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Thanatos Year 11 Core Assassin Build

2 0 7,516
by AstroSurfer updated February 29, 2024

Smite God: Thanatos

Build Guide Discussion 4 More Guides
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Build Summary

Early Game Build

Build Item Eye Of The Jungle Eye Of The Jungle
Build Item Katana Katana
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
2
Build Item Multi Potion Multi Potion
2
Build Item Blink Rune Blink Rune
Build Item Golden Shard Golden Shard

Final Game Build

Build Item Protector Of The Jungle Protector Of The Jungle
Build Item Golden Blade Golden Blade
Build Item Hydra's Lament Hydra's Lament
Build Item Devoted Deathbringer Devoted Deathbringer
Build Item Serrated Edge Serrated Edge
Build Item Brawler's Beat Stick Brawler's Beat Stick
Build Item Greater Purification Beads Greater Purification Beads
Build Item Scorching Blink Rune Scorching Blink Rune

Thanatos's Skill Order

Death Scythe

1 X Y
Death Scythe
1 4 6 7 9

Scent of Death

2 A B
Scent of Death
3 8 11 12 14

Soul Reap

3 B A
Soul Reap
2 15 16 18 19

Hovering Death

4 Y X
Hovering Death
5 10 13 17 20
Death Scythe
1 4 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
3 8 11 12 14

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 15 16 18 19

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

Thanatos Threats

Tap each threat level to view Thanatos’s threats

Max
3
Major
0
Even
0
Minor
0
Tiny
0

Extended Build

Explication For Items

Let's break down each item and discuss why you might consider buying them for Thanatos:

1. Hydra's Lament: This item provides physical power, cooldown reduction, and a unique passive that enhances Thanatos' burst potential. Hydra's Lament's passive increases the damage of Thanatos' next basic attack after using an ability, synergizing well with his ability-based playstyle. The cooldown reduction also allows Thanatos to use his abilities more frequently, increasing his overall damage output and mobility.

2. Protector of the Jungle: This item provides physical protections, health, and additional sustain in the jungle. As Thanatos often operates in the jungle role, Protector of the Jungle can help him stay healthy during jungle clears and skirmishes, allowing him to sustain more effectively and stay relevant throughout the game.

3. Golden Blade: Golden Blade enhances Thanatos' jungle clear speed and split pushing potential. Its passive effect allows basic attacks to deal additional damage to multiple enemies in a cone, making it easier for Thanatos to clear jungle camps quickly and rotate between lanes efficiently. This item is particularly useful for Thanatos in the early to mid-game stages.

4. Devoted Deathbringer: This item provides physical power and critical strike chance, enhancing Thanatos' burst damage potential. The critical strike chance synergizes well with his high base damage abilities, allowing him to deal significant damage with both basic attacks and abilities. Devoted Deathbringer is a solid choice for increasing Thanatos' damage output, especially in late-game team fights.

5. Brawler's Beat Stick: Brawler's Beat Stick provides physical power, penetration, and anti-healing. This item is particularly effective against enemy healers or gods with high sustain, allowing Thanatos to reduce their healing and secure kills more effectively. Brawler's Beat Stick is a strong counter to lifesteal-heavy compositions or gods with self-sustain abilities.

6. Greater Purification Beads: Purification Beads provide Thanatos with crowd control immunity, allowing him to cleanse himself of any crowd control effects and escape from dangerous situations. This item is essential for Thanatos to maintain his mobility and survivability in team fights, especially when facing gods with high crowd control abilities or lockdown potential.

7. Scorching Blink Rune: Scorching Blink Rune provides Thanatos with additional mobility and engage potential. The blink ability allows Thanatos to quickly reposition himself or initiate fights from unexpected angles, catching enemies off guard and securing kills more effectively. Scorching Blink Rune is particularly useful for Thanatos players who want to play aggressively and make decisive plays in team fights.

Overall, each of these items offers unique benefits and synergies that can enhance Thanatos' effectiveness in different aspects of the game. Depending on the specific match dynamics and team compositions, you may consider purchasing these items to maximize Thanatos' damage output, sustain, mobility, and survivability, allowing him to excel in various situations and contribute effectively to team success.

Explication for Skills

When considering the order of upgrading the abilities in the order you provided (1. Death Scythe, 2. Scent of Death, 3. Hovering Death, 4. Soul Reap), it's essential to understand the role and utility of each ability within the context of the game. Let's break down the reasoning behind this upgrade sequence:

1. Death Scythe (1st Ability): Death Scythe is Thanatos' primary damaging ability and is crucial for securing kills, especially in the early game. Upgrading Death Scythe first increases its damage, allowing Thanatos to clear waves faster, poke enemies more effectively, and secure kills more reliably.

2. Scent of Death (2nd Ability): Scent of Death provides Thanatos with a speed boost and increased penetration, making it easier for him to chase down enemies and deal more damage. While this ability doesn't directly contribute to damage output like Death Scythe, upgrading it second enhances Thanatos' overall mobility and damage potential, especially when engaging in fights or ganks.

3. Hovering Death (3rd Ability): Hovering Death is Thanatos' ultimate ability, allowing him to execute low-health enemies and providing him with increased movement speed and flight. While Hovering Death is incredibly powerful for securing kills and executing fleeing enemies, it's generally upgraded third due to its high cooldown and situational nature. Upgrading it earlier may not provide as much immediate benefit as upgrading Death Scythe and Scent of Death.

4. Soul Reap (4th Ability): Soul Reap is Thanatos' passive ability, providing him with sustain and enhancing his ability to stay in fights. While Soul Reap is essential for Thanatos' sustain throughout the game, it doesn't require direct upgrading as it scales with Thanatos' level and executions. Therefore, it's not prioritized for upgrades compared to his other abilities.


In summary, upgrading Death Scythe first maximizes Ravana's early-game damage and sustain potential, followed by Scent of Death to enhance utility and damage. Hovering Death is then upgraded to improve mobility and engage potential, with Soul Reap upgraded last to further enhance survivability in later stages of the game. This upgrade sequence ensures that Ravana is equipped with the necessary tools to dominate lanes, secure kills, and contribute effectively to team fights throughout the game.

Pros / Cons Items Purchase

let's break down the pros and cons of purchasing each of the listed items for Thanatos:

1. Hydra's Lament:
Pros:
Provides physical power and cooldown reduction, enhancing Thanatos' burst potential and ability spam.
Unique passive synergizes well with Thanatos' ability-based playstyle, increasing his burst damage output.
Cons:
Relatively expensive item, may delay other core items if prioritized early.
Lacks defensive stats, making Thanatos more susceptible to burst damage from enemies.

2. Protector of the Jungle:
Pros:
Provides physical protections and health, increasing Thanatos' survivability in the jungle and team fights.
Additional sustain in the jungle helps Thanatos clear camps more efficiently and stay healthier during rotations.
Cons:
Offers limited offensive stats compared to other items, potentially reducing Thanatos' damage output.
Passive effect may not be as impactful outside of the jungle environment.

3. Golden Blade:
Pros:
Enhances jungle clear speed and split pushing potential, allowing Thanatos to farm more efficiently and pressure lanes.
Provides additional wave clear and poke potential in lane, making it easier for Thanatos to control minion waves and apply pressure.
Cons:
Provides limited combat stats compared to other items, potentially reducing Thanatos' effectiveness in team fights.
Passive effect may not be as impactful in late-game team fights compared to other items.

4. Devoted Deathbringer:
Pros:
Provides physical power and critical strike chance, enhancing Thanatos' burst damage potential with both abilities and basic attacks.
Critical strikes can significantly increase Thanatos' damage output, especially against squishy targets.
Cons:
Relies on RNG (random number generation) for critical strikes, making damage output less consistent compared to other items.
Expensive item, may delay core items if prioritized early in the build.

5. Brawler's Beat Stick:
Pros:
Provides physical power, penetration, and anti-healing, allowing Thanatos to counter enemy healers or gods with high sustain.
Anti-healing effect can shut down enemy healing and sustain, making it easier for Thanatos to secure kills in fights.
Cons:
Offers limited defensive stats, potentially making Thanatos more vulnerable to burst damage from enemies.
Anti-healing effect may be less impactful against compositions with minimal healing or sustain.

6. Greater Purification Beads:
Pros:
Provides crowd control immunity, allowing Thanatos to cleanse himself of any crowd control effects and maintain mobility and survivability in fights.
Essential for escaping dangerous situations, initiating fights, or securing kills without being locked down by enemy crowd control.
Cons:
Provides no offensive or defensive stats, potentially reducing Thanatos' damage output or survivability compared to other items.
Relies on proper timing and usage to maximize effectiveness, may not always prevent Thanatos from being caught out or killed.

7. Scorching Blink Rune:
Pros:
Provides additional mobility and engage potential, allowing Thanatos to reposition himself or initiate fights from unexpected angles.
Blink ability can catch enemies off guard and secure kills more effectively, especially when combined with Thanatos' burst damage.
Cons:
Provides no offensive or defensive stats, potentially reducing Thanatos' overall effectiveness in fights compared to other items.
Relatively long cooldown on the blink ability, may limit Thanatos' mobility and engage opportunities if mistimed or wasted.

These pros and cons should be considered when deciding which items to purchase for Thanatos, taking into account the specific match dynamics, team compositions, and playstyle preferences.

Leave a Comment

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2
Branmuffin17 (400) | February 29, 2024 10:14am
Hello Astro,

Some quick comments:
  • Do you feel you have issues clearing in the Jungle? I see you have both Golden Blade and Golden Shard. Clearing shouldn't be a major issue for Thana. Note that his basic attack chain is 1/.75/1.5x dmg & swing time; 3rd deals AOE dmg. You should be utilizing that 3rd attack often to help with camp clear.

  • This then leads to replacement of Golden Blade, which is not a good choice for him. Instead, you should probably consider more CDR, specifically Jotunn's Wrath. This is an ability-based god with attack canceling function...CDR is key to his effectiveness. Only having 10% from Hydra's isn't good.

  • Hydra's is fine and good, and works perfectly with his kit. In your writeup you say it synergizes well with his ability-based playstyle (which again makes me wonder why you only have 10% CDR in your build). I would say, based on the the bonus damage, it synergizes well with his attack-canceling style, because that's where Hydra's shines.

  • Devoted Deathbringer isn't the weirdest item for him, but I also probably wouldn't suggest it. Note the crit strike chance increase only increases the crit chance from 30% to 36%. That bonus mathematically is just better if you have higher crit chance via multiple crit items. It's also really expensive investing into that item in full.

    Instead, if you really want crit, you might consider Rage instead. While it needs stacking, the base cost is lower, the base crit chance is higher, and at full stacks it gives you 45%. Otherwise, you might forego crit and consider other items.

  • Serrated Edge is fine. Main % pen other than Hydra's and as you'll be using all of your abilities in most fights, the increased power and lifesteal are functional.

  • Brawler's Beat Stick should be situational, though probably functional most times. While it's fine to put this in as a standard item, you should also offer alternative items in case anti-heal isn't really needed, or if you want to replace crit or other items. Functional alternatives you might consider listing include Arondight, The Crusher, Heartseeker, and Bloodforge.

  • I disagree with your skill leveling. Level 1, you should be getting Soul Reap for the AOE, which will greatly help your clear at level 1. Maybe this is a bit of why you feel you need the Golden items??

    And while yes, Death Scythe is usually the first skill you max, it feels like you undervalue Soul Reap again. Typically this is maxed 2nd, with Scent of Death bringing up the rear. I can understand liking the added pen and move speed, but Reap actually causes damage and you probably should level that earlier.

  • Your skill explanations (explication?) are messed up. You say Soul Reap is his passive ability, and don't talk about his actual passive ability Harvester of Souls.
1
puppeht (1) | March 24, 2024 12:28pm
I agree with pretty much everything but I think Scent of Death is viable to max second if you can maximize the use of it with auto cancels and such.
2
Naruto Fan | February 29, 2024 4:28am
Damn that's a lot of explanation, I wouldn't have the patience, I will try this build and I will tell the results
2
AstroSurfer (1) | February 29, 2024 4:37am
Took me a while not gonna lie, hope it helps
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