This guide is directed to be instructional to all those who want to learn how to Jungle effectively and be a help to their team. This guide is a compilation of resources from Stonewall008, TheOddOne, SaintVicious, and my 150+ jungle games in ranked and normal matches. In this guide, I will cover General Mastery setups, Runes, Jungle Routes, Ward Placement and Map Control, Objectives, Jungling items, and brief explanations of common Junglers. It is very thorough so read at your own risk.

The main idea behind having a Jungler is to optimize your team’s gold and Xp intake. By having a Jungler you gain an extra solo lane and extreme map control. You end up having 3 higher level champions instead of one, because the jungle should be able to farm more than the duo lane. Also you gain the element of having one champion MIA the entire laning phase, which forces enemy lanes to play passively unless they want ganked. Overall, a team with a good Jungler gains a giant advantage over the team without a Jungler.

For most accepted Junglers, there are many viable ways to tailor your mastery page to your own play style. Often creating your mastery page is a balancing act between early survivability, early speed, and late game prowess.

In the current Meta, the Jungler fills the role of either Tank, or Tanky DPS. As the Tank/Tanky DPS, you are look upon to bring as much CC as possible into the team comp, and to absorb as much of the enemy CC as is possible. Generally, the more Utility you bring into a match, the more helpful you will be to your team.

This is why you see High Elo players like TheOddOne using Jungle Masteries like 1/8/21. However, this severely weakens your early game so I advise not to start out such masteries to begin with. Play around with your masteries and find what fits your playing style. That being said, there are a few vital Masteries that Junglers need to have.

Plentiful Bounty is almost always a must have. The reduced Cd and 5 gold earned produced is a wonderful thing to have. If you move farther into the offensive tree Sunder and Offensive Mastery are both fantastic to take.

In the Defensive Tree, Hardiness, Resistance, Evasion, and Defensive Mastery are great to have. Dodge chance is great to have especially with a Jungler like Jax or Udyr who already have innate dodge chance. Extra Armor keeps you alive and healthier longer, and reduced damage from minions also works wonders.

Utility is where your points really matter however. If there is one MUST HAVE for a Jungler it would be Awareness. Without it, you do not reach Lv. 2 after blue or Lv. 4 after clear. There is no reason not to take all 4 points as a Jungler. Two other great Masteries to get are Utility Mastery, and Quickness. Having buffs for an extended amount of time as well as having extra movement speed help early Ganks and sustainability in the Jungle.

Runes, like masteries, are heavily dependent on your playing style. Most jungle champions are in the jungle for either great ganking, or great sustain prowess. So experiment and find what combinations work best for your playing style!

For beginning Junglers, Flat HP Quintessences are almost a necessity. They make surviving the Jungle a lot easier. However after achieving proficiency in the jungle you can take whatever Quintessence you desire.

Marks are usually Player’s choice, but depending on the character AS marks, Armor Pen marks, and Magic Pen marks are the most commonly used marks.

For seals you need either Flat Armor seals or Dodge Chance seals. As all jungle creeps deal physical damage, these greatly increase your survivability in the jungle.

Glyphs are always player’s choice. A good glyph for any champion is the MR per level glyph, but you can run anything from AS to AP glyphs.

In my opinion, there are two viable routes to clear the jungle. For the purposes of this guide I will refer to them as “Blue Path” and “Stonewall’s Path”. There are many paths out there that I have seen, however they are all outshined by these two paths. Many of these other paths are created for champions who cannot complete the aforementioned paths. My thinking is that if they can’t complete these paths, then they don’t belong in the jungle.

Blue Path is the most commonly used path through the jungle. The path is as follows: Blue Golem(Smite) -> Wolves -> Wraiths -> Red Lizard(Smite) -> Double Golems -> Gank/Recall. This provides you with double buff and Level 4 between the 3:50 – 4:20 mark, depending on your champion. This path is most commonly used by Blue Buff dependent Junglers (ex. Amumu, Trundle, Udyr).

Stonewall’s Path is the superior route to clear the jungle with in my opinion. This path is as follows: Wolves -> Wraiths(Smite) -> Double Golems -> Recall -> Blue Golem(Smite) -> Wolves -> Wraiths -> Red Lizard(Smite if off Cd) -> Double Golems(Smite if not used on Red) -> Gank/Recall. This provides you with Level 5 by the 5:15- 5:40 mark with double buff. This path is most commonly used by quick Level 6 champions (ex. Nocturne, Gangplank), and by non-Blue reliant Junglers (ex. Lee Sin).

The thing that separates a great Jungler from a good Jungler is Map Awareness and Control. Map Control is possibly the most important thing in LoL. With Map Control you can pick off single targets as they stray from their team, you can secure easy Dragon and Barons, and you can safely steal enemy buffs. This greatly inhibits the enemy team, while giving your team a huge advantage.

You gain awareness by using wards. Placing wards is very important, but you shouldn’t squander them uselessly as they do add up. There are 3 different items that play into map control.

Sight Wards are 75 gold and last for 3 minutes. They give vision to all non-stealth units. These are the cheapest of all wards, and as a Jungler you should be picking up 2 or 3 of these each time you recall during all phases of the game. Also, the active on Wriggle’s Lantern provides a Sight Ward free every 3 minutes.

Vision Wards are 125 gold and give vision of invisible units for 3 minutes. This is a great item for places that receive a lot of wards like dragon or baron. However, if you place this and do not find an enemy ward, you were better off buying a Sight Ward.

The last item Oracle’s Elixir costs 400 gold, and gives the user vision of invisible units until death. This is an extremely powerful item that is also extremely risky. If bought early and you die quickly without finding a couple wards it can be devastating. However, if used correctly, Oracles can completely decimate the enemy’s Map control, making it that much easier to take Dragon and Baron Nashor.

Below is a chart of great offensive/defensive placements for wards. The red dots are extremely important and should always have Sight wards or possibly Vision Wards. For Blue team, the Blue dots are great offensive ward placements, and the Purple Dots are great defensive placements. For Purple Team it is the opposite.

As Jungler, it is your job to protect, secure, and obtain neutral buffs for your team. The Jungler performs many roles during the laning phase such as, warding, covering, dragon control, ganking, and distributing buffs. Here is a list of objectives, from most to least important, for Junglers to follow.

1. Protecting/Killing Baron Nashor- From about the 20 minute mark on, there should always be a ward protecting Baron. The massive buff, as well as the global gold and experience Baron provides is too valuable to let slip to enemy hands. This Objective has Extremely High Risk with Extremely High Potential Reward.

2. Destroying Mid Tower- If the opportunity ever arises to destroy mid tower take it. This greatly increases your Map control and frees up mid to be a roamer. Also provides Global gold and experience. This Objective has Medium Risk and Extremely High Potential Reward.

3. Protecting/Killing Dragon- Dragon provides a great Global gold and experience boost that is great to have. When you notice the enemy Jungler top, or mid or bot recalled, go take dragon. 4v3 or 4v2 will most likely mean a dragon in your favor. This Objective has High Risk and High Potential Reward.

4. Destroying Side Towers- This increases Map Control and frees a lane to roam. Provides Global gold and experience. This Objective has Medium Risk, and High reward.

5. Obtaining/Distributing Your Blue/Red Buffs- It gives great lane dominance to your
Carries to have a buff over their opponent. Blue should almost always be given to the AP carry, and Red should almost always be given to the Ranged AD Carry. This Objective has Extremely Low Risk and Medium Potential Reward.
6. Stealing Enemy Blue/Red Buffs- It is always great to have 4 buffs on your team and deny the enemy of their buffs. Should never be attempted without aggressive ward placements. This Objective has High Risk and High Potential Reward.
7. Covering Solo Lane- I say solo lane because bottom lane should never recall at the same time. You never want to give away an easy tower because no one is in the lane. This objective has Low Risk and Low Potential Reward.

8. Ganking- Only Gank a lane if they are overextended and around or below half health. If their summoner spells are up, be happy to make them waste them. Do not use Flash aggressively unless you are positive it will get you a kill. Never be overly aggressive and give the enemy carry double buff. This objective has High Risk and Medium Potential Reward.

9. Killing Jungle Creeps- You need farm to be effective. Wolves/Wraiths/Double Golems are your main source of farm. This objective has Extremely Low Risk and Low Potential Reward.

Wriggle’s Lantern provides +23 damage, +30 armor, +18% life steal, 20% chance proc 500 magic damage to minions, and free Sight Ward every 3 minutes. Cost is 1600 gold. This is a great early game item that provides everything a DPS Jungler needs to sustain and jungle faster. Wriggle’s is an amazing item for DPS Junglers like Nocturne, Udyr, Warwick, Trundle.

Boots of Mobility provides enhanced movement 5 when out of combat for 5 seconds, enhanced movement 2 passive. They are great for moving between camps and ganking. Also helps cross the map much quicker than any other boots, helping you spend more time farming and ganking and not walking. Cost is 1000 gold.

Mercury Treads are another great boot choice for Junglers. Since the majority of Junglers are melee you will be in the middle of team fights. Mercury Treads provides enhanced movement speed 2, +25 Magic Resistance, +35 Tenacity. Cost is 1200 gold.

Philosopher’s Stone provides +18 Health regen per 5 seconds and +8 Mana regen per 5 seconds as well as a unique passive of gaining 5 additional gold per 10 seconds. This is a great item for non-Melee DPS Junglers such as Amumu, and Nunu. Cost is 800 gold.

Heart of Gold provides +250 Health with a unique passive of gaining 5 additional gold per 10 seconds. This item is great for any Melee Jungler. Cost is 825 gold.

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In my opinion, Nunu is the strongest Jungler in the game, even after the severe nerf to his early game. Jungling as Nunu is a lot different than jungling as any other character. Nunu’s greatest strength is that he can counter-jungle better than anyone in the game. A good Nunu can reach level 5 by the time the enemy Jungler reaches level 3. He can literally turn a game into a 5 v 4.
As Nunu, I run a 1/19/10 set up with MP marks, AR seals, MR/level glyphs, and Health quints. However, Nunu is extremely versatile and you can run basically any combination of masteries and runes with him.
I start with boots and 3 health pots. I grab Q, and consume my large wolf as it spawns. A couple of auto attacks later and it will be dead and you go to Blue. My second point is put into W and from then on I constantly Blood boil myself. Steal the enemy large wraith with consume and then take his double golem. By this point you should be level 3, put a point in E and you can either gank, or clear your jungle. You will end your jungle almost level 5 and the enemy Jungle will be barely level 3.
Nunu’s fills in a team as the tank. He can initiate well and has amazing cc and amazing survivability. Using your ult to draw enemy CC is also a great strategy.
Nunu fits well in literally any team comp, there are very few if any champions he doesn’t mesh with. Some champions he works especially well with are Ashe, Vayne, Sona, and Anivia.

Just as jungling as Nunu is different than any other character in the game, jungling against Nunu forces you to change your jungle style and take several precautions against his counter-jungling.
If you notice a Nunu on the opposing team, he will be jungling. And if Nunu is jungling, that means he will be counter-jungling you. That being said there are a few quick and easy ways to avoid disaster in the first 4 minutes. Have your support, or a friendly teammate buy you a ward and place it at the entrance to your jungle by your wraiths. If Nunu does show up to consume steal your big wraith you can do one of two things.
Firstly, you can avoid a confrontation and steal his wraiths, asking for CV every 30 or so seconds to keep track of Nunu and see whether you can get away with stealing his double golems. This will actually put you ahead of Nunu. Congratulations, you just counter-counter-jungled the counter-jungle King.
Secondly, you can tell your teammates where he is, and gank him for an easy first blood at your double golems. This is an extremely weak position for Nunu, as he is not yet lv 3 with his slow. Also double golems do quite a bit of damage, and there aren’t very many great escape paths for him.
So go out there and defeat that greedy Nunu.

Amumu is the next strongest Jungler behind Nunu in my opinion. He has a fast jungle clear time, great dragon control (w does %health damage), and amazing CC to bring into team fights. However, he is extremely blue dependent most of the game, and he jungles with dangerously low health.
I run 1/16/13 masteries with MPen marks, armor blues, MR/level glyphs, and health quints.
I take Blue Path, since Amumu is so blue dependent, and I start with cloth armor and 5 health pots. My skill path is W/E/E/Q, maxing E first, W second, and Q last, taking R whenever possible.
Amumu is an amazing tank, arguably the best in the game. He has fantastic initiate, amazing CC especially when you buy Rylai’s Crystal Scepter. Knowing when to use your ultimate in team fights is essential to good Amumu play.
Amumu is amazing in AOE team comps. Some desired champs to be paired with when playing Amumu are Miss Fortune, Blitzcrank, Sona, Kennen, and Swain. Two champions to stay away from at all costs as Amumu are Janna and Gragas.

Nocturne is an amazing Jungler with high damage output, amazing ganking, amazing initiate power, and a hidden passive that makes the enemy team play like monkeys for 5 seconds whenever you press R. Nocturne is one of the fastest Junglers in the game. The only downside to Nocturne is his low survivability.
I take 21/0/9 masteries with Nocturne taking ArPen marks, Armor seals, MR/level glyphs, and ArPen quints. These masteries and runes help you deal true damage to almost all of the neutral jungle creeps.
I follow Stonewall’s Path, starting with Vampiric Scepter. My skill path is Q/W/Q/E/Q, maxing Q first (lv 5 is a free BF sword bonus damage plus movespeed bonus.), E second, and W last taking R whenever it is available.
I like to build Nocturne tanky DPS, allowing me to use my ultimate to initiate fights and still survive. Nocturne has such high innate attack damage that he can buy mostly beefy items and still deal tons of damage. Nocturne excels in finding the enemy carries and bursting them down.
Nocturne is great with suppression champs likes Warwick and Malzahar making first blood almost a guarantee once you both hit level 6. Taric, Ashe, or Janna are all excellent to have on a team with Nocturne as well.

Udyr was my original Jungler, and still remains my favorite. Udyr excels with sustainability, high movement speed, and excellent 1v1 power. Udyr’s job in team fights is to find the enemy carry, destroy them, and then play clean up. Udyr is the highest sustained champion in the game. Theoretically, Udyr could stay in the jungle without ever having to recall for mana or health the entire game. Also, since the recent buffs, Udyr is one of the fastest and safest junglers. He can clear the jungle around 3:50 without dipping under half health.
I use 1/13/16 masteries with AS marks, Armor seals, MPen/level glyphs, and Health quints. I make sure to get quickness to have 350 movespeed for the 4:00 mark ganks.
I follow Blue Path with Udyr. He is fairly blue dependent. I take Cloth armor and 5 health potions. Although he can complete Stonewall’s Path, Blue Path is safer, and faster. My skill path is R/W/W/E, maxing Q first, E second, W third, and R last. Udyr can start with Q or W first, but it is much less safe and a lot slower.
Udyr is a fantastic Tanky DPS, however since he has no ranged skills, he is ridiculously susceptible to CC heavy teams. Because your stances are so spammable, rushing Sheen after Wriggle’s Lantern and boots is a great idea to increase your damage output. Mercury Treads are also fantastic on Udyr. I also use flash offensively a lot on Udyr. Flashing into bear stance for ganks always takes the enemy by surprise, and usually nets a kill.
Udyr is great with champions with a lot of CC, like Ashe, or champions who tend to spread out team fights, like Singed and Warwick. The more 1v1’s you can force as Udyr, the better off you’ll be, because you can take almost anyone on 1v1. Conversely, Udyr does terribly against heavy CC and Poke damage champions like Nunu, Ashe, or Corki.

Warwick is amazingly strong early game, and can counter-jungle very well. Although he may not be as fast as the other Junglers, Warwick stays at full health almost constantly through the jungle. He is an amazing 1v1 champion, and is very versatile in his build. You can build AD, tanky AP, full tank, or a mix of the 3.
I run 16/0/14 masteries with Warwick, taking ArPen marks, Armor seals, MR/level glyphs, and ArPen Quints. This setup gives you true damage to most jungle monsters.
I take Blue Path, although Warwick can do any path he wants, including severe counter-jungling. I start with Longsword and a health pot. My skill path is Q/W/Q/E, maxing Q first, W second, E third, taking R whenever available.
Warwick is a fantastic and malleable Jungler, able to fulfill any weak spot in a team line up. He is very good in 1v1 fights, as Warwick you need to be pressuring the enemy carries as much as possible.
Warwick works especially well with Janna, Gragas, and Vayne.

Trundle is an amazing duelist/anti-tank tanky DPS. Every single one of his abilities has either a buff, debuff, or both. His play style is a lot like Udyr.
I run 1/13/16 masteries, taking ArPen Marks, Armor seals, Mr/level glyphs, and ArPen Quints.
I run Blue Path with Trundle as he is very Blue dependent. I take Cloth Armor and 5 health pots. Q resets the attack animation, so make sure you use Rabid Bite as soon as possible after the attack animation. For my skill path, I take Q/W/Q/E, maxing Q first, W second, E third, taking R whenever available.
Trundle brings the highest amount of utility from the Jungler position second to only Amumu in team fights. Be sure to ult their tank and proceed to blow up a carry, or their now squishy tank. He has no ranged damage abilities except his ultimate, so he is susceptible to Poke Characters like Corki and Nidalee. His natural CC reduction from his W gives him more strength against CC teams than most other Junglers. One downfall to Trundle is that he is a Buff Hog.
Some Characters that work well with Trundle are Janna, Vayne, and Taric.

Cho’Gath is extremely safe, fast, and an amazing Jungler. However, he is arguably better in lane, which is why he doesn’t see much jungle time. His ganks are also highly reliant on hitting Rupture, which is easy to avoid. However, Cho’Gath snowballs very well and easily in the jungle once he hits Lv 6, and you can easily have 6 stacks on Feast by the time you hit Lv 11. Cho’Gath is an amazing 1v1 fighter, and amazing tank, and does quite a bit of burst AOE damage.
I run 1/19/10 masteries on Cho’Gath, picking up Mpen marks, Armor Seals, MR/level glyphs, and Health Quints.
I run Blue Path with Cho’Gath, starting with Cloth armor and 5 pots. He is somewhat reliant on blue to get through the jungle. My skill path goes E/Q/W/W, maxing W first, then Q, then E, taking R whenever possible.
Cho’Gath is an amazing tank who has high AOE burst damage, and snowballs fantastically into late game. Also Cho’Gath has a hidden passive that when he flashes, he blinds everyone who was looking at him. He also has a second hidden passive, that when he has 6 stacks of feast, the enemy team will do nothing but attack him because they can’t click anything else.
Cho’Gath works well in most team comps, as well as he works well against most team comps. Vayne and Corki are two champions who are his bane, true damage hurts him a lot. Cho’Gath works best in AOE team comps.

Lee Sin is a Champion who is very difficult to master, but extremely rewarding to use. His build is extremely versatile, just like his abilities. Lee Sin is an extremely buff independent and safe Jungler, who has great ganking power, and 1v1 prowess.
I run 21/0/9 masteries taking ArPen marks, Armor Seals, MR/level glyphs, and ArPen Quints. This helps speed up his somewhat slow early jungle.
I use Stonewall’s Path on Lee Sin because he is so buff independent, starting with Vampiric Scepter. My skill path is E/W/E/W/Q, maxing E first, Q second, W third, and taking R whenever possible. One trick to jungling Lee Sin effectively is always taking advantage of his passive. So run up to a creep and auto-attack, use an ability, auto-attack twice, rinse and repeat.
I like to build Lee Sin tanky DPS. Atmogs, TriFoN, merc treads. However this build is extremely expensive. Atma’s Impaler is a fantastic item for Lee Sin because he is not blessed with the high base AD of Nocturne. Lee Sin has two great initiates, two great escapes, a “Crippling” aoe nuke and slow that scales AD but does magic damage, and a potentially game-changing ultimate. He is extremely strong, and can do a little of everything for his team.
Being such a well-rounded champion, it is hard to counter a good Lee Sin. Also, because he is so well-rounded, he is a great pick for or against any team composition.

The following are Champions who can Jungle, but are either less widely used, or I do not have a working knowledge of their jungle. Following the brief synopsis is a great guide of how to jungle said Champion.
• Alistar: was very viable as a Jungler when his AP ratios and base damage were higher, now it just takes him too long to clear the jungle at all stages of the game. Still, his ganks and CC are Godlike. http://www.solomid.net/guides.php?g=1035
• Gangplank: Very Powerful Jungler. Has a fantastic global ultimate. Amazing damage output and ganks. Here is the guide that started it all.
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/the-original-jungle-gangplank-103786
• Maokai: Slow and risky. Jungles with low health consistently. Very Blue buff dependent. Poor ganks. He jungles a lot like Alistar except has much worse ganks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZq35Rv8HN0
• Master Yi: Very dependent on lots of farm. CC is a killer as well. If he gets fed, he is a monster. Early game jungle route is very unpredictable, being reliant on alpha strike procs. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/saintvicious-jungle-yi-103259
• Fiddlesticks: Amazing Jungler. Is extremely safe, and is a great duelist. He can carry extremely well. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/saintvicious-jungle-fiddle-100398
• Tryndamere: Decent Jungler. Fastest Jungler in the game. Has his own specific route. Like Master Yi he needs a lot of farm to be successful. Jungles at almost literally no health. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHEIBWKRUgQ
• Olaf: Is a great, fast jungler. Very Blue buff reliant. Amazing damage output with a lot of survivability, however he has been outclassed by Nocturne in everything he does since Nocturne’s release. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGJeaIfyz6A
• Rammus: Slow blue buff reliant jungler. Great ganks, however relies heavily on successful ganks to be worthwhile. Without successful ganks he quickly falls behind and is a burden on the team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjV_2ngBqLw
• Shaco: A tricky and unique jungle champion. Great at ganks and counterjungling. Very squishy and not great in team fights. http://www.solomid.net/guides.php?g=45
• Jarvan IV: Slow jungler. But super strong tanky DPS. Ganks early and often. Not dominant in the jungle, but he has a ton of CC, and is a great addition to any team. http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/saintvicious-jungle-jarvan-102087
• Jax: Slow Jungle during level 1-6, can get focused easily in team fights. Amazing duelist. Ganks rely heavy on dodge procs from minions. http://leaguecraft.com/strategies/guide/13039-jungle-jax.xhtml
• Karthus: Super-fast Jungler. Might be the fastest in the game behind Tryndamere. However, Jungle Karthus is a troll build. Fun, but troll. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlqGN1a8QzY
• Xin Zhao: A decent Jungler. Can 1v5 teams if hardcore fed. Somewhat slow and unsafe jungle, but a great melee AD carry. http://leaguecraft.com/strategies/guide/8005-xin-zhao-jungler-ganker-game-changer.xhtml
• Rally/Revive Soraka: If you ever do poorly, just tell your team to be thankful you didn’t instalock Rally/Revive Jungle Soraka. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMF6sTQ7dLM

Whatever you hear, It is MANDATORY to carry Smite while Jungling. Sure you can clear the jungle without it, but it is nowhere near as fast or as safe. The enemy Jungler will laugh at you as he constantly Smite-steals your buffs, Dragon, and Baron. And your team will flame at you. Don’t be this guy.

• Always try to place wards in the brush, as they will give you vision into the brush letting you surprise that camping Garen.
• Having a teammate on your team with Clairvoyance will greatly help your early game, counter-jungling, and Map Control. If dragon or baron is up and not warded, and most of the enemy team is MIA, call for a CV on that buff.
• Calling for a CV before entering the enemy jungle to counter-jungle is always intelligent.
• Good Junglers need a high sense of Map Awareness, and Knowledge of the Meta-game. You are the leader of the team early to mid-game. You call the shots, you make the ganks happen, you call for CVs, and you make dragon fights happen. Where you go, the action follows.
• While in the Jungle, you are paying attention to every lane, who is pushing, who is getting pushed, who is harassing, etc.
• Jungling is more than surviving the jungle and knowing how to gank. Deep knowledge of how the game flows is more vital for a jungler than any other position. Watching Top tier teams compete in tournaments, and participating in team settings will help you improve your jungling the most. Watching solo queue streams is not the best idea.
• Timing buffs is also very important, being able to pick up a buff as it respawns is great to do. Baron is 7 minutes, Dragon is 6 minutes, and Blue/Red buff is 5 minutes.

I would like to give a special thanks to TheOddOne, Stonewall008, and SaintVicious for their amazing resources they give to the community. They taught me how to Jungle properly. Also I would like give shout-outs and thanks to Nullseer, KoisRawr, MoonFangShadow, and SquirtlexD for putting up with me learning how to Jungle. I hope this guide was instructive and helpful! Thanks for reading!