Welcome to my Nidalee guide, finally decided to update it again after the pre season patch.

All my guides are based on personal preference so feel free to give criticism and change things to your liking. Because I only just started making guides I enabled Force Comments.

Nidalee is one of the most fun and versatile champions in the game. The cougar mode gives you the ability to use shortcuts, roam at high speeds and burst things down. While in your human form you can do loads of different things with your spears, traps and heals. You have extreme mobility and you can help out other lanes with pokes.

This build is the only one in its kind and I've never seen any use it before so I hope you like it :) Keep in mind that this is not the most serious build and you shouldn't just try this build out in the first next ranked game!

Hybrid build

Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration works really well with this build obviously because this is a hybrid build. Because you lower both their magic resist and armor your damage will do a few percent more damage. Keep in mind that most of the times penetration runes dont really matter that much until the enemy has more than around 50 armor or magic resist.

Greater Seal of Armor are also a real must have for early game if you are going for the early mananume. This way you can get up close and dont get punished to much when going for auto attacks.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist because this is more of a late game build and it lacks magic resist this is a must have!

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed are kind of based on personal preference. Personally I love movementspeed quints because having 4.5% extra speed can be huge when you stack it with things like lichbane and your passive. This way you can chase down anyone you want or get away from anyone you want. You can replace them with either Greater Quintessence of Ability Power or Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage.

AP build

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration because you are going full ability power you won't need to get the Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration. I think that this one doesn't require that much explanation. You're throwing 1000damage AP spears so Magic penetration is only adding to that damage :)

Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration I'm going to get a lot of hate for these but this is how I row my boat :P I play really passive early game and avoid taking auto attacks while spamming twice as much spears at the enemy. Yes, these runes nearly double your mana regen early game.
Especially in blind pick you run the risk of getting matched up against a AD mid laner who will most likely rape you. And I'm assuming you don't like to get raped so take care when running these. You can replace them with Greater Seal of Armor which is pretty standard for allot of mid lane champions.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist because you are in the mid lane you will face enemy AP damage. These runes are also pretty standard on AP mid laners but if you want to you can swap them out for [[Greater Glyph of Ability Power] runes. This does mean you will lose more health and just like the mana regen runes using these increases the risk of getting damaged to much or getting killed!

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power gives your start a nice boost with some ability power.

Hybrid build

AP build

For securing kills and reducing heals, can be useful if you find it hard to finish people of.

This + nidalee's speed is almost a guarenteed kill against any runner. I've used it before in the middle of a fight to reduce the incoming damage so that you can simply heal back up and chase them if they try to run.

If you spam it every minute it can be extremely useful. It allows yo to steal buffs real easily, basically its a free ward and if you lost someone or think someone is recalling you can simply place it down and spear the guy ;) And if you communicate with your team and they would like to know if for instance the jungler is in a nearby bush on their lane. Simply put the thing down and you know it ;)

Nidalee is a pretty squishy champion so having a way to escape can safe your life!

Hybrid build

First of all keep in mind that the damage and ability power shown in the sheet are not correct. The damage and ability power per mana are not counted. If it does you will have around 300Ability power and 250Attack damage.

This makes for high damage basic attacks while still being able to deal high damage pokes with your spears. Also your Takedown will also deal significantly more damage than AP only builds (300 damage + a maximum of 300% is a insane last hitter).

Now we got that sorted we can start looking at the items. I like to start with a Doran's Ring so I have both the mana regen and a little bit ability power with 2 Health Potion but starting with either a Long Sword or Boots can be done aswell if your like the extra damage or speed.


Because 2 of our core items use Tear of the Goddess we can simply rush tear of the goddess. You can get a few Health Potion if you think you wont get enough health from your heal.

Once you have that you can start by picking either Archangel's Staff or Manamune. If you like poking more with your spears you could pick Archangel's Staff but if you want to farm more it is easier to get Manamune first for easier last hits and being stronger in cougar mode.

Because this build doesn't have a high amount of Magic resistance so getting Mercury's Treads is a good choice if you are getting harassed by the enemy AP damage dealers. If you think that isn't a big issue you could go for either Mobility Boots or Boots of Swiftness

Next you should work towards a Lich Bane, it gives a incredible boost in damage because it combines attack damage and ability power. The Lich Bane allows for a whole new level of possible combos.

By now you have your core items and you can begin stacking mana, mana and more mana. I tend to pick Iceborn Gauntlet and Rod of Ages. By now you are pretty hard to kill unlike the early game nidalee while still dealing loads of damage.

You can also replace either the Iceborn Gauntlet or Rod of Ages with a Frozen Heart.This gets you 250 armor... It is highly likely that you have more armor than anyone in your match and you are still able to burst down most people instantly AND being able to poke people down.

This is the main reason why I almost always go for this build. You are simply a incredible all round champion now who simply wont die, has high damage burst, high damage pokes and even descent auto attacks.

AP build

Pick this build if your team needs 500+ heals and long range pokes which are one of the highest damage outputs in the game.

Start by getting a Doran's Ring and 2 Health Potion. You get a little bit of extra mana regen and some ability power.

After that you either go for the first example build if you're having a good lane phase and want to do more damage or the second one if you need a bit more of a defensive build with less damage.

The first build gives high AP with nice magic penetration. And the Lich Bane is nice for farming, clearing towers and doing more damage with auto attacks.

The second build really is more defensive but you really do need to get a Rabadon's Deathcap for the increased ability power else you become pretty useless lategame. And yet again getting the Lich Bane at the end for the reasons stated above.

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.
Become a pro with this! It has a ridiculous range, so use it to your advantage!
Tip: If you run away from your enemy after throwing a spear or use your Pounce you will do more damage, the damage is calculated from your range to the target and not the range that the spear has traveled.

It's a trap!
Once an enemy walks over it, his armor and magic resistance is reduced by 20% for 12 seconds. He is also visible on the minimap to all friendly champions for 10 seconds.
Tip: Gives you vision once you put it down for a brief moment and they can be used to guard certain spots.

Heal yourself or an ally, granting a 60% attack speed boost for 7 seconds.
If you think you won't need the heal for a few seconds, throw it on your AD carry when taking down important targets like dragon or a turret. The attack speed boost is perfect for it! When attacking minion waves, cast it on yourself before you switch to cougar.
Tip: Use it on a ally to increase their attack speed while you are clearing towers.

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 prevent being in cougar form while your team might needs heals!

Cougar Skills

The less health your target has, the more damage Takedown will do.
Try to use this last in your combos. This can give you the kill and save yourself when both you and your enemy are extremely low!

Pounce forward. You do a small amount of damage upon landing.
You can dodge skill shots and avoid fights with this if timed correctly and there are numerous spots which can be jumped over.
Tip: Spam pounce when running to increase your speed a tiny bit. Do not pounce out of brush when trying to run away because this takes away from your 2 seconds of increased speed!

Deals damage to multiple enemies in front of you.
This can easily take down entire minion waves. It covers everything in front of you in a small radius and when you start getting more Ap you will do a pretty high ammount of damage with it.

Hybrid build

I like to take the Bushwhack first because it does more damage than your Javelin Toss and you dont really need your Primal Surge at level 1. It also makes for some fun moments if you are able to put some traps in the enemy jungle or at useful spots to guard your jungler. And thanks to your mana regen runes you will regen your mana completely before you get back to your lane.

Because this hybrid build is a mid/late game build you wont be dishing out to much damage which is why maxing you Primal Surge first is incredibly useful. Not only allows it for staying in your lane for a much longer time but it also means that you can exchange some auto attacks after which you will simply heal yourself back up.

AP build

The AP build is mainly focused on high damage from your Javelin Toss which is why we max it first. But first we put our first point in Bushwhack, as I explained above it does more damage and you can help defend a few spots with it. Clearing minions with it also works, simply put it under a row of minions and they will take more damage because of the armor and magic resist reduction.