*New content under "The Rotation"

*I have kept an eye on this guide and recent patches, as of 9/1/13 there has been no need to change this build or guide due to changes to gameplay*

Hi my handle on League of Legends is Jacksonecac and this is my Udyr Guide. I have a Shyvana guide and a Nocturne guide as well. This is by far my best one so far. I am a jungler for the team Go for Gold. I am also a member of One Shot Gaming.

Jungle Udyr is a great jungler, probably my best and one of the best. Udyr is a tank monster from the start of the game to the end of the game while still putting out tons of dmg and CC. Udyr is a great front-liner and tanky-bruiser. He is a champion that should strike fear into you and your team if he is seen on the other team.

Keep in mind. This is a guide, it is not a set rules that you must follow to be successful. Also it took practice for me to pull off this build. If you use this guide and do not dominate your first try, please do not come back and down vote this build. Try it a few times and watch as it works for you as well.

Here are the runes that I run:

• Marks: 9 x
  Attack Speed marks are important for jungling and for team fights. With high attack speed, Udyr's Phoenix stance will proc more often, causing more aoe magic damage. This makes his jungle extremely fast and it also greatly increased the damage done to enemy champions.
• Seals: 9 x
  Armor seals are important to minimize the amount of damage that you take from the jungle and from the basic attacks of enemy champions. Udyr is going to be a front-liner for the duration of the game and so he is going to need the armor to sustain in the teamfights.
• Glyphs: 9 x
  Magic Resist/Level glyphs are important to minimize the amount of damage from enemy spells. They are per level because they grow in defense as you level up. The jungle does not do magic damage to you and so you do not need as much to start off, however it will benefit you later in the game to have more. The same points apply from the armor runes, you need to sustain in team fights and so the magic resist lets you absorb more ability power based attacks.
• Quintessence: 3 x
  Movement Speed Quintessences are important in order to gank easier. Udyr has no gap closing abilities aside from flash and the cooldown is too long on flash to rely on it everytime for a gank. Therefore movement speed quintessences are necessary to get to the enemy champion as quickly as possible to land a stun and a possible kill.

Starting Items

First Back

If ganks are going well/farm fest:
philosopher's stone

This will help your income slightly with Philosopher's Stone and mana regen + clear time will be quicker.

Else:

Mid-Game

Boots of mobility will help your ganks and you can sometimes rush past wards for a gank, speed is key on Udyr. Spirit of the Ancient Golem will give you some health and faster clear time, aegis of the legion is an all around amazing item and it really helps with all of his defensive stats. Recurve Bow helps you get some more Phoenix Stance procs.

Core

Wit's End adds some extra damage to your attacks, gives faster damage, and good magic resist, Runic bulwark helps your team our with defensive stats and really makes you tanky vs AP champions. Iceborn gauntlets is an amazing item on Udyr because it adds the armor that he needs as well as mana and allows you to AOE slow the enemy team. Finally Shurelya's is going to give you and your team a speed boost for quick initiation.

Each active ability that Udyr has has an activation effect and a persistent effect. The on activation effect takes place as soon as you change into that form, where as the persistent effect takes place for a short duration after activation, even if in another form. Not that Udyr does not have an ultimate, he just has 4 normal abilities, therefore he has 18 skill points to put into 4 different abilities. This being the case he can spread them around differently than a normal champion.

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Monkey Agility is Udyr's passive. It increases Udyr's attack speed by 10% upon entering a stance for 5 seconds. This can stack up to three times. Therefore switching into three stances within 5 seconds will increase Udyr's attack speed by 30%.

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Tiger stance increase Udyr's attack speed and the next attack adds a DOT that lasts two seconds. This adds a lot of burst damage however when you spec into Phoenix Stance then level this last. I only use it for focusing down towers, inhibitors, and the Nexus.

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On Activation, turtle stance adds a shield that absorbs a flat amount of damage +50% of his ability power. The persistent effect of Turtle Stance allows Udyr to lifesteal a good amount of health back from his auto attacks.

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Bear stance on activation, gives Udyr up to 35% increased movement speed. The persistent effect is if Udyr strikes a target, they are stunned for one second, this cannot happen to the same target within 6 seconds of the previous stun. I get one level in Bear until Phoenix is level 5, then I alternate levels with turtle until both are maxed.

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Phoenix stance is your bread and butter for Udyr Jungle. He does massive amounts of damage while in phoenix stance to enemy champions and the jungle. The activation effect is Udyr sends our pulsing waves of flame that does up to 55 magic damage +25% of his ability power for 5 seconds. On activation, Udyr also has his ability power and attack damage increased. The persistent effect is Udyr does magic damage to enemies in front of him every first (once you switch into Phoenix) and third attack dealing up to 200 magic damage + 25% of his ability power. Start with this ability and max it out first.

Sequence (Left to Right):

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Main Summoner Spells:




Smite is needed as a jungler in order to secure buff, dragon, and baron control. Flash might be able to be substituted with exhaust but Udyr is such a great bruiser that I like to flash right into fights and get my hands dirty.

What you are going to want to do is turtle just before you get a to a creep camp. Once there switch to phoenix so you have a shield, mana and health regen, and aoe flame damage. Once phoenix is 1/4 from going off of cooldown, switch back to turtle, and immediately switch back to phoenix for the most amount of damage output.

The most effective way to use Udyr is to time your abilities perfectly so you can switch stances as fast as possible. For example if I encounter a jungle camp and I shield right before I get there, then switch to Phoenix as soon as possible, then the rotation is in perfect sequence, you will not be able to make the stance swaps faster than you do this way. The problem with Udyr is that he has a global cooldown reset which means that if you swap stances it will add cooldown to all stances EXCEPT those that have > cooldown than 1/4, so if you time your stance swaps right when the stance has 1/4 of its cooldown left then your rotation is dead on.

These two masteries and two items along with bear and turtle stance on Udyr are what make him overpowered:




The combination of these four things will make Udyr almost "uncrowdcontrolable." If you are being heavily focused and need to run away, use turtle to absorb the damage and bear to run away. Continue to alternate between these two abilities and eventually you will break the crowd control of the enemy team because of the fact that he reduces control control so much with this combination of masteries/items.

I want to re-iterate Udyr's skill combinations because it is important.

When Jungling

Before you hit a creep camp go into turtle. Once you engage the creeps turn on phoenix. When phoenix is 1/4 away from coming off cooldown go into turtle, then immediately turn on phoenix when you can. This allows you to turn on turtle for shield, mana regen, and health regen while pumping out the most damage possible. Note: If you phoenix too early or too late phoenix will not be up as much and you will not do as much damage.

When engaging an enemy champion

While moving to engage an enemy champion it works almost the same as when engaging a creep camp. Bear at the enemy champion, once you hit them turn on phoenix then turtle immediately, and alternate between phoenix and turtle until the target is dead. If that are getting away, turn on bear to catch up and repeat.

Typically with Udyr I like to play a game called "Fake Gank" This is where I will Bear at an enemy champion make them blow their flash and walk away. Then shortly later I will do the same thing except this time I will coordinate with my team mate, use flash etc. This will guarentee the kill.

Now we are talking about ranked play, and since Udyr jungles so quickly I recommend picking up an oracle's elixer. Using the oracle's I will clear wards so that I can creep up on lanes easier to go for kills. Udyr is a very tanky champion and since this is the case you shouldn't lose your oracle if you play smart.

Any champion that has any CC is going to be a great lane to gank for your team. That way, your team-mate can use the CC ability on the enemy, while you close in fast for the bear stun.

Pros

-Tanky
-Doesn't Require Damage items
-Fast Jungle Clear Time
-Does not fall off late game

Cons

-No gap closing abilities
-easily stopped when ganking
-relies on team mates to gank effectively

Udyr has a lot of counters, things to watch out for when you want to pick udyr is if you are playing against champions that have a lot of kiting abilities.

Some example champions that are strong against a jungle Udyr are:





Some examples of champions that jungle udyr is strong against are:





Keep in mind that Udyr needs to be shifty when going in for a bear stun, most champions have at least one CC ability, for example if I am going straight at a lux to stun her I am going to try to weave in and out to avoid being snared by her.

This is my first video upload with commentary. It is a little shotty but ok for the first one. Sound comes in at about 5 seconds. (If you listen you hear my kitten.. lol) Play Video

Play Video

Overall Udyr is great for new junglers who can have a good time clearing the jungle fast and getting fed. For an experienced player, Udyr is a great ganker, damage doer, bruiser, and late game tank. He requires few items to do well and can easily carry a team to victory. I would recommend learning him to anyone who wants to be a "jungler."

I hope you enjoy this guide and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask.