Nocturne Counters: Who Beats Nocturne

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Nocturne counters are junglers who punish him for attacking them, or who can stop the dive that Paranoia starts. He’s a 125 range melee assassin who strips enemy vision with his ultimate, launches onto a target, fears whoever stays in range of his tether and blocks one ability with his spell shield. The picks that beat him turn his basic attacks against him and stay standing after the dive.

Five junglers below, each matched to his kit through named abilities. Win-rate sites weren’t part of this.

Why is Nocturne hard to counter?

• Umbra Blades (passive): every few seconds his next attack hits surrounding enemies for bonus physical damage and heals him; his attacks shorten the cooldown.
• Duskbringer (Q): a shadow blade that damages, leaves a Dusk Trail and makes champions it hits leave one too. On the trail he moves through units with extra Move Speed and Attack Damage. Cooldown 8 seconds.
• Shroud of Darkness (W): passive Attack Speed; the active is a magical barrier that blocks one enemy ability and doubles that Attack Speed if it does. Cooldown 20 seconds at rank 1, 12 at rank 5.
• Unspeakable Horror (E): a tether that deals damage each second and fears the target if they’re still in range at the end. Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11.
• Paranoia (R): reduces every enemy champion’s sight radius and removes their ally vision, then lets him launch himself at a nearby enemy champion. Cooldown 160/130/100.

Paranoia is the part that makes junglers groan. The whole enemy team loses vision, nobody can see where he’s coming from, and then he’s on top of the carry with Unspeakable Horror ticking. Shroud of Darkness eats the one stun meant to stop him. Then again, look at what’s left once he lands: a melee champion who does his damage with basic attacks and needs a few seconds of contact to fear anyone. Champions who punish attacks or who survive those seconds take the whole plan apart.

Which champions are the best Nocturne counters?

Jax

Counter Strike (E) lets Jax dodge every incoming attack for a short duration, then stuns all enemies around him. Nocturne’s damage comes almost entirely from attacks, including the Umbra Blades heal, so a Nocturne who launches onto Jax mid-Counter Strike deals nothing and gets stunned for the effort (a rare sight, but a lovely one). Leap Strike (Q) lets Jax chase him down a Dusk Trail, and Grandmaster-at-Arms (R) adds Armor and Magic Resist on activation. Relentless Assault (passive) ramps his Attack Speed with every consecutive hit. A drawn-out duel? That’s Jax’s fight.

Rammus

Activating Defensive Ball Curl (W) gives Rammus a large boost to Armor and Magic Resist and damages anyone who attacks him. Against an assassin who wins fights by attacking, that’s a terrible trade for Nocturne. Frenzying Taunt (E) forces Nocturne to keep attacking, which makes it worse. Spiked Shell (passive) converts those resistances into bonus Attack Damage, and Powerball (Q) gets Rammus to a fight fast, slowing whoever it hits. The catch: Shroud of Darkness blocks a single ability, and a taunt is a spell, so bait the shield out with Powerball first.

Poppy

Steadfast Presence (W) stops enemy dashes around her when activated, and a stopped enemy is slowed and grounded. Paranoia ends with Nocturne launching himself at a champion. If that champion is Poppy or someone next to her, the launch can stop dead. The passive half of the spell adds Armor and Magic Resist, more when she’s low. Heroic Charge (E) dashes Poppy into him and pushes him back, stunning him against a wall, and Keeper’s Verdict (R) knocks enemies very far away, which is a neat way to deliver a diving Nocturne out of the fight entirely. Iron Ambassador (passive) bounces her buckler off a target, and picking it back up grants a temporary shield.

Xin Zhao

Crescent Guard (R) damages nearby enemies based on their current Health, knocks back anyone who isn’t his challenged target, and makes Xin Zhao impervious to damage from champions outside the circle. Three Talon Strike (Q) knocks the target into the air on the third hit. Open with Audacious Charge, and if Shroud eats that, the knock-up is free. Audacious Charge (E) reaches him from range, and Determination (passive) heals Xin on every third attack, which keeps him in the duel. In practice the lane between them comes down to who catches the other first.

Udyr

Blazing Stampede (E) gives Udyr speed, and his first attack against each target stuns them. Recast it and he gets even more speed plus immunity to immobilizing effects for a couple of seconds. Iron Mantle (W) is a shield whose next two attacks heal him, with a bigger shield and a heal based on max Health on recast. That’s a lot of sustain to burn through for an assassin who wants to finish in one rotation. Wilding Claw (Q) adds Attack Speed and bonus damage, and Wingborne Storm (R) damages and slows everyone around him. Honestly, Udyr laughs off the first dive and then starts the second fight himself.

How do you play against Nocturne in the jungle?

• Group up when Paranoia is available. His ultimate reduces sight and removes ally vision, so a lone carry is the target.
• Walk out of Unspeakable Horror’s range. The fear only applies if the target is still in range when the duration ends.
• Bait Shroud of Darkness before your key crowd control. It blocks one ability, and a cheap spell can pop it.
• Count the ultimate. Paranoia sits on a 160 second timer at rank 1, and while it’s down he has to walk in through your wards like anyone else.
• Stay off the Dusk Trail. Duskbringer gives him Move Speed and Attack Damage while he stands on it.

Which items counter Nocturne?

Real talk, he heals through Umbra Blades and does his damage with attacks, so Armor and anti-healing come first. Thornmail has 75 Armor and applies 40% Wounds for 3 seconds to any champion who attacks you, and Bramble Vest does the same for 800 gold. Plating on Plated Steelcaps knocks 10% off every attack that hits you, while Frozen Heart’s Winter’s Caress drags nearby champions’ Attack Speed down by 20%. Against the fear itself, the 30% Tenacity on Mercury’s Treads shortens how long you’re running the wrong way. Squishy carries can buy Zhonya’s Hourglass for 2.5 seconds of Stasis when he lands, and tanks who want to stand in front of him get Health from Heartsteel. The rest is in our item database.

When is Nocturne at his weakest?

Before level 6. Without Paranoia he’s a melee jungler with one gap closer on an 8 second cooldown, and the counters above all win an early skirmish against him. Invade then (bring your laners if you can).

The second window is right after the dive. A Nocturne who spent Paranoia (160 seconds at rank 1, 100 at rank 3) on a target that survived is standing in the middle of your team with Shroud likely used. To be fair, a good Nocturne knows this and waits for the carry to be alone. That’s why grouping up after six beats almost every other answer, including the items further up this page.

Unsure what the jungle role involves? Our guide to LoL roles explains it. His cosmetics are on the Nocturne skins page, every champion guide we’ve written sits on one hub, and for the five-on-five version there’s the Nocturne ARAM guide. Long story short, Nocturne counters punish his attacks, survive the Paranoia dive and turn it into a bad trade.

FAQ

Who counters Nocturne the most?

Jax and Rammus, who punish attackers; Poppy, who can stop his dash; and Xin Zhao and Udyr, who outlast his dive and fight back.

What does Shroud of Darkness block?

A single enemy ability. If it blocks one, Nocturne’s passive Attack Speed from the spell is doubled.

How do you avoid the fear from Unspeakable Horror?

Get out of range before the tether’s duration ends. The fear only applies to a target still in range at that moment.

What is Paranoia’s cooldown?

160 seconds at rank 1, 130 at rank 2 and 100 at rank 3.

How were these Nocturne counters picked?

Nocturne’s patch 26.21 abilities were read side by side with each jungler’s kit, and only the five clearest answers made the list. No win-rate data was involved.