Riot unveils new starting jungle items hitting the Rift in League’s 2021 preseason

Riot introduced the two new starting jungle items in today’s blog post that will debut in League of Legends’ 2021 preseason.

Junglers will have a choice between Doran’s Forgeheart and Doran’s Hailseed, which will be a one-time purchase at the beginning of a match.

“Junglers will pick one of two starter items which, after Smiting a few times, will disappear from their inventory to permanently grant its effects as a passive and upgrade Smite to Chilling or Challenging,” Riot said.

Both items will cost 350 gold and offer 10 percent Omnivamp toward monsters. They also share three passive abilities: Tooth & Nail, Huntsman, and Leyline Walker. The first burns monsters for percent health over five seconds and is amplified by AP and AD. Huntsman grants bonus XP for killing large monsters, with the first one killed giving even more—likely so you can level up. And Leyline Walker adds mana regeneration per second when in the jungle or river.

The jungle items differ in their Smite passive. Doran’s Forgeheart grants Challenging Smite after using Smite five times, consuming the item and permanently granting its effects to the user. Doran’s Hailseed similarly needs five Smite uses to consume the item and provide the Chilling Smite bonus.

Related: Riot previews all 22 Mythic items debuting in League’s 2021 preseason

Since junglers only have to spend 350 gold on the items, they can start building their core items immediately. This varies drastically from the previous item paths, which forced players to sink plenty of gold into a jungle item before starting their build.

League lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter broke down some “very light changes” to the jungle yesterday, which looks to help beginners ease into the complex role.

The item system overhaul will hit the PBE soon and undergo a six-week testing period. Everything is tentative and liable to change after community feedback and assessment.