
Hello! In this guide you will find several different ways to build
Nidalee. Because of her versatile playstyle and abilities, a skilled Nidalee player can build nearly any combination of items to decimate the enemy team.
- Build 1 - AP Carry/Poker/Splitpusher
- Build 2 - AP Poke with bursty cougar attacks
- Build 3 - AD Pusher with okay heals and attack speed boost
NOTE:
Every game is different, so buy and play appropriately! Good luck to all you Nidalees! May all your victories be glorious, and your defeats few and far between! :D
Edit: After being gone for a couple months, I am back to updating this guide. I have read your comments, and will respond appropriately when I am finished updating this guide with some new content and formatting. I am currently about
90% completed! Expect the complete overhaul by sometime this week!
Edit 2: Of course, Nidalee goes free before I am ready. xD





A quick look at her pros and cons before you go on - this is an in depth guide, so putting this up front will help you decide if you want to play her before you continue reading.
Pros
+ Powerful heals with attack speed buff
+ PRO SPEARS.
+ Nearly impossible to chase in brush
+ Great damage boost at 6 as cougar
+ Free mini wards! (NOT a replacement)
|
space
|
|
|
|
|
space
|
Cons
- Half a champion before 6...
- Not a lot of damage in pre 6 ganks
- Very mana hungry if not careful
- No CC
- Needs the right team composition!
|











Prowl 15% increased movement speed for 2 seconds in brush.
This passive is what makes
Nidalee such a great harasser. Poke, run through brush, escape.
Human Skills
Javelin Toss Throws a spear. At max range, it deals 250% damage.
Become a pro with this! It has a ridiculous range, so use it to your advantage!
Tip: If you run
away from your enemy after throwing a spear, you will actually deal more damage. The distance measured is taken when the spear hits.
Tip: Try to aim a little ahead of a fleeing champion so that they run into your spear.
Bushwhack It's a trap!
Once an enemy walks over it, his armor and magic resistance is reduced by 20% for 12 seconds. He is also visible on the minimap to all friendly champions for 10 seconds.
Tip: When you drop a trap in brush, the entire brush is lit up for a split second, letting you see any players hiding in there.
Primal Surge Heal yourself or an ally, granting a 60% attack speed boost for 7 seconds (Rank 5).
If you think you won't need the heal for a few seconds, throw it on your AD carry when taking down important targets like dragon or a turret. The attack speed boost is perfect for it! When attacking minion waves, cast it on yourself before you switch to cougar.
Tip: Alt+E will automatically heal yourself.
Aspect of the Cougar Switch between cougar and human form.
There is a small cooldown, so make sure you're in the right form for teamfights - before the fight!
Tip: Try to stay in cougar form while traveling; you have 20 additional run speed in this form, and the pounce lets you travel a little faster, as well as hopping over walls. See
Wall Pouncing.
Cougar Skills
Takedown The less health your target has, the more damage Takedown will do.
Try to use this last in your combos. This can give you the kill and save yourself when both you and your enemy are extremely low!
Pounce Pounce forward. You do a small amount of damage upon landing.
You can dodge skill shots with this if timed correctly. There are also several walls that Nidalee can pounce over. See
Wall Pouncing for examples.
Tip: Spam pounce when running to increase your speed a tiny bit. Do not pounce out of brush when trying to run away - this takes away from your 2 seconds of increased speed!
Swipe A small aoe in front of you.
This can easily take down entire minion waves. It covers everything in front of you in a small radius.
Cougar Skill Rotation:
Pounce (W),
Swipe (E),
Takedown (Q). This lets you catch up, deal damage, and deal even more based off of their remaining health!
Use
Swipe (E) and then
Takedown (Q) if you want to use
Pounce (W) to get out of range after attacking.


First point -
Bushwhack - Traps are amazing! Got a jungler on your team? Protect him with traps! Does the enemy have a jungler? Trap the other buff! See my
Trapping section below for more details.
Second point -
Primal Surge - There are few champions that have a heal for sustain and can deal great damage!
Third point -
Javelin Toss - Her perfect weapon. Do NOT take this skill first. At level 1, her traps do more damage than a spear, and that's if the spear actually hits the champion.
From here, this is dependent on your playstyle and your opponents.
If playing
defensively:
If playing
aggressively AD:
- Max
Primal Surge first. You won't be buying a lot of items that benefit your spear, and the attack speed boost is great for cougar form.
If playing
Hybrid:
- Take
Primal Surge at 4 and 5 to get it to rank 3. After taking
Aspect Of The Cougar at 6, max spear, finish heal, and traps last. Try to find that perfect balance!
If playing
aggressively AP:
Of course, max
Aspect Of The Cougar when you can. I save
Bushwhack for last because I use them as mini wards (
NOTE: TRAPS ARE NOT REPLACEMENTS FOR WARDS), not as a source of damage. However, killing a straggler by trap is ALWAYS funny and humiliating for them!
Marks
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration will help get that *liiiittle* bit of health left on your enemies with your spear.
Greater Mark of Armor Penetration Grab
Greater Mark of Armor Penetration for AD Nidalee or AP Nidalee. These are also great for helping your auto attacks pre 6 - both on minions and enemy champs!
Greater Mark of Attack Damage is necessary on AD Nidalee. This will help your last hits.
Seals
Greater Seal of Armor is pretty standard - I take these 95% of the time. This will help save you from any autoattacks or skills by AD champs early game. Great for solo top!
The flat mana regen is best for early game, since the scaling ones don't catch up until about level 6. You should be generally be buying mana regen items on your first back. Take these or combine them with
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration if you find yourself low on mana.
Glyphs
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist is also standard! Obviously, it protects you from AP attacks. The scaling ones don't catch up until level 9, so take the flat ones! By that point, you should be able to buy magic resist items.
I only take
Greater Glyph of Ability Power or
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power on glass cannon Nidalee. Watch out for skill shots, because you are losing magic resist by taking this!
Quintessences
15 bonus AP from
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power at the start of a game is pretty nice! This is the go-to quint for AP casters.
My absolute favorite rune. Take
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed and combine them with your passive
Prowl, and you can literally run circles around the enemy team! Just don't get stunned!
If you are going AD, grab
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage. This will help with your auto attacks early game. Abuse your range!
Summoner spell combinations heavily depends on your unique playstyle, but here are the higher rated or most used options.
One of my favorite summoner spells,
Flash can be used to escape from or to chase down enemies. This spell literally has a million uses! See my Wall Pouncing section for tips.
Aggressive or
Defensive.
I rarely take
Ignite with her, but it's a great spell if you play very aggressively. For my playstyle, my spear and run speed is usually enough when chasing down an enemy champ. Take
Ignite if going hybrid/AD or you don't trust your spear!
Aggressive.
Exhaust + your run speed = dead enemy champ. Take it if you are going very aggressive, especially AD. It's amazing for chasing down enemies, or even to run away from them! I personally take this nearly every game over ignite, unless there's a heal happy enemy champion.
Aggressive.
While the distance on
Ghost is definitely farther than flash, ghost doesn't have the "element of surprise" that flash does. Take this if you don't feel as comfortable with flash, or want to chase enemies with it.
Aggressive or
Defensive.
Yes. I know.
Teleport. This spell only really shines when you know you will be stuck split pushing. Take this on a full AP +
Lich Bane Nid, and go destroy their towers! I rarely take this, but it does have its moments!
Utility.






The way you build
Nidalee varies greatly on both your team composition and the enemy team.
For example,
AP
Nidalee is best suited for a
Poke Composition. This means that you form a team around long range damage dealers in the lanes, such as
Jayce,
Xerath, or
Caitlyn with a strong jungler to help with crowd control and early game kills to help snowball your team. It's essential to understand that without poking down the enemy team from afar as a TEAM, this type of composition would just fall apart. Team synergy, distance, and drawn out fights are its strong points. If done correctly, the enemy team will either have to engage with lower health and possibly less team mates, or back and let you take out objectives. Enemy teams with a lot of shields to absorb your damage or gap closers to hard engage on you are the bane of poke comps!
AP
Nidalee can also "support," but we all know that it's just a kill lane at bottom. Does it make for some fantastic games? Oh heck yes, with your friends! But please, don't be that YOLOqueue "Support" Nid. :C They get a bad rep for not warding (traps are not enough!) and for stealing the ADC's kills.
Hybrid
Nidalee has the most balanced stats. Go this route if you are needed on your team for the poke and heals, but still don't have enough damage on your team. It's a great choice that makes use of ALL of her abilities!
Bruiser
Nidalee is great for when your team needs to add a tanky AD to the mix. Granted, there are many other champs that can fill that role quite easily, but Nidalee has the bonus of excellent sustain with her heal against tough top laners, an attack speed steroid that can tear apart towers, and godlike mobility. She's the perfect split-pushing champion! This is usually the preferred option in ranked, and can tear up normal queues if played properly! Read that as: know your map, know your enemies, and be defensive! She is awesome for pouncing in and securing kills, but remember that her only escape ability after blowing
Pounce for the kill is her passive.
NOTE: *A tough lane counter does not mean you will automatically lose. Teamwork can help you overcome tough counters. By playing smart and defensively, a good player can at least try to stay even with a counter and not feed.*
Generally, champions with gap closers, slows, stuns, and other hard engages are very painful to Nidalee. Because she lacks her own CC, mobility and range are her strongest features.

Common Mid Laners
Ahri - Stay behind minions to avoid her E
Charm, and be on your best defense until she has used her ult!
Akali - Stay FAR away. She hurts. Autoattack when you can and focus on your farm. If she's a super aggressive Akali, try taking more points in your heal.
Anivia - Avoid stuns and use your pounce to jump over her walls. She is a better pusher than you, so keep an extra close eye on your lane when roaming. Try to steal their blue when you can!
Annie - I've found her to be pretty easy as long as you stay out of range. A lot of Annies will keep their stun counter at 3 spells, and then surprise you with a shield for a 4th and then the stunning ability so that the white aura doesn't give her away.
Brand is a combo champion. He's useless until his skills are back up for another rotation. His Q
Sear will stun you if you are burning. His W
Pillar of Flame is easy to pounce out of, so try farming in cat form.
Cassiopeia - Her E
Twin Fang hurts, and if you're already poisoned, she can hit you with it again almost immediately. Do not 1v1 her, especially when her ult is up.
Diana - Autoattack every chance you get! Abuse your range, but back out if she actually manages to Q
Crescent Strike you. She is a strong roamer, so MIAs are essential.
Evelynn - Play extra defensively until 6, and CALL MIAs. Pink wards and spam trapping the map are a necessity with an enemy Evelynn.
Fiddlesticks - His ult is terrifying and he also has sustain. Use your spears when you see him stop to channel his heal from a minion to punish him. RUN when you see him channel to ult, because he can basically blink to you with it.
FIZZ - OOOOooooh. He sucks. League seems to think Fish > Cat. He can burst you down so quickly. He can jump away from your spears. He's got a healing debuff! Try to farm when you can, survive, and pray you've got the whole team on the way for ganks.
Gragas - Abuse your autoattack range. When he trys to bodyslam you, run! His ult can displace your entire team, so be careful. Use your pounce to dodge his barrels.
Karthus - Easy lane! You can two shot this guy. Let your team know when his ult
Requiem is back up when you can. The CD is 200/180/160 seconds or 3.5 min / 3 min / 2 min 40 sec. Typing it in chat is easiest.
Kassadin - He can silence you whenever he feels like it. He can ult away from your spears if needed. He can ult to you and nuke you down instantly. His wave clear isn't the best without a lot of AP, so try to roam when you can.
Katarina - Autoattack when you can pre-6. If she ults, RUN. You don't have an interrupt! It is essential to call MIAs on her. If you're not paying attention or haven't warded, she'll suddenly come back with a double kill from bot, and then kill you.
Kayle - Another "just try to survive" lane. Her slow is EVIL, her wave pushing is crazy, and her ult will always just barely save her. Try to stay out of range at all times, and tfarm close to your tower.
Leblanc - Max your heal to survive her laning phase burst combos. You can literally two shot her later in teamfights, though!
Lulu - She is so lame in the laning phase with her pokes and slows. Play defensively and take objectives whenever you can!
Lux - WARD everything. If she catches you in a snare and someone pops out of that brush, add her ult and you're a goner. Autoattack when you can, and later you can burst her down with spears. Watch for the shield as well.
Master Yi -
Alpha Strike is EVIL. Stay as far back as you can, because he can just farm away and chunk off your health with that one ability. Grab a chalice to help your laning phase. Focus on farming, because autoattacking him is useless with his
Meditate.
Morgana - Stay behind minions to avoid snare. She will farm the back 3 minions with her AoE, so stay away. At 6, a surprise flash + combo + ignite will kill you, but if you stay back, you can bait out her shields and focus on spears while it's on CD (23 down to 15 seconds).
Orianna - She's an incredibly hard laner. If you get slowed, it's usually not worth it to flash away because she can just buff her happy self and zoom on over to you, then ult + nuke + ignite. Go gank the other lanes when you can, because this is a tough one.
Ryze - Keep a lot of wards up on the map! His snare + a gank = dead kitty. He will roam often and gank with that snare as well. I've found it best to ping like crazy and push the lane as much as I can when he is gone.
Syndra - This can also be an easy lane if she doesn't know what she's doing. She is a queen of CC, so stay far away and out of cougar form. Her burst is insane, and you can't heal when you're stunned by a
Dark Sphere +
Scatter the Weak!
Talon - Starting armor + pots is a must because of his
Rake and
cutthroat. Play defensively to survive the laning phase, and bring the high and mighty down with 2 spears mid/late game!
Twisted Fate - Calling MIAs on him can save your game. Make the ulitmate roamer pay for leaving lane by pushing like crazy. Keep the map lit up with wards and inform your team of his ult CD. 180/150/120 seconds or 3 min / 2.5min / 2 min.
Vladimir - Another crazy champion! His waveclear and sustain is so much better than Nidalee's. His pool makes your spears just pass over him. Again, try ganking other lanes and try to wait it out until the teamfights to get your revenge.
Xerath - A painful champion with a great poke. I've taken an early chalice over tear to help survive in lane, and even a
Rod of Ages if the whole team is pretty scary. Spear him when he uses W (which gives him more damage and range) because he can't move while using it.
Zed - Do NOT go into cougar form near him. He will tear you a new one. Consider a
Seeker's Armguard, or even
Cloth Armor at the start, because he may all in you at 3 if you get too close. He can later be 2 hit in teamfights, and he is a top priority on the "who to kill first" list.
Zilean is incredibly painful early game for many champions. Nidalee is no exception. Last time I was against one, I had to max heal first ._. One good point - he can be 2 shot in teamfights!
Zyra - Farm as much as you can. She is another CC queen, so stay back until you have more mobility in cougar form. Don't underestimate that garden of vicious little plants!
NOTE: *A tough lane counter does not mean you will automatically lose. Teamwork can help you overcome tough counters. By playing smart and defensively, a good player can at least try to stay even with a counter and not feed.*
Generally, champions with gap closers, slows, stuns, and other hard engages are very painful to Nidalee. Because she lacks her own CC, mobility and range are her strongest features.

Popular Top Laners - Update in Progress
With the big overhaul, I managed to misplace my old list. I'm reworking it as we speak ._.

Top Lane Champions To Go AP Against - Update in Progress
Full AP (if your team can handle it) or Tanky AP can be recommended against these champions, because going AD/in range of their abilities is sometimes just too painful to lane against.
This is a new section I will be adding with the Top Laners within the next couple days.
Teemo's blind ruins pretty much every AD autoattacker in a 1v1. Autoattack when you can, but 2 spears to that smushed little face will bring him to the ground.

AP Nidalee - Stay as far back as you possibly can from the enemy team to deny them a easy kill. Poke them down as much as you possibly can before your team engages. Except for your heals and traps, you are pretty much useless for those first couple seconds. It's important to try take at least one enemy champion out, giving your team the numbers advantage and making it easier to take down objectives. **After
yourself, your
AD carry or
anti carry has first heal priority because of the attack speed buff and because they are usually targeted first.**
AD Nidalee - Until you have some defensive items, do not go jumping headfirst into fights! She is well known as the team's cleanup crew - the damage on her q in cougar form can be astounding when enemies are at low health. Her passive lets you catch up to the stragglers trying to escape.
Splitpushing - This can be done with either build. This is really where Nidalee stands out - trap and
WARD as you go and push whatever lane that you can while your team is going for other objectives. If you can distract one or two enemies long enough for them to chase after you (a hopeless endeavor), it makes a 3v4 for the rest of your team, which helps them accomplish other goals as well.






Like a typical AP carry, I tend to stack as much AP as I can on this build. I also tend to play full AP
Nidalee quite aggressively!
First back -
Tear of the Goddess or
Chalice of Harmony to fix mana problems. Tear gives you more mana throughout the game, but Chalice is better for survivability. Spam your cougar form attacks as you travel. The pounce moves you a teeny bit faster, and you can build stacks without wasting mana.
An early
Blasting Wand and
Sheen will give you AP with some nice on hit effects, or skip to a
Needlessly Large Rod. Finish
Rabadon's Deathcap before the boots 2 upgrade - your passive is usually enough. Take
Sorcerer's Shoes (or
Mobility Boots for some scary ganks), and follow up with
Lich Bane. Take
Mercury's Treads if you are having trouble in the lane against their AP carry.
One more point about Archangel's... After you reach the mana cap, it transforms into
Seraph's Embrace. You can easily get 120 AP from
Seraph's Embrace with no other mana items (and don't underestimate that shield)! Save the upgrade for later in the game. You need mana to play properly, but you don't want to waste too much money early game on just mana or
you will fall behind.
If you are not a fan of
Archangel's Staff, take
Athene's Unholy Grail. Along with the 60 AP, CDR, and mana regen, it has awesome passives! I definitely prefer Athene's for games where there are more skirmishes than usual (group wandering, ganking, etc).
- Unique: Restores 12% of your max mana on kill or assist.
- Unique: Increases your mana regeneration by 1% per 1% mana you are missing.
Pre 6: Heal, last hit minions, and auto attack your enemy. Your level 1 and 2 spears don't do very much damage with your starting AP, which is why I take traps and heals first. Your traps at level 1 actually do more damage than your javelin! Don't be afraid to be autoattacking every chance you get, as you can usually get yourself a kill at 6 with your burst+ignite in cougar form!
Ganking Mid: Until you are level 6, focus more on just getting your enemy to back, rather than diving for the kill. Even going as AP, you have a ridiculous burst at 6 with your Cougar form. If your jungler is ganking from the bottom river, try to circle around to the top while pretending to last hit minions. The enemy champ will usually retreat to the bottom and under the minion wave because they think you are trying to aim a spear around minions, placing them only a few inches away from your jungler.
Top AP Nidalee: A very similar build, but adding
Rod of Ages or
Seeker's Armguard will help your survivability. A tanky AP Nidalee is crazy terrifying. Hybrid Nidalee is usually better suited for top over full AP, though.



On your first trip back, grab
Sheen or
Phage if you can afford it.
Sheen - Push early heals and spears
Phage - If you are getting harassed and need the health, or if you can burst a champ down as a cougar. Your burst at 6 is ridiculous. I might have mentioned that before. :P
If you can't afford it: Grab an
Amplifying Tome,
Ruby Crystal, or a
Long Sword, depending on your needs. Buy
Boots if you haven't gotten them yet, and
WARDS WARDS WARDS.
I generally finish
Trinity Force first, even before my boots upgrade if I am being greedy! I've played many games without it, and many, MANY games with it. For a balanced Nidalee, this item is perfect to push every aspect of her abilities! This also lets you see which of your attacks are tearing up your opponents better, and you can then begin to build upon that aspect of her abilities.
Although I love
Archangel's Staff on full AP
Nidalee, I prefer
Athene's Unholy Grail on hybrid Nid for the 15% cooldown reduction and the passive which restores 12% mana on a kill or assist.
Ideally, you want:
- Enough Ability Power to heal your team (1 AP item + 1 hybrid item)
- Just enough Attack Damage and Attack Speed to be viable in a teamfight (1 AD/AS item + the same hybrid item)
- A healthy amount of Defensive items so you aren't feeding the team (2 items)
Remember, don't jump into the fights first if you haven't bought defensive items yet!
With this build there are many items to choose from, depending on the enemy and your team's needs.
Situational Items

Click for Explanations
The passive mana regeneration increase is great for those little pokes between teams right before an actual teamfight. This also lets you stay in lane longer with your heals. The CDR is always welcome, so is the 12% mana restored on a kill or assist, and 60
ability power is nothing to laugh at! I sometimes grab this if I plan on being unusually aggressive with pokes mid game.
A great
AP item for magic resist if the enemy's AP carry is fed, but you want AP as well. Keep in mind that the range for the debuff is 1000, while your spear is 1500.
This used to be the first item I would buy on
hybrid Nid back in Season 1. I rarely get it now, because the fastest way to get stacks is in cougar form, but you mostly benefit from AP in human form. I would rather not risk being out of place in a teamfight - if the enemy sees that you just switched to cougar, they know that they have about 4 seconds to wipe out your team without your heals!
If the enemy team hasn't figured out how to stack armor,
AD Nid can deal some serious damage to them with this! The active buffs both your attack speed and run speed, so this can be used offensively and defensively.
Take this on
AD Nidalee if they are stacking armor, but not enough to make Last Whisper viable. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite items in Season 3!
If the enemy team starts stacking a lot of armor late game, grab this on your
AD Nidalee. The 40% Armor Penetration is great, along with the bonus attack damage. DO NOT take Black Cleaver and Last Whisper together!
If you are just facerolling the enemy team, grab this on
AD Nid. I recommend not saving for it as your first item if you don't already have an huge advantage.
Maw is an amazing item that gives you a magic damage shield when you are about to die. You should be okay keeping it at
Hexdrinker for most of the game, unless enemy AP carry is super fed, or if they have two champions that do a ton of magic damage.
This can be a life saver against some champs!
Fizz,
Malzahar,
Warwick,
Galio,
Urgot are some enemy champions that would make you buy this, especially if you keep getting focused! This does remove
Ignite, but NOT a
Karthus ult.
Ah,
Guardian Angel. This is AMAZING on
hybrid or
AD
Nidalee. I usually don't take it on most champions because if they've killed you once, chances are that they are standing there, waiting for you to respawn. Thankfully, Nid is so mobile that she can usually pounce right out of harm's way! It's handy to have both MR and armor in one slot, too!
A nice item to take if the enemy team has a lot of autoattackers for main damage, and if you find yourself frequently low on mana.
Make sure to grab
Warden's Mail early game if you are having trouble top! Both the passive and active are great for chasing down enemies or kiting. Awesome item for a Nid.
Soloing top: You are pretty weak early game for damage, so turret hug, heal, and focus on last hitting! Don't be too worried if you don't have a high CS before level 6 - Cougar form can massacre waves of minions! Let your jungler know that you have weak damage pre 6. Most junglers will not gank for me before level 6 unless they are very bursty like
Lee Sin - then I just heal, autoattack, and maybe get a spear in.
For a
gank after level 6, I tend to sneak up and around to the top brushes so that they are attacked from above and below. Running straight towards an enemy lets them know they are in trouble before the gank happens, so don't do it!
Teamfights:
Hybrid
Nidalee does great with the pre-fight poking and healing as well. After your enemies are at a lower health and the fight has been initiated, it's safe to
Pounce (W) in,
Swipe (E), and
Takedown (Q) an enemy champ. Try to focus on the AP/AD carries or the squishiest on their team first! You are not the one who is going to kill the tank! Also, don't forget to trap and heal (yourself or someone else for attack speed buff/health) before going into cougar form!



Note: The "Kill Everything Build" has been donated by
Angeu Grimnir. It's awesome. If you are doing really good early game, or you are very good at escaping early game, do it. It's fantastic! :D
I rarely go full AD Nidalee, but the key to her is building
very defensively. She is not as naturally tanky as some other champs, and you really need the health and armor before you start diving into teamfights!
I am not a big fan of the
Atmog's builds (
Warmog's Armor +
Atma's Impaler) because with the amount of money spent on Atma's, you could get better items that suit her playstyle. Of course, everybody plays the game differently! :)
I only recommend the
Doran's Blade if you are struggling early game.
Ninja Tabi -OR-
Mercury's Treads = Take Ninja if AD top has the potential to eat you, snowball off a single kill, and then just carry the enemy team (think
Fiora,
Darius). Merc's will generally last you better throughout the game, but remember who you are laning and jungling against early game!
Black Cleaver -OR-
Youmuu's Ghostblade -OR-
Last Whisper = Youmuu's if they have little to no armor, Cleaver if they have some, Last Whisper for a lot!
Hexdrinker -OR-
Frozen Heart/
Randuin's Omen/
Iceborn Gauntlet = Who is murdering your team? The AP or AD carry? Make sure you survive long enough to actually do damage! Gauntlet is fantastic for the slow.
Trinity Force -OR-
Frozen Mallet = Triforce boosts ALL of
Nidalee's stats, and it's a great item. Why take a hybrid item when playing AD? Don't forget that Nid still needs to heal! Her W and E in cougar form also scales off some AP. But if you're getting murdered by the other team, Mallet will help boost your health and it's got a great slow.
Do not take Mallet and Gauntlet in the same game! I would also recommend Gauntlet over Mallet against a heavy autoattacker team, and especially if the player with
Blade of the Ruined King is steamrolling your team. Stacking health will just increase their damage. Take the armor!
Guardian Angel = One of the last items you want to combine, unless your team is in serious trouble. This will make you tanky enough to survive pretty much anything that comes at you! Because of Nidalee's mobility, you can usually escape into brush with that 650 health, unless the enemy team is crowding around you.
Again, there's a million different ways to build a Nidalee - it all depends on the enemy team and what your team needs!
Situational Items

Click for Explanations
This is a great item if you are wrecking top lane. It will help give you some sustain when the entire team gets mad and tries to gank you!
Again, if you are just facerolling, grab this to up your advantage.
This is decent if you need the armor, and health is always nice. The passive is great if you need that extra bit of damage against the whole team, but not necessary on a split-pushing Nid, since you'll usually be 1v1, 1v2, or gone by the time they get there.
Warmog's is obviously the easiest way to get your
AD
Nidalee tanky. This is usually taken with
Atma's Impaler since they stack nicely together.
This is good if you're having some trouble with CC, and it gives you some decent stats, especially for pushing.
Teamfights: Again, it's safest to wait until the fight has been initiated before jumping in as
AD
Nidalee. Trapping is really important here too, because that debuff is really going to help your autoattack and ability damage! Pounce out and heal if you need to - it's better to stay safe! Don't forget to trap and heal (yourself or someone else for attack speed buff/health) before going into cougar form!
Soloing top: You are pretty weak early game for damage, so turret hug, heal, and focus on last hitting! Don't be too worried if you don't have a high CS before level 6 - Cougar form can massacre waves of minions! Let your jungler know that you have weak damage pre 6. Most junglers will not gank for me before level 6 unless they are very bursty like
Lee Sin - then I just heal, autoattack, and maybe get a spear in.
For a
gank after level 6, I tend to sneak up and around to the top brushes so that they are attacked from above and below. Running straight towards an enemy lets them know they are in trouble before the gank happens, so don't do it!
Note: I believe that I rarely go full AD because it just doesn't seem as fun as AP Nid. Of course, I could just be pining over Season 1 AP Nidalee still! You need to keep your creep score very high, which shouldn't become an issue once you hit 6. You have to play carefully because you need to build defensively before you can start the serious up close damage! There are other champions that are made tankier, but
Nidalee is one of the game's best counters against champs like
Jayce and
Yorick. Once you get your damage up, you'll be surprised at what
Nidalee can do!
Don't forget that in cougar form, only her Q scales off of AD! Her W and E are AP! This is why some games I have actually taken
Rabadon's Deathcap or
Athene's Unholy Grail as a tanky Nid when I have been fed. This is also why I take
Trinity Force!







. For these maps, the area between the
orange lines (basically all jungle entrances) should be trapped and warded AT ALL TIMES. As you push their turrets, push your map control forward as well to the
red lines. If you lose your lanes, fall back and try to keep your jungle lit up within the
red lines.
Trapping
Green: For your jungler, on either side of the map, either buff. I suggest trapping both bushes to protect your red from the enemy jungler while yours takes blue, and vice versa. You can also trap the golem and autoattack to leash - the debuffs will help! Regardless of my lane, I trap those bushes. Your run speed will get you back to your lane with plenty of time. If you're feeling particularly nosy, trap in front of their wraiths or the brushes beside them first, before they get there.
Blue and
Purple: Basic defense for the respective teams. Notice how it pretty much covers every entry point into your team's jungle. As your turrets get pushed, trap your jungle at those spots. As you push their turrets, trap their bushes as you go.
Red: Both teams should keep these trapped! The vision on an enemy will actually enable you to steal the target, whether it's a buff or Baron, with a well timed
Javelin Toss. This will also alert you to any counter jungling or the location of enemies in their own jungle.
Remember, these are just basic spots, and I even skipped a few that I normally use for the sake of a clean map. Think of where the most traffic in the jungle is, and trap there. This will help alert your team to any counter jungling or the location of enemies in their own jungle. Don't forget to throw these down before teamfights!
Tip: If you are unsure about the contents of a
suspicious bush:
TRAP it. Preferably from as far away as you can. Is it on cooldown?
WAIT. I can't tell you how many times that I have seen other Nidalees get impatient and just facecheck a bush with 4 of the enemy team hiding in it. And die. Instantly.
Warding
These are the
MINIMUM requirements on wards.
WARDS WIN GAMES!
I -
Yellow outlined wards IN BRUSH are for protection in middle lane. If blue - place top ward in that lonely patch of brush. Place bot ward on the farthest point of the brush curve on their side. Purple places top ward in enemy curved brush and bottom in the lonely spot. It is usually okay to pick one side to ward and then favor that half of the lane.
II -
Blue and
Purple outlined wards: Basic defense for the respective teams.
NOTE: Do you see how these wards are not in the same place? If you are top on the
purple team, the closest path in river is on your side. Take advantage! Place your ward closer towards Baron and their path to blue buff. If you are bottom on the
blue team, again, place your ward higher up the river. This gives you more space than just warding the closest bush - you will see ganks from a much farther distance and you can see when Baron or Dragon is getting attacked from ONE ward.
If the enemy is counterjungle or gank happy,
purple top lane should ward their triangle bush and
blue bot lane should grab the bottom triangle bush. It will save lives!!
III - Keep these objectives pink warded!! They are very important targets!
1) Dragon: Spawn time - 2:30 || Respawn time - 6:00
2) Baron: Spawn time - 15:00 || Respawn time - 7:00
IV - If you have the extra money, ward the buff camps. It is generally cheaper and easier just to keep track of when the buffs were taken. For example, add timestamps to your chat (in the settings) and just say "Enemy red taken" or say the time as well, like "Our blue taken at 7:55" or "blue back 1255." It is best to ward there later in the game as you are pushed or get pushed, because it covers many paths in the jungle.
1) Blue Golem: Spawn time - 1:55 || Respawn time - 5:00
2) Red Lizard: Spawn time - 1:55 || Respawn time - 5:00




Alright, my favorite section! Any of these jumps can be done from either side of the wall or obstacle. Keep in mind that your mouse clicks need to stay on
your side of the wall! If you click too far, or on the wall itself, you give yourself a new path to walk around the wall.
Instead, get
Nidalee as close to the wall as you can. You don't even have to be moving for
Pounce to work, you just need to
face the right direction. You should be perpendicular to the wall. Then, hit W. It's really that easy! Just remember that
positioning before the jump is the key.
Note: The lines marked in
green are great escape jumps, but if you miss, you are dead! The lines marked in
red are right next to a path, so you MIGHT survive. Remember that the jungle is two nearly identical halves, which means the jumps can be done on both sides. Each jump can also be done from both sides of the wall.
There are other spots where the jumps work, but they're so close to brush that you're better off not risking the missed jump and just taking the speed buff from your passive.
Create a bot game and
PRACTICE them! Rule the jungle!!!

Close Ups of Pouncing Spots
Oh, and by "dragon" on number 5, I meant the big dragon, Baron.... Derp.
The arrows in
blue indicate that the entire ledge can be jumped, so as long as you are facing the wall dead on, you should be able to jump across at any point on the ledge. This applies for all of the the little raised sections on the paths leading to river ( all of the
red lines).
Remember, any of the walls that you can
Pounce over can also be crossed using
Flash!



Any intelligent player that sees a giant spear coming their way will dodge it. You want to hope that they are stupid enough to run away from it to increase your damage, but instead they just sidestep.
If you are laning against a player like this, try sniping from the brush. The pictures I took at top lane also work for bot lane in the same areas. You can snipe from the side brush at middle, but it's a little trickier because of the angles and minions are usually in the way.
As you can see, she has a ridiculous range!

More examples of sneaky spots






Although this guide was created by me, a few of this guide's ideas and items builds have come from my buddies
Puggeh and
Kiren. Several Mobafire users have also donated their ideas to the guide as well! Thank you, friends!
Props to
jhoijhoi for her "
How To Make A Guide." I laughed the whole way through - it was beautiful and terrible, all at the same time. Check it out if you would like to make your own build!
My guide was made beautiful by studying page elements from the fantastic guides written by
Astrolia.
Headers and dividers on this guide were created by me. The original picture of Nidalee can be found on
Saehral's DeviantArt page. Please message me (or Saehral for the Nidalee!) if you would like to use them.
I've removed my videos for now because
LoLReplays has been acting up lately. My apologies.

Scores by Lex
A few AP builds:
space
space
A good
Nidalee does the most damage, but takes the least!
space
space
Unfortunately, you can only carry so much. :C I was AP mid at the start of that game before bottom got.... scary.

AWESOME stats by Mobafire members!
Thanks to
Fabregas25 for submitting his picture!
Another awesome screenshot of AP Nidalee games from
Zhen!
Thanks,
Netoxicky!
Ownrange carries ranked games like a pro!

Thanks,
Unh3ilig!
This is so I can easily address any questions in the discussion thread. I will respond in the thread, and if it is a reasonable question that others might ask, I will post it here!
Ew,
Athene's Unholy Grail /
Archangel's Staff?
Yes. Like every other item in the game, they are SITUATIONAL. There is nothing more fun than spamming spears all over the place, but if you are learning Nid, taking
Tear of the Goddess or
Chalice of Harmony will help you learn her spells without having to tell your team "OOM, gotta B" every 5 minutes. If you are hitting those skill shots every time, skip to
Rabadon's Deathcap! I sometimes take
Needlessly Large Rod on my first trip back if I'm ahead and feeling mean.
Your guide is lame because your AP Nidalee guide is too squishy.
I'm sorry, but please point out an AP carry that is built like a tank that still does a lot of damage (and I'm not talking about that Teemo and Malzahar your team fed last game!). XD Really though, a true AP carry
Nidalee is essentially a
sniper. Snipers aren't meant to take damage - they are meant to dish out as much as they can in one hit!
Your photos have Liebe21 on them, not Lexosceles.
I am Liebe21! When I made my league account in 2009, I didn't know the summoner and login names could be different. Derp. I changed it recently to match with all of my other games/accounts. :D

View Change Log
08/02/12 - Build published!
08/03/12 - Build makes top 10 Nidalee list!
08/03/12 - Rearranged the AP section due to questions from Isthatok, Mooninites, and Slaga Slasha. Also added more AD build screenshots.
08/10/12 - Added 2 videos to the Video Section (derp) and added a bit of info on AD Nidalee.
08/14/12 - Reworded a few sentences; added ganking and teamfight detail to all 3 build sections; added the Twisted Treeline section. I am still working on the extra Cheat Sheet and Champion Guide when I am not at work! :D
10/08/12 - Rearranged summoner spells in the guide and on the cheat sheets; updated Rune Selection; added more info on Situational Items, updated the Champion Guide, added a couple more photos.
10/13/12 - Updated to FAQ to reflect downvotes. LOL.
10/31/12 - Fixed a couple typos, edited a few items.
11/16/12 - Updated AP masteries, items, and section. Made "Glass Cannon" build out of the old AP build and wrote a section for it. Removed outdated Twisted Treeline. Updated AD items and section. Still working on Hybrid section!
12/06/12 - Began working on Preseason 3 updates. Updated masteries and rune sections, as well as the cheat sheets. I will continue updating when I have time.
12/12/12 - Lots of updates on masteries, items, and playing sections.
12/15/12 - My Nid guide becomes number 1! Thank you all!
12/17/12 - More updates on items, playing sections, and enemy champions. Shiny icons added to skilling order, starter items, etc. Took some tips from armed4death and DarkAkumaLord. Thanks!
12/20/12 - Updated the "What Build to Take" section.
12/21/12 - Updated some masteries (The Tofux), starter items (Rainfall), and other items (NicknameMy)
01/23/13 - Updated AD build and cheat sheet. Credit goes to Angeu Grimir!
01/31/13 - Guide hit over a million views! Thank you for the comments and votes!
02/03/13 - Added ARAM build and troll AP build. Updated item choices. Tweaked summoner spells, runes, and masteries. I know I did other things, but it's 5:30 am and I can't remember. xD
02/17/13 - Condensed a few spots of the guides. Updated a few things in my spare time.
03/05/13 - Minor updates. I know... I still haven't made Champion pictures or a cheat sheet pictures... I'll get to it one day, I promise! <3
07/22/13 - A few updates in preparation for the overhaul.
07/24/13 - Guide updated and upgraded! Thank you again for your upvotes, ideas, and criticism! There's still a few things I would like to update in the next week or so.
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.