What Jungle Path Optimizes Early Clears For Graves Lol?

Short, practical version from someone who’s played both chill and ranked mindsets: start Red with a leash if you can, then go Krugs → Raptors → Wolves for a balanced mix of XP and gold, finishing on Blue if you want the full clear. Use Quickdraw to reposition and reset autos; throw Q to hit clusters or walls for bonus damage. Smite the big camps to save health and secure the clear pace.

If you need to gank early, swap Krugs for a quicker Raptors-to-lane route after Red. If you’re worried about invades, start Blue instead and mirror the side — adapt to vision and enemy tendencies rather than sticking to one rigid path.

Okay, if you want the smoothest early clears on Graves (and I say this as someone who’s had more than a few 10-minute jungle runs go beautifully or terribly), think about efficiency + sustain over gimmicks. Start Red with a leash whenever possible — the damage and burn help Graves chunk camps quickly and let you use your Q to hit the big camp while you walk through the smaller ones. Use your dash (Quickdraw) to reposition and reset your attack animation between autos; that’s what keeps your clears fast and healthy. Smite the big camp as soon as it’s low to save HP and get the faster reload to keep momentum.

A very reliable route I use: Red → Krugs → Raptors → Wolves → Blue (then Gromp if you want a full clear). Krugs feel slow but they give a ton of XP and gold early on and your Q+autos shred them faster than you’d expect if you angle the shot to hit multiple smalls. If you’re looking for an earlier gank or scuttle fight, go Red → Raptors → Scuttle or Red → Blue if the enemy is likely to invade that side. Always adapt: if the enemy jungler topside, start opposite and look to contest river scuttle or countergank.

Practice the animation cancels in a custom with no pressure — once you can E-reset autos and use Q wall-bounces consistently, your clears become ridiculously fast and you can be on the map hunting sooner.

When I plan a Graves clear, I try to decide between three goals before the first camp: fast power spike for early gank, safe full clear for level/XP, or scuttle contest. For a fast gank, I’ll start Red, pop Raptors quickly, and head to the nearest lane once I hit level 3 — the damage and mobility let you force a flash or a summoner trade early. For a safe clear with the intent to scale, Red → Krugs → Raptors → Wolves → Blue is my go-to; Krugs are slow but they give huge XP, and Graves benefits from the gold because his autos shred the smalls.

Technique matters: use Quickdraw to reposition and reset autos, and throw Q to hit clusters or bounce off terrain where possible for more damage. Smite the large camp to conserve HP, and if the enemy jungler is aggressive, mirror-side start (Blue first) so you can respond to invades. Tiny habit tip: always keep track of which camps you plan to take next so you can path to scuttle efficiently.

Man, when I’m in a more aggressive mood I treat Graves like a skirmisher who clears to fight, not to AFK farm. My favorite spicy route is Red → Krugs fast clear into an invade or scuttle — Krugs give a ton of XP and put you at a favorable level for an early fight. While clearing, I angle my Q to clip as many smalls as possible and use Quickdraw to dodge attacks and reset my autos so camps die faster. If the enemy jungler shows top side early, I pivot and go for a counter-scuttle or a fast vertical jungle to punish them.

If you prefer certainty, do the full clear (Red → Krugs → Raptors → Wolves → Blue → Gromp) and then look for a recall and an efficient timing window to gank at level 6. One more practical note: Graves is great at burst-stealing camps with a well-timed smite plus ultimate or Q, so practice smiting the big camp at 900–600 HP during training so you don’t miss steals in real games. It’s wild how many games hinge on that one early smite.