Jungle Buffs are extremely important in Smite, just as any other MOBA. Unfortunately, players don’t always know what the jungle buffs do or which roles should receive them. In this guide, we’ll be looking at each jungle buff in detail in order to help better explain their purpose. The four jungle buffs are the Damage (Red) Buff, the Speed (Orange) Buff, the Mana (Blue) buff, and lastly. the Fire Giant (FG).
(Article image is Smite's guardian Ares on his new loading card using the 2015 World Championship armor for the upcoming tournament in January.)
Damage Buff
The Damage buff provides a rather significant amount of percent increase to both Physical and Magical power, as well as a base of 10 Magic Power and 5 Physical. By having both percent and base damage gains, the buff remains relevant through all stages of the game. Magical Power on this buff is at a higher base due to the fact that Magical and Physical scale differently, and players need more Magic Power than Physical to get the same output.
During the early stages of the game, this buff provides excellent lane pressure, and towards the end of the game Damage buff gives a significant power increase that can change the sway of battle alone. Generally speaking, this buff should be given to the team’s mid laner at the start of each match and to any strong Mage in the later stages of the game. Mages benefit greatly from the power gain, and winning mid lane is vital to victory. Having Damage buff allows your mid laner to push their lane far stronger than before, gaining early map control. At the end of the game, a Mage with red buff can easily destroy the enemy team with properly used abilities. Generally speaking, your mid laner will be using this buff throughout the entirety of the match however as they tend to be the only mages that can take full advantage of the Damage buff.
Speed Buff
The Speed buff gives a player both movement and attack speed, at notably strong amounts. Due to that fact that Speed buff scales off of percent, it remains relevant throughout the match. This buff provides a noticeable amount of movement speed, especially during the early stages of the game when players lack good movement speed from items.
Junglers thrive off of Speed buff, and it is almost a necessity for a jungler early on in the game. In order to assist their team, Junglers must rotate around the map constantly. Due to Bumba’s Mask being a required item on most Junglers, movement speed is a major issue during the beginning moments of a match. Speed buff makes up for this lack of mobility and enables a Jungler to properly assist their team. Without Speed buff, Junglers will not be able to keep up with most rotations and this buff should be given to the Jungler in most all situations.
Towards the end of the game, there is some room to give this buff to a Hunter, or another role, but keep in mind the Jungler can still benefit greatly from the Speed buff through all stages as the mobility is never a bad thing and most gods played in the jungle are auto attack based, allowing for the attack speed portion of the buff to provide benefit as well.
Mana Buff
Mana buff provides constant resource regeneration, as well as some cooldown reduction. All cooldown reduction is additive, meaning 10% CDR from this buff stacks with any other CDR you already have on your items, providing players with a way to get closer to the CDR cap without building specifically for it. Mana buff gives excellent sustain, allowing players to stay in the battle far longer than normal as well as spamming their abilities through a combination of the resource regeneration and the cooldown reduction. While beneficial throughout the entirety of the game, Mana buff does not remain as strong in the later stages of the game as it is in the beginnings of the match.
Throughout the game, players constantly need some sort of regeneration in order to remain in the battle. This can come from potions, returning to the fountain, and Mana buff. This buff is especially important on the solo laner and on the hunter in the short and long lanes respectively, as they generally require large amounts of Mana in order to properly clear and win their lanes. Returning to the base to receive fountain regeneration for these players generally causes a loss of a good amount of farm due to the distance from the base. Therefore, staying in lane for as long as absolutely possible is strived for and Mana buff provides the sustain necessary to achieve that goal.
During the early stages of the game, it is key that these players get Mana buff as often as possible in order to gain the edge over their opponent and secure a victory in lane. Throughout the end of the game it is likely you will see these same players still picking up the buff in order to create proper sustain in longer lasting team fights, but it isn’t extremely necessary as Mana becomes less of an issue for a majority of the gods. Due to this it’s important to note that should you reach cooldown reduction cap, Mana buff is likely more beneficial to another player such as your support once sustain is no longer a major concern.
Fire Giant
The Fire Giant buff, unlike the previous buffs, is a team-wide buff. Upon slaying the Fire Giant boss, all members of the team receive the benefits. This boss is extremely important to secure however due to the Fire Giant being a boss it can be difficult to obtain until the mid to late stages of the game. Once active, the Fire Giant buff provides significant damage, and regeneration as well as bonus percent damage to towers and phoenixes. This is extremely powerful, as the Fire Giant buff enables your team to decimate enemy structures and gives a huge lead during team fights. A majority of matches are won by first securing this buff. With that said, the enemy team will almost always contest the Fire Giant, making this buff difficult to receive without first winning a team fight of some kind.
The Fire Giant boss does not spawn on the map until 10 minutes into the game, and players should almost always try to secure the Fire Giant at the first feasible moment. Generally speaking, it is not plausible for a team to kill the Fire Giant until most players are nearing the upper teen levels (15+). Usually, the active item Wrath of the Gods is also necessary to prevent the enemy team from stealing the kill, as this active allows you to instantly kill the Fire Giant boss (as well as the Gold Fury, another boss on the map) if his remaining health is at or below 25%. Due to this, player abilities stand no chance at securing the kill, and the active is a must. Finally, it is usually recommended to first kill at least 2 members of the opposing team before attempting Fire Giant, so that the enemy players have a harder time trying to contest the buff.
Conclusion
Overall, all buffs hold a purpose in the game and provide a very specific type of benefit. While certain buffs work best on differing roles, all of the buffs can be used to benefit a player regardless of the role they are playing, especially moving towards the latter stages of a match. Remember to get the buffs as often as you can to fully reap their benefits, and happy smiting! Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer
This information is being written as of December 6th, 2014 on the Smite 1.0.2435.3 Patch. Any changes in the future may cause this article to contain falsehoods, and a newer form of information should be sought after. Should there be major changes that cause this article to become entirely inaccurate, I intend to write an updated version and supply correct data.
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