Nocturne, the Eternal Nightmare: Discussion

His (assuming that Nocturne has a sex, and not just a terrifying and masculine voice) title says it all. You should be scared of this guy, and continuously so. Think of the dream you don't wake up from. Yeah. This guy is the real Freddy Krueger of Runeterra. His origin story is meh at best, but that's not what this post is about. We're seeing Assassins get their update and Nocturne is no longer considered to exist in such class, now shifted to a Diver. While the title matches his go ham, blind everyone and get right on that one target in the backline, his kit is just.. Meh. His visuals are also completely out of whack so when Divers get their class update, which RIOT THEY BETTER, Nocturne should be priority one in this class update. Along with Pantheon and Irelia. Moving on.

Divers are characterized by their ability to ignore the front line, and stick to people like glue. Not tanky, but can survive a beating if not hashed out fast, not to mention take some out along the way. So, in what ways does Nocturne succeed or fail in this department? Let's observe. But first, backstory.

I picked up Nocturne about 3 years ago as one of my first champions because he was sexy as hell. The shadows, the umbra blades, the chill down your spine when you play him. (No? Just me?) He was amazing, but now he is very subpar. Caught between a now assassin/diver/fighter identity he just doesn't shine. Even in his darkness. He is a classic fed or famine situation. In the latter he just goes tanky and that is honestly heartbreaking to me. This guy should NEVER be tanky. It just doesn't fit... He literally has no PHYSICAL FORM to take a punch. So let's examine Nocturne out of Riot's boundaries a bit. Throw out the terms assassin, diver, fighter, etc. What should this guy be?

A fucking. Nightmare.

Fear. Cold sweat. Shivering. Paranoia. Dizzyness. Anxiety. Everything you think of when you imagine the worst of bad dreams. So why is this guy so not... scary. True, it's hard to implement fear in this kind of game setting (except when that Fidd pops out of nowhere), but he should bring more Fear to his play style, and I'm not suggesting the status effect.

So without further ado....

THE SUCCESSES AND SHORTCOMINGS OF OUR NOT SO FRIGHTENING WET DREAM:

Let's take the easy route. P Q W E R, eh?

Passive - Umbra Blades:

This is problematic. Does it make sense for his character? Sort of, big long blades, just do a little spin and suck some souls. But the sustain from this attack puts Nocturne into an overlapping Skirmisher class, which lends to the tanky/sustain kind of deal that Divers shouldn't necessarily have. Especially not someone who is ethereal, right? I understand that it is necessary early game for his jungle clears, but late game, as a diver, being surrounded by multiple champions isn't ideal. Odds are you'll be dead and that little spin heal won't do you much good, as your primary focus should be damage. You don't see Freddy hauling around a blast shield.

Q - Duskbringer

This ability is sound, and functions well in Nocturne's kit atm. It really highlights the "nightmare dude is on your trail and he's catching up" thing. It raises his dmg, gives him a zone to play around in and make his victims a little more anxious. Also if someone flashes from his ult, he can use the speed boost to stay on them. Dive hard or don't dive, brah.

W - Shroud of Darkness

I admire the concept, the name, the utility of this spell, and everything. A diver is vulnerable, so having this makes one thing against him useless, and just pisses him off more. It's core to his "I've been doing this for awhile, you know eternally, and you can't stop me". HOWEVER. The attack speed buff lends more to the Skirmisher pattern of playstyle, directly tied to his passive. So if the passive is unhealthy, then the Shroud buff becomes useless. If reworked, the reward from this ability and his passive would need to be key points.

E - Unspeakable Horror

Here we have the Malefic Visions/Soul Shackles/Terrify ability that is so unoriginal it kills me. I would say haunts, but meh. I think this ability could have a lot more to it. Yes, the dive and stick to a single target is emphasized, as should be, with the speed boost and disability, but it is so bland. Not to mention the visuals suck. Does the fear/chase concept work beautifully? Absolutely. I just feel it could be pushed in a more tactical way.

R - Paranoia

The creme de la creme. The iconic ability that makes everyone on the Rift shit their pants. Is he coming for me? Good god. I'm toast. It makes everyone rethink their positioning, where their allies were before the lights went out, and how many summoners they're willing to burn to get this guy off of them. It's beautiful. But. Can't it be more? With the kits Riot is releasing nowadays, there exists so many potential connections as opposed to R Q E (W somewhere good) auto auto auto. So let's explore those.

WHAT A POTENTIAL REWORK COULD/SHOULD CONTAIN FOR SMOKEY:

Passive: Umbra Blades

Let's imagine instead of just spinning and drinking some soul, we infuse the fear/paranoia vibe into his autos and spells? For instance, we take Q's trails and infuse that into them? Any champion affected by Nocturne's spells becomes "Paranoid." (A status new and unique to Nocturne). Nocturne's abilities/autos could be empowered against that target in some way (healing, like absorbing life essence through fear, extra dmg, because divers should be primarily damage). Also, Nocturne gains movement speed while chasing down his Paranoid prey, cause that's why Micheal Myers was so fast.

Q - Duskbringer

Still beautiful. If the passive absorbs the move speed, the trails left by enemy champions can stop clogging up the Rift (it's messy, Rito). Imagine it more like a Lissandra Claw, and maybe make it so it dissipates when colliding with terrain (so it's not so obvious when Noc is doing chickens). This will be like Ryze's new conduit Spell Flux. This ability is how he chases down his targets, isolates his paranoid marksmen/mages.

W - Shroud of Darkness

Don't think it should change in anyway except for a modified buff from attack speed to something else, maybe movespeed (nothing is scarier than Chucky being one place, then another), or maybe further tenacity since his shield will be down. A nightmare you can't stop. Also bonus attack damage, or armor penetration. All ideas.

E - Unspeakable Horror

The fear spell. Basic attacks and spells refresh the duration of Paranoid. Once an enemy champion has been paranoid for x seconds, they become feared and the champion is immune to that status effect (much like Udyr's bear stun, only much longer) but can still hold Paranoid for chasing opportunities. Paranoid's passive is doubled against feared targets (could be more dmg, more healing, move faster to line up with current live kit, etc. options).

R - Paranoia

Lights go out, and every enemy champion is afflicted with Paranoid. Nocturne can recast this ability to dash to and THROUGH a visible enemy champion (ending up on the opposite side, good counterplay potential if you know where he is coming from, but also good so he can cut you off and not be so predictably cc'd). I personally feel he should become a literal shade and invulnerable to cc, like Vi, and damage those he crosses minimally, as his primary focus should be his ulted target.

RECAP & REVIEW

This is just spitballing, obviously coming up with champion abilities on the spot is intense, especially solo. I just felt that Nocturne should embody a true nightmare. The only way we can escape our nightmares is to wake up, but if this guy is the eternal nightmare, waking up should be difficult. Fear is expected. You have to get far and away, or stay close to your allies, since friends kick ass y'know. Also, get behind barriers, flash over walls, hide in unwarded brush. It's a game of hide and seek and if he finds you, you're basically dead. I just want that theme to be pushed farther than "this guy has massive attack speed and is super tanky, so good luck".

I titled this discussion, so please share your thoughts and concepts! Obviously I'm not the only person who loves Nocturne or wishes to see a little love for him. Also if you made it through this, great job! Caffeine is to be thanked!