Hey Summoners! I'm Sandomar, just another Silver-Ranked player, but I'm a relatively experienced gamer who has enjoyed playing Udyr since I began LoL around end of Season 3. On any given day, I may play like Godyr the Phoenix...or Noobyr. But even then The Plan looks good, it's all about execution, and the team, and coordination, and map awareness. UDYR REWORK GOT SOME AP-BUFF! My goal with this Udyr build is Attack Speed for Tiger mixed with AP damage Phoenix, + Armor for jungling, and some MR later. Add some AD to give the AS more to hit with, and then respond to the game, based on what your opponents are building. My "technique" is to clear the entire jungle first, often with at least one run into counter jungle stealing something from my opponent or at least grabbing the River Rift Scuttlers to ensure my laners have the vision they need and I pick up the extra gold (and health AND mana AND movespeed buff...). My "style" for early ganks is most often 'just hit-and-run' rather than going all-in for kills, landing a Bear-Stun to give laners a chance to breathe, kill, or push a lane that is currently getting pressured. Later, it's Godyr combo's until death do us part, with either my teammates or me racking up kills wherever we can and often doing so with a peel to prevent opponent teams from mounting a 5 v (any) teamfight.

KEY SEASON 10 CONSIDERATIONS

1. As a result of the 'new metas' evolving after Riot's latest changes, you may have noticed MANY teams going for early-game kills rather than team comps attempting to build patiently for entirely late-game power champions, so as Udyr, try to team up with champs that perform wave clears well during early game who don't need early ganks to survive.
   
2. AP Junglers do have a small bit of indirect advantage:
   Krug Gromp Blue Sentinel Red Brambleback all received a reduction in their Magic Resistance.
   This means DO PICK UP A POINT IN PHOENIX for your jungling stance-rotation!
   Your jungle clear just got more effective!
   
3. Early ganks with Udyr will typically be mostly hit/stun & run.
   You have an effective E- stun, but you will only be tanky enough early on to 1v1 squishy champs. Avoid CC snares that result in accidentally feeding your opponents.
   
   Until you get your first defensive item built, plan to:

• E-Stun
• R-Melt (+True-Damage-Smite on the way in)
• Q-Tiger claw Damage
• W-Turtle up the shield
• E-Stun IF support or tank is nearby to hit and damage dealer is dead (judgement call)
  OR
• E-RUN - while your W-Turtle is blocking damage
• while ing them, if you have that, or Flash away when needed if you took that instead.

Let your lane ADC or AP-mid take the kill if they are able, so you help your own team get fed.

Laners should apply their best CC when they see you dashing in, and dump their best attacks as soon as you make contact, while the opponent is stunned.

You go back to earning your gold in the jungle or counter-jungling.
Either way, you want to help push lane momentum in your favor, but without 'stealing' too much of the gold from killing lane minions.

IF your gank results in a kill and an empty lane, help push into the turret if possible, as even early with only a single Tiger level, you can help quickly take one down.
Map bonuses of all kinds reward "lane pushing momentum," so watch for a win in a nearby lane and help your laner push through a turret, especially grabbing turret plate gold while available.

If no kill, often you'll force an opponent to recall, and that lane either gets pushed or your laner can go shopping.

LATE game, once you are built, there are few who can survive you 1v1, unless they CC you on your way in. Once you get in their face and make contact, you will be deadly. Surprise is your friend, but just seeing you running in will often force a flash/escape or waste of an Ult.

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SORCERY TREE
9% attack speed, 10 ability power or 6 attack damage

CELERITY
4% extra MOVEMENT SPEED
+Extra AP or AD, adaptive - based on your bonus MS.

WATERWALKING
extra MOVEMENT SPEED
+AP or AD, adaptive in the river.

PRECISION TREE IS A VIABLE OPTION FOR UDYR
FLEET FOOTWORK
Visualize the GANK COMBO:
You clear some jungle, continually attacking and moving, which builds Energy stacks. When you Gank:

1) Bear(E) zooming in to Stun, often with Smite triggered already along the way to hit as soon as in-range,
*At 100 stacks, Your attack heals you and grants increased MS! (thanks Fleet Footwork!)

this is followed by immediate:
2) Phoenix(R) to melt their face off
- quick choice - either
3a) Turtle(W) to shield/heal and survive counter-attacks, or else
OR
3b) Tiger(Q) to kill.

OVERHEAL
You have a built-in Turtle(W) shield and...HEAL.
Every time you are at full health and hit Turtle, you will build an extra (free!) shield.

Legend: ALACRITY
EVERY takedown during the game will grant you a bit of extra PERMANENT Attack Speed. Oh man this is good if you start snowballing kills :P
ALSO: Even the Rift Scuttlers give up 5 Alacrity pts toward stacks,
since they are listed by LoL as a "Large" neutral monster.

COUP DE GRACE
The perfect rune for extra damage - securing kills on low health opponents.

SECONDARY TREE: RESOLVE
BONE PLATING
The jungler's tool; every time you engage a single opponent, he only gets his first attack at full effect, and the next three (3) do less damage!

REVITALIZE
Your Turtle(W) is a continual Heal, and with Revitalize it quickly builds up a SHIELD once you reach full health! Every new jungle camp, every chance to gank, you'll Bear(E) boost your way in with a free extra buffer of health!

* Conditioning - could be good for tankier item Udyr with the 5% boost; but we are building mainly attack-speed+AD+AP damage items, and this rune does nothing for early jungle or ganks. New Meta needs more early impact.

* Font of Life - I previously used this since my hit-and-run style of ganking allowed a quick run into a lane, to hit a Bear(E) Stun, and it would provide a LANER teammate with a free lifesteal of healing...
...BUT the amount appeared too little to really impact things early, and too many times they never figured out to immediately hit that leaf-marked opponent, or I was in a 1v1, so it was irrelevant. Even later healing was too small to matter since I don't build for max-health.
Also, the standard item build does not even include an early MR item, unless it's an AP-Dominant team and you've gone with MercTreads or started a Spirit Visage/Wit's End right away.

SUBSTITUTE: Within the PRECISION tree:
Press the Attack - is a great alternate option for Udyr.
*Your typical engage will trigger Press the Attack;
which means at exactly the moment of the small window when lane partners, supports, or you need to secure the kill, the opponent is "made vulnerable," you deal BONUS DAMAGE, AND EVERY TEAMMATE who hits them also does EXTRA DAMAGE for six (6) seconds.
That extends the kill window for short chase, flash-kill, etc. even for tanks.

Lethal Tempo MAY BE "better" for SOLO GANKS.
At 1.5 seconds AFTER you hit an opponent with your
1) Bear (E) Stun, and right after you've just melted their face with
2) Phoenix(R)
Lethal Tempo grants YOU 30-80% boosted Attack Speed for
3) Tiger(Q)+whatever else you need, including a quick Bear(E) to re-stun them followed by a faster Phoenix(R)/Tiger(Q) to secure the kill.

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DOMINATION tree includes a pair of fine alternatives...
Relentless Hunter; for a permanent Out-of-combat Movement Speed boost for EACH unique opponent you kill.
-and-
Cheap Shot; for a free True Damage on-hit bonus each time you hit an opponent with impaired movement or actions...such as one you've just hit with SMITE or your Bear(E) Stun.

1st: Q-Tiger to Start (and later max out).
Passive bonus damage with EACH hit, Attack-Speed that we will use later for dissolving turrets and in rotation against Baron/Dragon as well as opponents.

2nd: W-Turtle
Gives you instant bit of health steal with each attack, which allows you to take the next jungle site alone AND lets you build health as you hit the Rift Scuttler in the River. I often hit this third, both for the gold, and the health build with Turtle, and the time to pick up the next Smite, and the Vision it gives my laners.

3rd: R-Phoenix
Adds AoE, helping you clear every multi-monster jungle faster every time you use it in rotation, and it scales with AP.

4th: Bear
- Now you can speed-in to gank any overextended low-health enemy if the opportunity arises. Your first 'bump' with Bear stuns, then you and lane partner take them down. Meanwhile, you'll pop this after each jungle site to speed up your run to the next and use for first contact with monster.

5-12: Alternate
Tiger-Bear-Tiger-Phoenix
Tiger-Bear-Tiger-Phoenix

13-18: Situation dependent.
Max Phoenix for late game AoE teamfighting damage, scaling with AP.
More Bear helps you turbo-run and stun.
LAST: More Turtle adds sustain, late tank, and helps restore health level each time you hit up a jungle site or cover a lane melting minions.

• Start with Q- Tiger and begin at bottom lane buff. from Blue side, it's the Red Red Brambleback
  * IF you have willing teammate(s) invade for an early kill!
  * IF you do not make contact with, or were not sighted by the enemy laner, and know your opposing jungler is a BLUE starter, you may steal his Red buff and run.
  * IF you just stole Red, YOU NEED MANA, so take your Blue next.

1. If you have a good, hard leash teammate, you might get to save your Smite for another jungle camp. If you get low on health, you'll want to run to River next and catch the newly-spawned Rift Scuttler.
   
   [*} If you are at Blue Sentinel Blue due to starting with a Red-invade-steal, remember that gives you bonus Experience, so be sure to kill him every chance you get, even though there is no longer a buff from using Smite on him. :/
   Upgrade ; you need the health to sustain your next jungling fights.
   
2. Pop W- and attack the Blue Sentinel for Crest of Insight, a buff which grants increased mana and energy regeneration as well as +10% cooldown reduction.
   Rotate Q and W as each comes off cooldown.
   IF you started alone with no leash (ally help), you'll get down to only a couple bars of health or may run out of mana. Use your refillable-bottle of health, or when is up, go ahead and Smite as needed.
   
3. If you didn't invade and hit the River on the way back, go now and kill the Rift Scuttler.
   
4. Wolves - If you didn't need or use on Blue, then you can the Greater Murk Wolf . If your Smite is not up yet when you engage, target the smaller wolves first.
   Keep rotating W and Q. You'll level up.
   Upgrade R-Phoenix to pick up the bonus AoE damage.
   
5. Head to the Raptors and attack the small ones first. W to engage with shield and pick up health, rotating with R for AoE damage. You will not have a Smite ready, and that's OK, save it.
   
6. If you had a leash help to begin, and efficiently rotated your W into your damage, you should have sufficient Health to go for your own .
   Using on the Red Brambleback bumps 20% of your max health instantly, and once he's killed you gain the Crest of Cinders, a buff which grants health regeneration and causes your basic attacks to slow the enemy while also dealing true damage over time.
   
7. If not, Bypass Red above and attack the Krug first.
   Ancient Krug will split into 2 Krugs, which splits into 4 mini-krugs.
   
8. If healthy, you may Bear-Run out to bottom river and pop the other
   
9. You now have well over the min >1000 gold you wanted for a Stalker+Boots recall.

CHOOSE:

• Continue back to another site for further jungling, such as E- back to your Gromp, which is now up, or invade and counter-jungle. by now; Smite R+Q+W+R and most camps are about done.
• Help an abandoned lane to kill off a wave of nearby minions before your turret eats them (free experience and gold)
• Rinse-Repeat-Gank, then RECALL and shop

• BUY Jungle Smite Weapon of Choice
• BUY
• EXTRA GOLD? => Tiamat items
• LOOK AT THE MAP

Do you run out for a Gank opportunity?
RULE #1 - DO NOT FEED THE ENEMY
More Jungle? Dragon?
Is a lane being pushed that needs a hand?

This is where most struggle while learning jungle, unsure of what is the best thing to do next. It's not always obvious. I still don't always get it right, and there are several right answers here.

Watching Pro's will help, but what Pro's do after their first item purchases is not usually the best thing in soloQ with random teammates, where you do not have headsets for instant communication and coordination between team members.

• You are 'just a bit' too weak and don't yet have armor to solo the Dragon, unless you take a freshly respawned Blue Buff (the enemy's?) or Red Buff. Krug no longer has a Buff to help, and neither does Gromp.
• You are 'just a bit' too weak and don't have damage to 1v1 most, even with full health.
• You are 'just a bit' too weak to kill the Rift Herald unless one of your laners is ahead and has a completed item, and you need a Blue Buff for mana to survive the fight.
• BUT you have Red Buff and boots, and a Bear Stun, so any of the above is possible, depending on how things are going.
  
  THINK THIS THROUGH - BEFORE THE GAME - Be ready to either:
  • Jungle further to farm first, though all sites will not be re-spawned yet ( will be ready, and wolves up soon thereafter)
  • Rush into any lane where your laner needs a break so HE can recall and shop
  • Assist pushing a turret if an ally has just made a kill
  • Go for that first Gank.
  • Go for DRAGON if bottom lane has pushed their minion wave up and one or both is ready to help take it.
  • Go for RIFT HERALD if either top or mid lane are in good shape and one or both have a completed item and can assist (you need a buff first).
    
    Your job at this point is typically NOT to Assassinate (gank for a burst-kill) unless you see a can't-miss opportunity and your laner is gone or weak.
    
    As early UDYR, consider yourself a tanky melee Support.
    You WANT an assist, not a kill, as you want your laners fed.
    You WANT to help your LANER get a kill, to get ahead of their opponent.
    Then help push their lane into the next turret and go back to the jungle or recruit them to help you take an objective (Dragon or Rift Herald).

Priority = Rift Herald
IF top and/or middle are also fresh back or healthy with no opponent in lane (after kill or enemy recall), so at least 2 of you have Health and initial items...

• Gromp or Red
• Take Blue Buff while 2nd Smite regenerates
• PING the Rift Herald
• WARD the upper TriBush
• WITH at least one teammate, Attack the , starting with R
• Q-R and AFTER your health/mana are down a bit, THEN
• Rotate Q-W-R until is up.
• Rinse-Repeat until monster is dead.
• It is OK to take the yourself.

It is also OK if your laner gets it and uses it to push their lane.
It is NOT OK for you to kill the and go back to jungling.
RECALL IF NEEDED.

Udyr always had a problem attempting to dive a defended Turret, since he is melee and had no way to use 'range' to destroy enemy minions still within turret range, let alone opponents getting the defensive shield boost that previously was given by inner turrets.

• That inner-turret defender shield is gone since 2017
• UDYR damage TO THE TURRET from any stance, including Tiger rotation (with Phoenix once minions show up) NOW includes 0.5 of your Ability Power!
  
  This makes AP-Udyr, already one of the best Split-Pushing machines in the game, even better!
  Combine this with your ability to E- out with W- up when challenged, and only hard CC champs with help will be able to stop you.

Pros Cons

+ FLEXIBLE jungler + FAST sustainable clears in the jungle + DAMAGE is outstanding + SPREAD DAMAGE TYPES depending on items + TENACIOUS in battle + SPLIT PUSHES (pardon the obvious) like a BEAST - Steep gold requirements for good build with both tank and AP. - TIME required to pick up the core bonus items is past the laning phase. - Latest changes to the overall game mechanics favor quick, early success. - Vulnerable to champs with ranged CC and kiting. If Udyr can't make contact to stun, or gets disabled/grabbed/bounced/swallowed first, he can be taken down without doing much damage.

Udyr is one of the most flexible champions to play. He can be effective with any team composition, and can be adjusted with item choices to fight any enemy composition. Even at game start, He can clear his entire jungle side, and then some, picking up clear speed quickly along the way. This build does AoE Magic Damage, but also does quick Physical Damage using Tiger in the rotation, as well as some True Damage as part of his Smite weapon. So it is difficult for opponents to fully build 'against' Udyr. Udyr is not only a Tank when built, but can initiate or peel with his stun and choose to either stay and melt opponents, or run with his shield at any time. Most other junglers have a key "Ultimate" that is great for ganks, but not as helpful in jungling. Udyr does not suffer this drawback, as all of his Stances are equally useful and available with fast cooldown regardless of opponent. Some steps for Udyr to buy the items noted above are big steps to achieve, however, so if you get behind or counter-jungled, it can be difficult to stick with The Plan. It takes a lot of work and time to get your initial items. Riot's latest changes to the overall game SPEED UP momentum and reward an early-strength team that clears minions faster. This reduces the impact of a patient, tanky/support jungle build - even one that can be VERY powerful in a longer game. It is now more difficult to stage a comeback and recover if you get behind or your team does not clear minion waves well early game. The new Rift Herald becomes even MORE important. Watch for chances to help your top or mid to Take It. SKIN: UDYR's "Ultimate" skin, Spirit Guard, appears to have been tweaked along the way so that it not only LOOKS awesome - truly unique among champs - it's just too good to pass up, and 'feels' like it enhances your play.

Throughout this guide you'll see some fairly standard abbreviations. Not sure I caught them all here, but I remember learning this game and being a bit frustrated seeing them and not yet knowing what all of the terms meant.
AD = Attack Damage.
ADC = Attack-Damage Carry. Typically bottom lane.
AoE = Area of Effect.
AP = Ability Power.
APC = Ability Power Carry.
CC = Crowd Control.
Glass Cannon = High Damage/Easy(er) to Kill
Laner
Leash = Teammate assistance with a jungle monster, typically the first camp.

Proc = Effect Trigger
Squishy = Easy(er) to kill than others.
Support
Tank = Hard to Kill.
True Damage = Direct Health Destruction.

More to come!
I made fairly major adjustments in items in 2017 and again for 2020
(Devourer rather than Runeglaive, Arch Staff with Guinsoo's now looking toward TriForce + Nashors? yep...) and build order - for Season 10.

Now with Patch 10.19+ BOOSTING UDYR AP SCALING, there have been further shifts and item/builds to try that "click" with various substitutes in the rune sets.
Even with AP/Udyr I do NOT focus on maxing Phoenix first, nor do we build straight Ability Power, but rather a balanced mix always INCLUDING at least one AP item.
Until S8 bump in cost and nerf in %dmg, Guinsoo's appeared to be the best item for core build. Now it's more of an AD/AS build, then looking to add "the appropriate" AP item based on the opposing team comp and how well you're getting fed.

Since Udyr is by nature a hybrid beast, his strength of being effective regardless of build path, and the flexibility to respond to opposing team comps, makes him a useful pick for most games. Get to know this champ, and keep your pocket-pick Udyr ready to go whenever the mix looks right - you'll be effective and have fun doing it!
Feel free to COMMENT and help the UDYR community of players with your successes and ideas!

Everyone is searching for the most efficient, optimal progression for strong impact in the game with current settings, buffs, nerfs, and the new runes...and I am too.

Please comment as you wish to share your best ideas, challenges, and advice for others.
We all want to see UDYR Respect throughout Summoner's Rift!