League's Preseason - The Jungle Reworked

Rilea

Dec 6, 2022 • 5 min read

The Jungle has received the most attention during the Preseason. There have been some huge changes to Smite, jungle pathing, and experience gains, so let's go over the biggest talking points.

League x Pokemon

Jungle items have been replaced with items that now spawn a companion to assist you in the jungle. It will evolve over the course of the game as you takedown champions and jungle camps, becoming stronger and empowering your Smite.

All companions have the following effects:

Companions will deal 20 (+4% bonus HP) (+15% AP) (+10% AD) and will attack at a rate of 1 attack per second. After their owner has stopped attacking, they will attack two more times and then stop.
Companions will heal their owner for 70% of damage dealt
Damaging a camp from a distance will cause companions to leap attack toward the camp, dealing the same amount of damage
Companions will provide their owners with an increase to mana regeneration while in the jungle, including your jungle, the enemy jungle, and the river

Companions provide similar bonuses to the previous version of Smite (such as increased health and mana regen) with a few additional QoL upgrades. Being able to move away from the camp but still have your companion attack is useful for smoother clears.

You can evolve your companion by acquiring treats, which you gain from:

Taking down a large monster or champion (1 treat)
Every 60 seconds before the companion's final evolution (1 bonus treat)
Every 90 seconds after the companion's final evolution (1 bonus treat)
When a large monster is killed with bonus treats available, you will receive 2 treats and 50 bonus gold. 1 bonus treat stack will also be removed

Your companion evolves once you've gained 20 treats, and evolves again at 40 treats. It gains the following bonuses after the first evolution:

Smite damage will be increased to 900 true damage against monsters
Smite is now castable on enemy champions, dealing 80-160 (based on level) true damage and slowing the target by 20% for 2 seconds
Companion will visually evolve, and Smite’s icon will upgrade

It then gains the following bonuses after the second and final evolution:

Smite damage will be increased to 1200 against monsters and will do 50% of its damage as AoE damage against nearby monsters
Players will become empowered and receive buffs depending on their chosen companion
The jungle item will be removed from your inventory
Companion will visually evolve, and Smite’s icon will upgrade

Choose Your Starter

Just like with previous versions of Smite, you can choose from several types of companions that grant unique effects:

Mosstomper’s Courage: Gain a 75-330 (based on level) health shield after killing a monster camp or after 10 seconds out of combat. This shield will remain indefinitely. Players will gain 20% Tenacity and slow resist while the shield is present and for 3 seconds after it has been broken.
Protection Buff: Take 30% reduced damage from monsters while at least 2 allies are within 1300 units

Mosstomper is a great choice for front-line tanks thanks to its regenerating shield. It also increases your tenacity, meaning you don't always have to buy Mercury Treads. The next choice is Scorchclaw:

Scorchclaw’s Slash: Scorchclaw will accumulate Ember stacks at a rate of 3 stacks per 0.5 seconds or 100 stacks upon killing a large monster. At 100 Ember stacks, your next instance of damage against an enemy champion will slow all enemies in a 250 unit radius by 30% (decaying over 2 seconds) and deal burn damage equal to 5% of the target's maximum health in true damage over 4 seconds to the primary target.
Protection Buff: Take 30% reduced damage from monsters while at least 2 allies are within 1300 units

Scorchclaw works well on any champion that can clear camps quickly then use the Ember stacks to catch out an enemy, such as Kha'Zix. The last option is Gustwalker:

Gustwalker’s Gait: Gain 45% bonus move speed when entering a brush that decays over 2 seconds after leaving the brush. This is increased to 60% for 2 seconds after killing a large monster.
Protection Buff: Take 30% reduced damage from monsters while at least 2 allies are within 1300 units

Gustwalker also works well on melee assassins who can pop out of a bush and catch up to enemies. It's particularly effective when playing around objectives, considering how many brushes there are to play with.

Camp Changes

The last set of changes are to the jungle camps, discouraging invades into the enemy jungle and laners from taking jungle camps:

When a large monster dies, all small monsters in their camp will be marked for death. After 10 consecutive seconds of not being in combat with a champion, monsters that have been marked for death will die.
Junglers now deal 20% more damage from non-true damage sources to monsters on their own side of the jungle. This increased damage will not apply when invading and dealing damage to the enemy’s camps.
All large monsters will now heal health and restore mana upon takedown if you have a jungle companion. This heal/mana restoration will take the form of a projectile that will be fired towards the champion that last-hit the monster after a 0.3 second delay.

Junglers are being discouraged to farm creeps too, as they receive less experience from minions. Similarly, laners receive less experience and gold from farming the jungle:

Junglers will only gain 75% experience from lane minions before their first pet evolution unless the jungler is behind the average game level
All large monster gold given to non-junglers has been reduced by 15 gold
All large monster experience given to non-junglers has been reduced by 15 experience except for the Ancient Krug which has been reduced by 12 experience
All large monsters now give an additional 15 experience if you have a jungle companion

Generally, all jungle camps deal less base damage but more current health % damage. Their leash changes have also been reduced, but leash range indicators have now been added to convey when they'll start to reset.

When a jungle camp runs out of patience, it will no longer start to hard reset back to its spawn. Instead, the camp will soft reset for 6 seconds and start to move back to its spawn while regenning health. If you can damage the camp while in its leash range, it will stop soft resetting and restore some patience.

Overview

These are some huge updates to the jungle and long-time players will take some time adjusting to the new leash ranges and companions. The role is much more welcoming to newer players, with recommended first clears and less punishing leashing systems.