MOBA Gamers

This is pretty much what it looks like in the MOBA woods.

If you've played DotA, League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth, then you know there's always that one guy who decides not to choose a lane at the beginning of the game and instead heads to the woods. He's not trying to be Tarzan, he's engaging in something called “Jungling” - basically what this does is give your team two solo lanes worth of xp, and allow him to level privately (although not necessarily safely) while guaranteeing last hits on the forest foes.

Some players who jungle “do it wrong”. There's many ways to jungle incorrectly, such as if your lane partner is being pushed back and under heavy duress, it's probably time for you to come rampaging out through the bushes behind the opponent and surprise them. All too often games are won or lost by a passive jungle man who may creep well, but is completely oblivious to any team fights and opponent interaction. This player will typically complain about the rest of his team sucking about 40 minutes into the game when he actually engages in his first battle.

Not every hero is made for jungling, so another good rule is to jungle on “Jungle Heroes”. Heroes with abilities that allow them to spawn minions or have built in life steal are obvious choices – some of the more popular choices are Axe, Chen, and Enigma.

Also, keep in mind – the opposing team will likely notice the fact that only four people are laned. This will result in them wanting to find you and inflict great bodily harm on your person for camping out in the woods where you'll have no benefit of creep waves coming to your aid if something goes wrong. So if you see people missing, you may want to head to the nearest lane until things appear safe, then head back into the woods.

This video on jungle play is an excellent intro to the wonderful world of the MOBA jungle – an often overlooked but integral part of the game.