Thanatos: Patience kills.(Updated items)

Howdy folks, ready for some reading? No? Then go find another guide. Otherwise, thanks for staying. This guide is a bit unusual because most people jungle with Thanatos, but I've tested this build out multiple times, and it has worked out for the most part. I know this build isn't fancy with all your fancy pictures and snazzy intros and outros, but I decided to keep it clean and simple, with lots and lots of words to help break it down bit by bit. So if you think you can read everything, and add a plethora of new words to your dictionary, including "plethora", then this is definitely the right guide for you! Let's get's started, go on, just scroll down and read the next chapter! Now! Stop reading this chapter! You just read this sentence! wanna know how I know? Because you won't listen and read the next chapter!

Here's some things that should be noted when playing Thanatos in general:

Important tip: Thanatos(and pretty much most assassins) is very weak to crowd control, so stay far away from heavy crowd control. if the enemy team has large crowd control, build beads whenever you get the chance. Don't be afraid to use your ultimate as an escape, as it cannot be interrupted by crowd control.

Don't get too cocky if you are winning a fight, this build is all about waiting for the right moment to strike. As long as you are winning a fight, even if the enemy returns to base, it is still a victory. focus on pushing them back and making them return to base, this will give you time to buy items at base or deal damage to the tower(this should be noted when playing ANY god).

You do not need to buy potions with thanatos, You don't have to take my advice if you don't want to, but thanatos can keep his hp up with his 1, and his mana depletes much slower than every other god. If you are being harassed quite hard, don't be afraid to use your 1 on a minion, as it will give you hp for hitting the minion as well as killing it too.

Don't use your ultimate just to get a kill when it isn't necessary, Even if you successfully kill the target, it could leave you open to getting ambushed by the enemy team then you won't have an escape, so make sure you and the enemy are alone when using it, or at least make sure the enemy isn't too close to the enemy team for you to get pummeled.

If you are going for jungle buff, take the red buff early game and the orange or red buff mid-late game. The red buff will help you poke with your 1 and finish off enemies. and the orange buff will help you to box more efficiently, and engage or retreat.

If you are boxing near enemy minions, take out the minions while hitting the enemy god, the minions will sustain your hp, and are easy to hit because Thanatos' third hit hits everything in front of him.(very useful and can help you win most 1v1's). This also works for when boxing near jungle camps.(not recommended to box near jungle camps early game, but definitely late game when you get your critical strikes up.)

Don't worry too much about building penetration on Thanatos, his 2 will help him with that immensely when fighting warriors or guardians(You shouldn't even be focusing tanks anyways, just with your ultimate).

If you plan to engage an enemy god, make sure YOU strike first, 50% of the time that you die with Thanatos is because you didn't strike first. Fights with Thanatos usually take about 3-6 seconds late game if you are only fighting squishy targets due to how much damage is being dealt at late game, and engaging with your 3 can assure you that your target won't fight back half of the time.

Lastly, as an assassin, you should focus anyone squishy, specifically mages because your 3 can shut down mages easily with it's silence. you can try your best at boxing other assassins or hunters early on, but i wouldn't try it until you have a stronger build.

Now usually you will be going against a warrior in solo lane, but you never know. Warriors tend to have higher hp than most gods other than guardians, which is bait for your 1 since it deals high damage and 10% of the enemy god's HP. Typically warriors don't have many pokes, which is also good for your 1, so you can harass them all day.
since one of your early game items is a devourers gauntlet(read the "Shop/Abilities" chapter for item builds), you want to build those stacks as quickly as possible.

You won't be engaging the enemy god this early on due to the lack of your defensive capabilities. but as long as you keep throwing out your 1, you can sustain yourself without having to return to base.

Thanatos' mana depletes slower than any other god, so you wont need to buy potions, and as long as you poke your opponent's hp down, or dodge their abilities, they will be returning to base more often than you, giving you more time to take out their tower. Don't get to cocky though, the enemy jungler might surprise you every now and then, so keep your distance until they recall.

If you do get ambushed early on, immediately use your 3 to give you a bit of breathing space between the times they can use their abilities, and use your 1 to sustain you if you are close to the tower. If they continue to harass you inside the tower, just use the aegis amulet you bought and that should help you stall before the tower deals too much damage to them.

Around this time, you should be ganking mid lane whenever you can. if you do decide to gank, engage with your 3 immediately so that the enemy cannot use their abilities to either escape or react fast enough. then immediately use your 1 to slow them, and finally your 2 to chase them.(if they are in threshold, your 2 should keep you on them while they run away)
If you feel like you might not catch them, just harass them back to the tower and you can still call it a victory and you can either push their tower or go back to the solo lane.

Mid game is also a good time for you to engage your solo opponent more often. Instead of engaging with your 3, you should engage with your 1, because it will slow them to give you enough time to close the gap between you two, then immediately use your 3 so that they cannot push you back or use any escapes, and finally your 2 to chase them or run away if the enemy jungler is nearby.

P.S. if there are any nearby enemy gods within the threshold, use your ultimate. You can also use your ultimate to save teammates by using it to stun enemy gods and harass them down, but don't use it if the enemy team's numbers are too overwhelming for you to make an escape. If you are way ahead in kills, you can use your ultimate as an engage to stun anyone you like and kill them quickly, but only if your team is way ahead, that way if you die you wont feel as though you fed.

Now is the time to go where you please(as long as you aren't losing), and kill whomever you please(even tanks, if they are the only one left).

This is where your ultimate comes in handy in any situation, as long as your team isn't losing you should use your ultimate to engage anyone that is squishy and use your 3 to silence their escapes. if you are boxing anyone, your 1 should sustain, while your 3 helps keep the enemy from using their abilities.

your 2 will help you chase anyone that runs, as well as take out pretty much anyone building armor, since this build only requires 1 penetration item, your 2 will automatically bring your penetration to the max 50%, making it easy to kill tanky warriors, and finish off the lonely tanks.

From here on out, it is up to you as to what you do, whether you push with your team, or assassinate any enemy gods, whatever brings your team to victory.