Guide · Jungle

Nidalee Guide

the Bestial Huntress

Assassin

Mage

Tier S Jungle

Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress, is an assassin and mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 719 analysed ranked games, Nidalee is mostly played in the Jungle (91% of its games), with a 53.3% win rate in that role: tier S among Jungle champions (#1 of 48, ranked by win rate). Nidalee's damage is mostly magic (81%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. 12% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 54.8% in short games (under 25 min, 279 games) versus 48.1% in long games (over 35 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 657 Jungle games played with Nidalee, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Nidalee alternates between human form (Javelin Toss, Bushwhack, Primal Surge) and Cougar form (Takedown, Pounce, Swipe). In tall grass her movement speed increases, and hitting champions with Javelin Toss or Bushwhack puts her on their hunt: true vision and empowered Pounce/Takedown.

The hunt

Q › R › W › Q › E

When: You have hit with Javelin Toss or Bushwhack.

After hitting with the Javelin, switch to Cougar with Aspect Of The Cougar: Pounce lands you in an area (empowered against the hunted target), Takedown cuts deep (more damage if the target has lost health), Swipe claws.

Human-form harassment

W › Q › E

When: An enemy is within Javelin range.

Bushwhack marks and reveals, the Javelin deals more damage with distance, Primal Surge heals allies and gives them attack speed.

See all 3 Nidalee combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

The Javelin deals more damage the farther it travels: it is your harassment ability. Bushwhack places a trap that damages and reveals: use it to mark and hunt.

Common mistakes

• Throwing the Javelin at short range: it deals less damage.
• Changing form without having marked: you lose the hunt.
• Ignoring tall grass: it raises your speed.

Riot's official tips for playing Nidalee

• Use brush to your advantage! Moving in and out of brush can heavily alter your effectiveness in battle.
• Start team fights by harassing with your Javelin Toss, and then switch to cougar form to chase down Hunted targets.
• Bushwhack traps deal damage based on their victim's current Health. Set them up in your team's backline before fights break out during sieges to help your team deal damage to the enemy frontline.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Lich Bane, Hextech Rocketbelt, and Zhonya's Hourglass (158 games, 51.9% win rate).

Lich Bane+Hextech Rocketbelt+Zhonya's Hourglass

158 games · 51.9%

Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass+Shadowflame

75 games · 57.3%

Rabadon's Deathcap+Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass

61 games · 65.6%

Skill order

Max order : Q > E > W60.7% · 61 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W			●											●	●
E		●						●		●		●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 84 games).

Starting items

Scorchclaw PupHealth Potion50.0% · 50 games

Scorchclaw Pup46.7% · 30 games

First completed items, in order

Lich Bane›Hextech Rocketbelt›Zhonya's Hourglass

18 games · 50.0%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 4212 gold, 72 CS, 4035 XP. At 15 min: 6623 gold, 110 CS, 6806 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Smite53.3% · 656 games

Most-played runes

Dark Harvest + Sorcery

54.1% · 290 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Sixth Sense59%

Treasure Hunter98%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Transcendence98%

Waterwalking97%

Shards

Attack speed59%

Adaptive force100%

Health58%

Conqueror + Sorcery

47.9% · 167 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Haste98%

Cut Down68%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Transcendence99%

Waterwalking99%

Shards

Attack speed68%

Adaptive force100%

Health59%

Dark Harvest + Precision

53.8% · 132 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Sixth Sense80%

Treasure Hunter92%

Secondary tree · Precision

Legend: Haste96%

Cut Down49%

Shards

Attack speed47%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling51%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Nidalee's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team57.5% · 181 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Lich Bane 58.1% ▲

Hextech Rocketbelt 55.1%

Zhonya's Hourglass 54.2%

Shadowflame 52.9%

Rabadon's Deathcap 71.9% ▲

Void Staff 66.7%

The item that stands out most is Rabadon's Deathcap: 71.9% win rate, +9 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team51.3% · 187 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Lich Bane 52.8%

Hextech Rocketbelt 48.5% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 51.3%

Shadowflame 66.7% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 53.8% ▼

Void Staff 62.5%

The item that stands out most is Shadowflame: 66.7% win rate, +11 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team51.9% · 289 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Lich Bane 53.7%

Hextech Rocketbelt 54.0%

Zhonya's Hourglass 53.8%

Shadowflame 50.7% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 61.7%

Void Staff 65.5%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Nidalee in the Jungle

Hecarim Nidalee: 44.4%18 games

Hecarim has the edge in 56% of the 18 Jungle duels against Nidalee. See the Hecarim guide.

Kha'Zix Nidalee: 47.1%17 games

Kha'Zix has the edge in 53% of the 17 Jungle duels against Nidalee. See the Kha'Zix guide.

Viego Nidalee: 50.0%16 games

Viego has the edge in 50% of the 16 Jungle duels against Nidalee. See the Viego guide.

Lee Sin Nidalee: 58.8%34 games

Lee Sin has the edge in 41% of the 34 Jungle duels against Nidalee. See the Lee Sin guide.

Qiyana Nidalee: 60.0%20 games

Qiyana has the edge in 40% of the 20 Jungle duels against Nidalee. See the Qiyana guide.

Who Nidalee is strong against

Graves68.0% · 25 games

Talon66.7% · 21 games

Kindred66.7% · 21 games

Qiyana60.0% · 20 games

Lee Sin58.8% · 34 games

How to play against Nidalee

• Nidalee's Hunt debuff is only applied with Javelin Toss and Bushwhack. Avoiding being hit by these abilities will impair her ability to deal follow-up damage.
• Nidalee's Javelin Toss deals more damage the farther she is. If she is far away, it's imperative to dodge it.
• Nidalee's Takedown deals extreme damage to Hunted targets, but she has to get close to use it. Save your crowd control or defensive abilities for when she goes in for the kill.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Nidalee's matchups.

Nidalee Jungle: what our games say

Laning phase against the Jungle average

Measured over 84 Nidalee games with a timeline; the average covers 69 champions played Jungle in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: short (under 25 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Nidalee in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
Support	62	54.8 %	1.5	337

Roles where we have at least 40 Nidalee games.

Abilities

PassiveProwl

Moving through brush increases Nidalee's Move 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, granting True Sight of them for 4 seconds. During this time, Nidalee gains 10% Move Speed (increased to 30% toward the Hunted target) and her Takedown and Pounce are enhanced against them.

QJavelin Toss / Takedown

In human form, Nidalee throws a spiked javelin at her target that gains damage as it flies. As a cougar, her next attack will attempt to fatally wound her target, dealing more damage the less life they have.

WBushwhack / Pounce

In human form, Nidalee lays a trap for unwary opponents that, when sprung, damages and reveals its target. As a cougar, she jumps in a direction, dealing damage in an area where she lands.

EPrimal Surge / Swipe

In human form, Nidalee channels the spirit of the cougar to heal her allies and imbue them with Attack Speed for a short duration. As a cougar, she claws in a direction, dealing damage to enemies in front of her.

RAspect Of The Cougar

Nidalee transforms into a cougar, gaining new abilities.

Other Jungle champions to know

Most played

Lee Sin50.1 %Graves49.2 %Qiyana51.4 %Viego47.2 %Jarvan IV50.4 %Hecarim49.2 %Talon51.2 %Sylas50.2 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Rek'Sai58.7 %Quinn56.9 %Briar55.4 %Kayn54.3 %Shaco53.4 %Vi53.0 %Rammus52.9 %Wukong52.5 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Nidalee page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides