Dota – Which heroes can jungle, even in special circumstances

dota-2

I know that there are a category of heroes that are junglers and can do it very well, but as I was learning one of the newly released heroes (Medusa), I discovered that under specific circumstances, she can jungle the ancients group as soon as the game starts.

This is done by chopping down some specific trees with the quelling blade, and using an observer ward to grant vision. (example videos: #1, #2).

What other heroes not listed as a jungler can jungle using very specific items or tactics?

Best Answer

Unconvention jungling been done in various ways with:

  • Luna, who can jungle with early glaives and abusing aggro resets - YouTube Guide
  • Medusa, who can kill Radiant ancients with split shot - YouTube Guide
  • Tinker, who can kill ancients with March - YouTube Guide
  • Invoker, who can kill Radiant ancients (and Sunstrike!) with an Exort build - YouTube Guide

The problem with all of these heroes is that it's very easy to shut them down and steal their farm, and it's very conspicuous as none of the heroes are viable roamers or gankers early in the game. Jungling usually means doing so from level 1 and keeping pace somewhere between a dual laner and a solo in terms of experience.

To be complete, the following heroes can jungle (traditionally) reasonably well:

  • Axe
  • Batrider
  • Chen
  • Doom
  • Dark Seer
  • Enchantress
  • Enigma
  • Legion Commander
  • Lifestealer
  • Lone Druid
  • Lycanthrope
  • Nature's Prophet
  • Ursa

The following heroes can jungle if it's absolutely needed but they're slow at doing so and thus probably shouldn't:

  • Bloodseeker
  • Crystal Maiden
  • Huskar
  • Phantom Lancer
  • Sand King
  • Shadow Demon
  • Wraith King
  • Troll Warlord