Greetings Protectors !

My name is Bart VonDoom, I have been playing Infinite Crisis since the first day of the closed beta, and I play both Gotham Divided and Coast City, but mostly GD. I've been playing Nightmare Batman as my main jungler for a while now and was suprised with the lack of fresh guides for him, as he is truly a force to reckon with as a jungler, and can really make a difference for your team. This is my third guide, you guys can check out my Blue Beetle and my Atrocitus guide too, and if you like what you see please rank it good, so green thumb if you enjoy that guide please.


Play Style and Role:

This guide is how I personnally play the Nightmare Batman and may not be fit for every single game. Nightmare Batman is most efficient from level 6 as his ultimate can really assure a kill for your team, but even early game his sutain, his lifesteal and the range of his Q/A the Batarang are a real annoyance for the enmy team. 

After level 6, you can really turn into a killing monster and terrorize lanes if you play correctly and if your team has a good vision. Not to mention his ability to quickly destroy turrets and dampeners. But all the slaughtering beast he can be, he also come with some issues being an all in type of assassin, but this build is made to make the most of pros, and limit his cons.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Energy based champion, no need to worry about Will and Will Vials
Excellent burst damage at all time thanks to very good AD ratios
Massive lifesteal that gives you a real good sustain at all time, no need for Health Vials
Good mobility and attack speed
Can easily escape with Bat Swarm (W) and/or Savagery (E)
Can easily secure kills with the Bat Swarm (W) + Feral Embrace (R) combo
Can easily chase target with Batarang (Q) as it slows and the help of Savagery (E) 
Can surprise your opponents at all time
Awesome at 1 VS 1
Tons of damages mid to late game

Cons:

Very single target orientated, if you want AoE damage, he is not for you
You will often get focused in teamfight as the damages you bring can be insane
Despite his lifesteal, he can be a bit squishy


Augments and Mods:

I do not use leveling augments with Nightmare Batman, but flat stats augments to give you a good advantage early game, which is somehow his weak part of the game.

The augments I use are the following:
Kord Industries PIXXY: +3,02 Move Speed, +1% Attack Lifesteal
Wayne Enterprises BREAKER: +2,32 Move Speed, +1,2% Attack Lifesteal
Wayne Enterprises WAVE: +1,2% Attack Lifesteal, +2.16 Attack Speed
Wayne Enterprises TEACHER: +2.16 Attack Speed, +2,32 Move Speed

This leaves us with a nice 402,2 Move speed at the start of the game and already +3,4% lifesteal, that will add nicely with our passive and the items. 

The mods I am using are here to allow me to quickly get kills early game and keep up my sustain and effectiveness all game long:

Queen Industries Enhanced Attack Damage Coda Blade: +10 Attack Damage at Tier 3 - That gives you +50 Attack Damage at Tier 3, which is a massive amount of damage, not to mention the +15 Attack penetration that comes with it, for only 1750 coins.
This gives you a big advantage early game, helping you to get your first kills.

Queen Industries Empowered Cheetah's Claw: Desperate Speed 2 - When you fall below 50% Health, gain 25% Attack Speed and 15 Move speed. This is just your near death bread and butter, and it is something you will need practice to appreciate correctly as you will need to make the correct choice. You can either stay and fight (generally works fine if 1vs1) as you will gain 25% Attack speed as soon as you are below 50% health (there is NO TIME LIMIT) and with Nightmare Batman lifesteal and sustain, this is purely insane in 1VS1 (sometimes even in 1VS2) situation and guarantee you kills and helps you stay alive. Now if you feel like you're going to lose the fight, it grants you +15 Move speed, and with your already good mobility (and also Savagery if you need it or your Super Speed Stolen Power) this let you run away and escape as fast as lightening. It is also quite funny to have a full enemy team running after you and making them go up, and left, and right, and down, to finally waste their time as they won't kill you. Not to mention how cheap this item is to start, so I generally build it with my spare cash, one level by one level.

Wayne Enterprises Enhanced Attack Armor Claw of Horus: +15 Attack Armor Tier 2 - This provide you with more sustain, improving your duelling ability. Also the Attack Damage and the Health provided are great for Night Bat and the Kinetic Armor effect (your Basic Attacks steal 3 Attack Armor for 5s, max 5 stacks) makes this act as an extra armor penetration item, everything our Bat needs !

The first mod is a way to ensure your early game's kills, and make sure you are a deadly presence, wherever you go.

The second mod is totally completing Nightmare Batman's kit, as an assassin you need to be in and out of fights as fast as possible, but also as deadly as possible and Empowered Cheetah's Claw gives you that. I ended up killing the last remaining 2 of the enemy team once thanks to desperate Speed 2 helping greatly my positioning and using the active while under 50% health gives you +75% Attack Speed, an insane way to refill your HP bar while your enemy cries and dies...

The third mod is really to improve your sustain mid game.


Stolen Powers:

I don't use Nightmare Batman's Consume as Detonate is a more better choice in terms of damage and also to secure objectives as a team. Don't get me wrong, his Consume is great, maybe the best Consume in the game, the truth is Nightmare batman DOES NOT NEED IT, his sutain and lifesteal are way sufficient, so sufficient that I don't even use vials.

Atomic Joker's Detonate is simply the best Stolen Power for Junglers at the moment, its very low cooldown grants you faster clearing of the jungle and you need to remember it does work on environmental objects too, as it sometimes helps to escape dodgy situations.

Hawkgirl's Super Speed is simply brilliant on Night Bat, it can be used as a chasing spell when your target is 
fleeing away with low HP and helps you secure kills, or you can also use it as another way to escape a dodgy situation.

Prime Robin's cameras are also a very good choice as it grants a lot of vision, if you take it, swap it with the Super Speed.


Item Choices:

I start at level one with level 2 Marauder's Knife and go straight to the camp that grants you the HP beacon. I 
follow up with the 2 small camps and move to a lane for a first gank if needed (bear in mind you will only be 
level 2). If no gank needed I simply move side (or invade the enemy jungle) and go do the camp that grants you the Move Speed beacon, and finish off the 2 remaining small camps (bringing you to level 4). At this point I try to get a kill or at least an assist, so I go gank the lane that needs it most.
I generally keep my Marauder's Knife to level 2 and go straight to buy Coda blade when I first back (generally 
get it straight to level 2, level 3 if you have secured a kill or two) and go back to the jungle until I'm level 6 or a teammate needs a gank.

As soon as you are level 6, go gank and use Bat Swarm + Feral Embrace (follow with Savagery and Silver Batarang to slow them and add extra damage) to get a kill, and generally an assist (or sometimes 2 assists :/ but it is still good as you do get enough coins anyway). Back and upgrade your Coda Blade to level 3 if it wasn't already level 3 (don't upgrade it to level 4, I generally never upgrade it to level 4 except if it is my last option) and get your Marauder's knife to level 4 to get the +5 lifesteal andf the +40 Attack Damages.

Then start your Claw of Horus and max it.

If you play your ganks well, you will just be ruining the enemy team moral.

My 4th item always depends on how the game is going ? If we are winning big time, let's keep the ball rolling 
and go for Joe Chill's Revolver or Huntress's Crossbow, as this will continue to improve your damage and thus kill potential. If the enemy team is packing up attack armor, Atomic Axe will shatter their last bit of hope.

If you're getting focused, get a Rip Hunter's Time Pack (and use the active) to get in and out of fights. If you lack of health, Mobo's chain is a good option (although I really rarely need it).

If you need to play defensive against Power Damage teams, Sword of Beowulf is calling you. Kryptonian War Armor is also a very good item.

If you are facing hardcore Attack Damage foes, get a Soultaker Katana or Mettalo's Heart.


Abilities and combo strategies:


SILVER BATARANG (Q)

Nightmare Batman throws a batarang that returns to him after it reaches full range. It deals 50-125 Attack 
Damage to the first enemy it hits. Each additional hit deals 25% less damage, down to a minimum of 25% damage.

Enemies hit lose 20% Move Speed for 1s. This penalty stacks if the target is hit twice.

Damage:50-75-100-125 +50% Bonus Attack Damage

Cost:50-45-40-35

This is your main harass tool, also help for chasing and refilling your health bar securely. It's 5 second cooldown makes it a real pain for the enemy. Max it first.


BAT SWARM (W)

Nightmare Batman enters stealth for 1s, and his next Basic Attack or Feral Embrace within 4s will create a bat swarm at his target's feet. This swarm deals 60 Attack Damage over 3s to all enemies in the area.

Damage Over Time:60-120-180-240  +90% Attack Damage

Cost:50 at all time

Cooldown:15 sec

This is your ambush skill, start your ganks with it as it stealth you so the enemy is unaware you are coming. It 
does damage over time and the AD rather is pretty good but the cooldwon is massive. Max it last.


SAVAGERY (E)

Nightmare Batman gains 10 Attack Damage and 15% (+1% per 100 Bonus Health) Move Speed for 3s. Every time he hits a target with a Basic Attack he gains 8 Energy, and the duration is increased by 1s, up to an additional 5s.

Attack Damage:10-20-30-40

Cost:30 at all time

Cooldown:22-20-18-16 sec

This skill greatly improve your basic attack damage and move speed for 3 seconds, up to a total of 8 seconds if you keep attacking. This makes you a damn bloody good duelist, even from the first level of the skill, as a +10 on each attack for 8 seconds is a big advantage, not to mention that if the enemy starts running away you still have +15% move speed to chase... It makes Nightmare Batman a massive damage dealer, and help his sustain due to the scaling with the lifesteal. It also works on structures, making you the ultimate turrets and dampeners destroyer ,add to that the active of Cheetah's Claw, you destroy a turret in 4 or 5 basic attacks. Not to mention every attack during this skill refills your energy bar. Max it second.


FERAL EMBRACE (R)

Nightmare Batman blinks to a target enemy Champion and channels for 2s. During that time the target is Suppressed, and is dealt 150 Attack Damage over 2s. The duration of the effect is not reduced by Resilience.

Damage:150-225-300-375  +120% Bonus Attack Damage

Cooldown:120 sec

This is your ultimate skill, it has NO COST and does tons of damage to a single target, not to mention it suppresses your target so you can cancel the likes of Starro or Stargirl's ultimates. Combo it with Bat Swarm for more efficiency or to be sure to place it without being seen and ensure kills. Be aware though that it does make you vulnerable for the 2 secondes of the skill, meaning you are vulnerable to any other attack than your target, so it can be double-edged, make sure you use it when there is no danger around, or when your team will back you up and protect you. Well used, this skill can ensure you and your team tons of kills.


Conclusion:

I hope you enjoyed that guide and if so please give it a green thumb's up, and please feel free to comment and give constructive critics. I will continue to update it as far as the game evovles. If you feel like adding me 
to your in-game pals' list, my nick is bartvondoom on the EU server. See you on the streets of Gotham or Coast City.