Frontline anchor build: Nautilus creates less value through surprise than through certainty. The build must give his team a readable entry, a body that holds the central corridor of the fight, and enough utility for initial control to become a truly winning exchange.
Three builds, one right answer per draft. The advisor reads the five enemies (and your allies) and names who triggers what — the same rule as the Draft MVP sheet and Ask Nexus.
Best Nautilus build (Support): Bulwark of the Mountain › Zeke's Convergence › Yordle Trap › Locket of the Iron Solari › Knight's Vow, boots Plated Steelcaps, keystone Ice Tyrant. Three variants and when to pick each are below.
Standard build maximizing damage output. Use on neutral matchups or when ahead.
11,000 total cost
Nothing dominates on the other side: the standard build maximizes your damage.
Open this draft in the tool →Protection build, prioritizes peel tools for your carry.
10,900 total cost -100gDefensive build against enemy dives/engages.
11,450 total cost +450g
Scores out of 10: where this champion sits against the whole roster, phase by phase. The strip shows its own power ramp level by level — it does not compare across champions.
Your hardest matchups in this role, and the item from your situational list that answers each one.
Morgana
Thornmail
Recurring healing
Alistar
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Braum
Gargoyle Stoneplate
Magic damage
Sett
Thornmail
Recurring healing
Best Nautilus build (Jungle): Sunfire Aegis › Yordle Trap › Kaenic Rookern › Abyssal Mask › Dawnshroud, boots Mercury Boots, keystone Ice Tyrant. Three variants and when to pick each are below.
Standard build maximizing damage output. Use on neutral matchups or when ahead.
14,000 total costNothing dominates on the other side: the standard build maximizes your damage.
Open this draft in the tool →Resistance build geared against physical damage (AD) compositions.
14,150 total cost +150g
Physical-damage enemy team: Darius, Lee Sin, Lucian.
Open this draft in the tool →Resistance build geared against magic damage (AP) compositions.
14,550 total cost +550g
Scores out of 10: where this champion sits against the whole roster, phase by phase. The strip shows its own power ramp level by level — it does not compare across champions.
Your hardest matchups in this role, and the item from your situational list that answers each one.
Olaf
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Dr. Mundo
Thornmail
Recurring healing
Mordekaiser
Thornmail
Recurring healing
Nocturne
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Best Nautilus build (Baron Lane): Sunfire Aegis › Thornmail › Abyssal Mask › Kaenic Rookern › Randuin's Omen, boots Plated Steelcaps, keystone Ice Tyrant. Three variants and when to pick each are below.
Standard build maximizing damage output. Use on neutral matchups or when ahead.
14,200 total costNothing dominates on the other side: the standard build maximizes your damage.
Open this draft in the tool →Resistance build geared against physical damage (AD) compositions.
14,150 total cost -50gPhysical-damage enemy team: Darius, Lee Sin, Lucian.
Open this draft in the tool →Resistance build geared against magic damage (AP) compositions.
14,550 total cost +350g
Scores out of 10: where this champion sits against the whole roster, phase by phase. The strip shows its own power ramp level by level — it does not compare across champions.
Your hardest matchups in this role, and the item from your situational list that answers each one.
Darius
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Heimerdinger
Gargoyle Stoneplate
Magic damage
Fiora
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Olaf
Mantle of the Twelfth Hour
Physical damage
Same advisor in the Draft (the MVP sheet applies it to your real draft) and in Ask Nexus, which explains the choice. On counters pages: the variant to take against each counter-pick.
Foundational item core, without recent situational additions — kept as a base for understanding the kit. For the up-to-date build, see the section above.
The core build works because it perfectly matches Nautilus’s pattern: go in first, pin down a target, absorb the first impact, then stay alive long enough for the rest of his kit to keep disrupting the enemy.
Relic Shield
Wards + Relic Shield upgrade, tank support
Carry buff after Q hook or R Depth Charge engage
Massive HP regen, Nautilus tanks the frontline
Plated Steelcaps
Mercurys Treads
›
›
Hook, passive root, R knock-up — your whole kit immobilizes; the freeze zone doubles every engage.
Active after Q Dredge Line hook for a shield massive during the engage.
Reduces incoming damage in return during his engages in melee.
Accumulated HP to be a tank indestructible that absorbs the focus enemy.
Charged flash to a hook Q from unexpected angles impossible to anticiper.
Zeke's Convergence
Yordle Trap
Frozen Heart
Randuin's Omen
Frozen Heart
Thornmail
Plated Steelcaps
Mercury's Treads
Crown of the Shattered Queen
Oceanid's Trident
Amaranth's Twinguard
Randuin's Omen
Plated Steelcaps
Mercury's Treads
Bone Plating
Second Wind
Overgrowth
Perseverance
Coup De Grace
Giant Slayer
Second Wind
Bone Plating
Overgrowth
Perseverance
Unlocking ultimate turns every engage into a guaranteed threat on a priority target.
First core items enhance his ability to survive after engaging and extend control.
