CaptainT's guide to a successful support Janna:



A lot of you may be telling yourself "I play Jana fine, I do well" etc etc. That may be true for you, but there are too many Janna players who don't know what the hell they're doing.

Pre-game prep:

Runes:

After the last patch(that buffed/nerfed) Janna got a major nerf to her mana pool, so much so that I've bought mana per level runes for when I play her.

9x Greater Marks of Knowledge (Mana per level)
4x Greater Seals of Knowledge (Mana per level)
5x Greater Seals of Regeneration (Hp regen per level)
9x Greater Glyphs of Knowledge (Mana per level)
9x Greater Quintessence of Knowledge (Mana per level)



I'd definitly suggest these.

Other suggestion:

Mana regen
Hp regen
Cooldown
Ability power

Masteries:

When I play Janna as support I like a lot of hp regen / mana regen / mana. So obviously the best choice is Utility Tree.

Offense Tree:

2 points Archmage's Savy (This can be changed to whatever you like it to be whether it be 1 plentiful bounty 1 Archmage etc)

Defense Tree:

3 Resistance 1 Hardiness
3 Strength of Spirit (This is a must!)

Utility Tree:

3 Perseverance 1 Haste
3 Awareness 4 Expanded Mind
3 Meditation
3 Quickness
3 Intelligence
1 Presence of the Master



Summoner Spells:

Ghost - Good for when Zephyr is on cooldown. Janna needs to run through units to get to her target she is supporting. This helps a lot.

Heal - Good to help heal when ult is down, or shield is down.

Ignite - Good choice to help finish an enemy off.

Smite - Good for TT. Helps control jungle.

Clairvoyance - Good to know where your enemy is.

Clarity - Mana problems? No more!

Fortify - Everyone died, base getting pushed. STOP IN THE NAME OF WIND?

(Bolded are my two most used summoner spells.)

In-game prep:

When playing support Janna there is one thing you need to keep in mind:

Eye of the Storm.

Absorbs damage and adds attack damage to the target.

Using shield as much as possible whenever its ready and on the right target is the key to Janna's success.

When to use shield and on whom:

Before a team fight, shield whoever benefits from the shield's extra damage first.

I've seen too many bad Janna's shield themselves before a team fight.

If you have a physical carry/dps character, shield them.

After that shield wears off, shield whoever is the lowest hp. If nobody is dangerously low, shield the carry again.

If your tower is being pushed, try keeping the shield on the tower, this keeps it from taking damage, and also helps it kill faster.

Howling Gale.

This item is one of the best knock-ups on the game. It has great range, and decent damage.

When to use Gale and how:

If you're in a team fight, quick-gale the person who will suffer from it the most, someone on their team is semi-low and has an escape move? Gragas / Nidale etc.

If you have someone who your team is focusing, gale them of course.

A good thing to know about gale is that you can cast it quickly (quick-gale), simply press the button twice, and it'll launch immediately. This can be used to your advantage to catch someone who is running, or to stop people who are chasing you.

Zephyr

Increases move speed and allows the movement through units. (when on cooldown)

When to use Zephyr and how:

Since you are a support character, you don't need to worry about killing people. That's not your role.

Zephyr is a quick casting spell that slows enemies. It helps your team get a kill/escape easily.

Never use zephyr in hopes of killing, that's not our job here. We're a support, so instead save zephyr, this will allow you to run through units at an increased pace. I personally only use zephyr as a means of saving myself/someone from a chaser, or slowing someone when they're being chased. Otherwise I let it stay on cooldown.

Monsoon(ult)

Knocks enemies back and heals allies over a channel period of time. Any enemy who enters the monsoon is slowed.

When to use monsoon and how:

There are so many things monsoon is good for. I'll start with healing.

When to use monsoon as a heal:

If the majority of your team is hurt, use it. (Don't use it to heal just 1 person.) Using it after a team fight allows you to stay in the lane and keep farming whilst the other team is fleeing.

When to use monsoon for it's knock-back:

There are several champions monsoon is a great counter for. Fiddlesticks and Katarina just to name two. If you see/hear them using their ultimate, use yours and knock them back from whence they came! It's a very good move in that aspect, it can also heal the little damage they managed to do before the knock-back, basically countering their attack 100%. Follow the ultimate with a quick-gale and they won't be able to get back into the fight quickly.

When fighting in the jungle and you + an ally get jumped, try using your ult close to the trees, to knock them to the other side, you can quickly turn a 4v2 into a 1v2.

When to use monsoon for it's slow:

Monsoon's slow isn't that great, but if you're saving an ally who's being chased. Try monsooning behind them when the enemy gets close, you'll knock them back and put the slow effect on the ground. Normally this allows enough time for your ally to escape.

How and when to level up spells:

1. Eye of the Storm
2. Zephyr (Can be switched with 3)
3. Howling Gale (Can be switched with 2)
4. Eye of the Storm
5. Eye of the Storm
6. Monsoon
7. Eye of the Storm
8. Zephyr
9. Eye of the Storm
10. Zephyr
11. Monsoons
12. Zephyr
13. Zephyr
14. Howling Gale
15. Howling Gale
16. Monsoon
17. Howling Gale
18. Howling Gale

Items:

Janna is nothing without cooldowns!

Meki pendant, this will keep you until you make the money for a Fiendish Codex.

Mercury Treads / Ninja Tabi depending on your needs.

Spirit visage This increases your hp regen by a lot, also gives you 12% CDR.

You will be getting either one of these, depending upon your needs.

Tear of the Goddess (Remember Strength of Spirit mastery? This is it's wet dream)

Death Fire Grasp (Use this to start off a fight, it does more damage based on their current HP, it'll help your team get the kill)

Arch Angel's Staff(After you get this, you'll hit nearly 200 AP with DFG/Arch passive)

At this point the game will probably be over soon (Especially if it is TT) but if it isn't:

Soul Shroud

Zhonya's Ring

Banshee's Veil

A few last notes:

When in battle, make sure you are behind your team at all times.

It does no good if you're in-front of them. Remember all you're there for is shielding the team. And using Howling Gale as a knock-up. And using Zephyr if they start to run/chase.

If they come to close to you, shield your allies, and run away. After all you can run through units if zephyr is on cooldown, and if you're using ghost, you still can.

When you're being chased remember you have several moves to help you escape. Try using a quick-gale directly behind you to give you a head start on running. If you're ult is on cooldown, you can use it to launch your enemies over a wall, or further back, giving you more capability to escape.

I hope you guys enjoyed this read. And let's keep Janna as one of the highest win% champions on LoL (according to lolbase.net at least)

Abbreviations that I may have used:

TT - Twisted Treeline
CDR - Cooldown Reduction
AP - Ability Power
DPS- Damage per second
DFG - Death Fire Grasp
HP - Hit points

This post was edited by CaptainT on Jun 22 2010 08:16am

Nice guide

Ty!

imo

mana regen/level runes are better than just mana runes

Well with strength of spirit and those mana runes, I hit 150 hp per 5.

And over 200 mp per 5 with golem.

shitty runes, shitty items, shitty masteries.
i see no real value in this build beyond novelty.
the way you have her build is just bad at everything. it's like you're trying to be everything at once.

pick something and do it well..... not like this build. death fire grasp lulz

go 9/0/21 and gear her like a regular caster. she's great dps, and support. not to mention one of the best kiters in game

The true role of a support is to support.

I don't see how having high hp regen/mana/mana regen is shitty, at all. High hp regen keeps you in the lane longer, allowing you to support more. High mana allows you to keep spamming spells and with blue buff means endless mana.

Not to mention I'm at nearly a 4-1 win ratio on Janna. And this is not including practice games.

I participated in in-house leagues and rarely lost a game when I played as Janna. (This was back when Janna was underplayed and considered underpowered by the majority of the community)

I did so well in fact, that they started banning her just so I couldn't play her.

So before you come into my thread, talking about how my build is "shitty" you should really learn what the fuck you're talking about.

End-game I achieve similar AP as other casters. Not only that but I have 10x the survivability and 20x the laning staying power.

Also, there is really no need to get kills on Janna. She doesn't scale as well as your carries with items. A 20/0/0 Janna cannot carry. But a 0/0/20 Janna could have supported someone who actually can carry.

I suggest you look up what a support truly is.

shit build.
deaths fire grasp on a full support champ
LOLOLOLOLOL

How is doing 30% of their hp in damage shit?

Supports are allowed to help your allies kill the enemy.

You're supporting them in killing the enemy.

well that's a good point. but in the true sense of the term, a support helps your team by buffing them or debuffing the enemy team. generally doing damage isn't a supports role.

oh i just saw you on runeterra. why don't you use that avatar? it's epic

This post was edited by et3rnal on Jun 26 2010 03:11pm