-Support: Supports are characters who help out their team, whether it be healing, shielding, buffing, etc. In League of Legends the Support character ALWAYS, if not, usually prioritizes the Carry(i.e. Ashe, Miss Fortune) and usually have a decent amount of survivability.

-Pusher: Pushers eat your towers for breakfast. They easily clear minion waves and break towers in mere seconds. And guess what? Pushers can also be Carries! Nidalee is a strong Pusher I must admit, but I wouldn't recommend following this path unless there's another Supporon your team, and most likely there won't be.

-Carry: Carries are the characters that deal a massive amount of damage. They can also be the reason you win a game(although you supported him/her so you'd be the reason). Carries need farm, and farm they shall have. You won't need farm because you will get an item with GP5.

-GP5: Gold Plus 5(at least what I think) It basically means that you get 5 gold within a set amount of time. Depending on your item, the amount of gold or the time it takes varies.

-AD: AD means Attack Damage. This means a character does physical damage instead of magical damage. Carries are AD, Pushers are mainly AD(because they eat minions and towers like nothing), and sometimes Nidalee is AD.

-AP: AP means Ability Power. This means a character does magical damage instead of physical damage. Nidalee can be played as an AP character, but again she is a Support Champion.

-CC: Crowd control. Stuns, slows, snares, etc. Any disabling skill is considered crowd control.

-:AoE Area of Effect. It's a skill that doesn't just hit one enemy, slow one enemy, or stun one enemy. It applies it to multiple enemies. An example from Nidalee would be her W, Bushwhack / Pounce. In human form, bushwhack will trap all enemies within it's range, but in Cougar form she will jump no multiple enemies.

-Squishy A character who has little defense, health, magic resist. But in return, a squishy character can do a lot of damage, or benefit the team greatly.

Hello, and welcome to my first guide on mobafire! I'll be showing you my build to an unusual but still viable Nidalee. Nidalee is categorized as a Support and a Pusher. As a Support, you would want to build some defense, and items that would benefit your team. And unfortunately, everyone seems to want an AP Nidalee or an AD Nidalee instead of an actual Support. But, because Nidalee is one of the few Support-Class Champions who can play as AD/AP, I use this to my advantage. In this guide I will try teaching you how to use this to your advantage as well.

Pros:

-Great heal.
-Nice damage output.
-Traps lower armor AND magic resist, while giving sight on them.
-Unique ultimate skill.
-Can escape efficiently due to Bushwhack / Pounce
-Easily clear minion waves with Bushwhack / Pounce and Primal Surge / Swipe

Cons:

-Extremely squishy.
-Focused down in team fights.
-If hardcore CC'd can't escape.
-Low Mana Pool.
-Damage can be nullified.

I go with an odd 9/11/10 because it gives her some of the Magic Pen to still do damage, the Survivability she would need, and the Utility to help out the team.

OFFENSIVE TREE:

4 Points into this because it gives 4 AP for a good heal, and some nice damage with her other skills.

4 Points into this simply because it reduces her CD on skills.

1 Point into this because of the 10% Magic Penetration. That is a lot early game and can give you the upper hand.

DEFENSIVE TREE:
&
3 Points into each because you will get +6 Magic Resist and +6 Armor. Not so much, but will definitely help out with your survivability.

4 Points into this because you will get some solid Health which will benefit with your Atma's Impaler

1 Point into this because again, you will get some solid Health benefiting your Atma's

UTILITY TREE:

1 Point into this because it reduces cast time on Teleport by 1 second and gives you 20% more Mana with Clarity

3 Points into this because you will need Mana. Any amount will help you.

3 Points into this because the Mana/sec. is increased and the you can use Mana a little bit more.

1 Point into this so your Wards will give you more sight where ever you placed it.

2 Points into this so your Carry can farm the mother out of your lane while you sit back and support them.

Overall I find these Masteries beneficial for everybody. Plus your opponents will be baffled at the sight of your Survivability, because they expected you to be AP/AD.

Marks:
Greater Mark of Armor & Greater Mark of Magic Resist
These Marks, when added to your Rune Page, will give you extra Armor and Magic Resist. When added with Resistance and Hardiness you will have enough survivability early game.
(READ: You can switch the number of Resilience Marks or Warding Marks to fit your needs.)

Seals:
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
This is self-explanatory. You need the extra Mana/sec. so you can dish out more heals, spears, or traps.

Glyphs:
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
These Glyphs will lower the CD of your skills, so you don't force an ally to wait for a heal or be forced to wait a few extra seconds to check a bush with your trap.

Quintessences:
Greater Quintessence of Health
Simply for the extra health to go with your Armor, Magic Resist, and if the game goes long enough; Atma's Impaler

This spell is nice with Nidalee because you can go back, buy your items, and Teleport back to your lane so your lane partner can go get their items without feeling the need to rush back for you. Also useful if you Solo top.


A great spell with Nidalee because she has a low Mana Pool. I don't recommend using this immediately after you run out of Mana. Usually you run out of Mana in a lane because either:

• 1. Your lane partner is being over-aggressive. This means you should tell them you don't have enough Mana to keep healing.
• 2. You are trying to harass with Javelin Toss / Takedown but keep missing. This means you should STOP and start to focus healing and supporting your Carry.
• 3. You are soloing a lane and constantly healing yourself because you're getting over harassed. This means you have to play safer. Tower hug, stay behind minions from skill shots, etc. (*Tip: For those of you who didn't know, if an enemy is outlined yellow while walking towards you it means he/she wants to attack you. If you get this, then it's a warning to back up.)

Other Alternative Spells:

A good spell if you need to flash over a wall quick, but with Bushwhack / Pounce you should be able to get away safely without having the need to use a Summoner Spell.


Nice, but you can jump over walls with in Cougar form, plus you get a speed buff while in Cougar form. So you already have a mini flash/ghost already.


For an emergency heal, a good alternative to replace Clarity with if you know you won't be using a huge amount of Mana.


Get this spell only if you know you won't use a lot of Mana, and you know where to aim it and when. Usually I get this on Supports more passive, like Soraka or Sona.


Good spell to remove an Ignite or Exhaust but you can replace it with a Quicksilver Sash

All other spells I wouldn't recommend because they are too offensive. Unless you want to be more involved with engaging, you can consider spells such as Ignite or Exhaust. Of course in Dominion I would recommend Garrison and Promote for your spells.

Nidalee's skills are what make her our beloved Bestial Huntress. With the strength of her Javelin Toss / Takedown you can snipe enemies with the right aiming and precise timing. Her traps can serve as an offensive placement, because of the debuff, or can be used to help us keep sight of enemies in bushes when pushing a tower. Her heal is just marvelous when she's paired with a Carry. Not only does it give health, but it gives attack speed!

Sequence of Importance:
R > E > Q > W
Your ultimate, Aspect Of The Cougar, is why you live when you're running from the entire team. Then comes heal because obviously you want your team to survive ganks and failed 1v1s. Your spear and your trap can be switched depending on the importance.

Onto the explanation:
Passive: Prowl - Nidalee's passive grants her bonus movement speed when she's in bushes. Great for an escape tactic, or for chasing.

Q: Javelin Toss / Takedown - Take this skill at level 3 and max it second after your heal. You won't be needing that half-healther until a little later. Unless you are paired with a Carry, you can max this skill first before your heal. Otherwise, max your heal first.

W: Bushwhack / Pounce - Your first skill. It can scout the bushes for you, and with all the Mana you got from Masteries and Runes you have enough to trap an entire bush. Plus if you pair up with a Carry (i.e. Caitlyn) the armor reduction is nice because their armor is reduced, meaning your Carry deals more damage. Taking this skill early game will absolutely give you the upper hand.

E: Primal Surge / Swipe - Your second skill. I get this as my second skill because by then your opponents will realize you are too tanky for them to harass, so they switch over to your partner. Also, this heal will grant you a good chunk of health, while also giving you great Attack Speed. If you and your Carry is pushing, use the heal on your Carry (unless the situation is dire and you need to heal yourself, like when that douche bag Karthus uses Requiem) so you can push down the tower faster.

R: Aspect Of The Cougar - You friggin' turn into a cougar! A whole new set of skills is given to you, and you get a speed buff when you use this to turn into a cougar. When paired with her passive, Prowl Nidalee will run like the wind in the bushes!

So Nidalee is a Support, and with Support, comes GP5. You WILL need an item that gives you more gold passively. Whether it be your Heart of Gold for your Randuin's Omen or your philosopher's stone for your Shurelya's Battlesong.

CORE ITEMS:

This is your starter item. Of course with a Health Potion A great choice whether you go solo or duo. Rarely would I mid with Nidalee, because even though I would get a lot of farm, I wouldn't be helping my team out by placing traps in the Mid bushes or the river bushes. You don't have to upgrade to a philosopher's stone. If you don't though, you may want to consider replacing Shurelya's Battlesong with a Force of Nature if the other team is very AP heavy.


Grade 1 Boots. Get this on your first recall to base. Depending on the other team you might want to change up your boots. A lot of CC? Lots of AP? Easy, buy Mercury's Treads. Lots of AD? Get Ninja Tabi They are part of your core items, yes, but very flexible and can be changed.

sight ward
Buy some wards. Your traps might not always be as useful. Say at Mid someone from the Jungle comes to gank your Mid and your trap doesn't quite get the Jungler. A ward can replace your trap. Your river bush at top or bottom though can be either trapped or warded. Either is fine. Trapping the Dragon isn't genius either. Any Jungler can just take the trap if they have a shield (i.e. Skarner or Riven) Maybe their Sivir can Spell Shield it. Like everyone says, "Wards Win Games."


This item is extremely useful. In team fights you may want to position yourself in the middle when someone engages and use the active, only if they are AD heavy. If not, save it to escape or chase because your Bushwhack / Pounce can catch up or run away. Getting a Heart of Gold for the GP5 instead of a philosopher's stone would be great to start building this.


SURVIVABILITY ITEMS:


Yes, this again. Randuin's Omen. It gives Armor, health, and more health regen. The passive gives you a chance to slow enemies movement and attack speed for 3 seconds, a nice combo with your W, because it's an AoE. Overall, I think this would be a nice item to rush.


Both Wriggle's Lantern and Randuin's Omen have Armor, but obviously one of them is more expensive. I get Wriggle's early game because of the wards, and if I need to hold a lane for someone I would like that armor. Later though, I would sell the Wriggle's for a Warmog's Armor


This item can replace Shurelya's Battlesong if you feel the philosopher's stone isn't your taste. It gives good Health Regen, some Magic Resist to destroy the other team's AP damage, and is like Garen's passive; Perseverance.


You may want to consider buying this item if you don't want to buy a Force of Nature if you have more AP on your team than AD. It lowers enemy Magic Resist and increases your AP AND Magic Resist. Awesome.


If you feel like your Mercury's Treads aren't helping you get out of a butt load of CC then consider getting this item. It's like a Cleanse but gives Magic Resist and has a shorter CD Timer.


DAMAGE ITEMS:
Just in case you need to add some damage to the team. Nidalee can fulfill almost any role.


Lich Bane is great AMAZING on Nidalee because of her Q Ability; Javelin Toss / Takedown Once you turn into a cougar just Pounce, Swipe, and with your Proc on Lich Bane just Q and a mother load of damage is applied.


This item is optional. It's recommended with warmong's armor because some health is converted into AD for Atma's. Amazing when you push towers late game, and you can sustain the tower damage if your team decides to tower dive to kill someone, or break the tower.

~*You don't have to get a Warmog's Armor followed by an Atma's Impaler. It's just optional if you want some more damage. If you don't like this combination, Wriggle's is better to keep instead of selling it.*~

Nidalee is a Support Champion. We've been over this; her main role is to support her team with healing, poking with spears(more like impaling from a distance) and trapping bushes. But what about in a team fight? Really simple. Before I even explain the team fight, think about before the team fight. If you know that someone from their team can easily engage and survive afterwards, throw random spears in there and hit their squishies. By then you can send in your real tank to initiate and pick off their team one by one.

Overall, I have shown you how to play Nidalee as a real Support. Although her pushing power is strong, I would not recommend it if you find to play a high-survivability support who can benefit the team greatly and still do a nice amount of damage without being item dependent.
Thank you for taking the time and reading my guide! Hope you like it and +rep, vote up, comment, rate please~ Thanks!

Special thanks to jhoijhoi for her Guide to making a Guide. you can find her guide here!