Queen of the Jungle: A Guide to Jungling as Athena

Hello. Subzero here. I make guides.

Athena is a very unique tank with an interesting kit that makes her an exceptionally powerful jungler. Her mobility is the highest in the game, her CC is phenomenal, and her adaptable kit allows her an equally adaptable build and playstyle.

As Athena, you're going to be playing defensively until you've got Polynomicon. Then you'll want to be constantly moving. Your clear speeds are fast enough that you will have a lot of free time, and you will be free to become a roaming terror. If you want to terrorize every lane, as well as the enemy jungle, Athena is for you.

To be able to use this guide, you must have a grasp on what a jungler does, and I will assume you already know the basics of jungling. This guide isn't about how to jungle; it's about how to jungle as Athena.

I recommend looking at this guide if you need a refresher course on the jungle.

Why jungle as Athena, when you can be jungling as Fenrir or Mercury? Athena has several advantages not found in your typical assassin, and they come with a matching set of weaknesses.

Strengths

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Global Presence: As Athena, you can react to threats anywhere, as long as an ally is nearby. You can turn around teamfights, counter a gank, fend off an invader, or unleash a deadly gank of your own. This should not be underestimated.

High Defenses: Athena is a tank, and has access to higher innate defenses than other junglers. Not only that, but her entire kit is extremely defensive, with the ability to block basic attacks, a zoning damage ability, and a global escape/counterganking skill. You are very, very hard to kill even without any protection items.

Mobility: Athena has a fairly low cooldown dash with a cheap cost, as well as a global teleport. She is very, very fast.

Counterjungling Ability: Athena is one of the few gods where I would feel completely confident in invading at later levels. Her kit allows her to easily steal camps, and she is a good duelist as well.

Flexible Build: You can see the mass of listed items up there? Athena has an extremely flexible build, with literally two core items. You can adapt to nearly every situation, which is a considerable bonus.

Weaknesses

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Long Cooldowns: Without any cooldown reduction, your cooldowns are ridiculously high. This translates to long period of vulnerability between abilities, of which any smart enemy would take advantage.

Weak Early Game: Athena lacks early damage and burst, and so her early game is weak compared to gods like Thanatos. You might have some moments where you gank with everything you have, and you end up standing awkwardly as the enemy walks away with 25% health.

High Skill Floor: Athena must be able to hit with her Reach-enhanced basics perfectly, know exactly when to use her taunt, and above all else, know when to use your ultimate. If you cannot use her ultimate well, there is no point in playing jungle Athena.

Athena's kit, unlike most junglers and like most guardians, relies more on repeated use than raw power. I find that cooldown reduction is nigh-essential on her for this reason. The sheer utility you gain from being able to use Confound, Preemptive Strike and Defender of Olympus more often is, in my opinion, far more useful than a stronger Shield Wall. Because of this, I would recommend at least 25% cooldown reduction on whatever you build.

In general, my builds have some of both kinds of defense, some penetration, some cooldown reduction, some magical power and Polynomicon w/ Rod of Tahuti. A magical bruiser, to be precise.

I've listed two example builds: The Might of Athens and Rapid Response. I'll list the pros and cons of each.

This build has less CDR than Rapid Response, but it is simply superior in terms of raw stats. You'll be slightly less tanky, but you'll be dealing more damage through all phases of the game. I recommend this as a baseline for any experimentation, and as a "Mario" build.


This is my 'workhorse' build, an all-purpose, flexible build that can handle most situations, especially if you need to be everywhere at once, like most junglers. You'll have maxed CDR, decent penetration, and a lot of magical power AND tankiness. You'll lack the utility of some items, like idol of concentration and Midgardian Mail, but your strength lies in what Athena's kit already has, without any frills. This is my recommended beginner's build.

Go with the standard jungler's start: Bumba's Mask, Hand of the Gods, and potions of your choice.

Now, where to put that one skill point?

Shield Wall: This ability is everything. It is your main damage skill. It is your zoning skill. It is what you will use to clear camps, it is what enemies will fear you for. Level this one first, but at an equal rate to Confound. This way, you'll maintain a good clear speed while being able combo sooner.

Your clear speeds are fast enough that you may have some extra time left. Whatever you do, do not try to gank until you can use your ultimate. Your damage is simply too low for that to realistically happen. Just stick to farming until level 5.

Now, when you first recall, you might be wondering: "What do I buy?"

Shoes of Focus: These give CDR, which, as previously discussed, is quite important, and Athena's clear speeds are fast enough without the 15 penetration. Get these if you want to increase your damage output and CDR.

Shoes of the Magi: If you want to maximize your damage as soon as possible, get these. You'll have some time on your hands, so this could help you if you are that desperate for early invasions/ganks/whatnot. Get these if you want to maximize your damage output.

Reinforced Greaves: These greaves are often underestimated. You'll spend a bit more time clearing camps, but some would consider the extra speed and resistivity to be worth it. Get these if you want further defenses, more mobility, and a spot of CC reduction.

No matter what you are building, your focus is on early farm.

Athena's clearing methods are simple. Use your Shield Wall, and maybe a Preemptive Strike, a few basic attacks and you're done. While Athena's early clear speeds are not the highest in the world, it is somewhat mitigated by her high mobility. Mainly:

Preemptive Strike: This is a cheap and long dash, and more importantly, hitting anyone with it grants you a stack of Block, which is the cornerstone of your dueling potential against enemy junglers. You can use this all the time, for slowing enemies, chasing, clearing camps, running away. It's a very versatile and useful skill, but level this last.

But even with both of these abilities, Athena's damage is still worryingly low, and we must remedy this with a certain item:

Polynomicon: This item synergizes brilliantly with your passive, granting Athena a strong ranged attack and significantly increasing your damage output. You can switch this for one of the defensive or offensive items, and save Polynomicon for later, but I would strongly advise you to get this item as soon as possible.

At this point, you need some resistivity to counter the penetration that your enemies are undoubtedly buying, as well as soaking up the damage from your ganking targets. You have a multitude of choices, a testament to Athena's flexibility, and each item has a variety of pros and cons. But there are two main kinds of defensive items:

Specialized Defenses

These items are focused around a single type of defense, and have the notable downside of leaving a gap in your defenses. If I am getting a physical protection item, I usually get Focused Void Stone as the corresponding power item. If I am getting a magical protection item, I get Breastplate of Valor.

Breastplate of Valor: Gives the always important CDR, and huge amount of physical protections, and increases your mana pool significantly. Not much else to report.

Focused Void Stone: A hybrid tank/power item, this versatile piece can be used as both an offense and defense item. The penetration helps, as well.

Bulwark of Hope: Gives a ****load of magical protections and health. The passive is also helpful.

Idol of Concentration

Idol of Concentration: Gives a tiny bit of CDR, but the passive is universally useful. If you need some magical defense, I'd get this almost all the time over Bulwark of Hope.

mystical mark

Mystical Mark: This item grants a highly useful damaging aura, which is good for both clearing and ganking, and a good amount of physical protections and health. Also works well with any magical penetration you might have.

Midgardian Mail: This is basically Enfeebling Curse when used with your Confound. This is not only a counter to enemy hunters, but can even be used to lock down enemies by forcing them to attack you. Unfortunately, it relies on luck, but for the most part it should work.

Universal Defenses

These are usually my favorite, since I only have to pick one of them.

Ethereal Staff: This is rather overpriced, but it gives a good amount of magical power while providing you with 600 health. Even without other defensive items, 600 health is still 600 health, and the power this item gives should not be underestimated. If you are getting this, consider buying Gauntlet of Thebes or warlock's sash.

Hide of the Urchin: THE most efficient tank item in the game. When you buy this, you are buying it for the stats. Not much else to say.

Magi's Blessing

Magi's Blessing: Even if this gives a tiny amount of protections, the CC reduction and passive are good enough on their own. Get this if your enemies rely on CC for their attacks, since you'll be able to avoid most of the damage without any protections by negating their combos.

Magi's Cowl

Magi's Cowl: If you bought Reinforced Greaves, this is what you should get. Gives as much effective health as hide of the leviathan, while granting the same CC reduction at a lower price.

However, if defense is not your flavor or you would prefer power first feel free to swap one here for a power item instead.

Each buff has their own use and all, but I find that the red buff is best for Athena. Her mobility is fast enough, and her already good clear speeds are enhanced to give her more free time. Not to mention that Athena doesn't really depend on basic attacks, so her clear speed only marginally improves with the orange buff.

At later levels, you might want to consider the blue buff, as the cooldown reduction is a great help for those without maxed CDR. At the very least, it won't hurt.

(I know this section is unpolished, but I'll leave that for future updates.)

Ganking as Athena is fairly simple, and utilizes a simple, three-step combo of Shield Wall and Confound. The latter is especially important. It is your bread and butter, your Alpha and Omega, the foundation of Athena's ganking potential. For Athena's ganks rely more on teamwork and coordination instead of raw damage, although she can certainly do well enough in that area.

Confound: This is Athena's signature ability. This is what makes your Shield Wall so powerful, this is the basis of Athena's counterjungle, this is your peeling and repositioning ability, and why Athena is so difficult to run from. Level this one equally with Shield Wall, but maxing it after.

Here's is an ideal representation of a gank:


You might be wondering, "Where is your Preemptive Strike?"

You'd have used it before, to gain stacks of Block, and ideally you'd be able to get behind the enemy without it, and reserve it for chasing. If you timed your attacks right, this ability should trigger Polynomicon again, letting you secure the kill.


Of course, this is merely an idealization and most ganks won't go this smoothly. Wards and enemy foresight are both potential threats to a successful gank. Circumvent the first by destroying them and/or avoiding them, either through a teleport or a Sentry Ward. Or this:

Eye of Providence: Free wards, enhanced counterjungling potential, and the ability to destroy enemy wards, once fully upgraded, should not be underestimated. It seems odd to think of this as an offensive item, but that's what it is. Get this if you need vision and want to counter the enemy's.

The second can be helped by obtaining even more CC to help shut an enemy down, through this:

Fist of the Gods: This allows you to shut down an enemy for a very long time, as well as not consume an active slot. A very good item, and very good for taking down those pesky few who always seem to get away.

There is one more valuable tool you possess: Your ultimate.

Defender of Olympus: The other signature ability of Athena's. You will use this to deliver a massive chunk of burst damage during a synchronized gank, you can use this to escape or to come to an ally's aid, and the damage mitigation is also good when paired with an initiating tank during teamfights. There are so many uses for this, this is the main reason why I advocate getting CDR on Athena.

So here is the theoretical step 0.

Invasion is a powerful tactic, and Athena is good at utilizing it.

Enemy presence and wards are simply bypassed by communication and awareness. The biggest problem is the enemy jungler. He'll be guarding and taking his camps, as well as fight you over the mid furies. He is your nemesis and should be treated with respect and caution.

Firstly, you need to make sure that the enemy doesn't invade you. Put a ward or two, or make sure that your camps are finished. The wards are especially important, as Athena's teleport is useless if you don't know when to use it. Shielded Teleport is especially useful here.

Athena has three tools she can use to invade:

Speed: Put Athena's speed to good use and simply reach his camps faster than the enemy can.

Force: Bring the fight to the jungler. Beat the **** out of him, and take his camps afterward.

Trickery: Attack the enemy at an unexpected angle, and gain the advantage over him.

Using Speed

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Consider the respawn times of each camp. Buff camps respawn every four minutes, and harpies respawn every one minute, forty seconds. Now, consider the fact that a jungler cannot afford to spend every single minute farming.

With a fast enough clear speed, you can just zip past enemies, take one of their camps, and run away. When you consider how deceptively tough Athena can be, even without any tank items, this is a very useful tactic.

Using Force

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The enemy jungler isn't too hard to find. He'll be farming his jungle, at the mid camps when they respawn, and of course, he'll be ganking.

Finding him is fairly simply. Just go to his jungle when his camps respawn (easy to know through wards and/or timing), just exist near the mid camps, and unless the enemy jungler can 100-0 someone without being seen, your ultimate is a pretty fine tool in making sure he'll never gank, ever.

Now, ideally, you'll be able to kill him by focusing him instead of the enemy laner during one of these ganks, but this requires good communication and coordination in your team. Otherwise, you can try to duel the enemy jungler, one on one.

Honestly, dueling is a rather complicated thing and I'll address it in the matchups section. I'll give a list of general tips.

• Get max stacks of Block. They help a lot, especially against Polynomicon.
  
  
• Confound is a good way to break up any combos.
  
  
• If you don't have any Block stacks and the enemy is a strong basic attacker, for the love of god, don't taunt.
  
  
• Your ultimate can be used to flee, or to get a surprise flanking maneuver.
  
  
• Build against him, and maybe get an active or two.
  
  
• A good team should be able to help you if necessary, but don't rely on it, especially in solo queue.

Using Trickery

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Let's say the enemy jungler is a fed Freya, who will obliterate you in a duel. Direct combat is out, and maybe you cannot use your speed for some reason. Maybe the enemy is way too fast, like Mercury or Fenrir. Here's your last resort.

Firstly, think outside the box with your Defender of Olympus. Let's say you gank right lane. Any jungler with a brain would expect you to not be in left lane. You teleport to the other side, and then you have the advantage of surprise. This tactic is best used with a high CDR build, for obvious reasons.

Secondly, Athena is really good at stealing camps for one reason: her Confound. You just taunt the enemy jungler as they were about to take the last hit, kill the camp, and dash away. Works very well, and unless they have Purification Beads they'll be helpless.

Using that mobility to ambush the enemy jungler is also good. Let's say you see an enemy Hun Batz near the middle lanes, next to the mid camps. You can easily get behind him, and whether he is ganking or taking the camps, he would have likely used an ability or two. The advantage and the first strike is likely to be yours.

Lastly, baiting the enemy jungler is also a good tactic. Let's say you fight the enemy jungler. Your nearby laners rotate to help, and you use your ultimate on them. The enemy jungler might think you are using it to run away, but they'll be in for an unpleasant surprise.

There are probably a load of more interesting strategies and plans, but these are the only ones I can think of for now.

At this stage, you'll likely have a pair of footwear, Polynomicon, and your choice of defensive item. Now you need more power as well as utility. You have quite a bit of options here:

Chronos' Pendant: If you are getting this, it is best bought early, where the MP5 would do its work. Gives a spot of power while granting you a large chunk of CDR.

Obsidian Shard: If you are getting just one penetration item, I'd recommend this. Very versatile, while giving a fairly large amount of power. Cheap, too.

Book of Thoth: Athena has a deep mana pool, and items like Breastplate of Valor have excellent synergy with this item. If you want raw power, there is no better source.

Bancroft's Talon: A cheap source of power and lifesteal. I don't usually get this item, but it is useful nonetheless, especially for jungle fights.

Focused Void Stone: This also works as a power item. More importantly, it gives you the penetration you need to remain an effective damage dealer, while rounding out any possible gaps in your defenses.

Doom Orb: If you're getting this item, you have gotten a few kills, want to snowball, and want the cheapest source of raw power you can find.

Once you've gotten those, you'd go on to the star of every mage's show:

Rod of Overcompensation: Just for once, I'd like to see a phallic symbol NOT be the ultimate object of power in a video game. It's always a sword, or staff, or rod, or something like that. Why not a book? Knowledge is power, after all. And League of Legends even lampshaded it with the Needlessly Large Rod. Why not?

And honestly, if you haven't gotten or needed any of the above actives, you should at least get one of the below:

Aegis Pendant: This one is best if an enemy has a heavily damaging move that doesn't require much setup to kill you, such as spirit's tempest or Hovering Death. Consider getting Aegis Amulet if you want the Purification Beads-like effect.

Purification Beads: These can be just as damage-mitigating as Aegis if the enemy is particularly reliant on CC for their damage, and have a lower cooldown to boot. They can also be used offensively, to get the CDR needed for that essential dash or taunt.

Sometimes, you'll be called to defend a tower or two. Athena can certainly do it. Her waveclear isn't the best in the world, but it's pretty good all the same.

Unfortunately, most situations like this also have a conspicuous lack of allies near the structure in question. You'll need some help.

Teleport to Towers/Shielded Teleport: For some reason, there is no image to Teleport to Towers. Mod, please fix this. Anyway, this helps you id you wish to reserve your ultimate for ganks, provides you with even more mobility, and is excellent for saving a tower. I wouldn't consider this for most junglers, but it synergizes well with Athena, so why not?

Come on, you shouldn't need my help for learning how to clear a wave. Use your three on the biggest group, use your one to finish them off. Not too hard.

Also, if any enemies present try to get frisky, try taunting them into your tower. Also fun, but make sure to clear the minions first.

Your role in teamfights changes depending on your degree of squishiness. We'll start with presenting a universal role regardless of your build. First and foremost, your goal is to deal damage.

Universal Roles

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As a burst-y bruiser who relies on basic attacks, you'd want to single out a priority enemy, and beat the **** out of them. Easy enough with her combo, and Shield Wall can also deal a great amount of damage to unaware enemies.

Play to your strengths. If you have Midgardian Mail, you can slow many with your Confound, and if you have good cooldown reduction, you can harass your enemies with a good amount of burst damage.

Secondly, Athena's kit is great for counter-initiation. Let's say an enemy Sobek pulls a hunter to the middle of the enemy team. That's your cue to haul *** and taunt the entire enemy team. Suicidal, sure, but your team will thank you later. It's the opposite for gods like Bacchus. You can't do much to stop his Belly Flop, but you can certainly stop his Belch of the Gods from zoning your team.

Lastly, Athena is a great and provocative* initiator for the more proactive players out there. Dashing past, or even into the enemy front line, then taunting them and forcing them into a cluster, can be devastating with a prepared team. Just remember that you aren't a full tank, and you will be putting yourself in a pretty bad position.

*In all senses of the word.

That covers the universal roles. Now for the squishy's job.

Damage Build Roles

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It's simple enough. Be a mage. It's the support's job to protect you as you deal as much damage as possible. You aren't tanky enough to withstand a lot of damage, but you can dish it out as well as most mages. Your CC also plays an important role as disruption, but that's it. Oh, and your ultimate should deal a ridiculous amount of damage, so use that.

The tanky's role is a bit more complicated.

Defense Build Roles

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Firstly, you need to use your CC. Confound is used to group and set up enemies for an ***-reaming from your team. It is also used to peel, and to distract enemies. It's a simple way to redirect damage to you, and you should be tanky enough to withstand most of it. You are like an auxiliary tank in this regard.

Secondly, you need to flank and initiate. Squishy characters typically cannot flank, since they'll be vaporized in an instant. As Athena, you have enough mobility to flank the enemy team as well as the CC to make it effective. You'll be giving them a hilarious surprise. That ganking combo works well on multiple targets.

Best of all, you can help an ally's flank. You'll be facing the enemy down, and suddenly, they see you ult, and then they get blindsided by Sun Wukong as he drives the world's sexiest bombshell into the middle of the enemy team. Utter chaos. Beautiful. Even if they see him coming, it acts as a glorious method of scattering enemy formations. No hunter or mage wants to get hit by that.

Lastly, you have to lock enemies down. This does NOT use your damage combo. As a tanky bruiser, you have to find a priority target, and make his life a living hell. Bodyblock his CC and/or basic attacks. Silence him with Confound. Use your Shield Wall to block his escape. Slow him with Preemptive Strike. Basically, you aren't' going for damage; you're preventing the enemy's damage.

Tips and Tricks

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You have many tools in a teamfight. Knowing which tool to use at the right time can be difficult. But I will give some tips:

• Learn when damage is more important than locking someone down. Part of this is threat identification. Someone like Hercules may be more dangerous than Agni if the former keeps setting up kills for the latter. Use damage on Agni, and disruption on Herc.
  
  
• Distribute your Confound carefully. You have a single shot, and even with CDR it has a fairly extensive cooldown. Is it better to counter-initiate that Hades, or is it better to delay Poseidon from using his ultimate?
  
  
• Use your ultimate well. I stressed this earlier, and it stands true. Your ultimate is a huge source of mobile burst damage and can make or break a teamfight. It could make the difference between a slaughter of your entire team and only a single death. It can be a massive source of disruption toward the enemy team or it can be a laughable miss. It can either turn a fight completely around, or it can be wasted when your ally dies a second after your arrival and you're left alone facing most of the enemy team.
  
  
• Coordinate. This applies to all gods, but Athena especially requires a high degree of coordination. She doesn't have Ymir's Frost Breath, where any brainless idiot can capitalize on. Her kit requires good teamwork, and having an allied Sobek save an enemy from certain death via Shield Wall is a very sad affair indeed.

Mercury isn't so bad. His greatest threat is that he is just as fast as you, and you have different kits. His early game is roughly on the same level as yours, but he specializes in sustained damage while yours is burst damage. I'd classify this as a medium-ish encounter. Direct Confrontation Midgardian Mail just murders this guy. But so does Breastplate of Valor. And so does Shield Wall. Your Block stacks also neatly counter his passive. The biggest problem here is that he'll be able to keep attacking after you use all of your abilities, and his Special Delivery is deadly with coordination. I would say that fighting this guy would be difficult, but possible before you get Polynomicon. Once you do get Polynomicon, this guy won't be too much of a threat. Tips and Tricks Confound is best when walking backward, as your abilities can hit him beyond the reach of his basic attacks. Save your Preemptive Strike for chasing or for a last-ditch hit. This way, you can block a total of four basics. Shield Wall really hurts his squishy little health bar, but it might not be enough. You can try to get an early Breastplate of Valor for the faster recharge of your abilities, or you can get Polynomicon for even more murder. Mercury has a rather inflexible build, but his items are not. Qin's Sais and executioner can be countered with Midgardian Mail, or you can opt to stack health, or you can get mystical mark. At later levels, you'll be able to kill him only slightly faster than he can kill you, so watch out. Reaction speed is important here.

This guide was a trip down memory lane for me. Athena is truly a fun goddess to play, and I hope you'll have as good of a time as I have.

-Sub

December 30 2013: Published guide!

12/31/13: By torches and pitchforks popular demand, I added a few example and/or recommended builds to start on. Also did some visual reworking on that hideous wall of text that was the "Role in Teamfights" section. Turned "Clearing Camps" into "Clearing your Jungle" because I added a "Clearing Their Jungle" section. Also added matchups: Mercury.

1/4/13: Added a section explaining the builds, included the rest of the actives, expanded Teamfights by adding Initiation, and a tiny little section on what buffs are best.