Nocturne top?

Please don't.

I'm a Wood V Nocturne main, whatever that's worth, but I wrote up a post on here that even a red dropped by to say was great so I suppose I know him pretty well for an unranked player.

First off, your two main damage dealing/sustain abilities are going to push the lane. His passive, when charged up, will attack all minions within range. While this might give you some solid sustain, it's also going to make you push up the lane when you might not want to. His Q, his main damage ability, as a pass through skillshot that also increases his damage while he's on it. So you're now hitting harder on a bunch of minions that are significantly weaker just to get some poke damage on the enemy carry.

His mana costs are just awful early on, and he doesn't have a whole lot of dueling potential in the early game until he gets either a BotRK or a Hydra finished, depending on if you're going more DPS or more fighter. He pretty much needs the first blue, otherwise his abilities cost too much and are on too long of a cooldown.

His ult is actually awful in terms of laning. Your lane opponent will know exactly when you're going to go in on them, so they can start backing up as soon as they hear the "DAAAAAAAARRKKKKNESSSSSSAHHH" before you've jumped to them. It doesn't add a whole lot to your damage overall, more than anything else it's a mobility tool that helps him get into favorable positions quickly. Ideally speaking, that means entering from river/jungle on an enemy who's pushed up too far. You can't make those kinds of entrances when you're already in lane with him.

He has no gap closer/escape mechanic. Yes, his Q speeds him up while he's on it, but he has to stop to cast it which might be what kills you. He can block a single spell with his spellshield, but if you're using it purely defensively you're wasting half of what it gives you, which isn't what you want on someone who's very much about going all in and going ham along the way. Given my earlier point about how a Nocturne will usually end up pushing the lane whether he wants to or not, you don't want to have no solid escape mechanics compounding the issue. Nocturne is relatively fragile early game, if you get ganked you're probably going to die.

Nocturne is VERY much an opportunistic hunter. He's an assassin in much the same vein as Elise is; they both prefer to seek out targets who are out alone and who can't kill them in the time it takes them to do it first. They aren't particularly bursty champoins, but they can keep up a lesser amount of constant damage long enough to achieve the same effect. Sticking him in top lane, aside from the previously stated issues that go along with it, means giving up his AMAZING roaming potential. And yes, you can roam with him after you win lane, but that's only if you win lane. And even then, you're still going to spend a bit more time preoccupied with defending people who push your top lane than a jungle Nocturne would be able to spend roaming around, farming up their infintely stacking Devourer, and ganking when and where they see fit instead of having to make sure it's safe to leave the top lane alone for the next three minutes or so. If Nocturne isn't able to come in from unpredictable angles, block off escape routes, and rip whoevever he wants to shreds, he isn't really Nocturne. You don't want people to know where you are, or to be able to predict where you'll be. Putting him in lane lets them know exactly where you are most of the time through the early and mid game that a jungle Nocturne would spend getting fed.

No one is afraid of the Nocturne they can see.

Everyone fears the Nocturne they can't.

i think the meta is high sustain tanky tops? correct me if im wrong, due to the apparently increasing appearances of toxic ranged champs in top lane... which happens to be the other meta

nocturne doesnt fit into either of those categories ;S

I could see it working, but it isn't meta by any means. Nocturne naturally pushes the lane with his passive, so you may find it difficult to control the wave properly. Similar to Pantheon you can gank mid via your ultimate, or set up sneaky kills at dragon using teleport + your ultimate.

A tanky build with would provide good teleport ganks with all the utility Nocturne has with his Q, E, and ultimate. He also scales well, so an assassin build after a farm-heavy early game would probably work.

If you're looking for a meta pick, Irelia might be a better choice.

Don't like it because of mana and how much it depends on match up. Some can be alright but going against or something would probably be awful -Nocturne Main

i've been having a lot of success during the laning phase as nocturne lately in top. I generally rush a hydra then build tankiness after that with maybe a black cleaver or maw of malmortis for some added damage. the hydra is good for your wave clear, its so satisfying when there is a large group of minions and you just do one auto attack and they all just die. not to mention the hyrda's active is like an auto attack reset to it makes duels going in your favor in some cases. for the most part, i think it can be pretty strong, just try to zone opponents from minions and save they passive for if they get close to try and cs.