I have been noticing a lot of wukong players are building tanky or with quite a few defensive items. I don't agree with this. All of wukongs abilities are tuned for getting in, hitting hard, and getting out. There is no need for wukong to stay in a fight. I will describe this in more detail later in this guide. The whole basis for this type of wukong is a strong initiate, a crafty escape, and then coming back into the fight to clean up. The way this build/strategy works is that you are constantly changing what you are doing, an endless cycle of attacking and running.

Pros:
- Highly Mobile
- Tricky and Full of Utility
- Heavy AD Burst
- He's A Freaking Monkey!

Cons:
- Weak Early Jungle (till about 3)
- Susceptible to Counter Jungling

*Application* This is a rather interesting passive. In my opinion because of this passive you don't need to focus so much on defensive items because it makes Wukong naturally battle ready. It is great for initiating team fights as well as ganking, so be sure to take advantage of the defensive bonus. Although it does not help you in the jungle, so don't bank on it!


*Application* Crushing Blow is great for dishing out damage. If you take advantage of its base armor pen % reduction in combination with the attack speed boost you gain from Nimbus Strike, then you can do a lot of damage very quickly. It is also a great finisher to help you secure the kill.


*Application* This is what gives Wukong his extreme utility. It has numerous applications and can be used in many different ways.

Juking: Have low health and need to run away or being chased and need to escape? Why not juke with Warrior Trickster!? There are a few ways to do this. The easiest way is to just activate it and change your direction while stealthed. Another way that works well is to go in a bush and Nimbus Strike to them and pop Warrior Trickster right after and run away. This will almost always throw them off guard. Also you can use your Warrior Trickster and stealth into a bush, if you do this by the bush on river or in the jungle it is almost a guaranteed escape! My favorite way of juking ,however, is to do it in ordinance with a bush. If you pop your Warrior Trickster in a bush while being chased and stealth out of the bush and keep running, because your Warrior Trickster is in the bush whoever is chasing you will usually jump the gun and end up wasting an ability or 2, if your lucky they even may waste their Ignite or even their ult.

Ganking: Using Warrior Trickster to gank can be very useful. If you use Warrior Trickster in a bush near the enemy you are free to stealth directly to them. Unfortunately the stealth that you get from Warrior Trickster only lasts about 1.5 seconds, which is not a very long time. So the real objective while ganking is to get your target within range of Nimbus Strike. I find that a bit of increased movement speed helps. I have also learned that when you use Warrior Trickster you can still maintain the speed bonus you get from Mobility Boots.

Tower Hugging: As the jungler you may be asked to hold a tower or a lane for a few mins so that a team mate can go be to heal or whatnot. As Wukong this is not a problem. If it comes down to you holding the tower then make sure you have your Warrior Trickster up. A neat little trick you can do is wait by it and try to get whoever your fighting to dive you. It helps if you don't move a lot. Once they dive you pop Warrior Trickster and run to the other side of the tower. At this point you can either continue kiting about the tower, or use Nimbus Strike and Crushing Blow to go in for the kill.

Blocking: Another interesting feature of Warrior Trickster is that it can be used to block a lot of high damage attacks. If you are being chased by Caitlyn and she uses her Ace in the Hole as long as you line it up so your decoy is in the way of her shot, you can render it useless. The same can be said about Ashe and her Enchanted Crystal Arrow or LeBlanc and her Ethereal Chains.


*Application* There is alot of debate as to whether Nimbus Strike is better than Crushing Blow or visa versa, but as a jungler this is the move that you always want to start with. It will allow you to dash to your target giving you extra attack speed for a short time. You can combine this attack speed with the base % armor reduction of Crushing Blow to deal momentous damage quickly.


*Application* This is Wukong's only real crowd control, it gives a knock up once to every enemy it hits as well as deals a fair amount of damage. The range of the attack as well as movement speed increases throughout the duration of the move. This can be used effectively in a few situations. It is great for initiating a team fight. If you use Nimbus Strike immediately followed by Cyclone it opens up a huge opening for your team to jump on in. Depending on how this is going should dictate what you do next, whether you finish with Crushing Blow or get out with Warrior Trickster. It is also great for 1v1 fighting and chasing. Due to its movement speed increase it is also good for running away if your Warrior Trickster fails you, however this is more of a last resort action.

Start with a Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion at Blue Golem, Wolves, Wraiths, Lizard Elder, and Double Golem. And at that point you can gank or keep triangling around from Double golem to wraiths to wolves, and if you killed blue first he will spawn shortly after the 7 min mark. But the goal should be lvl 6 at 7 mins.

Now i will be breaking down what i mean by the "Hit and Run" Strategy. WuKong's ability sets are tuned for hitting really hard: Crushing Blow, Nimbus Strike, and Cyclone. As well as running away: Warrior Trickster. So how do we use these moves properly? There are a few ways.

Combat Combos:

+ +

+ + +

+ + (while stealthed get behind them) + + +

Ganking:

(from in a bush) + + +

*at any time during this combo if they either escape, or you yourself get ganked then it is a good idea to cut your losses and Warrior Trickster out.*

Initiating the team fight/Cleaning up:

Okay this is probably the single most important thing Wukong is capable of doing. The idea behind this is to start the team fight, then GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING, and ultimately come back and finish things up. One thing that should be kept in mind about wukong is he is not very good at continuous or sustained fighting. So you want to jump in deal a lot of damage while ensuring your safety. That means that every time you see a Warrior Trickster you should use it to leave the fight and set up for your return.

+ + + + +

OR

+ + + + +

Marks: I get 9 Greater Mark of Desolation because if you havn't yet noticed, armor pen is kind of a theme with this build. I will say that Greater Mark of Attack Damage are better for the jungle but lose their usefulness shortly after, whereas the armor pen will be more useful deeper into the game especially with Crushing Blow, the armor pen you can get from Youmuu's Ghostblade and Last Whisper, as well as the armor reduction you can have from Zeke's Harbinger.

Seals: I use 9 Greater Seal of Resillience because armor runes really help in the jungle, they are almost the same as having an extra Cloth Armor. This armor boost will free you up from building too much armor and it will help with your passive as well.

Glyphs: I use 9 Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction because along with building a lot of armor pen this build has a good bit of cool down. these runes will give you roughly 5-6% and that will stack with the cool down you get from Youmuu's Ghostblade. Ontop of this while you hold the blue aura you have max cool down which is 40%.

Quints: I use 3 Greater Quintessence of Life Steal. The 6% bonus lifesteal is great for going through the jungle at a very quick rate. It also gives a good bit more sustain throughout the game in combination with masteries and Wriggle's Lantern, what i like about these quints for those of you who disagree, is that they are relevant all game.

I like to do what i call the Executioner's Jungle with Wukong. Its a 21/9/0 prioritizing damage dealing in the offensive tech tree while AVOIDING CRIT, and getting Bladed Armor in defense. This allows for extremely strong ganks throughout the entire game as well as helps through the jungle fast.

I tried to construct this build to be up to a lot of change depending on the player's style. Many things are up for alteration in this build but I would recommend keeping what i perceive as the core items of this build: Wriggle's Lantern, Frozen Mallet, and Youmuu's Ghostblade. I will provide in depth explanations of all the items i use in this build and why.

Wriggle's Lantern A great first item for any jungler, the ward is useful in conjunction with ganks. I especially like it with wukong because it gives a good bit or armor which is useful with Stone Skin in maintaining a good bit of armor, however because of Stone Skin after Wriggle's Lantern i do not see any reason to prioritize armor. The early attack damage will also allow Nimbus Strike, which scales with AD, to do a little bit more damage. The lifesteal also allows for much easier jungling as well as adds a new element of survivability, which i find important with this type of play style.

Mobility Boots In my opinion these boots are especially useful with stealth characters, they allow you to traverse a farther distance while stealthed which in turn allows you to much more easily get your target within range of Nimbus Strike, also as a jungler you can make it from one lane to another a lot faster which in turn allows you to be much more responsive to changes in the lanes.

Frozen Mallet This is the only defensive item that you will need. The health you receive from this alongside the armor you receive from Wriggle's Lantern and Stone Skin is a pretty nice defensive setup for "Hit and Run". What is more important, however is the offensive capabilities of this item. The slow you get from this item will make ganking a lot easier, and as a jungler you should be maintaining the red buff. What i like about Frozen Mallet on an AD jungler is that the slow from the red buff will stack with the slow you get from using Frozen Mallet. Also the little extra attack damage does well.

Youmuu's Ghostblade This item gives you a little bit more AD as well as a small amount of crit. What is really important about this item though is the cool down as well as armor pen. The armor pen will help in dealing more damage especially if you take advantage of the armor % reduction you can get from Crushing Blow. The active can also be super effective if you use it right after you initiate your attack using Nimbus Strike

Last Whisper Get this to scale more attack damage, as well as add alot more armor pen. This alongside Youmuu's Ghost blade and Crushing Blow has devastating effects for doing a lot of damage very fast.

Black Cleaver This item is a good finisher for this build because it furthers the idea of hitting hard quickly with its bonus attack speed and its armor reduction ability. This ability with further increase the effectiveness of Crushing Blow to devastating levels while also building off of the armor pen. granted from both Last Whisper and Youmuu's Ghostblade. Its all about hitting hard and hitting fast!

Suggested:
Ghost allows you to make a quick escape or a fast kill without having to rely too much on Warrior Trickster, but can also be used with Warrior Trickster for a guaranteed successful gank.

Smite because you are a jungler!

Good:

Heal this is my preferred summoner skill but that is just me, It can be used for more aggressive game play as well as getting those sneaky kills or helping you survive an early counter jungle or a gank gone wrong.

Ignite makes for an easier gank

Exhaust makes ganks, quick escapes, or 1v2 a lot easier.

Flash because Ghost wasn't enough.

Bad:

Clairvoyance The sight from this does not help you as much as it would Nocturne or Caitlyn who have super ranged attacks. Leave this to those people and supports.

Clarity If i have to argue this with anyone then do not use this build!

Cleanse Due to the nature of Warrior Trickster you really dont need this one.

Revive you shouldn't ever use this unless your are a noob... or Karthus

Surge yeah the attack speed is good, but this is more of a summoner spell for hybrids and supports.