Overview
Learning how to play Bel’Veth is key to unlocking her potential as a formidable League of Legends jungler, combining explosive mobility, devastating damage, and unique transformation mechanics that scale into the late game. Mastering the Empress of the Void requires understanding her distinctive mechanics and adapting your playstyle to dominate the jungle and carry your team to victory.
Table of Contents
- Understand Bel’Veth’s Abilities and Playstyle
- Optimal Jungle Pathing and Early Game Strategy
- Essential Item Builds and Rune Setups
- Ganking Techniques and Team Fighting
- Securing Late Game Dominance
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Empress of the Void has quickly established herself as one of League of Legends’ most formidable junglers. Bel’Veth combines explosive mobility, devastating damage, and unique transformation mechanics to create a champion who can single-handedly take over games when played correctly. What makes her particularly interesting is her distinctive scaling pattern – unlike many junglers who fall off late game, Bel’Veth only gets stronger as the match progresses.
However, mastering the Empress requires understanding her unique mechanics and adapting your playstyle accordingly. Whether you’re new to Bel’Veth or looking to refine your skills with this powerhouse jungler, these five essential tips will help you dominate the jungle and carry your team to victory.
Understand Bel’Veth’s Abilities and Playstyle
Before diving into jungle strategies, it’s crucial to understand how Bel’Veth’s kit works. Her playstyle revolves around ramping up attack speed through her passive and transforming after consuming Void Coral from epic monsters or champion kills.
Bel’Veth’s passive, Death in Lavender, permanently increases her attack speed for each monster or champion she kills. This makes her one of the few junglers who genuinely scales infinitely, becoming more threatening as the game progresses.
Her Q (Void Surge) provides four directional dashes that reset on attacks, giving her incredible mobility in fights. Her W (Above and Below) knocks up enemies and applies a slow, making it perfect for ganks and disrupting enemy positioning.
Perhaps most importantly, Bel’Veth’s E (Royal Maelstrom) creates a defensive stance that reduces incoming damage while she unleashes rapid attacks on nearby enemies. This ability is central to her dueling power and teamfight impact, as it allows her to mitigate incoming damage while dealing her own.
Her ultimate, Endless Banquet, allows her to consume Void Coral to transform into her true form, granting enhanced abilities and spawning Void Remora minions that push lanes. Understanding when and how to use this transformation is key to dominating with Bel’Veth.
Bel’Veth’s infinitely scaling attack speed from her passive, paired with her unique dash and transformation mechanics, gives her a late-game presence that rivals carry junglers like Aatrox, who also thrive in drawn-out fights and skirmishes.
Optimal Jungle Pathing and Early Game Strategy
Mastering your early game route is crucial for Bel’Veth success. Since she scales with attack speed from her passive, efficient clear paths that maximize camp takedowns are essential.
For your first clear, start with a full path from Red Buff to Blue Buff (or vice versa depending on your side). Aim to clear all camps while building up passive stacks, which will significantly improve your clear speed as the game progresses.
A standard efficient path includes:
- Red Buff → Krugs → Raptors → Wolves → Blue Buff → Gromp → Scuttle
This route should be completed around 3:15-3:30 with practice, putting you in position to contest scuttle crab or look for your first gank opportunity.
Bel’Veth’s early ganking potential is moderate but becomes much stronger once you hit level 3. Before ganking, ensure you have:
- Both Q and W available for mobility and crowd control
- E ready for extended fights
- Enough health to survive counter-ganks (around 70%+)
Unlike early-game junglers like Amumu or Elise, Bel’Veth doesn’t need to force early ganks. Instead, focus on efficient farming to reach your power spikes faster. Look for ganks only when lanes are overextended or when you can coordinate with laners who have reliable crowd control.
Remember, securing early drakes is valuable not just for your team but specifically for your ultimate transformation. Prioritize objectives that drop Void Coral (Herald, Drake) when you have lane priority, as these will accelerate your scaling significantly.
Essential Item Builds and Rune Setups
Bel’Veth’s build path is somewhat flexible, but certain core items dramatically increase her effectiveness. Understanding when to build which items will significantly impact your game influence.
Your core items should typically include:
- Blade of the Ruined King: Almost always your first major item, providing attack speed, lifesteal, and on-hit damage that synergizes perfectly with your kit
- Kraken Slayer: The true damage proc works wonderfully with your high attack speed
- Death’s Dance/Wit’s End: Based on enemy damage composition (physical vs. magical)
For boots, attack speed options like Berserker’s Greaves are standard, but consider Plated Steelcaps against heavy AD teams or Mercury’s Treads against heavy CC compositions.
Late-game items should adapt to the specific match but often include Guardian Angel for survivability, Black Cleaver against tanks, or Bloodthirster for additional sustain in extended fights.
For runes, Lethal Tempo is the keystone of choice as it further amplifies your already impressive attack speed. Supporting runes should include:
- Triumph for survivability in team fights
- Legend: Alacrity for even more attack speed
- Last Stand or Coup de Grace (situation dependent)
Secondary runes typically come from the Domination tree (Sudden Impact and Relentless Hunter) or Resolve (Conditioning and Unflinching). The official League of Legends champion page often has updated recommendations based on current patch data.
Ganking Techniques and Team Fighting
Bel’Veth’s ganking approach evolves throughout the game. Early ganks require precise execution, while post-6 ganks benefit from your ultimate transformation.
For successful pre-ultimate ganks:
- Approach through unwarded paths, using your Q to hop over walls when possible
- Save your W for when the enemy attempts to escape, as the knock-up is your primary CC
- Use E defensively if counter-ganked or when you need to survive tower dives
After reaching level 6, your ganking power increases substantially. Look to secure a kill or assist, then use your ultimate to transform and continue pushing the lane with Void Remora, applying immediate pressure and potentially taking tower plates.
In team fights, Bel’Veth’s role depends on team composition and game state. She can function as:
- A primary engager when fed and transformed
- A secondary engage following up your team’s initial CC
- A flanker looking to access enemy backline carries
Your E (Royal Maelstrom) is your most important teamfight ability. Time it carefully to mitigate burst damage while outputting your own. Remember that it can be interrupted by hard CC, so be aware of enemy crowd control abilities before committing.
When transformed after consuming Void Coral, you gain bonus health and enhanced abilities. Use this power spike to become more aggressive, but don’t overextend and throw your advantage. Smart players will leverage each transformation to secure additional objectives.
Securing Late Game Dominance
Late game is where Bel’Veth truly shines, becoming one of the most formidable duelists and split-pushers in the game. With proper passive stacking throughout the game, you’ll have accumulated significant attack speed, making you a threat no matter the situation.
To maximize your late-game impact:
- Continue farming camps whenever possible to build more passive stacks
- Secure epic monsters for Void Coral transformations
- Apply split-push pressure when transformed, as few champions can match you 1v1
- Use your mobility to join team fights quickly from side lanes
Vision control becomes even more critical in the late game. Place deep wards in the enemy jungle to track movements and create pick opportunities. Your mobility allows you to quickly collapse on isolated enemies, turning numerical advantages into objective takes.
When Baron or Elder Dragon are on the map, you have two strong options:
- Join your team to secure the objective, then use your transformation to push multiple lanes
- Create side lane pressure to draw enemies away from the objective, allowing your team to start it
Remember that late-game deaths have severe consequences. While Bel’Veth is powerful, she’s not immortal. Position carefully in team fights, using your E to mitigate damage rather than diving recklessly into the enemy team.
With proper item scaling and passive stacks, you should be able to take down most champions in a 1v1 scenario and potentially even secure 1v2 victories when properly executed. This makes you a constant threat that enemies must respect.
Conclusion
Mastering Bel’Veth requires understanding her unique mechanics and adapting your playstyle throughout the game. From efficient early clears to devastating late-game power, the Empress of the Void offers a jungle experience unlike any other champion when played correctly.
Remember that success with Bel’Veth hinges on balancing farm efficiency with objective control and strategic ganking. While she can carry games spectacularly, she requires patience and methodical play to reach her full potential.
As you continue to practice how to play Bel’Veth, you’ll develop a better sense of when to farm, when to gank, and how to leverage your transformation to maximum effect. Each game presents new learning opportunities as you face different team compositions and scenarios.
With these five essential tips—understanding her abilities, optimizing jungle paths, building correctly, mastering ganking techniques, and securing late-game dominance—you’re well on your way to becoming a fearsome Bel’Veth player who can consistently carry games from the jungle position.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bel’Veth good for beginners in the jungle?
Bel’Veth has a moderate learning curve but can be rewarding for newer jungle players. Her clear mechanics are straightforward, though mastering her mobility with Q dashes takes practice. She’s more forgiving than some junglers due to her scaling nature and E damage reduction. However, beginners should focus on farm efficiency and basic gank setups before attempting advanced techniques.
How do I counter being invaded as Bel’Veth?
Bel’Veth’s early game can be vulnerable to strong dueling junglers. Ward your buff opposite to where you start and ask for team support. If invaded, consider vertical jungling (taking their opposite side camps) rather than fighting. After completing Blade of the Ruined King, you’ll be much stronger in 1v1 scenarios. Until then, track the enemy jungler and adjust your pathing to avoid confrontations.
When should I transform with Bel’Veth’s ultimate?
Transform immediately after securing objectives or kills that drop Void Coral, unless you’re at critically low health and need to recall. The transformation grants bonus health and enhanced abilities, making you stronger for subsequent fights. In team fights, try to secure a kill or assist early to enable your transformation, significantly increasing your impact for the remainder of the engagement.
What’s the best way to use Bel’Veth’s E ability?
Royal Maelstrom (E) should be used strategically, not immediately when engaging. Wait until you’ve taken some damage to maximize the damage reduction benefit, or when enemies commit resources that you can mitigate. Be aware that hard CC interrupts this ability, so track enemy crowd control before using it. In team fights, position to hit multiple enemies while minimizing the chance of interruption.
How does Bel’Veth compare to other scaling junglers?
Bel’Veth scales exceptionally well compared to most junglers due to her infinite attack speed scaling and transformation mechanics. Unlike champions like Master Yi who primarily scale with items, Bel’Veth gains power from both items and her passive stacks. She’s also more versatile than many scaling junglers, offering better objective control and map pressure through her Void Remora. However, she lacks the instant burst of assassin junglers and requires more setup time in fights.
