Thane: Long Live the King

Build and Guide Thane: Long Live the King

Cheat Sheet
Quick Level:

Valiant Charge

King’s Glory

Avalon’s Fury

Talent:

Heal

Items:

Gaia’s Standard, Sonic Boots, Shield of the Lost, Hyoga’s Edge, Mantle of Ra, Ancestral Glory

Arcana:

Indomitable, Colossus, Mythril

Introduction
Thane is a classic armored knight, operating as both a Tank and a Warrior. His abilities allow him to quickly close in with foes and knock them around, allowing teammates to finish them off or escape from the fray. Thane’s Royal Power passive ability allows him to regenerate some health when low, proving that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

Skill Build
Valiant Charge

Thane charges forward in a targeted direction, becoming Unstoppable and taking enemies with him dealing physical damage. The final hit briefly knocks enemies into the air. Leveling increases damage and reduces cooldown.

Valiant Charge is a versatile ability that lets you initiate fights by quickly closing the distance with opponents. The damage is mediocre even when leveled up, but the ability to move enemies around can be invaluable.

Generally you’ll want to prioritize leveling up Valiant Charge over Avalon’s Fury. Even if you’re facing off against of bulky melee attackers, lowering the cooldown on your signature ability is key.

Charge ranged attackers and squishy mages to cause them to panic and flee while you grab some free hits. Follow up with Avalon’s Fury to slow down their escape. Be aware that charging in leaves you vulnerable to your own escape; Valiant Charge has a significant 8-12 second cooldown depending on its level - level it up ASAP!

Have Valiant Charge pre-selected and ready to aim when coming up to a new lane. Try to flank opponents and charge them from behind, but don’t expose yourself to multiple enemy combatants.

You can also use Valiant Charge to escape. If you’re outnumbered and caught in a bad fight, use Avalon’s Fury first to slow would-be pursuers, then Valiant Charge out of there.

One of the best ways you can use Valiant Charge is to position yourself behind an opponent, and charge them backwards into your own towers or allies. Be aware of your positioning that you don’t get bursted down before you can follow through.

Avalon’s Fury

Thane strikes the ground around him, dealing physical damage and knocking foes into the air. It also slows enemy movement speed by 90% for 2 seconds. Leveling increases damage and reduces cooldown.

Avalon’s Fury provides a simple AOE attack centered on Thane. The damage scales well and provides a brief stun and slowing effect for anyone caught within range. Avalon’s Fury can provide some decent damage, but you’ll need to rely on more offense-oriented allies most of the time.

The slowing effect can induce panic on many squishier heroes, particularly if you just charged into them.

Immediately following up a Valiant Charge with Avalon’s Fury should be your signature one-two punch in every encounter.

Become familiar with Avalon’s Fury’s radius. Nothing’s more embarrassing then striking the ground before an enemy dances away from you - except maybe missing your charge.

King’s Glory

Thane charges up his sword and strikes a huge blow in a frontal cone, dealing true damage. Another 15% of target’s lost HP is dealt as physical damage. During the attack Thane gains 20% damage reduction and cannot be interrupted. Leveling increases damage and reduces cooldown.

Thane’s ultimate ability is his only ranged attack, but it does an impressive amount of damage in a wide cone. King’s Glory can help secure those early game kills you might have been missing due to a lack of ranged follow-up. It lets you bite back against ranged heroes who would otherwise kite you, daring you to charge into them.

Prioritize leveling it up at 8 and 12 to increase your damage potential and threat range.

PASSIVE: Royal Power

When Thane’s HP falls below 30%, he regenerates 24% of his max HP over 6 seconds. 75-second cooldown.

Thane’s passive encourages you to use guerilla tactics. Unless your team is going all-in on a critical team fight, be prepared to pull out to allow your health to regenerate so you can get back into a fight.

Items
As a Tank/Warrior we’ll be prioritizing Defense items, particularly those which grant more hit points. Bigger health pool = more health regeneration from Royal Power. If you find yourself facing a more ranged team you can prioritize Sonic Boots, otherwise Shield of the Lost and Hyoga’s Edge will help your damage mitigation, particularly against melee Assassins. Either way, Gaia’s Standard should be one of your first items to expand Thane’s regen.

Gaia’s Standard (+180 Magic Defense, +1100 Max HP, +5% Movement Speed, Unique Passive: When taking damage regenerate 8% HP over 2 seconds, 10 second cooldown). Gaia’s Standard gives you even more health regen on top of Thane’s Royal Power passive, letting you stick around on the battlefield longer.

Sonic Boots (+110 Armor, Unique Passive: Movement Speed +60, Unique Passive: Reduce normal attack damage by 15%). A popular item for many melee heroes, the Sonic Boots give you a much needed speed boost while also upping your defenses.

Shield of the Lost (+360 Armor, +1200 Max HP, Unique Passive: Reduce attack speed of nearby enemies by 30%). Every tank needs this shield to nullify some of the zippier melee attackers, as well as hamstring those you can tackle into with Valiant Charge.

Hyoga’s Edge (+100 Armor, +100 Magic Defense, +1200 Max HP, Unique Passive: Normal attacks increase your movement speed by 10% and reduce target’s movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds). Hyoga’s Edge is perfect if you find yourself trying to catch a more mobile foe. Charge in and even the playing field.

Mantle of Ra (+80 Attack Damage, +330 Armor, Unique Passive: Deals 100 magic damage to nearby enemies every second, double damage to minions). Thane likes to charge into the middle of teamfights, and the Mantle of Ra will ensure you punish anyone who’s foolish enough to remain close by.

Ancestral Glory (+1000 Max HP, Unique Passive: Resurrect 3 seconds after death with 40% health, 3-minute cooldown). Thane can be focused down quickly if your team isn’t coordinated when you charge in. Ancestral Glory can help alleviate a costly mistake.

Recommended Talents
Heal

120-second cooldown, you and nearby teammates instantly recover 15% HP and gain 15% movement speed for 2 seconds.

Expand Thane’s healing capabilities even more.

Talents
Red: Ideally you want to increase Armor and HP. Strength (I), Pummel (II), Indomitable (III), Blood Lust (III)

Purple: Lots of great choices for tanky characters, but remember, more HP = more health you’re regenerating. Life (I), Rebirth (I), Vigor (II), Vitality (II), Reinforce (II), Colossus (III), Undying (III), Benevolence (III).

Green: Same as purple, but you can sprinkle in some more armor too. Guard (I), Fortify (II), Endurance (II), Serenity (II), Bastion (III), Mythril (III)

Early Game
In the early game, Royal Power lets you hang around a bit longer than melee attackers who lack reliable self-healing, letting you stay in line to soak XP. Don’t overextend and try to get kills too early. You may be decently bulky but your damage is pitiful without backup. Better to pull back and let Royal Power do its thing.

Pair up with a ranged attacker or support in either top or bottom lane. Try to maneuver behind enemies and use Valiant Charge to knock them back into your own towers, but be mindful of your allies as well.

You can use Avalon’s Fury’s slowing effect to mount a hasty retreat if the going gets tough. Thane’s strength lies in quickly regenerating health - you can’t do that if you’re dead.

Mid Game
Once you get King’s Glory you gain an impressive ranged attack that enemies are rarely prepared for. Level it up to lower the cooldown and raise its damage significantly. Use it to poke at annoying ranged enemies, and slaughter those who try to escape your justice.

Valiant Charge can be used as an escape if you find yourself outnumbered, but be prepared of the stutter step between charging and resuming normal movement.

Rotate lanes as needed to protect your allies. Try not to get caught by yourself, as many nimble ranged attacks can deal too much damage for your health and armor to keep up.

Late Game
You’re probably the only tank on the team, so be mindful of your role in teamfights. Don’t charge into a full enemy team unless you want to be quickly bursted down. When a teamfight approaches save your King’s Glory for its damage reduction at the beginning of a fight. Try to isolate enemies with Valiant Charge, and quickly follow up with Avalon’s Fury to leave them disoriented, and hopefully annihilated by your allies.

Be aware of the map and enemy positions at all times, and try not to get caught by yourself without a tower to retreat to.

FAQ/Tips
You’ll live and die by your ability to precisely target your Valiant Charge. Closing the distance with enemies is obvious. Use it to ambush unsuspecting foes, knock them backwards, and set up combos with your allies and your own Avalon’s Fury.

Remember even when fully leveled Valiant Charge still has an 8-second cooldown. Do not miss.

Punish those pesky ranged attackers with King’s Glory, particularly once you’ve lowered its cooldown

Avalon’s Fury’s damage will help you in the jungle, but Valiant Charge will be mostly useless. Thane is not a great jungling hero but it’s always preferable to head there to get a leg up on XP and gold rather than lose an outnumbered lane battle.

Don’t overcommit to any fight unless your whole team is behind you. Thane’s health regeneration will get you back to the battle quickly, but only if you’re able to retreat in the first place.

Matchups
Thane’s health and mobility matches up well against most other tanks and warriors, though supportive tanks like Toro and Chaugnar can easily shrug off Thane’s crowd control. Fellow knight Arthur can be absolute pain to deal with, pull back when you see those golden blades emerge, or knock him away from vulnerable allies with Valiant Charge.

Most ranged assassins and mages can kite Thane, requiring him to use Valiant Charge. This can leave him vulnerable if they dance out of range, so quickly follow up with Avalon’s Fury keep them in melee range.

Thane is particularly weak to crowd control and stuns. Heroes like Diaochan will make your life miserable. Close in quickly or pull back entirely depending on how many allies and enemies are around. If you’re caught in a stun you can use Valiant Charge to escape - or surprise them by charging in if you have some support.