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Death Awaits - Thanatos Jungling/General Guide [Updated 9/29/15]

30 7 360,934
by SolarEnvy updated November 11, 2015

Smite God: Thanatos

Build Guide Discussion 19 More Guides
Choose a Build: Full Damage (Very Squishy)
Full Damage (Very Squishy) Early Game Damage into Semi-Tank Late Game
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Thanatos Build

Full Build Example

Build Item Warrior Tabi Warrior Tabi
Build Item Jotunn's Wrath Jotunn's Wrath
Build Item Hydra's Lament Hydra's Lament
Build Item Bloodforge Bloodforge
Build Item Rage Rage
Build Item Deathbringer Deathbringer

Jungle Start

Build Item Hydra's Star Hydra's Star
Build Item Potion of Power Potion of Power
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
Build Item Multi Potion Multi Potion

Situational: Damage

Build Item Bloodforge Bloodforge
Build Item Brawler's Beat Stick Brawler's Beat Stick
Build Item Titan's Bane Titan's Bane
Build Item The Executioner The Executioner

Situational: Defense

Build Item Ancile Ancile
Build Item Runic Shield Runic Shield
Build Item Breastplate of Regrowth Breastplate of Regrowth
Build Item Witchblade Witchblade

Attack Speed is fun!

Build Item Ninja Tabi Ninja Tabi

Thanatos's Skill Order

Death Scythe

1 X Y
Death Scythe
1 3 6 7 9

Scent of Death

2 A B
Scent of Death
4 15 16 18 19

Soul Reap

3 B A
Soul Reap
2 8 11 12 14

Hovering Death

4 Y X
Hovering Death
5 10 13 17 20
Death Scythe
1 3 6 7 9

Death Scythe

1 X
Thanatos flings his scythe at an enemy, dealing damage and an additional 10% of the target's maximum health against enemy gods. Enemies hit are slowed for 3s and heal Thanatos based on damage dealt. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Projectile
Damage: 95 / 165 / 235 / 305 / 375 (+60% of your Physical Power)
Bonus Damage (Gods): 10% of Max HP
Healing: 50% of damage dealt
Slow: 20%
Cost: 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65
Cooldown: 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12s
Scent of Death
4 15 16 18 19

Scent of Death

2 A
Thanatos senses death, gaining immunity to Slow effects and additional move speed and Physical Penetration for 6s. His speed bonus increases up to double when moving toward an enemy god within the instant kill health threshold of his Ultimate. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Buff
Penetration: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25
Move Speed: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
Bonus Speed (Low Health): 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
Cooldown: 13s
Soul Reap
2 8 11 12 14

Soul Reap

3 B
Thanatos swings his scythe, dealing Physical damage and Silencing enemies he hits. Thanatos moves at a reduced rate while swinging. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Cone, Silence, Damage
Damage: 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+70% of your Physical Power)
Silence Duration: 1s
Cost: 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45
Cooldown: 14s
Hovering Death
5 10 13 17 20

Hovering Death

4 Y
Thanatos flaps his wings and ascends for 5s, unable to be hit. While airborne, he moves unimpeded at an increased speed before diving to his target location, dealing damage. Enemies below a Health threshold are instantly killed. All others are Stunned. Consumes 8% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Circle, Stun, Damage
Damage: 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 / 250 (+80% of your Physical Power)
Kill Health Threshold: 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 / 40%
Stun Duration: 1.5s
Bonus Move Speed: 150%
Radius: 15
Cost: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Cooldown: 90s

Introduction to Thanatos, Hand of Death





Playing Thanatos

Thanatos, the God of Death. He lives up to his title, but he is a very skill-reliant God. This guide will be going in depth on Thanatos, it will cover the usage of his abilities, how you should play out a team-fight, item choices, pros and cons, skill combos, and the whole nine yards. Enjoy!




The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD

- Thanatos has one of the best early games.
- His one Death Scythe can easily half health a mage once it's leveled up.
- Thanatos' bonus movement speed and the extra Penetration from his 2, Scent of Death gives him an extremely powerful chase, couple that with the large amount of Penetration you get from it. It is an amazing buff.

THE BAD

- Thanatos falls of very hard late game. His scaling on his abilities is poor.
- He can be easily baited while in his ultimate.
- He takes a lot of skill to play, skillshots are key when playing Thanatos.

Skills- The Breakdown, Usage.

Harvester Of Souls (Passive)


Enemy gods within the execute threshold are shown to Thanatos. Dealing the killing blow to enemies gives Thanatos based upon the max HP of the enemy. Thanatos's abilities also cost both Health and Mana. When Thanatos kills an enemy god, his cooldowns decrease.

Cooldown Decrease : 5 seconds
HP Restore(Gods) : 20% of god's HP.
HP Restore(Minions) : 10% of minion's HP


Death Scythe (1)


Thanatos throws his scythe at the enemy, dealing damage and an additional 10% damage based on the target's current HP. Takes 5% of Thanatos' max HP.
Damage : 100/170/240/310/380
Bonus Damage(Gods) : 10% of current HP
Healing : 75% of damage dealt
Slow : 20%

Death Scythe Usage
This is going to be your main source of damage early game. At around levels 9-11 it's a massive nuke. Doing about 400-500 damage total. The 10% additional damage is HUGE especially considering it's based on Current HP. You can just about half health a mage with this ability.


Scent Of Death (2)


Thanatos senses death, it grants him immunity to slow effects, movement speed, and penetration for 6 seconds. His movement speed doubles when he is moving towards a god within the insta-kill threshold of his ultimate. Takes 5% of Thanatos' max HP when used.
Penetration : 15/20/25/30/35
Movement Speed :10/15/20/25/30%
Bonus Speed (Low Health) : 10/15/20/25/30%

Scent of Death Usage
This buff that Thanatos has is huge. Your movement speed increases by 30%, that doubles if someone is within the insta-kill threshold of your ult. You gain +30 Penetration, which is 2 Warrior Tabi's. When you have full CDR this puts the cooldown at around 2 seconds, because the buff lasts for 6, and the cooldown is reduced to 8 seconds. It can be used to chase, or get away from the fight.


Soul Reap (3)


Thanatos swings his scythe, dealing damage and silencing his enemeies. He moves at a reduced rate while he swings. Consumes 5% of Thanatos' max HP when used.
Damage : 100/150/200/250/300
Silence Duration : .5/.75/1/1.25/1.5

Soul Reap Usage
This is used to combo with your 1. Both of these abilities can do tons of damage. The silence is handy too. When you find that Fenrir is currently mauling your face you can also press 3 and stop the pain, same with Thor's Berserker Barrage. Note, that this ability does go through walls, despite it looking like it shouldn't. It does. Normally people would take this ability first to clear jungle camps faster, but it's all down to preference. I take Death Scythe first rather than Soul Reap.

Hovering Death (4)


Thanatos takes flight and stays afloat for 5 seconds, unable to be hit, he can still be damaged by DoTs while using his ultimate, which means Whirlwind and Vanish can still kill you. While airborn, he moves unimpeded at twice the speed and can dive on the target location. Enemies within the insta-kill threshold are instantly killed, anyone else who isn't is stunned and gets damage dealt to them. Consumes 10% of Thanatos' max HP.
Damage : 90/125/160/195/230
Kill HP Threshold : 24/28/32/36/40%
Stun Duration : 1 second
Movement Speed : 150%

Hovering Death Usage
This ult makes one of the coolest noises ever. Anyways, Thanatos' ultimate can be dodged, it isn't very hard to do it. I mostly use this ult to pick up those guys who just BARELY have a life left in them, but I also use it for escaping. That being said, you can gank lanes by ulting, hovering to whatever lane diving down on your target, hitting your 1 for massive damage then your 3 for the silence. By then you teammates should be there to pick up the kill. That is, unless you pick it up.

Skills 2- The Combos

As Thanatos, we have to chain are abilities together smoothly, here's a few I use to pick my kills.

I'll Deliver You To Hades

Explanation


Please, Just Keep Your Mouth Shut
Explanation

Items- The Thought Process, and Explanation

Item Choice Explanation:

Why Mail of Renewal? Let's face it, the passive it has is arguably one of the best in the game. The returned Health as well as Mana is a massive boost for Thanatos as he relies on both sources. Plus, the CDR gives you 40% when coupled with Jotunn's Wrath.

Why Frostbound Hammer? The attack speed reduction is incredibly potent because the current META is based around attack speed gods, such as Bellona or Ao Kuang just to name a few. Moreover, the amount of health that this item boasts is massive for its price. All around, an incredibly potent item that boots Thanatos' tankiness, as well as damage.

Why Soul Eater? First of all, this item is most likely the most overstated item in SMITE. The protections give a bonus value to Thanatos because he is naturally squishy. The lifesteal can boost his survivability within a fight. The attack speed is always good, it'll allow you to apply Frostbound Hammer debuffs easier. The health (for 2000 gold) is more of a deal than the Louisiana Purchase (8th Grade History Joke, the US bought about fifteen states as well as two Candian provinces from the French for about 10 million US dollars. If you do the math, it ends up costing about... 5 cents per acre) Anywho, the stats on this item for a measly 2000 Gold is overpowered. Just buy it.
Why CDR?: Builds can vary on Thanatos, the reason I chose CDR is because his 1, Death Scythe does an extremely large amount of damage for how low it costs. Also, his 2, Scent of Death provides +35 Penetration when it's maxed out. Along with giving you an increased 30% movement speed. This buff is HUGE for Thanatos. When someone is within the insta-kill threshold of his ultimate, Hovering Death he gains another 30% speed. That's 60% more movement speed. This buff is on a 3-2 second cooldown.
NOT NECASSARY
M
A
N
A
Thanatos doesn't need mana. All of his abilities take PERCENTAGES of his health. Not flat amounts. While his abilites still take mana, it isn't a mandatory part of his builds. I go Jotunn's Wrath for the CDR, PEN, and POWER.

MANDATORY


R
E
S
I
S
T
S
Thanatos absolutely requires some form of defense whether it be magical of physical. If he doesn't he will get killed so fast that he won't even be able to do damage.


L
I
F
E
S
T
E
A
L
Life-Steal is a must have for Thanatos. He needs some way to gain his health back in the middle of a duel, or just using his abilities. He has to have life-steal to actually fight someone.


P
O
W
E
R
Uhh. Hello. He needs to do more damage with everything, and Physical Power will do that for him. His abilities scale with it, and so does his basic-attack damage.

GOOD TO HAVE

A
T
T
A
C
K
S
P
E
E
D
While it isn't mandatory, it's nice to have some attack speed. Especially in Frostbound Hammer.

Matchups- The Counters to Death Itself

Bakasura
Loki
He Bo
Osiris

Teamfights- Positioning Is Key

What to do:
For Thanatos, positioning is incredibly key. Being caught out within a teamfight is a damage decrease to your team, as well as another person. The way I play Thanatos in a teamgfight is to be very disruptive. Disruption is key, if you can focus down an ADC, it will be a huge detriment to the enemy team. Additionally, don't only use your ultimate as an execute. It does have a stun, it can be used as an initiate, for just another form of CC. Moreover, take fights in the early game, always be risky when playing Thanatos in the early game, you are okay to do this because your damage makes up for it. Feel free to invade, Thanatos' damage is incredible in the early game.

As the game grows longer, transition yourself into a peeler for your squishies. Thanatos' damage falls off late game, but other characters (like Serqet) have insane late game potential. Do not fret, Thanatos' damage is still present late game, an unaware mage that you hit with your Death Scythe will feel the pain.

Touching back on positioning, you need to place yourself perfectly when playing Thanatos. Ensure that you do not miss your Death Scythe, as it is a crucial part of our damage. Try and hit multiple with Soul Reap, it applies a silence which is needed for Thanatos to survive. Moreover, with the 40% CDR (that you should have), most of your abilities are on a 7 second or less cooldown. Returning to the topic of positioning, the Mail of Renewal passive only applies if you are within a certain distance of a kill, so, try and assist your team as much as you can. The reset potential on Thanatos with Mail of Renewal and his passive, Harvester of Souls is insane. The 5 second cooldown reset, coupled with the 20% HP and MP returned with Mail of Renewal, as well as the 40% CDR that you have gives Thanatos the craziest turn around potential.

Simple Jungling- An Assist In Your Conquest For Death

Do's:
The early game is entirely influenced by a Thanatos player, you need to have the lane pressure in all lanes. Additionally, this phase is key for a Thanatos player, the early game is incredibly important for you. You must either snowball yourself hard enough that you can still damage late game, or snowball other lanes just as hard. Moreover, do not be afraid to use Thanatos in a risky way, he's built to be used for risks, the returned HP on his Death Scythe and Harvester of Souls allows for these risky plays. To be a good Thanatos, means that you have to be willing to take a risk. Snowballing Thanatos in the early-to-midgame phases are key to your late game damage. As most of you know, his scaling isn't that good.

Dont's:
While I said to take risks, don't play stupidly. Make smart risks, as well as choices. A Thanatos who is below the enemy jungler is not good. You need to communicate with your team on who to attack, and what to do.

General Tips:
Be considerate of your team, give the mid laner red buff, split camps with the mid laner. Always be sure to assist your team when they ask for it, even if you know the gank potential is minimal (always bet on that 1%). Also, place your skillshots well, and perfectly. Landing a Death Scythe on a squishy Mage or ADC may change the fight. As well as a Soul Reap, that silence could turn it around for you as well. Most of all, don't get mad over anything. It's only a game. :P

TL;DR

TL;DR
You didn't read my guide that I worked so hard on? I'm so sad... But it's cool, that's why this section is here.

To sum up this guide, Thanatos is an incredibly squishy, but damaging god. His damage and utility are dependent on individual player skill, as well as positioning. You must learn to take a few risks while playing him, but don't make stupid risks. This is where 'Game Sense' comes into play, learn when to make the correct call and/or play, this will lead you to become an amazing Thanatos player. His itemization is focusing on damage in the early game, which then transitions into a semi-peel and sustaining assassin in the late game. With items like Soul Eater, Mail of Renewal, and Frostbound Hammer. Moreover, you need to pick smart fights with a few specific Gods, namely He Bo, Osiris, and Bakasura, you can find assistance with these gods in the "Matchups- The Counters to Death Itself" section.
That concludes the TL;DR section, but you should take the time to thoroughly read through this guide. I go very in-depth on most things, but I understand..

SPECIAL THANKS!

THANK YOU!


I want to thank many people for the templates, without their help this guide wouldn't be as good as it was right now. Coding is awesome, I just can't do it to save my life.


DrPaco/TormentedTurnip

 for the guide on BBCoding!

SubShallot/Subzero008

 for the introduction template!

DrPaco/TormentedTurnip

 for the Matchups template!

THANK YOU!

EDIT: I recently went through several In-Game-Name changes, if you want more revelation onto how to play Thanatos, just whisper 'EtherXIV'
and I'll try to respond! That's it for me guys! And remember! "Death Awaits..."

Final Announcement

+REP ME PLEASE!

Change Log

September 8; Monday, 2014
Added Section: Simple Jungling- A Guide In Your Conquest of Death
Added Section: Simple Jungling- A Guide To Your Conquest of Purging
Added Sub Section: Osiris
September 24; Thursday, 2015
Changed:Items- The Thought Process, and Explanation. To fit this META better
September 29; Tuesday, 2015
Removed Section: Simple Jungling- A Guide In Your Conquest of Death
Removed Section: Simple Jungling- A Guide To Your Conquest of Purging
Added Section: TL;DR
Added Section: Simple Jungling- An Assist In Your Conquest for Death
Added Section: Final Announcement
Edited Section: SPECIAL THANKS!

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1
XxR4PT8RxX | December 27, 2015 7:18am
Nice guide, i really like it. Works very well, thanks for that Quadrakill. MAybe you could look at my guide and give me a idea, how my guide works for a Thanatos player with so mch ep you have.
Thank you for this guide. ;)
1
SolarEnvy (1) | October 19, 2015 11:41am
VIPxSuperb wrote:

As Thanatos I build:
Warrior Tabi
Jotunn's Wrath
Mail of Renewal
Soul Eater
Rage
Deathbringer

In that order.

Thoughts?


I think you're not taking the enemy team into account. In SMITE, having a static build that you don't change is not a good way to build. You always have to be changing things in and out to counter certain gods, and items. Also, Rage and Deathbringer isn't that good on Thanatos. You're way too squishy too get in and land in a few auto attacks that let you do your crits. Especially with the nerf too Mail of Renewal and the upcoming nerf to that item. Other than that, your build is fine.
1
VIPxSuperb | October 13, 2015 3:08am
As Thanatos I build:
Warrior Tabi
Jotunn's Wrath
Mail of Renewal
Soul Eater
Rage
Deathbringer

In that order.

Thoughts?
1
SolarEnvy (1) | September 25, 2015 6:48pm
iReauxbot wrote:

Is Thanatos a viable character? I love everything about this character. His design especially. Im very mad they made one of the best skins in the game unavailable.
But yea. I never see many people play him..


To answer your question; yes, Thanatos is a viable character. One of his most deadly downsides, is that almost all of his damage is purely dependent on your ability to land skillshots. The reason he is viable, is because of the current META's itemizations. Mail of Renewal, Frostbound Hammer, Soul Eater, all VERY potent items on Thanatos. The utility, the health, the protections, and the damage, and the sustain is insane on only these three items. It's actually stupid.
1
GameGeekFan (50) | September 9, 2015 6:45pm
He is very viable, if you can hit his abilities. But he falls of late game HARD, so you have to build kindve tankish.
1
iReauxbot (11) | September 9, 2015 6:41pm
Is Thanatos a viable character? I love everything about this character. His design especially. Im very mad they made one of the best skins in the game unavailable.
But yea. I never see many people play him..
1
CheekyPJ | March 3, 2015 7:47pm
I like it a lot, I'm trying it out now for a while and it's working even for such a noob as me.. xD The only thing I'd yet want to see is some gameplay videos from you ^^
1
markoCAR (1) | October 27, 2014 1:24am
Very nice guide but missing gameplay and jungling guide with situations and do's and don't's but still pretty good i'm now a great jungler and thank you for that, just sayin you need to put how to jungle and such. But a great build and skill set for Thanatos and i really like it so im gonna give a +1!
1
Sharimsejn | October 3, 2014 12:37pm
This guise is....awesome! Today I win 2 matches solo. 12:2 and 14:2. 10 min and enemies team surr ;p
1
SolarEnvy (1) | September 7, 2014 10:44pm
Hey Guys! Sorry for the long space of not updating, but I tried this time! I hope that it's an actual guide now. Feel free to drop some constructive criticism!
0
Kadius (3) | August 11, 2014 6:53pm
So I just got Thanatos and he's REALLY AWESOME and I might even replace him as my main (I main Loki) but I have noticed that my 3 and Auto Attacks do no damage (I was playing arena to test the item guide). My one can quarter health a mage etc. mid game and late game does the same execute damage as my Ult :/ I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but could you PLEASE help me in my quest to become a pro Thanatos player. The reason I like him is because he has more CC, Loki has two escapes, they are better but Thanatos makes up for it with range and CC. So please help me and tell what I'm doing wrong because with your build fully done I do 0 damage late game but whenever I play against another Thanatos late game he kills me really easy. I'm not attacking tanks I am talking about mages like Ra etc. Help would be much appreciated thanks :)
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League of Legends Build Guide Author SolarEnvy
Death Awaits - Thanatos Jungling/General Guide [Updated 9/29/15]
Up Vote Down Vote
Table of Contents
Introduction to Thanatos, Hand of Death
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Skills- The Breakdown, Usage.
Skills 2- The Combos
Items- The Thought Process, and Explanation
Matchups- The Counters to Death Itself
Teamfights- Positioning Is Key
Simple Jungling- An Assist In Your Conquest For Death
TL;DR
SPECIAL THANKS!
Final Announcement
Change Log

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