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Master Janus Guide inspired by Pros (Conquest)

7 1 55,478
8.2
by wow_ok updated September 10, 2019

Smite God: Janus

Build Guide Discussion 5 More Guides
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Janus Build

Standard (Start)

Notes Pick up Baron Brew if you have a Baron Samedi in your team.

Notes

Pick up Baron Brew if you have a Baron Samedi in your team.

Build Item Book of Souls Book of Souls
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
2
Build Item Baron's Brew Baron's Brew

Full Build

Notes This is the standard full build. Sell Boots for Divine Ruin (If Antiheal needed) or Rod of Tahuti (Standard) later on when buying speed potion.

Notes

This is the standard full build. Sell Boots for Divine Ruin (If Antiheal needed) or Rod of Tahuti (Standard) later on when buying speed potion.

Build Item Book of Thoth Book of Thoth
Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Spear of Desolation Spear of Desolation
Build Item Obsidian Shard Obsidian Shard
Build Item Soul Gem Soul Gem
Build Item Soul Reaver Soul Reaver
Build Item Elixir of Speed Elixir of Speed
Build Item Divine Ruin Divine Ruin
Build Item Rod of Tahuti Rod of Tahuti

Janus's Skill Order

Portal

1 X Y
Portal
2 15 16 18 19

Unstable Vortex

2 A B
Unstable Vortex
1 3 6 7 10

Threshold

3 B A
Threshold
4 8 11 12 14

Through Space and Time

4 Y X
Through Space and Time
5 9 13 17 20
Portal
2 15 16 18 19

Portal

1 X
Janus creates a portal in the world. If placed on a wall, the portal will create a passage through to the other side of the wall that Janus or any ally may use. The portal may be entered from either side, but closes after 1 use.

If placed on the ground, enemies and Janus will fall into the portal, being teleported into the air above it. Enemies take damage upon landing, and are considered banished during the fall.

Ability Type: Circle, Banish, Damage
Damage: 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+60% of your Magical Power)
Banish Duration: 1.5s
Wall Portal Duration: 5s
Wall Portal Range: 100
Range/Radius: 55/10
Cost: 70
Cooldown: 12s
Unstable Vortex
1 3 6 7 10

Unstable Vortex

2 A
Janus creates two tethered unstable portals, far too small to fit into, and flings them forward dealing damage to enemies in their path. Enemies hit by both portals take 15% damage on the second hit.

Ability Type: Area, Damage
Damage: 110 / 175 / 240 / 305 / 370 (+80% of your Magical Power)
Range: 70
Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
Cooldown: 9s
Threshold
4 8 11 12 14

Threshold

3 B
Passive: Janus increases the movement speed of himself and allies each time they go through a portal or over a Threshold (max. 2 Stacks).

Active: Janus opens a multi-dimensional rift. Enemies who pass over the rift are slowed, and marked with Phase. Targets in Phase take additional Magical scaling damage when hit by Janus' damaging abilities.

Ability Type: Line, Buff
Phase Slow: 25%
Additional Scaling: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60
Rift Duration: 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5s
Movement Speed: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20% per Portal
Passive Duration: 5s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 13s
Through Space and Time
5 9 13 17 20

Through Space and Time

4 Y
Passive: Janus gains increased % Magical Penetration.

Active: Janus becomes CC Immune and blasts a ball of multi-dimensional energy across the battlefield, burning a portal into every surface it encounters within range 500. These portals last 10s, may be used by allies, and do not vanish after the first use.

Enemies hit take damage, increasing in Magical scaling the further the energy travels. Enemy gods cannot take more than 75% of their maximum Health as damage.

Ability Type: Line, Damage
Damage: 300 / 375 / 450 / 525 / 600 (+80% of your Magical Power)
Distance Scaling: 100% of your Magical Power at distance greater than 800
% Magical Penetration: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20%
Range: Global
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 110s

Janus Threats

Tap each threat level to view Janus’s threats

Max
4
Major
7
Even
4
Minor
2
Tiny
2

Introduction

Hi guys welcome to my Janus guide. My name is wow_ok and I'm maining mid lane in Smite. I've been playing since season 4 and have finished as master multiple times.

In this guide I'm gonna explain how to play Janus on a high level.

Pros / Cons

Pros

+Unique Kit
+High outplay potential
+Can save teammates
+High Mobility
+Can surprise enemies
+Fun to play
+Very good at farming
+Can easily get out of fights

Janus is very fun to play and he has a lot of good abilities in his kit. He can save teammates and himself with his portals and provide mobility to everyone. His ultimates can be game changing and he has a lot of playmaking potential.

Cons

-High skill cap
-Has a lot of counters
-Becomes useless very fast when not knowing what to do

Janus needs a lot of practice and understanding of the game to master. His playstyle is very unique and complicated. If played correctly, he can never die in lategame.

How to play Janus

[Early Game]

Janus in very strong in the late game so you should always look out to farm. His mobility and waveclear makes it very easy for him to do so. Always clear mid and backcamps but try not to take too much farm from your jungler. While farming you should try to ult and pick off enemies, or save your teammates from incoming ganks.

[Mid Game]

When you get into the midgame you have a lot of options. Due to your high mobility, you can easily roam and gank other lanes. You can easily steal enemy camps and get away with it so deny as much farm as possible. You reach your best power spike in late game so try to prepare for it by looking for ganks and objectives.

[Late Game]

In lategame Janus has a very unique role. Janus usually doesn't stay near his teammates. His high mobility allows him to get to places, where he can easily hit his enemies. In teamfights you should always poke enemies and CC them with your portals without putting yourself in a bad spot. Try to pick someone off with your ultimate by going in and hitting someone with ur 2 right after. Always play alone and seperated from your teammates unless you are being focused.

Items

The best Items for Janus are always CDR. You want your cooldowns to be as low as possible to spam your 1 + 3 and keep your bonus movement speed refreshed.

and are core Items. You can buy them together or seperately but you definitely have to get one of those. If you have problems managing your Mana I recommend Book of Thoth, while Chronos Pendant provides even more CDR to play around your Ultimate and Mobility.

is obviously a must-have aswell. You should always look to pick it up after getting your main Items and not rush it as you should rather focus squishies than tanks as Janus.

Abilities

This Ability places a portal. If placed on the ground, enemies that walk into it take damage shortly after. If placed on the wall, teammates and Janus can walk through it to teleport and grant them movement speed. If Janus walks through a portal, he also gains 15% scaling on his next ability.

Creates 2 portals that fly into a set direction and deal damage to enemies. Deals 15% increased damage if enemies are hit by both portals.

Spawns a rift on the ground that provides movement speed to allies and Janus when walking over it. If enemies walk over it, they are slowed and take additional damage from Janus abilities.

Passively also grants movement speed to allies and Janus when going through portals.


Shoots an energy ball that goes through walls and places portals onto them to a specific amount of distance. The further it flies, the more damage it deals to enemies.



Combos

When using your abilities, always look to activate your passive and go through a portal or place a under your enemies.

Known combos are:
and . Place a portal under your enemies to hit them with both portals from unstable vortex and deal increased damage. While doing this combo, you can also put a under the portal to make sure that enemies walk over it as soon as the effect ends.

and . Try to hit an enemy with your ultimate, then go through the portals and use your 2 as a follow up. This activates your passive and deals bonus damage.

Tips and Tricks

Tips for hitting both portals of :

Get close to the enemy to make sure they get hit as soon as the ability activates, so they get hit by both portals.

Wave clearing:

Janus waveclear is weird shaped. To make sure you hit the entire wave, use it sideways. Walk up to the wave and move to the left or right, then use your . You can also use the first tip and get very close to the wave, then hit the first row and second row with both portals. This is very risky though as it puts you close to your enemy.

You should practice this mechanic in the Jungle Practice mode.

Refreshing your movement speed:

To make sure you get the most out of your bonus movement speed from your passive, always wait untill the movement speed is about to expire. When its at 1s, place another portal or threshold to refresh the movement speed.

Conclusion

Janus is a very fun Character to play but his winrate is currently low due to his high skillcap. I recommend picking him up and practicing him as his abilities can be very game changing and fun to experiment with.

I once duo queued with a Janus main and he would always save me with his portals :).

I would appreciate if you voted his Guide up and overall I think Janus is a great God if you are looking for a unique kit with high outplay potential.

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Collapse All Comments

1
Kriega1 (143) | September 10, 2019 8:50am
You don’t think E-Staff or Myrddin Staff are good items on Janus?
1
wow_ok | September 11, 2019 5:00am
E-Staff is an item that provides extra tankyness which Janus doesn't need due to his high mobility, so you would want to get more important items instead. Myrddin Staff currently feels too weak and doesn't fit Janus playstyle, you want to focus down squishies using your combos rather than continously poking so I don't recommend it.

If you feel like you need more self peel though you should consider buying E-Staff or Book of the Dead.
1
GaseousClay (1) | September 11, 2019 5:16am
On EStaff you forget its STEALING. So you kill them faster. Imagine a proc from ability hitting tank and a squishy. More teamfight utility imo
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League of Legends Build Guide Author wow_ok
Master Janus Guide inspired by Pros (Conquest)
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