League of Legends - Nidalee Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Nidalee

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Prowl (Effect Radius: 1400)Moving through brush increases Nidalee’s Movement Speed by 10% for 2 seconds, increased to 30% toward visible enemy champions within 1400 range.Hitting champions or monsters with Javelin Toss or Bushwhack triggers a Hunt, revealing them for 4 seconds. During this time, Nidalee gains 10% Movement Speed (increased to 30% toward the Hunted target) and her first Takedown and Pounce are enhanced against them.
	Javelin Toss (Target Range: 1500, Collision Radius: 20, Speed: 1300, Cost: 50/60/70/80/90 Mana, Cooldown: 6)ACTIVE: The character throws her javelin, dealing 70/85/100/115/130 (+40% Ability Power) magic damage. If it exceeds her basic attack range, it gains damage based on distance flown, up to a potential 210/255/300/345/390 (+120% Ability Power) total damage.
	Takedown (Cooldown: 6, Increased Damage: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75%, Minimum Magic Damage: 5/30/55/90)Cougar Form – ACTIVE: Cougar: The character’s next attack deals additional damage, greatly increased on low health targets.
	Bushwhack (Target Range: 900, Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 Mana, Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9)Human Form – ACTIVE: The character places a trap that lasts for 2 minutes. The first enemy to walk over the trap is revealed and takes 40/80/120/160/200 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage over 4 seconds.
	Pounce (Target Range: 375/750, Effect Radius: 75, Cooldown: 6, Magic Damage: 60/110/160/210)ACTIVE: Cougar: The character lunges in target direction, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
	Primal Surge (Target Range: 600, Cost: 60/75/90/106/120 Mana, Cooldown: 12)Human Form – ACTIVE: The character heals target ally champion for 25/45/65/85/105 (+28% Ability Power) to 50/90/130/170/210 (+28%The character  Ability Power) based on their missing health and grants them 20/30/40/50/60% Attack Speed for 7 seconds.
	Swipe (Effect Radius: 300, Angle: 180, Cooldown: 6, Magic Damage: 70/130/190/250) Cougar – Active: The character claws at enemies in target direction.
	Aspect of the Cougar (Cooldown: 3)ACTIVE: The character  transforms into a cougar, gaining new abilities. Human: Nidalee transforms into a vicious cougar with the basic abilities Takedown, Pounce, and Swipe. Cougar: Nidalee transforms back into human form. While in human form, triggering a Hunt resets the cooldown of Aspect of the Cougar.

Strategy

• First and foremost, do your best to land your (Q) Javelin Toss, as it is a great engage tool since deals a lot of damage and can give you a brief movement speed against enemies you hit. Make sure to hide in brushes and the fog of war to surprise your enemy.
• Put (W) Bushwhack in choke points and brushes. This trap is easy to avoid if you put it in open areas.
• Above all, utilize the Prowl passive of Nidalee by quickly switching to Cougar Form and using (Q) Takedown and (W) Pounce after hitting (Q) Javelin Toss or (W) Bushwhack. 
• Equally important, roam as much as possible when playing Nidalee if you are the mid laner. Her (Q) Javelin Toss can surprise enemies since it has a long range and can potentially kill them in one shot.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Jungle		Mid Lane
Smite	Flash	Ignite	Flash

Item Builds

Jungle Nidalee

Starter Items
Hunter’s Machete	Health Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items
Skirmisher’s Sabre: Runic Echoes	Lich Bane	Ardent Censer

Skirmisher’s Sabre: Runic Echoes – This is a standard jungle item upgrade for Mage and Assassins like Nidalee. Skirmisher’s Sabre gives her good dueling capability – its active skill decreases an enemy champion’s attack damage while her attacks on the smited champion gain true damage. Meanwhile, the Runic Echoes gives good bonus Ability Power and Movement Speed to Nidalee.

Lich Bane – Nidalee’s main damaging skills are her (Q) Javelin Toss, (Q) Takedown, and (W) Pounce once she transforms into her cat form. Lich Bane grants her more bonus Attack Damage after she casts any skill. Consequently, this makes her targets easier to hunt down. As an item, specifically, Lich Bane gives Nidalee bonus Ability Power, Mana and Movement Speed, things she needs to gank lanes and invade the enemy jungle.

Ardent Censer – Nidalee’s (E) Primal Surge allows her to survive in the jungle. Getting her Ardent Censer further enhances her utility for her team, with her heals now adding an Attack Speed and Base Lifesteal buff. It also gives her good cooldown reduction, Ability Power, and Movement Speed. Because of these perks, Ardent Censer has become one of her go-to items this season.

Full Item Build
Skirmisher’s Sabre: Runic Echoes	Lich Bane	Ardent Censer
Athene’s Unholy Grail	Zhonya’s Hourglass	Sorcerer’s Shoes

Athene’s Unholy Grail – Getting Athene’s Unholy Grail further bolsters Nidalee’s mid to late-game utility. This item empowers her (E) Primal Surge with stronger heals whenever she damages an opponent and fills up the Blood Charges. It also gives good mana regeneration, magic resistance, Ability Power, and cooldown reduction.

Zhonya’s Hourglass – Nidalee tends to get in close when she manages to drop an enemy’s health to low levels. That leaves her susceptible to getting focused on by the opposing team. Buying Zhonya’s Hourglass gives her an active skill that leaves her immune to enemy damage and crowd control.

Sorcerer’s Shoes – A standard boots upgrade for mages, Sorcerer’s Shoes give her decent Movement Speed. Furthermore, Sorcerer’s Shoes give her bonus Magic Penetration as well. This means her damaging skills deal more damage.

Situational Items
Void Staff	Morellonomicon	Rabadon’s Deathcap
Rod of Ages

Void Staff – Purchasing this item for Nidalee increases her Magic Penetration. This means her (Q) Javelin Toss deals more damage when it hits enemy champions. Moreover, Void Staff also has good Ability Power stats that increase the potency of most of Nidalee’s skills.

Morellonomicon – Morellonomicon gives Nidalee bonus Ability Power and cooldown reduction. Furthermore, whenever she kills or lands an assist, it replenishes a portion of her mana. Given that she spams her (Q) Javelin Toss, the mana she gains back is a good item perk. With this in mind, buying Morellonomicon is a viable option.

Rabadon’s Deathcap – Rabadon’s Deathcap is a standard AP boosting item for mages. This item gives Nidalee stronger (Q) Javelin Tosses and her other skills that scale with Ability Power. For example, her (E) Primal Surges replenish her and her teammates for a significant portion of their missing health.

Rod of Ages – For games that seem to take a bit longer to finish, Rod of Ages is a viable option. This item gives bonus health, mana and Ability Power per minute once it’s completed, for up to 10 minutes. It covers Nidalee’s mana and health issues, as well as gives her nice bonus AP.

Playing Against

• She relies heavily on (Q) Javelin Toss for most of her damage output. Always avoid this especially at long range since it deals more damage the farther it is.
• Beware when stepping in bushes and tight corners as Nidalee might have placed a (W) Bushwhack nearby. This can also give Nidalee a good aim with her (Q) Javelin Toss. 
• Warding is very important when playing against a Nidalee. Above all, always ward brushes and places where Nidalee might be. A good Nidalee player will always try to maximize the damage of (Q) Javelin Toss, so even if Nidalee is not around in the lane, chances are she is just there waiting for the perfect time to strike.
• Get away from Nidalee when you are low on health as her (Q) Takedown on Cougar Form is strong against enemies with lower health.

Hard Counters

• Yasuo – First up, we have Yasuo. He is a highly mobile champion who can stand toe-to-toe with Nidalee. He can harass her with Steel Tempest and Sweeping Blade, weaving in and out of the creep wave to dodge those (Q) Javelin Tosses. Furthermore, his Windwall effectively blocks (Q) Javelin Toss – good Yasuo players, in fact, time their Windwall just as the javelin is about to hit them to coax her to commit and duel.
• Leblanc – Another highly mobile champion, LeBlanc easily jukes  (Q) Javelin Tosses with Distortion. Offensively, LeBlanc often bursts down you if you miss (Q) Javelin Toss with a myriad of her skill combos. To illustrate, after LeBlanc lands her Ethereal Chains, she can either cast Sigil of Malice or Distortion, then follow it up with another one of her skills to soundly clean up any squishy foe in her way.
• Fizz – Finally, we have Fizz. Yet another slimy and evasive champion, he usually strikes first – lining up with Chum the Waters, then vaulting into the enemy with Playful / Trickster for massive damage. Afterwards, he concludes his kill with an Urchin Strike and an auto attack empowered by Seastone Trident.

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

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