Jungle Invades

Why invade — understand the purpose

Even when you're clearing your jungle properly and rotating well, you can still end up with less gold than the enemy jungler. The cause is usually one of two things: the enemy racked up kills early, or they've been slowly invading your jungle and stealing monsters.

So you need to learn how to invade correctly and how to defend your own jungle. That said, it's a mistake to think that stealing just one or two monsters gives you a big lead — on its own it can even put you behind and throw your team into disarray.

The essence of invading isn't the immediate gold; it's about seizing the enemy's rhythm (the initiative in the match).

Benefits 1 & 2 — slow the enemy's growth and widen the gold gap

The first benefit is slowing the enemy's growth. By disrupting the enemy jungler's ability to secure monsters through invading, you put them behind on levels and items, and they lose the initiative.

For example, if you steal a key buff (like Luna's blue buff), a mana-dependent enemy can't keep their farm going, doesn't hit level 4 in time, and can't land their signature combos in early ganks or fights.

The second benefit is widening the economy lead. Stealing the enemy's jungle monsters doesn't just raise your own income — you take the entire experience and gold they were supposed to get.

A direct economic gap opens between you two, letting you hit your first core item, level 4, and your power spike ahead of the enemy.

Benefits 3 & 4 — take the initiative and deny theirs

The third benefit is seizing the initiative in the match. ' With the initiative, your allies can fight on your timing; lose it to the enemy and you're always a step behind and on the defensive.

The fourth benefit is denying the enemy's initiative. Invade the enemy jungle and they'll rotate over to defend their monsters.

If they come to defend, their lane thins out and your allies can farm safely; if they don't come, you take the resources for free. Either way, the enemy loses one of gold, experience, map control, or pressure.

lane thins out and your allies can farm safely; if they don't come, you take the resources for free. Either way, the enemy loses one of gold, experience, map control, or pressure.

What a real invade is — building an advantage for the team

A real invade isn't built on your allies' deaths. Stealing a buff at the cost of getting one or two allies killed isn't worth it — you'd have been better off not taking it.

Running off to steal two monsters while your allies are forced into a fight without your help isn't initiative or pressure either; it's just damage control.

The jungler's real job isn't farming or getting kills — it's building an advantage for the whole team. It's a 5v5, so helping clear the mid wave isn't about siphoning gold; it's about giving mid a lane advantage so they can rotate to both sides and create a numbers advantage.

The initiative depends not only on your own skill but on your allies' coordination, so a jungler always has to think with the team as the axis.

Heroes suited to invading and the basic purpose

Heroes with built-in stealth are the ones suited to invading. They can enter the enemy's territory, steal buffs and monsters, and slip out safely.

The main purpose of invading is to disrupt the enemy jungler's farm and cut down the enemy team's gold and experience, so you come out ahead economically in teamfights.

But note that during the first 4 minutes there's a mechanic where you deal 10% less damage inside the enemy's jungle. Unless you're flush with gold, don't go in alone.

Invading tips with stealth heroes

A jungler with stealth can use it from the start to enter enemy territory unnoticed, take a key golem, and get out immediately. The key to early invading is not being noticed.

Overstay and you'll get caught, so don't get greedy — slip out quickly and return to farming your own jungle. Your own jungle is your main income; invading is only supplementary earnings.

Another type of hero camps near the neutral boss (Tyrant) to steal the buff the enemy tries to take, or loops to the opposite side to grab just the red buff and leave.

The reason to target buffs is that buff golems give the most gold and experience in the jungle and also grant a 70-second stat buff. Steal one buff early and the enemy won't reach level 4 unless they clear other lanes like mid.

Buffs sit centrally near bushes, so pull the buff into a bush to clear it and you're less likely to be noticed.

When and how to invade, and coordinating with towers

Normally you use the 30 seconds at the start before the first jungle camps spawn to enter enemy territory, choosing the best route to avoid being spotted.

Be especially careful going in with a hero that has no stealth. If you win a teamfight and kill the enemy jungler, you can clear an entire side of the enemy jungle near the fight.

Also, when your allies destroy a tower, the enemy loses vision of that area, making it easier to invade and steal from there. Take the first 3 towers and part of the jungle opens up; take the next 3 and you can easily step into the entire enemy jungle (the reverse is also true, so watch your defense too).

Defense, coordination, and target priority

If the enemy invades your jungle and you have no allies to help, don't force it — move to the opposite side and keep clearing. If you're spotted invading solo, don't fight — run.

If your allies are in the enemy jungle while you're clearing your own, finish your side before joining them. If the enemy is trashing your jungle with three players and your allies can't stop it, switch to split pushing a different lane.

With three of them raiding, the other lanes are thin, so your allies can get kills or take a tower there. When your jungle is being raided, the proper defense is for the support to rotate over and take the enemy's vision, and the clash laner to ward near your own buffs.

For targets, prioritize the marksman and mid (the carries), and leave the enemy jungler and clash laner to your allies. When your gold is low, prioritize leveling your most valuable damage skill and don't waste casts.

If you're playing mid, even stealing a few of the enemy's small monsters can make life hard for their jungler.

The basics of invading

In Honor of Kings, invading (entering the enemy's jungle to kill monsters and steal buffs, the temporary power-ups) is a strategy that requires proper timing and deep understanding. Trying to steal the enemy jungler's (the hero who grows by killing jungle monsters) buff without backup is extremely risky — fail and you'll easily get counter-attacked.

Proper timing

The perfect moment to steal an enemy's buff is when the enemy jungler or mid laner (the hero playing mid) is down to about half HP, or when they've been killed.

Especially when the enemy jungler is low, they can't defend their buff, so you can invade while keeping the risk to a minimum. Even if the enemy tries to steal the buff back in this situation, your HP advantage makes it easy to kill them.

The rewards and continuous tracking

If you succeed in killing the enemy and stealing the buff, the buff transfers to you immediately, and you also gain the gold and experience from the kill.

To make the most of this advantage, it's important to always track the respawn timers of the enemy's buffs and keep watching for chances to invade again.

When the enemy jungler or mid laner dies, treat it as a golden opportunity to inflict a loss on them, and go aggressively for the buff.