League of Legends Nilah Guide: Best Build, Runes & Combos

Nilah is a unique bot lane champion in League of Legends who blends melee mechanics with marksman-like damage, making her a high-risk, high-reward pick. Her kit allows her to weave in and out of fights with slippery movement, strong waveclear, and team-enhancing healing. In this guide, we’ll break down the best build, runes, items, and combos you need to unlock Nilah’s full potential and carry games with style.

Nilah Abilities Overview In League of Legends

Here’s a breakdown of Nilah’s abilities in League of Legends:

Passive – Joy Unending: Nilah gains increased experience from nearby ally last-hits and amplifies healing and shielding effects from nearby allies. She also shares a portion of healing and shielding effects she receives with allies.

Q – Formless Blade: Nilah lashes in a line, dealing damage and enhancing her basic attacks for a few seconds. Her empowered attacks deal extra damage, splash to nearby enemies, and increase her attack range and speed.

W – Jubilant Veil: Nilah shrouds herself and a nearby ally in mist, granting movement speed, dodge chance from basic attacks, and temporary immunity to non-turret auto attacks. The buff is extended if she touches an ally.

E – Slipstream: Nilah dashes through a target, dealing damage. She can cast this ability again within a short time. If Q is used during the dash, it lashes in a circle instead of a line, applying enhanced effects.

R – Apotheosis: Nilah spins her weapon in a wide area, pulling in enemies and healing herself for damage dealt. Allies near her also receive healing. It’s a strong teamfighting tool that combos well with other crowd control.

How To Play Nilah In League of Legends

Best Summoner Spells For Nilah

The best summoner spells for Nilah in League of Legends are Flash and Heal. Flash gives Nilah the mobility she needs to engage or escape during fights, while Heal offers sustain and movement speed for both her and her support, making it ideal for 2v2 skirmishes in the bot lane. If your support takes Heal, you can also run Exhaust for more safety against burst damage.

Best Runes For Nilah

The best runes for Nilah in League of Legends are from the Precision tree with a Domination secondary:

Primary (Precision):
• Conqueror – Perfect for extended trades and all-ins.
• Triumph – Restores health on kills and assists.
• Legend: Bloodline – Lifesteal for better sustain.
• Last Stand – Helps her win clutch fights when low on HP.

Secondary (Domination):
• Sudden Impact – Works great with her dashes for extra burst.
• Treasure Hunter – Faster snowball potential by getting more gold early.

Stat Shards:
• Attack Speed
• Adaptive Force
• Armor (or Magic Resist, depending on lane opponents)

This rune setup boosts Nilah’s dueling, healing, and snowball power—everything she needs to carry from the bot lane.

Best Build For Nilah

The best build for Nilah in League of Legends focuses on maximizing her sustain, crit damage, and teamfight potential. Here’s a strong standard build:

Mythic Item:
• Immortal Shieldbow – Gives lifesteal, sustain, and a shield that helps her survive burst damage.

Core Items:
• The Collector – Boosts burst damage and helps secure kills.
• Infinity Edge – Huge spike with bonus crit damage once you have 60% crit chance.
• Bloodthirster – Tons of lifesteal and a powerful shield for teamfights.

Situational/Final Items:
• Lord Dominik’s Regards – Against tanks or armor-stacking enemies.
• Phantom Dancer – Extra attack speed and mobility.
• Maw of Malmortius – If facing heavy AP burst.

Boots:
• Berserker’s Greaves – Standard for more attack speed.
• Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads – Swap in if the enemy has heavy AD or CC.

This build gives Nilah everything she needs—survivability, sustain, and massive late-game crit damage to wipe teams with her AoE.

Best Combos To Learn For Nilah

The best combos to learn for Nilah focus on fluid trades, aggressive all-ins, and smart positioning in teamfights. A basic trade combo is Q (Formless Blade) followed by an auto attack and using her passive heal to sustain in lane. For all-ins, dash in with E (Slipstream), cast Q mid-dash to hit multiple enemies, then unleash R (Apotheosis) to deal massive AoE damage and heal allies. You can also use the second charge of E creatively by dashing through a minion or ally to reposition and surprise enemies, following up with Q and R for burst damage. In escape scenarios, use E to dash to a nearby minion or ally and get away safely. Always weave auto attacks between abilities to maximize her passive healing and damage output. Mastering these combos will let you control fights, outplay opponents, and carry games effectively.

Conclusion

That wraps up our complete Nilah guide! With the right build, runes, and clean combos, Nilah becomes a powerful ADC that can dominate teamfights and out-sustain enemies in lane. Whether you’re diving into 1v1s with her aggressive trading or pulling off clutch ultimates in big fights, mastering Nilah’s mechanics will give you a huge edge in ranked games. Practice her timing, positioning, and use of Slipstream, and you’ll be climbing the ladder in no time.