Junglers beware, nerfs are coming.
League of Legends gameplay design director Mark “Scruffy” Yetter outlined a few changes to the position today, claiming it holds “too much influence over the game” right now. To nerf the role, jungle camps will give less gold and XP in Patch 11.4.
Gromp, Large Krug, Small Krug, and Razorbeak will all be tuned, offering junglers lower XP and 10 less gold each. Two of those camps, Gromp and Razorbeak, will also have their health increased by 100, making them harder to clear.
The position was already hit hard in Patch 11.3 when seven different jungle champions were whacked with the nerf hammer. While that was seemingly enough to curb the outliers, Riot believes the role is still too powerful.
These upcoming nerfs will decrease clear times and slow down item and level progress. Junglers may be forced to prioritize ganking further since clearing camps won’t yield as much profit.
In last week’s dev blog, Scruffy explained that there are future plans to make jungle more popular and accessible for less experienced players. As one of the most complex roles in the game, it often ostracizes beginners who may struggle with clearing camps, helping laners, securing objectives, and maintaining vision. The jungle nerfs slated for Patch 11.4 seem like they’ll only deter more players from the position, however.
The jungle nerfs scheduled for Patch 11.4 are tentative and liable to change before going live. Patch 11.4 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, Feb. 18.
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