League of Legends Jungle Guide: Plants and Monsters

The jungle can be a dangerous place — but with our help, you'll be ready for everything it has by the time the next ranked season arrives. In this first part of our guide, we'll cover the basics of the plants and jungle camps.

The Summoner's Rift map is a sight every League of Legends player is familiar with — in fact, it's fundamentally similar to the classic MOBA map from back when Defense of the Ancients was a Warcraft III custom map. Three lanes with a jungle full of camps between them and a river splitting the map in two — should be simple, right? Well, maybe not that simple. The Rift has a few secrets that take some learning. So whether you're a budding jungler or just want to know what's happening outside your lane, keep reading.

Plants

The jungle can be full of plants, but three of them have special effects when targeted. All of them need one hit to "activate," and then respawn within 5-7 minutes. Blast Cone deals no damage, but it launches everyone around it away from the plant, terrain included. This can come in handy if you want to jump over terrain to escape an enemy or hop over a ward.

Scryer's Bloom, meanwhile, is especially useful for revealing the map. Attacking it will release a wave of pollen that reveals everything in its path within a certain range, including wards and other invisible enemies. Finally, Honeyfruit becomes five melons. Walking over them restores 6% of your missing mana and a fixed amount of health (between 14 and 116 depending on your level) or 3.5% of your maximum health, whichever is higher. It briefly slows you, but it's usually worth it.

Monsters

While plants don't fight back when attacked, the fauna of the Rift is rarely as accommodating. Jungle monsters don't attack first, but if you try to flee they'll fight and chase you a short distance. If you run too far, the red patience meter under their health will run out and they'll head home, gaining a burst of speed and regeneration.

Every monster killed will grant a bit of experience and gold to the champion who lands the finishing blow. They'll respawn some time after the last monster in the camp is killed. You'll usually want to kill all of them to get maximum gold and experience, but leaving a lone monster from a big camp is also an option if you want to slow down the enemy jungler.

Wolves (two normal wolves and one larger wolf):

This trio is fast, but their damage isn't especially high. They first spawn at 1:30 and respawn 2:15 after the last wolf is killed.

Raptors (one crimson raptor and five normal raptors):

Since five of these creatures have very little health, this camp deals a lot of damage but dies quickly to area damage. It shares the same spawn and respawn timers as the wolves.

Krugs (one ancient krug and one normal krug):

This is a slower camp to clear, but it grants more gold than any other. When the ancient krug is cleared, it spawns two normal krugs, and each krug spawns two mini krugs. All the monsters spawned by killing a krug become desperate when killed — so if you want to fight through the jungle, consider leaving the original krug alone. The camp spawns at 1:42 and respawns 2:15 after being cleared.

Gromp:

A large toad-like monster, Gromp is a natural one-two target while clearing the blue buff if you have the health for it. Its attack is slow but powerful and short-ranged. Killing it will restore a portion of your lost health and mana, depending on your level and how much you're missing.

Blue Buff:

A large rock monster, this is a good starting point for jungle champions who use a lot of abilities to clear it. Whoever kills it gets the "Crest of Insight" (or "blue buff"), which grants 120 seconds of +10 Ability Haste and bonus mana or energy regeneration. Killing the champion carrying the buff before it expires transfers it to the killer and refreshes its duration. Blue buff spawns at 1:30 and respawns every 5 minutes after being killed.

Red Buff:

Blue Buff's fiery red and mostly wood-based counterpart, this is usually the first target for junglers who rely heavily on auto-attacks. Killing it grants a "Crest of Cinders" ("red buff") that slows your auto-attacks and deals damage over time, and lets you regenerate health points outside of combat. Like blue buff, this effect transfers and refreshes if another champion carrying it is killed before it expires.

Rift Scuttler:

This camp is unusual in several ways — it moves up and down the river and doesn't fight back if attacked. Instead, once hit, the scuttler will flee faster than a champion can move. It comes with a shield, but a single hit or a hard crowd-control effect (stun, root, charm, etc.) will break it. Killing it grants an indestructible "eye of the herald" in front of the Dragon or Baron pit, giving everyone on the killer's team a brief speed boost. The crab spawns on both sides of the river at 3:15. Two and a half minutes after the last one is killed, a new one will spawn in either the top-left or bottom-right of the river.