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Thanatos, Reaper of Souls [Season 2 (WIP)]

2 1 9,341
by CommanderSpock updated March 20, 2015

Smite God: Thanatos

Build Guide Discussion 4 More Guides
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Thanatos Build

Starting Items

Build Item Death's Toll Death's Toll
Build Item Boots Boots
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
2

Early Game/Core

Build Item Talaria Boots Talaria Boots
Build Item Jotunn's Wrath Jotunn's Wrath
Build Item Hydra's Lament Hydra's Lament

Mid-Late (Penetration)

Build Item Titan's Bane Titan's Bane
Build Item Brawler's Beat Stick Brawler's Beat Stick
Build Item Deathbringer Deathbringer

Mid-Late (Crits)

Build Item Deathbringer Deathbringer
Build Item Rage Rage
Build Item Malice Malice

Mid-Late [Hybrid (Personal Favorite)]

Build Item Witchblade Witchblade
Build Item Deathbringer Deathbringer
Build Item Titan's Bane Titan's Bane

Useful Actives

Build Item Greater Purification Greater Purification
Build Item Combat Blink Combat Blink
Build Item Weakening Curse Weakening Curse
Build Item Shield of the Underworld Shield of the Underworld

Optional Items

Build Item Heartseeker Heartseeker

Thanatos's Skill Order

Death Scythe

1 X Y
Death Scythe
1 3 6 8 10

Scent of Death

2 A B
Scent of Death
4 11 12 15 16

Soul Reap

3 B A
Soul Reap
2 7 14 18 19

Hovering Death

4 Y X
Hovering Death
5 9 13 17 20
Death Scythe
1 3 6 8 10

Death Scythe

1 X
Thanatos flings his scythe at an enemy, dealing damage and an additional 10% of the target's maximum health against enemy gods. Enemies hit are slowed for 3s and heal Thanatos based on damage dealt. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Projectile
Damage: 100 / 170 / 240 / 310 / 380 (+60% of your Physical Power)
Bonus Damage (Gods): 10% of Max HP
Healing: 50% of damage dealt
Slow: 20%
Cost: 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65
Cooldown: 12s
Scent of Death
4 11 12 15 16

Scent of Death

2 A
Thanatos senses death, gaining immunity to Slow effects and additional move speed and Physical Penetration for 6s. His speed bonus increases up to double when moving toward an enemy god within the instant kill health threshold of his Ultimate. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Buff
Penetration: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30
Move Speed: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
Bonus Speed (Low Health): 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
Cooldown: 13s
Soul Reap
2 7 14 18 19

Soul Reap

3 B
Thanatos swings his scythe, dealing Physical damage and Silencing enemies he hits. Thanatos moves at a reduced rate while swinging. Consumes 4% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Cone, Silence, Damage
Damage: 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+70% of your Physical Power)
Silence Duration: 1s
Cost: 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45
Cooldown: 14s
Hovering Death
5 9 13 17 20

Hovering Death

4 Y
Thanatos flaps his wings and ascends for 5s, unable to be hit. While airborne, he moves unimpeded at an increased speed before diving to his target location, dealing damage. Enemies below a Health threshold are instantly killed. All others are Stunned. Consumes 8% of Thanatos' current HP when used.

Ability Type: Circle, Stun, Damage
Damage: 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 / 250 (+80% of your Physical Power)
Kill Health Threshold: 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 / 40%
Stun Duration: 1.5s
Bonus Move Speed: 150%
Radius: 15
Cost: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Cooldown: 90s

Summary/Introduction

Playing Thanatos is easy, but in order to carry your team to victory you need to know what you are doing. First thing you need to know is all builds are SITUATIONAL there is no build that can account for all scenarios. That being said feel free to tweak this build to your taste.

The main difference between Thanatos and other gods is that he uses life along with mana to use abilities. Due to this mechanic make sure to stay away from increasing max hp too much.

Items

Lets look at your first set of items.

Core

Ninja Tabi
The main reason I pick this item over Warrior Tabi is because of the extra attack speed. Like most gods Thanatos starts with very little attack speed, so building up attack speed is definitely a priority.

Jotunn's Wrath
This item is very useful because of the early boost to penetration and cooldown reduction. The mana boost is also a nice bonus.

Qin's Sais
The bonus 4% max HP damage along with the attack speed is a great core to this build.

Now this is where the build will branch off depending on which gods are on the opposing team. If they have a warrior or guardian definitely build penetration. If they don't have a warrior or guardian you can choose either of the other two based off of your preference.

Penetration

Titan's Bane
This item is sort of a no-brainer for any penetration build. The additional 33% penetration is a staple for builds like this.

Brawler's Beat Stick
The 20 penetration along with the 40% reduced healing for opponents makes this a great item to build against a god such as Hel or Guan Yu.

The Executioner
This item's passive is the main selling point. At full stacks this item basically gives you 24% or more penetration. At full stacks when paired with Titan's Bane you instantly cut through 57% of their physical defense at least.

Crits

Deathbringer
A 50% crit damage boost along with the 50 physical power is a vital part of any crit build.

Rage
This item purpose is to mainly increase crit chance. Other than that it doesn't do much.

Malice
The passive on this item is invaluable. It has earned me many kills by dealing that extra damage to keep them from barely escaping.

Hybrid

Devourer's Gauntlet
Adds that bit of lifesteal.

Deathbringer
Gives you that extra punch.

Titan's Bane
Allows you to cut through warriors and guardians like butter.

Abilities

Death Scythe
This ability is your main way to stay alive, it allows you to gain a huge chunk of life. Make sure to only use this ability mainly on enemy gods, don't waste it on minions or jungle camps.

Scent of Death
This ability has two main uses, the first being to give you extra movement speed to chase your enemy down. The second is to give you a boost to your penetration.

Soul Reap
A very useful ability that allows you to keep your target from escaping or fighting back by silencing them.

Hovering Death
A great global ult which allows you to stun or insta-kill anyone that you hit. A great tool against guardians who are on low health. Very useful for ganks as well.

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1
Vecte | March 18, 2015 7:50am
You don't need any attack speed on Thanatos. You mainly want to focus on power, and building for the situation. After the Qin's Sais nerf, the only gods that can really make use of them are Kali and Baka. You also don't need Lifesteal at all. Your first two items should always be power boots and Jotunn's. His damage comes from his abilities, so you want them up. After those two, you need to build for the situation. Some good items for Thanatos are:

Shifter's Shield
Hydra's Lament
Titan's Bane
Deathbringer (Always have a spot for this item!)
Malice
Brawler's Beatstick
Magi's Blessing (More often than not, you will take Magi's)

Thanatos is very squishy mid-late game, so you will most likely always build Magi's Blessing. What you need to decide is when to build it. Personally, the earliest you want to build it is your 4th item. This needs to be decided based on how your game is going.

For the other items order doesn't really matter, but try to build based on the situation. One thing to keep in mind is you don't need to rush Titan's Bane. It is cheap, but you will already have a small amount of pen from Jotunn's and pen from your 2. Titan's Bane can be your last item. If you get fed early, build Deathbringer as your third item. If the game is going so-so, build Hydra's as your third because it's cheaper, or Shifter's Shield if you are taking excess damage. If you are against a nasty healer combo like a team with Ra and Sylvanus, build Beatstick third. Your options are pretty flexible.

EDIT: I didn't list Rage, but you can use it if you want. It's a very strong item, but I prefer to keep it for AA based gods. Thanatos isn't going to be in the middle of a fight AAing over and over. Malice is the better option for him overall, and you always want to build Deathbringer anyway. Remember, the key with Thanatos is get in and get out.

My personal favorite build is the following:
1. Warrior Tabi
2. Jotunn's Wrath
3. Shifter's Shield
4. Magi's Blessing
5. Deathbringer
6. Titan's Bane
1
CommanderSpock | March 17, 2015 4:29pm

add icons from bbcoding

ok, so thana is an ability based character. you need power boots over attack speed boots sonce attack speed only scales into basic attack dmg. for pen, its almost always titans bane, since you are not basic attack based. then, you also need jotunns for mana and cdr and magis so you dont get interrupted when stealing objectives. thus, a sample uild might look like warrior tabi, jotunns wrath, hydras lqment, mahis blessing, titans bane, plus a aituational. this could be wotchblade, pestilence, or even simply qins sais. shofetsr shield is qlso viable here. this will give you the most utility a jungle can have while still retaining boxing potential with hydras passive and the massive cdr from hydras and jotunns. qins sais will only add to that power, and its 4% scales from titans banes pen. crits are only for basic attack characters, with thana is not. also, you need to add item explanations, situationals, jungling routes, and teamfight/fighting scenaraios section

also, lifesteal is unnecessary on thana bc of his insane passive qs well as his death scythe


Thanks for the feedback, I thought that I had updated the guide, but I only hit save not publish. The updated version is up now. I will hopefully add jungling routes and teamfight scenarios.
1
DovahkiinCroatia | March 16, 2015 3:21am
I use Talaria boots because those babys paired with his passive damn.....just damn....i use them instead of lifesteal because when youre jungleing you spend a lot of time out of combat and they sure do give you 39 HP per heal period
1
Metabreaker_United (3) | March 15, 2015 6:15am
add icons from bbcoding

ok, so thana is an ability based character. you need power boots over attack speed boots sonce attack speed only scales into basic attack dmg. for pen, its almost always titans bane, since you are not basic attack based. then, you also need jotunns for mana and cdr and magis so you dont get interrupted when stealing objectives. thus, a sample uild might look like warrior tabi, jotunns wrath, hydras lqment, mahis blessing, titans bane, plus a aituational. this could be wotchblade, pestilence, or even simply qins sais. shofetsr shield is qlso viable here. this will give you the most utility a jungle can have while still retaining boxing potential with hydras passive and the massive cdr from hydras and jotunns. qins sais will only add to that power, and its 4% scales from titans banes pen. crits are only for basic attack characters, with thana is not. also, you need to add item explanations, situationals, jungling routes, and teamfight/fighting scenaraios section

also, lifesteal is unnecessary on thana bc of his insane passive qs well as his death scythe
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League of Legends Build Guide Author CommanderSpock
Thanatos, Reaper of Souls [Season 2 (WIP)]
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