Nasus setup discussion (also questions)

Camp Top··1 votes·940 views

Hello everyone! So since the preseason, I've been wondering if the best Nasus setup has changed considerably. First of all, I have been running the mastery setup of 0/18/12 this season. While the Resolve tree will give nasus alot of what he needs, I believe the Cunning tree is another very effective strategy. I will only take time to go over the main ones. Secret stash is useful for nasus because it provides a nice extra added amount of sustain in the lane while being able to take cloth armor. Cloth 4 is my favorite start this season because of all the AD people are running and gets us closer to 20% cdr (it builds into frozen heart) I like to take intelligence mastery for the 45% cdr. It will put Fury of the Sands on a 66 second cooldown, shaving 6 extra seconds off the ultimate timer. Stormraider's Surge is the main reason I like to dip into Cunning on Nasus. While it may seem more useful on a burst champion for getting in and out, it provides a well stacked nasus basically a free move speed boost every time you Q a squishy, which will make you very sticky with item 3078 or item 3025 . The defensive tree is a no-brainer for the other 12 points, but I do take insight over perseverance because i can make useful teleports more often.

My personal favorite rune setup is Ad marks, armor seals, and CDR blues+quints. This allows me to have very little down time on Q in lane, missing less stacks. Surviving lane with these is not as hard as you would expect. The pros of what I have suggested are that Nasus has alot of utility he did not have access to before. I feel the tank keystones wont work on nasus because you wont be in sustained combat if you stacked correctly. The cons are that you are much less tanky, which isn't much of an issue with ADCs able to tankbust so fine anyway.

The dilemma i have run into is the proper build this season. There are a few things that have changed that we cannot overlook.

item 3025 Versus item 3110 + item 3078 This is the main thing I have been wondering about. Before frozen heart and Trinity force was much more attractive option, but with increased frozen heart price and trinity force price, I think this is less valuable than the tweaked iceborn gauntlet. The iceborn gauntlet no longer offers ap, but now provides a total 20% cdr, a sheen proc providing more stickiness, and is a faster mini version of the other combo. The reason it bewilders me is because while the two together are a much stronger force, the iceborn is a faster version of both items combined and it can keep up with the pace of todays meta.

The other items I have been having a problem with are item 3065 or item 3072 The reason I wonder which one to take now is because there is a lot less opportunities to grab a visage now, and while it was a very essential part of nasus's sustain patterns mid game, the bloodthirster provides a similar benefit and it works against ad comps better. The problem with building a bloodthirster is that it has to hold off til later on or you will not be tanky enough. Visage seems like the choice I would go with but it is not easy with the amount of full ad comps now.

So my question to you is, item 3025 or item 3110 + item 3078 and item 3065 or item 3072? Sorry if this is not neatly formatted, I do not post very often on these forums.

3 Comments

Cherysse1 votes

Have u tried hybrid spell-vamp nasus?

SaltyKracka1 votes

I find 0-18-12 to be rather shit, honestly. Nasus can get much more sustain, still get to 40% CDR super fast, and do much more damage with 12-0-18 and 10% CDR from runes.

All that said, you were asking about items. I would like FG on Nasus, but he already has a slow in the form of Wither and slows don't stack anymore. So I generally go FH TF.

Also, I would definitely definitely definitely go SV over BT. Nasus doesn't scale with AD well, and any game where you didn't want SV's Magic resistance you would be better served by getting another armor item anyways.

EndlessSorcerer1 votes

I prefer 0/12/18 with Grasp of the Undying personally. I like the extra damage and sustain provided by Grasp of the Undying when laning and fighting and it works well with how bulky Nasus can get.

I'm not really a fan of Stormrider's Surge on Nasus; I find that his main issue is getting to a target, not sticking on them once he's in range. It can work. but it's not my preference.

I used to use Flat CDR Quints and Glyphs, Armor Pen Marks, and Armor Seals in my rune page. Those would provide 40% CDR when combined with the 5% CDR Mastery, Iceborn Gauntlet, and Spirit Visage in the previous season.

However, after the changes to Iceborn Gauntlet and the masteries, I'm probably going to use Lifesteal Quints and MR Glyphs instead (though I may decide to keep the Flat CDR Gylphs). I can get 30% CDR from Iceborn Gauntlet and Spirit Visage, which have always been my core items on Nasus.

I really like using Armor Pen Marks on Nasus. While it gives you a bit less AD for early last hitting, I've spent so much time farming under tower on Nasus that it isn't really an issue at this point. However, Armor Pen Marks will significantly amplify your damage against squishy targets due to how well it synergizes with your Q-stacks, Spellblade, the AD from your ultimate, and the armor pen from Spirit Fire.

I tend to build him primarily as a tank with little in the way of damage items. A common final build for me would probably look something like the following: item 3047 or item 3111, item 3025, item 3065, item 3742, item 3102, item 3075

It provides good sticking potential (Iceborn and Deadman's Plate) durability (health, MR, armor), sustain (Spirit Visage), and damage (Sheen + Thornmail + Deadman's Plate).

More from Gameplay

More by Camp Top