Who is Raijin?

Raijin, SMITE’s second Japanese god, is the god of lightning, thunder, and storms. His name derives from the Japanese word “rai” meaning thunder. He is typically depicted as a demon with red skin with 5 of his famous Taiko drums surrounding him. Raijin was created, like all of the Japanese deities, by Izanami and Izanagi. Legend has it that the sounds of thunder are made when he plays his taiko drums. He constantly duels with his brother, the wind god Fujin to determine who among them is the strongest. Fujin was portrayed as a wizard demon with green skin and a red head, that wielded bags of wind as his weapon. While fighting against his brother, Raiju was always at Raijin’s side, who is commonly depicted as a wolf made of lightning. Japanese children are told to cover their belly buttons during a thunderstorm so they aren’t taken away. Although Raijin may sound scary and evil, he is known to strike rice fields with lightning, which fertilized the crops and caused larger harvests.



Raijin is a Mage with a lot of burst damage, crowd control, and survivability. His kit is very true to his lore in that all of his abilities relate to his taiko drums or his companion Raiju. Raijin’s passive is called “Static Crescendo” and reads as follows, “Raijin’s drums gather static charges as he fires Basic Attacks and Abilities. When all four drums are charged, his next Ability does additional damage. Basic Attacks grant one Charge.” The bonus damage of the next ability is equivalent to 100% of your magical power. It is easy to always have this Passive stacked at all times since the basic attacks and abilities don’t have to hit an enemy.

His first ability is his main source of damage and can be awkward to cast at all levels of SMITE. It is called “Percussive Storm” and is based off his most common myth: “Raijin pounds his drums sending forth a peal of thunder in a line, then another, then two at once, each growing wider as it travels. The thunder deals Magical Damage to Enemies it hits, and stops on the first Enemy God in its path. This ability grants one [charge of his passive] each time he strikes the drums, for a total of 3 Charges.” The most important thing with this ability is that you guarantee the final shot, as it does double the damage of the first two. You may want to wait for an enemy to be crowd-controlled before firing off this ability.


Like Raijin fighting his brother in Japanese mythology, you are not alone on the battlefield when playing Raijin. “Raiju” is the name of Raijin’s second ability and is the best way for him to damage multiple targets at once, “Raijin marks a target enemy by dismissing his ally Raiju, who hides in the enemy’s navel [belly button]. While asleep, Raiju reveals the target to Raijin’s team on the minimap. The next time Raijin damages the target, Raiju awakens and claws his way out, damaging the target and 5 nearby enemies in his attempt to flee. Dismissing Raiju grants Raijin a single Charge.” Similar to Hou Yi’s “Mark of the Golden Crow”, this ability can be used to detect stealthed targets.

Raijin’s third ability is very unique in that his primary escape can also be used for massive damage if combined with Raiju. Using your main escape for damage is obviously a huge risk, but it can pay off in the late game if it finishes a kill. The ability is called “Thunder Crash”: “Raijin sends a bolt of lightning crashing down at his ground target location damaging and mesmerizing enemies, while Raijin himself ascends into the sky. Shortly thereafter he crashing down at that location, doing a second burst of damage to all Enemies in the area. Raijin gains one Charge when he sends the bolt of lightning, and another when he arrives in a crash of thunder.” The mesmerize on this ability can be key in setting up your other abilities and creating time for your teammates to peel for you.

The most unique ability in this kit is “Taiko Drums”, as it is the first Ultimate to give you an alternate set of abilities during it is active. Saying this ability has a lot of utility would be an understatement: “ Raijin flies above the battlefield, beating his drum 4 times to summon peals of thunder. With each hit, he has a choice of three beats: Beat one: 100% damage, Beat two: Taunt and 50% Damage, Beat three: Fear and 50% Damage, Raijin receives one Charge each time he strikes a drum, for a maximum of four Charges.” It is important to note that you become immune to crowd control and don’t have to use the same beat 4 times. This ability takes a lot of skill to use, as you need to use the correct beat for the right situation. If your teammate has set up a kill for you, you use the first beat. If you want to be the one setting up the kills, use the second beat. If you or your teammates are at low health, use the third beat.


Good partners for Rajin are Athena and Xing Tian because they have ultimates that can set up the first beat (100% damage). Raijin can set up huge damage ultimates from fellow mages Kukulkan and Ra using the second beat, which can be up to a 2 second taunt. That is the same taunt length as Athena’s “Confound” at rank 4. The third beat can be a fear that lasts up to 2 seconds, and may be used to push enemies into ultimates like Hun Batz or Zeus.

Unique items that could work on Raijin would be Gem of Isolation, Divine Ruin, and Spear of the Magus. His second ability, “Raiju” (see above), synergizes very well with the passives of Gem of Isolation and Divine Ruin. Every enemy that Raiju bounces to will be slowed for 25% of their movement speed for 2 seconds or have their healing reduced by 40% for 8 seconds. Spear of the Magus is a good itemization in that subsequent hits from “Taiko Drums” will do more damage. It works exceptionally well if you alternate between the first and second beat to confirm all 4 shots.


Raijin can be countered by any god that can cancel his leap. Great examples of this are Kali (stun on her third ability, “Incense”) and Bakasura (cripple on Ultimate, “Regurgitate”). Items that counter Raijin are Spirit Robe and Oni Hunter’s Garb. Both of these items give you Magical protection and crowd control reduction, making them great at lowering Raijin’s damage output. The passives of these items are also great counters to Raijin: Spirit Robe’s 15% damage mitigation when being hit by a hard crowd control effect is powerful against any “Taiko Drums” beat combinations. Raijin is adept at hitting a single target multiple times, making the passive of Oni Hunter’s Garb valuable: “Every 10s you gain +15 Magical Protection (Max 3 Stacks). Upon taking Magical Damage 1 stack is removed.”

Raijin’s high burst damage and decent mobility are things that will make him popular on the “Battleground of the Gods”. He is a character that is easy to learn the basics of but hard to master. Although Raijin may not be seen as top tier by some players, he is a Mage that is fun to play and is viable in all situations.

Written by Jacob “WordsWinwars” Russell