Hello everyone! With the new season 3 patch, there's a lot of change on the table for league of legends. I felt like making a guide for Nunu that will use some of the new items, masteries and gaming mechanics introduced. So to get started let's talk about Nunu. He's a very old champion in league of legends, yet very powerful as a support in my opinion. He's got a very good synergy with many AD carry, great harass potential and he's very power full late game as he can make the enemy Carry completely useless during teamfight. You can give a huge movespeed and attack speed buff to your carry using and of course you can spam on the ennemy carry during a teamfight. I will not go into details in the introduction as I will talk about every spell and items in details in the following chapters.




Pros

• Naturally tanky and High HP
• Huge attack speed buff
• Great movespeed using
• Very good slow and attack speed reduction
• Easy to play

Cons

• Week alone, very team reliant
• Ultimate is easy to cancel and hard to use effectively
• Can't sustain your laning partner
• is not very usefull in laning

I feel like these 2 summoner spell are by far the best for Nunu. will help you get out of dangerous situation or help you close the gap between an enemy so you can use on him and help your team catch up. can be use on the enemy carry in every teamfight along with . This way the enemy carry will have his damage and attack speed greatly reduced and he will not be able to do much damage. Combine this with on your own carry and you have a huge damage Gap between the enemy carry and yours.




I don't really feel like the other summoner spell are very good on Nunu but you could use some of the following if you wish to do so depending on team comp and play style. I just don't think they bring as much on the table as the first two.

Good summoner spell for Nunu

• Can be usefull sometimes. They've actually buff it a little in the new patch. So it's a viable option on Nunu but not optimal.
• Also a viable spell as you don't have any sustain for your carry. It got buffed in season 3. It now gives 100% of the heal to your ally. Can be useful against a kill lane to avoid dying.

Bad summoner spell for Nunu

• Nunu's got a nice passive for that (not very usefull in laning though) and with the mana regen Items in the build he don't need any extra Mana. This will only be useful very early in the game, and completely useless later.
• I don't really like this summoner spell overall and on Nunu it's really useless. This spell is only good for AD carry with a short range when the enemy team got a lot of CC and one QSS is not enough to remove all the CC from you.
• You already have a movespeed buff, and the items in the build are oriented to give you a lot of mobility. You really don't need any extra movespeed buff.
• This summoner spell is one of the best in the game. However, it's not very good on Nunu since you don't want to steal kill from your carry. It can be good early to add some damage during the laning and get some kill but it will be completely useless later in the game.
• This spell is used for jungler. So you don't need it. And also you got that deals True damage to monsters and minions. You don't need smite.
• Could be useful in some case, if you go with a team like Twisted fate, Shen, to just add even more people to get 1 kill, but other then that I don't feel like it will bring enough to the table to be used on Nunu. Better let your solo top bruiser get it.

Marks

• I use the armor Marks because they give a decent amount of armor to Nunu making him tanky.
• Other Marks are not very helpful when you play Nunu as a support.

Seals

• I use armor seals because they give a lots of armor to Nunu. You will usually lane against an AD champion so these runes are very helpful.
• GP10 Seals could be used but I don't think they are worth it. The quint and masteries provide enough gold/5
• Mana regen are not really needed on Nunu but could be useful very early in the game.
• Every other seals are not very good if you play Nunu support.

Glyph

• I use magic resist per level because they give a good amount of Magic resist for mid game gank.
• Manaregen could be used instead but I think that Magic resist per level are superior.
• Flat magic resist could be used but since you lane against an AD champion I feel like per level glyph is the way to go. They become stronger then the flat magic resist when you reach level 10 and usually the AP carry won't gank too early in the game.
• Flat AP or AP per level could be somehow viable if you want to deal more damage with but I feel like the other options are better.
• Every other glyph are not really good on Nunu if you play him as a support

Quintessences

• These runes are very strong as they give you extra gold. You also need it to buy your items.
• Nothing else is better then that for Support Nunu... and actually these are a must have for any support build.

Explanation
The reason why I use the 0/9/21 masteries on Nunu is because it makes him more tanky with the extra armor and HP from the defensive tree. It also give him a lot of utility and movement speed using the 21 point in the utility tree. I don't use a point in pickpocket as I find this masteries really useless especially on Nunu. You will not do any auto attack on the enemy since you are melee and even if you do, the amount of gold you get is not significant. Also I only use 1 point in the magic resist masteries so I can get the extra +30 HP at the beginning. The armor is more useful early on as you lane against the enemy AD most of the time. I will now explain in more detail why I use some masteries over the others.

Pickpocket
Pickpocket grant 5 gold to melee champion every time they hit an enemy. The thing is, as a melee you won't be able to do that. So it's really useless. With ranged support it could be better as it's easier to harass with your auto attack but only grants 3 gold then. Which means if you attack every 5 second (and you won't) it would only give you about 36 gold per minutes. It's not that bad but still not that high either. And the thing is you won't be able to attack every 5 second. In my opinion there are better masteries then this one.

Biscuiter and explorer
The extra ward is very usefull to avoid getting invaded by the enemy team early in the game. Also the cookie can give you an extra sustain in your lane. You could possibly replace these 2 with points in the awarness masteries but I feel like the cookie and the explorer ward will help your team more.

Scout
The effect last only for the first 3 second when you put a ward. I think it's completely useless. Riot should definitly make some cange to this mastery.

After 5 autoattacks, Nunu's next spell will have no mana cost.

This passive is great when you jungle. Not that useful during laning phase but still can help you land a few free spell on the ennemy. Don't attack too much the minion to stack it though as it will only result in you being harass and you will also push the lane towards the ennemy team's turret.






ACTIVE: Nunu commands his yeti to take a bite out of target enemy minion or neutral monster, dealing true damage to it and restoring Nunu's health.

Decent spell but not very usefull during the laning phase as it will push the lane. I suggest you use in on a dying minion so the lane won't actually get pushed or on the siege minion so you don't actually steal gold from your carry. Can also be used to tank the tower a little longer during a dive because of the heal it provides. Can be good to help secure buff/dragon or Baron. This spell combined with a strong jungler can help you get an early dragon.






ACTIVE: Invigorates an allied unit by heating their blood, increasing their attack speed and movement speed for 15 seconds. If cast on an ally, Nunu also gains the effect of Blood Boil.

That spell is just awesome as it buff you and another ally. You can keep your carry buffed forever as the cooldown is a little lower then the duration when maxed. It's important not to use it too much early game as you will run out of mana quickly. Use it when trading hit with the enemy or when pushing a tower. Also a great escape spell if you get ganked. You can also use it on your carry when he's force to farm under the turret. The extra attack speed will help him get every CS.






ACTIVE: Nunu throws a ball of ice at an enemy unit, dealing magic damage and slowing their movement speed by a percentage and attack speed by 25% for 3 seconds.

Great harass spell. Also the slow is crazy 60% reduction is a lot and it last very long. The attack speed debuff is also very noticeable. Use this as much as possible. Even early game I like to use the brush to my advantage and zone the enemy team that way. That's why I usually max that spell first. But if the enemy you are laning against got lots of sustain or strong poke like sona/soraka you should max W first and not try to harass with E too much as you will either lose trade or waste mana for nothing.






ACTIVE: Nunu starts channeling and begins to sap a large area around him of heat, slowing all nearby enemies movement speed by 50% and attack speed by 25%. After channeling for 3 seconds, he deals massive damage to all enemies caught in the area. It can be canceled early for less damage.

A great ultimate but a little tricky to use. Easy to disable you while doing it. If you can hide inside a brush or just use it after all the CC is down on the other it's possible to deal insane damage and to slow down every single ennemy. A good tips with it is to use randuin Omen's activation just before you start the channel to actually slow down even more and this way you have more chance of landing a full ult. But this ult is not all about the damage it does. It's actually more usefull for the AoE slow it provides. The attack speed debuff it gives to everyone inside is also great. You should use this spell in every teamfight.

Skill Order



Explanation

I like to max first for the damage and slow it does. You can zone the ennemy pretty well using the brush to your advantage. But maxing first is also a very viable way of playing Nunu. I usually get a point in at lvl 4 and leave it like that until late game. I do take it at level 4 as sometimes it could save you from a death and it's also nice when you attempt an early dragon. But that's about it. And the point in everytime you can as the damage and slow it does is insane. You can hide in a brush so the ennemy won't notice you are actually using it. Very good spell to initiate a gank and deal some initial damage. Can be used to clear creep waves very fast too. Just try not to steal too many kill with that spell. And be smart when using it.

I don't see many people starting with these but I really feel like these are the best possible start items right now for a support. You won't need to buy any potion for the rest of the game. You could trade the faerie charm for the rejuvenation bead when laning against a stronb bot lane. The extra health regen will help you stay in lane longer. Make sure to go back when you have enough money for your philosopher stone, lvl 1 boots and the sightstone.





These are the items you should rush. The extra sustain from philosopher stone and GP10 income is great. The emblem of valor will really help you and your Carry sustain in lane. I think it's a must have since you don't have any other way to sustain your partner. Vision ward is to keep control over dragon and the sightstone will allow you to place 2 ward so actually you would never have to buy any ward again for the whole game. Make sure to keep a vision ward for dragon at all time until either you or your jungler decide to invest in an oracle.



or +


I still use a lot of the old item for my Nunu's build. One of the new items I really like and use is Mikael's crucible. Thats why I will get the chalice of harmony. The chalice will also help you with your mana and it will be possible for you to use your more during the laning phase. At this point you should always keep an oracle elixir with you. You don't need to use it as soon as you buy it as it last only 5 minutes now (kinda suck IMO). Use it when you need it to clear dragon or braon ward. Otherwise just keep it in your inventory. If you are behind and don't have enough money just buy a vision ward then but it's very important to have one of these as they provide map control And as a support it's your job to control the map.




So at this point, the game will probably be over, but if it's still up, there's some pretty cool item you can get. The upgrade on aegis seems like an obvious choice and will make you much more tanky. The mikael's crucible will give you a great activate that heal and remove debuff on your AD carry. I'd say these two items are your priority. The other two depends what comp you are facing. Against an heavy AD team I would go randuin's omen all the way. Sick activate that help chase and close gap. this items is also good with your ult and both slow will stack (with diminish result, but still) If the ennemy is heavy AP, well spirit's visage seems like a good option. The passive will also make you heal more when you use A banshee's veil might also be a viable option. It will absorb one spell so the ennemy team will have to use 2 spell to disable your ultimate.




So I had the chance to play only 1 game as Nunu so far after the patch. Tried this build with a 5 premade in normal draft. Everyone was around 1400-1500 ELO so actually no baddies were involve in that game. The ennemy team was also good and we won after a very nice and close game! You can see the build I manage to get for a 53 minutes long game. As you can see its not very likely that you will finish my build with Nunu so just chose according to the enemy team and rush thecore items. The other one are luxury.

Nunu is a great support but he doesn't work with every AD carry bottom lane. Also, he's not good against some other support or AD so before picking him it's very important to be aware of lane synergy and counter. Even if he's great, it is possible that you can't do much in your lane because you got countered or because your laning partner isn't good with Nunu.

Champion Nunu is Strong against

• She rely on attack speed to deal her damage. Short range and very squishy. One of the best counter for vayne.
• He rely on movespeed to catch his axe, he also got a small range. Nunu is a great counter for Draven.

Champion Nunu is weak against

• She gives magic resist as passive and will out sustain Nunu. You can't really harass her nor the AD carry.
• The spell shield will deny you from harassing her. She also got a movespeed buff with her ult that would counter yours. And her buff affect her whole team.

Champion Nunu is good partner with

• Ashe got slightly more range then most other AD. She already has a slow so with Nunu's and you can win most trade.
• Caitlyn got much mor range then other AD carry and one of the strongest early game. Nunu's kit will make her dominate the lane so hard. This is pure torture to lane against Caitlyn and Nunu. It also was one of the most played lane during IPL5
• Most people underestimate the strength of Nunu/Ezreal bottom. Ezreal's got an attack speed buff that goes very well with Nunu's . Add to that a gap closer and the slow from you got a very deadly lane.
• I would say he is the strongest AD with Nunu. Insane range, insane damage and s low. Once you are both level 6, if Nunu hit only 1 on the ennemy, he's sure to see a huge chunk of his HP go down. Can win any trade because he outrange you and can poke/chase with the slow. You can't do anything against that lane.
• Also a very strong duo, but mostly for the late game damage. Vayne is very weak during the laning. But if she manage to make it late game, then Nunu's + will make her destroy and entire team in few seconds.

Other Champion Nunu is good with (Team synergy)

• Pretty obvious choice. Also Nunu's works to proc anivia's spell.
• AoE ult. If both are well used during a fight it can lead to devastating result.
• AoE Taunt will make everyone stay inside of
• Same as Galio. Jarvan's ultimate will help Nunu land a full
• Slow and AoE damage again, very good with Nunu.
• One of the best ultimate in the game. Lot's of AoE damage/disable that will go along very well with Nunu's abilities.
• Not only her ult will help Nunu, but the black shield will prevent Nunu's to be disable by any kind of CC.
• She can attach her ball on Nunu as he goes in for the ult and keep everyone inside as long as possible using her own ultimate. Movespeed buff is also very good.
• Any heavy AoE champion will do well with Nunu. Again swain's heavy CC and AoE will do great with Nunu's abilities.
• Same reason as all of the above. The AoE disable ult and high mobility of Wukong will make him do great with Nunu in a team.

Laning phase is where the faith of the game will be decided. Of course a comeback is always possible but the laning phase is very important. What you have to do is make sure that your AD carry can farm freely. Maybe get a few kill by being aggressive. It always depends what lane you are facing. Play smart and use your brain to judge if you can go in or not. If you can win trade or not. If you start losing the lane it might be a good idea to ask for gank and stop playing aggressive. If you are winning make sure to not overextend too much as you will most likely get ganked.


This is the most important thing as a support. You need to keep bottom lane warded with at least 2 ward at all time during the erly game. A ward on the side brush will prevent a lane gank and will make it impossible for the enemy support to zone you using them. Also to ward the river, I suggest you put the ward inside the tri-brush. Put it near the center at the edge on the right. If you do it right, with the point in the masteries, you will see both the tri-brush and the river with one single ward. This will prevent gank from tri-brush and river as well. Once you buy the sightstone, keping these 2 spot warded will not be a problem.

Roaming

Nunu is a great roamer. Make sure to use that to your advantage. You can show up in mid lane with the jungler to get a kill on the enemy mid. You could also help your jungler do some counter jungling. Make sure though that you don't let your carry solo the bottom lane too long as he will most likely get zoned and won't be able to farm. Be smart and judge if it's possible for you to do it or not.

Mid game is where you start to play as a team. Laning phase is almost over you will start roaming and getting objective. Of course you can still go back to your lane at some point during that phase but most of the time you will be ganking other lane and start to push tower or defend them. Pay attention to the map and of course keep it warded. Don't get caught out of position and try to catch some of the other team champions out of position. This will be possible of course if you do your job and ward the map.

• Dragon/Baron: It's very important as it gives lots of gold. Don't let the enemy team get one of these freely unless you can push down 2 turret or more when they are doing it. And for baron its actually better you just don't let them have it unless you can finish the game or at least push down many inhibitors while they do it.
• Pushing for turret: Gives lots of gold to your team and map control. It's very useful and can make your team come back.
• Kill : Kill goes last on that list. Don't over chase. If someone get away let him go and just go push a tower or get an objectives instead. They are worth much more gold for the whole team and over chasing will make you lose time and the enemy will re-spawn. So while it's good to get a kill, the other objectives are much better.

So late game is mostly like mid game but even more team oriented. The laning phase is completely over. You should go in a lane only to push it back then go back to join your team. Keeping and oracle with you all the time is not an option. You need one. Also it's very important to keep the map warded and not get caught by the enemy team. Keep in mind the same objectives I gave you for mid game and try to focus on your priority and play with your team. Here's an exemple of good map warding. Of course they don't need to be all up but try to put down as many as you can.

For teamfight keep your AD carry buffed with blood boiled all the time. Also stick on the enemy carry as much as you can and use your exhaust and Ice blast to keep him useless. It's important that you provide support to your team so during a fight don't chase an enemy. Always and I mean ALWAYS!!! stay with your team and provide support. If someone run away, just let him go and move back to your team and keep helping them. Protect your carry at all cost, try your best to not let anyone go near him so he can deal his damage without getting zoned by anyone. Play smart during teamfight, it takes very good knowledge and awareness to do it right. But the most important things to do is to not chase and stay in the fight. Nothing piss me off more when I play ADC to see my support chase after the 10hp left AP carry leaving me 1v3 against the enemy team. Your job is not to chase and get kill, it's to help your ADC and your team. You got assassin to finish off low HP enemy. You have a support job to do and you should do it. Don't try to play Rambo when playing support, you're not gonna make it.

Finally make sure to use your ultimate. It can be used as a counter initiate because the enemy team will not stay in it. Keep count of the enemy team's CC as well so you know when you can use your ult.

• Use Randuin's Omen before using to add an extra slow effect
• Combine with the activation of when chasing down or to start a fight
• It's very easy to do an early dragon and help your team secure buff/dragon/baron using
• When your AD carry is ahead Nunu is actually a very good roamer. Use and to gank other lane
• If you hide inside a brush and start using the enemy team won't see the animation.
• Your ult is an effective way of counter initiating a fight as people will not want to stay in it
• You can stop your ultimate earlier to deal damage. Of course it will deal less damage.

I have no doubt that Nunu is a very strong and viable support. He's my support of choice when I play league of legends. I love his kit and when you play him well, he bring so much to the team. His high mobility allow him to roam very well and remove wards and place some very fast without getting caught.

I hope you guys enjoy this guide. Any comments would be appreciated. If the guide is popular enough I will do a video that shows all of the advice above and a full game with Nunu support. Make sure to rate it and comments!

oh and keep playing this awesome game!!!!