LoL Inven Inven Global

Inven Nickname: 티루루티

I had so much fun using Nidalee in season 6. Since then, I’ve been only using her as my jungle pick. Actually, I wanted to post this guide in season 7. I almost finished it, but had some personal issues and quit writing. Well, the rune system changed, so I’m posting this guide in season 8 to help out newbee LOL users and Nidalee beginners.

Primary

Domination

Keystone -  Electrocute

Most carnivorous junglers use Electrocute. Of course, Nidalee uses it too.

Electrocute: Standard combo would be ----. This will trigger Electrocute which will give some huge burst damage. Also, it’ll be much more easier to trigger for users who mix a lot of basic attacks since Electrocute is triggered every third hit.

Sudden Attack: Works out well with Nidalee’s .  

Zombie Ward: Counter jungling is important for Nidalee. Zombie Ward gives some extra vision, so you can track enemy locations and go in for a counter jungle. Also, it is useful for small skirmishes.

Relentless Hunter: It gives an extra advantage for high mobility champions such as Nidalee. Chasing down an opponent becomes easier.

Secondary
Sorcery

Celerity: Grants extra movement speed ->> easier ganks and faster counter jungling.

Scorch: Gives a damage effect quite similar to the previous Deathfire Touch. Cooldown: 20 seconds. An Efficient damage deal rune.

Nullifying Orb: An efficient rune against 2 or more AP champs. It is a must when your against an AP jungle / main dealer.

(Always use Celerity. On the remaining slot, choose either Scorch or Nullifying Orb based on the situation.)

    - If the opponent has no escape tool: --------basic attack(human form)        

    
    - If the opponent has an escape tool: ------

has an unexpectedly long range. If the opponent uses Flash or any other escape skill, use to secure the kill.

Skill Tips

Skilled Nidalee users shall all know the importance of mixing basic attacks between her skill combo. Also, Nidalee has a unique skill mechanism: human form / cougar form.  Practice is the key. 

tips: In my case, I use skills diagonally. If you use  in a straight line, chances are, the opponent will easily evade it. Every skill has its own skill hit range, and that is why I think hit rates are increased when skills are used diagonally.(just my personal opinion)
Beginners will have a hard time with landing . If you have a Red buff, slow down the enemy with basic attacks before using the skill. Or just simply get close enough to make it easier to hit.

Jungle Items 

: Can clear out jungle fast with the 2 second 15% bonus attack speed.

(red smite): I usually go with the red smite. Use it to an enemy. It will reveal the enemy, give true damage and reduce 20% of enemy damage. An essential item because Nidalee’s strength lies in counter jungling and small skirmishes.

(blue smite): An item that deals damage and slows the opponent. I don’t use it as much because most carnivorous AD junglers(, , , ) can get close enough without slow effects. If the opponent has red smite; for 3 seconds you’ll suffer true damage and your damage will reduce by 20%. The blue smite is not efficient in prolong fights.

Key Items

: Use it as a supporting item if there are plenty of strong damage champs in your team. It is okay to build it right after you finish your jungle item. Nidalee's Heal increases dramatically.(as well as cooldown reduction)

: If your opponent laner or jungler has high AD damage, I go for the Seeker’s Armguard first. Then, I complete Zhonya’s Hourglass before moving on to Lich Bane. Also, an early game Zhonya is not a bad idea if the opponent side has a lot of burst damage dealers.

: Nidalee users mix a lot of basic attacks between skills, so Lich Bane is an efficient core item. After casting a skill, the next basic attack damage gains a bonus AP damage.(+50% of Ability Power).

** You can either build Zhonya’s or Lich Bane first. Zhonya’s will still give you some good amount of AP. Choose based on the situation.

Other Items

: I personally prefer this item. Some do not build it anymore after the nerf. Still, the 300 health goes in handy for the low-health base Nidalee, as well as the 20% skill hit slowdown.

: A good AP champ item when taking down enemy tanks.

or or : If you think you're lacking AP damage, go for the Deathcap. If you’ve already used Zhonya’s or if you need to withstand burst damage go for Banshee's. If there are a lot of enemy CCs, build Scimitar.

Boots

You should normally stick with Ionian, but if the enemy has high AP or has a lot of CCs build . Build if there are a lot of AD dealers.

Difficult

: A difficult matchup for a champion like Nidalee who needs to get good use of jungle advantage. She does get an extra movement speed in brushes, but it is no match for Rengar cause of his jump passive. Overall, he has a good amount of AD and is stronger in long lasting fights, which makes Nidalee so hard to gain advantage. I always ban Rengar in solo queues.(level 3 skirmishes near the Rift Scuttler is the only point where Nidalee can gain advantage.)

: Isolation makes him a strong 1 vs 1 champ. In this matchup, the key factor is to slow down the opponent jungle's growth. Unfortunately, Nidalee is weak in her late game whereas Kha’Zix becomes so much stronger. Early jungle fight is important. I recommend you to avoid early game 1 vs 1s. Try to go 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 in your early game and give your laners some advantage. Then go in for a counter jungle by using the lane advantage.

: I’ve met him a few times these days and I personally think it is a difficult matchup. Even if I hit Javelin Toss and strike first, it is really hard to put up a good fight against him. Similar to , avoid 1 vs 1. Try to get into small skirmishes, get some advantage from it and then go in for a counter jungle. If you manage to slow him down, it can be a rather easy matchup.

Easy 

: You can continuously  go in for a counter jungle. I think that Nidalee has more advantage even in long lasting 1 vs 1s. Sejuani lacks mobility so you can easily counter jungle and get away instantly.

: Like , you can continuously go in for a counter jungle against Zac. Gain some vision control  and give some advantage for your laners. Try to counter jungle and slip away. 

: In this matchup, the users' individual perfomance is the key factor. If you can evade Sonic Wave, things become much more easier for Nidalee. She can give some more additional damage impact. Also, she has an advantage in chase downs. That’s why proficient Nidalee users say that Lee Sin makes an easy matchup. If you hit Javelin Toss and strike first, Nidalee will gain great jungle dominance.

Difficulty is categorized into hard, normal, easy. (I’ve only listed  jungle champs)

These are just tips based on my personal opinions. 

Low difficulty 

: Probably the most easiest matchup. The combo starting off with - can be cancelled with his , so you got to be careful. Rather than going in first, seek a long lasting fight. If you are engainge 1 vs1, get closer by using and then give damage.

: I was thinking of giving him a normal difficulty but Nidalee has the early game advantage so I gave him a low difficulty. She has huge dominance near level 3 so try to go for counter jungles and teach this

roly poly a lesson. However, in late games, Rammus becomes real tanky and can give fair amounts of damage so be careful.

: If you have the same number of core items after level 6, he's impossible to win with Nidalee. Use her early game power. Rather than counter jungling, try ganks and gain some level / item advantage. If you succeed to hold him back, the damage is severe for a late game carry like Master Yi.

: A very strong champion these days. But, she can be an easy matchup against a high mobility champion like Nidalee. Shyvana becomes stronger every core item, so try to get some advantage at level 3, 4 and 5. (If Nidalee hits , she is much more stronger)

: Even though Nidalee was nerfed, 'vs Amumu matchup' is still very easy to counter jungle. He does have some CC skills , so try not to engage when enemy backup is near. Also, if his is ready, do not engage for a fight. Constantly counter jungle Amumu’s opposite camp, gain some vision and fall back.

: Easier matchup compared to the previous(before her rework) Evelynn. She now has the Charm and a new ult   which gave her a more efficient skill mechanism. But some of her skills have a rather high delay. Hit Javelin and land the full combo burst damage before is charged. Constantly go in for a 1 on 1 . This will prevent her from going in for ganks.

Normal difficulty

: It feels like this matchup became a little bit easier. However, he has which can be used to evade . If you can’t land any additional skills after using , things might get messy.

: He has which can block Nidalee’s . I personally don’t like this matchup. Try using Nidalee’s mobility. Widen the gap before Nocturne hits level 6.

: You can evade Vi’s using W(사진). But difficult to evade when she is close to you. x3 and will tear apart the low health base Nidalee.  Also, Vi’s makes her following skills very hard to evade so it isn’t a bad choice to build a Zhonya’s Hourglass. Or at least buy a Stopwatch before teamfights.

: One of the champions I hate the most. He evades with his cloaking skill and Shaco is hard to chase cause of his . Constantly move through the opponent jungle. Go in for Shaco's opposite route. Gain some vision, counter jungle and fall back.

: Hard in close range fights cause of his stun and slow skill. Even if Nidalee is on her level 3 power spike or if she finished building her jungle item; close range fights are impossible to win. However, Skarner doesn’t have any dash skills. Try to go in for a counter jungle, or go for an early gank.

: There are those hidden specialists with this champion. Even if you hit and give him a full skill combo, he’ll counter back with enormous damage. You’ll need to build some items before you can win this matchup. Try to widen the gap early. Also be patient and go for counter ganks. Nidalee  has the chance to win this matchup if you don’t forget those two tips.

:  A lot of Jarvan users these days tend to build AD items. Once he gets those items, he becomes a 1 on 1 powerhouse like Hecarim. His strong damage deal makes him a threat in skirmishes/ganks, so try to limit Jarvan’s jungle routes. Go for ganks/counter ganks and give your laners some advantage.

: Both Darkin and Shadow Assassin Kayn makes a difficult matchup. Darkin deals some good amount of damage and he is tanky as well. His W is a CC skill which is a threat in skirmishes. Shadow Assassin can instantly kill Nidalee with a few skill combos, so he is also a difficult matchup. However, Nidalee has the advantage on early 1 on 1 situations so try to widen the gap on early game. Use counter jungling/ganking strategies.

: A matchup that I don’t personally prefer. Even if you hit , he has a taunt skill so Nidalee gets driven away and at the same time she can be killed with one skill combo. Also, the low base health Nidalee can be an easy target in skirmishes. After he hits level 6, it is highly important to gain vision in the opponent jungle and neutral points(near Drake, Baron pit). You can win this matchup. Try to gain advantage before level 6 by counter jungling and focus on preventing potential enemy ganks.

: Similar to , once he gets those core items, Hecarim makes a difficult 1 vs 1 matchup. Try to widen the gap earlyl. Give your laners some help. Gain vision control and try obtaining Rift objectives.

Hard Difficulty

: She has strong AD and can avoid Nidalee’s with her skill. Vision control is important. Duel when Rek’Sai’s W skill is in cooldown.

gains her strength by fastly clearing out jungle camps. She is a good counter jungle champ and is powerful in small skirmishes. There are not a lot of champs that can outgrow the opponent jungle like Nidalee. Later, I’ll post some video clip know-hows of how to gain lane/growth advantage in Diamond tier Rank games.

Jungle Tips

It is important to use her rapid growth speed; try counter jungling and ganks in early phases. For example, if you succeed on an early gank and give your laners lane advantage, it becomes much more easier for your teammates to back you up when you go in for a counter jungle.

Early game strategy

Nidalee can clear out jungle camps quite fast. Try to hit level 3 as fast  as you can and look for small fights near the Rift Scuttler. Or you can gain advantage by trying an early gank.

Mid game strategy

Nidalee rapidly loses her strength in late games. You have to widen the gap by using her early game dominance. Try to gain objectives. Constantly counter jungle. Seek for possible gank routes.

Late game strategy

In a late game, Nidalee is quite out of steam. The importance of fast jungling, vision/objective control  increases. Also, Nidalee has a fast wave/turret clear, so try to split push. When pushing through lanes, your team should be aware of a possible objective fight. Be careful because if the oppenent is smart enough, they'll know that you're team is outnumbered when you split push. 

Team fight strategy

In teamfights, a Nidalee user can do so little. You can either poke or assassinate enemy damage dealers. That is why vision control is very important. Team up with your Support and gain vision. Then, look for isolated champions and seek for a surprise kill. Beginners should focus on poking alongside with your teammates.

I still need a lot of improvement. This guide might not be perfect. Still, it has good enough information for starters.