Jungling is one of the unique ways to play the game. In Wild Rift, there are five roles, but the jungle is arguably the hardest to master and play to its full potential. Although it has a steep learning curve, the role is one of the best, if not the best, at carrying in solo or duo queue. If you’re still searching for your main champion and role or are new to the game, jungling may seem intimidating. Here’s how to play jungle in Wild Rift.
Jungle Basics in Wild Rift
The jungle is very different from the other lanes, like the mid or baron lane. While you have a direct enemy, the enemy jungler, you can go an entire match without ever interacting with them. Especially for the first couple of minutes, you are exclusively a PvE role. As time goes by, you encounter more PvP action.
There are three main objectives every jungler must have in mind in each match:
- Farming
- Ganking
- Securing Objectives
Let’s dissect them piece by piece.
Farming (Clearing)
Farming is one of the main things many beginner junglers overlook. It’s a vital tool that helps you get ahead of the enemy jungler and enemy laners. Even though it may seem like you get levels passively throughout the game and you don’t need exp, the value and bonus gold you can acquire if you farm correctly and make sure the enemy can not farm their camps consistently will gain a significant advantage. This is especially helpful against “feast or famine” champs like Kha’Zix or Rengar.
Farming Junglers in Wild Rift: Shyvana, Evelynn, Graves
Ganking
Ganking is THE de-facto trait of every jungler. It’s the main tool for getting your team ahead. The value of ganking goes up significantly if you combine it with a concrete jungle clear to maximize income. Although, you should never be too into one another if your champ does not benefit from it. Ganking can be focused (repeatedly ganking the same enemy to weaken them considerably) or “drive-by” ganking (ganking to the nearest lane after you are done clearing the jungle).
Unlike farming, ganking is also based on your teammates and their abilities to a lane and set you up. If you have a weak laner that is losing very hard, it might be best to avoid that lane unless more teammates come with you to take him down. On the other side of the coin, if one of your laners is winning the lane very hard, try making plays near them. Take dragons with them, gank other lanes together or take towers.
Ganking is a very unpredictable subject in Wild Rift. It depends a lot on your teammates. No ganks will be possible if all of your lanes are losing. In that case, just farm and scale. Avoid fights, even if it means giving up a few objectives. If all is lost, don’t worry, even the best players in the world lose some games in solo queue.
Ganking Junglers in Wild Rift: Kha’Zix, Lee Sin, Jarvan IV
Securing Objectives
Objectives are extra tools that you can take to strengthen your team further. Jungle-tied objectives are Dragons, Rift Herald, and the Baron. They give permanent or temporary buffs that scale with time. After that, there are objectives like towers and inhibitors. They provide a lot of gold and are a protection layer the enemy team has against your team.
By securing objectives, we mean making sure your team gets (or at least attempts to) dragon and baron whenever necessary and possible. You can solo try taking a dragon without enemies noticing, or you can take the enemy mid-laner’s tower after a successful gank. Knowing when and how to secure objectives is a skill that comes with time and many games played, but no other role teaches you this better than the jungle.
Great Junglers for securing objectives in Wild Rift: Kha’Zix, Shyvana, Jarvan IV
Advanced Tips for Jungling
Jungling is a demanding role; there’s no doubt about it. If you pick up the game, don’t get discouraged if you don’t do well in your first few games. We’ve got a few tips and tricks to get you started on how to play jungle in Wild Rift.
- Clear your camps in order and with logic – For example, if you want to gank your baron laner because they’re in a bad match-up and you want to help them out, don’t start at the same side. Start on the opposite side and get a leash from your dragon lane, so when you finish clearing, you’re ready to gank and not walk back for a minute to get there.
- If you get invaded, try vertical jungling – Vertical jungling is the concept of going to the enemy jungle when you get invaded. If your opponent invades you at your blue buff, start at your red and invade his blue if possible. This ensures that you’re not behind in tempo and exp. If you can’t invade, however, it’s still better to give up the buff if you can not fight back. If you die, you give up a kill AND lose the buff.
- Dictate the tempo if you are ahead – If you find yourself in a winning match-up or ahead in XP and gold, try to press your advantage. Invade the enemy jungle, look to start fights, look to steal buffs, and take objectives. The biggest strength of the jungle role is the ability to snowball. You’re supposed to play aggressively.