Please leave a comment below on what you would like to see from this guide and rate it, this is my first guide so tell me what you want what you really really want.

If you don't want to read the whole thing I just ask you to read from here to the Abilities section. I have come across so many Nidalee players that do not know what ranking up her skills do to her catform abilities.

If you are new to Nidalee then read the ABILITIES SECTION! It will explain the decisions behind my skill sequence.

This is an AD Nidalee guide that requires you being able to last hit and have map awareness at the same time ( some people cant multi-task ). This build will help you counter strong solo top champions such as Tryndamere, Darius and Riven.

Early Game

Start with:

Then build

This can be built all at once or by prioritizing a

Then it is a question of whether you are against an AD or AP lane opponent
For AD

For AP

If you are against a champion such as Tryndamere I suggest getting a

But, if you are against a champion like Vlad I suggest getting a


Summary



Mid Game
Against AD
or
Against AP
or Catalyst the Protector or

Late Game
Against AD
[
Against AP
[

Super Late Game
Sell your Wriggle's Lantern for a

Also precede to buy all four elixirs

Pros:

One of the easiest champions to farm on and has a very strong early game.
Is a ranged character and can be a bruiser.
Has an execute that procs Trinity Force for massive damage.
Has one of the best escape abilities in the game (her passive and pounce).

Cons:

Can be easily ganked early and shut down if you are not aware of your surroundings.
No crowd control.
You cant lose so it could get boring.

The effect ranking up has on abilities.

Increases damage done by Javelin, does NOT increase damage done by Takedown.
Increases damage done and reduces cool-down of Bushwhack, but it does not increase damage or cool-down of Pounce.
Increases the amount healed and attack-speed gained, but it does not increase the damage of Swipe.

This ability turns you into a cougar of you are a human and human if you are a cougar. Putting points into this levels up all of your abilities that you have in Cougar form. This will be your main skill set if you are playing AD Nidalee solo top. You max the heal out for increased durability and the attack-speed is good for pushing lanes and pushing down towers.

I choose to go AD Quints and Marks for increased ease at last hitting early as well as for harass early that can no just be ignored.
I take flat armor because the majority of solo tops are Attack Damage champs.
I also choose to take Magic resist per level because sometimes there is a top such as Vlad or Akali.
Alternative Quints are movement speed, these can help you escape early ganks and get harass off more easily.

I get AD Jungle masteries so that invading can be done at around 7-9 mins when the enemy Blue or Red buff is up. Generally try and get the jungler to come with you for the first invade or if it is pre level 6. Being ranged champion with a movement speed passive gives you a huge advantage against the classic melee bruiser top laner, it allows you to harass and back away without taking damage, this is why I take 21 points in the Offense tree. I take the defensive masteries for tanking minions in lane and the enemy jungle. When I harass enemies I do not want to be concerned about a few auto attacks from their minions if I am trying to zone my opponent. The increased health regeneration, armor and reduced minion damage. These things negate the damage of the minions so that you can harass and zone without worrying too much about minion damage.

I always start with boots and pots. it makes so you can use your passive more effectively if you opponent also has boots and pots.

An early Wriggles allows you to start taking enemy buffs early and also prevent you lane from being ganked as well as giving you a tonne of lifesteal.

Second rank boots depend on which champions you are against.

Are you against a double AP team?

Always suggest mercury's treads in this situation and also in heavy crowdcontrol situations.

Are you against a heavy AD team?

I recommend getting Ninja Tabi as your first item against a solo top like Tryndamere. These are also very valuable late game for countering the enemy AD Carry.

Are you doing well and need to start ganking mid so that your mid can compete?
Sometimes mobility can be important for ganking other lanes without being noticed. For mobility boots to be useful you have to be aware of whether the enemy mid lane is warding and whether you own lane has warded.

Against heavy AP champs I recommend that you get an early Negatron Cloak after you have your Wriggles. This can be built into either a Force of Nature or a Banshees Veil depnding on the enemy team composition, if they have sustained AP damage I would recommend FoN and if you are against bursty AP champs i would suggest BV. Against heavy AD champs such as Tryndamere and Riven I like to either get an early chain vest or even complete my atmas after wriggles. This completely shuts them down early and gives you complete lane dominance. The bonus armor also allows you to tower dive more easily when ganking mid.

Building either Trinity Force or Bloodthirster early-mid game (but after giving yourself some durability) is crucial for your damage and overall lane dominance.

The order of purchasing items is variable, however if you are winning lane and want to continue demolishing then in kills and farm, the build order above will help you achieve this.

If you are an experienced solo top you know that a good jungle gank can really mess up your day. As Nidalee this can be avoided by using carefully placed traps in the river and tri-bush near your lane as well as strategically placed traps throughout the enemy jungle that can alert your team where the enemy team jungler is for early ganks and early steals.

I run boots and pots to begin with so that i can 'invade' the enemy jungle and place traps so that early game we can always be aware of the whereabouts of the enemy jungler, this can help shut down gank dependent junglers. When counter jungling the enemy buffs be sure to place traps and your ward to avoid being surprised by the enemy jungler or the enemy mid lane. In solo q let your team know what you are doing because they usually have no awareness and they will not come to your aid if you get into trouble in the enemy jungle.
Last hitting and harassing against the classic bruiser top should be a piece of cake with this build because you start of with 78 AD and have the bonus damage from the jungle masteries.

Try to stay near the bushes at the top of the lane for the extra movement speed from your passive. When you go to harass your lane opponent make sure there are no last hits to get and just auto attack two or three times before breaking the line of sight again by returning to the bush and reactivating your passive. At early levels your passive makes you near uncatchable with boots and pots first item.