Got any tips and tricks about surviving in the new Jungle?

RiotRiot MechaMoose·11/20/2014, 10:37:04 PM·17 votes·19,489 views

Hey folks, I wanted to make a thread where we can all share tips for surviving in the new jungle.

These can be things like, a specific champion, build, or jungle route that seems to work really well for you.

Some interesting tips from the last discussion were these:

  • Starting Gromp (Or Krugs, if you're an AA jungler) may be a good idea because the smite buff makes the rest of your clear easier

  • Getting the CDR in the Utility tree can really help, because of the reduced Smite CD

  • 0/17/13 Sejuani can solo sustain in the jungle and clear safely.

  • Devourer enchantment is really mean on warwick's ult, so if you're jungling warwick, consider this enchantment.

  • Skarner with the AOE smite and Warrior enchantment is very good at clearing safely.

  • Consider not smiting blue, if you start there. Smite red instead, since it gives you HP back.

And here is a nice summary of some of the different camp bonuses:

Gromp, excellent starting smite for tanky junglers without some form of sustain and can get a leash. The damage over time isn't superb, but it's much better than the other camps. I think the damage also does NOT kill the camps, as I would walk away from the camps, just to see them stay at 1 hp and have to walk back to AA them. Maybe it was just me but it happened a lot.

Wolves, seems like a bad smite target, until I realized it's pretty good as a counterjungle smite. If you have poachers are just want to counterjungle, smite the wolf for a simple ward at the crossroads. Most junglers go through that way so you can get tabs on them. They either are forced to avoid that area (which will take their time away) or are revealed. A thing I liked to do was smite the wolves around the time the enemy blue came up.

Raptors, excellent in every form. Smite it before ganks or if you think there are wards in your jungle. Not much else to say.

Krugs, great for a starting smite on attack speed junglers. I smited on with Nocturne and it worked fairly well. It's also excellent for tower pushing/securing. Smite it, gank a lane, take down the turret with your new buff that does a pretty good amount of damage to turrets once.

Red/Blue, smite targets when you're oom or almost out of health, not much more to say. Sometimes I start smite them, most of the time I don't. My common route is Blue -> Red w/ smite.

These are all really good! Do you have any other strategies you're using to jungle effectively? Any builds and clear orders that are working well for you? Share them here!

58 Comments

ˆˆºº11/20/2014, 10:50:07 PM14 votes

#1 tip: Utility masteries.

Learn 2 Swim11/20/2014, 11:06:01 PM12 votes

pick lee sin since every other jungler is getting nerfed

Remlap122311/20/2014, 11:56:59 PM7 votes

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FantasySniper11/21/2014, 3:37:51 AM5 votes

Identify the best jungler item for each jungler ASAP. It'll make things tons easier on you. In theory, these are the best items to jungle with for respective roles and playstyles (although this is still up for testing/change):

item 3713 : Relies on clearing and/or has unreliable ganks before their ultimate. item 3715 : Strong gankers with capable damage, most likely can even fight solo. item 3706 : Gankers who need themselves or their teammates to stick to a target. item 3711 : Counter-jungling, or any method of jungling that takes away from enemy junglers.

Sabre and Trailblazer are arguably the strongest, the other two seem pretty niche and/or overlap in purpose with the first two just enough to be less capable.

BTW, is the scuttler considered a large creep? Is it considered an "enemy jungle" creep?

I question the decision to support counter-jungling, it's pretty much anti-fun for junglers, especially when Udyr and Lee Sin are the most obvious candidates for such a role. :/

Garlyle Wilds11/20/2014, 11:02:25 PM5 votes

I was having difficulty figuring out a route to help Fiora survive the new jungle decently - passive or no she's not exactly the quickest clearer nor does she have particularly good sustain.

That said, when I tried starting Red and smiting about halfway through, I found I went from barely clearing two camps to about four - simply because of the strength of the recovered HP, and the buff still basically amplifies my clearspeed the way Fat Frog Thing and golems would. Er, Gromp and Krugs. (this is going to take some work)

For those struggling to find a route for their jungler that lets them actually rack up any EXP/gold before the first recall, it's probably worth looking into.

Tis a nice day11/21/2014, 9:05:06 AM4 votes

I actually love how smite is no longer something you exclusively use for Red/Blue and Dragon/Baron.

Vore Monster11/20/2014, 11:13:52 PM4 votes

Thanks for throwing in some of my info, Riot! Glad to see it's getting attention :)

I'm still testing some stuff with Lee Sin and Udyr to see how they can play in the competitive scene. So far it looks great.

Envy Sin11/21/2014, 4:10:05 AM4 votes

Please stop starting red/blue because "That's what i have always done" It's not a smart start anymore. I have literally had EVERY jungler say "Why should i start somewhere else?" and when i explain the reason they say "Don't care" le sigh

AetherKingdom11/21/2014, 7:25:53 AM3 votes

pick kalista, proceed to kite all camps without being hit once (^:

LankPants11/21/2014, 12:15:40 AM3 votes

Almost every champ in the game can do a route from -Double golems -Chickens -Red -Wolves -Blue -Gromp and survive with about half HP with a leash at doubles

JustDenied11/21/2014, 6:18:59 PM3 votes

I've only played one game in the jungle so far and it was Warwick. Full clear was insanely easy and ended with full health. Route --Blue --Gromp (smite) --Wolves --Raptors --Red (smite) --Krugs

Then whatever was spawning next. I didn't even leave the jungle the first time til I hit level 6.

FiendOfOne11/20/2014, 11:12:40 PM3 votes

Sustain champs. Defense+utility masteries. Most of my utilities aren't at 0/21/9 anymore. The tenacity just isn't worth it compared to the jungle sustain right from utility now. It's forcing nonstandard mastery pages, which I love. (Note that this is from someone who mains tank/sustain jungles). Starting Krugs is very helpful. Also, mana intensive champs, get a mana regen item - with the new jungle items, you'll need something like a chalice to keep your mana going with the shorter buff duration and longer camp resets.

JohnnyRoastbeef11/21/2014, 1:24:08 AM2 votes

If you play Rammus, let your teammates know that they're going to need to help you control the crab. Rammus's kit is mostly based around having things commit suicide by attacking you. So unless they make the crab tauntable, you can't damage it.

Trading Aces11/21/2014, 1:23:15 AM2 votes

Pantheon is silly. Due to his passive, you can solo dragon as early as lv3 at full hp. Rock that Dragonslayer skin, guys.

ShakeNBakeUK11/21/2014, 12:52:59 PM2 votes

flat armor quints + flat armor seals.

OblongOtter11/21/2014, 5:24:37 AM2 votes

Just saying I love the new diversity in champions for the jungle. Thinking of maining jungle now. There's just one champ who will remain nameless who can deal 6 types of damage as a jungler now, which kind of removes counterplay. The only way to counter their damage is attack speed slows.

FiniteApple11/21/2014, 5:46:49 AM2 votes

don't trust ur scrub adc

Gankutsuo11/21/2014, 2:25:23 AM2 votes
  1. Maokai Is a beast in the new jungle.
HexTechBomber11/22/2014, 10:07:47 AM1 votes

I can understand the starting Krug for the AA based champions as it'd help clear, and wouldn't red just do the same thing with the burn passive you gain?

Now my only problem I'm seeing is that some champions still have to start blue that need it because they rely on a single or two abilities to clear jungle camps easily, mainly those that are tanky and deal small damage and use their abilities to help clear because blue buff helps them out with mana sustain.

Example: Hecarim (Q + W), Sejuani (W + E), Maokai (Q + E), etc. I'm sure you can find some more.

I've seen some say that you could start those junglers off at Gromp, get a leash there, smite him, then go kill blue, and wolves, back and you should be okay from there.

The only thing I'll miss for some champs was the tankier jungle item early that gave him a bit more sustain from the auto attack on them form monsters.

I haven't had much chance to really play the new jungle yet, I mainly play mid lane but also one thing I'd like to find out is are people really taking smite in other lanes for certain smite passives now? Is multiple smite the new meta? Like smite jungle and top lane? or smite mid and jungle? or smite adc/heal or exhaust bot lane and jungle? I know multiple smites were taken for quick clears on dragon/baron and what not but is this coming down to the new meta?

lostbob11711/21/2014, 2:23:31 AM1 votes

When playing Ezreal(And about any range jungler) jungle there are certain spots to stand to not take damage, or not take as much damage. I'm still gonna do more research tomorrow. I'll probably be introducing my Ez jungle too.

Moranda Kathr11/21/2014, 2:46:07 AM1 votes

Yup back the the smiteless leash meta!

LockeTheHunter11/21/2014, 4:14:33 AM1 votes

As a JarvanIV player, I have some experience on routes for him. On purple side, start Gromp and summoner 11 it. Then go to Blue and pop one item 2003 there. Afterwards, ignore wolves and chickens and go straight to Red. As soon as you start to see JarvanIV get low, summoner 11 red. Then back.

On Blue side, start Krugs, but don't summoner 11 . Instead, go to red then summoner 11 it once JarvanIV gets low. Run straight to blue. Then back.

Get either a item 3706 or a item 3715 . item 3706 is good if you plan to gank a lot and the enemy jungler is somebody you can't counter easily. item 3715 is good if the enemy jungler is weak early on, like Amumu , Sejuani , or Nautilus .

Always get item 3707 . It's arguably better than elder lizard in the stats it gives. After that just play like normal.

ESeTyRC11/21/2014, 8:54:21 AM1 votes

Take teleport and ward trinket. Upon reaching second buff with a jungler that doesn't have particularly good sustain, potions are probably used up. Ward, B, teleport back with whatever you need, minimal time lost and a lane can be ganked immediately afterwards.

This is assuming the jungling champ has some sort of mobility that can replace flash.

The champ I've done this successfully so far with is Sejuani

mdodgey11/21/2014, 1:27:13 PM1 votes

I had a really hard time jungling as Khazix yesterday, all AD quints/marks, 21/9/0 masteries, Could get through both buffs but died to chickens, had a hard time clearing jungle for a while too. Any tips on how to start out on Khazix in this new jungle?

Mediocre Joe11/21/2014, 2:13:58 PM1 votes

play pantheon then win

Bearistot1e11/21/2014, 4:41:57 PM1 votes

I was just learning jungle before 4.2 hit and struggling but starting to enjoy it, now I can't even play my favourite jungles without getting behind and becoming useless due to the difficulty of the new jungle, so I won't be trying it anymore.

TaoistMaster11/21/2014, 5:18:39 PM1 votes

Shaco

Level 2 ganks just got ridiculous

Sypher The Poro11/21/2014, 5:20:16 PM1 votes

I main Kha'Zix jungle, and as an already squishy jungler I was a little worried when the update came out. However, the with the new item 3713 it's a lot easy to stay in jungler longer.

WeG11/22/2014, 9:40:03 AM1 votes

I've been experimenting a lot with Shyvana jungle this preseason, and I was wondering if anyone had any input on the build I'm favoring. 0/21/9, 1 red crit, 8 red aspd, 9 yellow armor, 8 blue armor 1 blue aspd, 3 LS quints. Start golems smiting the large, kill red then wolves, kill/smite krog, blue, chickens and back. Sustain's pretty decent, and I run exhaust/smite so if before or after the chickens if a lane is almost at tower I can gank. There's also a good opportunity to level 2 gank after doing golems/red buff on purple side with exhaust.

I'm doing devourer/skirmisher, botrk/hydra (depending on if we need waveclear or not), zerks/treads/tabi, 3 tank items (I'm favoring Omen/BV) then Solari if we need it, if not scimitar or maw, or thornmail if we need it. Then trading out boots for zephyr.

With the tank masteries there's a butt ton of tenacity/slow reduction, exhaust/botrk/omen for 3x active slows, dueling is insane because of exhaust/skirmishers, and the iron elixir for even more slow resistance/tenacity or ruin if I need to splitpush.

If you catch the entire team in a jungle lane especially with the tiamat if you can land your entire combo on them 1v5 penta chances are huge.