Nidalee jungle guide for s12
Intro
Hey guys, my name is Insomnia and I'm a high master nidalee main on the EUW server, peaking at Master 461 LP in season 11 (https://lolpros.gg/player/insomnia).
- I've been playing league since early season 5 and started maining jungle in season 10.
- This guide will mainly be focusing on runes, itemization, playstyle and a few tips and tricks that you can do with Nidalee. Please note that this is not a guide for absolute beginners on the champ as it requires knowledge about all of Nidalee's spells.
- I'm planning to add matchup specifics in the near future.
- I'll update this guide regularly.
Pros & Cons of playing Nidalee:
Pros:
- Infinite skill cap
- Strength is defined mostly by the player (very rewarding)
- Very fun and mechanical champion
- Capable of hard-carrying almost every game
- "1v9" playstyle
Cons:
- Lack of CC
- High skill floor
- Requires both high game knowledge and mechanical skill
- A lot harder to get really good at compared to other champions
Below you can find my twitch channel (I don't stream too often tho)
Runes
The First Strike setup is my personal favorite, widely popular in Korea amongst the best of the best like Canyon, Clid etc.
First Strike allows you to snowball games completely out of control, though it requires a lot more thought than other keystones. (tip: after landing a spear onto an enemy swap to cougar form if the situation allows for it to get 100% effectiveness out of the keystone as your gold gain (70%/100% of the bonus damage dealt) will depend on what form you are in when the 3 seconds from First Strike end).
Dark Harvest used to be my favorite rune setup for a long time as it synergizes really well with Hextech Rocketbelt. It still is really strong and also simpler to use than First Strike.
When to use which setup:
If you are newer to Nidalee I recommend using Dark Harvest (can be substituted for Electrocute) as it doesn't require any additional thinking and helps you improve at Nidalee first.
If you are already familiar with Nidalee you should always ask yourself: "Will I be able to consistently proc First Strike or not?".
If the answer is yes, then you should always go for First Strike, if the answer is no, go for the Dark Harvest setup instead.
Waterwalking can be substituted for Gathering Storm.
- First Strike
- Dark Harvest
Summoner Spells
For your summoner spells you'll always be wanting to take flash and smite.
- Summs (Role 1)
Skill Path
- Skill Path
Nidalee
Item Builds
The crown setup usually goes with First Strike since it is a long range poke setup.
The Rocketbelt Setup usually goes with Dark Harvest since it is a skirmish heavy setup.
Red smite and Blue smite is personal preference as both have some advantages and disadvantages.
You can also go with either Ionian boots or Sorcs, Sorcs tends to be better vs low MR and Ionion is almost always a good choice.
- Crown Setup
- Rocketbelt Setup
- New Group
Some tips and tricks:
- Using e and then q is faster than using q and then e and it also does more damage due to q being an execute.
- It is very easy to flash w e q 1shot someone when ahead and it makes up for a big surprise, it's hard for the enemy team to react to and relatively easy to cheese some kills.
- In most scenarios, it's better to start ganks with pounce (and then going into human form) instead of randomly throwing a spear and hoping it hits.
- Nidalee has a lot of objective pressure, she can easily solo drake at lvl 5.
- You can "fake" jump to bait enemy spells, after hitting a spear you can jump to the side/ into a wall on purpose to pretend that you are jumping onto the enemy, this can easily force a flash or ult.
- You can input buffer Q while pouncing towards a target allowing takedown to go off instantly, you can also press zhonyas/stopwatch while pouncing and your takedown will still go off while you are untargetable.
This concludes my very first Nidalee guide
Questions/Feedback or any other inquiries can be directed to me on discord (Insomnia#9999).