League of Legends Guide

28 Feb 21

Guides

Jarski

11.4 Jungle - Did It Really Change?

So you've heard the jungle was changed. Worried about nerfs? Excited about Buffs? Well here's the deal...

Welcome back to reality fellow junglers, we’ve had it too good for too long. With Patch 11.4, Riot has determined that junglers were too OP in general. While the patch didn’t see massive specific buffs or nerfs (sure there were a few) to champions, there were changes designed to knock us down a peg collectively. While not a massive patch, it's still got some impact to it - and because the intent of the patch didn't quite land, I'm sure it will bring future tweaks to jungle champions and camps.

Camp Changes

According to Riot, junglers had a bit too much power in the early game, so changes had to be made. While I’m not surprised by this, in fact I hinted at this in my pre-season jungle look, it’s still a bit of a bummer. What specifically got changed was the experience and gold numbers at all levels that jungle camps pay out. The overall goal of this was to limit how fast junglers could convert gold and components into early items.

Gromp

XP: 135/138.375/145.125/155.25/168.75/182.25 (at levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) reduced to 125/128.125/134.375/143.75/156.25/168.75 (at levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)
Gold: 105 reduced to 85

Krugs

Large Krug

XP: 37/37.925/39.775/42.55/46.25/49.95 (at levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) reduced to 27/27.675/29.025/31.05/33.75/36.45 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)
Gold: 42 reduced to 32

Small Krug

XP: 18/18.45/19.35/20.7/22.5/24.3 (at levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) reduced to 16/16.4/17.2/18.4/20/21.6 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)
Gold: No changes

Crimson Raptor

XP: 45/46.125/48.375/51.75/56.25/60.75 (at levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) reduced to 35/35.875/37.625/40.25/43.75/47.25 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)
Gold: 45 reduced to 35

Champion/Tier List Changes

Ironically enough, these changes that were intended to shift the tier list away from the Udyrs, Hecarims, Nidalees and Lillias of the world did the opposite. Because the changes limit the ability of junglers to just power clear, buy items, and be on par or stronger than their lane counterparts; they also need to gank. The champions that happened to be strong last patch, also happen to be very good at clearing quickly/efficiently and getting ganks off.

So if you’re still concerned about what you should be picking this patch, no need to worry. The only real changes were the minor nerfs to Skarner, who still boasts a good winrate, and buffs to Lee Sin and Amumu.

Overall Impact/Final Thoughts

You’re going to have to be careful in the early game due to the experience and gold nerfs to jungle camps. You won’t be finding the same level of power that we’ve had from the pre-season up until now. However, if you’re playing champions that power through their clears and can easily gank or double scuttle in the early game, you’ll probably still feel pretty strong.

The champions that you were seeing dominate your solo-q games and pro-play last patch are still going to be dominating or doing just slightly worse than before. Either way, they’re still a safe bet. Other champions that thrive on early ganks are also good options, as they can take advantage of the fact that they won’t be massively behind those power clearing champions by default.

Related articles