How to Play Nunu & Willump: 5 Essential Tips for Domination

Overview

How to play Nunu & Willump effectively revolves around mastering five essential skills: jungle pathing, objective control with their powerful Q+Smite combo, ganking techniques using their snowball, building appropriate tank items, and strategic teamfight positioning. Their unique kit excels at securing dragons, heralds, and barons while providing crowd control and mobility that enables teammates to succeed, making them one of the most versatile supportive junglers in League of Legends.

Introduction to Nunu & Willump

Learning how to play Nunu & Willump effectively can transform your jungle experience in League of Legends. This lovable duo combines crowd control, objective control, and surprising mobility to create one of the most versatile junglers in the game. Whether you’re new to the role or looking to expand your champion pool, Nunu & Willump offers a balance of accessibility and depth that rewards dedicated practice.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down the five essential tips for mastering Nunu & Willump and dominating the Rift. Their unique kit revolves around securing objectives, creating map pressure, and setting up teammates for success. Unlike carry junglers who focus primarily on damage, Nunu & Willump excels as a supportive force that can completely control the game’s pace.

The bond between the boy and his yeti isn’t just lore—it’s reflected in their gameplay synergy that makes them similar to other supportive junglers like Ivern with his unique playstyle. However, Nunu brings much more early game pressure and objective control. Let’s dive into how to leverage their strengths to climb the ranked ladder and leave your opponents feeling frozen in their tracks.

Tip 1: Master Your Jungle Pathing

The foundation of playing Nunu & Willump successfully begins with efficient jungle pathing. Unlike power farmers or assassin junglers, Nunu’s strength lies in early objective control and frequent ganking. Your primary goal should be to clear camps quickly while maintaining healthy HP levels, which Nunu excels at thanks to his Q (Consume) healing.

For most games, start with a Red Buff → Raptors → Wolves → Blue Buff → Gromp path, which positions you perfectly for either Scuttle Crab contest or an early gank. Nunu’s Consume (Q) allows for extremely healthy clears, so you should rarely back before completing your first full clear unless a high-percentage gank opportunity presents itself.

What makes Nunu’s pathing unique is the flexibility to prioritize objectives early. Once you hit level 3, you can:

• Solo dragon as early as level 3 if the enemy jungler shows top side
• Contest or steal enemy buffs with your Q + Smite combo
• Prioritize Scuttle Crabs for vision and mobility in river

Always track the enemy jungler to make counter-jungling decisions. Nunu has strong dueling potential against many early-game junglers like Amumu who struggles in early skirmishes. However, avoid direct confrontations with strong duelists like Lee Sin or Olaf.

After your initial clear, prioritize camp respawns based on your proximity to potential ganks or objectives. Unlike other tanks such as Maokai who scales into late game, Nunu’s early and mid-game impact is where you’ll find most success, so efficient pathing that balances farming and map pressure is essential.

Tip 2: Objective Control Is Your Priority

When learning how to play Nunu & Willump, understand that your primary identity is that of an objective controller. No other jungler in League of Legends can secure neutral objectives as efficiently as Nunu, thanks to the devastating Consume (Q) + Smite combo that can deal over 1800 true damage to epic monsters at higher levels.

Dragon control should be your constant focus. With proper lane priority, you can solo the first dragon as early as level 4, often before the enemy jungler has even considered it. This early drake advantage can snowball into Dragon Soul priority, which is game-changing in the current meta. Official stats show that Nunu teams securing first dragon have a significantly higher win rate.

Herald and Baron control follows the same principles:

• Arrive at the objective 30 seconds early to set up vision
• Clear or place control wards in surrounding areas
• Track enemy jungler position before starting
• Use your Q + Smite combo for the final burst

Beyond epic monsters, Nunu excels at securing Scuttle Crabs, which provide valuable vision and movement speed in river areas. This control helps your laners play more aggressively knowing they have information about enemy jungler movements. Much like Rammus with his speedy rotations, Nunu can rapidly move between objectives using his W (Biggest Snowball Ever!).

One advanced technique is to bait objectives. Start a dragon or baron, then move into nearby bushes when enemies approach. When they engage the objective and lower its health, use your W to roll in and secure it with your Q + Smite combo. This technique works particularly well against junglers with weaker secure potential.

Tip 3: Perfect Your Ganking Technique

Ganking with Nunu & Willump requires finesse, but when executed properly, few junglers can match their gank potential. The heart of Nunu’s ganking arsenal is the W (Biggest Snowball Ever!), which can deliver devastating CC while covering massive distances quickly. Mastering this ability is essential when learning how to play Nunu & Willump effectively.

The snowball technique has several approaches:

• Lane ganks: Roll through lane bushes for unexpected angles
• River ganks: Build momentum from river for maximum speed
• Counter-ganks: Use your mobility to quickly respond when enemies gank your teammates

Always communicate with your laners before ganking. Unlike Jarvan IV with his targeted engage, Nunu’s snowball can be body-blocked by minions, so timing is crucial. Wait for enemy cooldowns or overextensions before committing to a gank.

After landing your snowball, follow up with E (Snowball Barrage) for additional slows and your ultimate if necessary. Remember that your ultimate is not always needed for ganks—save it for situations where enemies have escape abilities or when you need to zone them from objectives.

Ganking priority should typically follow this order:

• Lanes with easy setup CC (like Nautilus with his reliable hooks)
• Overextended lanes without escape abilities
• Lanes with high snowball potential (like Irelia or Yone)
• Counter-ganks when you spot the enemy jungler

As you gain experience, you’ll discover creative gank paths specific to Nunu. One particularly effective technique is the “lane drift,” where you start your snowball in one direction but drift around corners to surprise enemies from unexpected angles. Pro guides recommend practicing these maneuvers in practice tool before attempting them in ranked games.

Tip 4: Build Paths and Item Choices

Building correctly on Nunu & Willump is crucial for maximizing your impact throughout the game. As a tank jungler, your primary goal is to balance durability with utility, allowing you to engage fights, peel for carries, and survive long enough to control multiple objectives.

The standard core build for Nunu typically includes:

• Starter: Emberknife + Refillable Potion
• Core: Sunfire Aegis/Turbo Chemtank (mythic choice)
• Boots: Mercury Treads or Plated Steelcaps (based on enemy damage type)
• Second item: Dead Man’s Plate or Force of Nature (based on enemy damage type)
• Utility: Thornmail, Abyssal Mask, or Knight’s Vow

Your mythic choice should depend on the game situation. Sunfire Aegis provides better clearing speed and sustained damage for longer fights, while Turbo Chemtank enhances your engage potential and works well with Nunu’s already impressive mobility. Against teams with significant healing, prioritizing Thornmail is essential.

For runes, Aftershock provides the best overall value, giving you additional tankiness when engaging. However, Phase Rush can be viable against teams with heavy slows or when you need to make quick hit-and-run plays. Secondary runes should focus on mobility (Celerity, Waterwalking) or additional tankiness (Conditioning, Revitalize).

Adapt your build based on the enemy composition. Against AP-heavy teams, prioritize Force of Nature and Mercury Treads. Against AD threats, Dead Man’s Plate, Randuin’s Omen, and Plated Steelcaps will serve you better. This flexible approach to building is similar to how Braum adapts his defenses based on enemy threats.

In the late game, consider utility items like Gargoyle Stoneplate for teamfight survivability or Warmog’s Armor for sustained objective control. Current statistics show that Sunfire into Dead Man’s Plate maintains the highest win rate for most skill brackets.

Tip 5: Teamfight Positioning and Strategy

Knowing how to play Nunu & Willump in teamfights separates good Nunu players from great ones. Your role transitions from early game objective controller to mid-late game engage tank and peeler. Positioning is everything, as you need to balance between threatening enemy backlines and protecting your own carries.

In most teamfight scenarios, you have three main approaches:

• Primary engage: Use W to initiate fights when you have follow-up from your team
• Counter-engage: Wait for enemies to commit, then use your CC to punish overextensions
• Peeling: Stay near your carries and use your abilities to protect them from divers

Your ultimate is a game-changing zoning tool. Rather than always trying to fully channel it for maximum damage, use it strategically to:

• Zone enemies away from objectives
• Force flashes or defensive abilities
• Create chokepoints in jungle pathways
• Protect your backline from assassins

Unlike pure tanks like K’Sante with his dedicated frontlining, Nunu works best as a disruptor who bounces between frontline and backline as needed. Your snowball mobility allows you to quickly reposition, making you unpredictable in extended fights.

Always track high-priority targets before teamfights begin. If the enemy has a fed carry, consider using Flash + Snowball or Flash + Root to lock them down immediately. Communication with your team is key—let them know your engage plans in advance so they can follow up appropriately.

Late game positioning around Baron and Elder Dragon is particularly important. Use your superior objective secure potential as a threat, forcing enemies to either engage on unfavorable terms or risk losing the objective to your Q + Smite combo. This objective dance is where mastering how to play Nunu & Willump truly pays off.

Conclusion

Mastering how to play Nunu & Willump effectively transforms you into a force that controls the game’s tempo from the first minute until the Nexus falls. Their unique combination of mobility, objective control, and teamfight utility makes them one of the most versatile junglers in League of Legends. By implementing the five key strategies we’ve covered—optimizing jungle paths, prioritizing objectives, perfecting ganks, building appropriately, and positioning strategically in teamfights—you’ll be well on your way to dominating the Rift.

Remember that Nunu & Willump rewards proactive decision-making and map awareness more than mechanical skill. Your greatest strength is creating advantages through superior objective control and enabling your teammates to succeed. Unlike carry junglers who need to snowball themselves, Nunu excels at snowballing the entire team through smart macro play and consistent pressure.

Keep practicing these techniques, adapt your strategies to different team compositions, and maintain a positive mindset—much like Nunu and his yeti companion. Before long, you’ll be rolling snowballs down lanes and climbing the ranked ladder with this powerful and underrated jungle duo. Good luck on the Rift, and may your objectives always be secured!

Frequently Asked Questions