What is this ELO hell? Or alternatively, "Help, I'm stuck in Bronze league and I can't get out!"
So if you are new to Ranked play, there are a few things that are good to know. First, let's explain what matchmaking is. Coming from casuals you may assume that all of your matches were against completely random players. Well they weren't. As you win or lose, your stats and the stats of your opponents are weighed in a big algorithm, so that on your next queue the average matchmaking rating of your team is equal to that of your opponents team. Also, if you queue as a party you are much more likely to run into other parties. This is done so that either team has a chance to win and minimizes the chances of a blowout, close games are generally more fun than curbstomps. You still run into player incompatibilities though. Even with average matchmaking being the same, at the most basic level, you could run into 5 very aggressive individuals versus a team of half aggressive/half defensive. The split team will often lose as the aggressive individuals will run in and the defensive minded folks won't go in to back them up. There are other ways that players just won't get along and its next to impossible to try to develop an algorithm that can model and adjust for player's play style.
In casuals, your matchmaking rating is completely hidden. It is not a number you can see or that has ever been available to see. In Ranked however, this number is called ELO. ELO is a system that was developed originally for Chess to determine, you guessed it, matchmaking. Hi-Rez has kept their modifications to their ELO ratings quiet, and for good reason, as the system could be "gamed" if the specifics were made public. ELO did need to be modified both in Smite and in other games, however, as it was originally designed for 1 on 1 matches not random groups of 5 on 5. Many casters allow you to check your ELO on twitch with the !elo command. Your rating is determined by your win and losses in Ranked only, and adjusted by the strength of your opponents ELOs. This number is then compared against other players in queue to attempt to make the average ELO of both team roughly equal.
Ok, now that that is out of the way, we can finally get to the topic at hand. The player coined term "ELO hell" is the state that you find yourself in when first entering league. In bronze league, you will often find yourself teamed up with players with bad connections, that don't speak english, that don't use curse voice, and that generally don't understand how to play the game. This will happen because your initial ELO is low enough that you are matched with other players with hardly any Ranked experience. This situation can lead to unlucky streaks of large numbers of losses, leaving you to struggle in Bronze league until you get frustrated with your lack of upward movement and quit.
Now, here is the big question, is ELO hell a real thing? Simple answer? No. Technically, it could be if the algorithms are bad, but they are not. If you play enough and continue to improve your game and communicate with your team you will rise out of Bronze league. The trick here is to not get discouraged because one of your teammates is disconnected or just horrible. The odds are that on average over many game, the other team will have just as many of these lagging, non-english speaking noobs as your team does. The trick is to make the best plays possible and be where you are needed during the course of the match. Know your role and be aware of what is happening across the map.
If you are on solo island, and your mid is losing lane and your jungle isn't ganking, you need to find a way to make a play for a kill in your lane so that you can rotate. Also, if you see that others aren't rotating to mid harpies than you can clear your wave and head there and back before your next wave hits your tower. Share as much xp with your jungler at jungle camps as you can. One of the best ways to turn a losing game is to outfarm the other team. Share as much farm with your jungler and support as possible as it will be a net gain of xp and gold every time.
If you are in mid, be sure to announce mid harpy timers, ask for your red buff from your jungler, share small harpy camps when ever you can. If your opponent in mid is missing or rotating, call it and rotate after him or her. These are called "high ELO plays," basically doing anything that increases your chance of winning.
If you have teammates that are failing, help them, don't berate them. Don't assume your idea/plan is the best one. If your teammates aren't communicating, try to figure out what they are doing and help them. It is a far better strategy in ELO hell to simply help your teammates do whatever it is they think they should be doing, than to push in another direction.
The other thing you can do is to specialize. Figure out which role/god wins you the most games. Pick two gods for twos role and try to get them every time in the picking phase. Get to know those gods like the back of your hand, and once you've successfully made it out of Bronze league you can start branching out. You can even go take a look at your win percentages using Hi-Rez's tool, you may be surprised to find out that your favorite god to play only at a 30% win rate whereas the god you've only played 15 times is at 85%.
Remember to think, its not all pushing buttons at the right time, though, of course, that helps.
Have fun and don't feed the enemy!
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Why are some of the top gods right now at the top?
Update2 11/11/2014: I made another meta post but never really made a full updated version to this one, so I'll just update the list here.
First pick supports: Geb, Athena
First pick junglers: Mercury, Serqet, Freya
First pick adcs: Apollo, Rama
First pick mids: Janus, Nu Wa, Agni
First pick solos: Chaac, Nu Wa, Hercules, Ra, Loki
Second pick supports: Ymir, Bacchus, Sylvanus
Second pick junglers: Thor, Loki, Nemesis, Arachne
Second pick adcs: Artemis, Ullr, Neith
Second pick mids: Poseidon, Scylla, Vulcan, Ra
Second pick solos: Aphrodite, Chang'e, Zhong Kui, Vamana
There are plenty of other viable gods or counter-pick gods, but these are the gods seeing the most play and/or most success right now. Have fun!
Update1 10/2/2014: I was going to simply change the list and make adjustments to the descriptions, but I realized I had some new thoughts on how to present the list and some more extrapolations, so I wanted to do a new post which should be up shortly.
I was re-reading some of my earlier posts and realized that I really didn't explain why some gods are better than others. I'm in the process of making the mage mid lane general build guide and really got distracted by this idea. So first off we need to figure out how many and which are first pick, and which are second pick. In league, you have the option to ban, so that's why you have first picks and second picks. Just by the math of having 5 players per team, 5 roles, and 6 bans total, that leaves us with 2 first picks for each role, and potentially 3-4 second picks. Potentially the two banners could ban out all six of the top gods for a given role but it is highly unlikely.
First pick supports: Geb, Athena
First pick junglers: Mercury, Hun Batz
First pick adcs: Apollo, Artemis
First pick mids: Janus, Nu Wa, Agni, Ra
First pick solos: Chaac, Nu Wa, Zhong Kui, Ra
Second pick supports: Ymir, Bacchus, Khumbakarna
Second pick junglers: Thor, Loki, Nemesis, Serqet
Second pick adcs: Rama, Ullr, Neith
Second pick mids: Poseidon, Scylla, Kukulkan, Nu Wa
Second pick solos: Aphrodite, Chang'e, Hercules, Vamana, Osiris
There is are also a few gods that are viable and even preferable as counter picks. If you know that your mid opponent is Poseidon, Scylla or Kukulkan, Isis becomes very viable because her first ability negates any root or slow. Counter picks can be amazing if you know what they are and when to pick them. Smitecamp has fairly up to date counter picks in their gods section but it doesn't appear that the site is actively maintained since July, but that's not to say that the counter pick section isn't highly useful. Also you have situational gods like Freya that can work in multiple roles against certain team compositions.
So lets look at each of the first picks in turn to see what sets them apart. I'd like to point out that none of these picks are auto-win, if you don't understand why they are the top pick in each of their roles, it will not help you to pick them over a god that is merely viable but that you know very well.
Athena: Her passive is one of the strongest, after hitting three minions with her charge she becomes immune to the next 3 hits from an enemy god. Any god with a high power initiate or attack power stimulant is nearly negated against her. Her taunt is amazing with any high power ultimate to ensure that the ultimate hits, coordinating with your team when you are going to taunt will secure kills. And lastly, her ability to move quickly from lane to lane every 90 seconds allows her to support the whole team in early and mid game, and then to recall home and come back to a fight with full health almost immediately in late game to ensure Gold Fury and Fire Giant kills. Using Athena effectively requires excellent map awareness. If you have poor map awareness, pick Geb.
Geb: What's not to like here? First and foremost, his shield is one of the best abilities in the game. You could literally roam around the map with just this ability and be as effective as just about any other support in the game. It is important to realize that the ability isn't just about mitigating damage, it also removes crowd control effects. Using the shield at the right time, to mitigate the maximum amount of damage and to release an ally from CC is an art form. Shockwave is weak, unless your team has high cc and then the other team all got magi's blessing. The knock-up pops the bubble so that your team can be effective again. Rollout gives much needed mobility as well as a great CC itself when maneuvered effectively to knock enemies into a wall. And finally, Cataclysm, combine with blink for the best initiation in the game.
Mercury: Mercury plus high crit equals dead enemies. His ultimate can CC large groups of people and get you into the fight from across the map. He is not an easy god to learn or get used to using. Just because this guy is almost always banned does not mean you should pre-pick him for your group until you know that someone can and wants to play him. This god takes finesse and some people just don't got it. He's a decent jungler, adc, or solo god in mid and early game, but where he shines is late game with full build. Combine his stim and Made you Look, and it can crit for 800+ in late game, not many gods can take too many of those, and its an AoE. Playing this god is all about catching people away from their group, punch punch, made you look, cc, punch, run away. Rinse and repeat in 15 seconds.
Hun Batz: Hun has good clear early, but he is all about getting max cdr and using ultimate to maximum effect. With max cdr, you can gank every 54 seconds for a nearly guaranteed kill, and then late game you can turn the team fight almost every time. It is important to note: beads tier 3 is 90 seconds, your ultimate with max cdr is 54 seconds. Make sure you are in position for a kill as soon as its up if they beadsed out the first time (yes, beadsed is a word!) Playing Batz you will want deathbringer right after max cdr and be sure to intersperse your auto-attacks in between your abilities to take advantage of your passive.
Apollo: Its the ultimate, baby! Apollo's claim to fame is his ability to finish a team fight, that and he's the best split pusher in the game due to being able to get out of deep enemy territory quickly. His early and mid game are on par with the other hunters though he will get pushed back by Ullr and Artemis. His ability to escape with his ultimate, or his dash, or his mez is what makes him strong. You will need to be careful not to get baited into using your abilities offensively and leaving yourself defenseless, as this is a common tactic to use against fresh Apollo players.
Artemis: Trap is too stronk! Artemis ability to early poke with her volley and the ability to out box just about any other hunter due to boar into trap into fire faster (all officially sanctioned ability names) and teaming up with any other of your teams cc to get a trap on target for an easy kill. If you discount trap as an amazing ability you are doing it wrong. Like Geb's shield, you could roam with just this ability coupled with your auto-attacks (can you say "built-in crit" passive) and be more viable than half the gods in smite.
Janus: Mobility, mobility, mobility. (Fyi, fear the Bakasura ult and Poseidon whirlpool, portals will not work) After going through a portal or over a breach your 2nd ability hits like a truck. Early game, mid game, late game, it always hits hard. Getting good at landing it without standing on top of your target, is the tough part. Knowing where you can portal effectively both for escapes and for chasing down a target is key. If you have the experience and knowledge, Janus is the best mid, but the conquest map is large and knowing all the portal lanes and judging your ultimate's range takes time and perseverance. Roaming around inside the conquest practice map is highly, highly suggested.
Agni: Its tough to say what makes Agni first pick, he's not flashy (though fiery,) but he has an all around good general kit. The combo's with oil slick allow for short, long-ranged stuns, the dash is an effective escape, damage is average for a mage. The only trick really is to not use your dash aggressively as it is your only escape. Also, the ultimate doesn't use mana and is up pretty often. This god requires particularly nimble fingers as you will want to target and hit 4 into 1 into 4 twice very quickly to get your full burst and stun off. Landing this combo is really unique compared to other gods in the game and takes some getting used to.
Nu Wa: The re-kit worked well! Minion AI sucks though, well, its working as intended and prioritizing minions over gods but well it still sucks. Nu Wa's claim to fame right now is in coupling red buff with girdle of might and her ultimate for pretty massive damage across all lanes. The fog still has good clear, and the stun from minions with the explosive metal shard (when the minions behave) is painful. All of that and she is just fun to play. I liked the old Nu Wa, but I love the new Nu Wa.
Chaac: Good sustain, and good clear for a melee god. The axe combos, done well, are extremely effective and often very deceptive. If you need to get away you can throw your ax in one direction and run in the other, if only being chased by one god you will get away one way or the other. If chased by two, you will eliminate one or even both if they aren't smart. Using axe into heal can slow enemies pre-gank if you play it right. Always try to throw your ax before ulting though, for maximum damage. All around good kit and great team fight.
Zhong Kui: Good sustain, and good clear for early and mid. Really shines in team fight in late games, I wish I could say more but this isn't a god I have a lot of experience playing myself. He's been big in the SPL and tournament play though, and he will turn team fights around single handedly if built and played well.
Ra: When I first posted this, Ra was conspicuously absent from the list (thanks to mrvlrdr101 for pointing this out). Amazing lane clear, and long range snipes and late game sustain make him a great 2nd pick. Nothing particularly special but an all around safe choice.
So those are all of the first picks, I'll follow up later with the gods you will actually get to play, as they won't be banned out. These are the gods that you should absolutely have in your arsenal walking into league. Not necessarily so that you will play them, but so that, on the off chance that you are top elo, and you have the first pick, and someone else asks you to grab them Mercury or Nu Wa, you can do that and swap them for your chosen character. Any of these first pick gods can carry games in the right hands, make sure you have them ready.
Thanks for reading! Remember, don't feed the enemy!
Come say hi on twitch.tv/jaesunv and i'll be happy to answer any questions!
Also, jungle Ymir carried in TSM invitational? WTF! I like Ymir, but....carried....in jungle...the whole reason he's not a first pick in support is because he has no mobility...and yet Frostiak (sp?) jungled with him effectively? What is this?! I don't even....
First pick supports: Geb, Athena
First pick junglers: Mercury, Serqet, Freya
First pick adcs: Apollo, Rama
First pick mids: Janus, Nu Wa, Agni
First pick solos: Chaac, Nu Wa, Hercules, Ra, Loki
Second pick supports: Ymir, Bacchus, Sylvanus
Second pick junglers: Thor, Loki, Nemesis, Arachne
Second pick adcs: Artemis, Ullr, Neith
Second pick mids: Poseidon, Scylla, Vulcan, Ra
Second pick solos: Aphrodite, Chang'e, Zhong Kui, Vamana
There are plenty of other viable gods or counter-pick gods, but these are the gods seeing the most play and/or most success right now. Have fun!
Update1 10/2/2014: I was going to simply change the list and make adjustments to the descriptions, but I realized I had some new thoughts on how to present the list and some more extrapolations, so I wanted to do a new post which should be up shortly.
I was re-reading some of my earlier posts and realized that I really didn't explain why some gods are better than others. I'm in the process of making the mage mid lane general build guide and really got distracted by this idea. So first off we need to figure out how many and which are first pick, and which are second pick. In league, you have the option to ban, so that's why you have first picks and second picks. Just by the math of having 5 players per team, 5 roles, and 6 bans total, that leaves us with 2 first picks for each role, and potentially 3-4 second picks. Potentially the two banners could ban out all six of the top gods for a given role but it is highly unlikely.
First pick supports: Geb, Athena
First pick junglers: Mercury, Hun Batz
First pick adcs: Apollo, Artemis
First pick mids: Janus, Nu Wa, Agni, Ra
First pick solos: Chaac, Nu Wa, Zhong Kui, Ra
Second pick supports: Ymir, Bacchus, Khumbakarna
Second pick junglers: Thor, Loki, Nemesis, Serqet
Second pick adcs: Rama, Ullr, Neith
Second pick mids: Poseidon, Scylla, Kukulkan, Nu Wa
Second pick solos: Aphrodite, Chang'e, Hercules, Vamana, Osiris
There is are also a few gods that are viable and even preferable as counter picks. If you know that your mid opponent is Poseidon, Scylla or Kukulkan, Isis becomes very viable because her first ability negates any root or slow. Counter picks can be amazing if you know what they are and when to pick them. Smitecamp has fairly up to date counter picks in their gods section but it doesn't appear that the site is actively maintained since July, but that's not to say that the counter pick section isn't highly useful. Also you have situational gods like Freya that can work in multiple roles against certain team compositions.
So lets look at each of the first picks in turn to see what sets them apart. I'd like to point out that none of these picks are auto-win, if you don't understand why they are the top pick in each of their roles, it will not help you to pick them over a god that is merely viable but that you know very well.
Athena: Her passive is one of the strongest, after hitting three minions with her charge she becomes immune to the next 3 hits from an enemy god. Any god with a high power initiate or attack power stimulant is nearly negated against her. Her taunt is amazing with any high power ultimate to ensure that the ultimate hits, coordinating with your team when you are going to taunt will secure kills. And lastly, her ability to move quickly from lane to lane every 90 seconds allows her to support the whole team in early and mid game, and then to recall home and come back to a fight with full health almost immediately in late game to ensure Gold Fury and Fire Giant kills. Using Athena effectively requires excellent map awareness. If you have poor map awareness, pick Geb.
Geb: What's not to like here? First and foremost, his shield is one of the best abilities in the game. You could literally roam around the map with just this ability and be as effective as just about any other support in the game. It is important to realize that the ability isn't just about mitigating damage, it also removes crowd control effects. Using the shield at the right time, to mitigate the maximum amount of damage and to release an ally from CC is an art form. Shockwave is weak, unless your team has high cc and then the other team all got magi's blessing. The knock-up pops the bubble so that your team can be effective again. Rollout gives much needed mobility as well as a great CC itself when maneuvered effectively to knock enemies into a wall. And finally, Cataclysm, combine with blink for the best initiation in the game.
Mercury: Mercury plus high crit equals dead enemies. His ultimate can CC large groups of people and get you into the fight from across the map. He is not an easy god to learn or get used to using. Just because this guy is almost always banned does not mean you should pre-pick him for your group until you know that someone can and wants to play him. This god takes finesse and some people just don't got it. He's a decent jungler, adc, or solo god in mid and early game, but where he shines is late game with full build. Combine his stim and Made you Look, and it can crit for 800+ in late game, not many gods can take too many of those, and its an AoE. Playing this god is all about catching people away from their group, punch punch, made you look, cc, punch, run away. Rinse and repeat in 15 seconds.
Hun Batz: Hun has good clear early, but he is all about getting max cdr and using ultimate to maximum effect. With max cdr, you can gank every 54 seconds for a nearly guaranteed kill, and then late game you can turn the team fight almost every time. It is important to note: beads tier 3 is 90 seconds, your ultimate with max cdr is 54 seconds. Make sure you are in position for a kill as soon as its up if they beadsed out the first time (yes, beadsed is a word!) Playing Batz you will want deathbringer right after max cdr and be sure to intersperse your auto-attacks in between your abilities to take advantage of your passive.
Apollo: Its the ultimate, baby! Apollo's claim to fame is his ability to finish a team fight, that and he's the best split pusher in the game due to being able to get out of deep enemy territory quickly. His early and mid game are on par with the other hunters though he will get pushed back by Ullr and Artemis. His ability to escape with his ultimate, or his dash, or his mez is what makes him strong. You will need to be careful not to get baited into using your abilities offensively and leaving yourself defenseless, as this is a common tactic to use against fresh Apollo players.
Artemis: Trap is too stronk! Artemis ability to early poke with her volley and the ability to out box just about any other hunter due to boar into trap into fire faster (all officially sanctioned ability names) and teaming up with any other of your teams cc to get a trap on target for an easy kill. If you discount trap as an amazing ability you are doing it wrong. Like Geb's shield, you could roam with just this ability coupled with your auto-attacks (can you say "built-in crit" passive) and be more viable than half the gods in smite.
Janus: Mobility, mobility, mobility. (Fyi, fear the Bakasura ult and Poseidon whirlpool, portals will not work) After going through a portal or over a breach your 2nd ability hits like a truck. Early game, mid game, late game, it always hits hard. Getting good at landing it without standing on top of your target, is the tough part. Knowing where you can portal effectively both for escapes and for chasing down a target is key. If you have the experience and knowledge, Janus is the best mid, but the conquest map is large and knowing all the portal lanes and judging your ultimate's range takes time and perseverance. Roaming around inside the conquest practice map is highly, highly suggested.
Agni: Its tough to say what makes Agni first pick, he's not flashy (though fiery,) but he has an all around good general kit. The combo's with oil slick allow for short, long-ranged stuns, the dash is an effective escape, damage is average for a mage. The only trick really is to not use your dash aggressively as it is your only escape. Also, the ultimate doesn't use mana and is up pretty often. This god requires particularly nimble fingers as you will want to target and hit 4 into 1 into 4 twice very quickly to get your full burst and stun off. Landing this combo is really unique compared to other gods in the game and takes some getting used to.
Nu Wa: The re-kit worked well! Minion AI sucks though, well, its working as intended and prioritizing minions over gods but well it still sucks. Nu Wa's claim to fame right now is in coupling red buff with girdle of might and her ultimate for pretty massive damage across all lanes. The fog still has good clear, and the stun from minions with the explosive metal shard (when the minions behave) is painful. All of that and she is just fun to play. I liked the old Nu Wa, but I love the new Nu Wa.
Chaac: Good sustain, and good clear for a melee god. The axe combos, done well, are extremely effective and often very deceptive. If you need to get away you can throw your ax in one direction and run in the other, if only being chased by one god you will get away one way or the other. If chased by two, you will eliminate one or even both if they aren't smart. Using axe into heal can slow enemies pre-gank if you play it right. Always try to throw your ax before ulting though, for maximum damage. All around good kit and great team fight.
Zhong Kui: Good sustain, and good clear for early and mid. Really shines in team fight in late games, I wish I could say more but this isn't a god I have a lot of experience playing myself. He's been big in the SPL and tournament play though, and he will turn team fights around single handedly if built and played well.
Ra: When I first posted this, Ra was conspicuously absent from the list (thanks to mrvlrdr101 for pointing this out). Amazing lane clear, and long range snipes and late game sustain make him a great 2nd pick. Nothing particularly special but an all around safe choice.
So those are all of the first picks, I'll follow up later with the gods you will actually get to play, as they won't be banned out. These are the gods that you should absolutely have in your arsenal walking into league. Not necessarily so that you will play them, but so that, on the off chance that you are top elo, and you have the first pick, and someone else asks you to grab them Mercury or Nu Wa, you can do that and swap them for your chosen character. Any of these first pick gods can carry games in the right hands, make sure you have them ready.
Thanks for reading! Remember, don't feed the enemy!
Come say hi on twitch.tv/jaesunv and i'll be happy to answer any questions!
Also, jungle Ymir carried in TSM invitational? WTF! I like Ymir, but....carried....in jungle...the whole reason he's not a first pick in support is because he has no mobility...and yet Frostiak (sp?) jungled with him effectively? What is this?! I don't even....
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
How to build an Assassin for the Jungle
(*This is pre-Odin/Arachne Patch, I'll update once we start seeing ranked play with these re-worked gods.*)
Alright, so my first two guides were the low hanging fruit. The builds for both ADC and even Support don’t change a whole lot from god to god, they only change in respect to what your team composition is and the opponent team’s composition and behavior. Now that we are looking at Assassins for the Jungle role, all of that uniformity goes right out the window. On one hand, it is great that you have so much choice in what items are going to best suit your playstyle. On the other hand, it is very daunting to try to figure out what your play style is while not inadvertently nerfing yourself by bad item selection. So let’s start with a list of League viable assassins that get played in the jungle, in order of most to least played: Mercury, Hun Batz, Thor, Serqet, Loki, Nemesis and Bakasura. Ne Zha, Thanatos, Bastet, Fenrir, Kali, and Arachne (pre re-kit) are also assassins that fill the role but are all currently relegated to 2nd tier in the current meta. You would not want to play a 2nd tier god in league unless you are exceptionally good with them.
Alright, so we have a short list of 7 gods. We can put these gods into two categories, ones with escapes that you can go full glass cannon (Loki, Nemesis, Bakasura), ones that need a little defense (Thor, Serqet) and ones that need to rush Critical Damage (Mercury, Hun Batz). Our glass build will look like:
- Bumba’s, CDR Boots, Heartseeker, Rage, Deathbringer, Bloodforge, Titan’s Bane
- Bumba’s, CDR Boots, Jotunn’s Wrath, Shifter’s Shield, Rage, Deathbringer, Titan’s Bane
- Bumba’s, Pen Boots, Heartseeker, Deathbringer, Rage, Titan’s Bane, Bloodforge
Actives are fairly easy. Fist of the Gods and Beads/Aegis. I prefer fist over HoG 3 as it has saved me/gotten the kill too many times, and if your solo is ranged they should be backing up the support with HoG 3. On Loki and Hun Batz, Girdle of Inner Power will allow you to burst down (often called “one shot” even though its 3 or 4 hits in the span of about 2 seconds) in late game anyone but a tank. Consumables are health pots early, wards for mid harpies and possibly sentries for gold fury/fire giant and finally damage pots. The wards should be used sparingly and only if your team just doesn’t seem to ward well. Warding generally shouldn’t need to be done by jungle or adc as your team should want your hyper-carries devoting their gold entirely to their damage/build.
This post is a little shorter than the others so I’ll go a little bit into Jungle strategy. I also want to go into it because it seems to be the least understood, at least in the lower level leagues like Bronze and Silver. Your job is to farm and drop buffs for your team. Speed is your buff, Red is for Mid and Blue is for ADC and Solo. You need to be aware and ready for Mid harpies as soon as they come up. The timer on Mid Harpies is 3 minutes and you have ~48 seconds to get there when the circle timer is at the 9 o’clock position. For reference it takes about 30 seconds to get from the Well to mid harpies with with no leap/boots, and it can get down to 15 seconds with 18% + leaps. Support or Mid should be there to help, but if not, it is their XP loss. Those are your primary responsibilities. If you can secure all of your camps and both mid harpies each time they are up, you will get to end game well fed. So that sounds pretty easy right? And it is, if your teammates are winning each of their respective lanes, or at least not feeding their lanes. Once you’ve gotten all of your farm, meaning you’ve done mid harpies, all the buffs and maybe even back harpies, you have a choice. You can gank or you can invade your opponents buffs, putting their jungle behind. You really only want to gank if your teammates have been pushed back to their tower. If they are all fighting at mid map or at the enemy’s towers, it is probably best to simply steal buffs from the opponents territory, just be sure to have an escape ready and it is best that you have hog available to make it quick.
Jungle is very much about map awareness and timing. Too often you see junglers fall behind in farm because they get caught up ganking or just end up staying in a failing lane at which point they are sucking up xp that that laner needs to get ahead. As the jungler you need to realize when there is a ganking opportunity and when you are leaching unnecessarily.
That’s all for now, happy jungling!!
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