Smitefire logo

Join the leading SMITE community.
Create and share God Guides and Builds.

Create an MFN Account






Or

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

x
This build has been archived and is for historical display only

This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results. We recommend you check out our other Janus Builds

x

Vote received! Would you like to let the author know their guide helped you and leave them a message?

Banner for Janus guides

Janice.

13 2 36,723
by DucksRock updated August 6, 2015

Smite God: Janus

Build Guide Discussion 16 More Guides
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Janus Build

Start

Build Item Vampiric Shroud Vampiric Shroud
Build Item Lost Artifact Lost Artifact
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
Build Item Ward Ward

Core, Bitch!

Build Item Book of Thoth Book of Thoth
Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Chronos' Pendant Chronos' Pendant
Build Item Obsidian Shard Obsidian Shard
Build Item Rod of Tahuti Rod of Tahuti

Choose, Bitch!

Build Item Bancroft's Talon Bancroft's Talon
Build Item Divine Ruin Divine Ruin
Build Item Ethereal Staff Ethereal Staff
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation
Build Item Soul Reaver Soul Reaver
Build Item Warlock's Staff Warlock's Staff

Actives, Bitch!

Build Item Weakening Curse Weakening Curse
Build Item Greater Purification Greater Purification
Build Item Heavenly Agility Heavenly Agility
Build Item Aegis Pendant Aegis Pendant
Build Item Greater Aegis Greater Aegis

Consumables

Build Item Potion of Magical Might Potion of Magical Might
Build Item Elixir of Power Elixir of Power
Build Item Elixir of Defense Elixir of Defense
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
Build Item Ward Ward
Build Item Sentry Ward Sentry Ward

Janus's Skill Order

Portal

1 X Y
Portal
2 15 16 18 19

Unstable Vortex

2 A B
Unstable Vortex
1 4 6 7 10

Threshold

3 B A
Threshold
3 8 9 11 12

Through Space and Time

4 Y X
Through Space and Time
5 13 14 17 20
Portal
2 15 16 18 19

Portal

1 X
Janus creates a portal in the world. If placed on a wall, the portal will create a passage through to the other side of the wall that Janus or any ally may use. The portal may be entered from either side, but closes after 1 use.

If placed on the ground, enemies and Janus will fall into the portal, being teleported into the air above it. Enemies take damage upon landing, and are considered banished during the fall.

Ability Type: Circle, Banish, Damage
Damage: 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+60% of your Magical Power)
Banish Duration: 1.5s
Wall Portal Duration: 5s
Wall Portal Range: 100
Range/Radius: 55/10
Cost: 70
Cooldown: 12s
Unstable Vortex
1 4 6 7 10

Unstable Vortex

2 A
Janus creates two tethered unstable portals, far too small to fit into, and flings them forward dealing damage to enemies in their path. Enemies hit by both portals take 15% damage on the second hit.

Ability Type: Area, Damage
Damage: 110 / 175 / 240 / 305 / 370 (+80% of your Magical Power)
Range: 70
Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
Cooldown: 9s
Threshold
3 8 9 11 12

Threshold

3 B
Passive: Janus increases the movement speed of himself and allies each time they go through a portal or over a Threshold (max. 2 Stacks).

Active: Janus opens a multi-dimensional rift. Enemies who pass over the rift are slowed, and marked with Phase. Targets in Phase take additional Magical scaling damage when hit by Janus' damaging abilities.

Ability Type: Line, Buff
Phase Slow: 25%
Additional Scaling: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60
Rift Duration: 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5s
Movement Speed: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20% per Portal
Passive Duration: 5s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 13s
Through Space and Time
5 13 14 17 20

Through Space and Time

4 Y
Passive: Janus gains increased % Magical Penetration.

Active: Janus becomes CC Immune and blasts a ball of multi-dimensional energy across the battlefield, burning a portal into every surface it encounters within range 500. These portals last 10s, may be used by allies, and do not vanish after the first use.

Enemies hit take damage, increasing in Magical scaling the further the energy travels. Enemy gods cannot take more than 75% of their maximum Health as damage.

Ability Type: Line, Damage
Damage: 300 / 375 / 450 / 525 / 600 (+80% of your Magical Power)
Distance Scaling: 100% of your Magical Power at distance greater than 800
% Magical Penetration: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20%
Range: Global
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 110s

Intoduction







Hello smiters! My name is DucksRock And this is Janice, That girl from friends. Oh wait, It's actually Janus, The god of utility and Portals.

Janus is considered one of the best mages, Maybe even the best mage because he is just perfect, Really great utility, Speedy, Bursty, and he can also provide all that for his team, which makes him a great addition and an outstanding asset to the team.

But he is also really hard to master, Hard to time correctly and you should really have a quick reaction time, Because if you time Portal or Through Space and Time badly, It will have no use and you may have just wasted the cd.

But other then that, He's REALLY fun to play, And a really great way to train at timing correctly.



Pros / Cons



Pros
Tons Of Utility.
Lots Of Burst.
Fantastic Team Asset.
Has Portals. Period.

Cons
Mana Reliant.
Hard to master.
Cripples Counter Him.
No Sense Of Style.



Skills


Passages
Portal
Unstable Vortex
Threshold
Through Space And Time


Items


Shoes Of Focus
Chronos's Pendant
Book Of Thoth
Obsidian Shard
Bancroft's Talon
Divine Ruin
Ethereal staff
Gem Of Isolation
Soul Reaver
warlock's sash
Warlock's Sash
Rod Of Tahuti



Gameplay



Early Game
In the early game, Janus is kind of weak, Like every mage.

Start by picking up Unstable Vortex and buying Vampiric Shroud and Lost Artifact, a Mana Potion and a Ward.

Than, Go to the dou laners to take the red buff, And then take it and head to your lane.

You should clear with Unstable Vortex, And don't forget to kill what's left of the minions with your basics so you can get Vampiric Shroud's passive.

In level 2 pick up Portal so you can punish the enemy if he gets too close to you.

In level 5 mid camps should spawn And you should call your jungler to help you get them, And trust me, You don't want your enemy to take the mid camps before you do, He will outfeed you.

Once you kill the enemy, Use Through Space and Time to gank an unsuccessful lane and you might get some kills and help them push and survive the lane.

Don't forget about the minions, There very important for your feed and you don't want the enemy god to out-feed you.

Once you get Book of Thoth you get way more bursty and you get the ability to spam abilities without the fear of losing all the mana, Which will help you a lot and will force the enemy to recall before you do so you can do more ganking.

Don't take too much risk, And if you do, Always plan an escape route.





Mid Game

By this point, You should have all Book of Thoth stacks, Chronos' Pendant and maybe Obsidian Shard.

teamfights should start here, Meaning your team will need your rotating more then ever, And you need to be really active her so you can give your team a lot of utility.

You need Through Space and Time more then anything here, Since you constantly need to move with your team and always be one step further then he enemy team.

Ward! You constantly need to know where the enemy team is so you can plan your movement and your use of Through Space and Time.

If you see that the enemy team is taking gold fury/fire giant, Use Through Space and Time and go there with your team and steal them, Then burst down the enemy. Beware of baits.

You can bait the enemy team by standing near the gold fury/fire giant and when you see that the enemy team is coming, Use Through Space and Time to bring your team there and shut them down.




Late Game

By this point, You should have a full core build and the other items, Meaning that you will be able to burst enemies down fast.

In this point of the game, You should always move in groups and use Through Space and Time to move around the conquest map fast.

In this point of the game, Objectives should be your top priority, Meaning you gotta start pushing hard, And Janus can use his ult to help his team split-push.

Janus can backdoor the titan with Through Space and Time and then finish it in times of need.



Matchups



Agni
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM


Agni is a very bursty god that just has it all. An escape, Burst, And cc. He will most likely clear with Flame Wave. And if he wants to kill you, he will most likely use Path of Flames on the minions and surprise you, Then use Noxious Fumes to stun, 3 rain fires and then he will probably finish you up with Flame Wave.
The reason hes included in here is that when you use Portal he can use Noxious Fumes and then 3 rain fires and finish you off, Which completely counters your Portaling system.
Tips and Tricks
Stay behind your minions, And expect Agni to use Path of Flames on the minions, And when you see hes approaching the minions, Use Portal so the dash will be canceled and then use Unstable Vortex to clear the minions and poke Agni.
Try to not use Portal when Agni is present, And if you do, Use it behind the tower or in a place he couldent get to you.


Loki
DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM

Decoy
Aimed strike
Loki is a high damage sneaky ability based assasin. He will most likly clear with decoy.
To attack he will probably distract the minions with decoy and Vanish, Then, sneak up behind you and start attacking and after that he will use aimed strike to slow you down.
If he has his ulti up, He will probably Vanish and use aimed strike and then use Assassinate and keep basic attacking you from behind.
Tips and Tricks
1.5s after Loki uses Vanish he will most likely attack, When a second passes, Portal yourself and then loki will be caught in it two, Put down a threshould and run for it, Then, After Loki got slowed from it, Turn around and cast Unstable Vortex and then escape.
If he has his ulti, Portal yourself after your hear aimed strike's sound and he will be banished as well, And then do the rest mentioned above.

Summary

In conclusion, Janus is a very bursty mage that also provides utilities for his team and supports it.
he is very fun but he is really hard to master and you need to time things right.

Wow Janice, You sure have changed since Friends!

Credits:
TormentedTurnip and Jordenito's BBCoding guide.

Anyone that will help this guide improve.

Other guides

Change Log

09/07/15: Guide Released.

Leave a Comment

You need to log in before commenting.

Collapse All Comments

1
GameGeekFan (50) | September 13, 2015 4:14pm
Such great advice, much wow. Explain yourself. And if you mean "Janice".....its a joke.
1
DucksRock (41) | September 13, 2015 8:56am
GodofSmite wrote:

-1 dont like the first part

Like, The introduction? Elaborate please.
1
GodofSmite | September 13, 2015 8:14am
-1 dont like the first part
1
DucksRock (41) | August 6, 2015 3:39pm
Devampi wrote:

I would have coloured him Editor orange XD

XD
1
Devampi (105) | August 6, 2015 2:14pm
I would have coloured him Editor orange XD
1
DucksRock (41) | August 6, 2015 11:16am
Devampi wrote:

Also I forgot one thing in your matchup sections you have color coded agni as hard but stated him medium.

And for breastplate I wonder what happened to the item in total for mages As I don't see it a lot (and in assault well the MP5 is more useful so I'm used to it) but against a heavy physical I still find it a usefull item

Hes Medium +, Thats why i colored him red.
1
Devampi (105) | August 6, 2015 5:46am
Also I forgot one thing in your matchup sections you have color coded agni as hard but stated him medium.

And for breastplate I wonder what happened to the item in total for mages As I don't see it a lot (and in assault well the MP5 is more useful so I'm used to it) but against a heavy physical I still find it a usefull item
1
DucksRock (41) | August 5, 2015 3:29pm
Devampi wrote:



I like a HP pot myself because normally it will help you stay a bit longer in lane and if you just focus on mostly farming and poking (not pushing) you aren't in grave danger of getting ganked. The extra bit of survivability can help you force your opponent back out of the lane and then you can clear his wave and back yourself if you need to this will give you a slight advantage.

(also Ducks I like boots start because well that's what you get with a Ra player because easier jukes with the ability spam) I wonder what happened with the defensive pickup of Breastplate of Valor though. I know it doesn't give power (or not much if you do build thoth (16.5 magical power from thoth passive) still against a team with a lot of physical it can sometimes help.

Also your description on warlocks sash is meh for an adc it's more risky to double stack but for a mage it isn't that much especcially since warlocks gives a nice 400 mana and 300 hp with 50 MP (which is more then certain support items or the same amount of HP the mp may be a bit underwelming at first but well it's end on a 62 MP total with thoth's passive)

Only thing I don't like about the double stacking build is having no lifesteal (as boots CDR tahuti and pen are something that is core)


The thing is, Janus has tons of mobility, So buying boots to maneuver Ra's snipes wont be as effective as buying lost artifact and just portaling yourself. It all depends on your playstyle with Janus.

I have absolutely no idea why did i suggest double stacking, I guess it was because i rushed the item explanation there, Will fix it shortly.

Also, People have diffrent playstyles and it comes around in diffrent builds, You and i seem to have a diffrent playstyle, Since i like a more Offence is the best defense kind of playstyle with Janus, I don't pick it up. And also, I'm not sure i have seen people pick that up with mages for a long time.
1
Devampi (105) | August 5, 2015 3:14pm
DucksRock wrote:



Removing the ward can be good in some situations, Like when your a begginer in the early game it's just better to stay in tower, Making the word not so valuable until your first back.


I like a HP pot myself because normally it will help you stay a bit longer in lane and if you just focus on mostly farming and poking (not pushing) you aren't in grave danger of getting ganked. The extra bit of survivability can help you force your opponent back out of the lane and then you can clear his wave and back yourself if you need to this will give you a slight advantage.

(also Ducks I like boots start because well that's what you get with a Ra player because easier jukes with the ability spam) I wonder what happened with the defensive pickup of Breastplate of Valor though. I know it doesn't give power (or not much if you do build thoth (16.5 magical power from thoth passive) still against a team with a lot of physical it can sometimes help.

Also your description on warlocks sash is meh for an adc it's more risky to double stack but for a mage it isn't that much especcially since warlocks gives a nice 400 mana and 300 hp with 50 MP (which is more then certain support items or the same amount of HP the mp may be a bit underwelming at first but well it's end on a 62 MP total with thoth's passive)

Only thing I don't like about the double stacking build is having no lifesteal (as boots CDR tahuti and pen are something that is core)
1
DucksRock (41) | August 5, 2015 6:56am
Changafixer wrote:



alright, thanks for the advices! still learnin janus but i think he means tons of fun and i really like his abilitys. im mainly supporter / solo lane / jungle, but with him i also like to go mid :) but i think its a bad idea to switch the ward. i try to play safe and always ward, thats what you should do. but i see the point. the main problem is that i didnt play mages yet, so often i dont know their abilitys


Removing the ward can be good in some situations, Like when your a begginer in the early game it's just better to stay in tower, Making the word not so valuable until your first back.
1
Changafixer | August 5, 2015 6:47am
DucksRock wrote:


You could trade the ward for a heal potion, And if your good at mana saving, You could try to sell teh mana potion if you want to, Selling lost artifact is kind of a bad thing, Since Janus also has that poking potential, And lost artifact grants mp5 meaning that it's much easier to watch your mana with it.

Although, If you know that god's playstyle and if they outpoke you, You could stay in tower and watch for the poke.

You could also try to avoid their gods, In most cases, It's really easy to avoid the poke if you know the god's playstyle.

I wouldn't recommend buying boots since it dosen't really contribute to your playstyle before you back, And Lost Artifact will be much more useful.


alright, thanks for the advices! still learnin janus but i think he means tons of fun and i really like his abilitys. im mainly supporter / solo lane / jungle, but with him i also like to go mid :) but i think its a bad idea to switch the ward. i try to play safe and always ward, thats what you should do. but i see the point. the main problem is that i didnt play mages yet, so often i dont know their abilitys
1
DucksRock (41) | August 5, 2015 5:13am
Changafixer wrote:

really good guide +1! just one question: i started with lost artifact aswell, but i realised that some gods just poke me too hard in the early game and sometime force me to back already before i have like 600 gold. what about vampiric shroud, boots, 2 wards and a few heal potions? i know janus is really mana hungry early, but if you focus on lane clearing and last hitting it should work that you back the first time to fully build your shoes. what do you think?

You could trade the ward for a heal potion, And if your good at mana saving, You could try to sell teh mana potion if you want to, Selling lost artifact is kind of a bad thing, Since Janus also has that poking potential, And lost artifact grants mp5 meaning that it's much easier to watch your mana with it.

Although, If you know that god's playstyle and if they outpoke you, You could stay in tower and watch for the poke.

You could also try to avoid their gods, In most cases, It's really easy to avoid the poke if you know the god's playstyle.

I wouldn't recommend buying boots since it dosen't really contribute to your playstyle before you back, And Lost Artifact will be much more useful.
Loading Comments...
Load More Comments

SMITEFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new god, or fine tune your favorite SMITE gods’s build and strategy.

Copyright © 2019 SMITEFire | All Rights Reserved