Nidalee Build Guide by gritMOBA
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Team 1
Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Runes
Greater Mark of Desolation
>] MARKS
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Greater Mark of Insight
Primarily supportive of Nidalee's cat form - you will not be using 
Javelin Toss at all in the early stages of the game if it can be helped. Strongest from levels 6-11. Take when playing vs. high armor lane dominant bruisers eg. 
Shen, 
Renekton
Greater Mark of Desolation
Greater Mark of Desolation
Primarily supportive of Nidalee's human form - excels in atuo-attack harassment in the early stages of the game. Strongest from levels 1-6. Take when playing vs. low/medium armor champions eg. 
Irelia, 
Jax
Greater Mark of Strength
Supportive of both Nidalee's human and cat form - excels in auto-attack harassment and cat form burst combo. Strongest from levels 1-6. Take when playing vs. low armor champions eg. 
Twitch, 
Akali
>] SEALS
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Greater Seal of Resilience
Defensive runes and almost mandatory at solo top current meta. Take vs. any sort of strong physical bruisers or caries eg. 
Ezreal, Twitch / Renekton, 
Tryndamere
Greater Seal of Warding
Defensive runes, self-explanatory. Take vs. any sort of AP casters eg. Akali, 
Kassadin, 
Vladimir
>] GLYPHS
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Greater Glyph of Force
Very strong, overtaking flat AP at level 9 and the top mid/late game dominating glyph out at the moment for any caster-orientated champion. Take vs. tanks or heavily physical reliant champions eg. 
Singed, Shen / Renekton, Tryndamere
Greater Glyph of Warding
Defensive, self-explanatory. Take vs. any AP caster eg. Akali, Kassadin
Greater Quintessence of Desolation
>] QUINTESSENCES
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Greater Quintessence of Potency
Very strong early game runes and almost mandatory in order to sustain with a strong heal. Greater Quintessence of Ability Powerx3 + 
Doran's Ring +
Mental Force
x4 = 75 hp. Take vs. any strong lane-dominant bruiser or tank eg. Shen, Renekton
Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Greater Quintessence of Desolation/Greater Quintessence of Strength
As explained in MARKS above
Items
STARTING ITEM:
/
+
x3 /
+
x5
Go boots if you're up vs. low mobility skill-shot reliant champions eg. 
Morgana or if you need to kite eg. Singed
Go armor if you're up vs. a high mobility lane dominant bruiser eg. Tryndamere
Go Doran's vs. pretty much anything - it's always strong and effective. It is a personal favourite for me, too
CORE:
Deathcap sets up Lich Bane, which is super strong on Nid because she can spam her abilities non-stop with blue buff. Void Staff to top off dmg. against anybody that might be building mr by now
BOOTS:
Build according to your lane
Tabi vs. Renekton, Tryndamere
Mercury's vs. Kassadin, Akali
However, if they have a lot of CC take Mercury's anyway
OPTIONAL:
Guardian Angel is primarily defensive
Zhonya's is primarily to counter physicals but gives AP as well
Guinsoo's Rageblade is the strongest mid-game item in the game for Nidalee at the moment. Her ability to constantly spam abilities at zero cost in cat form means she can keep up max stacks at all times
Masteries
9/0/21
NOT 21/0/9 OR 21/9/0 BECAUSE YOU AREN'T:
- Vladimir > AP MASTERY
- Tryndamere > MAX PHYSICAL MASTERY
NOT 0/21/9 OR 9/21/0 BECAUSE YOU AREN'T:
- Jax/ Irelia > NATURAL DMG/LANE DOMINANT
- Singed > TANK
YOU'RE
AND YOU'RE PRIMARILY UTILITY
Nidalee doesn't have any sort of passive, natural or easily-accessible sustain like Irelia's passive lifesteal, Tryndamere's nuke heal or 
Lee Sin's active lifesteal proc. She does have 
Primal Surge, but it comes at a hefty mana cost. She doesn't have a great bit of natural movespeed like, say, an Irelia or 
Kayle. She doesn't really have any strong form of burst pre-6 like Irelia, Lee Sin, Renekton. She doesn't have high defensive stats like, say, Singed. So, what the hell are we talking about Nidalee for?
Well, let's just think on that a second:
No sustain? Primal Surge comes at a high mana cost?
Meditation
+ Doran's Ring solves that
Slow?
Swiftness
matches a whole movespeed quint, bumping up your ms nicely
No burst pre-6?
Awareness
means you hit 6 a hell of a lot earlier than your opponent
Just remember, that Irelia you're playing against knows you're weak as hell. She'll be running offensive masteries and boots, thinking she'll just have a **** on you top. YOU running offensive is a move of absolute idiocy. You're both running on ice, and you're attempting to 'catch up' by wearing sneakers, but she's wearing sneakers too. Instead, wear tennis shoes. Don't slip on the ice. Dominate it.
TRUST ME ON THIS. IF YOU CAN FIND BETTER MASTERIES, POST IN THE COMMENTS WITH BACKING - I WILL GET AROUND TO REPLYING
Skill Sequence
PRIMAL SURGE
Take this at level 1. I cannot stress enough just how much stronger this is than pre-trapping. Taking lvl 1 heal is absolutely essential in order to begin harassing. Without this you'll simply get crushed out of the lane at level 1 where champions like Irelia, Lee Sin or Tryndamere can jump on to you and damage hard. Give yourself the level 1 dominance and laning becomes a hell of a lot easier. Max it straight away because it is a mass AS steroid and heals for a solid bit once it hits its higher levels
JAVELIN TOSS
I, in a way, hate this skill. I hate it because a large majority of Nidalee players believe it to be their main source of harass. This is NOT TO BE USED AT ALL in the early stages of the game. I find it useful for mid-late poke. Even then, it's only really worth the mana if you've got a blue buff on. So I max it 2nd
BUSHWHACK
All I really have to say on this skill is TRAP EVERYWHERE. Anywhere possible, you just trap. On the sides of the lane, bushes, open space on the river . . . use it as either a free ward or an armor/mr shred set down pre-team fights at major iniation points or behind where you think the AD carry is gonna sit
Herp di derp, max your ulti because it gives you a ton of defensive stats and you're gonna be in cat form just as much as you are in human form.
Summoner Spells
TOP SUMMONER SPELLS:
STRONG SUMMONER SPELLS:
IFFY SUMMOBER SPELLS:
ER. NO. JUST NO:
. . . and the rest. Er. Figure it out for yourself
WTF do I do with Nidalee?
EARLY GAME:
Buy your starting item and head down to mid or top lane. Bot lane is for your support and your AD carry. No place for you there. Have a poop on your opponent. Don't panic if you see a 
LeBlanc at mid or something. Even if you're hurt bad in the lower levels don't worry. Sit back for 30 seconds, drain your mana pool and head back in. Just dodge the skill shots and keep harassing. Heal over their harass and you'll see that they run out of mana and health a hell of a lot faster than you because they're running offensive or defensive masteries. Wittle away at them. Don't get aggro or cocky. Just keep playing, with your mana bar never full, your health up and your eye out for your jungler. You will most probably get an early gank resulting in a kill. Otherwise, force your opponent out of the lane.
FIRST PURCHASE HERE:
Doing AMAZING? Hitting every creep, getting the kill from the gank and an early blue? Guinsoo's Rageblade + Boots of Speed + Sight Wardx2 straight out
Doing well, steadily winning your lane? Gank scored a kill? Mercury Treads/ Ninja Tabi + Cloth Armor/
Null-Magic Mantle + Health Potion + Sight Wardx2
Wittling away at your lane, getting most last hits? Gank didn't hit a kill? Null-Magic Mantle/ Cloth Armor + Boots of Speed + Sight Wardx1/2 + Health Potion
_________________________________________________________________________________________
MID GAME:
Hog every blue buff unless your mid is getting utterly and totally shat on and seriously needs it. Don't force team fights and keep objectives controlled with wards, traps and your simply presence. Try to keep the lane under control, with a ton of wards everywhere. Only take the tower if it is completely required and the enemy is constantly forcing team fights and surge pushing. Make sure your team is in control, poke with Javelin Toss, lay your traps at initiation points and suchlike. Take as many towers with your team as possible and secure every dragon aswell as the first baron.
ITEMS SHOULD BE LOOKING LIKE THIS:
Mercury Treads/
+
/
+ some counter to the enemy team
_________________________________________________________________________________________
LATE GAME:
You'll want to be winning team fights, securing objectives, keeping everything trapped and warded, taking/holding towers. Stay farmed at all times until your build is complete, but don't abandon objectives or team fights for creeps. It's your call. Play it accordingly. Fed duo AD carries? 
Frozen Heart. Fed duo AP carries? 
Force of Nature
Team fights
TRAPPING:
Trap major initiation points or places where the enemy carries are going to drop onto. For example, if 
Kennen wants to 
Lightning Rush to the left of the creep wave, drop the trap there. Drop it in major brush points where that Renekton is gonna jump out of
HEALING:
Priority goes
Yourself > Tank > Strongest carry
JAVELIN TOSS:
Pre-team fights poke. Try and hit 
Corki for half his hp just before you or they initiate. Waste that 
Soraka's heal before the team fight begins. It makes all the difference
CAT FORM:
If you see a clear, straight way to a low-medium hp enemy carry, just jump on them and spam your cat form abilities,
+
out if need be. Make sure you drop all your human form abilities onto the appropriate allies before you go into cat form, however
Laning opponents
TRICKY BRUISERS:
Playing vs. Renekton getting the level 1 advantage is not simply helpful. It's a necessity. If he hits level 4 before you and he's on over half health at this point he'll crush you out of the lane with ease, if not kill you. He's got too high defensive stats to zone him out of his creeps. Place traps where you think he'll dash onto you, harass, heal and hug your turret
He's only tricky if you're scared of him. Naturally, you have every right to be. He can walk up to you, crit for 1003468832684326823868 dmg, heal and e out infinitely. So, the only way to play against him is to sit just behind your mage minions and harass over him as he comes forward to hit creeps. DON'T let his rage hit full bar. If you do, you've just lost the lane. Heal over him when he tries to e into you to keep you off his creeps and keep harassing
Play the good girl until you hit 6. Light harass over her when her shield is out, last hit all the creeps and genuinely let her stay at near full hp. Call for your jungler if you're getting beat on and once you hit cat form start playing per usual. You'll out burst her at this point
TRICKY BURST:
She's super strong when she hits 6, so just make sure you hit 6 first and keep on harassing as per-normal. Crush her out of lane and call for your jungler to gank for a kill
Thank you
I will try to add more to this guide when I have the time.
For now,
thank you for reading.
:D
good day
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