All there is to know about Thor

Thor is a champion that if played poorly can seem almost useless, but if played properly will clean up those low HP escapers, be able duel 1v1, escape from an incoming gank, initiate a team fight and blow up the enemy teams carry. Doing all of this in a duo lane or midlane.

There is a strong learning curve with Thor as with any melee fighter, pick the wrong time to go in and you will be splattered, wait to long and your team will be raging at you telling you to uninstall. In this guide I will be continuely adding more information on how to break through this curve and have the enemies sitting at the tower being fearful of your ganks.

Part of this is learning when to pick Thor, what to build on him and what to do when falling behind/snowballing a head. The guide will be coming together of the next few days so stay tuned and leave comments!

PROS!
Versitile champion
above average escapes
strong initiation
Good chaser
strong utility
huge damage
Can jump over front line

Cons :(

Needs good judgement on when to go in
Can be squishy if itemized wrong
If team has bad map awareness you can jump into some bad scenarios.


As can be seen by the pros and cons, Thor is very versitle and can fill many roles in a team and a lot of the cons can be surpassed by experience and judgement.

Itemization is a key part of any MOBA especially when building a melee fighter. If you are too squishy you either die straight away or sit on the edge of a fight. If you are too tanky you can be ignored. Finding the right balance and itemizing based on your lane and the enemy team comp will allow to focus your defensive items for the individual game, giving you more room to add in that much wanted damage.

Below I will address items I will use on Thor depending on the team and explain when I would use them.

Warrior Tabi These are the standard boots I use on Thor and 99% of the time I will start with them. They offer increased damage, attack speed and that early game chance to crit. The second rank is enough if you need to rush an item to survive/snowball (more defence or sustain) your lane but the extra stats are handy if you dont. Make sure you add an auto attack in whenever it is safe!

Reinforced BootsReinforced Boots I used these boots a lot when learning Thor, the extra tankiness was good when I was learning to judge when I should go in and out of a fight and who I could 1v1. They would also be useful if you are going the tanky/initiator route. If you are having problems with surviving try these instead.

Voidblade A very useful item. Extra damage, physical pen and physical protection. If you are in a lane with another heavy auto attacker this passive is excellent. If you are against a physical lane or they are poking with auto attacks then this item is excellent. Gauge whether the enemy team will have a lot of physical damage endgame, a cupid/artemis/anhur/xblan then I would pick this up. If you are against a mage lane, be wary this will make you more squishy and you wil need to be careful when they get their ults.

Soul Eater I love this item, great aura for your teams AA, plus health, lifesteal and attack speed. This means, extra damage, more chance for crits for more AA, extra survivability and extra sustain from lifesteal. I almost always build this item, especially with Stats being removed. If you need sustain in lane and a bit more HP get this first, if not I will usually pick it up second.

Qins BladesQins Blades You know that attack speed we have been building, it works wonders with this passive. Not to mention extra HP, more attack speed and bonus physical power. This item is great on Thor, JUST REMEMBER TO AUTO ATTACK. This is very useful against a tankier team that has focused physical protection as your auto attacks have the chance to deal a large chunk of their health as magical damage. Keep in mind getting this against a team with alot of magic protection would be a less intellegent idea. The only reason I wouldnt build this is if your focussing on killing their carry. If that was the case I would build a Witch Stone as the 10% hp is less of a deal on someone with less HP and this will reduce their damage while you kill them while buffing your defences.

Deathbringer DAMAGE DAMAGE DAMAGE, this will take your autos and make them beastly, it will make your spin knock there socks off and make you all that more deadly at dueling and killing the carry. I build this item later as you need some defensive stats first, but this is a must if you want to increase your damage substantially.

Witch StoneWitch Stone This item is very situational, if the enemy doesn't have an auto attacker that is well farmed/fed/good then I would not get it. If however your job is to blow them up (will be against higher skilled teams/players) then this is very helpful. If your diving into their carry the extra protection and the passive will help your team greatly. Depending on the tankiness of their team I might substitute this for Qins Blades but it will depend on the match.

Sovereignty Tankiness. Extra health, extra physical protection and a very useful aura. I would consider another item if your team already has this aura. But if they don't it could help with that victory against a team with strong physical damage. It will also allow you to ult in and toe to toe their carry in a fight.

Hide of Leviathan That magic protection. Might use in place of Sovereignty if needing some magic protection or if the team has a sovereignty already. The stats are not overly powerful compared to some possible alternatives but this has a good mix.

Titan's Bane Physical power and Physical Penetration and alot of it. If the enemy team is getting to much physical protection this is a great item end game. However, if your damage is fine and they are not stacking physical protection this is replaceable. Look at the other teams items and judge accordingly.

Frostbound Hammer I have dropped this out of my standard build now that I have improved my ability to auto attack with a melee champ and stick to my target, although it is useful if you are still trying to master this or do not have Creeping Curse. The stats are useful but if you do not need the passive then there are better things you could be getting.

Creeping Curse Great active for a melee champion. Allows you to stick on a target, line up your utility, stop them kiting and spin all over them. Very useful for champions trying to escape, really stong when combined with ulting on their carry and popping this. I will buy this 99% of the time. More viable than movement increasing abilities on a character who can get in the middle of a team.

Aegis Amulet Wonderful active, if you get in a bad spot/ caught in an ult/ a number of other circumstances, this can save your life. Thor can already become CC immune with his ult however but against cc heavy teams/teams with strong ults that you are stuck in (Ymir, Zeus, Hades) this can be a life saver. I would keep my Mjolnir's Attunement off cooldown for these heroes however if there are 2 of more on the team this will help.

Purification Beads A CC break and some CC reduction. Useful item, especially if you are going to get snared and killed or snared and kited. Situational, judge based on opposing team.

Heavenly Agility Good movement buff for your team. I do not usually pick this up though because I am either in the fight from my ult or using my mjolnir attuenment/ult to escape. If you like it use it but I prefer others.

Thors skill kit is very versitle, you have a delayed teleport, a stun/block off, an AOE and a large ranged leap coupled with another stun. This gives you a lot to work with but putting it all together is what seperates the good from the bad. Here is a summary of the abilities but indepth uses will be attached in the laning and team fight sections.

Warrior's Madness Key Bind: Passive

Thor gains 20 physical power for each enemy god within 30 feet. Stacks up to 3 times.

This is an alright passive, extra damage is always good. Nothing much to say with this.

Mjolnir's Attunement Key Bind: 1

Thor throws Mjolnir forward, doing 50 / 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 (+30% of your physical power) physical damage to all enemies in its path outward and half that damage on its way back. Enemy gods hit by the throw take double damage if hit on the return as well.
At any time during the hammers path, pressing 1 again will teleport Thor to his hammer.

Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana.

Cooldown: 14s.

This is a fantastic ability, it gives Thor some poke, an escape and a gap closer all in one. Very useful for getting into a good position or out of a bad one (hades/ymir ult). If you are ganking or have a lane partner with strong damage you can teleport in front and block them off and stun with Tectonic Rift.

Tectonic RiftKey Bind: 2

Thor slams his hammer on the ground, causing a fissure to appear in front of him stunning enemies for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2s and blocking movement for 4s.

Cost: 75 mana.

Cooldown: 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 / 13s.

This is a very underrated ability, with it you gain a short stun and a wall. 1 point in this early on will do the trick and can catch an opponent off guard. If their minion wave is going to die early on and you still have archers up, wall them off or stun them. Minion damage is OP early on and this can force a health pot or set up a kill. Later on this can be used to help you escape or block off someone for a kill.

Berserker Barrage Key Bind: 3

Thor spins his hammer around him, doing 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+25% of your physical power) physical damage every .4s for 2s. Thor is immune to knockup and slows for the duration.

Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana.

Cooldown: 13s.

This skill was recently buffed and is now very good damage early on. If you are falling out of auto attack range or against 2 targets this move is great damage. End game I would only use it in these circumstances as your Auto attacks are stronger. But early its HUGE!

Anvil of Dawn Key Bind: 4

After a short buildup, Thor leaps into the air. While in the air, Thor can target a great distance away to come crashing down in the area, dealing 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 / 350 (+120% of your physical power) physical damage and stunning all enemies in the radius for 1.5s.

Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana.

Cooldown: 90s.

Brilliant Ultimate. Its usefull for escaping as you become CC immune, for chasing down that guy escaping on low HP, for ganking, for saving a tower getting pushed and for dropping in and taking out the carry in team fights.

Laning Basics

This will cover the basics of laning in general and with Thor.

MINIONS HURT. Do not underestimate them. Getting 1 auto attack off and losing 1/3 of your health from minions is not worth it. In fact, if you have archer minions near by, take an auto attack from the other team and LoL at them. Just be wary not to get engaged on.

Also take note that if you can block an enemy off in your minion wave early its almost a free kill. So if you still have all of your archers when their wave dies, STUN THEM with Tectonic Rift the minions will tear shreds off them and they will need to jump away or pot.

While thinking about minions, never engage early on in the lane UNLESS you have MORE minions then the other team. They will help you win or stomp your face.

Next is know your lanes strengths and your opponents. If your facing a Hel, dont take damage to poke them, she will just heal. Instead if you have sufficient burst and cc then you will have to full engage. But never go into the fight if you aren't sure you can win or have someone ganking. I.E Wait til they use a big cooldown, are low HP or you have your ults but they do not. :).

If you are well coordinated you can ult in to initate an attack in lane. I don't do that against good players as they will move behind minions and blow you up when you land. Instead I will wait til someone is in a bad position or just used a big cooldown and throw my Mjolnir's Attunement Teleport behind on of them and wall them off and stun them with Tectonic Rift if you can wall off a caster into you and his melee partner on the otherside then you have a few seconds of damage advantage. Again. Know Your Enemy and make sure your ally will follow you up.

Middle Lane

Most of the principles from basics apply to Mid lane. Except you have to be smarter. Your team is giving you the solo lane and the extra experience that comes with it so you can help the team in the long run.

Also remember dying in Mid means your lane is free to push. A strong pusher like Ra will punish you for leaving the lane at a bad time or dying. If you push the lane and you make the enemy mid back/they are a slow clearer feel free to gank a lane with your ult. But you have to get back in time to defend your lane again.

After letting you know the expectations of mid, I will now highlight that Thor is great in middle lane against a squishy or against someone with no escape. He can jump on them and kill them in seconds OR max his Mjolnir's Attunement and just farm waves easily. The call is yours based on lane but you can blow up a squishy with your combo from level 5 very easily. Just keep in mind the minions!.

Ganking

There is not much too this. If you are in a position to jump in a help a lane, do it. But let them know you are coming. Use the in game voice overs or just type in chat. Then jump up and slam down if you can wall someone off it gives your allies time and you should have a very easy time 2v3ing or 2v1ing.

Just to reemphasize it is not your teammates fault if you ult in and die without there help if you gave them no warning.

Jungle

The Jungle changes that are coming in the newest patch look promising, reducing camp respawns. At the moment if you have the time to get a buff, do it. They are good exp and gold, along with the utility of the buff. It is more beneficial grabbing a buff or two when you have pushed your lane to the tower then staying pushed and getting ganked. If you really want buff control you can pick up Hand of the Gods but it is your call if you want to sacrafice another active.

Thor has many uses in a team fight, most depend on how you have build him. The most effective strat I have found is ulting into their carry or highest/squishiest damage deal once a fight begins and taking him out of the fight. Thor is also very strong in a jungle as cutting someone without an escape with your Tectonic Rift can be a free kill and an advantage for your team!

Full Damage Thor

Full damage Thor can be really squishy. The goals for him is to wait until all major cooldowns and CCs are blown (Ymir, Hades, Ares etc) and then go in and clean house. I do not like this play style as while you are waiting on these CCs your team could be half dead.

The other alternative is when their frontline moves in you jump behind onto their carry and try and blow him up. If you can pull this off effectively you will be a great asset but since you are so squishy the carry could kill you if not pulled off precisely.

Tanky Damage Thor

This is my favorite build, you can 1v1, you won't get insta killed if you get caught out, you can get in amongst the fight and contribute effectively (as long as you dodge important spells and play wisely) and you can ult and destroy a squishy carry while your team does the rest.

At the start of the fight you can poke with your Mjolnir's Attunement as long as you are wise with your mana, running dry in a team fight will be your death. Once it begins you have 2 choices, engaging front on with your team OR if you are 100% sure they are engaging, ulting on their carry and blowing him up/making him run from the fight. Once you are in the fight DO NOT USE Mjolnir's Attunement for damage unless it is to kill an important opponent. Instead use Tectonic Rift if you are going for someone without an escape or Creeping Curse if you are going for someone with one, then chase down beat them up and spin to win. The reason I say save your teleport is if Hades, Ymir or another powerful character ults and you need to get out of it. OR if the carry you are chasing uses a dash you can stay on them. Just be smart!

Also keep in mind as the game goes on NOT DYING becomes the key. if you can get out of a losing fight (obviously stay if you can turn it around) and set up some defence for your allies then it will be more beneficial than dying and losing the game cause you got ACED.

Tank Initiator Thor

I do not like this build because it has low damage and unless you have a good team ready to follow up you just get ignored. (plus someone like Hades is probably better at it). But basically when your ready to fight/your team has found someone at a buff or caught out. Then you ULT in, stun and block off their team and do what you can. Goodluck!

Further Strategy

I will add further updates to team strategy here but good compositions will be listed below.

Coming soon :(

coming soon!

coming soon!

Overall Thor is a very powerful and verstile god. He has many strengths including the ability to take the enemy carry out of the fight or the ability to split push. Due to time allowence, I have not finished the initial steps of this guide yet but these will be completed soon. Once that is finished I will constantly be updating it with Beta changes and the input of other Thor players in the comments.