This page contains a guide on Jungling, including basic mechanics, strategies, important factors to consider, and tips and tricks to practice and improve your game.
Jungling Guide
What is a Jungler?
Junglers are champions that go from lane to lane, helping out allies win their lanes. They constantly roam through the jungle while clearing out monsters in the Jungle for gold. Junglers are also in charge of taking Global Objectives such as taking the Rift Herald, Ocean Drake, Elder Dragon and the Baron Nashor. In summary, the role of the jungler is to tip the scales towards an advantage to your team.
Champion Selection
In theory, all 137 champions can be used for jungling. However, some champions are better equipped for jungling due to their skillsets. There are 2 types of junglers, Tankers and Damage-dealers. During Champ Select, analyze your team composition and check what your team needs more: a Tanker or someone to deal Damage.
- Click here to view our Champion Build Guides.
A non-negotiable aspect of being a Jungler is to bring Smite as one of his Summoner Spells.
- Our Summoner Spells Guide can be viewed here.
Playing as a Jungler
Early Game
Once the game starts, you can ask for help from your allies to help you defeat the large monster in your jungle camp. Choose what your champion needs first, the Blue Sentinel or the Red Brambleback. The Blue Sentinel gives a Crest of Insight buff which grants increased mana/energy regeneration and 10% cooldown reduction for 2 minutes. The Red Brambleback, on the other hand, gives a Crest of Cinders buff. This buff grants increased health regeneration and adds true damage per auto attack. Your allies helping you defeat these neutral monsters is called a ‘leash’. Make sure you get the last-hit as this gives 200 exp and levels you up 2 immediately. After this, you can go around and defeat the other monsters in the camp.
Ganking
Once you get to level 3, you will have 3 skills at your disposal and already prepped up to gank. Ganking is when a champion goes to one lane to create a surprise attack. Check where you are and your enemy’s positioning. The best time to gank is if an enemy champ is overextended. Notify your ally that you’re planning to gank. Hide in the bushes around the river until your enemy is within the right position for a surprise attack.
A jungler’s main objective is to tip the scales, to give a clear advantage for your allies during the laning phase. If one of your lanes is being pushed back or is at a clear disadvantage, making a surprise attack can force your enemy to retreat and towerhug. Best case scenario is if you kill them.
Gank champions who are least likely to escape (ie. champions without flash, are immobile or doesn’t have an escaping skill). Junglers also shutdown champions who are getting too strong for your team’s liking (ie. champions with a couple of kills already or a stacking champion like Veigar or Nasus).
Ganking Objectives
A gank is successful when:
- Your enemy dies. This is pretty self-explanatory as you and your allies get gold, experience and your enemy loses out on CS
- Your enemy recalls. You can then push towards the tower and give your ally a gold and XP advantage
- Your enemy’s Summoner Spells are used. This adds more pressure to them and they would likely towerhug in fear of dying. This would then obviously give your ally a gold and XP advantage
- Your lane destroys enemy turrets
Warding
Remember to ward both jungle camps as the jungler from the opposing team will not hesitate to steal your Neutral monsters once he sees you on the other side of the map. If a jungler does penetrate your camp, ask your nearest ally to help you subdue that champion. On the other hand, you can also be cheeky and try to steal a monster or two from your enemy counterpart. This not only gives you gold but also starves your enemy of it. To make sure the camp isn’t warded, buy a Sweeping Lens.
- You can check out our Vision and Warding Guide here.
Global Objectives
The most notable role of the Jungler aside from ganking is to take the Rift Herald, Dragon and Baron Nashor. These neutral monsters provides your team a clear advantage. Always make sure to ward these 2 camps so you can see if your enemies are trying to kill it. You can then either ambush them as a team or steal the monster right under their nose with a well-timed Smite.
While going to each lane, always remember to take the Rift Scuttler as it provides vision, gold and a speed buff. Also take note of who the enemy’s jungler is. Warwick, for example, can solo the Dragon early on.
Additional Tips
- Save your Crowd Control or gap-closers until after they use their escaping skill
- You can gank a lane twice. This is called camping. Your first gank’s objective is to burn their Flash or any escaping abilities then when they think you’re gone, you can come back in immediately for the kill
- NEVER Overchase. A common mistake in junglers is chasing enemies even towards their own camp. You could be counter-ganked and you would have no allies to respond and save you
- Unless ganking, try not to show where you are across the map. The element of surprise is a jungler’s best friend. Also, if enemies sees you on the other side of the map, they will not hesitate in ganking on the other lane
- Jungling is a mind game. Sometimes instead of ganking, you can wait to counter-gank. Counter-ganking would require vision and map awareness – where your enemy jungler is at all times
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