Raijin, The god of SMOrc (3.21)

This is not a guide on how to play Raijin in the current conquest meta. This is only a guide on how to build him. It will also help you understand how the items work with Raijin's kit and give you general understanding of the god (hopefully, I kinda suck at this) I made this guide on patch 3.20, however it will still apply to 3.21 as Raijin won't see any changes this patch. If you're playing on a later patch of the game then this build may not work and I would recommend looking for another one.

To start off the game you want to buy Soul Stone to help you clear the wave much faster and get lane pressure for the mid camps. From then on you are going to buy the Imperial Helmet and some pots. It will provide you with 20 physical protections, which you can use to poke the enemy mid laner without taking as much damage from the minions. It will also help you contest the mid camps and take less damage from the enemy jungler.

Imperial helmet is a good starting item because once you back, you can turn it into the Dynasty Plate Helm for only 1100 gold and become a bigger threat, since it gives you some early pen and physical protections. I value the physical protections because of Raijin's ultimate ability - Taiko Drums. While channeling that ability you are quite immobile and you're bound to take a lot of damage without correct positioning. If you're not feeling safe enough to just rush the helmet you can buy boots first, and only then finish your helmet. As far as boots go, you're gonna want the Shoes of the Magi 9/10 times because they're gonna provide pen that you will miss since you're getting Book of Thoth next. You can experiment with Shoes of Focus in some games to get a feel of what you prefer though.

Once you get your boots and helmet you're gonna want to go straight into Soul Reliquary and from then on you're gonna build into either Book of Thoth or Soul Reaver. You're not gonna get the same item every game because it depends on the situation. If your team is behind and you're having a hard time then Book of Thoth is not gonna be your choice. The last thing you want is your teammates getting killed while you're trying to stack without a tower to keep you safe. If you're equal or even ahead of the enemy team then you can stack Book of Thoth.


Now, sometimes, even if you're ahead you're gonna want Soul Reaver instead. It helps against comps when you need to pick off targets one by one as it will provide much more burst against one person faster. It also works great when you're playing with a friend and you're coordinated and are able to get picks to carry the game.

The later the game goes, the better % penetration gets, which is why you're gonna want to buy Obsidian shard next. I wouldn't recommend getting Spear of the Magus, unless you have something like Freya adc and she's not buying it.

This is where you finally get your Rod of Tahuti. This item is pretty much essential for any damage mage and there's not much else to it. It will give you a lot of power and it will help you deal insane amounts of damage with your Raiju combo'd with any other abilities you have.

You may have already sold Soul Stone to finish Rod of Tahuti, and that's fine. If you haven't, then once you have enough money you can sell it and buy something else. If you haven't bought Soul Reaver yet, then it would be a great choice, since everyone is already either LVL 20 or close to it, which means they have a lot of health. If you have Soul Reaver then Book of Thoth isn't that bad of a choice because of its passive. You will still get around 200 magical power, and it will increase as you get stacks. Bancroft's Talon or Pythagorem's Piece (the latter if you have another mage on the team) could also work. You can also buy a CDR item if there is need for that. Chronos Pendant if you want more damage and Breastplate of Valor if the enemy hunter/assassin is trying to kill you.

Finally, if the game goes long enough you can sell the Dynasty Plate Helm for either one of the items mentioned before or Spear of Desolation if you have the gold. You can also sell pen boots for Shoes of Focus because the cdr will help you more lategame.

This is my first build/guide on Smitefire so I apologize for the walls of text or inconsistency. I'm trying to explain the build as best as I can. This guide was inspired by a person I saw in ranked whose Raijin build was all over the place :D. If you want to give me criticism or help me improve the guide then your comments are welcome.