Hey what's up, this is my Nidalee guide.
I do play Nidalee top lane for quite some time now. I have to tell you, that this guide is very incomplete yet. I hope I can still show you my play style from Nidalee.

I think the best thing to go for is 9-21-0. You don't really need the mana in utility or the bonus movement speed if you went for movement speed quints. I think its just important to be a tanky top. You will deal tons of damage even if you build pretty tanky. The decision to go for the cooldown reduction in offense is just a possibility, go for the attack speed works out pretty well too, but only if you want to carry or if you play aggressive in lane.

The reason why I play Nidalee is simple: She's just good at every phase in the game. She a very strong laner because she's ranged and got lots of sustain, but still can deal much damage especially after lvl 6. And if you build her tanky, she will just destroy the enemy team in the team fights by taking much damage but still surviving.

It's just clear that you max your e first and your q after because you will do tons of damage in your tiger form. Just remember in the tiger form: Use your w, then e, then q for maximum damage!!

You wanna set some traps in the bushes.
2 in Tribush
1 in River bush
1 in opponent Lane bush - You want these Traps to be there constantly (replace when they time out or an enemy stepped over them.

Harass: You want to harass with your auto-attacks only before lvl 6. Go in/out the bush and do attacks. After you are lvl 6 just remember w,e,q for most damage output. Its perfect if your opponent runs in a trap before. You are one of the best traders and can just heal back after a trade. If you didn't feed, trade whenever your opponent comes to close to you.

Warding:
blue side: wards into tri-bush and deep into river and traps at their red
red side: ward deep into river, and traps in tri-bush