Janna Build Guide by MissMaw

Introduction

Hi there, I'm MissMaw, a veteran here on Mobafire. This is my first (somewhat) guide on Mobafire and I have one more guide published ( Leona Guide) and one in progress ( Taric Guide). I've been playing LoL for a little over a year now and with all my accounts combined I have about 1000 or so games played, and I'm currently in the silver league.

I main support. I play all kinds of supports, from passive and sustain all the way to really aggressive or poke supports. I've played a lot of games with Janna, and I consider her one of my main champions.

As a support champion your job is to help your team in several ways. This is usually done through either sustaining your team or helping them do more damage, as well as warding. Specifically for Janna, your role is to disable and/or control your enemies' movements, protect your allies, better position your allies and, using your shield, help them inflict more damage.

Pros & Cons

Positives

■ Synergizes well with virtually any AD-Carry ■ Lots of CC ■ High movement speed ■ Has good peel/ disengage ■ Difficult to gank

Negatives

■ No heal during lane phase ■ Can have mana troubles early game ■ Ultimate can ruin team fights if used in the wrong way ■ Is Squishy ■ Doesn't always fit in AoE comps

Masteries

The Mastery setup I have chosen is 1-8-22. I take 1 point in offense for the improved Exhaust. The 7 points in defense will help you take less damage and you'll have more health, and the 22 in Utility are all basically for everything else. I take Biscuiteer for a little extra sustain during lane phase, Explorer is useful for warding the enemy's brush at the start of the game. Wealth and Greed will assure that you'll have enough gold for the essential items despite getting little to no cs. I also get Artificer since a lot of the items in my build have long CD actives.

Runes

I believe this Rune setup would be the most beneficial for Janna. You get armor from your marks and seals which will help defend you from the enemy AD carry throughout the game, and it's especially useful for early game. I usually take GP/10 Quints for supports, and Janna isn't the exception. It's usually safer to take flat MR glyphs.

Summoner spells

I've chosen Flash because Janna has no escape mechanism. You can always try to Q or R yourself out of a tough situation, but Flash will definitely come in handy. Other than escaping, you can try the flash>R combo. Just be careful when you that, you might end up dying/killing your ally :P

In my opinion, Exhaust is a must have for support, and again, Janna's no exception. Exhaust is super useful for bot lane since it completely shuts down the ADC it's casted on (for the duration, of course). Try to always use it on the champion who does the most damage, in laning phase that's the enemy carry.

Abilities & Sequence

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Tailwind // Passive >> Increases the movement speed of all allied champions by 3%. This bonus is lost while Janna is dead.

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Howling Gale // Cost: 90/ 105/ 120/ 135/ 150 mana / Cooldown: 14/ 13/ 12/ 11/ 10 seconds / Range: 1100-1700 >> Janna summons a whirlwind. If you cast the ability again it'll release the storm, which will go in the direction it was casted. It deals 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+0.75 per ability power) magic damage to any enemy unit hit and knocks them up into the air. The damage , knock up duration and distance traveled by the whirlwind increase for each second it channels to a maximum of 3.

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>> Howling Gale can be used as an effective pushing and farming tool. >> The knock-up from Howling Gale will interrupt channeled ultimates such as Requiem, Death Lotus, and Idol of Durand. >> Howling Gale followed by Zephyr is a very effective harassing tool for laning phase.

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Zephyr // Cost: 40/ 50/ 60/ 70/ 80 mana / Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / Cooldown: 8 seconds / Range: 600 >> Passive: Janna summons an air elemental that increases her movement speed and enables her to pass through units >> Active: Janna launches her elemental to deal magic damage and slow an enemy's movement speed by 24 / 30 / 36 / 42 / 48 % for 3 seconds.

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>> The passive is not active while the ability is on cooldown. >> When chasing you should first use your W and after that cast your Q. The enemy will be slowed and therefore the tornado won't have to travel long to reach him. >> When you're escaping from an enemy, keeping Zephyr's passive may prove to be more useful, as it grants up to 16% movement speed boost.

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Eye Of The Storm // Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana / Cooldown: 10 seconds / Range: 800 >> Janna creates a shield which shields an ally from incoming damage for 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+0.9 per ability power), which lasts up to 5 seconds. The target will also gain an attack damage bonus of 14/ 23/ 32/ 41/ 50 for 5 seconds.

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>> The attack damage boost will prove to be very useful during lane phase as it will help your carry last-hit and trade better. >> Eye Of The Storm can be used on allied turrets. >> Eye Of The Storm (at level 5) is approximately equivalent to a free B. F. Sword.

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Monsoon // Cost: 150 / 225 / 300 mana / Cooldown: 150 / 135 / 120 seconds / Diameter: 725 >> Janna knocks surrounding enemies back and channels healing winds, restoring 35 / 55 / 75 (+0.175 per ability power) health to nearby allies each half second, for 4 seconds (Max Amount of Healing: 280 / 440 / 600 (+1.4 per ability power)).

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>> Monsoon combines with your Q insures your safety during lane phase. >> Flash can work well with Monsoon by flashing into their team and separating them with Monsoon. >> You need judge when it is appropriate to use Monsoon, especially in team fights.

My ability sequence goes R>E>W>Q, I max R whenever possible - at 6,11 and 16. I get E at level 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, I prioritize her shield because it's the most useful thing for your ADC in earlier levels. The shield can help him last hit, trade and shield him from damage which is really useful and it should be maxed ASAP. I level W second, at 4, 8, 10, 12 and 13. I take it at level 4 because as said the shield is far more useful early than zephyr. I max it second because Q doesn't grant you very much as it levels while zephyr's slow is increased and it starts to do more damage. Q is maxed last (explained why), but I level it right at level 2 so I can have an initiation and also to help you/ your carry out of tough situations.

Items & Sequence

-- You pretty much start with a bunch of consumables. You get 3 Sight Wards, a Vision Ward (+1 Explorer ) and 5 potions (3 hp + 2 mp preferably), plus Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation. So with all of this you'll be able to stay in lane safely for quite some time. You'd use the Vision Ward for deawarding lane brush wards. But be careful; if the enemy support has a Vision Ward wait for him to place it before you place your's. Alternatives are starting with Faerie Charm, wards and potions or Cloth Armor (versus heavy AD) and wards + potions.

-- For early game you have quite a few options. You could go straight for Kage's Lucky Pick or Philosopher's Stone for some AP or hp/mp regen, plus the gold per 10. Getting both isn't necessary but you might want to if you plan on getting the upgraded items ( Shurelya's Reverie, Mikael's Crucible etc). If the enemy jungler tends to visit bot a lot consider getting an early Sightstone. You're bound to get this item eventually anyway, but usually after your first big item or after boots. Get it earlier just in case you're worried about ganks. Kindlegem is for the early CDR and health as well as for eventually getting its upgraded items ( Locket of the Iron Solari). Lastly, boots.

-- Right after you get your Boots of Speed you should upgrade them. What you upgrade them into depends on the enemy team. If they have more AD damage, or an AD damage dealing champion is fed, go with Ninja Tabi. Same goes with AP, if an AP champion is fed or the team consists of mostly AP damage, but also if the enemy has a lot of CC and you need tenacity, go for Mercury's Treads. Get Ionian Boots of Lucidity if there aren't any serious threats or any real CC, since your ultimate has a rather long cooldown. Boots of Mobility go well together with your global passive and your W passive. Useful for obvious reasons (warding, chasing, escaping, counter warding etc etc).

-- If the game is long enough you'll probably own all of these items, but either way, the order always depends on the game. After your upgraded boots you get one of these for items depending on the enemy team. It's preferable to upgrade your Sightstone as soon as possible though. Ruby Sightstone does the same thing Sightstone does, 'cept it costs 600 gold more lul Nah but seriously, you get bonus health and you get to place a ward more than you could before. Anyways, if your team is lacking initiation, upgrade your Philo to a Shurelya's Reverie. If your ADC is getting deleted in teamfights due to CC, get Mikael's Crucible. If your team is losing teamfights because the enemy team is doing too much damage, get Locket of the Iron Solari for the active (remember to use it !). Aegis of the Legion if your team needs to be tankier; more MR and more armor. Twin Shadows is an upgrade from Kage's Lucky Pick, it's good for chasing and escaping.

-- You don't often get to this point of the game, but when you do you want to go either more defensively or more offensively. Depending on which you get one of the items on either the right or the left. Randuin's Omen has a very useful active that can come in handy during a tf. Frozen Heart is good for the CD. Zeke's Herald is pretty much only good if you have 3 or more AD dealing champions on your team. Will of the Ancients has a very useful Aura for your AP carry (similar to Zeke's has for you AD carry) and Abyssal Scepter's aura is also beneficial for your team as well. Shard of True Ice is good for chasing enemies. It's best to use it on the ally who's doing the initiating. Banner of Command sustains your team better, and it has a good active for pushing. Lastly, Runic Bulwark is an upgrade from Aegis, it will give you more MR than Aegis did, so it's a good item if the main damage source on the enemy team deals Magic Damage.

Gameplay

The Laning Phase with Janna is a breeze. Your job is to protect the carry and help him secure kills. Janna does good with pretty much any ad-carry. It's true that she does better with some than with others, but in general she's a very safe pick. A good pick for Janna would be either someone who has long range (making them and Janna an excellent poke lane) or someone who has abilities that scale with AD (Janna's shield makes their abilities do more damage).

Poking with Janna basically means using your shield at the exact moment that your carry decided to poke. Doing so, you'll grant him more attack damage, meaning that each auto-attack or AD-scaling ability will do far more damage. It also means that if the enemy ADC decided to return the damage, the shield will stop him from doing so. It might seem hard or impossible to predict the AD's movements, but trust me it's pretty easy to get the hang of, especially if you've played with said ADC before.

Pushing means that your minion wave is moving towards the enemy tower. You can push by either constantly auto-attacking the enemy minion wave, or by using your abilities on the minion wave. Janna's considered a strong pusher (especially built AP) mostly because of her Q. If you let it charge for long enough it can help you push the lane faster. You'll want to push either when the enemy laners aren't there and you want to get to the tower, or when you want to deny the enemy carry farm (as they will be forced to last-hit under the tower).

Holding the lane, or freezing, is basically the opposite of pushing the lane. Instead of attacking the minions at random, you only last hit (well the ADC does anyway). You also tank the minions, so that they don't get to your tower. You're usually wanting to freeze the lane when you're behind. You can freeze the lane for quite a long time if you only last-hit.

Zoning means controlling the enemy's movements. Zoning occurs when you push enemies back from your minion wave and they're scared of entering your zone. This way, they're out of exp range and you're denying the enemy ADC farm. You should be very cautious when you're zoning. Keep the tri-bush and dragon warded, as they might call their jungler for help. If you're get zoned, there's not really a lot you can do. It generally means they're stronger, and if you can't get your jungler or mid lane to help it's pretty hopeless. If your tower is gone you might as well roam a bit.




In Teamfights you should focus on a few things. One is sticking to your ADC. Another is using your shield on either your ADC or an ally who's getting focused down. Be careful when you're using your ultimate, as it can easily cost you the fight if used wrong. As mentioned, your ultimate disrupts channeling spells, heals your teammates and pushes the enemy team away from your allies or it separates them. Use your Q when either chasing your enemies (use your W for chasing as well) or for escaping (W as well). Prioritise exhaust on AD dealing champions.

You should try to have as much vision on the map as possible. At the start of the game, you'd focus on warding bot lane. Tri-Bush and dragon should have a ward 100% of the time during lane phase. No matter which team those are the main places from which the enemy jungler/mid lane come in to gank. Since they are both such important spots, don't be surprised to see the enemy laners pink warding it, in fact it'd be good if you did as well. You should also try and keep the brush in the lane warded with a normal or pink ward since that's usually where the enemy support is. Bot is mostly influenced by the supports, knowing where the enemy support is and seeing his movements could mean a lot for your lane. And it also helps you spot lane ganks.

During mid game, areas like baron , blue buff and red buff should also be warded. You should always have a few wards with yourself when you start roaming. You should also be starting to ward the enemy jungle (The enemy blue and red buff, jungle entrances). Basically, just have all the areas in which you'd normally expect the enemy to be. Lastly, for late game, tl;dr is that you just have every little piece of the map warded. Well, that's not exactly possible, but at least aspire to have it warded that much :p Nah but seriously, towers are probably down (you lose vision in lanes), your team and the enemy team are roaming etc etc; Try to keep the jungle, baron , the river warded at all times.

ADC Match-up List

Ashe

Ashe and Janna do well in lane. Janna's E has really good synergy with Ashe's passive and a shielded Ashe at level 1 does a lot of damage on her first AA. Issues with their synergy are that Janna has no sustain for Ashe and also their ultimates somewhat counter eachother. Janna could possibly knock back other champions from Ashe's arrow, so be careful when using your ultimates.

Caitlyn

Together Caitlyn and Janna make an excellent poke lane. Caitlyn being super long ranged really benefits from Janna's E as it will increase her damage greatly and improve her poke. Janna's E and Cait's passive work very well together. What's also unique about the lane besides the long range poke is how Janna can stop opponents from blocking Caitlyn's ultimate by using her own.

Corki

The lane does alright, however while Corki is a good poke champion himself, a lot of the abilities he uses from poke scale badly w/ AD, making her shield therefore not as useful as is on other ADCs.

Draven

Draven and Janna go very well together. His E along with her and QW make a nice chain of CC which will allow Draven to do a huge amount of damage in a very low amount a time usually ending in either a kill or at least a burned flash. Draven's Q + Janna's E also inflict a devastating amount of damage.

Ezreal

Ezreal and Janna also make a very nice poke lane because Ezreal's poke ability ; his Q, scales 1:1 with AD making her shield extremely good on him. Janna also improves Ezreal's kiting potential.

Graves

While Graves scales exceptionally well with AD he's not really a good poke champion. When Graves attacks he goes all-out and he needs a support who compliments that. However, Graves' benefits a lot from Janna's shield and together they do a lot of damage with either of his abilities.

Kog'Maw

Janna and Kog'Maw make an excellent lane together. Kog'Maw primarily needs protection and Janna's a top pick as far as that's concerned. Janna's shield also really compliments Kog'Maw's long range for when he has his W up as it makes excellent poke, similar to Caitlyn.

Miss Fortune

Miss Fortune is also a strong poke champion (with her Q, which scales with AD) and therefore goes well with Janna. A slight issue they have though, is that Janna's ultimate might accidentally push people out of Miss Fortune's, similar to Ashe in that sense.

Sivir

Sivir is kind of similar with Graves in the sense that she'd need to go all-out when attacking, however her Q actually does synergize really well with Janna's E.

Tristana

Tristana is probably the weakest in terms of laning with Janna. Not only does she need burst (like Graves) and not poke, but she also does all magic damage (except the auto-attack obviously) making Janna's E way less beneficial for her.

Twitch

Twitch is weak in terms of defense, so Janna is very useful for him in that sense. Her entire kit can keep him safe, which is essential for him. However while being able to poke, Twitch benefits from burst far more than poke which weakens their synergy.

Urgot

Urgot has great poke himself and that plus Janna's E makes an amazing poke lane. He also has a shield, and that combined with Janna's is really strong against bursty lanes.

Varus

While Varus is more a burst champion, he also has very nice poke which Janna compliments with her E. Him not having an escape mechanism is also somewhat okay when laning with a Janna.

Vayne

Vayne primarily needs protection in lane and that's exactly what Janna does best. However, Vayne would need a support who'd apply more pressure to the enemy laners, which Janna usually cannot offer.

Summary & Credits

Thanks for reading !

If you have comments, suggestions or questions please feel free to post here or send me a private message. I will read everything and reply to questions and criticism.

Credits go to the lovely jhoijhoi for the banners done in the guide, to Luther3000 for all the help he gave me throughout the making of the guide and also Astrolia who also helped a lot while I was makin' this.

Change Log

3.1.2013 - Made a lot of changes as far as aesthetics are concerned.
16.1.2013. - Added Situational Items in the Items chapter ; Added Eleisa's Miracle to the cheat sheet (Situational) - Changed/Added some information to Gameplay Chapter.
20.1.2013. - Moved items around. Shard of True Ice > Alternative Items, Twin Shadows> Generally good purchase. Edited items chapter accordingly.
16.2.2013. - Changed starting items, Changed guide name from 'Jus' a harmless breeze' to 'You'll be blown away'
19.4.2013. - Added Boots of Mobility, changed up the introduction, minor edits to text, updated item chapter, edited cheat sheet. Edited ADC synergy chapter.