Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress.
Nidalee is a fully hybrid champion.
She can play as a long-ranged mage, short-range assassin, tanky up-front fighter, or anything in between.
Knowing how to take advantage of both her Human and Cougar forms are vital for success.
Nidalee’s passive is Prowl. While Nidalee moves through Brush, she gains bonus movement speed.
Nidalee retains this speed for a few seconds after exiting the Brush.
Let’s start with Nidalee’s ultimate, Aspect of the Cougar.
Once learned at level 6 or higher, Nidalee may freely switch between Human Form and Cougar Form, offering three distinct basic abilities in each form.
While in Cougar Form, Nidalee enjoys bonus Armor, Magic Resist, and Movement Speed.
Also, the power of Nidalee’s Cougar Form abilities is controlled by the rank of her ultimate, while her Human Form abilities are improved by ranking up the abilities themselves.
First let’s look at Nidalee’s Human Form abilities.
Javelin Toss throws a javelin in a straight line, damaging the first enemy it hits.
Javelin Toss deals increased damage the farther it travels.
I recommend one point in Javelin Toss early and maxing it early, between levels 9 and 13.
Bushwhack lays a trap on the ground for a few minutes that springs on the first enemy who walks over it.
Enemies hit by Bushwhack take damage and are debuffed for the next few seconds, revealing them and reducing their Armor and Magic Resist.
I recommend taking Bushwhack at level 1 to scout the opposition, but maxing it last in favor of her other abilities.
Primal Surge heals target ally and increases their Attack Speed for a few seconds.
I recommend taking Primal Surge early and maxing it by level 9 or 13.
Now let’s check out Nidalee’s Cougar Form abilities.
Takedown causes Nidalee’s next basic attack to deal bonus damage, dealing even further damage based on how injured her target is.
Pounce sends Nidalee forward a short distance, dealing damage to all surrounding enemies when she lands.
Swipe immediately claws the air in front of her, damaging nearby enemies.
At the beginning of the game, Nidalee should learn Bushwhack and place them in major choke points.
For example, this ramp holds a common jungle exit for the mid lane, while traps in this Brush will help Nidalee spot ganks in the top lane.
In early laning, constantly poke at your opponent, especially in the top lane.
Walk into the brush to gain movement speed with Prowl, attack from outside the Brush, and then walk back in to disappear from enemy minions.
If you attack from inside the Brush, you’ll reveal yourself.
Nidalee can output a ton of damage immediately after hitting level 6 for Cougar Form.
After Master Yi heads in with Alpha Strike, Swipe into Pounce and Takedown drop him dangerously low.
Cougar Form runs faster than Human Form and Pounce is free.
Because of this, always head across the map in Cougar Form while spamming Pounce.
And, if you have Tear of the Goddess, it will charge incredibly quickly this way.
Remember that Pounce can be used to leap over small walls, but always keep track of the cooldown.
After Nidalee and Lux take down Kayle, Nidalee turns to get back to her side of the map.
However, Brand Flashes over to chase her down.
Nidalee Pounces away and then heads for the wall by the golems.
Note that Nidalee saves the Pounce cooldown until she gets to the wall, hopping over it and heading for the Baron pit.
She Pounces over that wall, and out of the fight.
One of the easiest ways to land Javelin Toss is to stand behind walls or cliffs and throw the Javelins from there.
Usually your opponents won’t have enough time to react, netting you a lot of free damage.
When played as a squishy mage, only attack when there are opportunities.
Ahri fails to sit behind her minions, so Nidalee brings her to half health.
Bushwhack spots Amumu coming in for a gank, allowing her to Pounce away to safety.
However, Nidalee is safe from this range.
She lands an easy Javelin Toss onto Amumu and turns on the pressure.
Switching to Cougar Form, Flash, Pounce, and Takedown pick up a kill.
Turning to Ahri, Swipe brings her low, Pounce hits again, and in Human Form, Primal Surge ensures Ahri won’t take a kill.
Ahri narrowly dodges a Javelin Toss as Nidalee wins a 2 vs. 1.
Because Nidalee has exceptionally high mobility, she can often bait her opponents into bad situations.
As Jax and Kayle chase down Nidalee, she makes a break for the brush and heads down to the golems.
Nidalee Pounces over the wall and heads straight into Brand.
Pouncing back to the left, she is chased by three enemies.
They turn to fight Draven, so she sends out Javelin Toss before retreating as they turn back.
Lux fires in to take out Kayle, and Nidalee continues to run.
Trying to remain in Cougar Form, she Pounces away.
While Jax does catch up, he doesn’t have to damage to take her down.
Once Jax turns around, Nidalee throws some damage back.
Together, Nidalee’s team takes three kills with no deaths.
Nidalee should always be on the run, trying to land long-range Javelin Tosses and staying out of range.
Javelin Toss hurts Kayle as Nidalee Pounces away.
Bushwhack makes tracking her victim easy as a second Javelin Toss picks up her first kill.
From here, Nidalee tries to stay at a medium distance, able to spot her foes but not take much damage until her team arrives.
Nidalee heads in with her team, dodging Jax’s Counter Strike with Pounce.
Now at a distance, Javelin Toss puts in some extra damage before Nidalee closes back in.
After healing Lee Sin with Primal Surge, she returns to Cougar Form, tagging Jax with Takedown and Flashing over the wall for the kill with Swipe.
Team fights with a tankier build will often have Nidalee running into the front lines.
Nidalee splits from her team, dodging Sona’s Crescendo.
Then, she dives in looking for a kill with Pounce and Takedown.
Nidalee’s primary goal should be to kill squishy high-priority targets like Draven, so she heads in, dropping him low in Cougar Form.
With Rammus’s help, Pounce, Swipe, and basic attacks pick off Draven before Takedown kills Kayle.
Nidalee then turns her attention to Sona.
She chases with Pounce, constantly dealing damage and keeping up.
After Takedown, she switches to Human Form.
A basic attack and Javelin Toss score the triple kill.
There are two example Nidalee builds I’d like to highlight, but as always, find what works best for you:
For a melee-focused fighter, take Attack Damage Marks, Armor Seals, Magic Resist Glyphs, and Attack Damage Quintessences.
Add onto this with 9/21/0 Masteries, taking Armor Penetration Offense, plus durability and crowd control reduction in Defense.
For a long-ranged mage, use Magic Penetration Marks, Scaling Ability Power Seals, Scaling Ability Power Glyphs, and Ability Power Quintessences.
Include 21/0/9 Masteries, focusing on Magic Damage in Offense, plus Mana Regeneration and Neutral Buff Duration in Utility.
In either build, take Ignite and Flash for Summoner Spells, allowing you to safely skirt around the back or dive in for a quick kill.
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