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In League of Legends, the jungle role is a distinct position where players concentrate on farming neutral monsters, ganking lanes, and providing vision for their team. They frequently serve as the primary shot-callers and are critical in securing objectives and creating opportunities for their team.
One could easily argue that the jungle role is the most influential in the game, followed by either midlane or support.
This is due to junglers in League of Legends playing a vital role in the game, especially in the early and mid-game phases. Through ganks, counter-jungling, and objective control, they control jungle camps and provide resources and pressure to the lanes. Their influence can lead to kills, completion of objectives, and, ultimately, victory itself.
The jungle role in League of Legends is also widely regarded as one of the most difficult to master. This is because junglers and the rest of the team must constantly make hard decisions and coordinate amongst themselves.
On top of that, the pathing and timing of objectives are critical factors in League of Legends, and a single blunder can derail the entire game plan. Furthermore, players must have a good level of mechanical skill and knowledge in order to execute strategies effectively.
The jungler role necessitates a thorough understanding of the counterpart in the opposing team, as well as matching the pace of the game and adapting to the situation. The job demands significant time investment and dedication towards it, making it a difficult one to master.
If a League of Legends player can understand the jungler role well, they can easily become their team's most valuable asset. They will then effectively control the camps, provide resources, and pressure to the lanes through ganks, counter-jungling, and objective control.
A skilled League of Legends jungler should be able to communicate with the rest of the team (especially the support), anticipate enemy moves, and guide teammates toward the goal. They can also help their laners snowball by giving them early kills and advantages, which will then result in stronger laners and a better squad.
A guide to dominate the jungler role in League of Legends Season 13
Season 13 of League of Legends brings together a wide variety of changes to the game. Riot Games introduced a bunch of changes in the pre-season 2023 to give the community a good amount of time to provide feedback and get used to the changes.
For Season 13, the developers were quite honest before the release of the changes in the League of Legends pre-season 2023, about what they expect the role to be like and the changes they want to implement. They are as follows:
- Shifting jungle complexity into a more rewarding and meaningful area.
- Making junglers less reliant on their teammates to succeed in their role in League of Legends.
- Increasing the skill floor of the role to ensure getting auto-filled into the jungle is a less miserable experience.
Everything that's new for the jungle in League of Legends Season 13
1) Jungle companions & pets
From League of Legends Season 13 onwards, previous jungle items Emberknife and Hailblade have been entirely replaced with three companions, namely, Scorchclaw Pup (Red), Mosstomper Seedling (Green), and Gustwalker Hatchling (Blue).
In addition, they will go after the jungle target that is being attacked. Once stopped, they will hit the target twice, allowing efficiency to clear. Companions will also heal for 70% of the damage done and replenish mana.
As the game evolves, the League of Legends jungle companion will evolve twice. Since the item starts with 40 stacks, takedowns and monster kills lead to one treat for it, along with generating a bonus treat every 60 seconds. Once the bonus treat is available, killing the next large monster will give two treats to the companion and a bonus 50 gold.
At the start of the game, the smite deals 600 damage. Once 20 treat upgrades are provided to the companion, the first upgrade for the smite will bump up the damage to 900. The smite can then be used to damage and slow enemy champions.
Once a total of 40 treats are done, they will achieve their final form. This will result in the smite upgrading its damage to 1200, along with splash damage to other monsters in League of Legends.
After that, the jungle item will be removed entirely, which will result in the freeing up of a slot. Following that, the companion will achieve its final form and a buff, according to the choice made.
A) Mosstomper
This jungle pet is ideal for players who want to lead their teams while also ensuring their long-term viability.
Mosstomper's Bravery allows gamers to gain a health shield worth 75-300 (depending on the level) after killing a monster camp or after 10 seconds out of combat if the shield is in place. While it is present, players will be able to gain about 20% tenacity and slow resist for 1.5 seconds after it is broken.
Meanwhile, the Protection Buffs allow the players to take 30% less damage from monsters when at least two allies are within 1300 units.
Champion tenacity type: Multiplicative with item tenacity.
B) Scorchclaw
This pet is ideal for junglers who want to play more aggressively, especially during heavy dueling. It's also good against tanks and bruisers.
Scorchclaw's Slash allows players to gain Ember stacks at a rate of three every 0.5 seconds, or 100 if a large monster is killed.
At 100 Ember stacks, the next instance of damage against an enemy champion slows all enemies within a 250-unit radius by almost 30%. This decays over two seconds and deals burn damage to the primary target equal to 5% of their maximum health in true damage over four seconds.
Meanwhile, here too, the Protection Buffs allow players to take 30% less damage from monsters when at least two allies are within 1300 units.
C) Gustwalker
This jungle pet is ideal for players who want to rotate and move faster around the map. Basically, it is the best choice for mobile and assassin champions.
Gustwalker's Gait allows players to gain a 45% bonus movement speed when entering a brush, but it decays after two seconds. Also, after killing a large monster, this increases to 60% for two seconds.
Here as well, the Protection Buffs allow the players to take 30% less damage from monsters when at least two allies are within 1300 units.
2) Jungle camp's mechanical changes
When a large monster dies, all the small ones in the League of Legends' jungle camp are marked for death. They will then die after 10 consecutive seconds of not being in combat with a champion.
To weaken counter-jungling in League of Legends, junglers will now deal 20% more damage to monsters on their own side of the jungle.
As long as the jungle companion is present, all large monsters will now heal (increased by up to 2.25x based on missing health) health, and restore 15+2/level (increased by up to 2.25x based on missing mana) mana upon takedown.
3) Jungle camp gold and experience changes
Large minion experience - Unless they are behind in average game level, League of Legends junglers will only get 75% experience from lane minions before their first pet evolution.
Large monster gold - The gold given to non-junglers by League of Legends' large monsters has been reduced by 15 gold.
Large monster experience - All large monsters will now give junglers with a companion an extra 15 experience.
4) Monster changes
Blue Sentinel
- Health: 1850 ⇒ 2300
- Attack Damage: 78 ⇒ 66
- On-Hit Damage: Blue Sentinel now deals 5% of its target’s current health on hit
Gromp
- Health: 1650 ⇒ 2200
- Attack Damage: 74 ⇒ 70
- Attack Range: 200 ⇒ 175
- On-Hit Damage: Gromp now deals 5% of its target’s current health on hit
Krugs
- Ancient Krug Health: 1050 ⇒ 1350
- Ancient Krug Attack Damage: 74 ⇒ 57
- On-Hit Damage: Ancient Krug now deals 3% of its target’s current health on hit
- Krug Health: 500 ⇒ 650
- Ancient Krug and Krugs Death Animation/Smaller Krug Spawn Time: 1.3 seconds ⇒ 1 second
- 1=2: Ancient Krug is now counted as 2 CS (The Krugs camp as a whole will still be counted as 4 CS)
Murk Wolves
- Greater Murk Wolf Health: 1200 ⇒ 1600
- Greater Murk Wolf Attack Damage: 35 ⇒ 30
- On-Hit Damage: Greater Murk Wolf now deals 3% of its target’s current health on hit
- Murk Wolves Health: 480 ⇒ 630
Raptors
- Crimson Raptor Health: 800 ⇒ 1100
- Crimson Raptor Attack Damage: 20 ⇒ 17
- On-Hit Damage: Crimson Raptor now deals 3% of its target’s current health on hit
- Raptor Health: 425 ⇒ 500
- Raptor Attack Damage: 10 ⇒ 7
Red Brambleback
- Attack Damage: 78 ⇒ 66
- Health: 1850 ⇒ 2300
- On-Hit Damage: Red Brambleback now deals 5% of its target’s current health on hit
Rift Herald
- Experience Given to Champs within 600 units: 200 ⇒ 300
- First Spawned Rift Herald Charge: 2000 ⇒ 1500
Rift Scuttler
- Spawn Time: 3:15 ⇒ 3:30
- Health at Level 1: 1050 ⇒ 1550
- No longer has a shield
5) Changes that are beneficial to beginners
Jungle path recommendations - To make jungling easier for players who are new to League of Legends, the client will now recommend optimal jungling paths for the champion that is being played.
Leash ranges - To make camp clearing more beginner-friendly, there will be a leash indicator for every jungle camp.
Soft resets - The monster will "soft reset" for six seconds after losing all patience. During this time, it will move towards the center of its camp, regenerate 6% of its maximum health per second, and ignore attackers who are outside its leash range.
After six seconds without being attacked, the League of Legends monster will "hard reset." It will ignore all attackers, heal quickly, and return to its original position.
Pathing guide for League of Legends' jungle in Season 13
1) Early game
Early game jungle pathing is critical for players in League of Legends as it lays the groundwork for the rest of the match.
The primary goal of a jungler in the initial phase should always be to control the jungle camps, and supply resources and gold to themselves and their team. They can give their team a significant advantage in the early game by effectively ganking lanes and securing objectives.
Junglers must also consider whether they can clear camps faster than their opponents when deciding on the jungle path for the early game. Is the potential fight for their champion viable when approaching the scuttle crab? They should also consider the possibility of the enemy jungler invading them, even if the attack is now a little weaker than it was previously.
With jungle being a dynamic role in League of Legends, the state of the other lanes (winning or losing) should also be taken into account.
How one's laners can affect these decisions is important even if the champion being played is a strong early duelist. There's not much to be done if the enemy toplaner shoves the wave under one's toplane tower and helps the enemy jungler by contesting the scuttle.
2) Which lane to gank towards?
Choosing which lane to gank towards as a jungler is an important decision that can have a significant impact in League of Legends. When making this choice, there are several factors to consider.
The first is the state of the lanes, which includes the enemy laner's health and position, as well as the possibility of a successful gank. The second factor is the relative strength of fellow teammates and their ability to follow up on a gank and secure a kill. The third factor is timing, as ganking at the right time can make or break a successful attack.
As a jungle player, considering the map pressure is essential. If there is a lane that is pushed up, it may be a good idea to gank it. Also, if the opposing jungler is pressing the same lane, it may be a good idea to counter-gank to capitalize on the situation.
Finally, deciding which lane to gank towards necessitates a thorough understanding of the game's state as well as the ability to make quick and accurate decisions.
To have consistent success in this role, they should ultimately have the mindset of ganking towards the lane that gives them the best chance of securing kills. To consistently be the best-performing jungler, one must have the mindset of getting as far ahead as possible while ganking a lane.
In some matches, junglers often make the mistake of not prioritising lanes other than botlane. They try to deliberately ignore toplane even in the scenarios where playing topside of the map is the ideal wincon for the game.
This often leads to players loosing to strong-sided enemy toplaners. This is because the opponent jungler is smart enough to understand that giving the toplane priority is the play, even if the toplaner might be a tank.
Players should try not to dwell into this kind of mindset as it will only lead to the enemy jungler creating the "JGL DIFFERENCE."
3) What is the ideal time to pursue neutral objectives?
In League of Legends, as a jungler in the early game, the primary focus should be on clearing jungle camps or influencing other lanes generally speaking.
Consider a situation where a fellow botlane has strong pushing power early on and can potentially assist in bailing out in a crucial 1v1 duel against the enemy jungler on the botlane river. In this case, the emphasis should most likely be on securing neutral objectives and ensuring that the team-carry comp's potential isn't wasted.
Who are the best League of Legends Season 13 jungle champions?
It is hard to predict if certain champions will continue to prevail as "dominant" during the entirety of Season 13. This is given more strength since League of Legends is an ever-evolving game with continuous patches, along with champion buffs/nerfs.
As long as the following champions aren't completely gutted from the meta in the upcoming patches, these picks should ensure consistent carry potential in the majority of the instances, along with being good overall picks. Thus, the best junglers for League of Legends Season 13 are as follows:
1) Evelynn
With the jungle meta changing so drastically, scaling/power-farming picks like Evelynn can finally have a strong presence.
This is due to her being one of the strongest scaling champions in the game. She can very easily carry games if the player can safely get through her early phase.
As invading jungle camps has been nerfed, the champion can safely focus on her camp in order to reach her level-6 power spike, after which she only gets stronger and stronger.
Her buffs back in patch 12.20 surely helped her out in becoming a powerful pick. With that being said, it is recommended that players play a lot of Evelynn games before trying her out on Ranked. This is so that they understand her champion kit, matchups, and how to play her efficiently.
2) Amumu
Amumu is officially back to being one of the best picks in the meta after his buffs in the last patch of pre-season 2023 helped him to a good extent.
He will enter League of Legends Season 13 with consistently healthy jungle-clear speed, a good amount of crowd control, good scaling, and amazing peel potential for fellow teammates, as well as god-like team-fighting capabilities.
Amumu, in particular, is one of the most beginner-friendly champions in League of Legends, with little-to-no skill ceiling, along with being a strong champion pick. He can be considered one of the strongest and best jungle picks for Season 13, with the buffs to the tank mythic item, Jack'sho, The Protean.
3) Maokai
Maokai was one of the better picks at the end of League of Legends pre-season 2023, as he will enter Season 13 as one of the best scaling tank champions. His passive healing, tankiness, and peeling potential, combined with Amumu's low skill ceiling, make him one of the strongest and best jungle picks.
Furthermore, Maokai is a very strong toplaner, which makes him a good two-way flex pick. And, with his core mythic Jack'sho, The Protean being buffed in this patch, he is without a doubt the best tank champion for jungle pick.
This is due to Jack'sho, The Protean receiving changes which makes the item scale with resistances, from patch 13.1 onwards. And with Maokai being a champion who builds almost all resistance items, it's a match made in heaven.
And if these reasons aren't strong enough for him to be a viable pick, Maokai is performing insanely well in the jungle with two builds. The first is the AP Liandry's Torment and the second is the usual Jack'sho, The Protean. With a 54% winrate, along with an almost 10% pickrate, it is clear which champions will be dominating League of Legends Season 13.
4) Fiddlesticks
Jungle champions like Fiddlesticks are the very definition of elo-inflated. With an outrageous 55% winrate in patch 13.1, he is quite literally a broken champion as of now. He is well-known for his impressive crowd control and ability to start fights, with his playstyle being based on catching enemies off guard and controlling team fights.
With a relatively small skill-ceiling, the main thing to look out for on Fiddlesticks is not initiating unrewarding duels early in the game as he shines in mid-late phases. Ganking midlane and botlane especially is fairly simple with him. He can be safely considered one of the strongest picks in League of Legends Season 13.
5) Elise
At the top of the list is League of Legends' champion Elise. She continues her strong presence from the pre-season 2023 meta as she enters Season 13 as one of the strongest, if not the strongest jungle champion in the game.
The "Spider-Queen" is arguably the best diving jungle champion in League of Legends as she heavily rewards any player who has an aggressive early-game playstyle coupled with amazing pick potential.
With an outstanding 53.18% winrate, along with an 8.3% pickrate, Elise is the best champion for the jungle in League of Legends Season 13.
Conclusion
With the implementation of changes in Season 13, the jungler as a role should become a much more enjoyable experience for the majority of the community.
Even auto-filled players should have a significantly positive experience, with Ranked changes being one of the reasons.
For League of Legends Season 13, the jungle has become much more beginner-friendly. However, it is still in players' best interests to have at least a couple of games' worth of experience playing as the jungler before moving on to Ranked.
