Baka to Basics (Bakasura 10.9 Jungle Conquest)

Hey! So this was my first guide on here. I enjoy an occasional Bakasura game and noticed there hadn't been a conquest guide for him since mid-S8 and a few things had changed (mostly in his favor!) since then. While his items have been buffed and nerfed, he has only received love on the conquest side of things in the last year, gaining a flat 2s active cooldown reduction on Eat Minion (as opposed to the scaling reduction he recieved in s9) as well as an increased base slow on Regurgitate in 10.1. 10.3 gave 2 rather nice direct buffs in a 40% antiheal added to Take Down, and Eat Minion cd being nearly halved. He has since been nerfed a couple of times, but is still strong (as he has been most of the season).

Start
Starts are very different in year 10 thanks to unleashed camps. Although you are a farm maniac your early clear is pretty mediocre. In 10.9 you solo the duo side speed camp (make sure to avoid the wind-up hit from the large centaur) while you make your way to red. If your mid/solo has good clear, you should use your shard. If you want to get level 3 off the 2nd mid wave you need to solo a side creep on red camp.

You have one of the weakest level 2 fights in the assassin ranks. Play safe and clear 2 waves in mid before going for a mid camp if possible. There is little point in staying in mid after this.

Early Game
Try to get to either the duo shield buff or oracle/pyro harpy camp right at 1:30 for a quick Eat Minion (note you can no longer eat mids from full hp). Use your 2 pretty much on cooldown if you can and try to be consistently killing jungle monsters to keep your passive stacked. The roaming harpies are great for this. Back as soon as you get the gold for Golden Blade as it vastly improves your clear. Until you have ult, you do not have very good gank potential. Your recipe isn't as important as golden blade, but it's still worth noting when you've killed 30 minions (completed step 1) and need to do auto dmg to gods. Remember to be on top of your solo side back camp in order to get bonus buffs unlocked for your camps. Buff camps have a 2.5 min respawn and both mid harpies are short 90s respawns.

Mid Game
Your first 'power spike' is usually after you finish your 2nd item (first item after Golden Blade) and ideally have a fully stacked ult. Try to use Eat Minion on a jungle camp almost immediately before a gank for the prot increase (and to ensure your passive stays stacked). Ideally, blink to engage and immediately pop Butcher Blades and your shard. Auto and use Regurgitate for CC immunity and to stop enemy escape. If you were a little off with your blink, ult immediately after you 3 for the AoE autos and slow/cripple. Save Take Down to avoid cc/chase down a target. If your 2 is ever up mid-gank, immediately use it on a nearby creep/ult minion. This heals you, gives you prots, and lowers the CD of your 1 and 3.

If you can, ward aggressively and try to keep track of enemy buff camp timers. Stealing farm and securing mid camps gives you a substantial advantage as long as you (or even someone else on your team) is staying on top of yours. You have excellent secure for buff camps thanks to your 2, so if you are comfortable and know when they come up, definitely try to steal those.

You still want to be a little more focused on farm than the average jungler and you don't really want to gank unless the enemy is quite low or your ult is up (and mostly stacked).

Late Game
Once you are full build you can 1v1 anyone if you play around CC. Try to pick people off. Play around when crucial abilites are down and get big cripples with your ult during late-game team fights. If you and your solo are on the same page, you can use your leap aggressively for the bonus damage debuff it provides, but a lot of times Take Down will be an escape rather than an engage. You have pretty good sustain, so don't be afraid to back out of a fight, clear a jungle camp (use your 2) and then try to hop in again instead of backing.

If a tank is eating tower/phoenix shots don't forget to take out said tower/phoenix with your capped AS!

Oracles and Pyro will show up at the next repawn after killing the harpy camp there post-10 min. Oracles are still the shortest respawn timer at 2 minutes and Gold, Pyro, and FG are all 5 minute respawns.

Of the new mask buffs, purple is generally most valuable to you. If you are having trouble surviving late, or are nearing cap and haven't got silverbranch, consider the green augment. Purple > green > blue > yellow > red as a general rule.

If you are split-pushing late, Pyro bomb is a valuable resource for taking down phoenixes and towers. It's also decent secure for FG. Don't be afraid to pick it up!

The cooldown buff isn't very valuable to you. Unless your solo is dead without tp, leave it for them. If you are about to gank, feel free to pick up the shield buff. If you've just come off a duo gank, it's better to leave that for your adc/Support.

If you are clearing an allied buff don't forget to backpedal as you auto to drag the buff a little closer to your ally's location.

Some new offensive items that proc on healing were added in 10.3, but Vital Amplifier is much better on gods with tic heals despite having great Baka stats, and Sekhmet's Scepter is much more of a solo Baka item since it requires attacking gods.

Thanks for reading and stay hungry! :)