A Question About Jungling

MasterAK·1/29/2016, 7:53:53 PM·1 votes·899 views

So I'm level 17 in LoL (a fairly new player) and I can play every role except for jungle. I wanted to learn so I bought Wukong and looked up guides and how to jungle and all that good stuff, BUT I have a problem that no guides can cover. I keep dying at blue buff on my first clear! I get machete and refillable pots first and make sure I use them, I ask for (and get most of the time) a hard leash, and smite Gromp and everything. I take E first and W second like I've been told. No matter what I do I die at blue nearly every time. And yes, I use both of my abilities and everything else all the guides have told me, yet I still die. Can anyone help me?

TL;DR: I die at blue buff as a jungler in my first clear every time and need help to NOT do that.

20 Comments

IDoAllMyOwnStuns1/29/2016, 8:00:31 PM3 votes

Are you using Runes? If so which ones?

What do your Masteries look like?

Try buying regular potions instead of refillable on your first round, I believe you get more healing. item 2031 125hp over 12 seconds, 2 charges item 2003 150hp over 15 seconds, buy 3

Smite Gromp as soon as you start fighting, not to get the killing blow, this provides more use out of the passive, killing him quicker, and ultimately letting you get away with more health.

Swagimus Prime1/29/2016, 7:58:57 PM2 votes

K so as a wukong main, two things mainly will help you. One is when you choose to use decoy to tank some of the damage, wait till blue is about to hit you, that way you cancell blues auto, and get about another free second of not taking damage. Secondly, kite it out. You can auto and pull blue bc it is melee, just dont pull too far or it can reset. A small factor could be youre only level 17 and wukong doesnt have very good clear early game, so without full runes and masteries its not gonna be too easy. You can add me, i'll be home in a few hours, and I can go over it more or show you. ELG Wakka.

coeurloyal1/29/2016, 9:15:18 PM2 votes

Jungling is a very punishing thing these days, as others have told you. Wu is a great jungler on paper, but his clears aren't very fast and his sustain is rather poor. If you want to become a good jungler, you should start with a champion that's easier to survive with that still has decent ganking power. Wu is someone you'll want to pick up later when you're more comfortable with what the camps' limitations are and have full masteries and full sets of attack speed reds and armor yellows.

Think about picking up Shyvana, Poppy, or Warwick. If you want to try a more mechanically challenging jungler with good sustain, try Elise.

Also, try to get a friend that's willing to give you a healthy leash. For most junglers--Wu included--trying to get through a first clear without a good leash almost guarantees failure

If you don't know what a leash is, it's when you have a laner come help you damage the creep or tank some of the damage so that you're healthier later on. If you watch a top-tier jungler streaming (I like/recommend Pants Are Dragon because he explains his thought process well), you'll notice that they never start their first camp alone. In higher levels, junglers don't even have to ask because laners understand that it's a necessity.

I've found that in lower elos (or in almost every sub-lv.30 match ever) people like it when you gank their lane first if they gave you a leash. It makes them feel like they're getting something in return, which in turn encourages them to leash more often.

Best Valor NA1/29/2016, 7:57:02 PM2 votes

It's probably because you're level 17. Jungling without Tier 3 Runes and full masterys makes jungling fairly difficult. I'd recommend waiting until level 20 to get better runes.

If you're set on jungling right now, you should 9/10 always start bottom lane jungle, so start krugs, then red buff. This will give you a better leash because of the ADC and Support bot.

jaymc11301/30/2016, 3:48:11 AM1 votes

Kite. The. Camps.

You don't just stand still... kite them. Move between auto attacks and the delay it has in hitting you again will save you hp. Also, try starting the blue buff or red buff first and then getting a smaller camp. Also, except for wolves, (and gromp for obvious reasons) its generally better to kill the small monsters first because they die easier and that damage they put out adds up. If you have good aoe clear this isn't an issue, wukong does not.

Skia Asteri1/30/2016, 1:51:45 AM1 votes

Try avoiding Red & Blue buff for the first bit because they are stronger than other camps. Clear as many of the small camps as you can, then back. Depending on if you finished all the camps either resume on the opposite side from where you started (if you did not clear all small camps) or on the same side (if you finished all of them). Then do a full clear. This will help reach level 6 as fast as possible.

Incognonymous1/30/2016, 1:55:35 AM1 votes

Some tips:

-Wait for more mastery points -Build a jungling mastery page -Wait for tier 3 runes -Build a jungling rune page -Use a champ who excels in jungling -Learn to play that champ optimally in the jungle-- it's not always the same as in lane -Learn optimal clear orders: red side vs. blue side, when to take scuttle, dragon, etc. -Learn how to build in the jungle: you don't have the gold that laners have at their disposal, so item effectiveness vs. cost is important

ValyrianBlade1/30/2016, 3:26:25 AM1 votes

You're level 17.

So you're missing T3 runes entirely, and you're short on nearly half of the runes and masteries anyways (including a keystone).

While that difference may seem minimal, the total value of runes is over 1000g (and masteries are less). So even if you've spent IP on tier 2 runes (NOT advised) you're still going to be about 600g short on your first clear compared to the person writing the guide. E.g. you're down a cloth armor and a dagger (you're taking more damage AND dealing less).

The jungle is hard. There are some champions that you can clear the jungle with comfortably, but many will not do a full clear easily.

So until you get tier 3 runes, more runes, and more masteries, you'll need to make some changes:

Take regular health pots instead of refillable for more sustain early
Use the scuttle crab as an opportunity to heal thanks to the machete passive (also will give you experience, and protect your team from an enemy gank).
Possibly don't do a full clear, instead do Gromp>Blue>Red or Krugs>Red>Blue and look for an early gank if it's easy. Smite red for the free health to help you survive ganking. Then base afterwards (or if you didn't take damage you'll have regained some health and can finish your clear).

Good luck!