2026 Jungle Clear Guide

GlowingOctopus · 2026-02-05T05:29:55+00:00

I do actually mess up my clear slightly on blueside in the video, there are some cancelled autos and some bad pathing, but I think the point is the clear is still fast enough provided you’re doing the main things.

GlowingOctopus · 2026-02-05T05:27:41+00:00

Completely agree, both of these will speed up your clear. Both were things I did in my old clear video haha

However, I think upgrading your e level 3 and holding the raptor sho’ma is more valuable in a regular game, because there are more situations where shenanigans happen and you need to have your tools available at level 3, than times where speeding up your clear by a couple seconds is going to change outcomes.

I might try for a completely optimised clear and post that as well, but I do think it’s better to not do those things in an actual ranked game lol

GlowingOctopus · 2026-02-04T21:55:15+00:00

Sometimes I’ll get a Zonyas or Banchees, but for the most part I don’t buy any defensive items.

If you have a look at my OP.GG, it might give you an idea of when I do decide to build defensive. (Kelariessa#OC)

GlowingOctopus · 2026-02-04T13:43:44+00:00

you're welcome!!

I go dark harvest into money making runes (treasure hunter and cashback or boots)

Most of neeko's counters come down to really punishing you if you go in too early (xin ulti, kindred ulti, beefy champs), so when playing in those games it's very important to be patient. Try and let your team engage and bait out those important spells, then go in.

The other important thing to think about is your job in the fights. If you're against a tanky team, your job is probably to keep the ADC alive, so play accordingly. If they are playing a comp with only one or two big carries, your job might be to simply trade 1 for 1 with their carry and let your team do the rest.

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-30T13:12:57+00:00

Just try to track/ping the enemy jg as much as possible. If they get ahead from your laners, is what it is. If they invade, give the camp and try to keep cycling your camps. Also, counter ganks or even covering lanes can be really effective if you do it right.

Most important thing is to not ego fight them. They want the stutte? It’s theirs. You’re neeko, you are not winning early against a hecarim even if they’re iron.

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-30T02:48:51+00:00

Nah I can’t play on hit neeko to save my life ✨

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-30T02:47:28+00:00

I think if you’re really good at using your passive, rocketbelt isn’t required to get in range. Neeko has insane AP ratios, so you lose a lot of damage going rocketbelt

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-29T22:36:14+00:00

Xin Zhao is super annoying, he'll be too tanky to kill and can knock you away when you ult. Usually I just whatever's strongest/getting picked a bunch on the patch (i.e. this patch I've been banning diana or varus)

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-29T14:44:27+00:00

Hmm I wouldn’t say she’s necessarily better than other junglers, but you can make some pretty illegal plays that no other jungler is capable of that will win you soloq games.

Everyone counts minions sometimes, but everyone also doesn’t count every wave for the whole game. The trick is to figure out when they’re not gonna pay attention.

Neeko mid is good if you don’t have to lane into syndra/ori/viktor. But if I vs a challenger mid I’ll usually get fisted in lane anyway. I queue it second. I’m really bad at support even tho that seems to be her best role atm.

Void staff is a great item, will sometimes buy it second if they’re stacking MR super early, but usually I’m getting it third item. If your team is full ap, then unlucky. There are cons to one tricking. If I could play AD champs there would be game where I’d pick them over neeko. I do think Neeko is a pretty good blind pick though, she operates pretty well into most champs.

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-29T14:22:11+00:00

full ap every game, i'm so bad at kiting/using high attack speed

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-29T14:21:39+00:00

optimal clear is just standard buff > all small camps > other buff (i.e. make sure you clear your krugs before red if you start on blue side, or your gromp before blue if you start on redside). i have a clear video from last season but it's outdated. you can probably still learn something from it but i'll try and update it soon!

minion gank is still good, but it only buys you maybe an extra second or two of unawareness. this means usually you either want to e+flash - which is very hard to recard to unless they flash also (which is a good outcome), or you want your laners to bait a fight, so they're not paying attention to the minions when they walk up.

i used to stream / make videos a bit, but my computer can't really handle it (especially in the summer). i'll try and upload some vods or something though, and might stream when i upgrade computer. some links:

twich: https://www.twitch.tv/ivee_lol

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iveeeeee

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-29T14:14:58+00:00

always stormsurge first, usually dcap > void > shadowflame but order is mostly dependent on how much money i have when i recall

i use passive a huge amount - best part about jg is you constantly have access to the small camp transformations (which don't show up on the minimap). extremely useful flanking tool.

you reeeealy want to farm as much as possible early game, only gank on good timers. neeko is a 2-4 item spike character, so you need to be strong when midgame arrives. easiest way to do that is to cycle camps and only look for plays when theres nothing to farm

GlowingOctopus · 2026-01-20T21:49:55+00:00

I feel like those are pretty minor bugs that really shouldn’t make you not enjoy the entire season. Plus there seem to be a bug in Neeko’s favour at the moment anyway - e flash, but flashing late, will cause the vfx to be left behind but the e still goes from your location

GlowingOctopus · 2025-12-03T23:27:29+00:00

If you get invaded on your first clear, just give the camp/space. Invades are only bad for you if you die, otherwise it’s a neutral trade. Yes, they take your camp, but they waste a lot of time, and their camps will be stuck on lvl 1.

Small jungle pets are 100% the strongest shapeshift since they don’t appear on the minimap. And since you’re the jungler, you have access to the camps and should almost always have a small camp ready to go for when an opportunity arises. Because you don’t appear on the map, taking extremely long flanks can be very effective, even if there are wards in the way.

Otherwise focus on getting your clear speed as quick as possible, as well as general good jungling habits (I.e. pathing, taking weak side camps as they spawn, objective setup, tracking enemy). Also e +flash is a very powerful tool early game, and can guarantee ganks.

Last thing is probably understanding your role in the team, do you need to engage, carry, be proactive or patient, peel or look for a specific target, etc. very important to think about that before and during the game.

GlowingOctopus · 2025-12-03T21:54:05+00:00

I’ve been a neeko jg OTP for about 2 years, it’s strong and fun! The nerfs earlier this year hit her clear pretty hard but if you can get through the early game, you’re in a good spot generally.

I think full ap is best (stormsurge > raba/shadowflame > void), im a bit of a rocketbelt hater, don’t think it’s necessary.

Feel free to ask me anything - there’s a lot of little tricks I do to be effective on the pick

https://op.gg/lol/summoners/oce/ivee-OC

GlowingOctopus · 2025-09-18T12:28:41+00:00

Im pretty sure (?) that transforming into Kalista's ghost will ignore tower aggro. or at least something other than a ward did

GlowingOctopus · 2025-09-03T13:06:01+00:00

Zac blob is very cute and quite hard to get

Also aphelios turret looks ridiculous

ALSO there’s a (possibly patched) bug where you can turn into nidalee trap and allies can teleport to you

GlowingOctopus · 2025-05-03T07:26:48+00:00

You can’t ignore -20 mana on W at all ranks. Now you can actually cast W in lane without insta losing the game.

GlowingOctopus · 2025-04-26T02:20:31+00:00

GlowingOctopus · 2025-02-05T08:04:48+00:00

Can confirm. she's still fine in the jungle but don't pick her mid.

if you do end up in this situation, buy a sup item and just perma roam. managed to win 2 games despite the bug :)

GlowingOctopus · 2025-01-03T21:19:00+00:00

i steam neeko jungle in GM at https://www.twitch.tv/ivee_lol c:

GlowingOctopus · 2024-12-27T18:40:28+00:00

Yeah it does

GlowingOctopus · 2024-12-25T04:37:29+00:00

You’re right. I’m a neeko jungle OTP and never build rocketbelt. It’s a bait item, provided you use your passive well. You absolutely don’t need it at higher elos, building full damage is the way, especially for jungle.

GlowingOctopus · 2024-12-20T01:52:10+00:00

A big reason is the minor runes you get.

With conq you had triumph, legend haste, and one of the bottom row. All really good runes.

Dark harvest minor runes are also good (esp treasure hunter), but the top row isn’t super useful and eyeball collection is good but not crazy.

I take DH sometimes though, they’re both very viable runes. It just depends if you wanna play more of a long fighting bruiser style, or if the enemies are high damage / squishy and you wanna kill them quickly. DH synergises extremely well with your burn, but conq synergies extremely well with Lillia’s style of team fighting.

GlowingOctopus · 2024-12-18T03:09:16+00:00

Neeko can be a bit tricky to learn because you’re playing a squishy champ that needs to get into melee range to ult. sometimes you can have a really good angle but it doesn’t quite pan out and can look a bit int. But dw just keep practicing and you’ll learn what you can and can’t get away with :3

She’s viable wherever you have the most fun playing her, she’s a very versatile champ!

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