- Jungle
Camp kite-clearing is attacking a camp while you walk, so monsters spend their time chasing you instead of hitting you, and you finish the camp standing closer to your next one. It saves health, which is what keeps you from recalling early, and it saves seconds on every cycle.
What it is
When you hit a monster it becomes aggressive, picks the nearest champion by walking distance, and attacks back. Most monster attacks cannot be cancelled once their windup has started, even if you walk out of range, with Mini Krugs and Voidmites as the exceptions. So the window you are trying to use is the gap before a monster starts a swing: if you are already out of reach when it wants to attack, it has to walk to you first. Large monsters generally move or attack slower than a champion does as the game goes on, which is why this keeps working.
Ranged champions find it easiest, because they can hit from beyond a monster's reach. Melee champions can still do it with a step back after each hit or ability. It works best on the melee camps: Krugs, Blue Sentinel, Murk Wolves, Raptors and Red Brambleback. Gromp and the Crimson Raptor are ranged, so stepping away from them buys much less.
Your jungle pet changes the maths. It attacks every monster that is currently attacking you within a radius around you, about once per second, and it heals you while it is hitting. Pets can no longer damage two camps at once, so you pull one camp at a time. Each large monster you kill feeds the pet a treat, and the treats upgrade Smite. You never kite so far that the monsters stop attacking you, or the pet stops contributing.
How to do it
- Start with the hit that costs the least
Open with a ranged ability or a basic attack from the edge of your range, so the camp is aggroed but still has to walk to you. When you hit a monster, a ring appears around its camp. That ring is the leash range. Keep it in mind for the rest of the camp.
- Step away before each swing
After your hit lands, watch the nearest monster. Move away as it closes in, before it begins its attack animation. A swing that has started will land even if you walk away, so do not step out halfway through it. Then turn and hit again once it has whiffed or has to reposition.
- Walk toward your next camp
Choose each step so the camp follows you along your route. By the time the large monster is nearly dead you should be standing at the edge of your next camp rather than in the middle of the one you are clearing. Stay inside the ring: monsters dragged beyond it start losing patience, which the patience guide covers.
- Weave abilities into the steps
Cast abilities while the monsters are walking to you, since that is dead time for them and for you. Use the cooldown on the large monster first, because killing it ends the camp. Save Smite for the large monster, at the moment its death saves you a full attack.
- Keep the pet in range
The pet only hits monsters that are attacking you and are within its radius of you. If you drag the camp too far or run ahead, you lose its damage and healing. Kite in short, steady steps so the camp stays close to you.
- Leave the small monsters
When the large monster dies, the rest of its camp is marked for death and dies by itself after ten seconds out of combat with a champion. You can walk on to the next camp. The camp's respawn timer starts only once every monster has died, so a tiny monster you ignore pushes the camp's return back slightly. Kill it first if you plan to be back at that camp on time.
Watch it
What to watch for: From 2:36, the Kiting chapter. Watch how the jungler moves relative to the camp between hits.
Video: 15 SECRET Jungle TRICKS You NEED to Know! - League of Legends — Skill Capped Challenger LoL Guides
Common mistakes
- You step away after the monster has already started its attack and still take the hit. Move before the swing starts, then hit back once it is over.
- You kite Gromp or the Crimson Raptor like a melee camp and gain almost nothing. Both attack from range, so trade hits there and rely on abilities and Smite to shorten the camp.
- You drag a camp out past its leash ring. The monsters lose patience and eventually reset and heal. Stay inside the ring, and fight the last part of the camp near its centre.
- You use Smite the moment it comes off cooldown. Keep it for the large monster, where it removes the camp's remaining damage.
- You run so far ahead that the pet is left behind, and the camp stops taking its damage. Stay within a short distance of the monsters that are attacking you.
Practice drill
- In a custom game on Summoner's Rift, clear one melee camp with no kiting, then the same camp while stepping away before each swing. Compare the health you lose. Repeat until you can finish the camp with the large monster dying as you reach the next route point.
- Clear your full first route three times in a row and write down your health at the end. Aim to lose less each time without losing speed.