Nautilus

Well before today’s dockhands of Bilgewater were born, sailors were already passing around stories about a hulking, armored presence drifting past the Blue Flame Isles. Few think of Nautilus as an ordinary man. He reads more like a myth that took on a body, and nobody can pin down when his tale began, since he seems to have always been part of the harbor’s lore.

Whatever drives him goes back to a betrayal buried so deep that its details are gone, leaving only the shape of his conduct behind. He never signals before he strikes. The enormous anchor he carries works one of two ways depending on who is at the other end: it can haul the desperate out of danger, or sink the greedy to the seabed. Seafarers call this an unspoken levy, the Bilgewater tithe, and the belief is that Nautilus turns up to collect whenever someone forgets to pay.

Staggering Blow roots the first target it hits, mirroring how that anchor drags a victim into place. Dredge Line flings the anchor forward and pulls either an enemy or Nautilus himself toward whatever it strikes. Titan’s Wrath encases him in a shield that converts his attacks into damage over time, Riptide sets off three waves around him, and Depth Charge sends a shockwave after one target before it bursts beneath them. Other figures in the port, such as Graves and Illaoi, follow very different codes, yet few command the water the way Nautilus does.

Nautilus fights as a Tank, usually in the Top lane or as a Support, and he draws on mana rather than any oceanic resource of his own. A common way to set up a gank is to land Dredge Line on terrain and follow with Riptide, while the delayed detonation of Riptide discourages anyone from chasing him. Those caught in Riptide generally do best to stay still until the ripples die down rather than moving early into a second blast. Stripping away his Titan’s Wrath shield before it releases area damage is usually a wiser move than letting him keep attacking.