How to Jungle as a Beginner in League of Legends

Perhaps you’re tired of always playing mid lane, or maybe you just want to try something new. Maybe you've never even played League of Legends before! We get it, the jungle is calling and you’re ready for new adventures. We’ll teach you what you should be doing, what you should buying and who you should be picking when learning to jungle!

What is your primary objective?

Roam your jungle, farm monsters, gank and push objectives. As the jungler, it is your job to create pressure by ganking enemies when they least expect it. You’ll need to help allies get turrets while using map resources to your advantage.

• Take the Rift Herald and Dragon. Getting objectives is a great tactic if you need to extend your lead or recover from being behind. They’re helpful at all points in the game, especially when you need every advantage you can get. Ask your team for help in bringing down an objective and prepare for a team fight. Opposing teams will do anything to prevent you from getting an objective.
• Don’t risk too much, play it safe. While the jungler reigns supreme amongst the trees, you’ll have a hard time in one-on-one fights against most champions later on. It’s a great idea not to focus on a single lane, as this prevents you from helping the team. Instead, look to snowball winning lanes and help allies defending turrets on losing lanes to spread the pressure evenly.

What champions should you pick?

Players wanting to try the role of jungle should have a look at Warwick, Xin Zhao, Zac and Rammus. All are somewhat easy to learn and should give you a great idea of what you need to do as jungler in League of Legends.

With his great jungle sustain, one-on-one skills and crowd control, Warwick is a constant threat across the entire map. He’s able to chase down fleeing enemies and works great with almost any team composition. On the flipside, Warwick is easily kited and his burst is relatively low.

How to play: Know when you should gank a lane, make picks and stick with your team in the late game. Before diving into team fights, reduce incoming damage with his E ability, Primal Howl, to prevent crowd control from slowing you down. Target the enemy AD Carry with your ultimate, Infinite Duress, for a somewhat quick pick. You’ll need to rely on the team having your back, as Warwick has no real escape. Be sure to save Flash for those sticky situations.

Abilities include Jaws of the Beast (Dash Attack), Blood Hunt (Attack Speed Buff), Primal Howl (Damage Reduction), Infinite Duress (Ultimate Attack)

Deadly in the early game thanks to his high base damage, Xin Zhao can gank enemies to help teammates win their lanes from the start. He is strong in one-on-one fights, deals tons of damage to turrets and has great jungle sustain thanks to his passive, Determination.

How to play: Take advantage of his strong early game by ganking lanes as soon as possible. Go for the Red Brambleback, gank mid- or bot lane, grab both Scuttle Crabs, roam allied jungle, rinse, repeat until you reach the mid game. In team fights, target the enemy AD Carry or the highest damage dealer in the team. Dive in with his E ability, Audacious Charge, and disrupt with his ultimate, Crescent Guard.

Abilities include Three Talon Strike (Damage Buff), Wind Becomes Lightning (Melee Attack), Audcaious Charge (Charge Attack), Crescent Guard (Ultimate AOE)

As a tank that’s a threat in almost all stages of the match, Zac can engage ganks from almost anywhere. He does good AOE damage, and he is able to change team fights in his favour within seconds. His abilities are easy to land while giving him great sustain when clearing monsters in the jungle. As for his weaknesses, Zac relies heavily on his abilities being effective against enemy champions and he especially struggles to get out of crowd control.

How to play: Initiate ganks over the walls – one of his main strengths is his ability to take enemies by surprise, and you’ll need to use that to give yourself the upper hand. In the jungle, go for Red Brambleback, clear Razorbeaks, Krugs and start looking for an opportunity to gank a lane. Dive in on enemies by using his E ability, Elastic Slingshot, and send them flying towards your team with his ultimate, Let’s Bounce!.

Abilities include Stretching Strike (Ranged Attack), Unstable Matter (Close Range Attack), Elastic Slingshot (Ranged Attack), Let’s Bounce! (Ultimate Attack)

Rammus really comes into his own in the late game, to the point where he becomes nearly unstoppable when built correctly. He is fantastic for engaging team fights, absorbs damage and his abilities allow him to break away from almost any situation or chase down escaping enemies. He’s a slow starter and his high mana consumption means that his sustain is somewhat low.

How to play: Depending on what lane has the highest priority of your help, you’ll want to start your jungle path from the red or blue buff. If winning the top lane is most important overall, start by taking Red Brambleback, Razorbeaks, Wolves, Blue Sentinel and Gromp – then you’re ready to gank top lane. In team fights, focus on the enemy AD Carry using his E ability, Frenzying Taunt, follow with his Q ability, Powerball, and finish with his ultimate, Tremors.

Abilities include Powerball (Movement Speed and Attack), Defensive Ball Curl (Defensive Buff), Frenzying Taunt (Taunt and Attack Speed Buff), Tremors (Ultimate Attack)

What items should you buy?

As your role changes, so should your items – here our list of recommended items to buy as a jungler.

Warwick

Xin Zhao

Zac

Rammus

How to keep your team happy

At first, just focus on staying alive and helping all three lanes equally. There will always be someone on your team complaining that you didn’t gank his lane enough – don’t worry about that. The most important thing is that you play it safe for as long as possible, gank lanes and push team objectives.

Communicate with your team. Instead of infighting resulting in feeding lanes and toxic teammates, use the chat to help your allies get better. If you’re behind, ask your team what they want to do – blaming teammates is only going to make your score worse.

The mute command is your friend. When all else fails, muting your team might be the best way to go. Ignoring negative comments and focusing on the game should make it easier to improve your playing. Going from a losing to a winning score, often also means less toxicity in the chat.

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