Overview

Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths, has always been a very reliable choice as a jungler. With the new season commencing and a plethora of changes making the jungle a much more hostile and difficult place to be, I feel that Nautilus thrives more so than other champions. Often overlook due to his slow, lumbering speeds and lack of damage, Nautilus brings an abundance of CC to any team comp and is a stalwart front line capable of locking down multiple targets in a single fight.

Runes

For my runes I like to use all flat armor seals and all CDR glyphs. For my marks I all magic penetration runes. And finally my, for my quintessences, I like to use one CDR one AP and one movement speed rune. These can be adjusted based on your preferences but I personally choose this rune set up because I want to be able to start the game with 15% CDR from my runes and masteries combined. The MS quint can be traded out for more AP but I take the MS because I simply can’t handle meandering around at such a slow pace. Another option that I’ve seen is running attack speed in your marks or quints to help with clear speeds, but I personally don’t have any problems clearing my jungle early and feel my rune setup is more than efficient.

Masteries

My masteries are pretty standard, completing the defensive tree for the bonus tenacity as well as dipping into the offensive tree for the very important 5% CDR and some bonus ability power. It is also possible to put points into the utility tree but for this guide the 5% CDR in offense is crucial to Nautilus’ build.

Skill Order

The skill order for Nautilus is very standard and maxing your W should be your priority. The only real variation in skill order would occur at levels 3 and 4. Depending on how the early game is playing out and the positioning of your laners, Nautilus can put his level 3 point into learning his Q, allowing for the possibility to gank an over extended lane at level 3. This is really only necessary if an enemy pushes very hard, otherwise taking the extra point into W increases your clear speed and you can just pick up your Q ability at level 4.

Itemization

Your first priority, regardless of how the game is developing, is hitting that 40% CDR mark as fast as possible. With your runes and masteries providing 15% from the moment you enter the rift, you only need to acquire 25% more CDR from items before you can begin going tanky. This is entirely possible and I feel it is what makes Nautilus such a strong pick at the moment. Your first back should be used to purchase your ranger’s trailblazers, to help with clearing, and your level one boots if possible. Now you are only 1525 gold from your 40% CDR goal. I’ve found that, even a standard game with very little gank opportunities, Nautilus will reach 40% CDR right around the 10 to 12 minute mark. From here on out you just finish your jungle item and them become the beefy tank that your team needs. You just want to make sure you avoid other CDR items such as Frozen Heart because it loses its gold efficiency due to the CDR cap.

Gameplay

Early
Nautilus has a somewhat slow clear speed through the early levels but he makes up for it by the lack of damage he takes. Where most junglers have to recall after their second buff or even before a full clear, Nautilus often finds himself at 60% or more health after picking up the second buff and could even look for a gank before his recall is needed. His weakness comes in the form of early game junglers taking advantage of him and invading. If this one circumstance can be avoided, very few problems should be encountered and Nautilus should look for ganks in over extended lanes.

Mid
This is the point in the game where a good Nautilus player can truly make their impact felt and take over the game. With 40% CDR coming at the 12 minute mark, Nautilus should be ganking as much as possible. His ultimate will be useable up to three times before an enemy laner’s flash comes off cooldown. You need to abuse this fact and just run laps around one particular lane. I’ve found that focusing on one enemy lane can often be more beneficial than spreading your ganks across the map. It can potentially tilt the enemy and it should pull the pressure of the enemy laner to that same lane, alleviating the pressure on your other two lanes.

Late
As the team fights begin to escalate, Nautilus hits his stride and dominates. His kit has more CC than any other champion in the game. Going into a team fight, you should have a target in your head to use your ultimate move on. A target in the back is usually the best because the ultimate will knock up enemy champions between you and your target. From this point, Nautilus should look to auto attack every enemy within range. His passive provides a stun on each champion that he auto attacks with a small cooldown on each target. It is also possible for Nautilus to build an abyssal scepter or liandry’s torment to increase his damage output. As long as you make sure you are dead center in the fight and you spread your CC out accordingly, Nautilus is capable of winning a team fight even when down by a substantial margin.

Good Luck on the rift, Summoners! Just remember to not let that anchor weigh you down and you can see yourself ascend through the ranks with your Nautilus gameplay!