Janna - The Storm's Fury
She'll blow you away





Introduction


This guide is meant to teach players how to play a successful support Janna. Janna can be the most effective support in the game due to her ability to initiate, chase, save, push, harass and ward the map. I will show what skills Janna has, how to use them, what order to learn them in, what items to buy, what runes to choose, what summoner skills to pick and how to play Janna during the different stages of the game. Hopefully this guide will help you improve your Janna play and lead you to be the most successful support you can be. But first a little bit of back story.



Back Story


There are those sorcerers who give themselves over to the primal powers of nature, forgoing the learned practice of magic. Such a sorceress is Janna, who first learned magic as an orphan growing up admist the chaos that is the city-state of Zaun. Janna eked out what living she could on the streets. Life was tough and dangerous for the beautiful young girl, and she survived by her wits, and by stealing when wits weren't enough. The rampant magic that characterizes Zaun was the first and most alluring tool which Janna realized could both protect and elevate her. Janna discovered that she had an affinity for a particular type of magic - the elemental magic of air. She mastered her studies of air magic in a matter of months, almost as if she was born of it. Janna went from a street vagrant to an avatar of the air virtually overnight, stunning and surpassing those who taught her. Such a rapid ascension also changed her physical appearance, giving her an otherworldly look.

Seeking to right the injustice in the world (particularly the insanity that has become the city of Zaun), Janna has brought her talents to the League. She is a voice for the regulation of magical experimentation and a supporter of the development of techmaturgy, making her an indirect ally of the city-state of Piltover and the amazing techmaturgical minds that live there. Janna is also a new favorite of the League's many fans. She is often the center of attention at functions, fan appreciation days, and other celebratory events. There is something untouchable about Janna, however, and her affections can change as quickly as the wind.

Do not be captivated by Janna's beauty. Like the wind, she is one gust away from terrible destruction.



Abilities


Passive: Tailwind - Increases the movement speed of all allied champions by 3%.


Q: Howling Gale - Janna summons a mighty whirlwind, which she can release to deal 60/85/110/135/160 (+0.75) + 25/30/40/50/60 (for each second it charges) magic damage to all targets in its path, in addition to knocking them into the air. The distance traveled by the whirlwind increases for each second it channels.

Janna's Howling Gale can be used in many different situations. She can use it to toss up an enemy while chasing or while running from a gank. It can also be used to farm a group of minions while trying to push a lane. One if it's most important uses, though, is that it can stop channel skills. I.E. Kat's ult.


W: Zephyr - Passive: Increases Janna's movement speed by 8/10/12/14/16%, and allows her to move through units. Active: Janna launches her elemental at the target, dealing 60/115/170/225/280 (+0.8) magic damage, and slowing their movement speed by 24/30/36/42/48% for 4 seconds. Janna loses the passive benefit while Zephyr is on cooldown.

Janna's Zephyr is a great passive while moving around the map. Like Howling Gale, though, it can be used while chasing or running from a gank. Janna's ability to slow an enemy is a great asset for setting up ganks as well. This is also her best skill for early game harassing


W: Eye Of The Storm - Janna shields her target ally champion or tower, absorbing 80/120/160/200/240 (+0.9) damage and buffs them, increasing their attack damage by 14/23/32/41/50 for 5 seconds (can target Turrets).

Janna's Eye Of The Storm is one of her best moves. She is able to shield an ally or a tower while giving them a damage buff. Although the buff is not a huge increase, the shield can save a player from an ignite or from a last hit by an enemy.


R: Monsoon - Janna knocks surrounding enemies back and channels healing winds, restoring 70/110/150 (+0.35) health to nearby allies each second for 4 seconds.

Janna's ultimate, Monsoon, gives a small impact heal for everybody around her. This heal can be used to heal a team during a teamfight or save an ally from an ignite. More importantly it knocks all enemies near her outwards. This can be used to separate carries from tanks or to knock back enemies before they get the killing blow on an ally.
Warning: Be careful how you use this. It is common to see bad Janna's knock away an enemy when he is almost dead. It can ruin a teamfight if used incorrectly.




Skill Order







Runes


Marks - Greater Mark of Fortitude

Seals - Greater Seal of Fortitude or Greater Seal of Intellect
Depends on if you feel you need more life or mana early game

Glyph - Greater Glyph of Focus or Greater Glyph of Celerity
If you need more CDR early get Focus otherwise use Celerity for late game CDR

Quintessence - Greater Quintessence of Focus or Greater Quintessence of Fortitude or Greater Quintessence of Avarice
If you want more CDR go with focus, otherwise go with Fortitude for more early game life. If you have to hard a time with money management due to low cc, use Avarice to help you build items / continue to buy wards



Masteries




There are two ways to go with masteries. One is a little more offensive, while the other is a little more defensive. If you want more CDR, base AP, and Magic Pen go with the Offensive build. If you want more base MR, Defense, and dodge go with the defensive build.



Summoner Skills


Teleport - This is used to help Janna be anywhere any time. As Janna you will need to be all over the map to push lanes, ward the map, and support your team. Teleport makes your duties 100x easier.
Clairvoyance - Clairvoyance is a must. Not only will your wards help you to keep track of the map but CV will help you see anywhere else. CV can save team fights and help your team successfully gank.

Some people like to use flash or ghost on Janna. In my opinion, Janna already has enough escape capabilities. Teleport is a much more useful skill for map control.




Item Build


Starting Items:


Regrowth Pendent and Mana Potion


Early Base Items:


Philosopher's Stone
Heart of Gold
Boots of Mobility


Core Build:


Boots of Mobility
Aegis of the Legion
Soul Shroud
Abyssal Scepter


Optional Items:
Stark's Fervor
Banshee's Veil
Shurelya's Reverie

Consumables:
Sight Wards
Oracle's Elixir
Elixir of Agility
Elixir of Brilliance
Elixir of Fortitude

Note: When you are coming close to completing your fifth item it is usually wise to not get a sixth. Instead use the sixth slot for elixirs and sight wards so that you can continue to ward the map.



How To Play Janna


Early Game
As an early game support you will almost always go bottom lane. On the strange occasion that you do not have a jungler you could also take top lane. Since you are the support, creep kills are not your number one priority. Instead, use this time to out harass the other team and gain lane control. Janna's Howling Gale can be used to keep the enemies out of the bushes. Use this time to dominate the bushes yourself and continue to harass their team (with auto attack and Zephyr) while your lane partner gets free farm. If they do take the bushes back from you feel free to use your CV to hit them with some spells and regain control. Once you have enough for your philo stone and 2 wards go back to buy. On your way back to lane ward dragon and the enemy blue. This will usually help you get a gank on their jungler. By 10 minutes (with very few creep kills) you should be able to afford your Heart of Gold and some more wards. Make sure to keep the river and the buffs warded. By this time the ganking / team fight stages should be starting to come into play.

Mid Game
Janna is extremely useful for ganks. If the teamfight stage has not started yet feel free to start roaming between lanes. Initiate with your Howling Gale and then hit them with Zephyr right after. This is usually enough for you and your team to successfully gank the enemy. If you are chasing an enemy down, start with Zephyr to slow them down and then hit them with your Howling Gale afterwards. This will give you and your team enough time to catch up and finish the kill.

Once the team fight phase starts Janna can be extremely useful in more than one way. First off, she contributes auras to all around her. She can shield her team and disable the enemy. But Janna's Howling Gale can also be used to push a lane. So when a team fight is starting, Janna can quickly push a different lane and then teleport in to the teamfight. This will give additional pressure in other lanes if the teamfight takes more than a few seconds.

Don't forget, even during these stages Janna needs to be warding the jungle and the river. Knowledge of where the enemy is will lead to victory.

Late Game
By this point Janna should be about built. Her build is not expensive and with a few lane pushes (and your HoG / Philo Stone) you should have enough cash to have completed your build. At this point you should be traveling with a team most (if not all the time). Make sure once you are finishing your build to not buy a sixth item. You need that slot for wards. Instead, spend your money on elixirs. This late in the game, your job to keep their team disabled and give your team the shield / auras they need. Make sure to only leave your team to keep your wards up. Besides that, help your team push and support them to victory!



Q & A


Q: Why even play Janna?
A: Janna is the top carry in the game. She has a disable, a slow, a shield, a knock back and a heal. She can travel the map extremely quickly; keeping the lanes pushed and the map warded. Janna is perfect for ganking, chasing, saving and she has a huge impact on team fights. There is no greater carry.

Q: Why not carry AD or AP Janna?
A: Janna is a support character. She is used for the utility of her skills not her damage. If you want to play a carry pick an actual carry. If you want to try to play a support that maximizes use of AP go with Soraka.

Q: Why get boots of mobility?
A: Some people would prefer CDR or MR boots. Neither of these are a necessity on Janna. Janna already gets enough CDR from her other items and her runes. If you play Janna right you should have no issues with cool downs. As for the MR boots... Janna has enough survivability without needing MR boots. She is virtually unchaseable. Not to mention boots of mobility give you a lot more map control and the ability to quickly switch between lanes.

Q: Why do you not get two philo stones?
A: I used to use double philo stones until the recent patch. Since the gp10 doesn't stack with two philo stones I go with one philo and one HoG. I pick HoG over Kages for early game survivability. If you still have a hard time with early game mana control grab the mana manipulator from Soul Shroud before you build other items.

Q: Why do you max W first?
A: Not only does maxing W first give you very good early game damage but it also increases the slow on your target. This makes ganking and harassing a lot easier.

IMO max shield first, zaphyr 2nd. I think Janna should shield the carry you are duo laning with when needed and use zaphyr and nado to keep the other two people off the carry and generally keep the carry safe. I just don't think you have to harass with Janna to get the best utility out of her. Ofc, I say this because I don't like battling for bush as you put it simply because whoever is in bush etc is overextending and makes it easy bait. Good guide still though.

you are correct.

+50 ad is amazing in the mid game also.

This post was edited by chadfc92 on Jun 29 2011 06:30am

make it a color i can read without highlighting

I find with nado and zephyr, u can usually keep them off of the carry. And the shield is usually enough to counter any early game attacks for your carry.



sorry. Used colors that reminded me of Janna. Forgot not every1 uses dark backgrounds

rofl @ maxing W over E

I do like that you described playstyle in depth and gave us more than just a skill order and a few items.
That being said, I don't agree with most of what's written in the guide. CDR on Janna is make or break. Can't tell you how many times I've saved people JUST as a skill came off cd--ionian boots are essential, IMO. Also, I disagree with most of the items. Like others have said, I max shield first. The damage bonus is huge, but don't discredit the amount of damage it shields.
I do like that you mentioned to keep the last slot empty for warding. That's something I've never thought about doing and I should start doing on the very rare occasions where I actually get to play a support.
Also, like others have said, the text is really annoying to read on the standard background.

tl;dr--I like that you included information beyond the items/skills, but I don't agree with the information and your text colors are annoying.

But can see blow

Good guide I have never lost a ranked match with Janna, she truly is amazing!

IMO, I agree with you. I always max my W first. Ionian boots and masteries, i can have it on an enemy constantly mid game. Carries won't escape my team

.



Early game the shield doesn't have to be used as much to save and teh carries don't really need the extra damage while farming. If you out harass the team with your Q and W the shield is simply not needed (much) in early game. I know thats not the popular opinion, but by mid-late game your shield is good enough to do what it is meant for. As for CDR I already include both Soul Shroud and CDR runes, and the mobility for map control outweighs the very little amount of time Ionian boots add to your already small CDs. This is of course all my opinon but I like to make sure I back up what I write in my guide.

As for the colors, sorry about that. I used the Black and orange setting on JSP and lightblue is easy to see. It also fits Janna's color scheme imo and worked well. Sorry to all those using the standard bg.