Guide · Support

Nautilus Guide

the Titan of the Depths

Tank

Support

Tier B Support

Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths, is a tank and support champion of medium difficulty. Across our 1693 analysed ranked games, Nautilus is mostly played as Support (97% of its games), with a 49.9% win rate in that role: tier B among Support champions (#25 of 39, ranked by win rate). Nautilus's damage is mostly magic (64%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 57.3% in long games (over 35 min, 178 games) versus 48.0% in short games (under 25 min).

Averages measured over 1646 Support games played with Nautilus, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Nautilus is a control tank who wins by catching an enemy: Dredge Line pulls both toward each other, then his attacks briefly root thanks to his passive. His ultimate chases a chosen enemy, knocks them up and stuns them, making it one of the best engage tools in the game.

The basic hook

Q › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within hook range.

Dredge Line pulls you together; your first attack deals bonus damage and briefly roots. Riptide slows and damages to finish.

The team-fight engage

R › W › E

When: The enemy carry is visible.

Depth Charge chases an enemy and knocks them up with a stun, letting your team attack them. Activate Titan's Wrath to withstand the enemy damage.

Protecting an ally

Q › W

When: An enemy dives your carry.

Dredge Line catches the aggressor and cuts them off from their target; Titan's Wrath shields you and damages those who come close.

Laning phase

Only cast Dredge Line blind if the path is clear: it stops at the first enemy or obstacle hit. Titan's Wrath gives you a shield and makes your attacks deal damage over time: place it before a trade.

Common mistakes

• Casting Dredge Line without a clear path: a minion can stop it.
• Using the ultimate on a non-priority target: warn your team first.
• Forgetting the shield from Titan's Wrath before a trade.

Riot's official tips for playing Nautilus

• While ganking, consider aiming Dredge Line at nearby terrain and following it up with Riptide for a higher hit rate.
• Riptide has a delayed blast timing on activation - you can use this while running away or when enemies are incoming to serve as a deterrent.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Bandlepipes, Knight's Vow, and Locket of the Iron Solari (88 games, 61.4% win rate).

Bandlepipes+Knight's Vow+Locket of the Iron Solari

88 games · 61.4%

Protoplasm Harness+Knight's Vow+Locket of the Iron Solari

58 games · 53.4%

Thornmail+Knight's Vow+Locket of the Iron Solari

48 games · 58.3%

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite48.3% · 841 games

Flash + Heal52.2% · 671 games

Exhaust + Flash49.6% · 133 games

Most-played runes

Aftershock + Inspiration

50.9% · 1280 games

Primary tree · Resolve

Shield Bash94%

Bone Plating85%

Unflinching91%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight96%

Hextech Flashtraption56%

Shards

Ability haste58%

Health scaling52%

Health55%

Aftershock + Precision

45.9% · 181 games

Primary tree · Resolve

Shield Bash96%

Conditioning92%

Revitalize94%

Secondary tree · Precision

Triumph98%

Legend: Haste98%

Shards

Attack speed94%

Health scaling96%

Health scaling94%

Glacial Augment + Resolve

54.9% · 111 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Hextech Flashtraption83%

Biscuit Delivery96%

Cosmic Insight99%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Bone Plating71%

Unflinching68%

Shards

Attack speed86%

Health scaling65%

Health scaling75%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Nautilus's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team52.8% · 430 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Locket of the Iron Solari 52.1%

Knight's Vow 59.2% ▲

Protoplasm Harness 59.0% ▲

Bandlepipes 57.4%

Thornmail 47.4% ▼

Kaenic Rookern 61.3% ▼

The item that stands out most is Protoplasm Harness: 59.0% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team48.6% · 430 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Locket of the Iron Solari 51.1%

Knight's Vow 52.8% ▼

Protoplasm Harness 44.3% ▼

Bandlepipes 46.6% ▼

Thornmail 65.5% ▲

Zeke's Convergence 42.3%

The item that stands out most is Thornmail: 65.5% win rate, +11 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team49.1% · 786 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Locket of the Iron Solari 49.5%

Knight's Vow 55.6%

Protoplasm Harness 52.5%

Bandlepipes 59.2% ▲

Thornmail 50.0% ▼

Zeke's Convergence 36.6% ▼

The item that stands out most is Bandlepipes: 59.2% win rate, +3 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Nautilus as Support

Nami Nautilus: 36.4%33 games

Nami has the edge in 64% of the 33 Support duels against Nautilus. See the Nami guide.

Pantheon Nautilus: 39.1%23 games

Pantheon has the edge in 61% of the 23 Support duels against Nautilus. See the Pantheon guide.

Alistar Nautilus: 42.6%54 games

Alistar has the edge in 57% of the 54 Support duels against Nautilus. See the Alistar guide.

Rell Nautilus: 42.9%49 games

Rell has the edge in 57% of the 49 Support duels against Nautilus. See the Rell guide.

Soraka Nautilus: 45.5%22 games

Soraka has the edge in 55% of the 22 Support duels against Nautilus. See the Soraka guide.

Who Nautilus is strong against

Lux65.2% · 23 games

Thresh64.6% · 48 games

Senna64.5% · 31 games

Karma63.0% · 46 games

Leona60.6% · 33 games

How to play against Nautilus

• If Nautilus uses Riptide right next to you, hold in place until the ripple effect finishes before running. Running early will run straight into the secondary explosions, causing you to take additional damage and slow.
• While Nautilus is shielded, he is capable of dealing large amounts of area of effect damage with his basic attacks - consider taking down the shield if you have time.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Nautilus's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveStaggering Blow

Nautilus' first Attack against a target deals increased physical damage and roots them briefly.

QDredge Line

Nautilus hurls his anchor forward. Colliding with an enemy pulls them and Nautilus together, dealing magic damage. Colliding with terrain pulls Nautilus towards it.

WTitan's Wrath

Nautilus gains a temporary Shield. While it persists, his Attacks deal damage over time to his target and surrounding enemies.

ERiptide

Nautilus creates three exploding waves around himself. Each explosion damages and slows enemies.

RDepth Charge

Nautilus fires a shockwave into the earth that chases an opponent. This shockwave rips up the earth above it, knocking enemies into the air. When it reaches the opponent, the shockwave erupts, knocking his target into the air and stunning them.

Frequently asked questions

Full Nautilus page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides