Other than losing matches there’s probably nothing more frustrating in League of Legends than missing your Smite. As a jungler it’s your job to secure objectives for your team and knowing when and how to properly Smite can help with that.
Not only does missing your Smite cause you to potentially lose an important objective but it also often leads to your team wasting time typing about it rather than playing. It’s not good for team morale either and losing or stealing a Baron can often lead to a shift in power in a match and you should do your best to improve your Smites.
The most important thing you always need to know is that Smite deals increased damage for every level, starting at 490 at level 1 and 1000 at level 18. Below is a table with exact Smite damage values:
| Level | Total Damage |
|---|---|
| 1 | 490 |
| 2 | 520 |
| 3 | 550 |
| 4 | 580 |
| 5 | 610 |
| 6 | 640 |
| 7 | 670 |
| 8 | 700 |
| 9 | 730 |
| 10 | 760 |
| 11 | 790 |
| 12 | 820 |
| 13 | 850 |
| 14 | 880 |
| 15 | 910 |
| 16 | 940 |
| 17 | 970 |
| 18 | 1000 |
Smite deals true damage meaning it’s unaffected by armor or magic resist. Rather than remembering Smite damage values for every level you can just hover your mouse cursor in-game over the summoner spell and it will display it’s current damage. You should always note your Smite damage before you attempt to secure any objective, especially Dragon or Baron. Also be aware of the enemy jungler’s level: if he’s higher level than you are his Smite deals more damage, thus he has a higher potential of stealing monsters from you.
Once you know the damage your Smite deals make sure to always look at the health of your targeted monster (click on it and it will be displayed on the top left corner of your screen): don’t spend your time looking what’s going on around the map or opening the shop, focus all of your attention on the health and make sure you Smite just a moment before the monsters health equals your Smite damage.
It’s a good trick to save a damaging ability to be used in the same time as Smite for added burst, ensuring you instantly deal more damage. You’d be surprised about how many junglers never do this even in high rating! Additionally if you’re playing Nunu or Cho’Gath always pair Smite with Consume or Feast, making steals nearly impossible.
One more important thing to note is that you can Smite even though you’re stunned. It often happens if you’re attempting to steal a monster and the enemy team will CC you: don’t panic and keep your eye on the prize. As far as I know you can’t use Smite only if you’re suppressed (Malzahar or Warwick ultimate for example are suppress effects). Even though it isn’t related to increasing your Smite chances there’s a couple of other things that need mentioning. I linked to the Lol wiki article about Smite above, in which you might notice dozens of comments about how Smite isn’t necessary for junglers. I won’t go into specific reasons here but that’s completely untrue and you should ALWAYS take Smite when jungling. Always.
Second, don’t flame your jungler when he misses Smite. In many cases it’s a 50:50 chance whether your or enemy jungler secures a monster and whining about it afterwards is not productive. The best way to prevent the enemy jungler from stealing your monsters is to kill him: if he comes near just ping him for everyone to notice and switch your focus and damage on him. A small difference in latency or a slight miscalculation is enough to make you lose the Smite war. It happens just as often in solo queue as it does in competitive play, more often than not it’s essentially a 50:50, and unless you’re very far behind in power compared to the opposing team and you have nothing to lose, you should never take those odds.
I do hope these few tips help you improve your Smite success rates and ensure more objectives for your team. Make sure you always know your Smite damage beforehand, pay attention to monster health, and pair Smite with another damaging ability and you will have a greater chance of success.
