Nautilus is one of the most popular supports in League of Legends due to his powerful yet easy-to-play kit.
The Heart of the Freljord is tailor-made to defend AD carries and is often built to maximize health and create openings for the marksman. Nautilus’s passive makes dueling difficult for opponents since they may find themselves stunned after taking four hits.
Like all champions in League, Nautilus will need to adapt his build to suit the situation. Some items are useful for the support regardless of the direction the game goes in, however.
Runes
Resolve
Guardian: Nautilus’s role is to guard the ADC and the rest of his team, ensuring they have the upper-hand in fights. Taking Guardian will allow Nautilus to protect fellow champions nearby and grant them a small shield should they take damage. This effect will also activate should Braum use an ability on his allies, such as his Stand Behind Me, that will already grant bonus armor and magic resistance.
Font of Life: Nautilus has many ways to impair the movement of enemy champions. This can be done using his passive’s stun or through his Winter’s Bite to apply a slow to the enemy. Once he has done this, the target will be marked by Font of Life. Marked targets will heal back health to allies who damage them over two seconds.
Bone Plating: Having more durability is going to make Nautilus better at defending his allies. Bone Plating grants Nautilus early tankiness, reducing the subsequent damage he receives after first being damaged by an enemy champion.
Unflinching: Unflinching grants Nautilus extra mobility during combat. Often enemy champions will choose to use crowd control abilities against Nautilus to slow him down and stop him from reaching his allies. This rune is going to reduce the effects of these abilities by up to 20 percent as Nautilus’s health gets lower.
Inspiration
Magical Footwear: Another way Nautilus will gain early mobility is by using Magical Footwear. At 12 minutes into the game, Nautilus will receive a pair of Slightly Magical Boots. These boots are going to grant the champion extra movement speed and allow the player to prioritize other items before purchasing new boots.
Biscuit Delivery: For many champions in the bottom lane, taking Biscuit Delivery is going to be extremely beneficial. This rune gives the champion a way to heal back from damage without the need to return to base. Biscuits will also increase the maximum mana the champion has, giving them a small advantage for later in the game.
Bonuses: 1-10 percent cooldown reduction, +6 armor, +15-90 health
Starting items
Steel Shoulderguards
Due to support champions’ inability to farm minions, starting with a support item is important. Steel Shoulderguards gives Nautilus a way to secure gold for himself and his ADC through minions killed by either player. While there are many items that do this, this item is perfect for Nautilus due to its stat increases of 30 health, three attack damage, and 25 percent health regeneration.
Additionally, Steel Shoulderguards will transform once enough gold has been acquired. Once transformed, the item will gain the ability to place wards that grant vision to allies.
Health Potion
Much like Biscuit Delivery, taking a health potion grants Nautilus another way to sustain health and remain in the lane should he take damage from enemy units or champions. For the remaining 100 gold, taking two potions is the perfect choice to cap off Nautilus’s starting items.
Core items
Zeke’s Convergence
At his core, Nautilus is a tankier support. Many items on this build are going to be focused around increasing his health and armor, adding bonus durability to the Freljord champion.
Zeke’s Convergence is the perfect item to increase Nautilus’s durability, boasting 60 additional armor, 30 magic resistance, 250 bonus mana, and 10 percent cooldown reduction. One of the main uses for this item comes once Nautilus and his allies engage in a teamfight. Should Braum cast his ultimate ability, he will be surrounded by a storm that will deal magic damage and add a slowing effect to enemies caught inside.
Knight’s Vow
The perfect support item for tank champions, Knight’s Vow allows Nautilus to partner with an ally and grants bonus effects for the pair should they be next to each other. On top of this, the item will grant Nautilus 250 bonus health, 40 armor, and a further 10 percent cooldown reduction. This item can only be linked to one ally champion per game so Nautilus is going to want to use this on his ADC.
