Rework Concept: Nocturne

Nocturne has been relatively untouched since his creation as one of the first Champions, and time has not been well to Mr. Shadow. I wanted to have some fun with turning the jungle into his nightmarish playground, but emphasizing the buddy system vs him. With the current concept, I think of him as a very strong early game skirmisher with something for him to do in late game compared to current. His build path is still extremely open, but it should be more clear on what to build in which scenarios.

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Nocturne: the Eternal Nightmare

Passive - Unspeakable Horrors Landing a damaging ability on an Enemy Champion or Large Monster tethers them and applies one stack. As long as the tether remains, Nocturne’s basic attacks and damaging abilities against them applies one additional stack, up to 4. At 4 stacks, they are Feared for ( 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 ) ( at level 1 / 6 / 11 / 16 ) seconds. The Fear duration is always 2.5 seconds against Large Monsters. Once the tether is broken, that unit cannot be marked again for 10 seconds.

Fearing an Enemy Champion causes Nocturne to enter Eternal Nightmare, granting him a bonus 20% AD and ( 20% + 5 x level ) Attack Speed for 4 seconds. Auto attacks against enemy Champions extend this time by 1 second, up to 8 seconds maximum. Nocturne gains ( 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 ) bonus Movement Speed when moving towards a nearby visible Enemy Champion who is faced away from him at this time.

• Makes him very scary to duel early game, and almost impossible to run away from without a hard disengage. Since the activation is gated, it can be more difficult for him to activate this in late game.

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Q - Duskbringer Cooldown - 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 Cost - 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 Mana Range - 250 Dash + 250 Attack

Nocturne lunges forward or towards a targeted unit, dealing Physical Damage in a small area in front. If he dashes into terrain, he continues in a straight line through the terrain, empowering Duskbringer.

Empowered - When he arrives outside of the terrain, he slashes in a 180-degree cone, dealing increased damage and Crippling enemies hit by 30% for 3 seconds.

Damage: ( 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 ) + (50% bAD) Empowered Damage: ( 90 / 150 / 210 / 270 / 330) + ( 75% bAD )

• Once inside of terrain, Nocturne cannot change directions or cancel Duskbringer. Duskbringer will last indefinitely until Nocturne has reached the end of the terrain (such as R).

• When inside terrain, enemy Champions near the wall he's exiting from will see a mark on the wall, similar to 's E. Also similarly, if Nocturne is hit with Hard Crowd Control while inside a wall, he will be immediately knocked out of the wall to the nearest available space.

• Duskbringer can carry Nocturne through player-made terrain. It cannot be used to go through any part of the outermost wall of the map. Duskbringer will still become Empowered even if the dash range would normally allow Nocturne to cross the terrain.

• His main damage and mobility tool. The mobility it offers through walls is insane, especially at max range. Great for starting jungle camps, ganking lanes from unusual angles, chasing down Champions in the jungle, and even escaping. The unempowered version can still be used for a quick burst.

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W - Shroud of Darkness Cooldown - 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 Cost - 80 Mana Range - Self

Nocturne becomes untargetable, ghosted, and invincible, cleansing himself of slows, but unable to attack or use abilities. He has 150 reduced Movement Speed for the duration, but gains bonus movement speed if he touches an enemy and removes the self-slow. He Slows all enemies he touches by 20% for 1 second, refreshed as long as he is touching them while in Shroud of Darkness.

Duration 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds Bonus Movement Speed: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%

• Eternal Nightmare’s timer is paused during Shroud of Darkness.

• His only real defensive utility option. Useless in the jungle, but very good at causing mayhem in skirmishes and fights, or safely turret diving. You are slowed when not touching an enemy, and can't attack, so make sure you don't put yourself in a bad spot.

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E - Umbral Blades Cooldown - 2 seconds (static) Cost - No Cost Range - 250 Radius

Passive - Nocturne gains stacks of Umbral Blades as he kills units. Small Minions and Small Monsters are 1 stack, Large Monsters and Large Minions are 3, and Champions are 5 (5 max). At 5 stacks, he can activate Umbral Blades.

Active - Deals Physical Damage in a radius. Nocturne restores 5% of his Missing Health, doubled if he hits a Large Monster or Champion.

Physical Damage: ( 80 / 105 / 130 / 155 / 180 ) + ( 80% bAD )

• Mostly a jungle clear tool that keeps him healthy. Faster clear + self heal = more time for ganks. Clear a jungle camp, then carry your E into a gank for quick burst.

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R - Paranoia Cooldown - 150/125/100 Cost - 100 Mana Range - Global First Cast, 2500/3250/4000 Second Cast

First Cast - Gives all enemies nearsighted for 4 seconds.

Second Cast - Nocturne dashes to a target champion over a long distance, dealing Physical Damage.

Physical Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 + 100% bAD

• Pretty much the same as current ult. It opens up his Passive, so it can be even better at catching lone opponents out.

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Playstyle: Nocturne becomes a very strong early game ganker and skirmisher, built mostly for the Jungle. The AD/AS steroid from Eternal Nightmare combined with the Fear makes him hurt quite a lot even without items. Umbral Blades can be stored pre-fighting, and he gets it for free if he kills a Champion, which can lead to comebacks if several low-HP champions are nearby. Escaping over a wall isn't always the best idea against Nocturne, as he can follow you with an Empowered Duskbringer and make quick work of you. Shroud of Darkness is niche, but can be amazing at avoiding powerful abilities, as well as sticking to your opponent, taking advantage of the Slow it provides. You don't have any instant hard CC, so coordination with laners is key.

Your objective control isn't the greatest, but you have plenty of mobility to get in and out of the pits between Duskbringer, Shroud of Darkness, and Paranoia. His main steroid (Eternal Darkness) is only useful against enemy Champions, so he wants to go for blood whenever possible. You aren't very tanky, and your only real defense is Shroud of Darkness, so item paths are important to optimize.

Late Game, Nocturne needs Eternal Nightmare to be of much use in fights, so big teamfights aren't always his strong suit. He can dive with Paranoia, then Shroud of Darkness around, avoiding lots of return damage, and spreading Slows to create confusion and chaos while the darkness clears. Hopefully in this time, Nocturne's team will follow him up (or leave him to die as soon as W ends...) Paranoia and fairly low cooldowns still make Nocturne a very scary skirmisher if caught alone.

Nocturne could be played Top in some matchups. Umbral Blades provides decent sustain with the constant flow of minions, but you waste your early kill potential and Empowered Qs. His kit is all very close range and relies on drawn-out fights, so Mid is not very good for him either, as he's very vulnerable to harass.

Items: Attack Damage!... obviously. is almost always the way to go, but and even have niche use I'm sure. is useful for chasing down foes even more, and can be used for killing champions you have no problem getting close to.

is always a good buy for AD bruisers, the stats are great. ... any classic AD item will do, really. Even some Attack Speed items like can be good, for activating Eternal Nightmare sooner. BotRK is useful for shredding those tankier foes as well. Even work for quick kills on squishies.

Tank items are also good buys too, if you want to act as some kind of off-tank. works well for roaming and trapping a lone target. especially helps diving with its Active. Nocturne has decent damage on his own, so some tankiness allows him a safer chance of getting Eternal Nightmare.

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I've made a lot of character designs for fun in free time, and this was one of my favorites. Curious to hear other thoughts.