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Nidalee Build Guide by Brisingr296

Nidalee - OP Cougar

Nidalee - OP Cougar

Updated on September 6, 2011
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Brisingr296 Build Guide By Brisingr296 7,865 Views 4 Comments
7,865 Views 4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Brisingr296 Nidalee Build Guide By Brisingr296 Updated on September 6, 2011
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Nidalee
  • LoL Champion: Nidalee

Introduction

Welcome to my second guide this time featuring Nidalee! I hope you will find this guide useful and help you in your future games!

This guide will feature a build on AP Nidalee with some defensive items.

WHY pick Nidalee?
-Do you like harassing?
-Do you like to play aggressively?
-Do you like to play a support/pusher/carry role?
-Do you like to have a solo lane?
-Do you like to play a fun Champion?
-What about her FRENCH MAID SKIN?

If you've answered YES, then Nidalee is the right character for you.
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Pros/Cons

PROS:
-Great solo
-Great ganker
-Very mobile
-Great pusher
-Great Backdoor
-Great map awareness
-One of the best ULTIMATES EVER!!!!!!

CONS:
-Squishy
-Cannot win if team feeds
-Can deal low damage late game
-Easily CC'ed
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Summoner Spells Breakdown

These are what I usually take with me:

Ghost - The ability to run away or chase down enemies is going to give you a great advantage in the game.
Flash - This is a MUST for Nidalee. You WILL get ganked at some point and you will need this spell to escape them. Also can be used to chase down enemies through thick walls that you cannot jump through with Pounce.
Ignite - I always hate it when the enemy runs away safely with only 20 health left. This spell will help me finish them off so I can be completely sure they will die.
Note: Ignite is a great spell to use against someone who can heal such as Taric or Soraka. It will reduce their healing.
Exhaust - This spell will sometimes help you to chase down enemies or run from enemies. I cannot stress how important this spell is in team fights. It will reduce their incoming damage and slow them like heck.
Teleport - This spell will help a lot if you are soloing. Can become useful if your allies are in trouble.
Cleanse - This is also great for Nidalee if she is trapped in a **** load of CC. Very useful at times.

What NOT To Bring:

Smite - Don't bring this. Nidalee is NOT a jungler until level 6. The only upside I see is that if you DO decide to jungle when you reach 6, making sure that you don't have an ally jungling, then it might help a lot. Also can be used to steal dragon or baron.
Clarity - You don't need this. Greater Seal of Replenishment will give you mana regeneration and besides, Aspect Of The Cougar does NOT use any mana.
Heal - Really? Ever thought about Primal Surge?
Rally - This is like an outdated summoner spell now. No one uses it and it is actually completely useless.
Fortify - You do not bring Fortify because it is not your role to bring it. Leave this to someone such as Taric.
Revive - Obviously, only level 3 Summoners will bring this because they think that they need to live and not die or else it's the end of the world. Death is NATURAL in League of Legends. Dying is NOT a bad thing. (Unless you are feeding.)

Still Deciding Where It Belongs:

Clairvoyance - This is a very great map awareness spell. Sometimes, you might have to bring this for the sake of you and your team. However, I don't really prefer taking this spell with Nidalee mainly because it is a spell for someone such as Soraka or a full support Champion. If you do bring this, then it will greatly help your team and probably even get a few ganks going.
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Skill Sequence/Masteries/Runes

Skill Sequence

For me, my first priority is to max out heal first. Why? It will provide great lane sustainability and allow you to play a little more aggressive.
Why not Javelin Toss or Bushwhack first?
Leveling spear first will only cause you harm. First off, they don't do much when you have so little AP. Second, you will not be able to sustain your lane and will have to teleport back and forth.
Obviously, no one level trap first, pretty self-explanatory.

After leveling heal first, I then max out spear.
After maxing Spear, I finally max out trap.
REMEMBER TO MAX COUGAR FORM WHEN YOU ARE LEVEL 6, 11, AND 16!!!

Masteries

I usually go with 9/0/21 because it best suits Nidalee. Rarely, I will go 9/21/0 for some defense.

Runes

My first set of runes is more of an offensive set. It will give you AP and Greater Seal of Replenishment will give you some mana regeneration so you won't run out too fast.
For the second set, it goes a little bit more into a defensive set. Greater Seal Of Vitality will give you health regeneration. I usually take those runes when I know I will be soloing.
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Nidalee's Abilities

Human Abilities

Prowl (Passive) - This ability will allow Nidalee to move around the map faster than most champs. There are many uses for this passive such as chasing enemies down or running away from a gank. Combine it with a Boots of Swiftness and she will be incredibly fast.

Javelin Toss - With one of the longest ability range in League of Legends, this spear will deal quite some damage. What's great about this ability unlike any other is that the farther she throws the spear, the more damage it will do. It can do up to 250% more damage at its full extension! The only Con about Javelin Toss is that it will require some skill to successfuly land this skill shot at an enemy Champ.

Bushwhack - This almost invisible trap will allow you to have great map awareness. The trap will reveal an enemy for up to 12 seconds, easily predicting what the enemy will plan to do. I recommend you put the traps inside a brush or in between crossways in the jungle for it to be very effective. This is also VERY helpfull in team fights! It will reduce the enemy's armor and magic resist by up to 40%! It does little damage, but will surely lower their defense so your teamates can take them down.

Primal Surge - This is one of my favorite ability in the game. It will grant great health to anyone and also give 60% attack speed. Primal Surge heals a lot. Period. What I also like about this ability is that when you use it, it will give you a HUGE boost in Attack Speed. Heal your AD Carry and his AS will almost guarantee to go 2.5 per second. This ability is why Nidalee is such a great solo laner.

Aspect Of The Cougar - This Ultimate will give you three more abilites WITHOUT costing any mana! Isn't that crazy?! You can stay in Cougar form for as long as you want and still deal insane amounts of damage. With its low cooldowns, this is one of the most OP ults in the game.

Courgar Abilities:

Takedown - What I love about Takedown is that it deals damage depending on how low her opponent's health is. Also, IT CANNOT BE DODGED like dodge *****s such as Jax. This ability is why AD Nidalee is very viable.

Pounce - Great skill. Using Pounce while traveling will reduce the time it takes to reach to a certain destination. Also, it will be used to catch enemies that are trying to run away from you. Even run away from enemies that are trying to catch you. This is your ultimate escape/catching ability. Pounce will allow you to jump over thin walls.

Swipe - The only great thing about this skill is that it attacks more than one enemy at once. Great farming skill.
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Items

I ALWAYS start off with a Doran's Ring. This item will give me 100 health, 15 ability power, and some mana regeneration. I don't see why I would not pick this starting item.
I usually farm in my lane until I reach to about 1.6k gold. This will allow me to buy a Boots and a Sheen.
I always buy a Lich Bane before my Mercury's Treads. Why? You are already fast enough with Aspect Of The Cougar. Her ultimate gives you a 20 movement speed boost including Pounce.
Now, you have a choice between Mercury's Treads or Boots of Swiftness. I buy a mercury's tread when there is a lot of CC (Crowd Control) in the enemy team. If the enemy's team only CC's are like slows, then I would get a Boots of Swiftness.
The Rabadon's Deathcap is quite expensive, so that is why farming is very important for Nidalee. Since it is expensive, I highly recommend you get this item as soon as possible. It will provide a great AP boost.
I then get a Guinsoo's Rageblade for increased Attack Speed and Ability Power, which stacks. This item is almost always a MUST for Nidalee because it will greatly help her to farm and attack turrets along with Primal Surge.
I then go for my defensive item, the Zhonya's Hourglass. This item will give me armor for those AD Carries and some ability power. With its awfully OP Active, you can just throw yourself into a team fight in Cougar Form and be invincible to everything for 2 seconds. One of the best defensive items for Nidalee.
The Void Staff is another great item to give Nidalee another AP boost. It penetrates 40% of the enemy's magic resistance. 40%!!!! That is almost half of the enemy's MR!
Another defensive item I sometimes get is a Banshee's Veil. It's great against AP Carries such as Kassadin. It also provides a shield that will block one negative spell every 45 seconds. This shield may save your life from an Ashe Ultimate or another crazy ultimate with its heavy CC.

Please note that the item path above is not the path I always follow as I usually follow the path I state below.


My Recommended Item Path

Doran's Ring -> Boots -> Sheen -> Mercury's Treads -> Lich Bane -> Rabadon's Deathcap -> Void Staff -> Zhonya's Hourglass.
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Early Game (1-20 Minutes)

Nidalee is actually not too great until she reaches level 6. I highly recommend you try to get a solo lane such as mid or top because you want your ultimate as soon as possible. Until then, play it safe and don't overextend because you don't really have the ability to escape ganks yet. Level Primal Surge or Bushwhack first. If Bushwhack first, then trap the surrounding brushes in your lane. This will prevent early ganks and some map control already. To add even more map control at level 1, go to all three lanes and put traps in the brushes near the lanes. Always last hit minions to earn the extra gold and harass with your auto-attacks. Javelin Toss is a waste of mana. NEVER use it until you get an AP item. They will do no damage if you try harassing them with it and they will regenerate their HP back in no time. Don't overextend or else you will get ganked. Don't play too aggressively until level 6. Remember to HARASS, TRAP BRUSHES, AND FARM. That is your main priority in the early game. Once you reach level 6 and get Aspect Of The Cougar, you will become insanely OP. To harass them in Cougar form, go inside the brush to gain some movement speed, Pounce, Takedown, Swipe, and go back. Don't be TOO aggressive yet because you are still squishy and you can get owned by someone such as Xin Zhao. If you know that the enemy you are laning against can kill you, I recommend you stay in Human form and harass with auto-attacks only. When you have harassed them so much and they have no HP left and they need to recall, please DON'T think about diving. Try to manage a Spear Toss and kill them with it. It is better to not kill someone than dying to someone with like 100 health left. If an early team fight breaks out, don't just stay in your lane and push, help out! Really, most of the team fights are lost because there is always that one person who doesn't participate in them. Also, go gank a lane if you find yourself overextending too much. If the champion you are laning against recalls or leaves, push!
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Mid Game (21-35 Minutes)

By level 9, you should at least be done with your Lich Bane build and working on your Rabadon's Deathcap. This is when you start to deal quite some damage. Remember to push, push, push and farm, farm, farm! Try to get a blue buff if possible because it will really help with your cooldowns and mana regen. Lay traps in places where you suspect the enemy might gank. Buy some wards to get some map control. Wards win games. All the action usually starts at around mid game so look at the mini-map every 5-6 seconds. It can save your life! Remember, the key thing for Nidalee to do in mid game is to FARM, PUSH, and GANK.
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Late Game (36 Minutes-Game Ends)

Start to work as a team now. Heal people who are in need and trap everywhere. Stay together and push together. You are the ultimate key to your team's victory. You should harass the enemy's squishy with your spear and healing anyone that gets hurt. Do NOT think you are like the super carry in your team just because your ult is OP. You are more of a support and pusher role late game. Yes, Cougar form is OP, but AD Carries can still crush you such as Caitlyn or Vayne. With a Lich Bane and Guinsoo's Rageblade, you will be dealing insane amounts of damage to towers. The only time you can leave from your group is if you have trapped the area you are going to and that the minions have pushed too far into your side of the map. Remember, your main priority now is to PARTICIPATE IN TEAM FIGHTS, HEAL ANYONE INJURED, AND TRAP EVERYWHERE.
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Jungling With Nidalee

By the time you reach level 6, you can really kill anything except Dragon and Baron in the jungle. DO NOT jungle if you already have a jungler. Only jungle if you team does not have a jungler. Also, be sure that your lane you are leaving will be covered by an ally or else it will be a free turret for the enemy. Also, be sure that the ally covering for you is a good solo.

My Jungling Route:
1. Blue Golem
2. Wolves
3. Wraiths
4. Red Lizard
5. Double Golems
6. Repeat.

Counter Jungling:
If you have completed the following steps above and you feel like going into the enemy jungle, then first be aware of a few things. If the enemy team does not have a jungler, then go ahead and jungle in their territory. If they do have a jungler, then be careful who it is. If it is someone such as Xin Zhao or Fiddlesticks, then I highly recommend not to go counter jungle and repeat the steps above.

What to do if you get intruded:
If an enemy counter jungles you and you know he can kill you, then automatically run away or if an ally is near, then fight him. Always use Cougar form when running away and use the walls and brushes to your advantage. Don't chase the enemy if you do decide to attack him too far or else other enemies will go for you and you will die.

Have fun and Jungle Safe!
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How to Farm With Nidalee

Farming is very easy for Nidalee especially with Aspect Of The Cougar. All you have to do is to Pounce onto the minions, Takedown the minion with the highest HP, and Swipe the minions in front of you. If basically goes like this:
Auto-attack -> Pounce -> Takedown -> Swipe

Keep doing this until all minions are cleared and you have pushed that lane.
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Team Fights With Nidalee

Here is where a lot of Nidalee players make their mistake. They just ult and dive in trying to deal as much damage as possible and HOPEFULLY to get out. That is wrong. This is what you are supposed to do:
1. Keep poking with Spears so you try to get their squishy as low as possible.
2. Heal your carry.
3. Drop your trap in the middle of the battle.
(Remember, the traps reduces an enemy champion's armor and magic resistance by up to 40%.)
4. Wait for the ultimates to burn off such as Absolute Zero. Especially the large AOE ults from tanks. Avoid any CC's.
5. When quite some damage has been done, ult and hop on in.
6. If anyone tries to escape, it is your job to chase them with Pounce with Flash with/or Ghost.

Remember, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT hop in with your ult in the beginning of a team fight!!!!!!
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Backdooring With Nidalee

Yes, this may sound a little strange, but it actually works!
Your Lich Bane will allow your auto-attacks to deal hundreds and Guinsoo's Rageblade will add some attack damage and attack speed. Top that off with Primal Surge and your attack speed will be very high. Each turret should take about 10 seconds. DO NOT go into Cougar form to attack the turrets. Why? Mainly because it is not convenient and you are wasting time. It takes about 2-3 seconds to use Primal Surge, change into cougar form, and go up to the turret and start attacking. While in Human form, all you have to do is use Primal Surge and start auto-attacking. 2-3 seconds is actually quite a long time when you are backdooring because every second counts when your team is loosing that team fight or when someone is coming to kill you.

I only recommend backdooring if you were somehow in the right place at the right time. (e.g. You are in the enemy jungle grabbing blue when your bot lane minions are pushing quite far.)
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How To Lane Against ....

Akali
Akali is VERY annoying. She is also going to be hard to kill. I highly recommend that you play defensively if you happen to lane against her, unless its a 2v1. Her Twilight Shroud will allow her to be stealthed for quite some time. This will allow her to have complete lane control. If she does happen to start attacking you, I suggest you start running as fast as you can. Her Shadow Dance will harass you a lot.
Difficulty: Hard

Alistar
Alistar doesn't deal a lot of damage but has quite some CC. Do not underestimate him because when someone is going to gank you, Headbutt and Pulverize is a deadly combo. If you get too confident, he can still kill you. Do not overextend because he can just Headbutt you into his turret and when you try to run, he'll just use Pulverize.
Difficulty: Medium

Amumu
As being one of the strongest tanks in the game, he can deal quite some damage with his Despair. Overall, he shouldn't be hard to lane against. Just look out for some ganks and his Curse of the Sad Mummy.
Difficulty: Easy

Anivia
I have two words to say to you: Good Luck. Her Flash Frost will first stun you and then she will harass with her Frostbite. Crystallize will prevent you from escaping and even though you do kill her, her Rebirth will give her two lives. Just try to dodge her skill shot and you should be fine.
Difficulty: Hard

Annie
Annie is a nuke that will really tear you apart if you are not careful. When she does charge up her stun, try to stay out of range of her abilities until she uses her stun on a minion. Harass her with Cougar form when her stun is not up. The only way she can kill you is if she has Summon: Tibbers with her stun on.
Difficulty: Medium

Ashe
She is VERY squishy. She is so squishy that she is the MOST squishiest champion in the game. Just keep harassing with you auto-attacks and try to not let her farm. If she gets farmed, then she can do quite some damage to you. Once you are level 6, you can literally kill her. Just be careful of ganks because if you do get ganked, Enchanted Crystal Arrow will stun you and Frost Shot will slow you.
Difficulty: Easy

Blitzcrank
The only real annoying thing about him is his Rocket Grab. Try to avoid that skill shot and you should be fine. If ganked, he will use silence and knock-up to prevent you from escaping. Push carefully.
Difficulty: Medium

Brand
He is quite annoying if he lands his Sear on you. Just don't get stunned by his skill shots or else he can do some damage to you. When he uses Pyroclasm, stay away from another champion or minion so it won't spread to you.
Difficulty: Medium

Caitlyn
I find her quite easy to lane against. You won't really be able to damage her until you reach level 6. Just remember to dodge her Piltover Peacemaker and don't step on her traps. Caitlyn's range is longer than yours, so she has the advantage to attack your turret a little bit farther away. You can avoid this when she pushes to your turret by changing into Cougar form and attack her. I guarantee she will run away for a little and not fight you.
Difficulty: Easy

Cassiopeia
Her harass is VERY annoying. You will to be a very good dodger if you don't want to get hit by her Noxius Blast poison. Because of her passive, she can use her abilities without having to worry about running out of mana. When against her, stay a little far from her so she's more likely to miss her harass.
Difficulty: Medium

Cho'Gath
He doesn't do too much damage, but has a hella CC. Avoid his Rupture and keep harassing him. He has long cooldowns, so it is ok to hurt him as much as you want. He has a **** load of HP, so you really won't be able to kill him alone.
Difficulty: Easy

Corki
This champ is not going to be easy to lane against. The good thing is that basically all of his abilities are skill shots. He'll become really powerful once he reaches 6 and gets Missile Barrage. Try dodging all of his skill shots and just farm. If you try to harass him with your auto-attacks, you will get too close to him and he will lay a bomb on you.
Difficulty: Hard

Dr. Mundo
He doesn't do a lot of damage, but has great health regeneration. You can try killing him, but once he reaches 6, he'll just use Maximum Dosage and all his health will be back. Dodge his Infected Bonesaw.
Difficulty: Easy

Evelynn
Because of her Shadow Walk nerf, she is now not really as quite a threat anymore. The annoying thing about her is her Shadow Walk. If she does go stealthed, then I suggest you just prepare to attack her when she attacks you. Or, just get a pink ward if you really want to. Don't fear Evelynn because someone stealthed such as Twitch can do much more damage.
Difficulty: Easy

Ezreal
This Champ may be a little annoying. His Arcane Shift will allow him to land his skill shots better. The range for his skill shots are also quite huge. Ezreal doesn't do too much damage and you can really take him down at level 6. He does harass quite some, so that's why maxing out Primal Surge first is so important.
Difficulty: Easy

Fiddlesticks
This champ is not going to be easy to lane against. His Bountiful Harvest will just heal him back up to full HP and Terrify or fear is very annoying. Let him push and don't get sucked up by his Bountiful Harvest. You are just going to give him health back while loosing yours. Also, he doesn't have any skill shots, so try staying out of range of his abilities.
Difficulty: Hard

Galio
His Resolute Smite and Righteous Gust can harass you a lot. They're skill shots that can actually hurt you quite some bit. Even if you reach level 6, his Bulwark will provide him with a lot of armor and magic resist. You can push, but it's not worth trying to kill him. His simply has too much MR.
Difficulty: Easy

Gangplank
The most annoying thing about him is that he can remove ANY CC with his Remove Scurvy. His Parrrley will do a lot to you and even your Primal Surge won't be able to heal enough. Raise Morale will also increase his movement speed, so he is awfully hard to run away from or chase. Play defensively and let him push. Get a gank going in if you can.
Difficulty: Hard

Garen
Garen is actually quite OP in his early levels. Judgment does quite a lot even at level 1 and his Perseverence will allow him to have super-fast health regeneration. Pushing is fine, but it will be a little hard to actually kill him. He has wafully long cooldowns, so use that to your advantage.
Difficulty: Medium

Gragas
Do not underestimate him, as he can really hart you with his Barrel Roll. Taking him down is easy because of him cooldowns, but just watch out if you are extending too far. He may use Explosive Cask on you and drag you to his turret. Push, and push safely.
Difficulty: Medium

Heimerdinger
I would say about 50% if him damage comes from his H-28G Evolution Turret. He is VERY squishy and harass him in Cougar form whenever he doesn't have a turret placed near you. Dodge his CH-1 Concussion Grenade and you should be owning him. It will be a little hard to push because of his little turrets. Take them out when the turrets are attacking the minions.
Difficulty: Easy

Irelia
She is one of the champions that you should be very careful of. Her passive is awfully OP and her abilities will tear you apart. Try dodging her Transcendent Blades and don't get stunned by her. If you get stunned because you have more health than her, then you will loose at least 50% of your HP when she starts hitting on you. Play defensively.
Difficulty: Hard

Janna
She is literally a full support champion. Her only basic attack is Howling Gale and it is very easy to dodge. Harass her whenever you can. She should be fairly easy to kill even though she may be a little fast with her passive.
Difficulty: Easy

Jarvan IV
He has a carp load of HP and his Golden Aegis will provide him with a huge shield. He doesn't do much damage early game, but you can't really kill him. He has ways to escape from you. Don't even think about killing him. Just farm and try to get your jungler to gank him. Really, it is going to be VERY hard to try to kill him solo.
Difficulty: Medium

Jax
He is what I call the "Carry Destroyer''. His Empower and Leap Strike will deal tons of damage to you and he can even stun you if he dodges just one of your attacks. He is the dodge ***** that only your Pounce will guarantee a hit on him. Play defensively and harass him if you can. When he has around 3-4 bars left, go for him.
Difficulty: Medium

Karma
She has become quite unpopular but the recent guide by Egyptian_Lover has probably brought her popularity up again. She doesn't deal much, but can really support others hardcore. She is quite easy to kill, but Spirit Bond will really slow you down. Harass her all the time. If you get ganked, then you have literally a 70% chance of dying because she can use Spirit Bond on her ally and Mantra will only make her ally even faster. So push carefully.
Difficulty: Easy

Karthus
Karthus is a very good harassing champion. Lay Waste will really do some damage to you if he lands them on you. Defile will also do some damage. Add Wall of Pain to the mix and your MR will go down a lot. But, if you start harassing him in Cougar form, and keep following him, there is absolutely nothing he can do! Just be careful of Death Defied and run away from his corpse when you kill him.
Difficulty: Medium

Kassadin
Kassadin is the Anti-Nidalee. Void Stone will take reduced damage from you and his abilities will damage you depending how much AP you have. The more AP you have, the more damage he will do to you. Play defensively and try to stay out of range of his harassing Null Sphere. Be careful when he reaches 6, or else he will use Riftwalk, Null Sphere, and Force Pulse all at once and you will get owned.
Difficulty: Hard

Katarina
She is what I call the silent killer. She can just Shunpo onto you and then use Death Lotus, which does a LOT of damage. Stay away from her shunpo range, and harass her when you can. She shouldn't be too hard until she reaches 6. Her passive is completely useless when laning.
Difficulty: Medium

Kayle
Kayle is actually a little bit similar to Nidalee. Her auto-attacks harass and her Divine Blessing heals. If against Kayle, then I suggest that you just auto-attack her and keep at it until you reach 6. Intervention will save her a lot from dying, so you might have to turret dive if you know you will kill her. Overall, she is just like playing against yourself.
Difficulty: Easy

Kennen
He is VERY annoying and will deal lots of damage to you if you are not careful. His Thundering Shuriken will harass you so much that you might run out of mana from healing. If he lays just 1 mark of the storm on you, then you will most likely get stunned and get damaged even more. To add on top of it, his Slicing Maelstrom will stun you again and he'll keep using his abilities on you. Dodge his Thundering Shuriken and you should be safe. Play defensively and harass him with auto-attacks. It might help if you stand behind your minions so his shurikens will hit the minions and not you.
Difficuly: Hard

Kog'Maw
He has one of the longest ranges in the game. His auto-attacks can really hurt you a lot and Living Artillery is a great harassing ultimate. Dodge his ult and try not to get hit by Void Ooze. He is one of the best farmers in the game, so harass him with your Cougar form. If you do kill him, then watch out for Icathian Surprise.
Difficulty: Medium

LeBlanc
All of her abilites used all at once will result in a one shot nuke on you. Distortion is probably going to help her set up for her nuke. To avoid getting nuked, try to stay out of range of her abilities. If you try to harass her, then you will get too close and she'll rip you apart. If you are owning her, she has a lot of escape posibilities.
Difficulty: Medium

Lee Sin
This guy is one of the most annoying champions in the game. If he attacks you, then you basically have to fight him unless you can somehow run away. All of his abilities combined will allow him to constantly harass you and even if he turret dives you, he can still make it out alive by using Safequard. Don't get hit by Sonic Wave and he will have no other way to touch you.
Difficulty: Medium

Leona
Her huge load of stuns will really get annoying. Zenith Blade is her only way of getting herself to you. Try dodging that skill shot and she should be no problem. When you get to level 6 and you chase her down with Cougar form, then she will just keep stunning you until she makes it back to her turret safely. Hard to kill, but does no damage.
Difficulty: Easy

Lux
She is actually quite easy to lane against. Her Light Binding is the only CC she really has and she doesn't do much early game. She is a ranged champion, meaning she attacks from far. If you use Cougar form and get close to her, then you are almost always guaranteed a kill.
Difficulty: Easy

Malphite
He may be a little hard to kill because of his Granite Shield. He can easily harass you with Seismic Shard, so be careful of that. Overall, he is not really a hard champion to lane against. You can easily take him down when you reach level 6.
Difficulty: Easy

Malzahar
This guy is very annoying. He has great zoning abilities and will cause great damage to you. Malefic Visions is probably his best harassing abilities. Call of the Void is a very great zoning ability for Malzahar so try to dodge it. Be careful when Mlaz reaches 6, Nether Grasp will suppress you and can possibly kill you.
Difficulty: Medium

Maokai
The only real annoying thing about this guy is him Sapling Toss. They are difficult to ignore and move much faster than you do. That do quite some damage early game so that's why maxing heal first is so important. You can dodge his Saplings when you reach level 6 easily.
Difficulty: Easy

Master Yi
Since you don't really have any CC affects, this guy can really kill you even when you reach level 6. Alpha Strike will allow him to harass you easily and Meditate will give him great lane sustainability. Play defensively until level 6. Then you can get a little more aggressive.
Difficulty: Medium

Miss Fortune
Her early game harass will really hurt you mainly because of her Strut. Make sure you always at least auto-attack her once so you can remove her passive. Besides that, she should be quite easy. Just be aware that when she uses Impure Shots, your heal will heal you even less.
Difficulty: Easy

Mordekaiser
His Iron Man passive is awfully OP. Each time he uses and ability, he gain a temporary shield that absorbs damage. Only attack him when his shield is gone. Beware when he gets Children of the Grave for he can really kill you along with his ignite spell.
Difficulty: Medium

Morgana
She is quite annoying at times. Her passive Soul Siphon will allow her to heal herself whenever she uses her abilities and Black Shield will absorb a lot of damage. Dodge her Dark Binding skill shot so she won't be able to land her Tormented Shadow on you. When she Soul Shackles you, run away from her before you get stunned.
Difficulty: Medium

Nasus
His Soul Eater passive is just like Morgana's Soul Siphon, except Nasus can just auto-attack to get his health back. He will be farming his Siphoning Strike, so try harassing him as much as possible. Spirit Fire will clear out your minions very fast, so he easily pushes your lane. Try getting a gank on him. Wither will also slow you down A LOT. I mean A LOT!
Difficulty: Medium

Nidalee
May the best Nidalee win!!!

Nocturne
He has a deadly combo when harassing and can easily take you out in the first few levels. Duskbringer and Unspeakable Horror is a very deadly combo. To avoid that, don't get hit by his Duskbringer. Easily harass him when you reach 6 and you should be fine. His Paranoia is actually quite useless when laning.
Difficulty: Medium

Nunu & Willump
He rarely lanes, but if he does, then watch out. Ice Blast and Consume will really tear you apart. Don't even try harassing him because his Consume will just heal himself back up. Just stay out of range of Consume and keep farming. If you get ganked, his ultimate, Absolute Zero, WILL guarantee to kill you.
Difficulty: Medium

Olaf
This guy can really hurt you if you play too aggressively. Undertow is his main harass skill mainly because it can have a short cooldown. If he picks up his axe, then its cooldown is reduced. To avoid this, go near his axe where it landed and attack him if he tries to pick it up. He won't really care because he will just use Reckless Swing on you. It is ok to harass him with Cougar form when you reach 6.
Difficulty: Medium

Orianna
You can easily kill her when you reach level 6. Just try dodging her ball and harass with auto-attacks until then. She may be a little hard to catch because Command: Dissonance will allow her to move faster while slowing you down. I recommend you play aggressively if you are soloing each other.
Difficulty: Easy

Pantheon
This guy is not going to be easy to kill mainly because of his Aegis Protection. His deadly combo of Aegis of Zeonia, Heartseaker Strike, and Spear Shot will deal massive damage to you. Since his Spear Shot is an auto aim, that is the only way for him to harass you. Try getting a gank on him and he should be gone.
Difficulty: Medium

Poppy
Make sure you are not near a wall when you are close to her or else she will Heroic Charge and stun you. Every time you attack her, Paragon of Demacia will allow her to do more damage and increase her armor. She's not too hard to lane against, but will be quite hard to kill.
Difficulty: Medium

Rammus
The really annoying thing about him is his Puncturing Taunt. If you get ganked, then this taunt will really kill you. He also has high armor, so your harass won't do much to him. Just let him the way he is and it's not worth harassing with your auto-attacks.
Difficulty: Medium

Renekton
His stuns are quite annoying when you try to harass him, but he won't really do much. He shouldn't be too much of a threat unless he really farms. Slice and Dice will allow him to harass you, so try staying a little far from him.
Difficulty: Easy

Rumble
Flamespitter is very annoying and deals a lot early game. Dodge his Electro-Harpoon and try avoiding his flames. Harass by auto-attacking and stay behind minions so the harpoons won't hit you. Harass him when he overheats in Cougar form, so he can't use any of his abilities.
Difficulty: Medium

Ryze
This guy is one of the strongest nukes in the whole game. He has impressive cooldowns and has tons of HP and mana. If you get trapped by his Rune Prison, he will nuke you so hard. He will be harassing with his Overload with only a 2 second cooldown. You will have to max heal first and avoid getting trapped. Only attack him Cougar form when he's getting ganked.
Difficulty: Medium

Shaco
He has great lane control mostly because of him Deceive. Jack In The Box will also fear you when you try to go for him. Let him push and get rid of his boxes if you can see them. Harass him with auto-attacks and maybe even buy a pink ward.
Difficulty: Medium


Shen
Do not underestimate him, for he does quite a lot of damage early game. He also has Shadow Dash, which will taunt you as he damages you. He will be quite hard to kill, for Stand United will save his or an enemy's lives a lot. Harass whenever you can and dodge his Dash.
Difficulty: Easy


Singed
This guy and his poison will leave you loosing a lot of HP. If he uses Fling on you, then you are basically going to take a lot of damage. He also gets a **** load of health even in early game, so he will be hard to kill. Also, don't chase him if he has like 300 health left, his Poison Trail will just deal damage to you as you are running to him. If he's going to turret dive you, RUN!
Difficulty: Hard

Sion
His Cryptic Gaze will stun you and then he will auto-attack you really mad. Death's Caress will also absorb the damage you do to him and explode on you. He also has a ton of health, which will be very hard to kill. For this particular champion, don't even try killing him. Just focus on farming and get someone to gank him.
Difficulty: Medium

Sivir
Her Boomerang Blade has a huge range and can attack you up to 2 times. This skill-shot should be really easy to dodge. Besides that, you can take her down easily when you reach level 6. Also, she has a Spell Shield which is like her own Banshee's Veil. She can take away your traps with ease and block your spear shots.
Difficulty: Easy

Sona
She really doesn't have any skill-shots, so her abilities are easy for her to harass you. Just heal yourself if you get harassed and kill her when you reach 6. Her Aria of Perseverance will allow her to heal herself and an enemy. She will have some lane sustainability, but easy to take down in close combat.
Difficulty: Easy

Soraka
As the super annoying healer, she will heal herself until she runs out of mana herself. She doesn't do much and her only CC is a silence. Easy to lane against, but awfully annoying heals. Only harass with auto-attacks, not spears.
Difficulty: Easy

Swain
He may look a little hard at first, but then he gets easier. The only way for him to really deal some damage to you is for him to trap you in his Nevermove. He will heal a lot with Ravenous Flock. Harass him in Cougar From and try dodging his trap.
Difficulty: Easy

Talon
This guy is quite unpredictable as he can teleport to you and deal some heavy damage. Stay out of range of his Rake. Auto-attack him every chance you get. If you are owning him in lane, then he will escape you VERY easily with Shadow Assault.
Difficulty: Medium

Taric
The only thing I fear about him is his stun. Whenever you get the chance, harass him and harass as much as you can. He can easily heal himself, so that's why harassing him with auto-attacks is so important. One thing I like to do against Taric is "non-stop attack". Go into Cougar form and keep chasing him down until his health s quite low. Make sure there are no ganks coming before you do that. When he has like 2 bars left, try to hit him with your spear. The faster you take him out, the better.
Difficulty: Easy

Teemo
His poison will deal tons of damage over time to you that even your heal may not heal enough. Blinding Dart will also make all of your attacks to miss him. Just watch out for his Noxious Trap because they can deal a lot of damage to you. He can also be hard to kill because he has Move Quick.
Difficulty: Medium

Tristana
Since her range is so long, she can easily attack your turret at a far distance. You want to push her minions so that she won't be able to reach your turret. Explosive Shot will also reduce your healing, so be careful of that. Overall, pretty squishy and can escape you quite easily.
Difficulty: Medium

Trundle
He can really harm you early game, so try staying away from his Pillar of Filth. Also, he has great life steal, so don't fight him close-up for too long. Just stay away from him, and start harassing when you reach level 6.
Difficulty: Medium

Tryndamere
He's actually quite easy to kill until he reaches level 6. His Bloodlust stacks will heal him greatly and turret diving for him is not that hard. Just be careful when he has low health, for he will be doing many more crits on you.
Difficulty: Medium

Twisted Fate
Pick A Card will give him a bonus affect when he attacks you. Not really a big threat to Nidalee. Don't let him stun you, and dodge his Wild Cards. Harass him in Cougar form whenever you can, and try to zone him out of xp range.
Difficulty: Easy

Twitch
This guy is the most annoying of the three stealthed champions. Be very careful when he goes stealthed, for he can really damage you a lot with his high attack speed and Expunge. The more Deadly Venom stacks you have, the more damage Expunge will do.
Difficulty: Medium

Udyr
This guy has no ultimate, but is awfully hard to lane against. You can't kill him, he can kill you, and if you harass him, he will gain all his health back. With super fast attack speed early game and great movement speed, he can surely rip you apart if you are not careful. Don't waste your time harassing with auto-attacks and focus on farming. If he does start to go for you, then I suggest you run.
Difficulty: Hard

Urgot
His Noxian Corrosive Charge is such a long range harass that is also hard to dodge. The good thing is that he can't really do anything if you go into Cougar form and constantly harass him close-up. Just beware of Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser when your health is pretty low.
Difficulty: Medium

Vayne
She is extremely annoying as she can easily harass and get away from you at the same time. Her Night Hunter passive and Tumble will allow her to easily do that. She can also run from you very easily. Silver Bolts will also add up to deal massive damage on her third attack. Just farm in your lane and let her push. Heal whenever you need to.
Difficulty: Medium

Veigar
This guy feeds on your AP. The more AP you have, the more damage he will do to you. He is really squishy though. Right after he uses Event Horizon, harass him in Cougar form. Be careful of Dark Matter when you see it coming on the ground. He can harass you with Baleful Strike. If you get stunned, it is basically all over for you.
Difficulty: Medium

Vladimir
This guy is probably impossible to kill. Transfusion will just heal him while you loose your health. If you start to attack him, he will just use Sanguine Pool away. He also doesn't use mana and uses his HP for his abilities. Also, he has a **** load of health. Overall, just farm and don't waste your time trying to harass him.
Difficulty: Medium

Warwick
Hungering Strike is just like Vladimir's Transfusion. He also has amazing movement speed, so try avoiding his Hungering Strike when he runs for you. Very hard to kill, so don't waste your time harassing. play defensively, because he really can kill you if you are not careful.
Difficulty: Medium

Xin Zhao
This guy is OP even at level 1. His Three Talon Strike will deal tons of burst damage and Audacious Charge will slow you a lot. To top that off, when he uses his abilities with Battle Cry, his cooldowns for his abilites will be so low that he will use the Audacious Charge and Three Talon Strike combo again. He gains health every three attacks he does, so he does heal over time. Even farming can be dangerous if you are not near your turret. Let him push all the way to your turret. If he does chrge at you, then you MUST Flash away. If you don't then you will be lowed, knocked-up, and almost dead. It is a must for someone to gank him, or else its like your going to get lane dominated.
Difficulty: Extremely Hard

Yorick
The gravedigger deals some damage early game, but can really hurt you once he reaches 6. One thing I recommend is for you to not harass him until you reach level 6. Yes, you can kill him, but it will come at a cost with lots of mana for healing. Omen of Death will save his life, but as long as you have made him recall, then you've had done a really good job.
Difficulty: Medium

Zilean
His Time Bomb has great zoning abilities and they deal a lot of damage. It is very hard to ignore them because of his Rewind. Even if you are owning him, his Chronoshift will save his life. Harassing may be a little difficult, so don't even bother doing it. Try to stay as far away from him as you can, because he can put up to 2 bombs on you.
Difficulty: Medium
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Conclusion

Overall, Nidalee is a great champion to use but requires some skill to play. Remember that Nidalee is NOT a super carry and that there is only so much she can do.
If you have any suggestions for me or my guide, please feel free to comment below. You can also add me in the game with my IGN name: Brisingr296. Thanks for reading my guide and you may upvote or downvote if you want. It is entirely up to you. I also want to thank GeneralWiser on his Youtube channel for uploading lots of Nidalee videos played by HotshotGG. I really learned a lot on playing Nidalee by watching those videos. If you are interested in watching, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/GeneralWiser

Hope you will have fun playing with Nidalee!!!
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Personal Screenshots

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I scored a triple kill in this game. Ended up carrying my team.
Another Triple Kill.
Triple Kills FTW!!!

Also a fun screenshot to show a fun game I played:
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Updates

I will be typing in updates whenever I do something to this guide.

9/6/11-Guide has been released to the public.
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