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WHY NO RAVENOUS HYDRA?
Item doesn't scale on Nilah, there are much better options.
Ravenous Hydra gives a lot of AD if you have stacks yes but the lifesteal on it is horrible and the AOE is really bad for damage unless you're playing Howling Abyss.
Nilah already has a ton of waveclear in her kit and she does not need more help from Ravenous to clear waves. The lifesteal on the item is horrible and it has no crit scaling, just buy Bloodthirster it is a way better item than Ravenous Hydra is.
"But I do a lot of damage and the item is beginner friendly?"
No the damage is coming from other items it is not because of hydra and no the item isn't beginner friendly because it is just straight up not a good item on Nilah it's like you're pretending your playing Rock Lee in game but with the weights on.
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WHY MAX E ON NILAH?
Nilah's Q cooldown stays the same regardless of ability rank, and it only gains 5 damage per rank up + deals more damage with more AD but we don't have too much of that early game anyways. However, If we max E first we get drastically shorter cooldown and more guaranteed damage per every E use.
"Don't you lose out on wave clear and scaling?"
No, Nilah E is very good for wave clearing actually, I don't think people realize that her Q + autos aren't the only tools for wave clear. Also you will not get a ton of crit until 2 items at least which is about time you start maxing Q after E is fully maxed out, so the timing checks out.
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Doran's Shield vs Doran's Blade -- WHAT ABOUT LONG SWORD / CULL?
Doran's Shield is good when enemy have 2 ranged bot laners (ex. Cait Lux), Nilah gets the full benefits of Doran's Shield because Nilah is a melee champion, it's gonna be much better than wasting 150g on refillable/3 health potions.
Cull is just... not an item Nilah should ever buy because even in a "free-scale" lane you will still be pressured by the enemy bot lane just because of pure range, and if there is a lane you can fight in (ex. you have a Blitzcrank), you can buy Doran's Blade for the all-in stats + some sustain. If you don't trust that your support can effectively start fights, just start Doran's Shield anyways.
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BEST SUPPORTS FOR NILAH? WHY DON'T YOU LIKE YUUMI NILAH?
Best supports are any supports that can displacement enemy into Nilah(ex. hook supports), this makes it so Nilah can get onto the enemy without having to dash to a minion to get onto the enemy (which makes her lose damage in her combo). Nilah's support should also have the ability to tank damage / start fights without Nilah having to walk up first which allows the enemy to focus her.
Therefore with these criteria the best options are hook supports such as Pyke, Blitzcrank, Nautilus.
There are also other champions with really good synergy with Nilah in other ways without hooks such as Sejuani / Aurelion Sol.
Sejuani -- her e passive procs on every Nilah auto and Sej has insane engage / cc on every ability which makes Nilah's life extremely easy.
Aurelion Sol -- able to poke the enemy + help Nilah farm through his black hole ability which draws all minions together and both Nilah & ASol are able to scale together. Both champions also have great synergy with their ultimates, hitting one basically guarantees the other. Aurelion Sol tends to buy Rylai's first item which also helps Nilah a lot with sticking onto the enemy. No this is not troll.
Enchanters such as Soraka / Lulu are fine because they are really good enchanters, but other enchanters like Nami + Yuumi are just straight up useless honestly, you can get away with it if the enemy are bad or if the Nami player is really good or w/e but that's about it.
Counterpick champions like Braum & Taric are always fine but should never be blinded with Nilah because it just makes the lane extremely difficult if the enemy support has counter.
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HOW TO DETERMINE WHEN TO BUY DEFENSIVE ITEMS ON NILAH?
You buy defensive items such as Death's Dance (for AD burst) or Maw (for AP burst).
Steelcaps is generally a good option in the early-mid game if the enemy are heavy AD and you feel like you need the extra survivability.
Death's Dance should always be a 4th or 5th item choice after core 3-item spike is achieved. Maw can be bought earlier (like right after collector or even before collector if there is urgency in the game). You can straight up buy a hexdrinker after finishing mythic if the enemy are HEAVY ap and magic resist is just extremely valuable. Otherwise, just prioritize damage.
Bloodthirster as 4th item is already a good option for defense because you will lifestealing a TON of HP back with the item, Nilah is basically a bruiser once you buy Bloodthirster.
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WHY IS ZEAL NEEDED? ISN'T IT NERFED?
Dirk + Zeal is an extremely valuable combo item spike for Nilah in the early game due to the raw stats that Nilah get which boosts her damage by a lot.
Zeal is also more value on Nilah than any other ADC because Zeal's crit chance isn't just 15% RNG, it is converted into ACTUAL damage into Nilah's Q ability and gives armor penetration + healing on Nilah's R ability.
Zeal is also a replacement that lets us skip T2 boots and we can just use the inspiration tree's runes (Futures_Market + Magical_Footwear) to purchase offensive items earlier than other ADC champions.
