Boards›Gameplay

State of Nidalee

MtZenon··4 votes·679 views

She needs some love.

Her win rate is abysmal. Since the juggernaut update she has been rendered obsolete, or at least very difficult to effectively play - her counters are tankiness, out damaging her, and diving. Which is what the juggernauts are all about.

All of them counter her. They are currently everywhere. Everywhere.

She already has tons of weaknesses - weak late game, squishy, poor team synergy, total lack of CC (which is significant on a jungler), reliance on skill shots for kills, and only mediocre jungle sustain early.

I mained her in the jungle all season - I was gold last season (With Fiddlesticks) and high silver most of this season... until the juggernaut patch. Now my main is useless. Down to Silver IV and no chance of getting back to gold. Have tried a few other junglers - even with very little experience I can tell they all outshine her.

She needs some tweaks. As a Nidalee main, I'd trade some of her versatility (increased shapeshift CD, cougar W CD) for some power/survivability. As is the meta isn't a good place for any squishy champ without CC and without a way to deal with tanks.

(I know people are going to whine about skill caps and the fact that I'm only in silver. I also know there will be multiple cancer references and how everybody hates Nid and wants her weak. Yeah, yeah. Don't care... Point is she's not in a good place as a jungler because of all the nerfs she got pre-juggernaut. )

5 Comments

General Esdeath 3 votes

I just wish they would change her a little to make her a viable solo laner again.

Droogzy2 votes

I think its just the state of the meta, she's just simply not meta, there's nothing inherently wrong with her and I'd rather not see changes to her, I think she belongs in the jungle and I think that her kit and numbers are fine where they are.

She's countered by tankiness and bruisers and that's what's dominant right now. When assassins and mages are the meta again, she'll be stronger again.

Tshum941 votes

I, personally encounter little issue with her. After level 3 in lane she can bully her way through and her maneuverability allows me to move to other lanes to help.

I do agree, however, that her gameplay is heavily reliant on landing her q. Late game I focus on squishy's and usually have no problem killing them with one combo. As far as fighting "Juggernauts" I kite in team fights. Usually q, r, w in, e, q, then w out and repeat. It works well for me. Although the last couple games I've played with her have been less than stellar.

I do think that her human form E is very helpful late game especially if I have blue buff.

MtZenon2 votes

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy playing her and she can be effective in the right scenarios, as you describe. Frankly, I think she gets as much play as she does because her kit is FUN. The problem is more that she has little to offer compared to similar champs, at least in the jungle.

Lee sin out-damages, out-tanks, and has more utility than she does with a similar level of mobility (or maybe more). He drops off harder late game, but honestly not by much. A late-game Nid isn't that useful vs tanks, whereas Lee at least has an execute that scales with enemy health.

Elise has better sustain, hard CC, and a better execute. Not quite as mobile, but overall much stronger. Plus, she scales better into late game.

There are much stronger mid laners than Nidalee, though she can be played there too.

My complaint is not that she's totally useless, it's that she's simply too weak for competitive play at "average joe" levels. (Diamond players can play anyone.) She needs something to make her more viable.

Much of the problem is that, as a human, she has one real ability - Q. W is filler as the traps don't hurt and have no CC. They're weak vision wards. They USED to do % health damage which made them semi-useful, sort of. The heal is simply to allow her to not suck - without it her squishiness would make her unplayable as she has to dive for kills after landing an unreliable skillshot.

As a cougar, she has two abilities - Q and W. E (swipe) is vanilla damage. Her cougar form grants no passive bonus - Jayce gets armor in melee form and Elise gets movement speed.

I think she needs another mini-rework. Just my 2c.

Compare, say, to Elise. Every ability has a clear-cut purpose in both spider and human forms.

If you can't tell, I'm playing elise more these days...

CrimsonRakan1 votes

i haven't played her in a while, what is your build 4 her?

More from Gameplay

3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay764 comments
7,167
votes
3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay156 comments
3,510
votes
UPVOTE FOR URF
Gameplay606 comments
2,440
votes
Yes plz.
Gameplay456 comments
1,721
votes
3 Refunds per season, up vote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay114 comments
1,716
votes
When is ANYONE at riot going to address the awful new player experience?
Gameplay634 comments
1,383
votes

More by MtZenon

State of the Jungle - an open letter to riot
Gameplay4 comments
6
votes
Jungle With a Blank Rune Page Challenge!!
Gameplay5 comments
2
votes