Ekko Jungle Guide – Season 13

Ekko is a great champion that has been dominating the jungle ever since he became a part of it. He has an insanely versatile kit that can fight off many team compositions. He is also an exceptional pick for teams lacking AP Champions.

There are many things to learn about this champion to get the most out of him. In this post, I tried distilling my knowledge and experience from many games played all the way up to Master tier.

After reading this Ekko jungle guide, you can expect to know all ins and outs of this champion. This includes all the rune and item choices, as well as the advanced gameplan strategies.

Ekko Jungle – Pros

Despite being a champion that requires a lot of gold to perform, Ekko is still an exceptional ganker early on. You can perform excellent ganks as soon as you clear your third camp and hit LvL 3.

Another good thing about Ekko is his snowball potential since you need only a few kills to make this champion unstoppable. This is one of the reasons I like running Dark Seal. The item just amplifies the potential and makes him a much bigger threat.

To become a true one-shot machine, you will only need two finished items. Nashoor’s Tooth and Hextech Rocketbelt. This is also the point where you will be able to casually start diving enemies.

Ekko’s R is an invaluable tool, which will help you survive the unsurvivable. It is also useful for new Ekko players looking to test limits. The stronger you get on the champion, the more efficiently you will be able to use this spell.

A great thing to know is that Ekko’s passive makes him deal extra damage, and it has no cap. Using it in sync with smite makes it easy to steal objectives from most champions. Also, in the scenarios when you happen to use this combo, you can also use the R to get back to safety.

Ekko Jungle Cons

Like every champion, Ekko has his cons too– especially in the jungle:

In the early game, he is extremely susceptible to early invades from champions like Elise, Lee Sin, and Kha’Zix. This means that you will sometimes have to give up some CS, in order to remain safe.

Other than this, he also has some general weaknesses. For example, he can be really hard to play in comps with heavy CC. The enemies can simply stun-lock him, which makes it hard to do anything with him.

Runes for Ekko Jungle in Season 13

There are two pages I would recommend if you go for playing Ekko in season 13: Dark Harvest and First Strike. Both are great for scaling and synergize well with Ekko’s strengths.

Dark Harvest Ekko Rune Page

The dark Harvest page is somewhat of a standard page used by Ekko jungle mains. The keystone provides a lot of scaling, and it is great for aggressive players.

Sudden Impact is great for getting extra damage while casting E, and it is especially powerful when coupled with Ekko’s passive. The difference is really noticeable, and it helps with one-shotting enemies.

Another key thing to this setup are runes from the inspiration tree. Magical Footwear will save you an extra 300 gold, and it will allow you to hit power spikes faster by getting items more quickly. Cosmic Insight will be just as useful by reducing cooldowns on spells and items and letting you evolve jungle pets more quickly.

First Strike Ekko Rune Page

This is the rune page I started using the most in season 13. I find it really good for generating a lot of gold and hitting my item power spikes faster. The damage is noticeably smaller than that of the previous rune page, but it is still significant.

If you are looking to learn more about jungle runes, I would advise reading this article. It goes over all the best runes for jungling, and when to take them. It can help you make more informed choices, as well as understand enemies’ choices.

Ekko Abilities

Learning what makes each ability strong is essential for making the most out of Ekko, so I would recommend reading this section even if you are familiar with all his abilities.

Passive – Z drive

Ekko’s passive stacks 3 times each time an enemy is hit with any spell or auto attack. It is really important to make use of it since it is one of the biggest sources of damage for this champion. It also deals 150% bonus damage to jungler monsters which makes jungle clearing much easier.

Timewinder (Q)

Timewinder is a great spell for clearing waves and camps like wolves, raptors, and golems. This spell also provides a slow, which is helpful to keep in mind when it comes to team fights and so on.

Parallel Convergence (W)

Ekko’s W and the way it is used separate good Ekko players from great ones. This ability takes a lot of experience to hit properly, and only a few know when and how to use it. Most learning that happens with this champion revolves around Parralel Convergence.

Phase Dive (E)

Phase Dive is your regular dash spell. It has a relatively quick cast time, and it can be used to dodge spells and close distance. It can be cast twice, and the second cast teleports Ekko to enemies. This makes it great for catching high-mobility enemies.

Chronobreak (R)

Chronobreak is the bread and butter of Ekko’s kit. This spell is quite literally what the champion is all about, lore-wise and gameplay-wise. It allows Ekko to time travel 4 seconds in the past, returning to the same location, and HP state he was at that point in time.

This spell is great for disengaging, engaging, and pretty much everything in between. The HP it restores can quickly turn the tide of fights, and location shifting can be helpful in a number of ways.

Ekko’s ultimate also has a radius of damage that bursts the enemies. Landing it deals significant damage, and it really pays to understand it well.

How To Play Ekko Jungle in Season 13? (Gameplan)

We have gone over a lot of significant information that will definitely be necessary for mastering Ekko in the jungle; however, the most important information is yet to come.

This section will cover everything you need to know to formulate a good game plan with Ekko. This will include first clear, first back, and how to play the game throughout early to late game.

First Clear With Ekko Jungle

When doing the first clear with Ekko it is always best to start with W. The spell provides extra shielding, and its passive deals extra damage to camps below 30% HP.The starting camp will be highly situational. For lower-ranked players, I would recommend starting on whichever side their botlane is and going doing a full clear from there. The leash provided by botlane is simply too efficient, and full clearing is really the safest option.

For those who find themselves climbing through ranks or who are already a higher rank, I would recommend spicing the clear up a little. Instead of going full clear, I would recommend 3 camps into a gank.

The best way to advance pathing is to look for overextended and low HP enemies. These will always be easily gankable, and skipping one gank for a kill is always worth it.

First Back

When playing Ekko jungle, there are always some objectives I have in mind when preparing for a first back. Depending on the amount of gold, I will get Amplifying Tome, Blasting Wand, or Hextech Alternator. It also has to be said that I rarely leave the base without picking one Dark Seal.Dark Seal synergizes perfectly with Ekko’s assassin carry playstyle. Getting it early works very well, especially for players who can avoid dying early. The item is very efficient, even with only a few stacks.

How to Play Mid Game With Ekko Jungle?

It is hard to pin down the most optimal way to play Ekko in the mid game, as there are many highly situational things to consider. There are, however, some good practices you can keep in mind.

I, for example, like to look for overextended enemies and get solo picks. This allows for easier teamfights, and free objectives, and it generally helps to close out games faster. To have an easier time picking off enemies, I would recommend placing wards deep into enemy territory.

There are games where enemies are extra cautious, and there are few things to do. In this case, it is simply best to farm and keep the lead going. If possible, it is also good to invade the enemy jungle, take their gold, and deny it from them.

How To Play Late Game With Ekko Jungle

There are two main ways to play Ekko in the late game. The first one consists of grouping with the team, looking for picks and teamfights, and the second one consists of playing in a sidelane and pushing.

The way to play will depend based on the game. In games where enemies have much CC, it is really hard to play teamfights, and it is better to spend the time split pushing a sidelane. Ekko is a great champion for split pushing, since he can quickly take towers with his E, and he also has enough mobility and CC to escape most enemies.

In games where Ekko is ahead, it is better to look for fights and picks on the enemies. Since Ekko is an assassin, the best way to get kills is by having good vision. With good vision coverage, it is easy to flank enemies, and quickly take out their carries.

After winning teamfights, the most important thing is to seize control of objectives. This allows for games to be closed out properly and prevents throws. There are downtimes when there is nothing to do, and in such cases, it is best to simply farm and wait for new objectives to spawn.

Conclusion

Ekko is a jungler that has been consistently good ever since he joined the jungle lineup. There is nothing that suggests he will not remain as good in season 13. The champion is your typical jungle assassin, and he needs to be played as such.

Ekko is relatively easy to play, but he is really hard to master. There are not many requirements to perform well on a basic level. But when it comes to being the best Ekko, there are many things to learn.

A great Ekko will know what runes and items to take and why. They will also know the most efficient ways to path, and they will make the best late-game decisions. If you are looking to become an Ekko main, do not worry. All these things will come with experience.

For those who are sold on this champion, I would highly recommend reading this article. It goes over all the best skins he has, and it can help you pick the right one for you. It never hurts to be stylish in addition to playing well.