Hey everyone, Pyroen here, most people call me Pyro.

This is my first guide for Mobafire and I plan on updating this religiously as Nidalee is by far my favorite champion League of Legends has to offer.

I've been playing League since Season 1 and have since climbed to challenger top 100 NA (S8) and top 50 (S9) using the Jungle to influence the game as I see fit..

The Jungle (imo) is the most influential and most difficult roles in the game.

Teams will love or hate you if this is the path you've chosen.

Good luck summoner, you have my respect!!

Edit: 12.6: New runes havent been added to moba yet but you should be running Bounty hunters in 90% of your games. Pre 12.6 ive been running conq w/ secondary resolve. post 12.6 ill be running conq w/ domination secondary (get that gold!)

PROS + Highest Skill cap in the game + Hyper aggressive carry that can snowball the game + Adaptability to play from behind Nidalee is difficult to master but once you do, she is one of the easiest champs to climb with. She brings a significant amount of AP Magic damage to a team which frees up your Mid and Top to play more bruisers/utility mages.

CONS - Difficult to learn - Mechanically intensive - Countered by hard CC She can be punished by coordinated invades from mid and support. The only real way to eliminate her usefulness from a game is by deep warding into her jungle and consistently killing her while she is farming to her powerspikes.

DOMINATION

Why Dark Harvest? Why not Electrocute? Well.. For Nidalee both runes can work extremely well. Dark Harvest has a larger impact into the late game due to the ability to proc the rune on 1 spear and having it reset with kills. Electrocute is probably going to be your starter rune but as you transition into a Nidalee pro you'll be able to see why Dark Harvest pulls ahead even after its numerous nerfs.

Alternatively you can also run Ghost Poro since you will be invading quite often - however i prefer eyeball collection for the bonus AP scaling into the late game...

Absolute focus/Waterwalking are purely for the river battles.. As Nidalee you don't have a way of shredding the armor/magic resist of scuttles and need to be prepared to kite aggressive enemy junglers - Waterwalking will help you do that. Absolute focus is for Big Damages late game - ideally you will always be above 70% HP and that additional 30 AP combined with your eyeball collection means you get a free 60 AP at lvl 18 (if it goes that long

Ravenous Hunter allows for great sustain throughout the map as well as some scrappyness to teamfights/skirmishes. Alternatively you can also use Relentless Hunter as it synergies great with her passive

Attack Speed Adaptive Force Shield allows you to have the safest and most optimal clear. The added attack speed is very noticeable in the early game for any skirmishes you encounter as well.

Trap is our first point so that we can give our laners the opportunity to start gaining priority across the map. Nidalee has no trouble starting traps at Raptors and will only need 3 traps at raptors to be successful.

Starting the game at raptors will take some practice:

2 traps will be activated immediately (One at large raptor spawn and one on a little guy)
1 trap will be off to the side to be kited to
Stand (in kitty form) where the large raptor will spawn
Auto >pounce in place> auto > pounce in place and begin running away towards your 3rd trap
Swap to human form while running and try your darndest to orb walk while attacking the large raptor
Pounce and run once the 3rd trap is triggered and again pounce the group again with a final auto on big daddy Raptor.

Congrats. you've cleared your first camp.

Next we go red > golems > contest scuttle (smite golems unless you are godlike at kiting you will be semi-low

Typically we are going to be utilizing a Self leashed start on either Raptors or wolves.

Raptor is ideal as it will allow for a quick Rapt>Red>Golems>wolves>blue (level 4)- with the scuttle changes to spawn at 3:15 we can effectively get a 5 camp into scuttle - alternatively if you have a good leashing from bot lane we can do all 6 camps and meet the enemy at scuttle (pretty nice)

It is SO important to get a pixel ward on both sides so that we know exactly where the enemy jungler is pathing - if he hasn't shown on either side - take a look at the buff he didn't start at, there is a good chance he is also full clearing which gives you an opportunity to invade/counterjungle/kill him as he transitions to the other side of the map.

(Bonus tip: Pay attention to when laners show on the map - and make it a habit of taking a look at their health/mana pool - this will give you a clue as to whether or not they assisted their jungler in a leash and give you a better idea where the enemy jungler started)

Video below to show how to make it happen.

Ganking a lane is going to be a lot easier with an early Sweeping Lens as it allows you to scan the area for close wards. BONUS: You can also get free stacks on your Zombie Ward (if you chose that route) Still get Sweeping Lens as it provides you a clear, un-tracked route to and through the enemy jungle

Once you size up a lane for a gank - if time allows take a breath before going to land your spear - Look at the body language the summoner is displaying...

Is he too aggro for the lane he is in? (might be looking at a counter gank)
What does he do inbetween CS-ing? is there a pattern to detect? Use it!
Is there a valuable minion you KNOW he will sacrifice life/limb to get to? (cannon)

Use these things to your advantage - Especially if the lane you are trying to gank doesn't have a guaranteed stun/snare... if they do Lissandra, Malzahar, Pantheon etc... let them initiate, these are great lanes to gank - once the enemy is CC'd line up your shot and take it

Don't be too quick to use your W if you can easily walk up to them and they are marked - Its a good way to secure a kill and have them blow a summoner spell.

Nidalee's bread and butter.

Post 6 w/ runic echoes Nidalee can take jungle camps with insane speed!
Be sure you're using your Sweeping Lens and gettin a deep Control Ward in the enemy jungle.

As the Jungler your role is to control objectives. Leading into the mid game you should have most outer turrets destroyed. (maybe mid still up?)

The best way to approach mid game is to force the enemy team to give up priority objectives by splitting their focus between two threats. If your team has a Teleport on the team you should be sending this player to a side lane opposite a neutral objective. This forces the team to either choose to stop a split pusher which will assuredly take a tower or two if left alone - or meet you at an objective that they want. Be sure that the enemy team is responding to your split pusher before you commit to a dragon/baron - unless you have the clear advantage you should not leave neutral objectives up to a 50/50.

Although with Nidalee she can easily secure objectives away from most other junglers given her marked Takedown and smite can deal an insane amount of damage if you combo them together - you shouldn't be leaving this up to chance though until you get more confident with your champ.

Macro

✦ What is Macro? Please take a look at my mini-guide for a brief explanation! Play Video

I've heard a lot of people saying they do well with Nidalee early game and even get a lead into the mid game but then they struggle to end the game successfully with Nid.

There are a couple different strategies to consider when ending a game -

Does your team have a strong split pusher to combo with? Jax Yorick Tryndamere are all great split pushers and can end a game if left alone.
Ward up the jungle between mid/bot or mid/top and have them split exclusively while your team pressures the other side of the map. If you have the numbers advantage your team can take a 4v3 fight and your solo split pusher should be able to disengage with the additional ward coverage your team has allotted to him.

Don't have a strong split pusher? You hopefully have a strong siege because that is another great way to end the game. Keeping a pocket Control Ward is HUGE for
end game sieging. You will never want to be in lane/view of the enemy team while the siege is happening - so denying vision w/ your pink ward and throwing Spears diagonal/across the enemy line up will yield the best results! Remember - you miss 100% of the spears you don't take :)

Alternatively you can also be the split pusher for your team.. Since your build consist of Sorcerer's Shoes Oblivion Orb and Lich Bane. All of your attacks vs the tower are considered Magic Damage and all that damage is nearly true damage given your Magic pen. You can take out towers quickly given your Healing Attack Speed steroid, Lich Bane Procs, Auto attack resets with Takedown - Same rules apply, make sure your team has ample ward coverage and the ability to disengage uneven team fights.

This concludes my first guide on Mobafire - be gentle but also ASK QUESTIONS.

I've been playing Nid for years and have played her extensively in all roles. If you've struggled with certain match ups LET ME KNOW - I've also played that match up and have had success against it. (or banned it out :)

As I said before this is my favorite champ and will continue to visit this page and update it as the game develops.


This guide is still considered a work in progress (For me) As I will continue to update it periodically. I'm looking to you as the future of the Nidalee community to ask the tough questions that I might not have thought of. I have nearly 1Mil Mastery points on Nid and have played her extensively through the Jungle and Top lane so ask away!

GG WP

Edit: 100k Views! You guys rock!