Thanatos and Season 2, A Death Story

Thanatos God Of the Dead is a fascinating god, with the by far strongest early game in the game With blistering high attack, and natural Life steal, Even the Immortals Shall Fear Death Now!

Hi, I'm Commanderdrag, a smite and videogame lover all around. With the new changes, map, and items in season two much has changed, and it gets confusing. Thanatos has risen to the top and I'm here to explain how to play this reaper of a god.

Pros

-Amazing Early Game
-Chunky damage with Death Scythe
-Silence On Soul Reap

Cons

-VERY Squishy
-Awful mid game
-Suceptible to CC
-Uses health to cast spells

Start

Thanatos, as a said earlier has the best early game of all gods, so what do we do? Capitalize on it of course.

Heavy Hammer

provides a strong slow on basic attacks, that when added to the slow of Death Scythe makes it almost impossible to get away form the god of dead.

Having 2

Healing Potions

insures you won't die beacuase of carelessly clearing a camp or getting caught at mids

Lastly having a

Ward

will help with the early game invade

Core

At Thanatos's core is power and CDR, making him a very potent and powerful foe in the early game

Warrior Tabi

provides essential movement speed and a large amount of power

Jotunn's Wrath

provides power, penetration, mana, and CDR, it really puts Thanatos in a powerful position, being able to throw out abilities at lightning fast speed

The final core item

Frostbound Hammer

provides a stronger slow, more power, and direly needed health for the squishiest assassin in the game.

Defensive Options

Thanatos has a hard time not dying, picking up even one of these items can save him in a tight spot, it is highly recommended that you get at least one of these items.

Magi's Blessing

is the most recommended of the defense items, due to the fact that Thanatos has a hard time with CC, even if you have Greater Purification the passive is still invaluable, in addition to the health and Protections

Witchblade

is a very good defensive item, it provides physical protections attack speed and a very useful aura. I usually buy this if they hve very little CC and 2 or more AA based gods (ex. Chronos, Hunters, Mercury, Freya)

Stone of Gaia

is a situational item, I use only when they have more than 2 magical gods in either mid, jungle, or solo, and if their support is building any damage it provides good health, magical protections, and a sustaining passive.

Shifter's Shield

is for when they have very little damage, I'm talking tank solo, tank duo, and a far behind ADC. This item provides a small, but helpful amount of protections, but the main usefulness is in the passive, it doesn't provide much tankiness, so i recommended it the least.

Offensive Options

These set of Item are recommended the most.

Rage

is a great offensive item, it provides power and crit. the passive makes it the best crit item to get alone, and the best one to get first. It is highly recommended.

Deathbringer

what an apropriate name for an itme for the god of death. Deathbringer provides a large hunk of power, crit chance, and a great passive. It is also highly recommended.

The Executioner

is a good item to get, when I do buy this item i usually get it immediately after i finish my core. it provides power, attack speed, and a good passive. It is somewhat recommended.

As Thanatos ALWAYS max Death Scythe first. Since you want to do work early game, getting the damage is a must have. When you hit level 9 put the final point into your Death Scythe instead of Hovering Death, since it only increases the threshold by 4%. For your next ability I usually do Scent of Death in stead of Soul Reap. The extra penetration is very useful against any enemy. As Thanatos it is hard to hit your Death Scythe because of the narrow hit box. be sure to practice hitting it be cause it is his bread and butter.

Early-Game

Thanatos's early game is off the charts. He can figh up to 3 people early game and win because of his passive. You always want to invade as him, the extra xp and gold can carry you through mid game. When first starting to play him take it slow, only invade on their mana buff. Get your solo laner to follow you through the path of the yellow line on the map. You and the solo then hide within the small crescent of the blue buff spawn, be careful not to make any in game noise with jokes, taunts, or AAs. The red dot shows where you should Ward, and the blue dot show where you should stand to place that ward. Be cautious to not be seen by then enemy. The moment the mana buff spawns you and the solo take then high tail outta there. Once you have gotten better at invading and playing Thanatos you want to go for the Speed Buff. Follow the yellow line and then the orange line, while still placing the ward in the same spot. You are Thanatos force a fight. they will die, start by auto attacking the weaker opponent, then if you begin to lose health use your death scythe to regain that health make sure your solo laner is with you. Try to either force them away from the buff and take it, or kill one of them.

Here's a good Thanatos video by DMBrandon:

Play Video

Mid-Game

Mid game can be tricky for Thanatos because it is his weakest stage. Usually by this point you have picked up 3+ kills, but this is where you fall off. Because of the fact that you have been completely destroying the enemy team early, you may think you can go in on 1v2s or even 1v1s, but you will die. During mid game, about when you hit level 12 or 13, you want to farm. clear all of your jungle and occasionsaly some of the enemy's. only gank with Hovering Death to get the instant kill or to get the stun when they are at most half health.

Late-Game

In late game your damage should be that of other assassins, but you are much more squishy. ONLY and I mean only initiate with Hovering Death. Do not chase kills and do not run into team fights without a tank. If you do happen to get caught out, use Hovering Death as an escape. Often you will have to use it the moment you get attacked because of the wind up.

This Combo is the most useful. Initiating with Hovering Death while Scent of Death is active will give you a 1 second stun to make sure you land your Death Scythe, and a bit of damage. Following up with Soul Reap will prevent them from using an escape, and finally use AA's to finish them off.



This combo you'll use very often. Starting before you initiate with Scent of Death allows you to zoom towards your target before they notice. If there are minions in the way that is when I use this combo. Soul Reap will remove any minions that are obscuring your shot with Death Scythe, which you will use next. Finally finish them off with a couple of AA's, if they do happen to get away withing your insta-kill threshold finish them off with Hovering Death



This combo is pretty much the same as the last. This one is used when there are no minions blocking your Death Scythe shot.

Thanks for checking out my guide for the god of death Thanatos, remember he has the strongest early game of all gods. Special thanks to DMBrandon for teaching me about season 2 Thanatos.