Combos · Jungle

Nocturne combos

the Eternal Nightmare

3 Nocturne combos explained key by key: in which order to cast the abilities, when to use them and what each step does. The main combo is Q › AA › E. Further down: every ability's cooldown, cost and range, and the skill max order measured over ranked games.

Nocturne combos

The trade

Q › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within range.

Duskbringer damages and leaves a Haunt; your attacks in the Haunt are empowered, Unspeakable Horror deals damage every second and terrifies if the target stays in range.

Protection

W › AA AA

When: An enemy casts an important ability.

Shroud of Darkness creates a barrier able to block an enemy ability and doubles the attack speed bonus on a block.

The assassination

R › Q › E › AA AA

When: A carry is isolated.

Paranoia reduces the enemies' field of vision and removes their vision of allies; leap onto a nearby champion then chain.

Common mistakes

• Using Shroud of Darkness without anticipating the ability to block.
• Casting the ultimate with no nearby target.
• Leaving the Haunt: you lose your bonus.

Cooldowns, costs and ranges

A combo only comes back once its abilities are off cooldown: these values (rank 1 to max rank, in seconds) tell how long to wait between two combos. Source: Data Dragon 16.19.1.

Ability	Cooldown (s)	Cost	Range
Q · Duskbringer	8	60/65/70/75/80 Mana	1125
W · Shroud of Darkness	20/18/16/14/12	50 Mana	20
E · Unspeakable Horror	15/14/13/12/11	60/65/70/75/80 Mana	425
R · Paranoia	160/130/100	100 Mana	2500/3250/4000

Official ability descriptions

PassiveUmbra Blades

Every few seconds, Nocturne's next attack strikes surrounding enemies for bonus physical damage and heals himself.

Nocturne's basic attacks reduce this cooldown.

QDuskbringer

Nocturne throws a shadow blade that deals damage, leaves a Dusk Trail, and causes champions to leave a Dusk Trail. While on the trail, Nocturne can move through units and has increased Move Speed and Attack Damage.

WShroud of Darkness

Nocturne empowers his blades, passively gaining Attack Speed. Activating Shroud of Darkness allows Nocturne to fade into the shadows, creating a magical barrier which blocks a single enemy ability and doubles his passive Attack Speed if successful.

EUnspeakable Horror

Nocturne plants a nightmare into his target's mind, dealing damage each second and applying fear to the target if they do not get out of range by the end of the duration.

RParanoia

Nocturne reduces the sight radius of all enemy champions and removes their ally vision in the process. He can then launch himself at a nearby enemy champion.

Skill order

Max order: Q > E > W49.3% · 75 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●		●		●		●		●
W		●												●	●
E				●				●		●		●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 95 games).

Riot's official tips for playing Nocturne

• Using Paranoia at a critical moment is well worth it even if you cannot use the dash.
• Duskbringer isn't only an offensive ability. It can be used to close distance out of combat or escape from certain death.
• Use Shroud of Darkness in tandem with Paranoia's dash. Your opponents may panic and waste a critical disable on your spell shield.

How to play around Nocturne's combos

• Stay close to your allies when Paranoia is cast - there is strength in numbers!
• Nocturne's Unspeakable Horror is broken with range, so try to save your movement abilities for when he casts it.

Frequently asked questions

Build, runes and counters: full Nocturne guide · every champion's combos · tier list