Janus

Janus Guide

Janus is one of the top mages in SMITE with a high skill cap but huge playmaking potential. For laning, focus on clearing fast with your 2, Threshold. Use it to damage the whole wave and poke the enemy mid. Look to pressure and gain lane dominance. Your passive gives movement speed through thresholds, so place one in the jungle entrance to escape ganks.

Janus works best in mid, but can flex to support or jungle. For mid, pair with a jungle providing solid ganks and CC like Thor, Serqet or Fenrir. As support, work with an ADC providing early pressure to get kills like Ullr, Anhur or Hou Yi. In jungle, gank mid first to get Janus ahead, then FG lane. Janus relies on magic power, so loses effectiveness in side lanes.

For abilities, master your 2 (Threshold) and ultimate (Through Space and Time). Place thresholds through walls or in the jungle to escape, chase or rotate quickly. Your 1 (Unstable Vortex) slows and damages enemies. Use it to peel for allies or secure kills. Your 3 (Portal) creates a teleport for you and allies. Place an entrance in base to get back to lane, or exit near an objective to take it quickly. Your ultimate has global range. Use it to gank side lanes, chase low health enemies, escape danger or snipe objectives from across the map.

Your role is high burst damage, utility and controlling teamfights. Work with your jungler to get ahead early, then rotate together for kills. In teamfights, poke from a distance with your 1 and 2. Look for a chance to dive the backline with your ultimate, or place a threshold behind enemies for your team to collapse. You can also peel for allies using your 1, 2 and portals to help them escape. Communicate with your team, especially when your ultimate is up so you can set up cross-map plays.

Janus has high scaling so build power and pen. Start Mage’s Blessing and Tiny Trinket. Build pen boots, chronos pendant, obsidian shard, soul reaver. Situational items are Spear of Desolation for flat pen, Rod of Tahuti for power, Divine Ruin for antiheal. Your core is Boots, Chronos, Shard, Reaver. For relics, blink allows you to chase or dive with your ultimate. Purification keeps you safe from crowd control so you can burst enemies.

A few tips: Your passive gives movement speed through thresholds. Use them to rotate, chase or escape. Your 1 slows enemies, making it easier to land your 2 or ultimate. Your 2 damages enemies and buffs allies. Place it in the jungle or near objectives for vision and speed. Your 3 teleports you and allies. Use it to get back to lane, take objectives fast or gank other lanes. Your ultimate has global range. Look for low health enemies to snipe, or place it behind teams to dive the backline. Spear of Desolation gives flat pen, increasing your damage significantly. Buy it 3rd or 4th item. Chronos Pendant lowers your cooldowns allowing you to spam abilities. It’s a core item 2nd.Start Mage’s Blessing, Lost Artifact and pots. Build into Chronos Pendant. Finish boots, then pen.

With time, you’ll master landing max range snipes with your ultimate and placing thresholds through walls for quick escapes. Follow these tips and Janus will be your ticket to climbing ranked through mechanical outplays and controlling the pace of the game. Focus on your positioning, awareness of the map, and combining abilities for huge bursts of damage. You have the tools to dominate teamfights and skirmishes in the jungle. Build efficiently, communicate with your team, and victory will be yours!