Does anyone else miss the buffs all the jungle monsters used to give?

HàrrowR·May 21, 2018·13 votes·8,030 views

I just can't understand that they think this scuttle changes are good for balance and a fun thing to play around,yet they remove the buffs large monsters gave when smited in favor of a much less interactive and overly simplified jungle experience.

Does anyone remember how Wolves gave you that flying eye that patrolled your jungle,Krugs gave you the ability to stun a monster every few attacks,smite didn't automatically heal you,it would give you back mana when smiting blue and heal when smiting red. I believe Grump gave you a damage over time buff and Raptors would give you vision that would help clear wards in the river or around your mid lane brush.

So,my question is,why has that been removed,to me personally it made the jungle a much more unique place that every champ could play differently,choosing which buffs to take depending on his kit and on his playstyle.

14 Comments

VICHEL CHAOSMay 22, 20186 votes

Because when designing jungle changes they spin a wheel and see what comes up. That time it just said "NUKE ALL THE SMITE BUFFZ!!" This time it pointed to "INTRODUCE BS RNG"

Akali is SO HOTMay 22, 20183 votes

I believe they removed them because it basically ended up being something like this: -Gromp was either way to op or just really bad -Chickens were basically useless 99% of the time -Don't remember if Krugs were ever an issue or not -People stopped killing wolves late game and just kept smiting them back and forth for vision.

Sun Wu RyuumokuMay 23, 20181 votes

wolves smite was so broken

Pokemonred200May 21, 20182 votes

Gromp was a DOT version of Thornmail, basically, and the Krug buff did a burst of true damage to towers as well as the stacking stun. I miss both of these buffs especially.

Snowman ArcMay 22, 20182 votes

Honestly, I still don't see the reason why they removed it. Newbies had a hard time understanding what they do? Really? The game in its entirety can be hard to understand, some small jungle buffs are pretty much nothing. Also, smites were pretty standard? Bull shit, now you smite whenever you need HP back, or want to secure a camp for yourself.

I liked the camp buffs. Smiting Gromp or Krugs to start wasn't always the best choice. Raptor buff for checking for vision was pretty strong early as well, as you would know if you're safe or in vision. Also, smiting Wolves would also be strong early, as you'd get a whole lot of vision in one quadrant of the jungle. Heck, even smiting blue buff after doing a red start would replenish quite a lot of mana.

As it stands right now, the healing isn't really needed, at least not on Graves, and that's why I liked the old jungle buffs.

AptestMay 21, 20181 votes

question: back then, the wraith camp used to give duskblade ward reveal passive. that is a very powerful passive. why was there not more fights over getting both wraith camps ?

TargonMay 22, 20181 votes

I loved when the camps gave you buffs based on what you smited - especially the wolf spirit vision.

flibitydooMay 22, 20181 votes

They weren't real decisions.

You'd smite gromp or krugs immediately at level 1 because that was the objectively correct thing to do (unless you were saving smite for red buff if you were starting red side).

Raptor buff was the only thing worth smiting in most games since it let you gank more. Since it basically told you "hey this bush you walked in? yeah we didn't detect any wards so the enemy does not know you're in here, channel your fid ult freely".

Wolf camp was the worst smite in the entire game; the only thing good about it was if you counter jungled the enemy wolf camp, you could smite their wolf to get vision of half the enemy jungle. Otherwise the vision wolf you got typically did nothing because blue side jungle isn't worth jack.

FurriesAreHotMay 22, 20181 votes

I liked them, they gave the game a bit of an older vibe. No clue why. But I can see why they were removed.

Killer of Night9May 22, 20181 votes

I hope they will bring green item item 1412 item 1400 but this time instead of ward it will provide jungle camp buff smite. Red one fell more for battle. Blue one chasing and gank. Green one utility and jungle iteraction.

Shuriman CuratorMay 22, 20181 votes

That's when jungle was more fun for me. Not so much anymore.

BLACK REALM GODMay 22, 20181 votes

a little. but also it was op

KZ EngelMay 22, 20181 votes

i actually didn't miss the smite buffs as much as i thought i would. the ghost wolf didn't really help much because you should know your enemy's general location anyway, the golem stun just made rammus clear slower, the oracle chickens lasted too long, and the only helpful smite bonus (red buff) was given to every single camp

UltîmaMay 22, 20181 votes

Smite buffs were fucking amazing. Each camp had good reasons to be smited at different stages of the game, and jungle control was far more strategic as a result. I wish we'd go back to this version of the camps and that Riot instead focused their efforts on increasing character variety instead of constantly changing how the game is played on a macro level.