Hey Summoners! I have only been playing League of Legends for about 3 months now. I quickly rose to lvl 30 and I have noticed that due to my skill level, I play with a lot of high silver and gold ranked players because of my hidden "mmr". I have noticed that as I learned the game, it got harder, but then the learning curve went away and it unleashed a flood gate of ideas! I have done A LOT of research on Nidalee. I have watched a LOT of higher ranked games as well. As I watched other summoner's own the battlefield with Nidalee and played this hybrid feline huntress that I immediately had to main her. Not only did I do that, but I made it a goal to be one of the best Nidalee players League has ever seen! Now down to the guide... Hope you enjoy!

So... just like every champ you have Pros and Cons for each one. I like to focus on the Pros but I will list out a few things that may make Nidalee a bit more difficult to play than your first few champs we start with!

Pros:
HIGH BURST DAMAGE!!
Utility/Escapes
Easy to maneuver the jungle
Starts with ULT
Cat form is AMAZING
Extremely fun to play!!
Can one shot champs from a distance
Can get that kill that NO other champ can unless you're Ez, Ashe or Draven
2 sets of abilities -- Cougar and Human form

Cons:
Very Squishy
Once you fall behind, it's game over
Difficult to learn full potential
Switching between cougar/human is tough in the middle of a fight
Skill shot reliant!!!!
I repeat: SKILL SHOT RELIANT
Moderate Damage output without abilities
People will criticize your play A LOT

So with this guide so far, if you've followed the runes/masteries and have had a bit of practice in the bot games, you've probably noticed the sick sustain and awesome damage she is capable of, so now it's time to take Nidalee to the pvp arena and do some real jungling! I recommend always sticking to a route. Don't let others pressure you into invading the other junglers' buffs unless you are comfortable with that or you KNOW it will cause you to slow down your jungling. I always go in this order:
1- Gromp
2- Blue
3- Red ( grab skitter if possible )
Gank!!!
4- Golem
5- Raptors
6- Wolves
7- Rinse/Repeat!


ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT IF YOU ARE STICKING TO A ROUTE THAT YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR MINIMAP AND YOUR TEAM! SOMETIMES YOU WILL NEED TO ABANDON YOUR CAMP AND HELP THEM BECAUSE TEAM FIGHTING AND WINNING THE OBJECTIVE IS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR JUNGLE CREATURE. It will still be there once you are finished!

Counter Jungling:
Nidalee is a great counter jungler. Especially lower levels. If you want to start with the Gromp, go to your Blue and then go to the enemies Red.. that is acceptable and will work. She can clear faster than ANY champ in the game, so by the time they get there you will be long gone. Just make sure they didn't START at their Red, and also make sure you ward it in the beginning if that is something you plan on doing. You never want to just walk in blind attempting to counter jungle and get... counter jungled!
But most importantly, remember to have fun! Throw a spear from over the cliff edge, go cougar, and start jumping over walls to get to your mobs faster! Learn which walls you can pounce over! Learn how to maneuver the jungle and get the most out of your Nidalee play because with her.. the fun never ends!

Kiting: Nidalee Jungle Clear Sequence
Now since the preseason update ( and it could just be me ) jungling and sustaining yourself in the jungle got a little more difficult for AP casters. Unless you are doing it right, you either get killed often or you find yourself recalling after 3 camps, sometimes even 2. In order to maintain HP and sustain yourself for the first few jungle clears, I will share with you how I clear Gromp/Blue/Red in that order and still have 80%+ HP for your first gank!

Step 1: Start with Gromp. Throw a spear from the bushes and immediately rush in to Smite the Gromp. Gromp smite gives you poison armor. Any attacker will take damage for hitting you which will really help speed up the clear rate. Otherwise you're taking a lot of damage and the Gromp seems extremely difficult. Before switching to Cougar form, throw a basic attack spear at the gromp. Always utilize your basic attacks. Just because Nidalee has a lot of abilities doesn't mean auto attack is not important! Immediately switch to Cougar. Let the cougar do the basic attack and then use your Q. Now back off a bit, R and switch to Human form, throw a Q spear ( locks them in place ) Rinse/Repeat.
Step 2: Blue
These guys can be tough if not handled correctly. Some take out the smaller guys first. Some take out the big guy. I go for the big guy. No smite. Start the fight with basic attack so the Sentinel starts walking forward. Once you have a clear shot, Q spear and utilize a basic spear attack. Now before switching to cougar, you want to use E (Heal) on yourself for the attack speed bonus since we are using the machete and it's life steal. Immediately switch to Cougar, use E, then Q. Now you kite. Wait for the Sentinel to smash the ground and click away forcing him to close the melee range gap. Do this once per shapeshift. Practice makes perfect! Don't forget to heal yourself as well. Only use 1-2 potions for this fight. Save 1 potion for the Red Sentinel.
Step 3:
Same concept applies from Blue sentinel with the Red sentinel. Only difference is the Red sentinel seems to do more damage, but with less HP. Important thing to remember is to Smite the Red sentinel about half way through ( or depending on you HP needs ) and use your 2nd Takedown in cougar form AFTER the smite, as Takedown does more damage the LESS HP they have. If done successfully, you will have a lot of HP left, you'll be lvl 3, and you will now have Pounce and can start ganking!

So you want to gank as Nidalee ey?! Well... I can't guarantee that every gank will go as planned but here are a few tips to ensure you get them to either burn a summoner spell, or ultimately get the kill!

- Don't throw your Q first. BIG MISTAKE. Most people are ready for the spears and if they are ANY good, they will dodge and you are looking pretty silly right about now.
- Don't be afraid to pressure! Build a little armor if you're too squishy but get up on them! Use your ranged basic attack to your advantage!
- Use your Q as more of a chaser. Once they are low enough and you know you can land a good skill shot, that's when it's most effective! Not when they are FULL HP!
- Communicate with your team! Good pings will help you coordinate with your allies so you can ensure an awesome gank!
- Use the correct ganking paths! If you're always cutting right through the middle of mid lane, or straight through the bushes/river, then you are missing out on a lot of opportunities and that's probably why you aren't getting any successful ganks!
- Utilize your traps! Lay them down almost EVERYWHERE you can imagine an enemy champ may run/hide. This will help you activate prowl!
- Be patient! Practice makes perfect! Nidalees' skill shot is tough to land sometimes and it is pretty slow. Time the spear for where you know they will be, NOT WHERE THEY ARE STANDING AT THE MOMENT!!!

Team Fighting:
Nidalee is not much of a team fighter.
She is a HIGH damage output champ and needs to be played some what cautiously or you WILL feed the other champs looking to get a piece of the feline who just destroyed their kill streak!
Make sure you are doing a lot of POKING with your spears before you decide to go all cougar and jump into the middle!
YOU WILL BE FOCUSED!!!
Don't be that person who blames the other champs.. Or the game. You went in. You pressed pounce. You didn't get away. You died. Wah. Wah.
Next time.. poke a little more. Let one wander away. With the build you have... you'll be able to get across the ENTIRE map in seconds.. so dont worry about not being able to hunt -- the hunt has just begun!

As far as what skills to use when fighting or engaging, Nidalee has a moderately difficult kit that works amazingly. Start in human form and throw your spear or lay your trap. Once you activate your passive ability by landing a spear OR a champ setting off a trap, you will activate cougar form with your R. Once you are in cougar form, you will use W for Pounce, E for a frontal swipe damaging ability, take down with your Q, and then W to get away!
Note: Once you land a spear/trap.. there will be a large circle around Nidalee. The champ/mob who triggered the trap triggered your Prowl passive ability. With Prowl, you are able to Pounce from a further distance ( you'll see when you can pounce as the game 1 makes a sound and 2 shows a light green chain connecting you two on the ground in the shape of little triangles ) and your Q Takedown ability will do much more damage as well! Plus Prowl gives you vision of that champ and to your allied champs! Vision is everything!
Make sure you keep yourself healed with E, and also note that it gives you an attack speed boost! A fairly large one! So use it when you need to! Just remember to switch out of Cougar form and go back to Human form! Or vice/versa.. oh well. You get it! :)

View Character Information In-Game for further details!!!!

To be continued...

Nidalee starts with an ultimate ability at lvl 1 which allows her to change between Cougar and Human form as soon as the game starts! Wicked right? Just remember that you HAVE to put a point into it like a normal champs ULT if you want your abilities to get stronger as well! :)