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@RITO PLS Nasus Revitalized / Redone-ish

A Bad Nasus··4 votes·1,059 views

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CW4KsCAWEAAlLCW.png Edit: Apparently I can't post this in Gameplay

Hey all I've been playing league since season 3 and I want to talk about my favorite champ I've played ever since. Now some may find him boring, but I absolutely love the idea of a lategame juggernaut that wrecks everything in his path, but nowadays I feel that even with 600+ stacks of ss I cannot make a considerable impact in the game. Now contrary to popular belief Nasus is only strongest around midgame when he has bought resistances and has a decent amount of stacks (300+) with sheen. Around this time his opponents haven't bought much armor and supports don't have access to the cooldowns to effectively peel Nasus off of their carries. By lategame he is at best a meatshield / tank with worse cc. His damage is easily shutdown by armor so even though he can farm 600+ stacks around lategame all you need is a cc tank to keep him off your carries while your adc shreds him. He needs to consistently farm his q throughout the game to keep its damage relevant especially early game which leaves his team vulnerable as 4v5 up to the 20min mark, even moreso if he was shutdown hard in lane making him a liability. There is so much counterplay to Nasus from his sheer susceptibility to kiting to items like item 3139 item 3222 it almost feels like I am gimping myself sometimes by picking him in champ select which is a shame since I love to play him. Now I've been theory crafting for a while now and thought about how he can be reworked/tweaked into a character that achieves the lategame fantasy his original designer had in mind, bring Nasus's deprecated kit up to par (make it more relevant), and to improve the feedback of a lategame Juggernaut for both the Nasus player and his opponents.

Passive: Soul Eater Nasus permanently has 10 / 15 / 20% lifesteal unchanged

Movespeed 350 340 Now for a Juggernaut Nasus is pretty fast almost having Pantheon tier movespeed this will put him in line with other Juggernauts like Garen Darius

Attack damage growth +3.5 +4.0 Qol change - Even the most skilled tower farmers autoing at the perfect moments can miss a cs simply because muh base ad ain't high enough.

Attack range 125 150 In all honesty 125 attack range just feels awful toplane now with your own minions walling you out and their minions randomly changing targets just the moment you walk up to cs. I believe this range should be the new bare mininum on all melees.

Siphoning Strike range 150 175 With less movespeed Nasus is no longer a slippery doggie so now we give his Q .25 Teemos.

New passive: gains increasing flat armor penetration incrementally at a rate of +5.5 per 100 stacks (also applies to turrets). The goal here with this change is to modify his power curve by taking some hidden power early/mid (see changes to E and R) and adding it to late. This will introduce a new reward mechanic as well as improve what defines "lategame juggernaut" whenever a player picks Nasus when either dueling or splitpushing should the game reach overtime.

Wither range 600 now scales with rank 600 / 612 / 625 / 637 / 650 Cost: 80 mana 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana Movespeed debuff unchanged Attackspeed debuff removed Percent damage reduction added 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%

This is the iconic frustrating ability Nasus is known for other than his Q. Now I know what you're thinking. Buff his wither? What are you mad?! So let me explain, back in season 3 Susan had Wither, but it also had an instantaneous 95% movement AND attack speed slow for 5 seconds! In this age of mobility who wouldn't want that sweet spell now? amirite? (Jk it was cancer then) It also had a cast range of 700, and 800 with the cast range buffs when he ulted (also removed). Jungle Nasus was a thing for this reason. So the aim of these changes is to put a little WOOF back into Wither! increase the usability / utility of the spell by giving it increased range with ranks and also give it merit when used against AP/AD Casters who couldn't care less about having their attack speed slowed.

After all shouldn't aging targets decrease their incoming damage regardless if their AD/AP? This is an important thematic here! (pls don't mention Annie ) An increasing mana cost has been added as a balance lever to make Nasus players decide whether the increased utility from putting early points in Wither during laning is worth it, limiting its usage early/mid game should they decide to max it second, while also giving it better utility lategame.

Qol change - is no longer interrupted if the target just walked into a bush.

Now this spell briefly roots Nasus (If you are ever considering removing this limitation that would be awesome) and there have been several times where I have withered (what would have been a kill) someone that just walked into some brush. Nasus then says "become dust" What dust? LOL! I check the ability and its cooldown is refunded that's nice, but I just rooted myself for a moment so even with my 200 apm rightclicking they still get away since I'm no longer in range as I coast through that bush....

Spirit Fire Cost: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 mana 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana Armor reduction: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 armor Armor penetration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%

Some people believe that Nasus's early game isn't as bad as its made out to be saying his Q chunks their health as early as 10min. The goal here is to remove some of Nasus's hidden early power (Rank one Spirit Fire gives 20 flat armor reduction which is huge early game!) and replace it with percentage armor penetration. Spirit fire will still deal magic damage (so no item 3071 synergy). After doing some math, against a target that builds no armor this is a straight nerf across the board. Our example taking rank 1 E against a LVL 2 Riven with 35.7 armor (assuming she has armor seals) reduces her armor by 3.57. A Nasus maxing Spirit fire second will finish it at LVL 13. Against the same Riven (buying no armor) who now has 68.4 armor at LVL 13 is now reduced 20.52 armor when standing in Spirit fire; a nerf of 19 armor reduction at max rank! To make up for this difference Nasus must have 354 stacks at this point to catch up to what his old E allowed him (in terms of armor reduction); with 133 armor being the amount needed for the ability to break even with the old iteration.

Note: Spirit Fire armor penetration does not apply to turrets. This also partially solves the irony of picking Nasus into tanks who will just peel him off their carries come lategame/ignore his damage etc. He will still be kiteable like always, but now he will do more than tickle tanks lategame.

Fury of the Sands Attack and Siphoning strike range increased to 175 (does not stack with Q range) unchanged Cooldown: 120 140 / 120 / 100

This change is also aimed at pushing his power curve into lategame making him vulnerable early with more ult downtime and giving him more access to it late when he should be wrecking face.

TL;DR Tweak/Rework Nasus to an actual lategame champion by shaving power off early/mid against squishies, buffing lategame teamfight/splitpush, and smoke weed everyday.

http://imgur.com/xT1nhqy[IMG]

9 Comments

Arakadia1 votes

Seems like your putting a bit too much power into his Q which is a big problem atm. You kinda put power into his already weaker then average E and put it into his stronger then average Q to tip the balance even more.

However this did fix the problem of him being a lesser juggernaut compared to some others.

A Bad Nasus2 votes

While I did try to keep from adding power to his Q I just couldn't avoid it lol. Nasus needs something to keep his damage relevant as the game progresses and by design he is extremely binary with an outdated, almost irrelevent kit. The only way to get rid of this completely is simply to rework his abilities and passive altogether, but unfortunately that would mean he might as well be a new champion. With these changes though he should be hitting his powerspike later than usual. He'll have meaningful utility as he fully ranks Spirit fire and Wither, and also deal relevant damage with his Q against tanks. However if he wants to 2 shot squishies he'll have to stack harder since he no longer gets the free easy 40 armor reduction via his E. The only other approach would be to cap his stacking mechanic and immensely buff the other aspects of his kit cementing his role as a "midgame juggernaut".

Arakadia1 votes

I almost feel like his E needs to be reworked/scrapped/changed.

It helps him in lane a crap ton and gives him most of his AoE. The armor pen is big too.

I feel like his E should be kept an AoE ability, maybe something that interacts with his passive. He kinda needs some small anti-kite ability besides his W. I feel that his W should be nerfed maybe but steal movement speed? Or his W should slow and give his next basic attack a buff which shreds armor for a few seconds. Then you can give him something for his E.

No other Juggernaut has a large AoE ranged ability. I mean they do but not that big and that ranged. I feel like his E is where he should/can get change. Give it something like Garen's Q which cleanses slows or something. However his E should remain AoE because he has no other AoE and the other Juggernauts have some good AoE like Illaoi or Darius.

** I feel overall his W or E should give some kind of mobility. Lower his base movement speed but buff his AA range like you suggested (which is great imho) but then give him a mobility spell. Like W steals a percent of movement speed or his E gives him tenacity while he is on top of it.**

A Bad Nasus2 votes

I like the idea you had for his E. Keep it an aoe ability that can empower him as he fights in it be it tenacity or some other buff, and maybe have an interaction like with his ult, enlarging the aoe as he stands in it and prolonging its duration. Adding an ability that would steal movement speed will probably never happen on a melee duelist though.

Ravenous Howls1 votes

Ummmm how will he survive if he has no Life Steal? These changes with the life steal make him OP God Tier without life steal he will be one of the easiest abused top lane matchups. Nasus is actually fine in the game as is ATM. if you are having trouble succeeding maybe you should reconsider your builds or how you play the game. If you are trying to split push all game or not taking objectives then you are probably going to lose. The truth is no low mobility melee champ can truly carry atm. The game has been sped up so much with mobility, %hp dmg or true dmg that it's not possible to obtain the fear and destruction that was S2-S4 Nasus. You need to be more conscientious of your team, the enemy team and securing all objectives you can.

A Bad Nasus2 votes

The passive was an addon to his Q not a change to his lifesteal. I don't really see how this would make him op, these changes adjust his major powerspike to lategame enabling him to being able to deal considerable damage (if he's well stacked) to anyone regardless if they stacked armor or not (makes his lategame fantasy real). From removing the early flat armor reduction on his E he won't be chunking healthbars anytime soon against squishies and will only obtain a possibility of doing so after fully ranking his E with stacks instead of leaving it a one point wonder like he does in some matchups. This should hurt his laning to midgame considerably which is why I put a little more power back into Wither with an increasing mana cost as a tradeoff. His susceptibility to kiting will also remain, but he'll have better utility should he decide to teamfight or splitpush. Keep in mind these changes are also meant to help Nasus in higher elo.

Ravenous Howls1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Stunning Potato,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=h80pmT2g,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2016-07-12T16:23:31.428+0000)

The passive was an addon to his Q not a change to his lifesteal. I don't really see how this would make him op, these changes adjust his major powerspike to lategame enabling him to being able to deal considerable damage (if he's well stacked) to anyone regardless if they stacked armor or not (makes his lategame fantasy real). From removing the early flat armor reduction on his E he won't be chunking healthbars anytime soon against squishies and will only obtain a possibility of doing so after fully ranking his E with stacks instead of leaving it a one point wonder like he does in some matchups. This should hurt his laning to midgame considerably which is why I put a little more power back into Wither with an increasing mana cost as a tradeoff. His susceptibility to kiting will also remain, but he'll have better utility should he decide to teamfight or splitpush. Keep in mind these changes are also meant to help Nasus in higher elo.

Ok I misread how you worded it in the beginning. But still I think giving him pen on Q and on his E might make him way more powerful then you are intending. Also the attack speed slow on Wither already helps reduce damage against him by giving him reduced damage from the target on top of the slow and AS reduction you'll make his 1v1 incredibly broken in his favor. This will essentially break him and he will be nerfed into oblivion. As someone who plays him as his main I do not want to see changes b/c they will inevitably mean nerfs. He's pretty well balanced and really all he needs is some stat love e.g. more health, armor and MR per level or better AD and AS growth to make him stronger late game.

A Bad Nasus2 votes

You are probably right about the damage reduction alongside other debuffs on W being too strong maybe should just remove the attackspeed slow altogether and keep the damage reduction as a replacement. The armor penetration on q and e might need a little more tuning; the whole goal of these changes is to help Nasus become how people usually view him as "late game champ" with a more relevant kit since his current one is pretty lacking. Though I do agree that better stat growth can also solve some of his problems as well.

I also main Nasus :) I just want to see him in a better spot than he is now with an actual scaling powercurve that goes beyond midgame that is fair for him and his opponents.

Ravenous Howls1 votes

Siphoning Strike- Trust me I like the better armor penetration idea a lot but if we did that to his Q everything else would probably have to go in regards to your changes. Q tends to be a hot debate for most ignorant players who went against a Nasus and got crushed b/c "noob champ, infinite stack, GG". But it is rather powerful for such a short cool down ability. Honestly giving him better AA range would go a long way to help him trade and lane. And IMHO if you are taking AD runes over hybrid pen you are gimping your stacks mid and late game anyways.

Wither- I'd be wiling to sacrifice the AS reduction on a character for the 25% dmg reduction. That sounds like an awesome way to give him some relevance to get to a target and not die instantly. And the range scaling with rank also sounds beautiful.

Spirit Fire- Honestly I like the flat amount for the burst it provides early but % would make him much better late game. I'd be fine to go to % over flat if it made his late game less fantasy and more OMG NASUS IS GOING TO KILL US RUN!!!

Fury of the Sands-

It's really perfect. Little needs done to it at all. So I agree no change needed.

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