Thanatos Jungle | Season 2 *READ DESC*

This God is for an early game win. If you make into late game without a huge lead you aren't going to as viable in team fights so push any early game lead you may have. The items in this guide to allow you to survive late game but you won't do as much damage as most assassins would. Trust me, I play Thanatos in Diamond matches and this is the only build that I have found that will allow you to survive late game. Good for you if you win early which is your goal as this god.

Death's Toll: Thanatos doesn't need Bumba's Mask because not only does he not need to mana regen, but he also doesn't need the healing from killing jungle camps. Thanatos's passive allows him to sustain himself in the jungle better than every jungler besides maybe Arachne. Building this item instead of Bumba's Mask will also give Thanatos more damage early game because of the attack damage that Death's Toll provides.

Second Level of Frostbound Hammer: Death's Toll and Frostbound Hammer is can be exchanged depending on whether the player wants to invade or do their regular start. This item will not only give you health and attack damage but it will also slow any enemy that you hit with a basic attack. This slow combined with the slow and damage from your 1 will usually insure first blood unless they know your coming.

Warrior Tabi: The reason I use this items is that you don't need attack speed. His scaling may not be the best with power items but these boots will give you extra early game damage with your 1 and your basic attacks which is where most of your damage is going to come from.

J. Wrath: This item not only gives you power but it also give you CDR and early game pen. YES I KNOW HIS TWO GIVES HIM FULL PEN BUT THIS IS LATE GAME. J. Wrath is an amazing item on almost every jungler and this is the same for Thanatos.

Shield of Regrowth: Many people are going to be like whattttttttt with this item. If you look at the passive of this items, you'll notice that it gives you a movement speed buff when you use a skill that heals you. This is very weird item because it doesn't seem to work with some gods like Arachne but it does work with Thanatos. This item allows also gives you protections that are amazing for staying alive. The main reason I use this items is for the movement speed though. It allows for catching up to enemies and sticking to them and also for escapes. I will go over the skills later but I will say this, Thanatos's 1 also slows your target.

Magi's Cloak: This item is self explanatory. Most people incorporate this item to assassin builds because of the stun immunity. This is the same for Thanatos. In order to stay alive he needs to stay un-stunned. The item also gives protections which is always good too.

Winged Blade: As stated above, I will go over skills later on in the guide but Thanatos's 2 may grant him slow immunity but it doesn't grant him cripple immunity. In the case that you are fighting a Posideon, your 2 won't counter his whirlpool. This is where the winged blade comes in. Posideon has been played a ton in season two and I don't see him falling off the most played gods list. Other reasons for this items is it's increases to health, attack speed, ETC. It's a good item on Thanatos even if he isn't facing a Posideon.

Soul Eater: OMG! WTF! HE USES THAT ITEM! I'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT. LOL SCRUB! Is what I get almost every game. This item... is amazing. That last attack speed, life steal, and health item on Thanatos is amazing. If you didn't know, Thanatos's third basic attack hits multiple targets around him. If your fighting in team fights you want to be able to sustain yourself as long as possible. Instead of hitting one target you'll hit multiple targets and get a lot more health back. Couple this with your 1 and your going to be very hard to kill. You may substitute this item for whatever you'd like but this is my favorite item to build last.

NOTE: Thanato's skills use mana AND Health so be careful when is sticky situations. Also, if a enemy god is under a certain threshold of health you will hear a sound that is suppose to sound like a heart beat. You will also be able to see the enemy god on the map even if no one has line of sight on the target.

Passive: Whenever Thanatos gets a killing blow a portion of his health is returned.

First Skill: Thanatos's 1 is where his early game damage come from. It hits like a truck and also heals you. This skill also slows the enemy which is amazing for peel and also sticking to your target. Use this to gain health when needed on jungle camps and on minions when your leeching off of lanes and also when it's off cooldown in fights. (Remember, this is your most damaging skill.)

Second Skill: Thanatos's 2 grants him movement speed and also gives him penetration to do more damage to tankier targets. Use this to stick to targets and also to bypass their armor. This should always be used when starting a fight.

Third Skill: Thanatos's 3 is a cone attack that also silences targets. Should always be used when fighting so that the enemy will not only be able to use damaging skills but also so that can't escape. This skill can hit multiple targets so get the most bang for your buck.

Fourth Skill: Thanatos's 4 is usually how you gank. Using this move gives controlled flight to Thanatos and allows him to see for a massive distance. Landing on a target will stun them and do a fairly good amount of damage. This ultimate can also be used as an execute. If a target is under a certain threshold of health and Thanatos lands on them they will instantly die. A mark can be seen on the target that shows a skull and it flashes red. This mark can only be seen by you until you use your 4 which then the enemy that is below that threshold can see it.

Thanatos is definitely in this meta but most people don't know how to play him. They higher you go in ranks, the less you seem him. This is because people don't feel comfortable playing him and so they don't. They stay with comfort picks. Thanatos is a good god to have in your god pool because he counters Thor who is a huge pick is banned over most of the junglers besides Bastet and Serqet. Thanatos counters Thor because most of Thor's damage comes from their 3 AKA their 'spin to win'. If a Thor is using this, Thanatos can use his 3 to stop him. Also, Thor can use his 1, his hammer, to escape. If timed right, Thanatos can stop Thor from escaping by hitting him with the silence while the hammer is flying. This makes it where Thor can't teleport. I would not recommend using Thanatos against a Serqet or Bastet because Thanatos has no real escape from Bastet's cats and he also can't heal because of Serqet's ultimate. Some may say that Thanatos is one of the only assassins that can stand a chance against Serqet because he can silence her out of every one of her skills except for the ultimate but I would still not play him against her just because she is just so broken.

Pros
1) Thanatos has on of the best early game presence and damage in the game if played right.
2) Thanatos doesn't use nearly as much mana which allows him to stay in the jungle and gank more often than other junglers.
3) Thanatos can secure kills on key targets that may get away with his ultimate.
4) Thanatos's silence can be a huge factor in team fights if the god is played right.
5) Doesn't need Bumba's Mask as starting item which allows player to get the second level of Frostbound Hammer for invades or a Death's Toll for regular starts.

Cons
1) Thanatos uses not only mana for skills but also health meaning he may not be able to use skills to escape from getting caught out if he is really low.
2) Thanatos's damage dwindles the longer the game lasts so by late game he does very little COMPARED to his early game.
3) Thanatos is extremely squishy early game is can be easily bursted down if the player isn't always in a good position.

Your jungling path should be the same as normal however ganking may be different from most jungling gods. Thanatos and Thor both have semi-global ults which allows them to gank using a different strategy. Early game, teams usually don't have wards on Gold Fury and Fire Giant. This means Thanatos and Thor both are usually unseen when they ult. Using this to your advantage usually catches the enemy teams in solo and duo lanes off guard and can be devastating to the enemy. This allows your team to be more aggressive in lane.

Invading Situations
1) Warrior Solo
a) [LEAST RISKY] Double hog: (Use Death's Toll build) If both the solo lane and you have hog then you can sometimes sneak in to the enemy blue buff and double hog it. Doing this may use both hogs but it will put the enemy team's solo laner behind especially if they are heavily mana dependent like mages. Stay in lane for three creep waves then you an your solo laner should go to your buffs and clear them. Both hogs should be so this won't be an issue. This will allow you to get your speed buff when you most need it and gives your solo laner more time with the blue buff.
b) Single Hog: If your solo doesn't incorporate hog into their build then you should start with Death's Toll and attempt to kill the enemy while they are starting their speed buff. You can use hog to secure the buff and even if you don't get first blood you still set them behind. After this, don't attempt to steal the blue buff unless you have forced one of the enemy gods to go back or you killed one. Go to lane and kill two creep waves and get your blue buff then go back to lane. Leech one more wave off of your solo lane then go clear your speed buff. Your hog should be up at this time so your solo laner can stay in lane and let you get solo XP from the camp. After this, return to normal jungle pathing.
c) [VERY RISKY] Single hog (On Solo): If your solo laner does incorporate hog into their build and you want to invade then start with the second level of Frostbound Hammer, a ward, and up to 3 health pots. Use the ward to gain vision of the enemy speed buff. Pick a single target to focus and make sure you hit your one and basics on them. This usually insures first blood but if the invade fails the Frostbound Hammer start can put you behind. Don't attempt to take the blue buff unless you either kill or force one or both of the enemy gods. Your solo doesn't have to use hog on speed camp but they can if they'd like to secure it. The hog can be either used to secure speed or blue buff. DON'T do this invade unless you are invading a mage or a loki for lokis don't usually get hog. After you invade go to lane. Clear two waves and then go for your own jungle camps. Start with blue and make sure your solo doesn't use hog on the blue buff. Your solo should help you with both camps for you don't have hog. If I were to do this invade I'd usually back after clear the blue and speed buffs as well as the back harpies. Buy hog on this back. Don't finish Frostbound yet because you don't need the extra slow until the enemies get full boots. I would usually finish sell frost bound after I get J. Wrath but that's just me. After this back go to mid and leech a wave or two and get mid camps. After all of this return to your normal jungle path.

NEVER INVADE CABRAKANS... I've learned this from personal experiences.

Early game Thanatos is just going to be his teams carry unless he gives all of the kills to his teammates. Usually your going to want to get the kills early game. Late game is where your teammwork comes into play. Most people want to use Thanatos's ult to just to kill. Usually this isn't what you want to do unless the target is getting away. Your ultimate can be the deciding factor in a team fight even if you don't kill someone with it. You can land on the enemies backline, stunning them and allowing your team to get to them easier. After they are stunned your going to want to utilize your silence and by this I mean silence as many people as you possibly can. After this just try to stay alive while doing as much damage as possible.

In team fights sometimes ulting for the kill is a good thing. Situations where your team is trying or is in the process of killing a map objective that can be killed using hog three, Thanatos can ult and have his team do damage do to the tank. The tank is the priority target in this situations. Because the tank usually has massive amounts of health, the threshold in which Thanatos can execute them is higher. The higher the enemies total health, the higher the threshold.

Lastly his ult can be used to bait the enemies team. Allow them to chase you and when you get into a sticky situation ult out. They will usually follow you and your team can then collapse on them after a few of the enemies kits are down. This can be dangerous but it can also be extremely helpful for your team.