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You want your team to engage first, or at least soak up damage, until the enemy carry shows their face and positions away from peel. Generally, you want to pick Nocturne onto a team that already has an engage (Malphite, Shen, Naut, etc.) because Nocturne is a poor tank himself. Each rank into his ult increases the range, which is really important because rank 1 Paranoia range isn't as long as it seems. Afterwards, level 6 is when Nocturne goes from "meh" ganker to "ITS DARK WHERE IS HE." Using your ult provides a long-range gap closer, and indirectly ganks other lanes due to the darkness. Fitting with his kit and lore, Nocturne thrives on picking off isolated enemies and forcing a fight, and he will generally win if he gets off his W on a crucial spells (Lee Sin E, Udyr E, etc) and his fear tether. This is when Nocturne is a surprisingly potent duelist with clever use of his W. Nocturne has a few power spikes starting as early as level 3. Can't murder carries if you get murdered first. Nocturne NEEDS some tankiness in most games because in a mid/late game team fight, he'll get peeled and blown up instantly if he's too squishy. My path is generally Warrior enchant, Boots of Swiftness, Ghostblade, Maw/DMP, Maw/DMP (whatever I didn't get), Sterak's.
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I personally building Ghostblade second for the pick and burst potential.
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#Nocturn champion.gg full
Warrior enchant plus Nocturne's full level 6 combo (a massive powerspike in ganking) is more than enough to decimate any isolated enemy carry, as they won't have enough to retaliate. Nocturne really likes Warrior enchant for the CDR and AD early on, as it gives him a decent spike in damage in the transition between early and midgame.
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The darkness portion of his kit is extremely underrated, as it causes mass chaos with its vision denial. He is a jungle assassin/fighter that focuses on heavily diving a target and removing them from the fight by outright killing them or forcing the enemy team to peel him off of their carries. I've mained Nocturne since I started playing (right after the Orianna patch), and you could argue that he has, or has not, aged well with the game.
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