. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to play Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths.

Nautilus is one of those champions that can technically be used in any role. His kit offers a ton of versatility and crowd control that he has been a favorite among pro players. Who could forget when Doinb brought out mid lane Nautilus during Worlds 2019? But as of the current meta, Nautilus is utilized best as a support. His engage, tankiness, and damage make him a nightmare matchup for ADCs everywhere.

Champion Abilities

Nautilus is one four champions with a hook ability in League of Legends. A hook ability allows champions to pull the enemy closer from a ranged distance. This is a very useful ability that can lead to the opposing carry’s instant demise. Nearly all of Nautilus’ skills have a form of crowd control that makes him such a great support champion.

Passive  – Staggering Blow

Nautilus’ first attack against a target deals increased physical damage and roots them briefly. This effect cannot happen more than once every few seconds on the same target.

One of the best passives in the game. It basically gives you a guaranteed root whenever you attack an enemy. Since you’re a support, you won’t really be using your basic attacks to harass the opponent, so this passive will be up most of the time that you’ll need it. There’s actually an indicator around enemy champions that were recently affected by Nautilus’ passive.

Q – Dredge Line

Nautilus hurls his anchor forward. If it hits an enemy, Nautilus drags himself and the target together, dealing magic damage and stunning them briefly. If the anchor hits terrain, Nautilus will drag himself towards it.

This is what makes a Nautilus a great support champion. Chaining the stun from this ability plus his passive can guarantee that your opponent’s will stay in place. Unlike hooks from other champions like Thresh or Blitzcrank, Nautilus’ hook ability is the easiest to land. If that wasn’t enough, you can also use it to make a quick escape by aiming it at terrain.

W – Titan’s Wrath

Nautilus gains a shield for 2 seconds. While the shield persists, Nautilus’ attacks deal an additional magic damage over 2 seconds to his target and all surrounding enemies.

This shield is great for when you’re peeling for your team and allows you to soak up a little bit more damage. The additional magic damage on your basic attacks also helps in dueling your opponents when they go in for trades.

E – Riptide

Nautilus creates three exploding waves around himself, each dealing magic damage to enemies in the area and slows them by up to 50%, decaying over 1.5 seconds.

A great source of aoe damage and CC. Remember to use this whenever you’re in a team fight to help whittle down the health of your enemies.

R – Depth Charge

Nautilus fires a shockwave that chases an enemy champion, dealing magic damage, knocking them up and stunning them for up to 2 seconds. Other enemies hit by the shockwave are also knocked up, stunned, and take magic damage.

This is a great disruption tool. Use this on high priority targets during team fights so that your team can easily converge on them. This ability has a lot of CC and a lot of uses so don’t be afraid to get creative with it.

Runes and Item Builds

You build Nautilus like any other support tank. Build items that can help you soak a lot of damage so that your ADC can safely do their thing. 

Starting Items

For your starting items, take the standard support tank route. Go for a Relic Shield and a few Health Potions. The health, health regen, and ability power provided by Relic Shield can help you a lot in those early game trades when the enemy bot lane tries to be aggressive. Make the most out of the Spoils of War passive from Relic Shield and your ADC would have great sustain.

Mythic Items

Support Nautilus only has two choices when it comes to Mythic Items. The best choice is to go for Locket of the Iron Solari. This item gives you and your teammates a shield that can protect them from sudden bursts of damage. It also stacks with the shield from Titan’s Wrath so it greatly increases your survivability. The other Mythic you can go for is Turbo Chemtank. This item grants you bonus Move Speed when you’re moving towards an enemy or a turret. This adds more power to your roaming potential and your engage will be stronger and harder to avoid. Go for this item if you plan on being a roaming support.

Full Build

After you’ve built your Mythic Item, go for a Thornmail next. Since you’re a support, chances are you’ll be laning against an ADC in the bot lane. Having an early Thornmail can help you stick to them and negate some of their damage. If the enemy team is running a mage in the bot lane, feel free to swap Thornmail for an Abyssal Mask for its magic resist. Next, go for a Zeke’s Convergence to empower your ADC’s damage. Take a Knight’s Vow after so that you can mitigate some of the damage that your carry receives. Lastly, top the build off with Anathema’s Chains to further reduce the damage you receive from the enemy’s carries. You can swap out Anathema’s Chains for a Redemption if you feel like your team needs the healing. Your full build should look something like this:

Runes

The Runes you’ll take for support Nautilus are also pretty standard. Take Aftershock as your keystone to make your engage stronger. With Aftershock, you get bonus armor and magic resist after immobilizing an enemy champion plus an aoe explosion that deals magic damage. Next take Font of Life so that you’ll get healed whenever your team damages champions you’ve used crowd control on. Bone Plating makes you tankier and Unflinching helps you stick to the enemy’s easier. For your secondaries, take Biscuit Delivery for the sustain and Cosmic Insight for the cooldown reduction on your abilities and active items. For your rune shards, take attack speed and double armor or armor plus magic resist for the defensive runes.

Useful Tips

1. When ganking, consider aiming Dredge Line at nearby terrain and follow it up with Riptide for a higher hit rate. This way, your enemies won’t be able to react in time and you’ll deal both damage and crowd control.
2. For your summoner spells, take Flash and Ignite. A champion like Nautilus rewards players when you’re being aggressive in setting up picks. If you’re uncomfortable with Ignite, you can take Exhaust instead for additional CC.

So there you have it! That’s everything you need to know to get you started playing Nautilus in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us often for more guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!