Nidalee Build Guide by Firefox321

Author note

Thank You for even reading this part of the build. I hope this can be helpful to you. This is my first build. Please leave your comments whether its good or bad. Thank you for any suggestions!!! Votes would be greatly appreciated!

What's New?

5/15/12: New Rune set added
5/16/12: Added Clarity to the summoner spells.
Edited summoner spells.
Edited Skills/Abilities
5/18/12: Added chapter on Boots
5/20/12: Took Corki off laning partners. ALSO, I want to thank EVERYBODY for helping me hit 10,000 views and think that think my build is useful to them, I really appreciate it!
6/5/12: Added Bushwhack to chapter "Warding+Oracles+Bushwhack."

6/20/12: Fixed grammar on build name
8/11/12: Edited Skills/Abilites
Added second build
8/27/12: New AD Galio build. (NOT UPDATED)
8/28/12: New AD Orianna build (NOT UPDATED)
Tweaked Masteries by a hair
9/27/12: Added "Team Fights" Chapter
11/6/12: Tweaked Runes and "Rune" Chapter
3/18/13: Starting to update to S3
3/24/13: Still updating...
3/28/13: S3 Editing is complete! Enjoy!
4/5/13: Working on AD Fizz + Small tweaks

Pros/Cons

Pros

+Amazing spear + takedown
+ Pounce+ Prowl= good escape artist and chaser
+Can be powerful
+Great mobility
+Annoying for your enemies

Cons

-squishy
-Requires percision and patience
-CC Worst enemy

Skills/Abilities

Unlike most champions, Nidalee actually has 9 abilities to use because of her ulti.

Passive:Prowl
This passive is one of the reasons Nidalee is a good escape artist. It gives the player 15% movement speed for 2 seconds. So it is always a good idea to go through brush while either running or chasing.

Javelin Toss
Human Form:This ability can do a good amount of damage possibly throughout the entire game. Without the AP and mana regen runes, it is not recommended you spam the spear
NOTE: further away from spear from where it hits enemy= more damage! *You can toss a spear, then quickly turn into cougar form and Pounce away from the spear for extra damage
Cougar Form:This ability is good for executing enemies, for it does more damage based on how low the target's health is. It will also reset Nidalee's attack timer. This ability is meant for finishing off a low health enemy and for farming.
NOTE: Although you can finish off opponents, try to give the kills to your AD carry.

Bushwhack
Human Form:This ability is a trap that can be used to help scout out for pesky enemies because if an enemy steps on it, they will be revealed for quite a long time. Setting traps in the brush is recommended. During battles, use traps to reduce enemy armor and magic resist. Furthermore place the traps strategically during fights so that if you try to get engaged on, then they will hit the trap
Cougar Form:This is one of Nidalee's most useful abilites. This ability deals damage to any enemy in her landing area. More importantly, it has a short cool down and is almost like a mini flash. This ability can be used to jump over small walls.
NOTE: Nidalee will jump towards the direction she is facing


Primal Surge
Human Form:Primal Surge is a single target heal that will give an attack speed buff for 7 seconds. It is best used on your AD carry, this will give them a nice attack speed buff which will help you guys tear down your opponents!
Cougar Form:The last of Nidalee's abilities is swipe. This deals damage to all enemies in front of her.

Aspect of the Cougar
Nidalee's ulti, is Aspect Of The Cougar, which turns Nidalee into a cougar and gives her a new set of abilities and 20 movement speed; the only bad thing is, that she loses her range and becomes melee, so do not jump right into the fray unless you know that you will not die instantly.

Skill Sequence

This is my personal skill sequence. It allows decent harass in lane, as well as decent sustain. Starting with Javelin Toss is good for the early poke. If you are worried about a level 2 gank, then start by taking a point in your Bushwhack.
If you are having trouble in lane/taking lots of poke damage then max out your E for the sustain.
You and your adc are dominating the lane. Max spears for enemy harassment to death!

Pounce

The reason I made a separate chapter for this ability was because it is not the easiest of abilities to learn.

Here is a video I have found. I would like to thank Sinovera for the video. Enjoy.

Masteries

The Summoner's Wrath upgrades exhaust to make the person affected more squishy, allowing for better burst damage. Blast and Arcane Knowledge also allows better damage throughout the game.

Because Nidalee is squishy, the 108 health from Durability and 2 armor from Hardiness make somewhat of a difference.

Summoner's Insight 's 15 second decrease in flash allows Nidalee to escape more often. Meditation 's mana regen and a better mana pool from Expanded Mind allows for more harass and healing in lane. Greed and Awareness are necessary for supports to stay to par with all your teammates and enemies.

Runes

Mark of Magic Penetration- This will allow Nidalee to do more damage overall, which could help zone out the enemies.

- Because of Nidalee's base armor of only 11, She needs the extra armor.

Glyph of Scaling M.Resist- It is likely you will not be taking lots of magic damage early game, so the scaling MR will help you a little in the early game, and more in mid/late game.

Quint of Ability Power- The extra ability power will help you sustain in lane and do more damage.

Rune Alternatives

Glyph of Scaling AP- Most damage taken in the bot lane will be physical damage, which means you can use these runes for the extra damage.

Quint of Gold- Gold is good; you may want the extra gold because your support.

Mark of AD- If you are using the more tanky masteries, when going for gold from Pickpocket you will deal more damage.

Shopping List

Early Game

Start off with Faerie Charm, 3 Sight Wards, Health Potion, and Mana Potion. Rush Philosopher's Stone. If you are doing well in lane, get Kage's Lucky Pick, if you are too squishy, then go for the Ruby Sightstone. After take Tear of the Goddess and then Boots of Speed.
Philosopher's stone- No farm=you need the gp10

Kages lucky pick- Once again, MORE gold! The extra AP can also help.

Ruby Sightstone- All supports should be buying wards. Not only is the health good, but this is a very cost effective item.

Tear of the Goddess- With this item, Nidalee will not have to worry about mana. Furthermore, her cougar form will allow her to fill up the bonus mana quickly.

Aggressive Cats

Items in this section can be bought depending on the enemy team comp. If they don't have lots of burst damage, CC, and/or gap closers, these items can be a strong choice for fights.

Rabadon's Deathcap- If you really want to

Athene's Unholy Grail- If you decide you do not want the Tear of the Goddess, this item would be one of the alternatives.

Void Staff- Enemy team decides to build lots of Magic resist, you wanna do damage? Get this item

Will of the Ancients- Because you are a support, aura items are good. The extra ability power and spell vamp can make a difference in teamfights

Ohmwrecker- When you know that your team will often be fighting under enemy towers, this item can help when fights are initiated. Also, it allows Nidalee to play more aggressive under towers to finish off enemies. She should have enough mobility to catch up and finish them, but the 2.5 seconds can make a huge difference.

Seraph's Embrace- Tear of the Goddess= Seraph's Embrace for Nidalee. The shield helps her survive high burst damage, and it is likely you will get the full bonus mana quickly due to her cougar form.

Morellonomicon- When the enemy team has lots of healing capabilities, this item can keep them from healing to much health. Not only that, but the cooldown reduction helps Nidalee a lot. The extra AP is also a nice benefit to her damage.

Fat Cats

You or your allies can easily be taken down by the enemy team, or they have a lot of CC/gapclosers and damage means these items can help you out. If your team lacks CC, then some items can be crucial.

Zhonya's Hourglass- The active on Nidalee can be very useful. It can allow you to dodge a lot of skills. The extra 2 seconds can also allow cooldowns to finish allowing for a possible save.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter- This item can be useful on Nidalee because she does not have a lot of CC. It helps her and her team stick onto enemies due to the low cooldowns of her abilities and the amount of abilities she has.

Twin Shadows- Similar to Rylai's Crystal Scepter, the slow can be good because she does not have any CC. It can also be helpful for scouting out champions to ensure you are safe.

Shurelya's Reverie- The extra movement speed can be used for various purposes from Chasing an enemy to saving a teammate. If you are in the backlines of the team, you can use this item to help your adc escape enemy grasps. If you are in the frontlines, it can be used to initiate.

Mikael's Crucible- This item is like heal and cleanse in one active. If you happen to not get Tear of Goddess, this item should make up for the loss of the super large mana pool.

Runic Bulwark- If your allies are too squishy, this item can give them the armor and magic resist they need to stay alive longer.

Liandry's Torment- This item works well with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and if you want the best out of this item, you should get the scepter. This item is a good mixture between damage and defense. By using all of Nidalee's 5 damaging abilities, you can keep reapplying its passive

Locket of the Iron Solari- This can give you decent armor against AD strong teams, and the shield helps all people, similar to Runic Bulwark.

Boots

Any boots that are not present, means that I do not recommend them for this build!

Ionian Boots of Lucidity- The cooldown reduction helps you use all of your 7 abilites more often. (YES ALL 7!)

Mercury's Treads- If the enemy team has a lot of CC or if you need the magic resist.

Ninja Tabi- If the majority of champions are heavy on basic attacks, or you need armor.

Boots of Swiftness- These boots can help you get away more easily, especially if the opposing team has many slows.

Summoner Spells

Flash - Helps escape the enemy grasp. I feel it is a must have, for Nidalee is squishy and it can save her life multiple times.

Exhaust - Makes it so that the enemy's damage is drastically decreased for a better time in battles. The slow can help chase down or escape enemies. I most frequently take this spell with flash.

Heal - this spell is good in general, and you ARE the support

Ghost - If you are to take this spell, take it with flash. It will allow you to ensure you escape or take down an opponent

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Other Useful Spells

Clairvoyance - lets you scout out for enemies and allows you to track jungler. Also good for checking dragon, Baron, and brush. It can also be used to help you snipe people with your javelin and to assure that enemies cannot juke you in brush.

Ignite - If your laning partner is now taking ignite, you can choose to take it if you need the extra damage.

Laning Partners

The laning partner you want to have is somebody who will benefit the most from your heal buff. Just in case you want to know the amount healed and the attack speed buff...
Primal Surge:
Heal:50/85/120/155/190
Attack Speed Buff:20/30/40/50/60%

Legit AD Carries

*To make things simple, I will just put the ability(or abilities) that makes the AD carry benefit the most from the attack speed.*

Kog'maw- Bio-Arcane Barrage:For 8 seconds, Kog'Maw's autoattacks gain range and deal additional magic damage which is equal to a percentage of the target's max health.

Vayne- Silver Bolts: Vayne's consecutive attacks and spell hits on a target will mark them with a silver ring. The third consecutive attack or spell hits against the same target will consume the rings, dealing true damage plus a percentage of the target's maximum health as additional true damage.

Miss Fortune- Impure Shots(Passive Effect)-Miss Fortune's autoattacks deal extra magic damage on-hit. This damage cumulatively stacks up to 4 times on the same target if no more than 5 seconds pass between each hit.

Caitlyn- Headshot:Every 8th / 7th / 6th auto-attack is enhanced to be a headshot, dealing 150% damage to a champion or 250% damage to a minion or monster. Attacks from brush increase the attack counter by two instead of one.

Twitch- Deadly Venom:Twitch's basic attacks infect the target, dealing 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 true damage every second for 6 seconds, stacking up to 6 times for a total possible 12 / 24 / 36 / 48 true damage per second for 6 seconds.
NOTE: Deadly Venom will also help with your other ability Expunge

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Other Possible AD Carries

Kayle- Holy Fervor:Kayle's autoattacks against enemy champions reduces their armor and magic resistance by 3% for 5 seconds. This debuff stacks up to 5 times.
Righteous Fury:Kayle harnesses her righteous fury to increase her attack range by 400 (to 525) for 10 seconds. These attacks splash, dealing additional magic damage to her target and nearby units take a percent of her attack damage plus magic damage.

Kennen- Electrical Surge(Passive Effect)-Every 5 attacks, Kennen will deal extra magic damage equal to a percentage of his attack damage and add a Mark of the Storm to his target.

Twisted Fate- Stacked Deck-Twisted Fate gains bonus attack speed and cooldown reduction. In addition, every fourth autoattack will deal bonus magic damage.
(Lets honest though, nobody plays AD Twisted Fate)

As a Support...

Because you are playing this super special role, there are things you must know to take this role on.

*Do not steal last hits from your teammate early game
*Keep the river warded so that you are less likely to get caught in a gank
*remember to use your item actives!!! This can save many, many teammates
*Prioritize who needs to be healed during battle.
*TRY TO CONSTANTLY SET WARDS DOWN WHERE NECCESSARY!
*If you feel confident about staying alive, don't be afraid to buy oracles. It could change the entire game.

Warding+Oracles+Bushwhack

Warding is a CRUCIAL part to the game.


Warding can allow your teammates to know where the enemies are allowing them to play off of that. It can save many lives and allow for better fights. Knowing where the enemies are can help coordinate against them and it can help take away the blue, red, dragon, and baron.
Oracle's Elixir


This item is generally used to counter the opponents wards. *This can also potentially change the game*. It can also be used to keep an eye on stealth champions.
The Oracle's tips

-Once you bought Oracle's, try NOT to die right after you buy it because then 400 gold will be wasted. I've seen it, and have done this multiple times...
-If an enemy has Oracle's, it is a good idea to try to kill him.
Bushwhack

This ability can be useful to keep an eye on the brush similarly to a Sight Ward.
NOTE: This does not mean you can replace Sight Ward with only Bushwhacks!!

Team Fights

Depending on how you build will determine what you will do during team fights.

Squishy + Stay in the back of the team + Try to avoid coming into close contact with champions who can cc you + Chuck those spears into the enemy faces + Enemy abilities on cool-down= cannot burst you down= use your cougar form + you generally want to stay in human form most of the time + if in danger, use Pounce to run away for a bit

Tanky + If you are tanky enough, get into some of the opponents faces with cougar form + If the enemy is still fighting you and you are still somewhat healthy, stay in cougar form + One you start to get low, pounce away and attack from the back-lines until it is safe again

You are Finally Finished!

Thank you all who have made it this far! I appreciate your time and for even considering reading my first guide. I hope it has helped you in anyway possible. Please comment and please tell me if there is anything I could improve on. TY! glhf ;)

*I want to give a shoutout to EVERYBODY for helping getting me to where I am now!!! hope you have benefited from this guide and hope to make other guides. Again THANKS!!!