SMITE’s conquest map can seem confusing to new players. There are two objectives, the Gold Fury and Fire Giant, which provide gold and a team steroid, respectively, eight buffs, which give a variety of steroids to the characters that receive them, and six harpy camps, which vary depending on their position on the map. With all of these jungle camps to farm, a dedicated jungler is used to collect experience from the camps, as well as drop buffs for other characters.

The current SMITE map includes 14 camps and 3 objectives

The process of understanding the jungle role starts on on the god selection screen. The classic, and usually meta, junglers are assassins. Assassins pair well with mages due to the high damage of each class and they can take down camps with relative ease earlier in the game, when other classes cannot clear as effectively. Ao Kuang, a popular pick in almost every season of the SMITE Pro League, is grouped with assassins, due to his high damage, close range abilities, and his melee auto attacks.

You can also pick gods that excel based off of your team’s abilities. For example, He Bo is seen as a weaker mid pick due to his lack of escape. However, if you pair him with an Awilix, they can be incredibly strong together, since Awilix relies on a knockup for her ultimate, and He Bo has one on a short cooldown, and has high damage at a close range. The same goes for slows and ground placed abilities, like Poseidon’s Whirlpool and Anubis’ Grasping Hands. Mid/Jungle synergy is crucial to a great team, as these gods spend the early and mid game together.

Warriors are also making a rise in popularity as teams like to play three frontline or dive gods alongside the damage of the mage and hunter. Warriors like Osiris, Bellona, Ravana, Odin, and many more have made their way into the jungle, even seeing some competitive play. Warrior junglers sacrifice the burst damage of an assassin for tanky presence, which can throw other teams off, and can do exceedingly well, considering most mages are weaker against tanky targets.

Many Warriors including Ravana and Osiris are now in the Jungle Meta

Once you have selected your god, you are given 1500 gold to create a starter build. The current SMITE meta, which is constantly evolving, would be a starter item, Bumba’s Mask, and 4 pots of your choosing. Other builds can be viable, so take time at the beginning of each game to evaluate your best build. Boots should often be your first tier three item, followed by a cost effective damage or tank item, depending on your playstyle for your god. Some other good early pickups for junglers include Jotunn’s Wrath, Stone Cutting Sword, Ichaival, and Titan’s Bane, among many others. Always keep in mind what type of build you want in the end game and build towards it.

The other choice you have to make is your relic. There are plenty of great options, and even more that can be justified by your character. Some relics are almost always a decent selection, like Blink and Purification Beads, which allow you to maximize the effectiveness of your god. Other times, countering another god’s abilities may be necessary. Getting Krakened by Poseidon every two minutes? Aegis may be the relic you need. Tanky warrior getting run down by the hunter? Consider Thorns. Phantom Veil, Cursed Ankh, and many other relics can be used to counter a god’s best mechanic. In other cases, the meta may determine what is the best pickup. Sundering Spear and Bracer of Undoing recently saw nerfs, which took them out of almost every character’s build. At level one and twelve, be sure to evaluate all options before getting stuck with the wrong relic.

Both Sundering Spear and Bracer Of Undoing saw recent nerfs

One of the most important parts of being able to jungle efficiently is communication to your team, whether that is in a voice chat or using the VGS in-game. At the beginning of the game, communicate with your team, and most importantly your mid laner, where you want to start the game. You can start in mid, solo, or in the jungle, which is generally dictated by the meta, but wherever you start, communicate with your team.

Even if you chose to start in mid, you will soon rotate into the jungle to clear the various camps. Neutral experience should usually be prioritized, with Mid Harpies, Oracles, and Elementals equally available to both teams. Buff camps should be cleared soon after with speed and damage generally being the first ones to be taken, as they give a sizeable early power spike. The mana camp should also be cleared quickly, as it gives your solo laner an advantage in experience and mana consumption. Generally, the duo lane will clear their own buffs, but the purple buff is also great to clear if available.

Around level five, you should look to start ganking. Ganking relieves pressure on other players by doing damage or killing the enemy they may be fighting. An early rotation to the duo lane, for example, allows for your team to get control of the Oracles around the Gold Fury and puts you in a position to possibly take the objective early. A solo rotation can put your solo laner ahead, which allows him to rotate to fights and box the enemy much more effectively. Make sure you are making these ganks count as the other team will more than likely put pressure on your team wherever you are not.

A team fight goes wrong, someone catches you in the jungle, or you’ve been poked down too far and you have to back. Back timings are crucial to becoming a good jungler. There are a few main ideas to backing as a jungler; camp availability, gold in hand, and map pressure. If your camps or neutral camps are available and you do not plan to go towards them from the base, consider clearing them before you back. Even with low health, this can give you an edge over your opponent. The next factor is gold in hand. You should check if you have enough gold to make your back count, whether that’s just for buying wards or for completing an item. Backing as a jungler gives pressure to the other team, so make each back count.

Finally, you’re close to the end game, Fire Giant and Gold Fury fights are coming. As a jungler, when your team attacks an objective, you have to make a choice to keep the enemy away, which is generally done by warriors or guardians, or attack with your team. When your team is aggressing into a fight, as an assassin, you should be attempting to find and kill gods that are by themselves. As a warrior, you may want to lead the charge, which helps your hunter and mage, or dive their backline, which creates chaos for the other team. Remember to communicate with your team on who you’re trying to kill, abilities being used, and who is trying to kill you.

Jungle is one of the most complex and diverse roles in SMITE. However, a great jungler can win games far before the team fighting stage of the game. Knowing where to aggress, where to rotate, and what camps or objectives to clear is crucial to winning your game and becoming a better jungler. Remember, no matter the score, communication is key.