How to play as a jungler in League of Legends: Wild Rift

The jungle covers most of the map and has a lot of juicy camps ready to be farmed. Farming those will usually fall on a champion that roams around the map, called the jungler.

Junglers can be carries, tanks, or utility, depending on what their team needs the most. A jungler will always have a great impact on the game (from the early stages even) because they are the only role that will have the ability to freely move throughout the jungle and affect the other lanes.

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The role of junglers:

A jungler's main role is to secure map objectives, such as Rift Scuttler (Scuttlecrab in the river, for vision), drakes, Rift Herald, and eventually Baron (even though that's more of a team-oriented objective rather than a solo one).

Ideally, they should affect the entire map, instead of a single lane, and boost the entire team forward. In lanes, they can bring power in numbers, by ganking.

- Ganking other lanes, and helping them out in various ways (pushing minions, getting player kills, taking tower plates)

- Securing map objectives (Rift Scuttler for vision), Drakes (for permanent team buffs), Rift Herald (for pushing power)

- Contesting map objectives (which means trying to stop the enemy team from doing such objectives, or even stealing them with Smite)

- Providing utility, damage, engage, peel, or anything else the team might need.

- Occasionally granting Mid laners or bot laners Red/Blue buff (at least that's what it would be like, in ideal scenarios)

How to jungle efficiently in Wild Rift:

To jungle like a pro, you want to first make sure that you have a champion that will have a good enough synergy with the rest of the team. For instance, if you are an engage jungler, you want your team to be able to quickly follow up.

Minion-wise, you never want to fall behind in EXP, even if you spend a lot of time ganking. To do this, make sure you secure plenty of minions in due time. Additionally, you can even invade the enemy jungle and take their camp, setting them behind (ONLY if you're positive in your champion's power, and if you know they won't expect it).

Junglers should be able to make important decisions for the team, such as starting a Drake, taking objectives on the opposite side of the map than where the enemy is, and such.

I will not get into too much detail, because it will take me a week to give you a complete guide, but each champion plays differently. Just keep that in mind when you choose jungle as your role.

How to position as a jungler:

Oftentimes, enemies will back away at just the sight of an additional player on the team (the power in numbers rule). So, you don't always have to engage. But when you do, make sure that your team is there to follow. Of course, that applies to engage junglers like Jarvan IV, Gragas, and Lee Sin.

Junglers that need another teammate to engage (like Graves pretty much) will do best if they just follow up with damage and some utility from their kit.

So, always keep in mind what type of champion you play, and if you're a damage dealer, don't go in front, even if you have the power in numbers. You might end up dead before your teammate can do anything.

However, if you have the ability to engage, make sure there is a way out, or you know you'll get something good in return if you die. If you engage without having any plan in mind, you might end up losing the team fight and possibly bigger objectives, like Baron.

What to build as a jungler:

Obviously, the main item you need to buy is the jungle item. Junglers have the summoner skill Smite, which allows them to buy jungle-specific items that can help them, clear minions faster, and provide additional benefits (Blue Smite, Red Smite).

Other than the mandatory jungle item, you want to build anything that will benefit yourself or the team, depending on the champion you play. Some junglers could even buy supporting items, to further boost their teammates!

Conclusion:

The jungle is quite a versatile role, with a great impact on the game. A good jungler can bring hope to a team when everything else seems to fail, by stealing a baron or a drake. Overall, they have quite a unique role which can have a lot of impact on the game. With good map awareness and heavily objective-focused, junglers are a role which should be fulfilled in every game of Wild Rift.