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Nasus needs to reaffrim his identity

King Livid·1/2/2019, 9:41:32 PM·12 votes·6,659 views

(and a few others, like Veigar) is supposed to be that late-game fantasy champ that gets progressively stronger as the game goes on. Except, as am sure everyone knows now, Nasus is strongest in the midgame, and starts to fall off in the lategame. Only when Nasus can literally one shot anyone (like 90 minutes in) is the late game fantasy realized. This problem is especially apparent in the current meta, as the "mid" game is much shorter. Nasus has a very limited time to be relevant. A lategame will pretty much get crushed in a 1v1 by other lategame champs , which kinda makes him pointless since he's pretty ineffective in teamfights.

IMO, Nasus SHOULD be that late game fantasy. But because of the weaknesses in his kit he is difficult to work in teamfights, especially when faced with coordinated cc. Here are some changes I can think of that might improve his late game while keeping his early/mid game from being too oppressive.

1: Stacks increase exponentially. Basically Stacks increase in value as the game goes on. Maybe at lvl 1 a cannon is worth 6 stacks, then at lvl 18 they are worth 20 or something.

2: Give his abilities extra effects at max rank. Maybe at max rank his R could also shield him every few seconds, or at max rank his Q could stack faster, or his W could give tenacity, or whatever. The point is that adding extra effects at max rank is a great way to boost mid/late game power without buffing early game.

3: Have his other abilities scale of his Stacks. Not high scalings, of course. But small ones would go a long way.

4: Give him better stat scalings. For a "scaling champion" Nasus base scalings are surprisingly low, especially when compared to other juggernauts. He has lower HP scaling then a lot of "squishy" champs: He he also weirdly low armor scalings, less then (pyke has the highest armor and magic resist scaling for some reason)

5: Change Fighter itemization. This is an issue that needs its own thread, but here I'll just say that cetain champs like itemize way too close to Juggernauts, to the point where they become essential mobile versions of Juggernauts. and have literally the same essential items .

6: Completely rework. I don't think this is neccesary, but...

plz criticise in the comments <3

21 Comments

Bârd1/2/2019, 11:05:38 PM11 votes

What identity?

"The guy who AFK farms top for 25 minutes and presses Q"?

Every spell he has, apart from Q, is boring and only really serves to try to make his Q not shit.

Passive: Q sustains you in lane and in teamfights so you can press Q more times. Q: Q W: Keeps them from running away, allowing you to press Q more. E: Makes your Q slightly more effective, nukes waves down for expedient Q stacking. R: Makes you tankier so you can live longer to press Q more times, reduces the CD of Q.

His Q can stay, since that's the only defining element of this champion, but everything else could be replaced completely.

Atmosphere1/3/2019, 1:19:09 AM5 votes

Nasus doesn't need any changes to his scaling. Buffing the damage of a champion struggling in a damage meta is extremely counterintuitive when it comes to balancing a one shot fiesta game. Until the broken champs/runes/items are addressed, there should really be nothing but nerfs

Handy Sandy 1/3/2019, 12:09:08 AM3 votes

Why should Nasus be strong in a meta he should be weak in?

I think Nasus should get a complete rework. His wither is disgusting and shouldn't be on him.

Icy Hot Shoto1/2/2019, 10:13:32 PM2 votes

Personally, and this is just my opinion, none of the stack champs can really reach their end-game when:

End game no longer exists like it used to. There's too much true damage. Not enough resistance for existing damage.

Gilgayu1/3/2019, 1:55:20 AM2 votes

There is actually a reason why nasus is trash late game.

When new players enter a game, they need to play easy yet op champions, and who do they go to? Garen, Nasus, Ashe, and Annie

Garen is somewhat relevant in higher elos (meaning silver+) because his silence and tankiness still give him some pressure over lanes and late game ability to just tank all the damage and go straight into back lane. Ashe is okay because she has an impactful global ult if landed. Her slow is also somewhat useful in an extended teamfight. Annie is not so okay, but her aoe stun can still be useful periodically.

But Nasus? Tbh he has to stay trash. His q is a bit too strong if he can always land it, that's why zoneing him away in teamfights is like the easiest thing in the game. For begineers, sure, you press r, then you just ghost (they don't have flash yet lolol) and spam qweqqwqwqqwqqewq...... If there is a way to secure his survival in teamfights and give him enough mobility to reach back lane and melt them down, he would be broken.

The only solution to make him viable in higher elos is a complete VGU, but it would destroy the game for begineers. I mean you can't expect level 1 players (who aren't smurfs) to land an e when playing irelia, or reading that whole passive of jhin.

There are things that just have to be the way they are

Bladerunner77771/3/2019, 7:00:10 AM1 votes

Nasus being a "late game god" is something that will probably never happen

In order to be a "late game god", you need range or mobility (but preferably both). Nasus, as a juggernaut, will never have either of those things. So you'll just have to settle with having a massive midgame powerspike with Trinity Force and try to gain some momentum at that time.

Disulfiram1/3/2019, 9:15:59 AM1 votes

{quoted}

1: Stacks increase exponentially. Basically Stacks increase in value as the game goes on. Maybe at lvl 1 a cannon is worth 6 stacks, then at lvl 18 they are worth 20 or something.

What about making the stacks scale with themselves? For example, each minion could increase the stack count by (Q damage)/30 instead of always 3.

So, at 0 stacks and level 1 Q (base damage=30), killing a minion would increase the stack count by 1 At 310 stacks and level 5 Q (base damage=110), killing a minion would increase the stack count by 14

This way a denied Nasus would have an harder time coming back into the game, while a farmed Nasus would become the huge lategame threat he's intended to be.

A Chaotic Mind1/3/2019, 9:39:48 AM1 votes

but nasus was always a mid game champ since adcs with a brain just build qss and kite him in 5v5 teamfights

ADC Yuumi1/2/2019, 10:04:54 PM1 votes

I feel like Riot has noticed that with the lack of original DH that Nasus lost a whole chunk of his godly offense blows, and they are going to buff his stacks to triple the amount against large monsters. champions and large minions.

However, when I have a stack champion like Nasus, Sion or Veigar; I want to be able to know that with a good laning phase I can build full tank and still hurt the enemy team badly.

The Patriachy1/3/2019, 4:46:44 PM1 votes

Nasus was never a lategame champ. He was always strongest at the 2 item mark which was why it was always hilarious to see nasus never group in the midgame.

He's always just going to get cc chained and shredded lategame because he doesn't do enough damage to tanks and can never reach the backline with no dash.

He's just a champion with a terrible design. He's a splitpusher that wants to push as slow as possible to farm q stacks so he never has any real pressure.

Baron Barian1/2/2019, 11:50:14 PM1 votes

The biggest complain most people have with the game right now is the "too much damage" issue, and I feel that problem can't be solved with even more damage, so I'm not at all for the idea of him getting 20 stacks at once at any point of the game. A well stacked Nasus is also dependent on the player being good as Nasus, so I wouldn't really want stacking to be too easy for bad players. He is otherwise a fundamentally simple champion after all.

I would love some improvements for his tankiness though. I personally find tanks to be struggling a bit right now because of how easy it is scale up on damage to the point that a tank can't actually survive. And Nasus usually needs a sheen before anything tanky. That late-game dream is of him being a hard-hitting, damage sponge, slow but inevitable death of a monster after all.

Ignika D1/3/2019, 1:05:36 AM1 votes

nasus needs the wither as long this creatures remain untouched other wise he will lose the 1vs 1 Jax Tryndamere Vayne Udyr when riot make them fair wither can finaly go away from the game

Sasogwa1/3/2019, 1:09:11 AM1 votes

Nasus simply can not fulfill his lategame tankiness as long as tankiness is shit. He just can't, right now the problem isn't Nasus's kit but conqueror's and damage in general.

Yaskamasandwich1/3/2019, 4:42:50 AM1 votes

I recall a long time ago Riot was considering a full Nasus rework and removing his stacking kit. They felt it was too toxic while coupled with his Wither. Guess they semi reworked him from the late game God Doge to a mid game Not-a-God Doge. I remember the old trick was to Wither the carry while at the front lines. If they bought a Quicksilver Sash, their damage drops. If they didn't their damage dropped drastically compared to my ADC. That was my team fighting contribution that worked well enough. Or use Wither to avoid Assassins not named Rengar killing my ADC as well. Then Mercurial Scimitar, and Nasus' Wither range nerf removed all capabilities of Nasus being able to team fight and having any relevance in the late game. Everything else like power creep in general just added on to removing him from late game.