This guide is my way of building Nidalee. She is immensely fun to play as, has great lane sustainability (both 2v2, 1v1 or 1v2), and does a huge burst damage due to her spear + cougar combo. Nidalee can literally 2 shot almost any other carry in the game. She is by far my favorite champion to play as, so I decided to share the way I build her with the community.

This is an AP build for Nidalee. While most people, and indeed the pros (Hotshot), start off with Primal Surge / Swipe I focus alot more on Javelin Toss / Takedown, because for me that is the best part about her. You can't imagine how good it feels to kill an enemy blue pilling at tower who has 25% - 50% hp while you are too low (or lazy) to dive.

Pros

Amazing Poker
Amazing Healer
Great Pusher
Awsome Mobility (especially through jungle)
Inmense Burst Damage
Fun to play as

Cons

Squishy
Medium/ High Skill Curve
Easily brought down if CC'd

This is the exact same runepage I use when playing Nid. Helps with my damage, cooldowns and mana. For this style of play this is what I'd recommend.


These are the other runes I'd recommend for the playstyle I use on this guide. I wouldn't vary alot on runes, since switching rune pages around (unless you have more than 3 or 4) is tedious, and not that rewarding IMO.

The best boots for Nidalee IMO. Reduces the duration of CC which, in my opinion, is Nidalee's bane.

AP, simple as that. Boosts your damage by alot, needed by any and all AP carries.

Nidalee's bread and butter, in cougar form you Bushwhack / Pounce +AA, then Primal Surge / Swipe +AA and finally use Javelin Toss / Takedown and do tons of damage.


So, why this build order you say? Doran's Ring for all the right reasons, AP, HP, and Mana Regen; this is THE starting item for Nidalee. Boots for the mobility, you can't cross the map just pouncing around as a cat. Sheen boosts your AP and mana pool, and also adds to your AA after using an ability. I always aim for a Needlessly Large Rod after Sheen; its tough, I know, but with decent farm and some nice Javelin throws, you'll be there in no time. Your next item will depend entirely on the enemy team, if they have a lot of cc, get Mercury's Treads early, if they don't have that much CC, but do have a lot of magic damage, get a Null-Magic Mantle to start building those boots and a Blasting Wand for Rabadon's Deathcap. After that finish up the core build and get some survivability, or counters to the enemy picks. There is one thing that I cannot stress enough. If you have 200 gold and extra space in your inventory, get as many Health Potion and Sight Ward as you need (don't exaggerate either). They help, ALOT.


All of these are very good end game items on Nidalee, Situationally, I hope it is clear that if the enemy is heavy on AD, you should go for armor, and that if the enemy is heavy on AP you should go for magic resist.

As I stated at the start of this guide, I max Javelin Toss / Takedown first. This is due to the insane damage that is dealt once it gets to level 3. You can secure a kill pre-level 6 due to its massive damage and can drop people even at their tower. After some testing and thanks to a suggestion I took it upon myself to get 2 points in Javelin Toss / Takedown and 2 points in Primal Surge / Swipe and one in Bushwhack / Pounce before level 6. Why? Well, upon a suggestion by Pappfisk I got 2 points Javelin Toss / Takedown at level 3, to maximize its harass early on. Then I thought, why not put 2 points in Primal Surge / Swipe earlier too, this way I'll have a good harass and a good heal by level 4. I did so and it worked. So now I get javelin at level 1, heal at level 2, javelin at level 3 and heal at level 4, getting bushwhacks at level 5. Then I follow the priority order at the top.

After getting Lich Bane (and having a good amount of AP), being in cougar form is going to be deadly. Because of Lich Bane's passive, after every skill you use, your attacks will deal 100% of your AP as added damage (this has a 2 second CD). So, what is the trick to maximizing the damage output while in cougar form? Easy:

Bushwhack / Pounce +AA, then (read instantly afterwards) Primal Surge / Swipe +AA, and finish off with Javelin Toss / Takedown. Remember, this is how to maximize damage output in COUGAR FORM only.

Even though Lich Bane's passive still has a 2 second CD, you want to AA after Primal Surge / Swipe, in order to allow it to be ready for Javelin Toss / Takedown.

Why does this maximize damage output? Well, Takedown works quite interestingly. The lower HP your enemy has, the more damage you will deal. So you want to take away as much of the enemies HP as possible before using it.

Javelin Toss / Takedown is a skillshot that requires good timing and planning on your part in order to hit. You can't just through it directly at an enemy and not expect him to move (especially since Javelin Toss / Takedown does more damage at max range, your targets will be farther off) when he sees this sort-of-slow moving projectile hurtled at him. Sure you might get him off-guard a couple of times, but thats not going to be useful.
The best way to throw this skillshot (and any slow moving skillshot *cough* * Anivia's Flash Frost*) is to predict movement. You have to time when your target will be at the best possible location for your shot (remember you want to maximize range).
I'll show you an example:


Essentially that is what you want to happen, that the target walks into your throw. Tough, but do-able. Generally most good players will be moving at all times in order to make it difficult for you to hit. Not to worry, they always (or most of the time) have a pattern. Keep track of this pattern and you will place some really epic shots. Another think that might help is if YOU get out of sight from him, but keeping him in sight through your creeps or a well placed ward. This can prove effective in getting a kill on an unaware enemy.


Another great thing about Nidalee is that you there is no need to facecheck a bush to see if someone is there. There are a couple of techniques that will help you avoid the need to jump headfirst into a bush hoping not to find Garen there.

First among these is what I like to call spear-checking.
Spear-checking consists of throwing your javelin down the length of a bush and wait for that sound that is our best friend. The re-known *whack* that means that our projectile has hit a target. This allows you to know that there is someone in that bush waiting to jump you.

Second is what I call bushwhacking (clever aren't I).
Bushwhacking consists of dropping a bushwack in a bush. The trick is that certain areas will show the entire bush and its contents :O. That's right, for a split second after you drop the bushwhack if there was an enemy there he will be revealed.


In my opinion Nidalee is one of those ungankable champions. A good Nidalee won't let himself get ganked simply because he covers himself with a handy tool. The bushwhack. When an enemy steps on this intricate boobytrap, it gives you vision of him and an area around him, therefore making it hard for people to gank you if you place these traps well.

I will demonstrate (with red dots) where are some of the best locations to set up bushwhacks in order to not get ganked. These are meant for people who are in lane, in the jungle, bushwhacking is much harder because of so many entrances. I will cover the basic lane trap setup, but the idea is to cover every possible entrance to your lane in order to avoid ganks.

Bot Lane, River and Outer Turret:This setup will show you if anyone walked up to the bush in river and is waiting to gank, or if someone is coming to gank from red.

Bot Lane, Inner Turret and Outer Turret:This setup allows you to feel safer as you walk between these locations (in case you are pushing or the outer turret has been destroyed).

Bot Lane, Inhibitor Turret:Self explanatory by this point. One thing I want to point out though is that just becasue you are pushed back to your inhib tower, or have pushed back to the enemies inhib tower, it does not mean that you will be safe just putting bushwacks right there. Remember, ganks are more effective if they cut you out of your turret, so keep setting up traps along the way.

Mid Lane, River: This trap setup is to keep you safe in mid, will detect anyone who tries to come and gank.
Repeat on the top side too (inversing it obviously to keep the traps in the correct places.

I will not keep showing you were to put them, rather I'll let your imagination flow after you've seen the basics. But always remember, set traps on the entrances to the lane you are pushing. NOTE: Bushwhacks do not replace Sight Ward, wards give you visibility around an area, whereas bushwhacks give you visibility only if someone stepped on the trap. Do not think you are safe simply becuase you've bushwhacked the entire river. If the enemy is fast enough and you have pushed far enough into their territory, bushwhacks wont save you.

After level 6 Nidalee is quite an effective jungler. She can solo Dragon at level 11 (if properly itemized) and clear blue and red buffs with great speed.

The way to attack the creeps in the jungle is very easy.
Wraiths, Wolves and Small Golems are pretty straight foreward. In cougar form, Bushwhack / Pounce in between all the creeps and then use Primal Surge / Swipe, finish off with Javelin Toss / Takedown and AA any creeps left.

For the Buffs:
The Buffs are more difficult since they are more durable and deal more damage. The proper way is to put a Bushwhack under the buff monster(lizard or golem) AA once, heal and switch to cougar form. Do the cougar combo 3 or 4 times (depending on CD). Turn back into human and repeat the process, hitting the monster(golem or lizard) with a javelin before healing and turning into cougar form. I will demonstrate with the blue buff, but the same concept aplies to red.



For Dragon:
I wouldn't recommend soloing dragon, mainly because you are squishy and if an enemy finds you worn down by dragon you are dead. Its the same concept as with blue and red buffs, but because the dragons's attack reduces your AS it is best if you have a Guinsoo's Rageblade for this.


What am I saying with this? I'm saying that if you don't have a jungler and you feel you can leave your lane to jungle for a bit (get buffs mainly) do so. I'm in no way encouraging anyone to do a full on Jungle Nidalee.

Well, from here on out it's all up to you (whoever you are). I've made this build work for me, and hopefully it will work for you too. This in my opinion is the most fun/versatile way of playing Nidalee. Have fun, good luck and good hunting. :D

7/8/2011 - Nidalee - Olypic Gold Medalist (Javelin Toss) guide published.

7/9/2011 - Changed Skill Sequence to attain 2 Points in Javelin Toss by level 3 and 2 Points in Primal Surge by level 4.

7/12/2011 - Reformatted some portions of the guide (columns), added some color, and added two situational items (RoA & Glacial Shroud). Updated latest Nidalee Game Screenshot.

8/2/2011 - Switched Morello's Evil Tome from end game item to core and Guinsoo's Rageblade frome core to situational. Cleared some formatting issues.

8/3/2011 - Switched Morello's Evil Tome back to end game item. Added other ideas on how to throw a spear properly. More videos coming soon.