u/Double_U_W

Who else misses when Nidalee mid was her main role?

I still remember playing Nidalee mid before her rework in Season 4. Back then, she had a completely different play style. The gameplay revolved around controlling space, poking with long range spears, sustaining in lane, and constantly pressuring before fights even started. Landing a max range spear actually mattered because it could have completely shift the pace of a fight.

She was frustrating at times, sure, but she had a unique style that rewarded prediction, spacing, and patience.

When Riot reworked her in Patch 4.10, I honestly think it was a success. They turned her into an actual huntress instead of just “throw spears forever.” The Hunt mechanic connected her human and cougar forms much better and added real skill expression through mobility and aggressive shapeshifting. Riot wanted to reduce her low-risk poke and add counterplay, which made sense.

But the real turning point, in my opinion, was Patch 5.2.

That’s when Hunt started working on jungle monsters and rooting camps, massively increasing her clear speed. From that point on, Nidalee stopped feeling like a flexible laner who could jungle, and instead became balanced almost entirely around jungle.
Ever since then, she’s felt stuck. Jungle Nidalee becomes extremely snowbally whenever she’s strong, which forces Riot to keep her in check. A lot of longtime players point to Patch 5.2 as the moment her identity really shifted from a mid lane poke mage with versatility, to a high-risk, feast-or-famine jungler.

I still think the 4.10 rework was successful. But Patch 5.2 is what permanently pushed her out of mid lane.

Do you think Nidalee could ever return to mid lane? Or is “Midalee” just a thing of the past?

I'm trying to understand something about Ahri, and I want your perspective.

Why does she have to be to played as a kite mage instead of an assassin/burst mage?

I get that her kit has mobility and safety, but she's still a mid-range champion, so she does need to put herself in danger to deal damage. However, she doesn't always get rewarded with the same level of pressure when finishing someone off. At the same time, there are a lot of other champions who also have mobility and safety but don't seem to sacrifice as much damage for it.

I don't quite understand why Ahri needs to be balanced around safety, meanwhile newer or reworked champions are just overloaded compared to older balance philosophies. Modern champions often break the old rules, but Ahri seems to still have to follow it.

Now, I'm not saying the way Ahri is played is wrong, I just want to understand why it is she's balanced this way.