Season 2 to Season 3 Clear Time Comparisons

A lot of people have been wondering about the changes to the S2 jungle and what it means for junglers, clear times, etc. Here is my personal chart on detailed clear times in S2 and S3 with notes. I hope people can use it to learn when and who to counter-jungle effectively and understand how the jungle has changed. I really tried to create a benchmark for champions in the jungle.   



Please see below link and refer to chart for all statistics on S2 to S3 jungle changes for this article:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApjY-nez1bYfdDdCYjJIbklQb2ZpdFJETzVzUFRSX1E

After extensive testing in S2 and S3 and comparing the numbers and times, I have come to a conclusion of four major changes and effects to the jungle in regards to first clear of the jungle.

1. Regulated Clear Times
Although there is no one clear defining statement in regards to single damage to AOE damage jungle clearers, clear times have been regulated and averaged out overall between all junglers. Although, some S2 tier 1 junglers (Mundo) have still remained strong in regards to clear times, other S2 tier 2-3 junglers have become a lot better; whereas, some S2 tier 2-3 junglers have remained unchanged or worse. Overall, Most S2 tier 1 junglers remain the same in S3 and most S3 tier 2-3 junglers are better in S3. This brings more variety as other junglers can now keep up in jungle clear times.

2. Travel Time
Previous S2 tier 1 junglers have always had no problem clearing jungle camps within seconds, whereas tier 2-3 junglers have had problems clearing camp swiftly; however, due to the standardized Machete 5 opening, many tier 1 junglers are facing problems which they did not have in S2. Instead of being able to open boots and get to camps faster for faster clear times, tier 1 junglers now have to open similar to cloth 5 in S2. Travel time is huge and really makes up for several seconds on many tier 1 junglers who actually have to wait for camps to respawn.

3. Importance of Consistent Base Damage and Sustain
In Season 2, even if you had very low base damage and no sustain you could still clear relatively well because of the sustain given in more armor, weaker creeps, returning HP / Mana on camp clears, etc. However, S3 changes have taken away cloth 5 openings for extra armor, more HP on camps, which takes away more HP from junglers. As a result, champions with low base damage for fast clear times or low sustain for sustained jungling really suffer from S3. Jarvan, being the prime example, can not clear the jungle by himself in S3.

4. Shift From Burst to Consistent Damage
In Season 2, due to weak camps and faster clear times, junglers with huge burst and quick movement speed were extremely effective at farming the jungle. However, Season 3 changes have made it so that consistent damage is king as Machete scales in more on auto-attacks. Expect champions like Shyvana to not be seen until they change the jungle or buff them.  

So what are the implications of these clear times?

Get ready to see a lot more consistent base damage, high sustain junglers who farm till level 6 for free kills. Also, get ready to see a little bit more variety. Tier 2-3 Junglers are now a little bit stronger and Tier 1 Junglers are just about the same as before. Maokai, Mundo, and Nocturne make it for my pick as respectively the best Tanky-Support Initiator, Hybrid and Bruiser junglers for this patch.


Chaipod.