Cover-Credits:
As per a blog post on the Garena League of Legends website on 10th August, Riot Games is reportedly making significant changes to the jungle role in the game and some of these updates are expected to go live in the 2023 preseason patch scheduled later this year. The Garena blog post has been deleted since and it seems like the website posted the blog accidentally as the other League of Legends websites for North America and Europe did not feature it. One of the major leaks is that Riot is considering bringing back jungle pets, a mechanic which was in the game in Season 6.
Those who have been playing League of Legends since the early days have been complaining about how it has gotten lackluster season after season and that the jungle role was in a much better position back then.
A Riot Games developer (dev), who addressed the junglers, wrote in the blog post, “Hey junglers, it’s been a while since we last updated the jungle in a meaningful way, and honestly our plant-laden home between the lanes is in need of a bit of love. Speaking from one jungle main to another, the role hasn’t kept up with the times and is in need of a touchup. I know, I know, “Riot reworks jungle” is a scary headline to read; I’ve been jungling since Season 2, so I feel you.”
The company stated that it does not want the majority of players to actively avoid a role and acknowledged that it has failed at that metric when it came to the jungle role.
What are the 2023 Preseason Jungle changes ?
Firstly, Riot made it clear that it is not trying to “dumb down” the jungle role or remove the ability to show off jungle knowledge and that it only aims to make sure that the role is complex in the right places. Through some of these 2023 preseason jungle changes, Riot said, “We want to lessen this barrier to entry. One of the ways we’ll do that is by easing players in, showing them how to play the role, and adjusting mechanics so they’re less punishing and more intuitive.”
Players will possibly have jungle pathing aids – a system that might be similar to recommended items in the game but this will show the jungler how to do their first jungle clear.
Riot is also looking to adjust the way camps leash, their target ranges, and reset rules via the 2023 preseason jungle changes.
The major change coming to the jungle is the introduction of “pets.” These pets will follow junglers around the Rift and help in clearing camps and take down epic monsters. The more jungle camps are cleared, the stronger the pets become.
“These pets will help you do little things in the jungle like clearing or taking down epic monsters (think old Sated Devourer puppy). As you jungle, you slowly raise and feed your pet until they’ve grown up enough to be able to empower you,” said Riot Games.
None of these changes are confirmed or set in stone and there is no word about how the pets will empower champions. The developers are also planning to address core gameplay aspects of the jungle including the Scuttle Crab, invades into the enemy jungle, and the junglers’ role in taking down epic monsters.
All in all, this preseason seems to be a huge experiment for the jungle role in League of Legends. The last preseason patch that introduced Chemtech and Hextech dragons did not pan out so well since Riot had to disable Chemtech drake from the game. The preseason patch usually goes live later on in November and only time will tell if the players will come to love these 2023 preseason jungle changes or feel like their favorite game is losing its novelty.
