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Wanting to start jungle

Hanana·4/20/2015, 8:43:56 PM·1 votes·1,280 views

Hello,

I have been playing League for slightly over a year now, and I still haven't really been able to get into jungling - I've mostly played support, with mid lane and adc on the side. The problem is that I'm (probably expected by now) an absolutely awful jungler - my ganks are awful, I forget all about objectives and I completely freeze up the moment the enemy jungler has counterjungled me. I've watched a lot of videos of foxdrop and the like, but I know that only true experience will help me develop my jungling.

I don't like many of the junglers though. So far the only champion I like is Elise, and (correct me if I'm wrong) she doesn't seem to be a very effective pick at the moment, especially not for someone who is already very inexperienced at jungling. My question is: which junglers are generally effective at the moment and relatively easy to pick up? I'm mostly looking for junglers that play a little like an assassin (because it's a playstyle I'm kiiiind of comfortable with), or junglers with strong teamfight / AoE capabilities. I don't see myself playing any of the bruisers.

Thank you :)

Edit: I've been interested in Diana, is she an ok jungler, or more of a laner?

22 Comments

IcyPepper4/20/2015, 10:47:57 PM2 votes

Here's a few tips for jungling:

Try to fit the team comp. Nothing is worse than choosing a Fiddlesticks when top is Fiora, and not having a proper frontline. Bruisers are good when there's a top tank, tanks are good if there's a bruiser top, squishies are fine if those roles are already filled.

Buy wards. You're not as gold reliant as your allies, except the support (you're more so). Unless you get fed, don't expect to 1v1 everybody. Rely on your cc and teammates, and secure those objectives. Vision helps.

FlamingFrostbite4/20/2015, 9:23:20 PM2 votes

Jungle is a messy role to play and even messier to do wrong. Unlike laning there is no shield from damage besides Health Pots, so managing time spent healing in base, clearing camps, ganking, counter-ganking, and ward coverage is key.

I wouldn't be able to tell you who to play, I feel every jungler has his/her own preference and it can be completely different from how you like to lane.

DrathTurtle3144/20/2015, 9:02:28 PM2 votes

For "strong teamfight / AoE capabilities" I recommend zac.

For assassins, I recommend Rengar.

Both of these champs have a fair bit of AoE for clearing camps and enough sustain to complete a full clear and possibly a gank with both buffs. Also, both have a gap closer that makes ganking easier. A note about rengar, while he can be built as an assassin, you can also use a more durable build and still be effective. This is the main reason I prefer him to kha'zix, but if you are more comfortable with the bug, he can also be played, though not as effectively for low sustain.

Also, if you like elise, you might try nidalee, they share the transforming mechanic on their ults and nidalee is more popular/effective right now. I'm trying to learn her currently, and I have to say, I hate her. I can't seem to play effectively against her or as her, but I also have trouble with the transformation. If you have that down from experience with elise, she might be a little easier for you to transition to.

A lot of things are viable right now, and if some of the other jungle enchantments get the same treatment as cinderhulk, we could see even more come in.

These are just my oppinions based on my experiences. I play tanks, so I recommend zac, amumu, cho'gath, sion, etc. but the assassins I've had some success with have been eve, rengar, nocturne, and nidalee.

Only TurboInt4/20/2015, 8:45:57 PM2 votes

The Jungler I started on was maokai basically right now tanks are really strong and for the most part they have always been mid tier picks at least in solo queue so pick a tank with point and click CC and you should be able to succeed in that role. GL learning jungle and if you want feel free to add me See ya on the rift.

Changsty4/20/2015, 11:55:27 PM1 votes

Warwick is probably one of the easiest champions to learn to jungle with. Immense sustain, no skillshots. I would say start with him until you're more familiar with the other aspects of the jungle. Focus on farming/vision/objectives and only gank if:

Your ult is coming off cd soon
Enemy laners are dancing under your turret

If they counterjungle you just clear the camp and ward up, since they're likely to do it again. Other than that try to set easy goals for every game until you're able to do everything at the same time. To start with try to be able to predict the enemy jungler's movement and obtaining dragon control. Branching out to other champions then is just a matter of slightly different mechanical skill and being able to gank effectively more than once every 2 minutes.

VesperNadal4/21/2015, 5:24:17 PM1 votes

I learned how to jungle on Udyr. The guy has no skill shots and is extremely versatile in his builds. He's also a power jungler and his clear times are among the best in the game. On Udyr you can focus more on objectives and less on minute nuances of his kit since its so straight forward. Warwick is without a doubt the easiest jungler to learn on. Heck, you don't even need health potions so you can actually start with a machete and a green ward. His lifesteal is strong enough to keep him fairly health all game. Only problem is that before level 6 his ganks blow hard so its almost like your only purpose early game is to farm until you hit 6. But his E ability lets you know when the enemy jungler is on their way so you can leave before getting ganked. Fiddlesticks is the last one I want to point out. He is one of the safest junglers save for his one weakness: mana dependency. If they take your blue buff early on they seriously hamstring you for the late game. But if you get the first one or two blue buffs you will be set for game. His ult makes him a powerful assassin style champion and you can also solo dragon at level 2.

BigIdea4/21/2015, 5:34:23 PM1 votes

i've been a jungle main for a few seasons now. i can spectate a game or two if you want. it'll be much easier for me to give pointers if i can see your play. let me know.

Bemapon4/21/2015, 10:35:20 PM1 votes

Diana is a fine jungler. I personally prefer her laning, but jungling her can be just as, if not more, powerful.

These suggestions are all opinion based.

For assassins Shaco is my main. He does not always fit into the team comp, dont pick him if you need cc. The only problem is that most of his farm should come from ganks, not from farming. You say your ganks are aweful, but if you take the time to work on that Shaco might be someone to pick up.

Strong teamfight junglers, I play quite a bit of Zac and Sion, depending on the Ad/Ap balance on my team or which fits better. Sion can be a little tricky to gank with until he has his ult. If Zac lands his E and your laner followes up, you are almost guaranteed to get a kill or some summoners down.

Modern Science4/20/2015, 10:29:58 PM1 votes

J4, Vi, Sej, Fid, Amumu, (Wukong?). I've found these to cover most all situations/post-ban picks. Successful tanky or damage if your team needs it. I've found building tanky does more damage than building damage on these guys usually. They all have great teamfight power and are fine alone. They aren't hard to learn and are pretty variable.

junglerboy164/20/2015, 11:06:47 PM1 votes

Diana is an excellent jungler right now, she is just a little stronger as a laner. If you enjoy playing her, absolutely take her into the jungle.

Winrams4/20/2015, 11:08:27 PM1 votes

Jungle is actually pretty easy, just have to know what camps to hit from level 1-4......after that it all depends on what buff you want from the smaller camps when you smite them. If my team is generally winning there lane early game I try to hit level 6 before ganking. If they are losing or getting their lane pushed in, I will attempt a gank before six.

I always start at gromp and smite it to get the extra aoe damage. Then I head to wolves, Red, golems and depending on what jungler you're using I also gets the birds.

As for what junglers to use, right now the tank meta is working best. So use junglers, such as, Vi, Jarvan, Volibear, Nautilus, Warwick, Udyr, Sejuani (if she is not band) Zac and Xin. I've read every thread that has been posted in your post and they are missing a key jungler who has a ton of sustain CC(especially if you get iceborn gauntlets item 3025 , increased movement speed and does decent damage. Even when you build him straight tank. That jungler is SKARNER Skarner Plus if you're really good at picking off a champf with your ult and your team is around for a team fight they are usually dead before the ult ends. Also playing a tanky meta champ allows you to tower dive and be a bully to secure a kill and live.

As for squishy junglers, which i do not enjoy playing in low elo, i would only recommend when you have a bruiser top and a tanky support. The unfortunate thing with squishy junglers you can not really tower dive and hope to live if you end up killing the enemy!

Hopefully this was useful to you!

Take Care,

Winrams Skarner