Nocturne ARAM Build and Guide

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch; ARAM balance numbers come from the League of Legends Wiki’s champion data.

A Nocturne ARAM build is a bruiser build with Life Steal and area damage, and the Howling Abyss is unusually generous to him. Nocturne deals 110% damage, takes 90% damage and heals for 120% in ARAM. Add an ultimate that blinds an entire enemy team, and you get a diver who lands harder and lives longer than on the Rift.

Below is our reading of his patch 26.21 kit and the current shop. No win-rate charts were involved.

How is Nocturne changed in ARAM?

Three buffs at once. He deals 10% more damage, takes 10% less, and every heal (Umbra Blades, Life Steal, Ravenous Hydra’s active) restores 20% more than normal. Why so generous? Probably because his signature trick depends on fog of war, and the Abyss has very little of it: one lane, few walls, and the enemy can see him coming most of the time. The modifiers make him tankier on the approach to make up for that. Long story short, he arrives healthier and stays healthier.

Why does Nocturne fit the Howling Abyss?

Because Paranoia still blinds everyone, and on a single lane a blinded team can’t spread out to cover each other. Riot’s patch 26.21 text:

• Umbra Blades (passive): every few seconds his next attack cleaves surrounding enemies for bonus physical damage and heals him; attacks reduce the cooldown.
• Duskbringer (Q): a shadow blade leaving a Dusk Trail behind it and on champions it hits, giving him Move Speed, Attack Damage and unit-passing while he’s on it. Cooldown 8.
• Shroud of Darkness (W): passive Attack Speed; activate it for a barrier that blocks one enemy ability and doubles the Attack Speed on success. Cooldown 20/18/16/14/12.
• Unspeakable Horror (E): damage every second, then a fear if the target is still in range. Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11.
• Paranoia (R): shrinks every enemy champion’s sight radius and cuts ally vision, then lets him launch at a nearby enemy champion. Cooldown 160/130/100.

Umbra Blades is the part that improves most. It hits everything around him, and in an ARAM fight “everything around him” is three or four champions plus minions, each one adding to the heal, which the 120% healing modifier then boosts. Paranoia is the other half. A blinded enemy team can’t see which of them he’s launching at, and since the lane is narrow, the target is rarely far from the rest. Funny enough, a blinded team in a corridor tends to clump even tighter, which only helps him.

What should a Nocturne ARAM build focus on?

Area damage, Health and Life Steal, because he plays right in the middle of the enemy team and the healing modifier rewards every source of sustain.

Ravenous Hydra goes first. Cleave makes his attacks hit nearby enemies for physical damage, which stacks with the Umbra Blades cleave, and the active Ravenous Crescent hits around him with his Life Steal applying. The 12% Life Steal and 65 Attack Damage both scale with the 120% healing modifier in practice, since more damage means more healing.

Black Cleaver is second. Carve reduces a target’s Armor by 6% for 6 seconds per hit, stacking 5 times, and Fervor gives Move Speed when he deals physical damage. Against tanks, that Armor shred is the difference between a dive that kills and a dive that tickles. It brings 400 Health as well.

Third, Sterak’s Gage. Lifeline grants a decaying Shield for 4.5 seconds when damage would take him below 30% Health, which tends to trigger right after Paranoia when the enemy team turns on him. The 20% Tenacity helps him keep attacking through crowd control (honestly, the most underrated stat on a diver).

Death’s Dance closes the build. Ignore Pain spreads part of the damage he takes over 3 seconds, and Defy cleanses what’s left and heals him when a champion he damaged dies. In a dive that ends with a kill, that’s the whole incoming burst erased. Boots are Plated Steelcaps against physical damage teams, or Mercury’s Treads when the enemy has more crowd control than his spell shield can handle.

How do you play Nocturne on the Howling Abyss?

• Cast Paranoia when the enemy team is bunched up. It blinds all of them, and a bunched team can’t tell who he’s going for.
• Save Shroud of Darkness for the stun aimed at you after you land. It blocks one ability, so timing matters more than speed.
• Throw Duskbringer through the enemy frontline. Champions it hits leave their own Dusk Trail, which you can follow to the backline.
• Stay in range of Unspeakable Horror’s target until the fear lands, then move on.
• Attack minions between fights. Each attack reduces the Umbra Blades cooldown, and the heal is boosted here.

What do no-recall shopping and Mark change for Nocturne?

You can’t recall in ARAM. Gold gets spent at the fountain at the start and after each death, and outside of that the lane’s health relics are the only refill. Nocturne cares less than most (Umbra Blades and Life Steal keep him topped up, both boosted by the 120% modifier), which means he can stay on the lane for long stretches while carrying unspent gold. Don’t let that pile up. A death with 3,000 gold in your pocket is a whole item missing from the next fight.

Mark throws a snowball; a hit lets you dash to that champion. Summoner choices lock before the game loads. For Nocturne, the snowball pairs neatly with Paranoia: hit someone with Mark, ultimate to blind the team, launch onto a second target, and keep Mark’s dash for chasing the first. Is that a lot of engage for one champion? It is, and to be fair, his whole design is engaging from somewhere unexpected.

Is Nocturne good in ARAM?

Yes. The 110% damage dealt, 90% damage taken and 120% healing modifiers all work in his favour, and Paranoia still blinds a whole team on a map where they can’t spread out. His weakness is the approach before level 6: a melee champion with one gap closer on an 8 second cooldown takes a lot of poke walking up the lane.

The junglers who handle him best are listed in our guide to beating Nocturne. If you want the normal Rift picture, our rundown of League roles explains the jungle position. The numbers for each item above are in the LoL items index, and his skins are on the Nocturne skins page.

In one line, the Nocturne ARAM build is Ravenous Hydra, Black Cleaver, Sterak’s Gage and Death’s Dance: blind them with Paranoia, launch into the bunch, and let the boosted healing do the rest.

FAQ

Is Nocturne buffed in ARAM?

Yes. His patch 26.21 modifiers in the League of Legends Wiki’s data are 110% damage dealt, 90% damage taken and 120% healing.

What items does the Nocturne ARAM build use?

Ravenous Hydra, Black Cleaver, Sterak’s Gage and Death’s Dance, with Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads depending on the enemy team.

Does Paranoia work in ARAM?

Yes. It reduces every enemy champion’s sight radius and removes their ally vision, then lets Nocturne launch at a nearby enemy, the same as on Summoner’s Rift.

Why Ravenous Hydra first?

Its Cleave hits enemies around him on every attack and its active applies Life Steal, which suits a champion who fights in the middle of a crowd with boosted healing.

How were these items chosen?

By reading Nocturne’s patch 26.21 abilities next to each item’s effects. We don’t use win-rate data.