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Nidalee's kit makes no sense to me

Koechophe·8/1/2018, 6:22:05 PM·2 votes·742 views

I used to love playing the old nidalee that everyone hated (the one who just chucked spears at people and healed off any harass all day long) because, if nothing else, her kit had a solid identity (Cue the comment "Zoe is just like old nidalee only worse". I know it's coming). She was a poke mage. She was meant to siege. Her all-in capacity was severely limited, but she was mobile and had tremendous poke/sustain.

With her current kit, riot tried to transition her into being an... assassin? I think that's what they were going for (since that's what she's listed as). But I honestly can't understand the reasoning behind it: -Her Q does a lot more damage at longer ranges, which incentives keeping max range from the enemy, but her gap closer once it's hit is relatively low range, and her main follow-up damage is melee. So her optimal play pattern is to hit someone from a really long way off, chase them for a while, and then go in for the kill? -She is extremely squishy and her ability to escape a fight is sub-par at best (w is not nearly long ranged enough to get you out of the middle of a fight) -A heal/attack speed boost makes no sense on an assassin -Her traps are honestly just weak, and mainly used for triggering the passive (200 damage + 20% ap at max rank?) -The lack of an ultimate makes her problematic to balance as an assassin: the ult CD should be there to give the opponent windows of opportunity where they know part of the assassin's combo is missing.

So what you end up getting is a long range poke champion with a heal/as boost that has a lot of power shunted into the idea that she can assassinate people even though she's far too squishy and unreliable to do so in a teamfight, who ends up surviving in the meta purely because she can clear the jungle like a boss.

TBH I think nidalee needs a clearer direction in her kit.

8 Comments

webstar19958/1/2018, 6:25:57 PM2 votes

Yes she needs a rework. If they buff her Koreans abuse her too much. They'll be lvl 11 when the top and mids are 9.

Quiet Dude8/1/2018, 6:42:55 PM2 votes

It’s not that hard to understand. Her human form is a long range sniper and tracker. Her kitty cat form is a short range assassin.

Snipe someone with her spear or get them with a trap, they got a mark on them, you run in as a kitty and do some enhanced melee damage. Then you get out.

Ez pz

Kats Pajamas8/1/2018, 6:40:34 PM1 votes

you would think lack of direction is her issue, but she's actually just so overloaded, she's statistically kept in check because of it.

I doubt leveling her traps is even worth the mana gain, so mostly she is gated by just poor scaling abilities.

Her abilities themselves though are awesome. Q does high damage, then deals execute damage in cougar form, W is basically free wards and passive, and free dash in cougar, and the E is % heal with more free DPS. She arguably has the best level 3 in the game, seeing as her overpowered abilities never get better from that point.

Beatrice falls8/1/2018, 7:19:20 PM1 votes

She was always intended to be an assassin, not a poke mage. Her rework was a total success imo, and yes I used to play old Nidalee too (in fact most "AP burst damage" are my things, Diana being my true main)

MorganFreemanBot8/1/2018, 7:25:24 PM1 votes

Nidalee's supposed to fulfill the niche / identify of a 'hunter'.

Several other champions fulfill this niche, but they do so in different ways. Rengar's the long-range stalker who jumps out of the brush and brutalizes you in melee. Kha'zix is similar to rengar, but he excels at taking out individual targets and picking off stragglers / cleaning up team fights, where as Rengar is a kind of a "pick this person and they die" sort of deal.

Nidalee is supposed to be a more traditional, more methodical hunter. She sets traps and attacks her targets from range. Then, once her target is wounded, she leaps in and goes for the throat.

It's a unique niche, and she's fine at it. The problem is that her kit is so bloated / the idea is so poorly implemented, that it's hard for her to not be hellishly op when strong.