Thanatos: Items, which of them should I use?

I main thanatos, am mastery 2 with him on my main (only lvl18, dont judge) and have relatively good stats with him.
But I still can't figure out how to build him.
Obviously full damage, but should I go a boxer route? I mean one does auto attack with him a lot, but he really relies on his abilities so should I build him as a caster? I really can't figure out which one would be better, because he's pretty reliant on both. I've tested both but I end up doing similiarly with both.
General Boxing Build:
Warrior's Tabi
Qin's Sais
Bloodforge
Titan's Bane
Rage
Deathbringer
General Caster Build:
Warrior's Tabi
Devourer's Gloves
Jotunn's Wrath
Titan's Bane
Hydra's Lament
Very Situational
Obviously I will sometimes switch items out for others, but these are the main builds.
Halp?

I would recommend caster more. he has 1 ability too boost his aa that's right but you mostly use that one to chase and his 1 with the (damn) lifesteal and 3 with the silence

Full CDR is devestating.
Ninja Tabi and Jotunn's Wrath are both very good on him.

Thats wat i build, i build an auto attack thana as late game his 1's dmg is kinda low, and with his 2 and attack progression i eat people up.I usually go ninja tabi, jotunn's,a lifesteal item, and then rage,deathbringer and a defence item.I alternate the order but the build is usually the same.

Thanks guys! I suppose I'll go caster more, but do you think I should get Ninja Tabi? I already have full cdr with hydra's lament+jotunns, and I feel like Hydra's gives me more than Ninja Tabi. Plus the flat pen on Warrior Tabi just does work. Whaddya guys think?

If you are going hydras you skip ninja, but having ninja and Jotunns at the 10-15 min mark is insanely strong. So I would maybe skip hydras instead of ninja, but that's up to you. Just do not get all three :)

And IMHO hide of the urchin is a really strong pickup on than. Full damage leaves you no room for errors. And no one have games where they play flawless not even the pros :p

Dude, itemisation doesn't matter. You;re thanatos. Build damage, use your 1, win every fight regardless of anything. Get one kill, build Tabi, Qin's, Lifesteal and then a couple of defensive ***** and a deathbringer and you auto win effectively.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, but there's a lot of damage items. Also, I prefer the satanic milkshake over holy pudding.

Thanatos, as you may have noticed is INCREDIBLY squishy. Commonly in the pro scene and ranked you will see that people DO NOT go full damage. it just ins't completely worth it. Playing Thanatos while playing arena, seige, assault or conquest, Thanatos has a core itemization. Start with ninja tabi. no doubt. second item jottun's and then after that, if you aren't going up against an incredibly tanky team, that is your last pen item due to jottun's and 2nd ability putting you at or near the max pen cap. 3rd item go for a magis (more in the current meta) or Hide of the Urchin, for defense and allowing you to go balls deep. after that you can go into one of two attack speed items (qin's or witchblade) depending on whether you are dieing from phys a lot or if you are low on health in a lot of fights. Qin's isn't the safer of the two but if you are sure it will work go for it. once either qins or witchblade is bought then get the other for the next item, if you aren't having troubles with physicals you can go Ancil, if you believe you can stack, and probably better in the 3rd slot. try to look for a defense item, if going for something other than ancile that might provide some help to your offensive game as well as your defensive game. Final item. you are thanatos, and not very great late game and you have 3 real choices. 1. rage, a simple very common item on thanatos, but leaves you without lifesteal. 2. bloodforge can also work here, but that means you can't be like some thanatos' and throw scythes from a distance because if you do throw scythes and walk away bloodforge is obsolete. the other item for your 6th item that could work is soul eater, now here me out. Soul Eater, has 300 health, 15% lifesteal and 10% attack speed. this allows you to hit qin's more often with lifesteal that IMO is needed for thanatos late game. I go for soul eater and so does Lassiz a pro player for one of the best Smite teams in the world (Dignitas/DIG). active wise you either go with Hand Of the Gods and Beads, or if in a non conquest spot you can go with Beads and Sprint or Beads and Aegis. I hope that was helpful and I hope I can improve your Thanatos gameplay along with your build. THanks :D

for the longest time, this is what i ran on Thanatos:

Warrior Tabi
Jotunn's Wrath
Devourer's Gauntlets
Hydra's Lament
Deathbringer
Bloodforge


i recently switched, though, because i learned more helpful information. first, as it's already been mentioned, i didn't need the penetration from Warrior Tabi since his #2 ability provides that. i know, i'm ******ed and need to read the skill descriptions more carefully. i liked Hydra's Lament because i always do combos with Thanatos when ganking or boxing by switching between his auto attacks and abilities. for example, if you go #3-->attack once-->#1-->attack until dead, it can do a LOT of damage in a small amount of time. Hydra's Lament's passive helped with that (plus it gave more CDR, which i don't need anymore and i'll explain why later). but this relies on the long startup of #3 as well as landing your scythe throw. if i missed and was facing somebody who could box well, i'd get destroyed due to no attack speed.

here's what i've switched to recently:

1. Ninja Tabi
2. Jotunn's Wrath
3. Qin's Sais
4. Bloodforge
5. Shifter's Shield
6. Deathbringer

i am loving this new build overall. first off, you still hit 40% CDR with the first two abilities, and you don't have the extra wasted penetration from Warrior Tabi. second, Qin's Sais are just amazing on Thanatos. they make his auto attacks blazing fast compared to normal, and Shifter's Shield/Bloodforge really help him stay alive when boxing. when you add in Deathbringer, it absolutely melts guardians, warriors, mages and hunters, and as long as i land at least one ability on an assassin i usually kill them too with auto attacks.

for the record, all of this information comes from using Thanatos in Siege, Arena and Joust. i've never used him in Conquest, so maybe that's a bit different. obviously this build is too squishy for team fights, which is why in arena i just stay back and pick off stragglers or scoop up kills with my ult.

i love Vissini's Soul Eater suggestion, though. i might try that out and see how it feels.