Bringer of Death! - Thanatos Jungle Guide - [7.12]

THANATOS
The Hand Of Death





Introduction

---

Thanatos is my favorite god in Smite. With insane damage burst, high movement speed, and very cool mechanics, this god is capable of winning the game before the laning phase even finished!
In this guide I will try to go from pretty basic to as in depth as possible about every aspect: Abilities, Mechanics, Strategies, Builds and etc...

This guide is for people who have played Smite for some time and know the basics. It is also recommended to play at least a couple of games with Thanatos before reading it, to better understand :)
Let's Go!

---

Updates

---

7.12 Patch
Not a lot of changes relevant to thanatos. Updated the builds a little and rearranged the builds section to be more intuitive. Happy holidays :)

7.10 Patch
With Ring of Hecate getting nerfed, and magical ADCs getting back to noraml, I Updated the Threat Levels. Not much of a relevant change for Thana though.

7.9 Patch
I did not actually go over this in depth, but with a little playing around I do believe that Thana is in the same place is before. Currently he is outmatched with AA junglers and is less relevant to the meta. That being said, I still stand by the builds presented here and the guide itself. :)

Mid Season Patch: Junglers
The new Mid Season patch buffed very hard AA assassins, making them top tier junglers, and very hard to out do. With that in mind, I put the top junglers ( Arachne, Mercury, Bakasura and Ratatoskr) higher on the threat level, as they outbox you, outfarm you, and will be more relevant late game than you as Thanatos. This is a hard time to play Thana, but if played well and to your advantages, he can still be a viable choice for a jungler.


Talaria Boots Meta
The meta has shifted back from Talaria Boots. I never was a fan of them, but if you really enjoyed them I guess you can still build them (even though Thana utilize the early damage spike very well). I will recommend Warrior Tabi.


Mid Season Patch
With the release of the Mid Season Patch, this guide will need to be updated for the big item changes. In the following days I will learn and experiment with the new items, and will try to update the guide as soon as possible.

The builds presented are still very much viable though!


Aside from that, I constantly try to perfect the guide, add details and upgrade the builds and the other aspects.

Pros & Cons

---

Abilities

---

Harvester Of Souls
Passive



Starting from Thana's passive, we can see that this ability alone is made out of a couple of different aspects:

HP Cost & Restore
Thana's abilities cost him health as well as a little bit of mana, making him very mana efficient. In order to compensate for the health cost, Thana regains health by killing, making him also very efficient in healing and giving him sustain. This ability allows Thana to jungle very well, as he almost always comes at full health (since he just regain his health from camps/minions/killing in a gank).

Cooldown Reduction
Not only does he heal, on kill Thana subtract 5s from his CD, meaning he will have his abilities back up and ready to keep going for the next kill, or easily running away (notice that this only trigger on god kill).

Enemy Reveal
Thana can see low health enemies, making ganks easier, but also helping him with general map awareness.







Death Scythe
Ability 1



Thana's main ability. Most of the skills of a good Thana player are in this ability. Hitting or not Hitting it will most likely set apart a successful gank from a failed one, and it will be the difference between you killing the enemy or dying. Let's break down this ability:

Damage
This ability provides great burst damage, allowing Thana to hit extremely hard, especially early game. Furthermore, this ability also has percentage damage (%), giving Thana the ability to hit tanks with relatively high damage.

Heal
Not only does this ability does awesome burst damage, but it also heals Thana pretty well, allowing him to use this ability for sustain, or turning on enemy if needed, very effectively.

Slow
On top of bursting down a god, it also slows him down for 3s, giving you the edge if you need to chase after that to finish the enemy off.

As I said, this ability packs a great deal of damage, but even more so in the early game. At the early stages of the game, this ability alone is capable of taking about 50% of an enemy's health. This ability can also Auto-Cancel for more damage (more on that in Mechanics), and the heal will be very useful at boxing and low health situations.






Scent of Death
Ability 2



Very useful ability, giving Thana two completely different types of benefits in just one buff

Speed Buff & Slow Immunity
Giving Thana both speed buff and slow immunity, makes this ability very effective at both chasing enemies, and escaping. Notice that Thana also gains bigger speed buff for chasing low health enemies.

Penetration
The extra penetration will let you be very versatile with your build - either building less penetration for higher damage for the squishies, or getting relatively good damage also against tanky enemies. This aspect makes the buff well suited also as a pre-gank buff, giving you the speed to get in quick, and also helping your burst damage hit harder.






Soul Reap
Ability 3



Not as complex as his other abilities, this simple ability adds a nice touch to Thana's kit

Damage & Type
This ability has a decent amount of damage, but it doesn't burst as hard as Death Scythe. On the other hand, this ability's cone shaped AoE makes it very easy to land, and easy to hit groups of targets, making it great for camps and waves clearing (but also as some extra damage before or after Death Scythe).

Silence
The silence will prevent enemies from using abilities, making this ability ideal to use to prevent the enemy from dashing or jumping either before Death Scythe, or after it during chase.






Hovering Death
Ultimate



This ability rounds up Thana's kit perfectly, with a multi-purpose ult that will compliment all his other abilities

Execute
When ulting a god in threshold, Thana will insta-kill him, making this ability very effective against tanks. Even so, I will not recommend using this ability as a finisher often, and rather use it to Initiate (more on that in a moment).

Damage & Stun
This ability deals a nice amount of damage, but also (and maybe more importantly) stuns the enemy for 1s. This stun window will allow you to hit Death Scythe easily, and use your entire combo (more on that in Combos). Usually, dropping this full combo on a squishy in the early game will one-shot him. Because of that hitting this ability is very important, but I will still consider it lower priority than hitting Death Scythe, as successful ganks with missed ults are possible.

CC Immune
When using his ult, Thana is immune to CC, even before going airborne. This allows for easy counter for hard CCs like Ares or Da Ji ults ( No Escape, Paolao), or escape in case needed (along with the next benefit).

Airborne & Speed Buff
This aspect of the ability will be very useful for chasing an enemy, especially low health one thanks to the execute. It can also be very useful for initiating ganks, as it will allow you to get in lane quickly and unnoticed, surprising the enemy, and catching him out of position. The last option is to use this for escape, as this will allow you to create nice distance between you and the enemy, while making you airborne and un-hitable.


Conclusions

---

Leveling

---

Priorities
Your first priority as Thana is always Death Scythe as it is your main ability, and your second priority will be Hovering Death, increasing your damage burst and gank potential. If you can, always level one of those.

After that you have a choice between prioritizing Scent of Death, giving you more mobility and a penetration boost, and Soul Reap, giving you more damage. Personally I prefer Scent of Death, as I find the speed buff very helpful with rotating, ganking and chasing early, and the penetration helps your burst.


Levels 1-5
Thana can start either by leveling Death Scythe on level 1 and Soul Reap on level 2, or the other way around. Personally, I prefer leveling Death Scythe first, as you get help in your first two camps anyway, leveling you up and letting you open up Soul Reap. I think the heal from Death Scythe is more useful when clearing those 2 camps. Plus, for the offchance you'll need your burst - you got it. At level 3 you will of course want to level Death Scythe again, and at level 4 level Scent of Death so you will have all your abilities available. Finally at level 5 will be the only time you want to level Hovering Death over Death Scythe, allowing you to use it.

OR

Levels 6-10
Now you want to maximize your Death Scythe, giving you the highest burst damage possible. In between you will level whatever skill you prefer between Scent of Death and Soul Reap (as discussed before).

OR

Levels 11-14
Next you will maximize your preferred ability, with only prioritizing Hovering Death above it.

OR

Levels 15-20
Finally, max out your Hovering Death and your last ability

OR

---

Items

---

Thanatos needs to focus on dealing a lot of damage, because of that you will want to build a lot of Physical Power, and at least some Penetration to shred through some protections that the squishies will have. Also, you will want CDR, as your main damage is your ability Death Scythe, and your main way to gank is using Hovering Death. Most of the time you'll need some Protections, but if the game goes well and you're ahead you can go full damage.

Also, often players don't understand they are actually overcapping the CDR limit, so make sure you don't go over 40%, as you will not get any more CDR.

Note: Items that appear here are NOT the only items recommended for Thanatos, these items are only the ones that will probably be best built for him. You can also check out the builds at the top of the page for more item options. Remember to always counter build your enemy!

Starting Items
Assassin's Blessing will help clearing jungle camps fast and heal from them, as well as giving speed buff and some penetration later when it evolves.
Mace is currently the best "bang for your buck" for most junglers at start, giving you damage, and being able to later upgrade into different useful items.
As Thana doesn't need a lot of mana you will only ever buy Healing Potion or maybe Multi Potion to enhance your healing. I will recommend getting Hand of the Gods to help clearing your camps quickly, and get to the mid XP faster.

Mace will give you the best value for your early money, giving you some Physical Power and a cheap cost to upgrade into Jotunn's Wrath, Brawler's Beat Stick or The Crusher later






Core Items
I don't believe all of the items listed here are always a must on Thana, but unless you are going for a specific build, you should consider those items. Furthermore, these items are highly recommended for most ability based jungler in the current meta, and building all of these items IS a good base for any build.

Defensive Items
There are a lot of good defensive option, I listed most of them in the builds, but those are my most used items

Offensive Items
There are a lot of good offensive option, I listed most of them in the builds, but those are my most used items

Situational Items
These items might help you in specific situations or matchups. remember to always build against your opponent and don't just buy the same build.

Relics
Almost any relic is viable, but those are my favorites.

Mechanics

---

Basic Attacks Progression
Thana's progression is: 1/.75/1.5x , with the last attack being AoE. Meaning you want to utilize this for hitting all creeps in camps or wave (and timing your attack to hit when chasing or auto-canceling).


Auto-Canceling
Auto-canceling is very important with Thanatos, as it increases his damage output by much, therefore mastering this mechanic is very important.

Auto-Canceling is the ability of some gods to reset their animation from an ability, faster than from a normal basic attack, allowing them to hit a basic attack quickly after an ability (faster than usual). I will not explain how to perform this, but it's not very complicated and there are a lot of tutorials online, all it takes is some practice :)

As Thana, you will always want to auto-cancel with Death Scythe and Soul Reap to increase your damage burst.


Aiming
We already established that hitting Death Scythe and Hovering Death are the key. Let's take a minute to explain how to best aim these abilities, and your basic attacks, to maximize hitting chances.

Death Scythe has some short travel time, but it's not instantaneous, meaning you will have to consider the travel time. Try getting close to the target, minimizing travel distance and time, and making the shot easier for you, and harder for the enemy to juke. If getting close is not possible, try to predict the position of the target at the time of meeting with the projectile (you will get better at this with practice).
Also, make sure you have a clear line to your target, this ability does not travel through walls or minions, and can be easily blocked this way.
Be patient, get as close as you can, and only use it when you have the highest chances of hitting. Throwing Death Scythe is number one Thanatos mistake.

Hovering Death should consider 2 things. First, if the enemy has an escape available or not. If he doesn't you will want to place him in the center of your ult, allowing easy tracking and hitting, and low chances of missing. Take your time and aim properly, don't just click as soon as the enemy is inside the circle, as if he jukes well he might get out.







If the enemy does have any sort of escape available (dash, jump, etc), you will want to place the enemy offset, with the center of your circle a small distance in front of the enemy. This way, he might juke you, but the chances of you hitting him even with him trying to dash or jump away are still pretty good.







Enemy in these illustrations is facing up.
The second thing to consider when aiming Hovering Death is does the enemy have defensive options up. If the enemy has blink, aegis, beads, immunity, etc, he might get out of your combo easily. Because of that, you will want to be even more patient and try to burn the enemies defensive measures. With no defensive option and no escape, landing your ult will be very easy and will most likely be a kill.

Aiming basic attack might sound obvious, but good players will try to juke your basics with smart moves - sticking to you and going around you, sharp turning, and stalling. If close to tower, one or two misses will be enough for the enemy to get away.
To avoid missing, take your time before clicking and try to estimate where will be a good place to aim. Also try to be unpredictable, move a lot and randomize your attacks, don't just hold down left click.



Healing
Thana gain a lot of heal from his Passive Harvester of Souls, and his 1 Death Scythe, Always use it! use Death Scythe on minions, jungle creeps, or enemy gods to regain health when needed, especially when low. sometimes turning on an enemy or attacking a creep can be your savior. even when out of fight or just rotating, you can use Death Scythe on a minion when crossing a lane to gain a nice amount of health back.



Body Blocking
If executed well, you can Body Block an enemy god. Body Blocking is a situation where a god will stand in the way of another god, preventing him from moving in this direction. To maximize this effect, you will want to try and move along with the enemy to keep blocking him and slowing him down. By doing that, you will give yourself and/or your team mates more time to damage the enemy, and potentially killing him. Try to use it when positioning and executing your ganks (more on that in Gameplay).



Chasing & Speed
Early game, before leveling Scent of Death, you will have to count more on your speed buff. As the Jungler, you will have the speed buff with you at the start, and you will want to try and keep your cycle in a way where you pickup the speed buff every time it respawns. Having the speed buff, Warrior Tabi and at least one point in Scent of Death will make you faster than most gods at this stage of the game, allowing you to chase and outrun them. Later in the game you will level Hovering Death, which will give you another speed boost when needed, and if you level Scent of Death you will get a big speed boost , especially when chasing low health enemies. These will make you one of the fastest gods in the game at all stages, meaning you will probably be able to chase and outrun almost any enemy god, and escape them as well. However, when chasing, you will have to keep in check some things:

What I want you to take from this paragraph is that as Thana, you will probably be the fastest god in the match, usually by a margin. Use this to your advantage, but don't over estimate

Game Settings
This part is not a gameplay related subject, and also does not apply to Thana alone, but I will recommend using these methods.
The default game settings will strip you of some potentially aiding gimmicks that can be changed or enabled in order to more easily play the game.

Quick/Instant Casting
Pressing 'K' in game, or through the game menus you can change your abilities casting method from Normal Casting to Quick Casting or Instant Casting. These options can help you perform actions faster, letting abilities be cast either as soon as you release the ability key (Quick) or as soon as you press it (Instant). I usually recommend using Quick Casting, as it saves the mouse click (that might cause slight delay), but still enables easy targeting and cancelation of the ability (using Instant Casting is good as well, but harder).

Ruler
In the game settings you can add a Ruler to the floor, helping both with determining line abilities exact path, and with estimating distance. Very helpful for abilities like Death Scythe.

Ground Target
In the game settings you can add a Ground Target to the floor, allowing you to determine exactly where on the ground you're aiming. This will be less relevant for Thana, as none of his abilities have a mechanic that utilize this, but it can be helpful for Blink Rune, or other gods abilities like Skadi's Rune Of The Hunt or Izanami's Fade Away.

---

Combos

---

Main Combo
Spoiler: Click to view Your main gank combo. Use Hovering Death from safe distance to get quickly in to the lane, deal damage and stun. While the enemy is stunned, easily hit Death Scythe and then Auto-Cancel, to inflict insane burst damage. The extra auto-attack will help you hit harder. If the enemy is still not dead, chase with Scent of Death and Soul Reap. Try to get close and auto-cancel if needed and possible. Important: This combo can be used in different orders, you can use Scent of Death before engaging to get in lane faster, and you can use Soul Reap before Death Scythe to possibly deal more damage in a single burst, and then trying to hit him while silenced (harder than when stunned) . I prefer the order I mentioned first - making sure I hit Death Scythe, as Soul Reap is much easier to hit later, and using Scent of Death to aid in chasing if needed.

Blink Combo
Spoiler: Click to view When getting in with Blink Rune you will usually want to use Death Scythe first, as the enemy will not be expecting this, followed by an auto-cancel. Then use Scent of Death to chase if needed. Use Soul Reap for easy damage, and try to auto-cancel it if needed. Worst case scenario, use Hovering Death to chase and finish off, or escape and reposition if something goes wrong. As with most of Thana's combo, you can rearrange the order of abilities if you prefer Scent of Death to get in quicker, and Soul Reap as a silence before Death Scythe (though I will not recommend it in this combo).

Boxing Combo
Spoiler: Click to view Use Scent of Death and basic attacks against the enemy. Use Soul Reap and auto-cancel to give you an edge, or use it later to silence the enemy before hitting with Death Scythe

Gameplay

---

Positioning & Timing
Thana's main ability, Death Scythe is easily avoidable if used in bad positioning or timing. Generally a good player will try to stay behind minions or jungle creeps to block your Death Scythe, and once down the enemy can easily turn on you or escape.
Because of that, try to time your ganks when there are little or no minions in lane, and if there are then the enemy is far away from them. Be patient and don't throw your abilities, as using them at bad timing and positioning might be your death. If you can't land the ability you're better off waiting or running away if needed.

Important: One of the most common mistakes I see is people trying to Ult someone that's in between the minions wave. This will most likely fail, as hitting your Death Scythe after that will be very hard.

Another good strategy against Thana is juking hard, making him miss his Death Scythe. When playing against a good juker try predicting his jukes and not just casting straight forward. If possible wait and be patient, enemy mistake and/or team mate help could secure the kill. Sometimes going away from a low health enemy is the better choice, as chasing too far, getting out of position and sometimes even getting baited are things that do happen.

Important: Don't forget that especially early game, you want to be as time efficient as possible, as wasting time on failed ganks will lead you to be under-leveled and unfarmed. Because of that (and the previous reason), Don't commit to hard if not necessary.

Generally when ganking, try to position yourself between the enemy and the tower, and if possible Body Block him. This way he'll have a hard time trying to run back to tower, giving you (and your team mates) precious time for more damage (one or two basic attacks might just make the difference).


Ganking
When Ganking, Thana uses 2 advantages mostly: Burst Damage and the Element of Surprise, meaning that people that are aware of you and know that you're on your way to gank them, will stay back, save their dash/jump/blink/etc, and try juke your Hovering Death or Death Scythe. Only if you catch them offguard you can one shot them. That's why playing Thana against good players is difficult: they know this is your strength, and will try to stay aware of your position, their positioning, and their escapes. Because of that, try to be unexpected and use your high speed to rotate a lot.
Cordinate your ganks with your team mates, Ult from a safe distance out of sight (I like going from the big objectives), and if they spot you try to wait and burn their escape/aegis from anxiety. Ganking a lot and successfully is the key for being an effective Thana.
On the other hand, a failed gank, where you missed your abilities and the enemy got away is not a fight you want to force. know when it's time for you to give up. It is much better for you to give up early and go back to the jungle and search for other opportunities, than go in a fight when you don't have your Death Scythe or Hovering Death.

Remember: A good gank doesn't always mean getting the kill. Burning the enemy's actives or ult, pressuring a lane, making the enemy recall and lose farm and/or tower health, and forcing other laners or the jungler to rotate and lose their farm - can also mean a good gank


Early Ganking
Thana is very strong early game, but if you read this guide so far you understand that his strength lies in his initiation burst combo ( Hovering Death + Death Scythe). Even so, Thana can gank early (before level 5) very well, if used right.
At this stage of the game, without your Hovering Death, you will look for enemies that are over extended, have around 60% health or less, and preferably are between waves. In order to gank this way, get in lane from the middle or their side of the map, and try to hit Death Scythe immediately followed by an Auto-Cancel, as the enemy probably won't have his escape yet, and this will also slow him. When ganking this way you will want to coordinate with your team mates so they'll save their ability, and will be ready to attack and help you. This early on, you will not have much else other than your Death Scythe, and things might go bad fast, so you will have to rely on one-shotting the enemy, or team mates help. Sometimes it will be possible for you to kill alone with Death Scythe and auto-cancel, but you will always prefer that the team will help, this way some people will also get assist, and the gank will go smoother and will be more secured.
I usually take Blink Rune as my first active, as it helps with early game ganks and also gives you another way to engage/escape later in the game.


Tower Diving
Thana has one of the highest diving potentials, especially early game, as his passive Harvester of Souls gives him both a heal and CDR. Even so, diving is dangerous, and you should consider a few things before diving:

Way In, Way Out: The best possible dive is when you can get in quickly, with Blink Rune or Hovering Death for example, burst down the enemy, and walk out (with Scent of Death if needed). Sadly, sometimes things will not go so smooth - you might miss Death Scythe and/or Hovering Death, or maybe you got CC'ed or got hit harder than you expected. In this case you might want to get out quick, and for that you have to make sure you have a way out. Scent of Death or an active like Purification Beads/ Aegis Amulet/ Blink Rune are good options (note that Scent of Death will not help with hard CC, and Blink Rune will not help if hit or CC'ed at all).

Target: When diving you have to consider your target, diving a tank without execution might not be a good idea, as you deal a lot less damage to him. Also consider what the target could do. Does this god have an escape? Did he use it? Can he CC you under tower or counter burst you?

Game Stage: Diving early is a lot more dangerous than diving later in the game. Thana can dive insanely well even at early game, but in order to pull it off he must play very well and never commit. Either you get in (probably using Blink Rune), hit Death Scythe, get the kill and get out quickly, or you will probably die to tower (or get out with little health and lost farm time).

As you can see, those are not decisive conclusions, as it really depends on the player's skills and the situation. However, as you gain experience your judgment will get better and your tower diving will be better calculated and executed. One last tip is do not get too committed to a dive, know to accept when it's failed, and you have to get out, even if that means leaving the enemy under threshold.


Camp Clearing
Always try finishing off the camp with full health. That means that low level, try to use Death Scythe closer to the camp's end rather than as a first hit - this way you'll get your health back.
When I fight the camps early game, I usually use a basic attack on one of the small creeps, then another basic attack on the big creep, and the hit the AoE basic attack on all three. Then I repeat the same thing, but I start with the other small creep. After that I quickly use an ability and auto-cancel to hit the big creep again. I try to time the ability to the death of the small creeps from the big basic attack. Also try attacking the camp as early as possible, giving the first attack even on the way to position yourself for the AoE.
Also know that Death Scythe is great for stealing/securing camps, and your ult can be used to steal objectives (though it will be hard escaping 5 people on FG after burning your ult).


Boxing
Thana is a very bad boxer overall, but he has one ace up his sleeve. Death Scythe along with his passive Harvester of Souls, can help him very much when in boxing situations.
When boxing, use Scent of Death if you have it - either to escape if you think it's a fight you don't want to take, or as a booster for the fight. Try using basic attacks as much as possible, sticking to the enemy, going around him, and trying to juke his attacks. When either you or the enemy are getting low use Death Scythe or the boxing combo (more on that in Combos) to burst the enemy and heal yourself.

Important: Try saving Death Scythe as much as you can, you will want to maximize its healing and burst. A good rule of thumb is only use it when either you're going to kill with it, or you are going to die if you won't use it. Also, if you find yourself completely hopeless, use your ult as a turn or an escape.


Late Game
Thana's effectiveness drops in late game, as it becomes a lot harder to gank on team fights. At this stage of the game, try to stay behind or away, and wait for the moment to strike. You will want to attack for at least one of these goals:

Ganking or Chasing one god that's away from his team Executing one or more key targets (preferably when you think you can also get out) When you can land a big 4 or 5 people stun and help your team, use this situation to also hit hard on one of the squishies. If you can poke with your 1 and 3 ( Death Scythe & Soul Reap) and get out safely

When your team attacks an objective or structures, stay with them and help. Thana shreds those.

Strategies

---

Game Start
As the game start you want to do two things: choose your jungle cycle, and analyze the enemy team. The classic jungle cycle will be:
And then keep cycling, adding more camps as you get stronger and able to clear them. As you understand, keeping up the cycle leaves no time for extra actions. Because of that, you will not want to complete the entire cycle more than once or twice before starting to rotate to lanes and help out. You will have to be very effective and quick, as when you're not farming you lose time and get behind. On the other hand, rotating and ganking correctly will put you ahead of the enemy jungler, and help your team gain more pressure. Changes to the cycle are more than possible, and usually the game will dictate your cycle.

Analyzing the enemy team consist of two major aspects: who is playing where (is Hades Solo or Mid? is Nemesis Jungle or Solo?) - this will help you figure out which ones are your potential gank targets. Always try to gank the squishy gods with little or no escape (mostly mid laners, usually ADC, sometimes solo). The other aspect is to understand who is the enemy Jungler, and play accordingly.

Example: If the enemy jungler is Serqet she will probably clear faster than you early game, meaning she will get to Mid XP faster. In this case you will want to either rush Mid XP before her, try and steal it in time or let her have the camp and use this time elsewhere.

Example 2: The enemy jungler is Arachne. You will have to give up the Mid XP or clear it quickly with the help of your mid laner, as fighting over it with her will be very hard for you.



Early - Mid Game
This is the time for junglers to shine, but Thana will shine even brighter than most jungler. Thana's progression makes him "high risk - high reward" type of god. When ahead, he will be very dangerous and hard to deal with - rotating between lanes quickly, ganking and one shoting non-stop. Staying behind on the other hand, will make Thana very ineffective, as not being able to burst down the enemy will allow them to just run away with nothing for you to do about it.

In order to get this going, you will want to start snowballing as soon as possible. You cannot do this by only farming the jungle and cycling, you will want to actively agress and gank the lanes, preferably as early as you have an opportunity, and even before reaching level 5 (without your ult). That is the reason Blink Rune is very recommended, making ganks this early easier. As the game goes on into the Mid Game, you will have more options, but know that so will the enemy, so depending on how well you performed in the early game, the Mid Game might change for you.

If you did very well, meaning you will be ahead, this stage will be easier for you, allowing you to keep snowballing. In this case you will want keep ganking as much as possible to keep your lead and increase it. Try shutting down the stronger people in the enemy team to help your team.

If you did just ok, meaning you were only able to keep up with the enemy, you will want to do two things:
First, try to gain your lead. At this point of the game you know who's the weak link on the enemy team, so try to abuse him. Try to deny farm for the enemies rather than just farm yourself (by clearing enemy camps and shared camps before they can clear them), and try to shut down the enemy jungler if possible. Don't forget to counter build the gods that shut you down. all of these will help get yourself ahead.
Second, remember that. After the game try to analyze why did you not get ahead. Was it because you did not gank successfully? Because you did not gank enough? Reflecting on yourself and finding your own mistakes and misplays will help you know what your weaknesses are, and ultimately make you a better player.

If you did not do well, and you're behind, you will want to change your tactics a bit:
First, use the first point given for the previous situation, but tone down the risk even more. Try to farm as safely as possible, and only gank when having good chances of success. Do not go for risky actions as the enemy will have an advantage over your. Safe and efficient farming will help you get back to the game, and close the gap.
Second, After the game try to analyze why did you get behind. Was it because you did not gank successfully? Because you did not gank enough? Reflecting on yourself and finding your own mistakes and misplays will help you know what your weaknesses are, and ultimately make you a better player. (yes, I know this is the same tip again, this is very important :) )



Late Game
We already covered they way you should help your team during team fights and most of late game under Gameplay, but it is important to understand what is the larger strategy as a Jungler in this stage of the game.
As the game phase changes from lanning to a more "random" team fighting phase, the effectiveness of most junglers falls off, as ganks become rarer and harder the perform since teams will roam together. At this point, in order to still be somewhat helpful to your team, you will have to change your way of playing and your aim.
Use the methods discussed in Gameplay to maximize your help at team fights, but your true late game help will start as your team pushes towers/phoenixes/the titan or attacks an objective.

As a high-damage god, along with the ability to quickly heal and return to the fight, you will be very important at those moments, as you shred through structures and objectives with your high Physical Power and Penetration. Also your CDR will enable you to enhance your damage against them even further, and heal quickly and return to the fight.
Split pushing is another great way to use your strengths, and sometimes will be the right action over being present in a team fight (since your help to your team is quite minimal, and the pressure on the enemy team might force them to flee).

---

Summary

---

As this guide is about to (finally) end, I want to quickly summarize that most important bits of the most important chapter, just to wrap it up nicely and cleanly.


Abilities
Death Scythe is your main ability, maximize it first, and use it well. The better you'll be with this ability, the better Thana player you'll be.
Hovering Death is your main ganking tool. maximize it second, time it well, and use it as an engage.
Use Scent of Death often and maximize either it or Soul Reap after.

Items
Build a lot of Physical Power, CDR and at least some Penetration. This will help you to hit hard and frequently. Usually some protections are needed, but if you are ahead you can go full damage. Don't forget to build according to the game - always counter build your enemies.

Mechanics
Learn and practice Auto-Canceling, know your basic attacks progression and use it. Practice your abilities aiming, use your healing and always try to Body Block.
Go for the chase! Nobody can outrun death! (except for sometimes, but you get the point)
Be patient, don't throw, and know when it's time to give up.

Gameplay
Always be efficient. Time = Farm! Practice your positioning, timing and ganks, and always try to coordinate with your team mates as much as possible.
If you master both the mechanical skills and the tactics you will be unbeatable.

PRACTICE!
Practice makes perfect! The more you'll play the better you'll get. Keep playing and don't give up!
VVGL & VVGF!

---

Thank You For Reading!

---

This was my guide about Thanatos, I hope you learned and enjoyed it. If there are any suggestion, comments, unanswered question or you just need more information about something - Please let me know :)

"It is time to vanquish the evil from this world!"

---