How the Jungler’s Game Has Changed in MLBB Season 41: Breaking Down the New Early-Game Timings

Amid the release of Hirara, major changes to individual heroes, and control optimizations in Patch 2.1.88, the rebalancing of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang jungle went almost unnoticed. However, the buff to Retribution and the new jungle stats will significantly change the early game—not just for junglers, but for all heroes on the map.

In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the new monster and gank timings, and explain how to use this advantage in ranked matches. Even if you don’t play in the jungle, we recommend reading this so you don’t run into trouble right at the start of the game.

The jungle changes in this patch affect the “Retribution” ability and the amount of experience gained from killing monsters. 

The Horned Lizard, Fire Beetle, and Lava Golem are located close to the lanes and take little time to kill. Thunder Fenrir and the Blazing Demon deep in the forest are considered elite monsters—it’s now a bit harder to kill them.

In short, Rangers will be able to unlock their second skill immediately after killing a single small monster. The Retribution buff will allow you to earn gold and experience faster at the start of the match—but buffs have become harder to earn. In the late game, damage from combat spells is now lower, but this is balanced by an increase in the reward. Now let’s take a closer look at the most important changes. 

Monsters located near the lanes now spawn earlier and immediately grant Level 2. To unlock both abilities, the Jungler only needs one kill—and after that, he can immediately perform an active action on the map. 

This is a very important change for aggressive Rangers. The monsters shown in the image below appear at the 25-second mark, so you can already go for a gank on any lane between 0:40 and 0:50. 

This kind of start works best for aggressive assassins with two active skills. It’s ideal for Hirara, for whom landing skill combos is crucial. Fanny can use two ropes right away, Nolan can activate his skill combo, and heroes like Balmond, Ling, or Saber can simply be aggressive thanks to reaching level 2 early.

In this situation, the key is to immediately choose a lane for your future attack. From the very start of the game, the Jungler runs to the desired camp, kills the monster, and heads to any lane: it’s important that an active ally supports you there, and that enemy heroes are unable to put up a decent fight.

The other players should also take this new timing into account. Before the game starts, assess how well your jungler and the enemy jungler will be able to take advantage of an early level 2 and attack the lane you’re in. Passive heroes without an escape ability should be more cautious, while active heroes should be prepared to initiate or support a gank.

It’s worth noting that laning isn’t the only thing a jungler with a fast level 2 is capable of. For example, with Lancelot or Hayabusa, you can perform an early invade into the enemy jungle: you can try to steal a camp, disrupt their farming timing, or force them to use their abilities.

This works especially well against Junglers who are passive in the opening minutes. Aulus isn’t too keen on early fights, Lee Sun-Shin doesn’t accelerate very quickly, and Ranger might retreat without a fight. Of course, the other Jungler might also reach level two near the lane—but some start farming from the Elite Monster or simply have lower damage early on. You can take advantage of this: either solo or with the help of a roamer.

The developers themselves point out that this new feature isn’t just for attacking. The patch notes present it as a way to evade an opponent’s early attack, and that’s indeed the case: junglers are the first to level up their damage-dealing ability, leaving them without a quick means of retreat. Now, the dash is available almost immediately, and the jungler is always protected from a three-lane invasion at the start of the game.

So, the new meta is to reach level two quickly by farming a monster near the lane and to apply early pressure through an invade or a lane gank. Be prepared for activity from junglers as early as the first minute, or do something similar yourself. If you’re playing farm-oriented junglers, be more careful—your hero hasn’t gotten weaker, but is slightly more vulnerable in the opening minutes.

The increase in monster rewards in the late game seems slightly less significant. This is largely because jungle creeps are no longer killed exclusively by junglers—rather, it’s fair to say that all core heroes will be able to build their core items faster.

Getting the blue buff has become slightly harder, while the red buff is now easier to obtain. This may slightly affect the opening minutes of the game, but even there it will only mean a delay of a few seconds: this is only significant on the professional Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene, while most players will hardly notice the difference. 

Enhanced Retribution no longer increases damage—it’s now lower than before. This will further slow down solo kills on Thunder Fenrir or the Turtle: keep this in mind when planning your farming route or laning strategy. Previously, you could grab the blue buff and still make it to a team fight in time; now, fighting the monster will take a little longer.

In practice, the situation varies greatly depending on the stage of the game and the specific hero. Practice is key: play a few matches with your favorite heroes and train against bots to get a feel for the new timings.

When discussing the meta for Junglers, we can’t overlook the rebalancing of certain heroes’ stats. Many of you are likely already familiar with Patch 2.1.88, but we’ll briefly cover the main changes at the start of Season 41.

Five buffs stand out in particular:

At the same time, several meta heroes have been nerfed:

Nevertheless, in Season 41, Harley and Leomord remain among the most effective jungle heroes. Fanny and Hayabusa can also compete with them, while Lee Sun-Shin and Fredrin, along with the new hero Hirara, perform very well in certain matchups. We’ve analyzed all the meta heroes in detail in our tier list—we highly recommend checking it out!