Hey everyone, this is shadow5layer and this is my first guide posted on the internet. I have loved Nidalee ever since she was on free week, after that week i instantly bought her. I strongly encourage that u pick her up and try her out. She is in my opinion a fun champion throughout the entire game. Her mobility and versatility give her so many options.

Another thing is you can play her any role anywhere as anything. I strongly advise not to play her jungle do. She can be played ad, tank, hybrid and AP. I hope you all enjoy reading my guide and remember to have fun. after all it is just a game. (A great game)

also i would like to clarify that a mostly play nidalee top so this is more for top but it can be used for mid.

There are few dwellers, let alone champions, residing in the blasted and dangerous lands that lie south of the Great Barrier. Much of that world still bears the scars of past Runes Wars, especially the mysterious ***ungu Jungle. There are long-forgotten treasures in these strange places which many risk life and limb to acquire. The champion known as Nidalee was only a young girl travelling with her treasure-seeking parents when they lost their way in the dense, rainy jungles. The jungle was unforgiving, and she watched her parents suffer agonizing final days as they fell victim to a mysterious and vicious disease.

As improbable as it was for a child to survive in the inhospitable jungle by herself, she did just that. Her youthful innocence and a fortunate naivete caused her to appeal to the beasts of that place and she was taken in by a family of cougars and raised as one of their own. She grew and somehow absorbed the raw magic of the dense wilds, evolving beyond both her human physiology and her feline affectation. On one pivotal day in her life, standing over the torn remnants of a Noxian squad of woodcutters, Nidalee chose to rejoin the so-called civilized world, to fight in the League of Legends so as to protect the vast woods from both Demacia and Noxus.

Nidalee was taught to fight by her feline family, battling viciously with tooth and nail. Something in her feline ways may draw you to her, but remember that she is no pussycat.

she has i wide range of viable summoner spells.
u need to watch your enemy and counter him/her.
the spells are:

FLASH is good when u cant pounce or for the extra boost to catch people or get away from people
IGNITE is good on everyone and can be used to injure or kill your enemies
GHOST is good as Nidalee has good mobility already and its no harm to have more mobility
TELEPORT is alright and i use it but not much, it is still good to get around the map and split push.
EXHAUST is alright and i rarely use it but it is still an option and has its perks

and

CLARITY is more for mid but has its perks and keeps you in lane a bit longer with Primal Surge

these spells are all possibilities and i would not rule any of them out

pros: +Amazing Poke +Great at Finishing Enemies Off +She can Turn into a Cougar +Good Map Awareness with Bushwhack +Can Thrive in Any and Every Lane +Tons of Mobility with Prowl and Pounce +Good Escapes +Can Pull Off Some Really Nice Plays

cons: -u have to be able to hit her Q (skill shot) -mana hungry if you aren't careful -she is half a champion before level 6 -no cc -squishy if you have no health items -very hard to master

last hit, last hit, LAST HIT.

As Nidalee (or any champion really, besides support champions), you are going to need a whole lot of farm to be successful late game. Make sure to attack any and all enemy minions near you that have low health. If it helps, click on them and check their remaining health before right clicking on them, at least until you get used to estimating their health. Try not to push when you want to farm, this will hurt your farming potential and put you in a dangerous place.

You've probably heard/read that you should last hit a melee minion under a tower after the tower has hit them twice, and for caster minions to hit them once, let the the tower attack them, and then hit them again. This is true and it does work. never forget this against hard pusher champions in the top lane.

Also never forget that when u get to late/mid game still farm all minions you can find (even in the jungle) and if your team is pushing and there team is just re spawned retreat and take every last minion in there jungle.

Key:
-: do this.
--: optional.

Game Start:
-Buy your starting items
-Put a point in a ability
-Defend for your jungler.
-Trap up the sides of you lane, or jungle entrances (careful with your mana.)
-Help damage for your jungler.
-Go to your lane.

Early Game (Pre-Level 6):
-Focus on farming (last hit only).
--Harass your opponent with Javelin Toss.
--Heal yourself to negate enemy harassment.
--Go back and recharge/buy items (try to not do this until you have at least 825 Gold).
-Buy at least one Sight Ward or Vision Ward.
-Assist your jungler in a kill if they come to your lane.
-- Bushwhack around your lane when you can.
--Play very cautiosly/passively.

Middle Game (Post-Level 6):
-Continue to farm.
--Push when necessary
--Gank other lanes
-Try to set up kills on the other laner.
--Ask your jungler for Crest of the Ancient Golem .
-- Bushwhack around commonly traveled paths whenever you can.
-Continue to ward.
--Play more boldly/aggressively.

Late Game (Random. Turrets should be pushed. People will begin to all come to the middle lane (lucky for you, you don't have to move).
-Continue to farm/push when you can.
-Participate in teamfights/encounters.
-Continue to ward.
-Chuck Javelin Tosses everywhere.
-Stay with your team. unless you see an opportunity to split push.
-Help secure important targets. This includes:
-Enemy Champions.
-Turrets.
-Inhibitors.
- dragon .
- baron nashor .
--Keep on laying Bushwhacks as mana allows.
--Heal yourself or teammates as needed (don't forget about the attack speed buff as well).
-Heal the adc even when he/she dont need it (especially when attacking turrets in team.)

Prowl 15% increased movement speed for 2 seconds in brush.
This passive is what makes Nidalee such a great harasser. Poke, run through brush, escape.

human skills

Throws a spear. At max range, it deals 250% damage.
there is one thing that most people dont know and thats when nidalee throws her spear it when it hit a person it calculates the distance so start going back and jump back in cougar once you use javalin toss

It's a trap!
it spots enemies that walk on it,it is hard to see and can save your life when spotting junglers preferably place in bushes and the river

Heal yourself or an ally, granting a 60% attack speed boost for 7 seconds (Rank 5). use while attacking turrets and on adc for attack speed boost and not just for the heal.

Switch between cougar and human form.
There is a small cooldown, so make sure you're in the right form for teamfights - before the fight!
Tip: Try to stay in cougar form while traveling; you have 20 additional run speed in this form, and the pounce lets you travel a little faster, as well as hopping over walls. See Wall Pouncing.

cougar skills

The less health your target has, the more damage Takedown will do.
try to use it after all your other abilities are used.

Pounce forward. You do a small amount of damage upon landing.
this is good for speeding you up, jumping walls and getting the tear of the goddess up

A small aoe in front of you.
this easily takes down minion waves.

skill combo

open with
javelin toss
trap
pounce
swipe
takedown
primal surge
fight and keep repeating combo

Warding is one of the most important aspects of the game. 75-125 gold can save your life, which is honestly a pretty good deal in my opinion. As Nidalee you must know where to ward, and when.

sight ward Sight Ward: A cheap, easy way to give yourself some good map awareness. If you are in the middle lane, you are going to want to always have one placed on your preferred side bush, and then stick to that side. This ensures that you will have the time to escape prospective enemy ganks.

Vision Ward: A good way to give yourself sight and eliminate your opponents wards. Make sure to buy these if you have an enemy Akali, Evelynn, Talon, or Teemo . If you see your enemy place a ward, feel free to destroy it by buying one of these. It technically only costs you 25 gold because:
-You are getting sight in that area which would have cost 75 anyway.
-You get 25 gold from killing their ward.

Yellow outlined wards IN BRUSH are for protection in middle lane.
Blue and Purple outlined wards: Basic defense for the respective teams.
Keep these objectives pink warded!! They are very important targets!
1) Dragon: Spawn time - 2:30
2) Baron: Spawn time - 15:00
If you have the extra money, ward the buff camps. It is generally cheaper and easier just to keep track of when the buffs were taken.

Bushwhack: Just to recap, you are going to want to place these all around areas where the enemy jungler might gank or invade. You can save your jungler (and team) some major heartache by detecting exactly where the enemy jungler is. Remember to place these with some prudence, as they will drain your mana quite a bit during early game.

red is a must place spot
blue and purple is a general spot
green is to help your jungler

For all your tower pushing, quick minion killing, opponent pressure needs.

Pushing Minion Waves

Pre-Level 6:
-Pretty much impossible as Nidalee. Don't even bother trying, you'll end up missing quite a bit of farm. Just last hit.

Post-Level 6:
-Use Primal Surge on yourself.
-Use Aspect Of The Cougar.
-From a small distance away, right click the middle caster minion.
-When you are a within range (takes some practice), use Pounce.
-After landing on the three caster minions, immediately use Swipe.
-Use Takedown and autoattacks on any minions that you missed.

Pushing Turrets

Throughout the Game:
-Use Primal Surge on yourself or the nearest allied attack damage carry (occasionally the bruiser if they have high attack damage damage per second)(this is recommended).
-Stay in human form. Seriously. Don't switch to cougar form, abuse your range, trust me, it's much safer.
-Auto attack the enemy turret until it explodes or you have to abort mission

-Change to cougar form.
-Spam Pounce and walk through bushes to get to a side lane.
-Try to avoid general ward areas, try going through the jungle if you can/know it's safe.
-Throw a well aimed Javelin Toss.
-They will probably know you are there now, so signal to your teammates who to focus and then jump in with nidalees combo
-If they get away, never fear, throw a final Javelin Toss in their direction and casually walk away.
-Did you get the kill (or feed the attack damage carry)? Yes? Hurray! Gank successful.
-Did you get the kill? No? Think about how you could improve next time. Hopefully you still did enough damage to send your opponents scurrying back to recharge their hitpoints, which is still a moderately successful gank. Give yourself a pat on the back and head back to your lane.ALSO NEVER EVER BE NEGATIVE AND SAY WE'LL GET THEM NEXT TIME.

hybrid nidalee
ap nidalee
bruiser nidalee
The reason i picked all these runes is because all of them help Nidalee beat her enemy's early laning phase and continue on beat the enemy team all game.

hybrid nidalee



ap nidalee COMING SOON (SINCE THE NEW MASTERIE TREE I HAVE TO REDO IT)



bruiser nidalee


these masteries are the basic AP, AD and Hybrid masteries you would normally have

The abilities have no basic order u can never always remember one order on the spot at leveling up but even then this is the basic plot, just remember your cougar form abilities while leveling up an ability.

Any of these jumps can be done from either side of the wall or obstacle. keep in mind that you need to be facing the wall to pounce over it. If you click over the wall you will set a new path and turn to the side so you wouldn't be able to pounce it. Instead, get Nidalee as close to the wall as you can. You don't even have to be moving for Pounce to work, you just need to face the right direction.

The lines marked in green are great escape jumps, but if you miss, you are dead!
The lines marked in red are right next to a path, so you MIGHT survive.

I suggest creating a bot game and PRACTICING them.

These are the 2 probable starts as nidalee hybrid but u can go for the Doran's Blade as well. You really need to analyze the situation and decide from there.
Then if everything is smooth you work towards the Guinsoo's Rageblade and Lich Bane
Then you work towards your full build but before you get the rabadons i would suggest getting a situational item.

Also the boots you choose are always situational and if you prefer one type of boots you should get them.

these are also the two probable starting items for ap but i personally prefer the ][doran's ring]] to the boots. You really need to analyze the situation and decide from there.
I usually always start building these 2 items together first but again it is situational and sometimes you need to build something else.
I usually get these items next in this order. this is to finish the build but the situational items can be changed to suit your teams needs. For example if you need a tank you should get the rylais instead of the void staff.

Also the boots you choose are always situational and if you prefer one type of boots you should get them.

AD/bruiser Nidalee lets her be tanky but is still left with alot of damage.
It comes in handy against certain champions and in certain circumstances e.g if your team is very squishy i would recommend to build her this way.
These items are the 3 main items you can start with as AD/Bruiser Nidalee. they provide damage and a bit of a tank at the same time. You really need to analyze the situation and decide from there.
Again it is a core then a optional item then a core item. These items don't need to be in this order but i personally prefer them like this.
Now with these 3 items the warmogs can be optional but it is usually core in this build and the boots can come in anytime in in the build but i put them just before the warmogs and then i pick another optional item.

Also the boots you choose are always situational and if you prefer one type of boots you should get them.

There is 3 things you have to know about stuff that counters Nidalee, the mechanics the items and the champions that counter her.

Counter mechanics are: CC, Mobility, high damage burst
Counter items are: Banshee's Veil

counter champions are:

People who counter Nidalee:
renekton
rumble
pantheon
akali
irelia
xin zhao
kayle
fizz
kassadin

People who Nidalee counter:
olaf
riven
nasus
jayce
garen
yorick
darius
singed

also you might want to know the champions that play good with Nidalee:
caitlyn
jayce
varus
ashe
trundle


Even if you know that you counter them or they counter you don't get to cocky or don't give up any champion can beat any other champion some will be a bit more of a challenge then others.

Thank you for reading my guide. Please also comment and vote. I have put long hours into making and editing this guide. I will keep upgrading and updating it to perfect it, so constructive criticism is very welcomed.
I hope this guide teaches you something new about Nidalee. Credits to JhoiJhoi, she thought me how to code. Also if you think its good please leave a like and if you don't like it or find something wrong please don't leave a dislike just comment the problem and I will try to fix it.

IF I GET TO 70% LIKES I WILL DO ANOTHER GUIDE ON MY NEXT FAVORITE CHAMPION.

TY AND GOODBYE FROM ME.