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Runes:
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Tailwind (PASSIVE)
Janna Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Blitzcrank
If Blitzcrank manages to grab either you or your ADC then the chances are slim to none that you won't have to blow Flash to survive. You'd think you'd be able to Q him to death, but the more you think about it, the more you realize that by the time you have time to cast Q, you've already been grabbed, knocked up, and wailed on by both him and his ADC. All you can really do is shield your ADC at every opportunity and use your Q as best you can whenever your ADC gets grabbed. In order to avoid being grabbed in the first place just stay behind your own minions. It's just like a Thresh hook: can't bypass minions.
Introduction and Janna's Strengths and Weaknesses
When we speak of Janna, ladies and gentlemen, we speak of an idea. We speak of the idea of security and safety, of protection and preservation, and ultimately, we speak of heroism and greatness.
Janna's Strengths +The Queen of Disengage +Teamfight machine +Overflowing with utility +Reliable ways of saving others who have gotten in over their head (She cures stupid.) |
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Janna's Weaknesses -Easy to kill -Offers only limited tools in the laning phase -Absolutely worthless if not with at least one teammate -Poor offensive capabilities |
I thank you, dear summoner, for making the decision to employ the majesty of Janna, The Storm's Fury in the Fields of Justice, for it portends greatness in you. Only the most wise and high-minded individuals seat themselves among Janna's ranks.
You might be asking yourself: what makes Janna so remarkable? Well, you see--wait, sorry you're wondering who I am? Me? I am but a messenger of the wind. Janna is far more important than I, so let us return to our discussion of her.
Janna is the Warden of Enchanters, excelling at protecting her weak allies with shields and heals from Eye of the Storm and Monsoon, as well as hindering the enemy from harassing your teammates with Monsoon's knock back and of course one of her most iconic abilities, Howling Gale. Janna does this all while buffing her teammates with bonus attack damage and a handy amount of movement speed from her passive Tailwind as well.
Unfortunately, for all that Janna offers her team, and as much as it pains me to speak it, Janna certainly has her drawbacks. She is extremely squishy, and enemies will not have a hard time bringing her down if she oversteps or is caught out of position. Janna also has pitiful, almost nonexistent damage, making her almost useless if she has no teammates nearby to strengthen. Consequently, Janna is the champion for a teamwork-minded summoner, for if you want to succeed with Janna without protecting your teammates, I fear you pursue a lost cause.
If you think you can effectively protect your allies on the Fields of Justice with just any old summoner spells then think again. If you take Teleport, for example, first of all I'll laugh at you, then Janna will roll her eyes, and then you'll learn who your real friends are, because real friends don't let Janna friends take Teleport.
That said, you do have some options for summoner spells; here are my favorites as well as some honorable mentions. They're listed in order of recommendation.
Flash
Flash is the only summoner spell on this list that is basically essential and problematic if you don't take. It's power could be difficult to grasp, especially for a newer player, but as soon as you start using it you'll wonder why you ever went without it. It allows for some amazing combos as well as additional mobility that Janna otherwise sort of lacks, so don't forget it! Besides, you'll probably get flamed by your team if you don't take it, so. |
Exhaust
The most classic and quintessential support summoner spell, this is my default summoner after Flash for a couple of reasons. The first is that you are probably the only person on your team who is going to take Exhaust, making it a unique strength for the support position. The second reason I like it is that it isn't selfish. After all, you are the support, meaning that, wherever you can, you want to use things that enable you to support your teammates, and reducing the enemies' damage is a primo way to do that. |
Heal
Heal goes hand in hand with Exhaust; whether you're the one to take it or your ADC, Heal is something that should just about always appear in the bot lane. Usually your ADC is the one to take it in order to prop up their otherwise poor defenses, but since you take Revitalize in your runes, it does make sense for the two of you to switch it up. This also gives your ADC the option to take another defensive summoner spell for themselves if they wish, like Barrier or Cleanse. |
Ignite
I very rarely take ignite, but there are times when it could possibly be useful. If you have a particularly aggressive early jungler, like Lee Sin or Elise, who want to gank early, and you're against a Soraka or a Sona in lane, it could be a good idea to take Ignite due to the Grievous Wounds it applies (something particularly useful against champs who do a lot of healing). |
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I know, I know. I can practically hear you typing, "Ramian, why the hell do you take Guardian? Shouldn't you take Summon Aery?" If you're wondering that, then take a long, hard look at Guardian's tooltip. It works on allies you're close to and allies you cast spells on. Plus, it has a surprisingly good AP ratio for being in the Resolve tree, meaning that Eye of the Storm's shield size is (almost) doubled whenever you shield damage with Guardian ready. Its usefulness doesn't fall off later in the game like Summon Aery does, and it gives you a movespeed buff, which Janna LOOOVES. Additionally, the secondary runes from the Resolve tree are surprisingly useful for supports. Font of Life gets proc'ed on both your Q and W, which is awesome for your ADC, Chrysalis gives you a bump in defense early on which gives way to AP, which is exactly what Janna wants to prop up her early laning phase, and Revitalize almost speaks for itself. Who doesn't want better shields? There are honorable mentions, of course, Summon Aery being one of them. Glacial Augment is also fun to play around with; it has handy synergies with your W. But as we'll soon see, all you really need from the Inspiration line is encompassed by two or three runes. |
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As aforementioned, you get all you need out of Inspiration by limiting your detour into it. You only really need these two Runes anyway. Magical Footwear is awesome for a couple of reasons, not least of which is the fact that you don't ever really need boots before 10 minutes anyway, and due to Janna's movement speed scalings, the extra oomph goes a long way. Likewise, it's hard to go wrong with Biscuit Delivery, especially if you're against, say, a Leona and Draven lane or something, wherein you'll need all the tools you can get your hands on to stay healthy. Other options include Cosmic Insight. CDR is just as hard to go wrong with. |
Janna's passive is by no means difficult to grasp or understand, but when it comes to using it effectively you'd be surprised at how often you'll find yourself in a position where you aren't making the most of it, like when you're behind your teammate fleeing from enemies instead of in front of them.
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If Tailwind is the first ability that gives Janna supreme powers of disengage, then Howling Gale is the second. At first glance, you might wonder why Howling Gale is better used for fleeing than chasing. After all, if you just Q twice can't you just knock up an enemy and chase them down from there with Zephyr? Well, no; it's not quite that simple. You see, no matter how you slice it, Howling Gale is slow. Really slow. Even if you just press Q twice to instant cast it, it then has a particularly slow travel time, giving your enemies plenty of time to see where it's headed and dodge it. It is simply easier to land the knock up when running away, when enemies are headed in its direction anyway.
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There are a few nuances to Janna that separates expert Jannas from... beginners, and management of your W is one of them. What do I mean by that? Well, first of all, there are two components to Zephyr. The first is the passive, which grants you bonus movement speed, and the ability to move through units, meaning no more minion block!! I'm sure we've all been there: stuck under the enemy tower, just killed them, the turret is trained on you and all you have to do is run away... but THERE ARE MINIONS IN YOUR WAY and they block your escape and you die. Yeah, that'll never happen on Janna (well, not while Zephyr is ready to use anyway). This bonus movement speed synergizes really well with Tailwind since bonus movement speed allows you to better position yourself around your teammates to take advantage of it.
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Alrighty, Eye of the Storm is probably the most discussed and highly praised ability Janna has. What makes it so special? Well...
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Sort of like your W, Monsoon has two components to it. The difference is that the two components of Monsoon are not mutually exclusive like your W's.
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Janna's early game is nothing special; it's extremely difficult to be aggressive as Janna in the early game due to her low damage, squishiness, and the fact that her kit takes time to fully come online. The ability that gives you the most control over the laning phase is definitely Eye of the Storm, but even that has a high cooldown until you have more points in it, meaning you'll need to make sure it counts whenever you use it. As far as your other abilities, Zephyr has almost no value until you've built up some movespeed and sunk some points into it, and Howling Gale, as we've already discussed, does not lend itself well to aggressive use. And it barely even needs to be mentioned how hard it is to be successful in using Monsoon aggressively.
Warding
You should almost always prioritize buying a Nomad's Medallion and Nomad's Eye as early as you can just for the wards it grants you, because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; if you can see the enemy jungler approaching your lane early, you can retreat to your turret before they're even in range of you. In other words, those vision-providing things are called wards for a reason: they protect you, and as the support, its your job to ward the lane. Your ADC is going to be far too busy buying damage, making it easier for you to be the one to invest in vision anyway. And when you do get your Nomad's Eye, don't forget to switch out your Stealth Ward for an Oracle Lens at the same time!
Items
F
I R S T B U Y S |
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These are going to be your first items in almost every single game. Most other roles call for a build style which prioritizes finishing a full major item before moving on to another, but in many ways--including items--support is a different kind of role. Building full items will certainly be most cost efficient for the stats they give you, but the support role revolves much less around quantifiable stats and more qualifiable game impact. This means it's usually more important to have a broad and versatile set of items rather than a focused set of high stats like your ADC or mid laner. These items provide that versatility. A Nomad's Eye is your best tool to keep both you and your ADC safe, and it has the added benefit of keeping your gold income high enough to keep up in terms of the pace of item completions throughout the game, and a Forbidden Idol enhances the effectiveness and frequency of Eye of the Storm, as well as Monsoon. Throw in a Control Ward or three plus an Oracle Lens, and you're set for the early game. Just don't forget to leave space in your inventory for boots at ten minutes! |
Warding
In the early laning phase, the ideal places to place wards are fairly limited. You'll want to place them near or in the lane, partly because that's where you and your ADC really need it and partly because if you wander too far you place your ADC in jeopardy and you lose out in experience.
Items
P
R I O R I T I E S |
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I try to finish these items in more or less this order in most of my games, the only potentially controversial choice being Boots of Swiftness rather than Mobility Boots. My reasoning here is that while Boots of Mobility do allow you to roam faster, this attribute isn't nearly worth it when you consider your passive from Zephyr. The bonus movement speed it grants you means you'll be moving around the map as quickly as you'll need to, and Swifty Boots have the added benefits of not losing their maximum movement speed by entering combat and reducing the effectiveness of slows applied to you. Beyond that, you also gain movement speed from an Ardent Censer, which you'll complete shortly. An Ardent Censer + Redemption, by the way, are precisely what Janna needs to propel her past her questionable early game and into the mid-game, when she really starts to shine. One Redemption in conjunction with Monsoon can heal an entire team up to full health from the brink of death. |
How to Teamfight
If you are on the front lines, you're doing it wrong. Janna is by no means a tank. It is nigh impossible to protect your even squishier allies if you're dead, and even if you're on the front lines and you don't die, then it is still difficult to protect the allies you need to protect.
-You have knocked the enemy away from a fed teammate, thereby saving the enemy's life.
-You have pressed R too far away from your teammates, making it difficult for them to benefit from the heal.
-You have held R for too long. I'm sure to wanted to maximize the heal that comes out of Monsoon, but don't forget that it roots you in place! The longer you keep your heal up, the more likely the enemy is to take advantage of your immobility and focus you down.
But it's also possible to make some truly sick Monsoons.
-Heal several allies for Monsoon's full duration.
-Successfully peel enemies off your squishy carries, whether it results in a kill for your carries or not.
Items
L
A T E G A M E O P T I O N S |
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In terms of a fifth item, you have a few options. If your ADC has farmed well and has a kill or two, definitely get a Zeke's Convergence. It is an incredible item, able to give your ADC a truly stupid amount of damage whenever you use your ultimate near them. If, however, your ADC fed 3 kills in the laning phase, is down on farm and is blaming you for it, screw them. They are not going to be the person who carries the game. If you have another damage dealer on your team you can still pick up a Zeke's and bind with them instead. But short of that, don't forget about a Locket of the Iron Solari. It compliments your AoE heals from your Redemption and Monsoon, not to mention the defensive stats it gives you.
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Vayne
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Jinx
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Tristana
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Ashe
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Draven
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Jhin
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Twitch
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Kog'Maw
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Sivir
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1
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Janna's job is to protect her allies. The title of this build, "Warden of the Wind" was not thought up randomly. That is what Janna does best. |
2
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You can get away with being less aggressive on Janna in favor of staying healthy, instead adopting a playstyle revolving around denying everything you can of what the enemy throws at you. |
3
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Learn to ward well. The more you mindfully ward, the better you can protect your team, because knowledge is power. It's just as core you Janna's identity as her shield or ultimate. |
Again, congratulations on choosing Janna to employ on the Fields of Justice, for only the greats follow in her footsteps.
I hope you like Janna as much as I do! let me know what you thought of the guide, and throw it a vote if you liked it :D
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