Hey everyone, this is NidaleeDrinkSoda, and this is my first guide ever posted. I have played Nidalee since i started in season 3 and i'm currently placed top 121 in the world with her http://www.leagueofgraphs.com/rankings/summoners/nidalee/page-2. I hope that you all enjoy reading my guide to Nidalee. Have fun Pounceing down your opponents!

Please, for my benefit, leave feedback on how i could improve this post because i'm fully aware of missing spots.

Nidalee is usually played as a mage but in rare occasions she can be played as a bruiser today we will talk about Nidalee in the jungle. I play her full glass cannon with a Zhonya's Hourglass this is mainly because she can destroy 1-2 carries with her kit not to mention she is awesome at shreding tanks.

Pros
- Long range mage
- Amazing wave clear
- Great ganks
- Viable in all phases of the game
- Capable of 1 shotting
- high AOE dmg Pounce & Swipe
- Good mobility Pounce & Prowl
- She is a kitty
- Good sustain Primal Surge
- Execute Takedown
- Mini wards Bushwhack

Cons
- She's a mage who has to go deep (enough said)
- You rely alot on your spears
- Her early jungling requires kiting
- Squishy
- No cc
- doesn't synergize well with other champs

Here's a little guide on what her spells do and how you should use them (look for the tips below the spell descriptions)


Moving through brush increases Nidalee's movement speed by 10% for 2 seconds, which increases to 30% if she is moving toward a visible enemy champion within 5500-range.

Hunt: Hitting enemy champions and neutral monsters with Javelin Toss or Bushwhack will mark them as Hunted for 4 seconds, revealing them. Neutral monsters are also rooted for 2 seconds. While moving toward Hunted, Nidalee gains Prowl's bonus movement speed and ignores unit collision. Additionally, Nidalee's first use of Takedown and Pounce against Hunted will have an empowered effect.

Tip: Use this spell to chase down targets and escape possible threats.
keep in mind that your cd on cat form resets when you trigger hunt. so juggling between cat and human is essential for maximum damage


Nidalee hurls her javelin forward in a line, dealing magic damage to the first enemy it hits.
After having traveled 525 units, the javelin's damage will be increased by 2% per 7.75 units traveled, capping at 200% bonus damage (300% total damage) after traveling 1300 units

Tips: Always remember that your spear will deal more the longer it travels as it is your highest damaging spell.
placing spear a little behind the enemy often hits, because the enemy often tries to sidestep, try to learn the enemies dodging patterns.
learning how to throw spears that's undodgable will increase your level of play by a lot.



Nidalee's next basic attack gains 75-range (200 total range) and is modified to deal magic damage.

Scales with ranks in Aspect of the Cougar

The damage is increased by 1.5% for every 1% of the target's missing health, for a maximum of 150% bonus damage (250% total damage).

Hunted Bonus: If the target is marked as Hunted, Takedown deals 33% increased damage.

Tip: The fact that takedown deals more the less hp your opponent has means you should save this spell as the last one in your combo.
You can ensure the last hit on objectives by hitting it with takedown as you smite.
using takedown right before jump let's you animation cancel and gives you a higher damage output.
using takedown and right after jump gives you a jump reset if done fast enough



Nidalee lays a trap at a target location that arms after a very brief delay. When sprung by an enemy unit, they will take magic damage over 4 seconds and be revealed for the duration (Champions and Monsters will be Hunted instead). Traps last for 2 minutes.

Tip: This spell is pretty much vision in its current state. always use bushwhack instead of facechecking and place them to help out the lanes with a little bit of vision.
Can also be used to force an enemy to get hit by spear or walk into a trap.



Nidalee lunges a fixed 375 units in the direction of the cursor, dealing magic damage to enemies within a 75-radius area around her landing point.

Scales with ranks in Aspect of the Cougar

Killing a unit will reduce Pounce's current cooldown to 1.5 second if it's currently higher.

Hunt Bonus: If the cursor is near an enemy marked as Hunted within 750-range, Pounce becomes a unit-targeted dash. Current cooldown resets to 1.5 seconds if Nidalee pounces to a Hunted target. This can occur once for every time the target is hunted.

Tip: This is your mobility and gab closer. Remember that the indicator doesn't always mean you will make the jump and you will often end up in a bad position if you mess it up.
your pounce will reset if you kill an unit or jump on your target use this to get that little extra mobility you need.
jumping ahead of a hunted target is often a good idea since most enemies flash, meaning your jump reset will close the gap again.



Nidalee evokes the spirit of the cougar, healing a target allied champion or herself and granting them bonus attack speed for 7 seconds.

Tip: This is your sustain with a blue buff you should be able to clear the jungle with no problem. Remember the heal can be used on allies and isn't always prioritized for you.
saving the heal until an enemy go in is often the best choice. because they often doesn't calculate the heal as part of the ordeal


Nidalee claws at enemies in a 180° cone in the direction of the cursor, dealing magic damage to all enemies hit.

Tip: This spell is amazing in my opinion, if you start the cast while someone is inside the cone they will get hit even if they flash out of it before it visually hits. This means people will waste flash while they still die from the swipe damage.
Using swipe just before jump resets jump.



Nidalee transforms herself into a cougar, gaining a new set of abilities and melee attacks (125 range).

Tip: Each point you put into this spell will increase your total dmg output in cougar form by a lot.
when you switch between human and cougar form it will reset your aa, this means you can aa your target then press r and you will instantly aa again this will help you a lot in your early jungle and to deal that last hit to your enemy.

When you hit a spear or a trap your cougar forms cooldown will reset so don't be scared to switch out of cougar form to reset your hunted buff, however if you miss you will loose some damage output. it's very important to know when to switch forms.

Ok here i will talk about what different items affect nidalee and how you should play with the different items. i will also explain why i think my build is the best for Nidalee
I will grade the items between good mediocre and bad


-Good
It fixes your mana issues and helps you sustain a lot better i have seen some nidalee's running Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes this item will help you hit your spears but will reduce overall damage output and survivability. I always run Skirmisher's Sabre - Runic Echoes


-Good
In my opinion these bad boys are untradeable they give you the basic movement speed, plus 15 MR penetration that will make you deal more dmg

[icon=Ionian Boots of Lucidity size=50
-Good
These boots trades a bit of power for more spears. These boots can be used if you keep your blue buff for yourself.


-good
this item works well on champions with burst it provides 7% movement speed that helps you move around the map and get those clutch ganks off.



-good
Rabadon's is a really good ap amplifier and is essential to any mage i would recommend using this as a sort of late game tool so no actual need to rush it


-good
every mage's wet dream this is the item that will make you shred tanks like no other without this item your spears will bounce off the tanks


-Good
if you followed my guide you probably noticed there is no tanky items and yes that is intentional but this is where Zhonya's come in play when your spear connects with a squishy target in a team fight you have the choice of jumping in, the hourglass will help your team catch up and continue the fight. there is a lot of other occasions where the hourglass can be used but i'm not gonna go through them all. it will simply allow you to go deep in the teamfight. Not to mention all your cd's in cougar will be refreshed by the time you are out of the stasis.
The new nerfs kinda reduced the worth of the item still worth a grab in most situations it should be bought late game


-good

This item can help you with your mana problems it synergizes well with runeglaive because of the % mana restore it provides a big shield that helps you go deep (not zhonya's quality though)
The new buffs made this item almost hourglass quality. grab it vs low cc teams and if you go poke comp


-mediocre
this item is overall great it doesn't provide that high amount of ap but gives you some health you kinda trade some of your power for more tankiness

Reason i don't use it: it just doesn't seem like it does the job i loose a lot of my early game damage the health doesn't change much because you will get 1 shot late either way.

Occasions where i would recommend it: it helps you survive counter ganks and counter jungling so i would recommend this item if you feel like a living target in your jungle


-mediocre
This item fits nidalee well half the time, when you sit behind your team and spear not so much, when you go deep it gets the job done.

Reasons i don't use it: Again this item has a lack of ap and it won't provide that extra ap damage you always dreamt of.

Occasions where i would recommend it: it gives some tanky stats so i would recommend this item if you go Rod of Ages. if the enemy is heavely ap based and you play beefy ap Nidalee get this item.


-situational

This item fits every champ ingame, Nidalee is really weak when it comes to cc if you jump into a team fight and get 1 cc dunked on your head you will usually be out this item helps you get your combo off with no interuption.

Reasons i don't use it: as you must have known by now i hate items that doesn't give me AP it won't make you the mage that 1 shots someone with spears

Occasions where i would recommend it: agaisnt a heavy cc team or a heavy ap engager like Annie it will help you not get caught out and make stupid mistakes, but will take a lot of your power. (this item is needed vs certain comps)




if there's any item you want me to cover tell me

Ok first of all remember that runes matter. with this out of the way let's get to my set of runes.
i haven't really tested a lot of different set of runes but here is what works for me

Greater Seal of Armor x9
The armor seals help you survive the big hits from the new jungle.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x9
A lot of Nidalee's use the Greater Mark of Attack Damage to help their early game i have chosen to stay away from this rune to help boost my late game for a little bit of early game weakness.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power x9

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x3

A lot of early AP helps your sustain and gives your early ganks some extra power

The masteries i use is very basic and they provide the highest possible dmg output with the jungle masteries included. they work for me but it's up to personal prefference.

i'm gonna speak a little about where you could make changes in the build here:
it's up to disscussion whether or not Savagery is worth using. my build isn't that focused on the early game so it helps me out a lot. Feast helps you stay in the jungle so you can get that Skirmisher's Sabre - Runic Echoes on your first back, it also saves some of your mana.
Double-Edged Sword helps you one shot but it costs some of your own sustain i don't recommend this mastery.

Nidalee is one of the best jungle clearers in the game however she does have a sloppy early game where you have to kite. she has high mobility and an execute. try to memorize the monster positioning so you hit them max range spears and increase your jungle clearing speed.

I tend to run the Croks or Gromp as the first monster based on where botlane is, then i will go for the buff blue/red then proceed to run to the other buff and after this search for gankable/counter gankable lanes. Remember to kill the scuttle crabs as they will help your lanes out a lot by stopping the enemy jungler.

If the jungle camp is melee you should kite it by Javelin Toss then giving 2 ranged aa's then go Aspect Of The Cougar run in melee give 1 aa then Swipe Takedown then reset by Javelin Toss run out of melee then 2 aa's. Remember to cast some Primal Surge to keep yourself healthy (this tactic is only needed early)

if you start crocks try to get 3 stacks of heavy hands before red in order to trade proberly with red. (1 stack works as well)

Might include video of jungle clearing soon.

There isn't really that many counters when we talk jungling but you have to be aware of counter junglers as they may shut you down and keep your inner kitty from destroying your opponents.

If they Run Ignite or Exhaust i usually start blue/red buff, then ward the other buff then kill a minor camp and continue to take down the other buff.

Nidalee is one of the worst champions at team working this means she doesn't fit in to any team comp but the poke ones. this does however make her an amazing soloq tool she is very independent in her play style, this means you will be able to carry singlehandely.

In patch 5.15 nidalee received nerfs making her traps a lot less vision providing, so you should use the spell to anti-counterjungling and spot the enemy jungler more than anything now. The spear nerf requires you to predict a little more with a little less dmg.


in patch 5.24 they buffed Nidalee's early game not only increasing dmg on the early spear lvls but also increasing the dmg ap champs deal on the jungle this gives Nidalee a much better spot on the jungle list compared to the rest of the champs getting nerfed currently

Opinion in patch 6.3
Nidalee is in a pretty good spot at the moment, she's still only a high elo tool and we might see some changes to her in the future. season 6 is more or less based around burst and early game placing Nidalee higher than she was at the end of season 5.