Thoughts and Discussion: Nidalee
~ General aspect, I want to see large scale changes done to Nidalee and a few abilities reworked (Javelin Toss (Human-Q) and Aspect of the Cougar (R) being the least changed). Nidalee has been a balance headache for awhile and needs to really focus on one form does a specific thing and the other does a specific things.
~ I like the mage + assassin squishy jungler for Nidalee (AD-tank-bruiser Nidalee was never interesting to me and all it does is got rid of Nidalee's weaknesses and skill requirement since going between a ranged mage and squishy assassin has that risk of being blown up when misplayed), it makes sense for her character to be a jungler so something to stick to at the very least. She really needs some big changes so she can always be viable, but never dominant since in her current state she is either always picked/banned or becomes a dust collector - she needs to be in a healthy spot where she does not need to be placed in either extreme.
~ Human Form needs a lot more to it than just throwing out spears. I want human form to really feel like a ranged mage identity, rewarded heavily for landing skill shots, moderately punished for missing them (this could mean anything, like high mana costs and/or high cooldowns for example), is more about getting someone low rather than killing someone outright, and setting up your Cougar Form abilities.
~ Cougar Form needs some power removed like removing the duelist and all-around great element about it and focus it as a melee (ability power scaling only for abilities) assassin with having the abilities about executing her target, especially those set up from human form, rather than missing everything in human form but still able to kill your target. ~ ! ~ Cougar Form should also have mana costs, even if they are cheap/low cost, any mana cost will prevent the "mindless spamming" aspect and actually have the player think about mana conservation all the time. Mana costs will help balance out Nidalee's mobility in Cougar Form as well given that a melee assassin form should probably have some way to actually get to her target.
~ Abilities that should probably just be straight reworked would be Passive, Human W (Traps, given that they really do not feel good to use at all and removes elements to do while in human form), Cougar Q, and Cougar E. Pounce should gain a softer change, but as far as being her mobility spell and the way to get in so she can assassinate her target, it will do just that. As far as her heal goes, I would like to see a support-esq heal ability remain in some form, even if it is as a new Passive ability where dealing ability damage heals Nidalee and nearby allies for X% of the damage dealt and greatly increased if the target was a champion or epic monster; could also have an enhanced effect for standing in brush since the brush synergy to Nidalee is cool to her. ~ ! ~ Leaving in a heal allows for a defensive ability to scale with ability power so that Nidalee can survive for going in and dealing damage as a squishy target. The balance approach is squishy target dies very fast when you misplay it. Also a heal helps her jungle since having 6 abilities + passive does mean she has to have something lacking like crowd control, having different utilities like a heal, some form of gap closer, and the like to go with a pure damage jungler - AKA she kills monsters quickly (by building AP with high AP ratios and low base values) and recovers back some health with a heal (and range) rather than stopping damage completely through stuns, blinds, roots, etc.
