Ratatoskr - King of the Jungle (Patch 8.1)

Ratatoskr is deadly as he is cute. The character is incredibly versatile and can play many roles, this allows to be a bit of an unknown factor in the pick and ban phase as the enemies don't know where he'll go. This guide focuses solely on him as a jungler. Ratatoskr is an early game powerhouse thanks to his Acorns and their ability to buy them while in lane but you’ll find yourself tapering off in terms of damage later on. Instead, you’ll turn into providing more utility and setup with your stun from Acorn Blast and knock up from your ultimate though you will be more than capable of destroying ADCs and mid laners if necessary.

Ratatoskr spawns with a unique Acorn in his inventory that replaced boots. Each acorn provides a unique passive that augments his abilities. This ability is Ratatoskr's unique selling factor that makes him so versatile and allows him to flex into multiple roles. Ratatoskr can also upgrade his Acorn without having to back to base. Quick note, there is a bug where your game freezes when you upgrade the Acorn while on lane, it's a bug that has been in the game for a while. So be careful and sure you're in a safe spot when upgrading the acorn in the lane.

Ratatoskr dashes forward damaging and slowing enemies for three seconds. Ratatoskr stops at the first god hit. The cooldown of this ability is reduced by 1 second for every enemy hit by Acorn Blast or Flurry. This ability is best used as a chase or escape tool, with Blink or Through the Cosmos are better for engaging with.

Ratatoskr spins to win damaging enemies 4 times in an area around him. Every time an enemy is hit their protections is reduced. The protection shred is important to remember as it not only increases your damage but your allies as well so make sure this ability is used early into a fight as you'll deal more damage overall.

Ratatoskr shoots out 3 acorns in a cone, each one dealing damage. Each acorn that hits deals 25% less damage down to a minimum of 25% damage. Enemies hit by 3 acorns are stunned. Two things of note with this ability. The 3 acorns don't need to hit the same enemy, each acorn can hit a different enemy and all 3 will get stunned as 3 acorns hit as per the ability description. Secondly with Thistlethorn Acorn, you still only need to hit 3 acorns to stun even though the ability shoots out 5 within the same radius. This allows you to stun enemies from further away.

Ratatoskr charges up and leaps into the sky onto a branch above him. He may jump to two more branches before landing down and dealing damage as well as knocking up enemies. You can cancel this ultimate early and land early. Few tips with this. It takes 1.5 seconds to charge his ultimate, during which you are cc immune but vulnerable to damage so it isn't the greatest escape tool and you'll have to use it pre-emptively. However, it's a very strong gank and rotation tool. You can use it for very quick rotations as you can travel quite a distance while in ultimate form, while you're in the air wards won't spot you either allowing you to surprise enemies quickly.

Bumba's Dagger is my preference when it comes to starter for Ratatoskr. Ratatoskr (under this build) doesn't utilise basic attacks to much, which limits the usefulness of Seer Of The Jungle and Manikin Scepter. Furthermore, the extra sustainability in the jungle is incredibly useful, mana shouldn't be much of a problem early and it allows you to stay on lane longer and utilise his early power spike.

Often you will see the starter items recommended for Ratatoskr is Starter + Nettle Acorn + Pots. I personally am not the biggest fan of this. Ratatoskr’s early big power spike comes from his ability to upgrade his Acorn while he is in lane. I find that with Nettlee Acorn start you find yourself wanting to back to base around the time you have enough gold to upgrade. This somewhat nullifies his power spike as a big part of it is the sudden surprise increase in damage that catches enemies off guard. However, both starts are viable and come down to personal preference.

Don't forget to by pots as it allows you to stay in lane longer. As with any character you want to back to base as little as possible even with his passive as more time on lane means more gold and xp.

Why Thistlethorn Acorn you may ask? Quite simply it makes your stuns more consistent and easier to hit. No longer do you need to hit it at point-blank range which is incredibly useful. The debuff is also incredibly strong as it makes the rest of your kit more potent.

Bristlebush may seem powerful due to its stats and crit chance but in team fight scenarios you’ll find yourself lacking. Ratatoskr doesn’t do anything exceptional with crit that makes him worth picking over a character like Mercury. Furthermore, Dart isn’t an ability you want to engage with, that’s more the job of your ult or blink. Dart is either a chase or escape tool.

Thickbark and Evergreen Acorn meanwhile are more focused on prolonged boxing which isn’t your job as a jungler, you’re supposed to focus on the ADC and mid landers. Prolonged boxing either is not good for your health.

Brawler's Beat Stick is another core item. As of patch 8.1 healing is incredibly powerful with the likes of Guan Yu, Aphrodite, Chang'e and Set amongst the highest win rate characters in the game, all of whom are characters with potent healing in their kit. This makes anti-heal even more valuable than it was in the previous season.

However, if there's a lack of healing on the opposing side, The Crusher is a good alternative option that provided a bigger increase in damage while still providing that useful flat penetration in the early game,

Ratatoskr's damage does not come out over a quick period of time compared to some other junglers. Ratatoskr's power spike comes early so to be relevant in the late game it's incredibly useful as Ratatoskr to build some amount of hybrid. This allows you to take a beating and stay in fights longer, as well as acting as a bit of a front liner if need be in a teamfight.

I'm going to pick a few select items and quickly go over their usefulness and why you should buy them. I won't go over every item mentioned in the build section.

Out of the two upgrades for Bumba's Dagger this should be the go-to. The 10% heal from Bumba's Spear bugged but the stats and passive on Hammer are more useful. The cooldown reduction and penetration are both incredibly useful stats.

Basic attacks are something you will inevitably weave in between your abilities with Ratatoskr regardless but Hydra's Lament helps augment them. The cooldown reduction on this item is useful as always.

I'm putting these items together as they are very similar in use. Both of these are high power items however it's their secondary stats which make them differ. The 10% penetration on Heartseeker as well as the % maximum health damage of Heartseeker make it more tailored to fighting slightly tankier targets. However, this doesn't mean it's bad against squishies. Arondight on the other hand provides 10% cooldown reduction. It's passive is usually slightly redundant as you'll ideally be landing next to your target anyway with your ultimate. Both are perfectly viable and both can be bought. It comes down to preference and what the situation is.

A very powerful hybrid item that's been present in the meta for a while. It provides some protections and a decent amount of power. It's passive is a major selling point as it's effectively 15% penetration for all the physicals in your team if an enemy is standing next to you. An almost must pick item in my eyes.

Shifter's Shield has seen an increase in popularity with the onset of season 8 and rightfully so. This item provides both a high amount of power and protections and it happens to switch between the two at a good time. A very good hybrid item.

The epitome of tank items. This provides 60 of each protections as well as passive that's helpful for survival and cooldown reduction to boot. This item is useful when if you want to go more damage oriented and can be used as your only tank item if you wish.

While Magi's Cloak isn't the tankiest of all items, it's the passive you are after. Magi's Cloak can effectively serve as a second Purification Beads and is useful in select scenarios. If you are finding you can't dive the back line without being heavily CC'd then this is the item to go.

Blink Rune is the go-to relic for junglers and rightfully so. Your job as a jungler is to get to the back line and it's the job of the enemy front line to stop that. Blink is a great engagement tool that allows to get past the frontline or wall and to your main target. Good as a first relic pick on Ratatoskr to abuse your early powerspike. Can also be used as a juking and escape tool.

Purification Beads should be your second relic pick. CC will be the bane of your job as well as the reason of your inevitable demise. Beads is a must pick up as it gives you that extra survivability.

That's pretty much all. As I've stated a few times throughout this guide, Ratatoskr can flex into solo and even support, so those are guides I might do. If you have any feedback please feel free to leave it.

"Get out there and become the god you were meant to be" -TheOtherFrost