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The Insane Jungler's Guide to Jungling

21 4 38,581
by Subzero008 updated February 8, 2014

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Introduction

This is not a guide for the faint of heart. This is a guide containing almost every jungler you can dream of. Anhur jungle? Done. Ao Kuang jungle? Done. If you want to spice up your jungling life, look no further.

This is a sacred archive of a multitude of jungling guides. Each entry is designed to give a quick overview of what the god does, why they would jungle, and an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses, and finally, a list of jungling roles and their ability to accomplish them.

Click the text below the image for a link to the full guide.

An Explanation of the Criteria

Each entry will give a list of criteria, and a rating for each, one being the lowest and five being the highest. Each criteria has a baseline god for the highest and lowest.

Snowball: Basically, if a god snowballs, a few early kills will essentially win you the match. Mercury is one example. There aren't a lot of junglers who don't snowball. Tank Ymir is one of them. Most gods just sort-of snowball.

Clear Speed: Exactly what it sounds like: How good a jungler is at clearing camps. Bakasura takes first place, while Bacchus is the worst.

Wave Clearing: Not to be confused with clear speed; this is how fast a prospective jungler is at clearing a minion wave. Ao Kuang is the undisputed master, while Arachne is the worst.

Control: How well a jungler can control his or her jungle as well as the enemy's. Mobility and being a good duelist are both requirements, but there are also other factors, like certain builds and free wards. The best would be no one, but Arachne comes close, only hampered by her lack of mobility. The absolute worst is probably Bacchus, who is the worst.

Ganking: How good your jungler is at ganking. Typically, more CC is better than less CC. Ymir and Arachne are tied the best, since one can essentially cancel dashes while the other can pull through walls. Bacchus has the worst ganks, because he is the worst.

Sustainability: How well your jungler will sustain himself. A jungler who's constantly low on health and/or mana won't be able to accomplish objectives without risking himself. Thanatos is at the top, no contest. Bacchus is the worst, as usual. Seeing a pattern yet?

Mobility: How fast your jungler can move. This is important for reacting to enemy action, for ganking, and for clearing camps in time. The worst would ironically be Arachne, while the best is Athena and/or Mercury.

Post-Jungle: How useful your jungler is when laning has completely dissolved and it's late game. Some jungler's jobs are to make sure this never happens. In general, assassins fare the worst and mages and hunters fare the best.

IMPORTANT NOTE

I'm officially reworking this guide. If you want to see any of the old entries, they will be under spoiler tags.

Anhur: The Jungle Cat

Anhur

Anubis: The Jungle (W)rapper

Anubis

Ao Kuang: A Dragon in the Jungle

Ao Kuang

Athena: Queen of the Jungle




Strengths and Weaknesses



Strengths



- Global Presence/High Mobility
- Tank Jungler
- Great CC
- Good Counterjungler
Weaknesses



- Weak early game
- Long Cooldowns
- Confound-reliant

Athena sorta snowballs

Athena does not fall off post-jungle


Athena is a tank jungler, who is built bruiser-ish. She combines the CC of a tank with good burst damage, incredible mobility, and global presence. Unlike most tanks, she has a powerful ranged attack (with Polynomicon) and an extremely flexible build. These traits continue to carry her though, even after jungling has ended. If you want a fast, powerful jungler who has a decent amount of defenses, has good control, with great CC, Athena is the goddess for you.


Clear Speed: 4/5


Excellent. She has a very good clear speed with her Shield Wall. Although it lags in the early game, it picks up quickly.


Wave Clearing: 3/5


Not bad. Middle of the pack, since most of Athena's area attacks have medium range.


Mobility: 5/5


Athena has a teleport, a dash, and a decent base speed. Not to mention she can afford to use that dash and teleport often, unlike Mercury.


Control: 4/5


Athena's abilities are fantastic at contesting map objectives and stealing camps and defending your own, not to mention your global teleport and your high mobility. The only thing preventing this from being a five is that Athena isn't the best duelist. She's a good one, but not the best.


Ganking: 4/5


You have one of the most powerful CC abilities in the game. She can't quite 100-0 anyone like an assassin could (or at least without her ultimate), but she can come close, and she has way more teamwork potential than most assassins.

Of course, this comes with the downside of requiring good coordination and a dependance on team play, which aren't always options.


Sustainability: 2.5/5


You have a huge mana pool and the natural defenses of a tank. Despite not having any innate sustain, I have to give this a 2.5/5 since you almost never run out of health or mana in the jungle.


Playstyle


Athena will be played conservatively in the early game, with emphasis on farming carefully.

Then you will be a holy terror mid and late game, where you will walk into the enemy jungle unafraid (okay, mostly unafraid), and your ganks will make your enemies clutch at their Purification Beads in terror.

Guan Yu: Saint of Jungling




Strengths and Weaknesses



Strengths



- High damage output
- Has a heal
- Has a defense shred ability
Weaknesses



- No burst damage
- Mana problems
- Lacks hard CC
- Cavalry Charge-dependent

Guan Yu sorta snowballs

Guan Yu does not fall off post-jungle


Guan Yu is an oddball jungler. His teamwork-oriented kit, ironically, makes him strong as a jungling support. Rather than grabbing kills and harassing a lane, he will be feeding kills and sustaining a lane. I consider him to be more of an anti-jungler, where he focuses on countering the actions of the enemy jungler, while occasionally making a gank of his own.


Clear Speed: 3.5/5


Not bad. Not especially good, either. Kind of middle of the road.


Wave Clearing: 3/5


Again, it's alright. Nothing huge. You can clear each wave with just one Taolu Assault and a few swipes, but it takes a while and it's interruptable.


Mobility: 2.5/5


Guan has a (short) dash, and his horse certainly gives some speed, but the biggest problem is that he must often reserve them due to his mana problems. He can certainly chase, just not very often and not very well.


Control: 3.5/5


This one is also another oddball. Guan Yu is terrible at stealing objectives, and his clear speed is only average, but he is an extremely strong duelist, and his stronger teamwork allows him to better contest the mid harpies.


Ganking: 2.5 or 4.5/5


Guan has little CC and no burst damage, which means his solo ganks are decent at best, and laughable at worst. But his damage output over time is huge, and his Taolu Assault is a powerful teamwork ability. If your team can keep up with you and you can keep up with your enemies, he is one of the best.


Sustainability: 3.5/5


Guan has fairly good innate defenses, and his heal is very strong in the early levels. His biggest problem is his mana consumption, but Bumba's Mask helps with that.


Playstyle


Guan Yu jungle is played like a jungling support tank. You'll be dealing your share of damage, and utility is your substitute for hard CC. The fact that Guan Yu doesn't really need kills to be effective is all the more reason to give your kills to your allies. You're focused around team synergy, although Guan can certainly shine by himself.

Hel: The Wicked Witch of the Jungle

This section is taking longer than I thought. So I cannot say it will be coming soon.

Nu Wa: A Snake in the Jungle




Strengths and Weaknesses



Strengths

fog


- Very high utility
- Great counterjungler
- Two forms of CC

elemental crystalsfog flame strikepillars of heaven
Weaknesses



- Mediocre damage until Polynomicon
- Mediocre early clear speeds and early ganks
- Can't see snake form very often

Nu Wa kind of snowballs

Nu Wa does not fall off post-jungle


Nu Wa is an very able jungler who combines high mobility with decent clear speeds and massive utility. The low costs on her abilities allows you to jungle for quite a while. You'll have a bit of trouble with your first camp or two, but clear speeds stop becoming a problem later. Her power level is also very consistent, and there are no huge shifts as the game progresses. Late game, her utility makes her a massive asset in a teamfight.


Clear Speed: 3/5


Her clear speeds are fairly slow, but not horrifically so. When she gains a few levels, they stabilize. Once she gets fog to a decent level, her clear speeds will be fine no matter what you build.


Wave Clearing: 3/5


She can certainly clear a wave faster than Bakasura, but she isn't the best at it, either. Clay Soldiers can block a wave or help push a tower, but they're pretty useless for actually clearing.


Mobility: 4.5/5


You have a 30% movement speed buff on 2/3s of the time. You are very, very fast. Not quite the fastest due to the lack of a dash.


Control: 4/5


Her dueling skills and mobility make her very good at countering the enemy jungle. She's not the best duelist, but that fact that she can counter nearly every melee jungler makes her extremely potent at invading and defending. Her decent sustainability also helps with this.


Ganking: 3/5


She has access to a 1-second stun and a huge slow. Unfortunately, both deal rather underwhelming damage, so her ganks will be more around coordination and locking down enemies rather than the 100-0 burst of an assassin. But once she picks up Polynomicon, her ganks will become acceptable, although her offensive ganks remain terrible.


Sustainability: 3/5


She has no form of innate sustain, but her mana pool is huge and her clear times are
quick enough. You won't often find yourself at low health or mana as Nu Wa, and her passive 10 HP5 helps a tiny bit.


Playstyle


Nu Wa has a weak early game, like most mage junglers, but as soon as she hits level 5, you can start being really aggressive. You want to farm and play defensively early, and once you're strong enough, you want to start picking off unsuspecting foes. If you can't do that, stealing buffs are also acceptable.

Odin: King of the Jungle




Strengths and Weaknesses



Strengths



- Ridiculous Ganks
- Good Counterjungler
- High Defenses

birds of wisdom
Weaknesses



- Ultimate-dependent
- Mediocre clear speeds
- Mana issues

Odin sorta snowballs

Odin does not fall off post-jungle


Odin is an odd breed (aren't they all?). You have the mid game power of an assassin, the late game potential of an ADC, wrapped up in a tanky bruiser package centered around basic attacks, with the most uncounterable form of CC in the game - the RING OF HONOR! Your clear speeds are meh, but what makes Odin truly shine is his counterjungling and ganking ability. Late game, Odin normally becomes a walking ultimate, but with a certain build, you are much more.


Clear Speed: 2.5/5


His clear speeds are depressingly average, and rather item-dependent, due to the poor base damage but fantastic scaling on Gungnir's Might.


Wave Clearing: 5/5


His Gungnir's Might can only one-shot the archer minions, but what makes Odin's waveclear so terrifyingly good is his ability to buff nearby minions with Odin's Shout. Odin is an incredible splitpusher due to his relative safety and this clear speed.


Control: 4/5


His passive is what makes this work. You can clear jungle camps and invade with incredible precision because you will be the enemy jungler WAY before he can see you. And despite your mediocre clear speeds, you are a fantastic counterjungler because you also happen to be an incredibly powerful duelist thanks to your two massive self buffs.

Ganking: 5/5


Three words: Ring of Spears. This means nigh-guaranteed death for anyone without a leap or Combat Blink. For those with a leap, Odin's ganking power is less potent, around a 2.5, but you can easily wait for them to use the leap before attacking.


Sustainability: 2.5/5


He has quite a few mana problems, but he does have some passive Hp5, and his basic attack dependence makes him synergize well with lifesteal, as well as his own natural and passive defenses.


Playstyle


Early game Odin is alright, more focused around reaching level 5 ASAP. Then you gank. Gank. Gank. You are a ganking machine. Your entire goal in jungling is to find a good target, whether it is the enemy mid or hunter or jungler, and put them in THE RING OF HONOR! You will walk fearlessly into the jungle, for you are the Sage of Asgard, who can see all, your spear reaches the heavens and can slay the gods themselves, etc etc. Late game Odin can be described as a tanky melee ADC, your job is to deal massive damage over and over and over again.

Update Log

9/18/2013: Guide published. Athena only, working on Anubis and Artemis.

9/22/2013: Working on Artemis, and tweaking her build. Minor edits and changes in format. Added rating system.

9/29/13: Artemis section added. Finally! Working on Ao Kuang. Also, I realized that my Athena section looks like ****.

10/5/13: Anubis section complete!

10/14/13: Ao Kuang section complete!

12/24/13: Wow, looking back, I honestly may have been the first Athena jungle. I was certainly the first one that I saw. Anyway, beginning revisions, added Nu Wa.

??/??/13: Added Athena, dunno exactly when.

1/21/2014: Added Guan Yu!!! I also slightly changed the format, and turned post-jungle into a simple y/n question.

Template Chapter: For Convienience




Strengths and Weaknesses



Strengths

size=50


-
-
-
size=120
size=21size=21size=21size=21size=21
Weaknesses

size=50


-
-
-

snowball

post-jungle


Clear Speed: /5

Wave Clearing: /5

Control: /5

Ganking: /5

Sustainability: /5

Playstyle

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Collapse All Comments

1
Drohkavias | December 7, 2013 6:15pm
This is JUST what i needed thank you
1
sorcerer455 (3) | October 12, 2013 9:20am
You should do Hel. She has 2 area damage nukes and a single target nuke. Her only problem would be her mana.
1
Subzero008 (112) | October 8, 2013 2:04am
1: Yeah, the Athena section looks like **** compared to the others, now that I've got a formula for them.
2: Still Target...was a purely aesthetic choice. Butcher Blades will rip apart any low HP character. I thought it would be appropriate.
1
TormentedTurnip (96) | October 7, 2013 6:53pm
Looking sexy with the updates. But two (very minor) things:

1. Are you going to update a pro's and con's section for Athena like your newer sections? Maybe as simple as moving "weaknesses" to the top, in a column format with the pro's.
2. What is your reasoning behind the icons for the pro's and con's? I can understand Anubis's (death gaze OPlol and beads ruins his wrap) but can't quite see it in Artemis's icons.
1
alwaysberedt | September 23, 2013 9:04am
Now do Ares, I dare you!
1
Subzero008 (112) | September 22, 2013 6:04pm
Tormented Turnip, thank you for the feedback. I recently played against an enemy Athena jungler this day (and was face-stomped), and it turns out, he had actually read my guide and decided to play her. I teach better than I play, apparently.

Dark Jaw, thank you for the compliment! As for Ao, I certain think he's usable in the jungle. I've played only two matches with him so far, so I'll make sure to contact you when I obtain more information. But at the very least, he's viable.
1
Dark Jaw (44) | September 22, 2013 5:35pm
I'm jealous with your BB Coding. So beautiful... and informative as well. You got my upvote.

I got a question for you. Do you think Ao Kuang can be used on the jungle,( Not saying viable, only ''useable''), and yet get some good results?( positive K/D or good farming potential in the jungle).
1
TormentedTurnip (96) | September 22, 2013 10:30am
One of the best visually balanced guides on this site. It looks like you'll go into good detail with each god when you update them into the guide. Definitely deserving of an upvote, and hopefully the fact that it won't be listed under any specific god won't hinder its ease of access.

Nice picture of Athena by the way, if only she was like that in real life in the game.
1
Subzero008 (112) | September 22, 2013 3:45am
Thank you for your feedback (and upvote) and suggestion. I would get onto that, but I'm currently focusing on Artemis and Anubis*, as well as trying to get the right build**.

As for videos...well, I don't have the equipment to record anything, and I have severe problems with public speaking. It would be nice though, and I suppose one day, someone might read this guide and make a video about it.

*Working on the A's right now.

**For example, in my experience an Artemis jungle build needs a vastly different build than a laning Artemis.
1
Piederman (39) | September 20, 2013 5:45pm
A very interesting idea! The only thing that I think could make it even better would be if you could make a video for each god, showing us how it actually performs while playing.

I'd like to see Ymir added to this guide, as he is, at least in my opinion, a very strong roamer that has everything that you would actually want from a jungler. A slow (I guess you could say 2 slows as his ultimate causes 30% slow to enemies within the ultimate range), a strong freeze and a giant wall that prevents a lot of gods from being able to run away.

I'll gladly upvote and keep an eye out for any changes.
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