Even with a decent leash, and arranging my clear so smite is up for both buffs, I can't actually take both buffs. I either have to back before I start the second buff, or it executes me.

It can't be my items - I use boots pots, and while I realize cloth 5 pots would be slightly safer, and I've heard of people taking regrowth on him, I've seen him jungled with boots pots at a professional level, so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

I doubt it's my abilities - I start W, then E, then Q, which as far as I can tell is the standard start for Mundo. I only have E on when absolutely necessary - it's not like I'm running between camps burning health. Yet I still have practically nothing left.

Similarly, I doubt it's my masteries - I'm using quite alot of blue, with a small amount of green, giving me all the early armor and health regen, some damage reduction, and extra health. Offensive masteries don't seem like they'd help - I feel like I lose more HP from my ability cost then from the camps themselves, since they die alot faster then against my other jungle champs who don't have health issues.

I have to assume the problem is runes - I'm using my default jungle page with flat AD, flat armor, and MR/level, with MS quints. Is there something more effective for mundo, the way AS supposedly helps Nocturne(can't afford AS runes just yet, but I've been told they help him finish first clear with much more health then I do with my page), like max health or health regen?

You will get low with boots, and not having AS is pretty bad as well. I use AS reds, AR yellows, Mr/Lvl blues, and 1 AS purple with 2 MS purples. For Masteries, I go 9-12-9, getting attack speed and arpen in attack. In defense get armor, reduced minion damage, hp/level, flat hp and reduced damage by 2. Utility get flash, recall, and 2 reduced death timers, movespeed, and buff duration.

I had trouble jungling Mundo at first too, it just takes practice. You need to get a really strong leash on him or you're screwed. Pros start boots, but that's because they have other pros leashing for them, and they are looking to make plays earlier. I don't recommend starting cloth on any standard jungler except Mundo just because of his early hp problems.

How does AS help Mundo? Most of his damage seems to come from Burning Agony, rather then his autoattacks. I appreciate the post, but I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for... Anyone else have some insight? Maybe I underestimate the usefulness of AS? But it really doesn't seem to do anything for Mundo...

Mundo already has a lot of AD from Masochism, and the more AD you have the more AS will increase your damage output.

Ok, but the problem isn't that I'm clearing too slow. Even with the difficulty I have, I still clear faster on Mundo then on Shyvana, who's my second fastest jungler.

Any faster, and I'd have to wait for smite to be up after a full clear at my second buff =\ so I'm still not convinced that's the problem.

In any case, I appreciate the responses. Just looking for more, whether to confirm what's already been said, or suggest something else.

Well, if you're trying a clear path with Mundo, I think you're doing it a bit wrong. I go AS reds, Armor yellows, MR/L blues, MS quints. I start with W at wraiths, get a leash red, level my Q, then get myself to either mid or top and gank. Then I clear, get my E level 3, wait until my smite is back up, then clear blue. With boots/3, I normally end this with more than a reasonable amount of health.

I've never tried a level 2 gank with Mundo, simply because it never seemed feasible.

So far you're the third person to mention AS runes, which really don't seem to make sense, but apparently they work. I'll give them a try when I buy them eventually, although it won't be possible for awhile yet.

Edit: My standard jungle route is Wolves->Blue->Wraiths->Double Golems->Red. I rarely start Red, because even with Shyvana and Shen, my other non-blue dependant junglers, I benefit from the cooldowns, and I avoid the possibility of Red stealing Blue donates later on, since it's still down when I donate. However, the reason I posted this was because I did try a red start today, going Wraiths->Red->Double Golems->Wolves->Executed by Blue.

AS runes help you clear faster because you already have an AD boost and AD and AS scale off of each other. Clearing camps faster means you spend less time with W active. Less time with W active means you lose less health.

Fast clear times = less damage taken, so if you are not using AS reds and are using AD instead then that is why you are taking so much damage. As previously said, your E provides the majority of the damage you need, what mundo needs is attack speed, lifesteal, health and then obviously armor / mr depending.

Keep in mind boots are not always the choice, plenty of times you will see someone do something in a tournament and go, oh I get it now, and then you decide that's just what's done but you are not understanding the why. The truth of the matter is, you take boots so that you can be extremely aggressive early which is team comp dependent.

Say for example, you have vladimir middle and you buy boots, you attempt to gank mid first at level 2 but vlad doesn't even have his pool yet, much less the burst to be able to kill and you have now sacraficed the ability to invade or jungle faster for a failed gank. On the other hand, if you had someone like sion middle, then it would make perfect sense as you would most likely get a stun and a kill to make up for your slower clear or lack of invade.

Also, remember that items and champions are dependent on what your enemy is playing. If you are mundo and the enemy team is playing say a shaco or nunu then you might not want to take boots because you could have a fight on your hands at level 2. You would instead want to start with cloth armor + 5 or possibly lifesteal scepter assuming they didn't take ignite.

All of these things matter, professional players don't just know a trick or two and play a lot. They don't get nearly enough credit, they know the game so well that by the time they actually fight an opponent their decisions are almost already made. They know what they are fighting, what their general strat will be and how their team plans to handle it. In a soloqueue enviornment you don't have this information, the best you can hope for is understanding your enemies decisions based on general gameplay and try to predict that.

So the majority of times on a professional stream you will see them have 5 or 6 rune pages for the same character, and maybe 1 or 2 for those times when they can't play their main role. I know hotshotgg has at least 6 rune pages for nidalee because he has learned exactly how to deal with each and every top lane champion over the years and what runes/masteries are best for it.

If you are looking for High Elo Tips, Tricks, and Guides check out my youtube channel @ http://www.youtube.com/drwaddy

the secrect to jungling mundo before lvl 6 is never use q to clear camps ever cuz it cost too much health. if you need more dps use you e instead

another secret to jungle mundo before lvl 6 is remember to use you pots or your dead

another secret for jungle mundo is never start with boot unless you teammate is going to give you a super leash for red. start with cloth armor and 5 pots. dont foret to ask for leashs in red

another secret for jungle mundo is get heart of gold before lvl 6 as it gives health (synergies with you passive and ult) and the extra gold is great

another secret is if you clear wraiths->red buff->golems fast enough, when you return to wraiths, they will respawn just in time and if you go do wolves->blue buff, your smite will be up during your fight with your blue