Im looking at either buying Nocturne or Volibear for my next jungle. I'm leaning toward Nocturne because of his post-6 presence, but im also leaning towards Voli because of his pre-6 and post-6 presence. I need ideas!!!
I prefer Volibear, Nocturne has issues carrying the mid-game since you're either squishy or do no damage. Volibear has plenty of built-in damage and tankiness so if you're ahead (or sometimes even) you can 1v2 or 1v3. Nocturne's better late game but his pre-6 and even post-6 has issues (some ADC's can just dash out of his cc, he has no built-in slows, his only gank potential is on a 1.5-minute cd). Not to mention Voli's relative safety early game.
And don't forget, Volibear is an absolute beast top-lane (no pun intended), honestly he's probably stronger there since he can hit his mid-game power spike much earlier than he can while jungling. Nocturne doesn't have that sort of versatility.
Once again Nocturne's stronger late game and scales better, but Voli's easier to carry the early/mid-game with and is one of the best tanks in the game.
Nocturne is a much more versatile pick than Voli imo, so I vote for that. You run the risk with Voli of playing into something like Ziggs or Morgana that can just shut you down in teamfights. Nocturne's not the greatest, but you're not risking getting taken out of the game if you pick him blind.
Nocturne can carry harder, Volibear can snowball harder. Other than that, Nocturne struggles in skirmishes, he has alot of damage in his kit, but he has squishy base stats. Nocturne is stronger offensively in 5v5 teamfights through his utility in his ultimate. Either as an initiate or clean-up. He also scale well on most items, so he has a strong lategame. Volibear is strong in skirmishes, and can snowball waaaay easier than Nocturne. In 5v5's Voli struggles at initiating, and excell more as a peeler and tankbuster through his bite. Volibear shines midgame, especially when ahead. However his damage falls off unless you get on hit effects like wits, botrk, triforce or bc (very underestimated item on him)
They depend on your adc's really. If they have Cait, Ez, Lucian or hard to catch slippery fishes, go Nocturne and kill them. If you have Kog'Maw, Graves, Vayne or Sivir, go Volibear and peel.
They're both strong duelists, good gankers and counter gankers, good invaders and have decent clear time while being very strong through different stages in the game.
Btw, I prefer taking Voli toplane, because... Free win.
I picked Nocturne over Volibear because of his pokes and options he offered. He can bait people into whiffing their damage with a spell shield, stick to people with his ranged nuke, and keep them in place with his fear. He can also back out of skirmishes and return when the enemy blows their abilities with his Q and/or ult.
Not to mention his ult is GREAT for picking off weaker champs, cutting vision or scaring the bejeezus out of people.
Volibear doesn't offer that Mobile Response Unit utility that Nocturne has (who can go Tank, Damage or Bruiser and thrive in all of those specific roles). and like I mentioned mentioned earlier, that poke adds a LOT to his options.
I make sure to always get cooldown items on him. Mu current Jungle Nocturne build has SotAG (for soloing dragon) and Youmuu's on it by midgame. Everything else is purely situational, but I usually end up as a bruier tailor-made for picking off squishy casters that would have otherwise carried.
A big thing to realize when picking either champ is their respective strengths, and what counters them. Volibear can utterly wreck entire teams when ahead, but is instantly shut down by anything that can peel. Nocturne on the other hand has a godlike gap closer and more lategame carry potential, but is much easier to shut down early.
