Prowl
Moving through brush increases Nidalee's movement speed by 15%. The buff lasts for an additional 2 seconds after leaving brush.
Tips :Her passive gives a 15% bonus move speed in bushes and lasts for 2 seconds when Nidalee comes out. This is particularly powerful in the laning phase especially in top/bot lane as Nidalee can take full advantage of the bushes to harass with auto attacks and returning quickly back to them. Her passive isn’t as effective in the mid lane as she will rarely move into them to harass the opposing mid laner during laning phase. However when Nidalee goes to gank, her mobility through the bushes paired with her jump in cougar form allows her to shift across the map quickly. This bonus move speed is calculated from her total move speed and not only bonus, so items with move speed build into them are useful. Her cougar form also has more move speed than human form so make use of this.
Javelin Toss (Q)
Nidalee tosses her javelin, dealing magic damage on impact that increases depending on the distance between Nidalee and the target at the time it is hit. The multiplier caps at 2.5.
Tips :
Nidalee is able to poke really effectively with this spell and take the opponents by surprise with substantial damage whilst not receiving any in return due to its range. One technique is to throw a spear then switch to cougar form and jump away in the opposite direction to increase the damage the spear does. The damage is calculated by the distance between the 2 champions at the point of impact and not by the distance travelled by the javelin. However, it’s advised to not do this unless you are sure you can kill the enemy otherwise you’re making the gap a lot bigger between yourself and the enemy allowing them to escape easier. The javelin has a low cooldown so use it as much as possible as long as you have enough mana. The maximum range of the javelin is huge and may surprise opponents if you throw it from the fog of war, also, throwing it from the fog of war gives the enemies a smaller chance to react so you are more likely to hit. The main goal is to force your opponents to be placed in a difficult position such as against a wall where it is harder to dodge the javelin. To understand this, I invite you to read the guide on how to increase your skill shot accuracy and how to take advantage of the fog of war.
Cost: 50/60/70/80/90 mana
Minimum Magic Damage: 55/95/140/185/230 (+65% AP)
Maximum Magic Damage: 138/238/350/463/575 (+162.5% AP)
Bushwhack (W)
Active: Nidalee lays a trap that deals magic damage over 2 seconds when sprung by an enemy, revealing them and reducing their armour and magic resistance for 12 seconds. Traps last for 4 minutes.
Tips :
Traps are used to block paths and are usually best to be placed in the brush as the enemies can’t see them and will usually walk into them when entering a brush, especially if placed towards the edge You can place traps all over the map at level 1 then return to base to recover your mana, however if you do this you won’t be able to help your team during a level 1 fight so be aware. Nidalee’s traps show vision of an area for a short time when placed down on the ground, you can use this to gain vision and throw a spear at an enemy who has retreated or trying to return to base. Her traps are one of the most under rated abilities in the game even at a competitive level. You can use strategies such as kiting the enemy team through lots of traps and poking them at a safe distance whilst retaining vision of them. It’s also in your interest to try to force opponents to walk into your traps as they reduce the magic resistance and armour by 40%. This lasts for a whole 12 seconds and isn’t reduced by tenacity and it will also apply before other armour and magic resistance reductions so it’s nothing to sniff at. This can allow your team to do massive damage do an opponent who has been hit by a trap and this is the aspect that can make the difference between winning and losing a team fight. So, Nidalee is not just about throwing spears at the enemy team and healing from afar, she is much more complex. However, the downside is that she is difficult to play in soloQ and developing players tend to overextend or commit suicide by trying to finish off a low HP opponent with a spear. The traps last up to 4 minutes and with 39% cooldown reduction, the cooldown of this ability is only 11 seconds. This means that it’s possible to set up a dozen traps in 2 minutes in and around main objectives like dragon and Baron for example. Often in late game both teams are removing wards and vision from one another around objectives so it is possible to keep laying traps out. With around 500 AP each trap will do 260 + 40% of your = 460 magic damage before resists. If you have a few of these traps out and hit multiple targets with them then the enemy team will always be weaker coming into a team fight.
Cost: 60/75/90/105/120 mana
Total Magic Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 (+40% AP)
Armour and Magic Resistance Reduction: 20%/25%/30%/35%/40%
Primal Surge (E)
Active: Nidalee heals an ally champion or herself and grants them bonus attack speed for 7 seconds.
Tips :
This ability doesn’t heal for much HP compared to its cost in mana early game. However in mid/late game with enough ability power this spell can heal for a considerable amount as well as providing them with a bonus attack speed for 7 seconds. This is especially effective if you use it on an AD carry for example which will increase their DPS through the attack speed and keep them alive for longer. This ability brings some sustain to lane as well, but it is very effective mid/late game. In early game you can use this ability to farm a little easier under tower or to harass with, due to the increase in attack speed. You can smartcast or use Alt+E to cast this ability on yourself so you don’t have to click. Primal Surge is also useful for pushing a tower quickly, combined with Lich Bane you can push a tower extremely quickly with lots of AP. This ability has a cast time so you need to make sure you use it at the right time. An advanced technique is to transform to human during Pounce in cougar form then immediately self-cast heal on yourself, this will save some time as the healing cast time animation will overlap with the Pounce one. This requires very fast execution speed but it can save your life, this is why playing with shortcuts helps so much. For more tips like this, read the manual on your skill and increase in responsiveness using shortcuts.
Cost: 60/80/100/120/140 mana
Heal: 50/85/120/155/190 (+70% AP)
Attack Speed Buff: 20%/30%/40%/50%/60%
Aspect of the Cougar (R)
Toggle: Nidalee transforms herself into a cougar, gaining a new set of abilities, bonus armour, magic resistance and 20 movement speed. Nidalee loses 400 range while using this ability leaving her with 125 range.
Tips :
Nidalee’s ultimate is really important as it allows her to gain 3 new abilities which cost no mana and offer good AoE damage and great mobility to escape or chase. Nidalee’s cougar form also allows her to jump over walls. The bonus resistance that Nidalee gains when in cougar form makes her tankier, for example if Karthus is using his ultimate you can switch to Cougar form and have a better chance to survive. Nidalee also gains 20 additional move speed which when coupled with her passive 15% move speed through brushes provides quite a boost. The human form and cougar form are independent from each other and have their own cool downs which means she can keep switching between the two and using her abilities straight away. Each point you put in Nidalee’s ultimate increases the damage from all her cougar form abilities. This means it doesn’t matter which points you skill up in human form as the cougar form abilities are completely independent.
Bonus Armour and Magic Resistance: 10/20/30
Pros
• Very fun to play, enjoy landing beautiful spears.
• Very good poke and ability to kill enemies from a great distance.
• Excellent mobility to chase and escape with and great juking potential. • Abilities in cougar form cost no mana. • Diverse gameplay possibilities. • Can stop or steal Baron with javelins. • Healing spell which can bait opponents and also provides attack speed. • Very effective at split pushing especially with Lich Bane. • Able to survive very difficult situations due to her diverse kit which provides a fun gaming experience.
Cons
• Incredibly difficult to master.
• Very mana hungry. • Damage done in a teamfight varies depending on how good the Nidalee player is. • No way of escaping before 6. • No wave clear before 6 and is vulnerable to be pushed. • Weak • Vulnerable against teams with lots of CC and gap closers. • She is not just about throwing a spear. • Not simple to land all the combos to secure a kill.
