Ask an LoL player what the most unique role in League of Legends is, and chances are, they will tell you the Jungler. If you play as a Jungler, in Summoners Rift, you’ll spend most of your time tucked away between the three main lanes in the foliage. This is where you will gather buffs, fight neutral monsters, and find ways to flank the enemy team.
Glancing at the role of the Jungler looks complex and daunting, especially if you’re not familiar with the role. Before you play the Jungler role, there are highly specific mechanics to learn – you will also need to know certain buffs, monsters, and yes, even routes.
That’s where this posting (tips to make you a better Jungler) comes into play. Here, we will introduce you to the role of a Jungler and give you some tips that will hopefully transform you into the king of the Jungle in LoL.
What Does a Jungler do?
While the other players are spending their time during the early game gathering gold and experience in the lane, the Jungler will be on a different path. Instead of doing what the others are doing, you’ll rack up on experience and gold by slaying monsters.
In the jungle, there are some pretty tough creatures to fight. For these reasons, Junglers usually are anything but squishy champions – they’re usually tanky and stocky bruisers that can dish out their fair share of damage while being able to take some hits.
For a Jungler, it’s not a total player-versus-environment experience though. Once you have managed to collect your buffs and have defeated all the monsters in your jungle, you can go from lane to lane to help your team members. One of the best ways to do this is to gank your ally’s lane – to gain an advantage, catch them off guard, and secure the kills. As a Jungler, you need to know which paths to take and when to attempt those ganks – that’s what separates the best LoL Junglers from all the rest.
Tips to Make You a Better Jungler
1. Be Flexible, Pay Attention to the Map
Don’t try to stick with the same old tactic for every game. The best LoL Jungler is one who can be flexible. Keep in mind that every game is going to be different, regardless of how you play. It makes no sense at all to gank your Nasus after the second buff. Chances of being able to kill his opponent will be slim, so you’ll only be wasting time. Overall, keep your eyes on the map. By watching the map, you can gather information about who is losing/winning, and which enemy is easy to gank, which enemy is not easy.
2. Understand Your Champions Win Conditions
One thing you can search for is what your champion’s win conditions are. If the champion needs to scale, you’re not going to be strong at the beginning of the game. If they’re an early game champion, you will need to be upbeat in the early game.
Jarvan, Lee Sin, and Elise are three champions we know are strong in the early game. These three champions must be as active as they can be and gang whenever possible.
Scaling champions aren’t going to be strong in the early game and will need some time to warm up. Take Master Yi as an example; on his own, he isn’t the best ganker. Eve and Amumu are prime examples of champions that aren’t that great until they reach level 6.
When you’re playing on a champion who isn’t strong in the early game, you will need to focus on getting as much XP and gold as possible – this will allow you to get your power spike quickly. Once you have received your power spike, you need to gank as much as you can.
For most champions, their first power spike is their Ultimate, while others may need to reach a certain level or get their first item. Mind you; this doesn’t mean that a champion that isn’t strong early in the game can’t help their laners – help others when you see fit and be as proactive as can be.
3. When to Buy a Tent
You took on an enemy laner and killed him with your gank. Now they’re whining in-game chat. Great job. Now, go to the nearest market and get you a comfortable tent so that you can enjoy your camping time on that lane. Many times, this will cause the enemy player to rage so much that it will cause then to lose the game …that or rage quit.
4. Always Pick Up a Pink Ward
Please don’t wait for the other teammates to pick up a pink ward, because chances are; they’re not going to. All it takes is one guy to put one vision ward. When you do grab it, make sure you always place yours – vision is essential.
5. Play Around Your Ultimate
Even if you chose a champion that is an early game dominant, you would want to play around your Ultimate so that you can maximize kills. Most Ultimates for LoL Junglers are available in one of two forms: Either crowd control/utility or tons of damage.
If your champion doesn’t have the greatest gank pressure, then you should farm while the Ultimate is down and gank whenever it is up. Amumu, Malphite, and Shyvana are good examples of this. These three champions don’t have the strongest gank pressure without using their Ultimate.
Regardless of the LoL champion you’re playing along, you should always try to gank whenever that Ulti is ready – this can bring in a lot of gold for your team. Take Sejuani’s Ultimate as an example of this. If you use it in a lane dealing with a lot of damage, it’s going to get a kill every time.
If you forget to use your Ulti, you’re missing out on potential gold, map pressure, and experience, along with many other things that could equal a win.
This is why it is essential that whenever your Ultimate is up, you try to use it – we cannot stress this enough.
To make sure you get the most out of your Ulti, you need to use it in the best lane possible. What does this mean? Well, some champions naturally have more pressure than others. If the likelihood of using your Ultimate and defeating the enemy isn’t very big, then you may want to take it elsewhere.
For example, let’s say you’re in the top lane, and you’re using your Ulti to help tank vs. tank – this isn’t the most significant use of a CC Ultimate. For Ultimates that can execute champions like Lee Sin and Evelynn, though, this isn’t the case because, in the end, a kill is a kill. CC Ultimates like Amumu’s and Shyvana’s are best when you use it on immobile, squishy carries like those running wild in the bot or mid lane.
6. Don’t Spend a Lot of Time Helping Lost Lanes
In LoL, it’s not common to have three winning lanes. For those lanes that are counted as lost, you shouldn’t take part in it. For example, you’re trying to help a lane that is way behind – this isn’t always going to lead to a successful gank. They may be behind in items, levels, and sometimes even skills. When you find this to be true, it’s a waste of time trying to help them.
Let’s say the top laner is 0 and 3. Assisting them is going to be a difficult task because the enemy is far ahead. When you have a lane that is this far behind, you won’t be able to help them alone. So, you may need help from nearby lanes to take on the enemy.
It would be a better idea for you to put your time towards trying to help lanes that are already doing good or are at least even on the score. If you manage to help get these lanes even further ahead, you will have a higher impact on the map.
Now, if you know you can actually kill the enemy, by all means, go ahead and help the losing lanes. We don’t recommend you spending too much of your time trying to help them as this would cause you to fall behind.
7. Leave the Kills for Your Teammates, if Possible
As a Jungler, you’re going to be fine with or without those kills, so leave them for your teammates whenever possible because they need the gold.
8. Use Pings
Okay, so you’re doing great, and you have eyes everywhere on the map. However, your teammates aren’t at the same level s you. For this reason, you need to make it a habit to use those pings. Whenever you or your enemies are going down, inform your team about it.
