Top Nidalee has been a common staple to the top lane ever sense season 2. With the new meta of tanky top lane she has fallen off, but still has potential to get an advantage in lane and snowball it to victory. With season 4 not much has changed for top Nidalee and she can still provide a strong bruser who can split push effectively when in the right hands. She plays alot like Jax with this guide, you are a strong splitpusher who can also act as a front line tank to some extent.

*Also keep in mind this is my first gide written, so let me know what you think, like if i need to add anything or whatnot*

Pros: Strong Mid game Decent Laning Phase Sustain Mobile Strong Splitpush

Cons: Squishy Early No CC Outscaled

, , and . These help you get through the weakest point in your game, pre-6. However you don't get the snowball potential that comes from 21 in the offensive tree, so it takes more to snowball your lane.

Marks: Run Hybrid Pen marks against a tanky top lane(Mundo, Nasus, ect.) so you can cut through any resistances they try to build up. Run flat AD marks against a squishier top laner(pretty much anyone besides the tanky champs I mentioned) for easier last hitting+more auto attack harass.

Seals: I run armor seals against an AD top laner to help me earlier in the game. Against an AP top laner you can run either Scaling or Flat HP seals, its up to personal preference, I normally run scaling HP.

Glyphs: Run Flat MR glyphs against the common AP tops we see commonly in the top lane (Lulu, Gragas, Ryze). Run Scaling MR against an AD top but against a team that has other sources of magic damage to be worried about (ex. AP mid). Against an AD team run Scaling CDR to help you cap at 40% CDR late game.

Quints: Quints are where you really can shape how your game will be. I run AD quints in most matchups to give me more early game harass and easier CSing. Against a Strong AD early game laner I would run 2 armor quints with 1 AD quint to help to survive the early lane. The only other option on quints would be Movespeed quints(though only run these w/ ad marks), however these are a personal preference, and I normally find myself running either the 3 AD quints or the 2 armor quints and 1 AD quint.

I'm not going to go over all of the runes again seeing as I did that above, but the only difference with this rune page is the 6% lifesteal you get from the quints. This helps you sustain in lane so you don't get bullied out by the bullies such as and . Obviously you loose out on a bit of damage, but that 6% can make all of the difference in staying in lane compared to being forced out with the sustain you have from the lifesteal and your heals.

When it comes to your skill sequence you see I start with , this allows you to place traps in strategic locations such as Tribush, river, enemy buff, lane bushes. After that I get two points in to sustain in lane. I grab next to help in trading and last hitting. Follow that up with R for your cougar form, then max e for the larger heals, q next for the bonus damage, and W last.

The reason I max e over q is because you wont be building much AP, so your spears are used for not much more than an sheen proc in a fight, slightly easier CSing, or checking a Bush. Maxing E first gives you larger heals, as well as an increased attack speed buff. Obviously max W last as maxing it earlier doesn't help you much.

For my two summoner spells I take and . These two summoners work very well with how I prefer to play this build. Flash is self explanatory as it allows you to get away from a tough spot, catch up to a fleeing opponent, or re-position in a teamfight. I take ignite because it allows me to dual my enemy top lane and make sure I can pick up kills. This is big because with this build you need to get an advantage in lane. The only other summoner I would think about running over ignite would be . I would only recommend running this in 5s because you can communicate with your team on when to teleport and when not to, but in solo q it is not as helpful because you will want to focus more on winning lane then teleporting elsewhere.

Being a top laner who builds defensive items your build will often change based on your game, however I will do my best to cover the major choices you will face when figuring out your item builds. One thing to note with the items you buy is that you will see a trend toward items with some sort of CC to make up for the fact Nidalee has zero CC in her kit. So keep that in mind as buying items.

---

Starting Items:

There are two primary starting items that you can start:

The first starting item is and a . This start is strong in a lane that you can take advantage of your range to poke the enemy with auto attacks. Start this against an AP laner, or an AD laner whom you can use your range against to harass.

The other start is plus five . This is a strong start against a physical damage top laner who has strong all in potential. Such champions include , , , .

---

First/Second Back:

First back I always recomend you grab an or 2. This will help your laning phase like crazy and allow you to get through a tough lane. If you started with one then pick up another, if you started somthing else then grab 2 on you first back. Normally this will take up the majority of your gold, but with your extra gold pick up wards/pots.

If you dont need the second dorans, start working toward your or Iceborn Gauntlets.

---

Next:

Next you want to work toward you first core item of Iceborn Gauntlets or . As for what one to go with, its simple. Go unless they have a heavy AD top (Fiora, Lee, ect.), or a top that you want to kite against (Nasus, Renekton, Singed). Most of the time, is the best.

---

Mid Game:

Now that you have your Iceborn Gauntlets or you want to pick up your , then work toward a . This item is strong on Nidalee because it gives you Attack Damage to help your couger form Q, life steal to sustain well split pushing, and the active provides a nice slow for getting away or catching up.

From here you have a choice to make, do you need more defensive stats, or can you go for the BorK. If you said you needed more defensive stats I would go for your teir two boots yet and grab either or depending on your needs. After these if you still need defensive stats I would pick up a Gaint's Belt for the extra health. At this point I would upgrade your Bligewater Cutlass into a to increase your dueling potential and your split push threat. After this if you haven't upgraded your boots to teir 2, do so.

---

Later Game:

Your next two items consist of and . However what order you build them in is up to you. Normally I go for the Randuin's Omen first because it gives you the armor to deal with the common physical damage top laners, as well as the slow to bring more utility to your kit. Spirit Visage however is strong if you are having to deal with primary magic damage. Whatever order you build these two in is up to you as it will depend on what threats the enemy team has.

---

Potential 6th items:

Guardian's Angel-I get this or Athene's in most games, this is a strong item if you are super strong and need to be able to survive in a fight

-Strong against heavy Magic Resist teams with heavy CC, also good to get over spirit visage if they have a fed LeBlanc

-Provides a large amount of health to make you tanky. Go this if you just need to get super tanky.

-Gives lots of Armor, strong against a full AD team. Also gives CDR and Mana.

-This gives you a large spike in damage, as pretty much every piece of damage you do will be magic damage. All of your abilities deal magic damage, your triforce procs, and BorK are magic damage.

---

Final Build

Your final build should look like this:
or --> --> and --> Your pick of 6th item(I normally go GA, Banchies, Warmogs, or Voidstaff) + or

Laning Phase:

With the update to Nidalee, her early game is as strong as ever. Your level 2 and 3 all in is crazy strong, and can out trade most other top laners. Early game just use your autos to harass and use the bushes to get move speed and break minion agro, and just pop in and out of it autoing your opponent. If you can hit a spear jump in and land your e+q combo (make sure to E first so you can get more damage for your % missing health on your q). Against a tough lane opponent (Xin, Fiora, ect.) just play passive and land autos if you can, and just farm up.

Mid game is relatively strait forward with top Nidalee. Your main focus is to split push top lane and push any advantage you have in your lane and try to snowball it. You want to try to draw two people up to stop you so your team is open to take dragon and push other lanes. Split pushing can be dangerous though, so you need to ward key bushes such as bushes by their red/blue buff, or other deep wards in their jungle(depending on what side you are on).

When it comes to warding/trapping lets use this map to explain where to ward.
When it comes to warding if you are on blue side, I would place a ward at 3, so in their tri-bush. If on purple side you want to ward down between 2 and 9 so you can get more of a warning when they come to gank. As for traps, in laning phase keeping traps in the bushes top(this is an older map, but just keep traps in the big two bushes) will help protect you from lane ganks. Once you start to Split push top more and have their turret down I would move my wards deeper into their jungle to 10 or 12 on the map(depending on your side). Other then that for trapping while splitpushing just trap any and all bushes on your flanks to help prevent unexpected ganks.

If you do have to teamfight your goal is two different things. First is to peel for your ADC, your slows from your items provide great peel for your ADC. After that your goal is to get to their squishes (AP mid or ADC) and try to take them out, obviously if your ADC doesn't need peel you can go strait for their backlines. Another thing you can do is apply your attack speed increase from your E onto your ADC to increase the damage they do.

Late game you play similar to your mid game. Your primary focus is to split push a lane and try to force them to send one or more to stop you. You do need to be careful however, late game is where you start to fall off. You still deal a lot of damage, however an assasin will do more, and you will be tanky, but a normal tank will be tankier. This is where the issue is with this build, if you cant press your mid game advantage into a lead then you start to suffer late game. In order to counteract this you need to do your bast to win lane and split push so they have to send two to stop you, giving your lanes the ability to make plays and build an advantage of their own. If you are behind though, you just need to split push all the time, and force them to send one so atleast it is a 4v4 and your team can fight that.

Thought I would make a real quick section on what comps this build really fits in to. Currently this build fits into comps who can hold turrets 4v5, and can win 4v4s when you draw someone up. As of patch 4.1 I normally like the following:

Jungle: Someone tanky, maybe or .

Mid: Here you want someone with decent teamfight and strong wave clear. Strong choices include , , and .

ADC: Nothing much to put here, just go with the current strong meta champions of and .
Support: You want a support who has engage to help with starting a 4v4, but also has peel for if they go in on a 4v5. Currently strong picks include , , and .

Basically the point of the comp is to survive the turret siege with wave clear and disengage, while still having a very strong 4v4.

*keep in mind this section will be updated as I play various machups, for now I'll just stick to common top laners*

Champion:

Matchup Notes:

Start:

Start boots in this lane, you want to use that movespeed to dance around outside his axe range. Use that speed to quickly dart in range for an auto or 2 but get out if he trys to hook. Early x2 and will help you alot with having the move speed to keep out of range for his pull, and having the sustain+health+extra damage to keep up with him.

+ x4

Lane involves lots of farming, not much you can do to force him out of lane, I would rush BorK then Iceborn in this lane so you can chunk Mundo with the BorK passive/active. Other then that just farm up and keep on split pushing. Make sure to have when you all in to shut down his ulti.

+

Pre-six in this lane you just need to farm up, once you get 6 and get your Iceborn Gauntlets you can start to trade with him. After poking him down to about 2/3 you can go in for the kill.

+ x5

This lane is sort of tough for you, as Jax does what you do, but slightly better. Pre-six take advantage of your range, and once you hit 6 winning fights comes down to how you play. Never pounce on top of him in cougar form or he will just stun you with his E, you need to bait out his stun, pounce away, then go in for the fight. Late game be careful as he will deal more damage then you and get tankier.

+ x3

This should be an easy lane for you. Pre-six just trade with him with your autos, because you can out sustain with your E. At 6 once you get your Gauntlets just dodge his E+Q combo and you should be able to win the all in. Once you have BorK+Gauntlets it is an easy 1v1 for you.

+

This lane is all about being able to outplay the Kha'Zix all in. Pre-Six he can kill you, so just farm. Once you hit six only fight him in a minion wave to remove his isolated Q damage. Once you get Gauntlets, BorK, and Randuan's you should be able to fight him more consistently.

+ x5

After playing this lane a few times I have determined it is a pretty easy lane for you. Just start dorans and on first back by another, then build into a sheen and just AA nasus as much as you can and you can quickly build an advantage and snowball the lane.

+

This matchup is hard for you pre-6/Gauntlets, however once you get both of those this becomes a lane you can win. Pre-6 just farm up and try to take advantage for your range to harass him with autos. Once you get 6 and Gauntlets all in to bait out his ult, then kite using your slow from the Gauntlets, once his ult goes down you can go back in for the kill.

+ x5 OR +

This matchup plays different depending on how he builds. If he goes damage, its a lot like Kha'Zix where his all in will be scary, but once you survive that you can fight him. If he build tanky it plays a lot like going against Renekton, his all in will hurt more than yours early, but once you get items you can take him.

+ x5 OR +

This matchup has gotten easier with the nerfs. Pre-6 you need to be careful of an all in, but once you hit 6 your have a lot of room for outplay to win a dual. Try and save your W in cougar form to dodge her third q knockup and that chained into her W. From there you want to save your W and try to predict when she will use her second activation of her ult and W behind her to dodge it.

+ x5

With this lane you want to focus on farming up to get an early . From there I would go for a into a Iceborn Gauntlets. Make sure to save your W in cougar form to get out of his ult when he uses it.

+ x3

This lane is an interesting lane. How you build will depend on how you are doing in lane. If you feel like you dont need to worry about the damage Shyvana deals then I would just go with a normal build path. However if you are taking lots of damage an early might be needed. Other then that just treat it a lot like a lane.

+ x3 OR +

Here you want to use your autos to harass and try to avoid getting near him(use bushes to do this). An early is highly recommended. After that get your Iceborn Gautnlets so you can kite him if he tries to all in you.

+ x3 OR +

Ahhh Teemo, this lane is one of the more annoying lanes for Nidalee, just like he is for nearly every top lane. You need to start Doran's Shield and just farm up. Early will help to negate the damage from his E, and following that up with your Iceborn Gauntlets will help to negate the damage that Teemo can do, and also give you some sustain. Once you hit 6 just make sure when you all in Teemo make sure you dont use your Q in cougar form when blinded. Also first back you may want to consider a so you get sustain through the whole laning phase.

+

Early game for this lane you need to make sure to try to keep Trynd from getting fury built up. When he all ins you once your 6 W away and try to kite him around dealing as much damage as you can. You can pretty much never fight Trynd in an outright fight, so it revolves around you kiting him out and dealing damage that way.

x5

This is a lane similar to Teemo with his harass. Go for the early . However one thing nice is that your all in will work better against Vlad than on Teemo because you don't have to worry about a blind. When he goes into his Blood Pool make sure to W out of it so you don't take damage and he cant spell vamp. Make sure to use to ruin his self healing.

+

Overall Nidalee is a fun top laner who has a strong mid game and an almost unbeatable split push. Her early laning phase isn't that strong, but once she hits 6 and gets an item or two you can dual almost any champion if you play it well. Your high mobility and strong damage with your cougar from Q give you surprisingly good dual potential and can allow you to catch enemies by surprise and they think you are just another "squishy Nidalee". As you see with the build, we bring in a lot of teamfight utility with a single target slow with your BorK, a small AOE slow with your Iceborn Gantlets, and a larger AOE slow with your Randuan's Omen. This is achieved while still keeping a decent amount of dualing potential with the BorK and the Gauntlets as well. All in all Nidalee provides a strong splitpushing top laner who can deal a surprising amount of damage, and is able to get out of almost any situation with her cougar form.