Recently, I decided to create a few polls asking the Smite community what role they like the least and why they feel that way about the role.

From the responses I received (<100), I found it curious that the least favorite role was playing in the jungle. Initially I imagined that the responses would be overwhelmingly leaning towards support, but that simply wasn’t accurate.

If you would like to be a part of the survey, clicky here!

What is it about jungling that people hate? The follow-up poll:

If you would like to give input for the second poll, click here!

A few responses in the thread I created resulted in explanations of how expectations appear to be phenomenally higher of a player when they are a jungler.

Why is that?

Most responses were about how laners expect junglers to have a presence in their lane... and this happens with all three lanes, so there is an expectation of one jungler being in three places.

I decided - let’s break it down. Let me break down the toxicity, let me try to give new and intermediate junglers the tools necessary to help them succeed in the jungle. It’s my main role, it’s the one I started playing as all the way back in season 1. So while this may not apply much to very experienced junglers, I hope that I can help assuage (at least some of the) concerns.

The new jungler -

For whatever reason you, dear player, have decided to take on the task of the jungle. It’s confusing, it’s mysterious, it’s a role that you should probably understand in case you ever have to play it in a casual or a ranked game. But the jungle is a devastating mistress that does not forgive easily and you may find yourself lost in a sea of gank demands and toxic people telling you how you failed.

Take a deep breath. There are a few things you can do to try and cut down on such toxic behaviours:

1) Know your role.

This sounds like you should already know everything about jungling, but I assure you, it’s not. This is a suggestion to know, at least, a little bit about the role before starting it. Read a few jungling guides about starts, top picks, counters, and an idea of the general meta. You may not commit it all to memory, but having an idea of what you should do is better than having no clue whatsoever.

You will likely not have any idea of the subtleties of the role, but don’t fret. Those comes with time.

2) Tell your team that you are new to jungling.

Compare these statements:

“I am not a good jungler.” vs “I am not the best jungler.”

“This is my first time jungling” vs “I am a bit new to jungling.”

“I’m still not sure what to do as a jungler” vs “I’m still learning how to be a good jungler.”

The first statements are concrete. They are saying that you are brand new to this role and the assumption will be that you are horrible at jungling. However, more ambiguous statements like the latter give a hint of what your skill level is while still communicating that you are new to the jungle role.

3) Pick to your comfort.

Right now, Susano-o, Ao Kuang, Kali, and Ratatoskr are top-tier junglers. In a ranked game, if one of those are available, you are likely expected to play them as the jungler.

But what if you’re terrible at them? Simple: don’t pick them. If you’re not the one banning gods and you’re jungle, tell people that you are terrible at them. No funny business. No ambiguous language. Be concrete in that aspect and then pick what you are comfortable with. Right now, Bastet is considered terrible in this meta, but if you are comfortable as a Bastet player - pick her.

You don’t need to learn a new god at the same time that you are learning a new role. You might get some grumbles and some complaints - ignore them. You need to focus on one aspect of improvement.

4) Understand your limits

Remember that you are one person. You can only be in one place at one time. Incidentally, your team might think you are secretly three separate people, but it is untrue.

If your solo is calling for a gank, but you’re already on your way to duo, keep going. You will lose more time changing trajectory. Don’t apologize to your solo for not ganking their lane as that is effectively saying “I made the wrong choice.” Pick something to do and follow through with it.

You’ll learn later on when you should change trajectory like if you’re clearing speed buff and you manage to eliminate the little minions but - oh no! Someone is attempting to steal blue. That is an instance where maybe you want to forget what you were doing and do something else. However, there are a dozen factors to consider when a situation like that arises and you’ll understand them in time.

As for other limits, if you see a fight breaking out and you are confident that you would be unable to assist in it without possibly dying, walk away. As a jungler, you don’t need to be there for every fight. If you are, you will lose out on exp, gold, and end up behind. If your level 12 solo is 1v2ing the level 15 solo and level 14 jungle and you’re sitting pretty at level 13, you may not want to go in and risk giving the enemy team a double kill.

5) It is okay to say no.

In addendum to the above statement of you are only one person, remember that it’s okay to say no and sometimes no is the right answer. If duo is screaming for a gank and your mid needs help, it’s okay to say no to your duo in order to help mid.

6) It is okay to ask for help.

If you are completely lost on what you should do as a jungler at any point in the game, ask for some advice. If you have fallen behind, say so, and ask for help on getting back into the game. If you’ve reached a point in your build where you aren’t sure what you should get, ask. It communicates that you are trying and that you are open to advice.

In the after-game lobby, ask how you can improve. While a percentage of folks will be entirely useless in their advice by only being toxic, there is another percentage of folks who will be happy to give a piece of advice.

7) Understand that you will fail.

Failure is part of smite. It is impossible to have a 100% win rate. Every game has to have a loser and a winner and sometimes you are on the losing team. Don’t be discouraged and, after the game, ask yourself where you could have improved. What you could have done to be better. Reflection and practice are key to improving.

For the jungler with experience -

This section is going to be considerably shorter as it is mostly how to deal with toxic teammates and a lot of points in the section for new junglers will apply to you.

No matter your skill, no matter how well you are doing, you will eventually encounter someone who will BM you about your jungling. Memorize and repeat these words:

“I am the jungler. I will do what I think I should do.”

Keep that line in your head and repeat it when you are bm’d. You may not wish to express it to your team as it may result in more toxicity, but it will give you a small boost of confidence.

While your laner may be a jungle main or a phenomenal jungler, they will never know what you should do better than you do in the moment. They don’t have all of the puzzle pieces that make you do what you want to do. They know your level, your gold, your build, and they can see the map, but they cannot see the whole story.

You are the one that knows the gold you have in your pocket, your power level, your ability versus the enemy, the buffs you wear, and your general confidence in the game. There are also things that you may see in the jungle that don’t pop up on the map that others are clueless to.

Overall -

Now and again, no matter your skill level, no matter what you do, you will experience toxicity. Sometimes that toxicity gets to people, but remember that these folks are rude and mean and will attack nearly anyone that they can, you just happen to be the focus of their ire.

Don’t worry about it. You can always mute and sometimes that may be the better alternative than hearing their (maybe) useful calls. If the toxicity is bringing you down or scaring you away from the jungle, consider that not hearing their toxicity and useful calls might cause you to succeed far more than listening to them.

My biggest piece of advice for you, dear jungler, is to be confident. This is your jungle.

Happy jungling!

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