[Champion Concept Rework] Nocturne

With the next two reworks announced, and Nocturne probably going on the back burner for a long time, I thought I'd try my hand at updating his abilities myself, making him more of a kind of nightmare anomaly and Jungle Assassin than he currently is.

To explain a bit before getting to the abilities, I really enjoy playing Nocturne, but he feels too underwhelming to really be good. His kit has really simple and easy counter-play, and he doesn't really work in the current game anymore. So I wanted this rework to expand on mostly the darkness and nightmare concept. Turning Nocturne into a sort of umbral horror that feeds on fear.

Currently, Nocturne kind of fulfills this role by having an absurdly long range gap closer and a fear he triggers after a channel, but nothing else about his kit really screams "nightmare" or "darkness" (outside of whenever he clicks his R). I want to expand the concept of drawing champions into darkness and being kind of an "always behind you" kind of fear that he can inflict, but, I have tarried long enough. On the fun stuff.

Base Stats: HP: 585-2030 (85hp per level) HP5: 8.5-21.3 (0.75hp5 per level) Mana: 275 -955 (40m per level) MP5: 7-14.7 (0.45mp5 per level) Attack Range: 125 Attack Damage: 62-114.7 (3.1ad per level) Attack Speed .721 (2.7% Bonus AS per level) Armor: 38-97.5 (3.5 armor per level) Magic Resist: 32.1-53.4 (1.25 magic resist per level) Movement Speed: 350

Explanation: Nocturnes base stats for the most part are fine, though I believe the extra 5 movespeed is good for the type of champion he wants to be. And the extra mana will help a bit since he has abilities he will use more often.

Passive: Nightmare - Nocturne's Abilities apply a debuff to enemy champions they hit, causing them to leave a trail of darkness that grants Nocturne bonus attack damage and movement speed while he is on the trail, the duration of the debuff is refreshed by Nocturne's basic attacks. Trail lasts 3 seconds Base Duration 4 Seconds, increased by 1.5 seconds for every basic attack Attack Damage: 20/22/24/26/28/30/32/34/36/38/40/42/44/46/48/50/52/54 (+2 AD per level) Movement Speed: 20%/25%/30%/35% (at levels 1/6/11/16)

Explanation: I wanted to make Nocturne play around the trail that his current Q leaves, but it's difficult to do that when he can't keep it up more than about 6 seconds if it hits a champion at the max range, so I figured moving it to his passive and having it trigger when he hits and ability is a bit better. Since it rewards him for dueling and it's much harder for opponents to get them off of him.

Q: Duskbringer - Nocturne sends out a blade that leaves a dusk trail on the ground for 3 seconds, stopping on the first champion hit and dealing physical damage to them. Cooldown: 12 Seconds Mana Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 Damage: 70/120/170/220/270 +70% Bonus AD Range: 1250 Missile Speed:1600

Explanation: I didn't think his Q needed much of a change, but with his ability to refresh the duration of his dusk trail, applying it to multiple enemies at range would have been a bit too much I think, so having it stop on the first champion hit feels a little more right, especially since it does a bit more base damage with only slightly less scaling.

W: Umbra Blades - Nocturne slashes nearby enemies, healing himself For a small amount increased by units after the first. The cooldown is lowered whenever Nocturne basic attacks a champion afflicted by Nightmare Cooldown: 12 Seconds (lowered by 1 second per basic attack) Mana: 35 at all ranks Damage: 40/55/70/85/90 +40% total AD Base healing: 40/60/80100/120 Healing from enemies hit after the first: 5/10/15/20/25 Range: 150

Explanation: I really like Nocturne's current passive and what it does for him as a jungler and duelist. so I figured reworking it to an active ability that's almost the same felt a bit better. This lets him have waveclear when he wants it, and not just passively. letting him choose whether or not to push a wave and rewarding him for being in a crowd of enemies. Though I do think that the numbers on this ability could and should probably be changed around for balancing.

E: Umbral Advance Nocturne slips into his dusk trail and becomes untargetable, following it until he reaches a champion afflicted with Nightmare. On arrival Nocturne briefly fears his victim and enemy enemies in his immediate vicinity and grants himself attack speed. Cooldown: 30/28/26/24/22 seconds Fear Duration: .25 Seconds Attack Speed: 50/55/60/65/70 Attack Speed Duration: 6 Seconds

Explanation: Nocturne needs a way to stick on to champions that can dash or jump away from him, since currently he just needs to hope that either his fear triggers, or the movement speed from his trail is enough, but allowing him to catch up to champions that may have been able to easily evade him before, need to be prepared to fight him. I also though this was a good way to grant him an attack speed buff, as it rewards players for playing aggressively and playing to his strengths, though he can also burn this ability early in a fight to cc a champion to make sure you land an auto attack to refresh his trail. I should also mention that if no champion is inflicted with Nightmare, due to either dodging his Q or whatever other means, then his ganking ability ends up much weaker .

R: Paranoia - 1st Cast; After a brief delay, Nocturne afflicts nearsight to all enemy champions for 6 seconds. 2nd Cast; Nocturne can dash to any champion he has vision of and is nearsighted, dealing damage and becoming unstoppable during the dash. Cooldown: 150/125/100 Mana: 100 Damage: 150/275/400 +120% Bonus AD Range 2500/3250/4000

Explanation: I really don't think their is any issue with Nocturne's current ultimate. It's good overall, thematic, and most of all; fun. It lets him gank lanes or pick off lone champions trying to run away or who just aren't quite in the fight yet. And even though he has a new "dash" with his E, it's more of an early game thing that lets him gank a bit easier in the early game, and stick on to them in the mid-late game.

Closing statements: I don't believe this is the only way to change Nocturne, and it may not be the best way. But this is what I believe would end up being the most fun. These changes give Nocturne more agency in fights, rewarding him for landing abilities and staying on champions, while still retaining the core concept of being a shadowy assassin sort of like Zed, while playing entirely different. I'd love to hear some kind of feedback on this, whether some things seem too strong or too weak. But overall I believe I found a fun way to change Nocturne for the better, making him either an assassin with a quick burst combo, or a sticky brawler that can start fights and then stay on whoever he needs to.