Nilah Build Guides, Runes and Items

Nilah is a skilled warrior hailing from a distant land. She seeks out strong opponents to challenge and defeat in order to hone her skills and become even stronger. As a botlaner, she excels in the mid-late game and has a high skill ceiling, requiring precise positioning and expert knowledge of her abilities to truly shine. Her kit is similar to those of Yasou and Samira, but with unique twists that set her apart and make her a formidable opponent. Unlike many ADCs in the current meta, Nilah is a melee character who relies on close-quarters combat and quick reflexes to excel in teamfights and turn the tide of battle in her favor.

Get ready to learn all the secrets of Nilah, the fierce warrior from a distant land! In this guide, we’ll show you how to master her skills and crush your enemies on the battlefield. With our tips, you’ll be winning more games than ever before! In this guide, we’ll start with the basics and gradually work our way up to the more advanced concepts. This bottom-up approach will help you understand the fundamental ideas before moving on to the more complex ones.

Pros and Cons

Nilah is a powerful champion with many strengths and a few weaknesses. Some of her notable pros include her relative safety in lane, her strong follow-up potential in teamfights, and her high damage output. She is also a fun champion to play and excels in teamfighting, particularly against tanky enemies. She has high survivability and can become a hyper carry if played well, allowing her to melt turrets and objectives quickly.

However, Nilah’s melee range can be a disadvantage against ranged champions, who can harass and trade with her from a safe distance. She is also easily abused in lane if her opponent knows how to play against her, and she benefits greatly from a support who can provide peel and protect her from enemy damage. She is also somewhat squishy and has limited mobility, making her vulnerable to crowd control and kiting. Finally, she has a high learning curve and requires precise positioning and expert knowledge of her abilities to truly shine. Overall, while she has many strengths, she also has some weaknesses that players should be aware of and attempt to mitigate.

Nilah’s Abilities

Just like other champions in the game, Nilah has five abilities that she can use to her advantage in battle. In this guide, we’ll go over each of them in detail, so you can learn how to use them effectively

Passive: Joy Unending

When Nilah kills a minion while near an ally champion, she gains 50% of the experience that she would have lost due to sharing, in addition to the normal amount of shared experience. For example, if a minion grants 20 experience and Nilah and an ally champion are nearby, Nilah would normally only receive 10 experience due to sharing. However, with this passive ability, she would also gain an additional 5 experience, for a total of 15 experience. This is more than she would have gained with other ADC’s in the same situation, but still less than if she were to last hit the minion solo and receive the full 20 experience.

In League of Legends, experience is a key resource that allows champions to level up and unlock new abilities, so by gaining more experience from minions, Nilah can level up faster and gain access to her mid game abilities sooner. This can give her an edge in the early and mid game stages, allowing her to become a more formidable opponent and potentially secure an advantage for her team.

The second part of Nilah’s passive ability is that she amplifies the healing and shielding abilities of nearby allies. For example, if an allied champion like Karma uses a shielding ability that provides 35 shield strength, Nilah would receive an additional 7 shield strength (20% of 35) for a total of 42 shield strength. Similarly, if an allied champion like Sona uses a healing ability that provides 35 health, Nilah would receive an additional 3.5 health (10% of 35) for a total of 38.5 health. This bonus also applies to the ally if they use a healing or shielding ability on Nilah. The shields last for the same duration as the initial shielding ability, for a maximum of 4 seconds. This allows Nilah and her allies to sustain more damage and stay in fights for longer, increasing their survivability and giving them an advantage in battle.

If you last hit the first wave correctly, you will reach level 2 before your enemy. As a melee character, you may be unable to farm as efficiently as ranged enemies, but your passive ability helps prevent you from falling too far behind in levels and power. If you continue to perform well, you may also reach level 6 before your opponent and have the opportunity to all-in them before they reach level 6.

Q: Formless Blade

The active part of Nilah’s Formless Blade ability involves executing a powerful strike that damages all enemies in a line, granting temporary increases to attack range, attack speed, and basic attack damage. Additionally, the passive component of the ability allows Nilah’s attacks and abilities to ignore a portion of enemy champions’ armor, healing her for a portion of the damage dealt. This healing is further increased by critical strike chance and any excess healing is converted into a temporary shield for added protection.

 

W: Jubilant Veil

The ability allows her to become temporarily immune to basic attacks from non-turret enemies, dodge incoming magic damage, and gain increased movement speed. She can also share these benefits with allied champions by touching them, making it a useful ability for engaging in fights and helping her allies escape dangerous situations. However, it has a high cooldown, so it should be used wisely and not wasted on unnecessary engagements.

E: Slipstream

Nilah’s Dash ability allows her to quickly move a fixed distance in a chosen direction, dealing damage to any enemies she passes through. She can use this ability to chase down enemies, escape from dangerous situations, or reposition herself in teamfights. The ability also resets her basic attack timer and can be used in combination with her other abilities. It has a limited number of charges, so it should be used strategically to maximize its effectiveness.

R: Apotheosis

Nilah’s ultimate ability allows her to whirl her whip in a large radius around her, dealing damage to nearby enemies and slowing them for a brief period. After a short time, she bursts forward, dealing additional damage and pulling affected enemies towards her. This ability can be used to initiate fights or follow up on allies’ engagements, and it can be combined with her other abilities for powerful combos.

It also provides healing and shielding for Nilah and nearby allies, making it a valuable tool for sustained fights.In addition to the damage it deals, Nilah’s ultimate ability also provides valuable crowd control effects, making it useful for engaging fights or disrupting enemies. While the damage it deals is significant, it is not Nilah’s primary source of damage, as most of her DPS comes from her Q and empowered basic attacks. This means that it is often more beneficial to save her ultimate for its crowd control utility rather than using it purely for damage. It offers a high skill ceiling and interesting interactions with other items, making it a fun ability to master.

Runes:

In the Runes section of this guide, we will discuss the various runes that are most effective for Nilah, and explain how they can help her excel in the game. Runes are a key aspect of champion customization in League of Legends, allowing players to tailor their champions to their playstyle and the specific situation they are facing. Choosing the right runes can give Nilah an edge in battle and help her perform better in different scenarios. In this section, we will cover the most effective runes for Nilah and explain how to use them to maximize her potential.

Conqueror or Lethal Tempo?

Conqueror is a powerful rune that is particularly effective on Nilah due to her melee range and ability to quickly get on top of enemies. It allows her to stack the rune quickly with basic attacks, providing bonus adaptive force and healing that synergize well with her Q Formless Blade. It is a strong choice for Nilah and can be particularly effective in all-in situations or teamfights. It is important to practice using Conqueror in combination with Nilah’s other abilities to maximize its effectiveness.

Lethal Tempo is another rune option for Nilah, although it is not as consistently effective as Conqueror. It provides a temporary increase to attack speed and range, which can be useful in certain situations, such as when the enemy team has high-range champions that are difficult to catch. However, the attack speed increase is not as beneficial to Nilah as it is to other champions, and the benefits of the rune are generally outweighed by the more consistent power of Conqueror. As a result, Lethal Tempo is a situational choice at best and should not be relied upon as a primary rune.

Overheal, Triumph or Presence of Mind?

Overheal is a rune that can be useful for Nilah if you plan on building plenty of lifesteal or have a support with strong shielding or healing abilities. The excess healing from Nilah’s Q Formless Blade can be converted into a shield, providing additional protection in fights. This can be particularly effective in the mid-late game, when Nilah has more items that can heal her.

Triumph is another option that can be useful for Nilah, as it provides healing from takedowns that can help her sustain in teamfights and continue dealing damage or escaping. It is a good choice for players who like to play aggressively and get up close to their enemies.

Presence of Mind is a less commonly used rune on Nilah, but it can provide some benefits in certain situations. The mana and energy restoration from champion takedowns can help Nilah maintain her abilities, and the increased mana regeneration from damaging enemies can help her sustain in fights. It is not as consistently effective as other runes, but in the right situation, it can provide some useful benefits.

The Legend Runes:

The three Legend runes in this tree are largely a matter of personal preference, but there are some general recommendations that can be useful for Nilah. Legend: Alacrity is a strong choice when building Immortal Shieldbow, as it provides extra attack speed that can improve Nilah’s damage output. Legend: Tenacity can be a good choice against enemy teams with a lot of crowd control, helping Nilah to avoid being locked down and preventing her from being forced out of fights. Legend: Bloodline is a good choice if you are building Kraken Slayer or simply want the extra sustain it provides in lane. It also offers bonus health at max stacks, which can be useful for any ADC. Ultimately, the best choice will depend on your playstyle and the specific situation you are facing.

The Bonus Damage Dealers

Coup De Grace is a powerful rune that provides bonus damage against low-health enemies, making it a good choice against squishy teams. Cut Down is effective against enemies with high health, but it loses some value when building Immortal Shieldbow, as the bonus health from the item reduces its effectiveness. Last Stand is a strong choice when building Immortal Shieldbow, as it synergizes well with the item’s bonus shield and attack damage, allowing Nilah to turn around close fights and come out on top.

Secondary Runes: Resolve or Domination?

In the Resolve tree, we want to focus on survivability for Nilah, as she is a squishy melee champion. Second Wind is a good choice against lanes with two ranged champions, providing some much-needed sustain. Conditioning is effective if you can avoid poke and scale well into the late game. Bone Plating is useful against champions that rely on combos to chunk you, such as Lucian and Jhin, but it can be easily lost to poke. Revitalize is a strong choice that has synergy with peel supports and works well with items like Immortal Shieldbow, Triumph, Death’s Dance, and Bloodthirster. Overgrowth is a decent option if none of the other choices apply, providing some late-game tankiness.

In the Domination tree, it is a good idea to often look for an aggressive, snowballing playstyle. Taste of Blood is a good option for some extra sustain, and it can be consistently procced if you hit your abilities. Sudden Impact is also decent if you plan to play aggressively in lane. Eyeball Collection is the best choice among its peers, providing strong bonuses to your abilities. Ghost Poro is also a good option, although it takes longer to stack. Zombie Ward is not recommended, as your support will usually be the one to take down wards. Ingenious Hunter is a strong choice, as it reduces the cooldown of Immortal Shieldbow, providing an extra layer of safety. Treasure Hunter is good for snowballing and getting your crit items sooner, and any extra gold can make a difference in the game.

How to play the Early Game?

 

During the laning phase, Nilah should analyze the matchups and make appropriate item purchases. She should focus on farming while avoiding poke from the enemy ADC. Her passive, Joy Unending, helps with last hitting and her Q, Formless Blade, is useful for farming and trading. Nilah should try to hit both the enemy ADC and the wave for bonus range and a good trade. Formless Blade can be used to last hit minions with odd amounts of HP.

Working with the support is crucial for success in lane. With an engage support, Nilah’s W, Jubilant Veil, is an important ability. At level 2, Nilah and the support can engage the enemy with W and E, Slipstream, to gap close and deal some damage. At level 3, Nilah’s engage becomes even more deadly. If she has managed to farm well, she can hit level 3 before the enemy bot lane. She should aggressively ping the support to get into position, and as soon as she hits level 3, use W to apply the mist to the support. If the support moves before Nilah, she can use E + W to apply the mist to them. Once on top of the enemy, Nilah should wait for them to use Flash. After the enemy blows their Flash, Nilah can use a second E to gap close and secure kills. It is important not to chase enemies too far, as simply getting them out of lane is sufficient. This will allow Nilah to farm in peace and gain a significant experience lead.

Nilah should also focus on managing her minion waves to gain an advantage. Crashing waves (To crash a wave means to push it as quickly as possible into the enemy tower, which causes the minions to attack the tower and not each other) on cannon waves allows her to gain extra time to return to base, as cannon waves are harder to push and take longer to be killed by the tower. Pushing waves before the next one spawns also allows her to catch the next wave and push it into the enemy tower, a strategy known as Cheater Recall. This technique is an important part of wave management, roam timers, and recalls.

Nilah’s early item purchases should be chosen based on the situation and the amount of gold she has earned. Vampiric Scepter is a good choice against heavy poke lanes for some sustain. Pickaxe is a cheap option that provides an early AD power spike and can help Nilah snowball the lane. If she has 1300 gold, she can buy Noonquiver. Early boots like Berserker’s Greaves or Plated Steel Caps are also useful for Nilah, as they can provide armor to negate enemy poke or attack speed to increase Nilah’s damage when she uses E to gap close.

How to play Teamfights?

 

During teamfights, Nilah should avoid being the first one to go in. Instead, she should wait for someone else to soak up damage and then use them as a bridge to reach the backline carries. She can use her abilities to kite the enemy frontline or to pull the carries in with Apotheosis.She can also use her E, Slipstream, and W, Jubilant Veil, to reposition if she gets collapsed upon or to follow her teammates if they engage on an important target. Nilah should always stay close to her team, especially to champions that can peel for her, such as the support or jungler.

However, she should avoid going directly on the backline if the enemy has any important abilities or summoner spells remaining. As a carry, Nilah’s priority should be to stay alive, so going in and dying is usually not worth it, even if she is able to kill someone.

Matchups:

In this section, we will discuss how Nilah performs against different champions in the game. We will highlight her strengths and weaknesses against each champion, as well as provide tips on how to play against them. Understanding these matchups will help Nilah players maximize her potential and succeed in their games.

Easy Prey: Champions Nilah dominates

Yasuo: The Unforgiven is easy prey for Nilah, even if she’s alone. Nilah can counter Yasuo’s autos and Yasuo can’t block Nilah’s autos. Nilah is also great at surviving, so she can poke Yasuo with her Q when he goes for CS. The only time he becomes a problem for Nilah is if he gets super fed.

Samira: She is an easy prey for Nilah due to her lack of range and ability to block Nilah’s attacks. Nilah can easily outscale Samira and survive her initial combo, allowing her to kill Samira in subsequent fights. However, Samira is generally stronger early on, so Nilah should be careful not to underestimate her and use Exhaust if necessary. If Nilah manages to get a lead, she can easily snowball the game.

Twitch: Twitch is just a rat that can’t do anything to you. Your W makes his auto attacks useless and you can easily counter him with your abilities. Just avoid fighting him when your W is down and you’ll be fine. Plus, his low base range means he’ll be too close for his own good, making it easy for you to take him down.

Dueling to a Draw: Champions Nilah goes even with

Miss Fortune: Sarah is a tough opponent for Nilah, as she can easily zone Nilah from farm and poke her throughout the laning phase. Nilah will need to stay healthy and look for opportunities to all in after level 6. If she can get a kill on Miss Fortune, there won’t be much the bounty hunter can do to survive. It’s a rat race, but Nilah can come out on top if she plays smart.

Varus: Going up against Varus in lane can be a bit of a pain for Nilah. He has long range harass and a strong ultimate for peeling, so it’s important for Nilah to avoid letting him stack his passive. Consider taking Cleanse to counter his ultimate. If Nilah can survive the laning phase and get to level 6, she may be able to all-in him and come out on top.

Lucian: Lucian is a tough opponent for Nilah in the early game, as he has strong harass and can easily zone her from farm. Nilah should avoid feeding him and respect his early game power. Bringing exhaust can be a good idea to counter his ultimate. During the laning phase, Nilah can use her W to negate his auto attacks between abilities, and focus on farming as well as she can to try and gain a level lead. In the mid-late game, Nilah should be able to outscale Lucian if she hasn’t fallen too far behind.

Beaten Down: Champions that are hell for Nilah

Xayah: She is the bane of Nilah’s existence. She can easily kite Nilah with her E and R, making it hard for Nilah to engage on her. Even if Nilah does manage to get behind Xayah, she can still use Galeforce or Flash to escape. In short, Nilah should avoid this matchup at all costs.

Cassiopeia: She can be a nightmare for Nilah, as she can prevent Nilah from using E and easily take her down. Nilah is squishy, so she needs to be cautious when facing a Cassiopeia. She should always be on the lookout for when Cassiopeia uses her W, and be ready to turn around when she tries to use R. Nilah should also avoid facechecking bushes in order to avoid any unexpected encounters with Cassiopeia.

Tips and Tricks!

As we already talked about, Nilah is a unique champion with a lot of potential in the right hands. In this section, we will provide some tips and tricks that will help you play Nilah to her full potential. Whether you are a beginner looking to improve your skills or an experienced player looking to refine your playstyle, these tips and tricks will give you an edge in your games. So without further ado, let’s dive into some valuable advice on how to play Nilah like a pro!

The Surprising Sucker Punch

Nilah’s All In combo is a strong option to use against the enemy team, especially when you have an engage support or jungle gank backing you up. By using W – Jubilant Veil, you can quickly engage the enemy and deal some damage without losing too much of your own health. You can layer Q – Formless Blade with E – Slipstream to get the empowered Q autos ready when you reach the end of the Slipstream. This combo can be used as early as level 3 and is a great way to catch the enemy off guard.

Slip and Slash

The Slip and Slash combo is a great way to take down low HP enemies in the backline. To execute this combo, use the first charge of E Slipstream to get behind the enemy frontline. Then, use the second charge of E Slipstream to reach the low HP target. You can either use Q Formless Blade before or after the second E Slipstream, depending on the situation. Additionally, you can hold off on the second E Slipstream and use the movement speed from your W – Jubilant Veil to wait for the target to use any Flashes or dashes that can help them escape.

Turret Down

 

If you are behind in the game, freezing the wave can help you catch up on CS and experience. Instead of fast pushing, maintaining a freeze allows the enemy team to either lose a lot of CS and experience or come to stop the freeze and put themselves in a position to be collapsed upon by your team. This strategy can help turn the game in your favor.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nilah is a formidable force in the botlane. She excels at surviving poke, crushing her foes in all-ins, and dominating teamfights. But be warned, she can be shut down by kite-heavy marksmen and mage supports. So remember to play smart, avoid facechecking brushes, and always carry a flask of coffee to stay energized and on top of your game. With these tips in mind, you’ll be dominating the botlane and carrying your team to victory in no time!