A common trait of the MOBA genre is the jungle. Between each lane are areas where jungle monsters spawn, neutral minions who have no interest in what's going on. Like Minions of the Paths, Jungle Creeps grant Gold and Experience when killed, but more importantly, improve health, handling, damage, and cooldowns. As a jungler, it's your job to target these monsters while occasionally popping out to help ensure a death.
Choosing to ignore the jungle puts your team at a disadvantage, giving the enemy jungler free reign over additional buffs. An enemy player with only one level above you, whether you realize it or not, has a stat advantage that could change the course of the game. This may sound awfully familiar in League of Legends. In fact, any experience you have with juggling translates well into Mobile Legends. However, a bit of deprogramming is required. Mobile Legends handles juggling in a similar way, but is fundamentally different.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang does not have a jungler role, nor a jungle exclusively. It would put you seriously behind your teammates, even cost you the game. This is due to the jungle monsters which reward much less experience and gold. It seems unproductive, so why bother? The trick is to sneak through the jungle between waves of minions, take out a few jungle monsters, and then back up the lane.
That's not to say that some heroes aren't better in the jungle, but at least two players should jump in and out of the jungle, especially to pass buffs. Who it should be completely based on your team and who wants it. Once someone volunteers or is chosen, getting set up is easy.
The jungle monsters and what they do
At the start of the match, grab your favorite jungle item. It's different depending on your role, but to make it easier, there's an entire Jungle page at the store, detailing the different Jungle items to choose from. For spells, you will use Mobile Legends' equivalent to Smite, Retribution, to deal large amounts of damage to jungle monsters. This will speed up your route and in some cases give you the opportunity to steal a jungle monster if you encounter an enemy jungler.
Every monster in the jungle is worth killing, but a handful is much more valuable for its buffs and usefulness. You'll want to prioritize jungle monsters on a case-by-case basis. unlike League of Legends, there is no set route to follow during the transition, it's organic. We are going to divide the camps in the jungle according to three categories: common, elite and legends.
Common Jungle Creeps are the easiest to kill, but offer the smallest rewards, especially gold and experience. You won't get any major buffs from these creatures, but they will spawn quickly, providing a great opportunity to earn a lot of gold. Don't ignore these monsters:
- Lithowanderer
- Scaly lizard
- Repeater
- Rockursa
- Crab
Lithowanderer and Rockursa grant a regeneration effect and a healing effect, respectively. The Ladder Lizard and the Crammer provide gold. The Crab, however, gives you a small Gold Buff, granting additional Gold over time for a few seconds.
Elite Jungle Creeps are a step up from common creatures and deal out the best buffs in the game, often referred to as "blue buff" and "red buff" or "purple buff" and "orange buff". They are weak enough to be soloed and spawn every 45 seconds. Whoever is closest should give this buff to a role that benefits the most from it. These creatures are:
- Serpent (or Statock Shocker)
- Daemon (or Core Guard)
The Serpent - blue / purple buff - gives the user a 10% reduction in cooldown, and reduces mana and energy consumption by 40% and 25%, respectively. For a magical user, the blue buff is priceless. The demon - red / orange buff - grants the wearer real damage based on a portion of their physical damage. Melee and ranged classes love this buff.
Legendary jungle monsters can best be described as utilities. Their death, unlike other creeps, will grant the entire team gold and experience. For this reason, there are only two:
Of the two, the Lord of the Sanctuary is the more difficult to return. If you beat him, he will rush down a lane of your choice, and make a b-line for their base, smashing heroes and turrets along the way. As for the Cryoturtle, you receive a bonus in gold. However, whoever gets the last hit will receive the Turtle Buff, which is essentially a more potent version of the Red Buff.
How you approach each camp is up to you and your team. You are not stuck in the same lane as everyone else. That said, choosing to ignore the jungle entirely doesn't just put you at a disadvantage, it hurts the team as well. By leaving these jungle crawls unchallenged, there's nothing stopping the enemy team from gulping down additional gold and experience. Always make an effort to hang up a ramp or two in the jungle, especially if it sets you up for a gank.
