Thane

Thane
Aliases	High Lord of House Ix (IB2) Deathless QIP Abomination (IB3)
Type	Large (IB2) Giant (IB3)
Weapon	Gelder (IB2) Rift (IB3)
Shield	Byzanti (IB2)
Appears in	Infinity Blade II Infinity Blade III

“For I am Thane - first blood of the Deathless, high lord of house Ix, and shield of the Great Pact. I will destroy your body, hunt down your bloodline, and imprison your soul for all time!”— Thane, to Siris, Infinity Blade II

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Thane is the secondary antagonist in Infinity Blade II. He is likely one of the oldest Deathless and is seemingly a former enemy of Ausar . Thane is said to possess a large amount of power and skill. However due to his age he is filled with his own hubris and is constantly underestimating the situation. By the time we see him in Infinity Blade II he is a guardian of the Vault of Tears and refers to himself as "first blood of the Deathless, high lord of House Ix, and shield of the Great Pact". He and the other three Blood Sentinels must be defeated in order to gain entrance to the Vault of Tears.

Infinity Blade II

After defeating Thane the first time, all pathways to the other Blood Sentinels are unlocked. Thane is fought again after unlocking the other three seals, and entrance to the Vault of Tears is gained. Once inside, Thane intercepts Siris and battles him a third time, but the High Lord of House Ix is far weaker than before. The fight is interrupted by the Worker of Secrets when Thane's health is reduced to 1/3, who then destabilizes Thane's Quantum Identity Pattern.

Thane wears a similar armor and helm to the Worker of Secrets. Donald Mustard (Staff of the Infinity Blade story creators) hinted in a tweet that there is a correlation between Thane and the Worker of Secrets looking similar; but gave no reason on why they are connected.

Thane wields Byzanti as a Shields and Gelder as a light weapon. He can conjure ice magic in between attack chains, and attacks with his shield quite frequently. He is very easy to fight on earlier rebirths, but later in the game he is more challenging. The first time you fight Thane, he is considerably weaker than other enemies of the same level. But this gap shrinks as time progresses.

Combat IB2

Thane is a slow, Large Titan. His fighting style is similar to that of other Large Titans, but Thane uses shield bashes more extensively. Thane possess the rare trait of being one of the few magic users in the series. Thane will often jump back, sheath his weapons, and throw balls of ice towards the player. The Ice magic can be blocked, dodged or parried, however Thane can not be scratched while using magic, nor will Perfect Parry Gems have an effect on him. Despite the visual effect of the magic being ice , the damage will depend on what Elemental attack Thane currently has.

Video Credit to YouTuber "Chance"'s video "Infinity Blade II Full Game (With Graphic Enhancers)"

He starts at level 25, and when you see him next, he is level 125, in subsequent rebirths he scales further. Overall, he can be defeated quite easily with a small amount of practice. Which you will get naturally as you fight Thane 3 separate times in Infinity Blade II.

Stepbacks IB2

Thane has three Stepbacks

Shield Kick Slash

Analysis

In this Stepback Thane starts with a shield bash from the left, then following up with a upwards kick in the center and finishing off with large sword swipe from the left. This Stepback can be avoided in multiple ways, the most optimal is to dodge to the left/duck using Dual Weapons to avoid his shield bash, then dodge to the left or right to avoid the kick, and then duck to avoid the last slash. A dodge break with dual weapons will give you the most amount of time to attack back. Alternately, if one is using a Heavy weapon, the most optimal play is to block to the left to avoid the shield bash, than center block to avoid the kick, and than parry the final slash by swiping to the left. This will conserve precious shield points and give a larger attack window than a block break. It's worth noting that a stab/slash icon will appear on Thane's side shortly after his final slash. However, since stab/slash breaks equate to less damage than parry or dodge breaks it is not recommended you pursue the stab break unless you have a Gem that could trigger off a Stab or Slash. Be careful when Blocking this Stepback with a Light Weapons, as shield bash's can go right through your Shields.

Kick Bash Swipe

Analysis

In this Stepback Thane, retreats slightly, before delivering a quick kick in the center, following up with a shield bash from the right, and then finishing off with large sword swipe from the left. This Stepback is similar to his Sheild Kick Slash Stepback, but the moves are in a different order and altered slightly. Avoiding this Stepback can be done in multiple ways, the most optimal is to dodge to the left or right to avoid the kick, then dodge to the right or duck to avoid his shield bash, and then parry his last sword attack my swiping to the left, then duck to avoid the last slash. A dodge break with dual weapons will give you the most amount of time to attack back. Alternately, if one is using a Heavy weapon, the most optimal play is to center block to avoid the first kick, than block to the right to avoid the shield bash, and than finish by parrying the final slash by swiping to the left. This will conserve precious shield points and give a larger attack window than a block break. It's worth noting that a stab/slash icon will appear on Thane's side shortly his shield bash. However, since stab/slash breaks equate to less damage than parry, perfect block, or dodge breaks it is not recommended you pursue the stab/slash break unless there is no time to parry the final attack or have a Gem that triggers from Stabs or Slashes. Be careful when Blocking this Stepback with a Light Weapons, as Thane's shield bash's can go right through your Shields.

Quintuple Shield Bash

Analysis

In this Stepback, Thane spins while retreating, then quickly moves forward to deliver a shield bash from the right, then another from the left, then another from right, and another from the left. This is the longest, and most difficult of Thane's Stepback's. Avoiding this Stepback can be done in multiple ways, the easiest, and most optimal, is to use a Dual Weapons and duck under every attack. A dodge break with dual weapons will give you the most amount of time to attack back, just make sure you time yourself so you don't suffer from exhaustion or take unnecessary damage. If you are using a Heavy Weapon, than block you can block all the attacks by first blocking to the right, than left, than right, and than left again. Alternately, if one is using a Light Weapons, you can dodge to the right three times to avoid the first three bashes, and then dodge to the left to avoid the final one. Do not block with your Shield at any moment when using a Light Weapons, as shield bash's can go right through your Shields.

Combat Tips IB2

Dual Weapons are the best against Thane, due to the fact that he prioritizes shield bashes, and is slow enough that you can dodge without much effort. Dual Weapons not only let you dodge faster, but trivialize many of his moves by repeatably ducking. As for other equipment, a good armor choice is the Thark Armor, as it will let you dodge even faster at the cost of defense. But really anything works, as Thane doesn't have much health making him fairly easy.

Infinity Blade III

In Infinity Blade III, it is revealed that Thane was turned into a Deathless QIP Abomination as a result of having his QIP destabilised by the Worker. At starting level 50, he is a giant Titan with a grotesque appearance, fought in the Broken Tower by Isa. This is due to the scrambling of his QIP, when the Worker of Secrets touched him with the QIP destabilization ring in Infinity Blade II. As Isa quite comically remarks in the beginning of the fight: "That's just wrong".

Combat IB3

Thane's QIP abomination is a boss, which signifies that he will always be equipped with a boss Titan perk after level 10000. He is a Giant Titan, and prioritizes, using his body to attack over his weapon.

Stebacks IB3

Thane in his abomination form has 3 Stepbacks.

Stomp and Slash

Analysis

In this Stepback Thane moves back slightly, before jumping and crushing the center with his legs, he then delivers another stomp to the center, then spins around to deliver yet another stomp to the center, spins again to deliver an overhead punch to the center, and then spins to deliver a slash with his axe from the right. Avoiding this Stepback can be done in multiple ways, the most optimal is to have either a Dual Weapons or Light Weapons weapon equipped, and then dodge to the right or left for his first four attacks, then doge the final slash by moving to the left or right. A dodge break with Dual Weapons will give you the most amount of time to attack back. Alternatively, if you are using a Heavy Weapon, the most optimal move is to preform four center blocks, followed by a parry to the final slash. This will conserve precious shield points and give a larger attack window than a block break. If you want to end the Stepback as quickly as possible, then after the second stomp there will be a Stab/slash prompt, hitting it will allow you to interrupt Thanes Stepback, at the cost of not getting as much time to strike back, usually leading to less overall damage. But it could still be worth doing if you have some a Gem that grants some benefit to Stabs/Slashes. If you're having trouble with either of these then holding Shield on a Light Weapons will also work, it's just the least efficient sense it will give you the least amount of time to strike back, and Thane can still potentially deal damage if he has elemental attacks, and can deal damage through your shield provided you don't have a corresponding elemental defense Shield/Gem.

Belly Flop Smash

Analysis

In this Stepback Thane quicky retreats before running and preforming a belly flop, crushing the center. He then follows up by slamming his head into the center, Thane then gets to his knees and delivers a punch from the right, following up my punching the center with an overhead attack, and finishes by slamming his axe into the center. This Stepback can be done in multiple ways, the most optimal is to dodge to the left or right when Thane belly flops, and when Thane try's to headbutt you, then duck under his left punch using Dual weapons,than dodge to the left or right for his overhead punch and final attack. A dodge break with Dual Weapons will give you the most amount of time to attack back. Alternatively, if one is using a Heavy Weapon, the most optimal play is to center block the belly flop and headbutt, block to the right to avoid the punch, than center block to avoid the final fist attack and than parry the final attack. This will conserve precious shield points and give a larger attack window than a block break. However both of these methods require avoiding quite a few attacks, so a safer option is to hit right the Stab/slash prompt that appears right after Thane's belly flop. Hitting this will allow you to interrupt Thanes Stepback, and deal extra damage, at the cost of not getting as much time to strike back, usually leading to less overall damage. But it could still be worth doing if you have some a Gem that grants some benefit to Stabs/Slashes. If you're having trouble with either of these then holding Shields on a Light Weapons will also work, it's just the least efficient sense it will give you the least amount of time to strike back, and Thane can still potentially deal damage if he has elemental attacks, and can deal damage through your shield provided you don't have a corresponding elemental defense Shield/Gem.

Sextuple Smash and Slash

Analysis

In this Stepback Thane moves back slightly, and then delivers three pairs of attacks, the first being a punch and slash from the left, then a slash and punch from the right, and then another punch and slash from the left. This Stepback can be avoided in multiple ways, the most optimal is to simply duck under all six attacks with Dual Weapons. A dodge break with Dual Weapons will give you the most amount of time to strike back. Alternately, if one is using a Heavy Weapon, the most optimal play is to is to avoid the first punch by blocking to the left, and than parry the second attack to iniaciate a parry break and end the Stepback. A parry break will result in more damage than a block break and save precious shield points. It's worth noting that a Stab/slash Icon will appear on his side after the forth attack. But since you can end the Stepback early by parrying his slash's, there's not much reason to pursue a stab/slash break unless you have some sort of Gem that triggers from a stab/slash. If you're having trouble with either of these then holding Shield with a Light Weapon will also work, it's just the least efficient sense it will give you the least amount of time to strike back, and Thane can still deal damage sense if he has elemental attacks, provided you don't have a corresponding elemental defense Shield or Gem.

Combat Tips IB3

Similarly to Infinity Blade II, Dual Weapons are the best against Thane, due to the fact that he prioritizes using his body as a weapon, and uses many horizontal attacks, which can be ducked with Dual Weapons. If you are having trouble, a ring with Freeze may be beneficial, as despite his size Thane can be quite quick, and can sometimes stagger you and hit you with multiple attacks without the chance to recover, so slowing him down can avoid this issue.

Trivia

• Siris has cut dialogue for battling Thane in IB3. The lines are mainly him being disgusted by Thane's appearance. These heavily imply that Siris was able to fight Thane at some point in development. However in the final game, only Isa can fight Thane.
• Gelder is available to the player as a dual weapon, but Thane uses it as a light weapon.
• The sword name Nahte is an anagram of Thane. Gelder, Thane's weapon, is used to unlock Nahte at the Shrine.
• The Dark Knight in the tutorial of Infinity Blade I is internally referred to as "Thane", it is unknown if this was an early iteration of Thane, some kind of inside joke, or simply a meaningless coincidence.
• According to the 2014 AMA w/ Donald Mustard (Recreation). Thane was made purposefully full of himself in order for Thane to fit in as the first proper boss, and make it explainable to why he is so weak.

Dialogue

• First fight - before battle
  • Thane: "You are a fool to come here, mortal.This place holds nothing but death for one such as you."
  • Siris: "It holds the Worker of Secrets. I have come to free him. If you stand in my way, I will have your head."
  • Thane: "Mwa-ha-ha! No one alive can release him. He is bound by the blood of the Deathless, sealed by the abominations of his own make, and safeguarded by Sentinels of the ruling four."
• First fight - after battle
  • Thane: "I told you... that there is nothing here for you, Mortal. (Siris bending down looking at the seal) Do you not hear me, mortal? If you open that seal, it will cost you your blood - your life. You will die!"
  • Siris: "You mistake me."
  • Thane: "And how is that, little man."
  • Siris: "You assume that I am mortal. (Siris opens the seal)"
  • Thane then grunts in pain and dies
• Second fight - before battle
  • Siris: "I saw you die."
  • Thane: "And I you. So, you are one of us, are you? Deathless."
  • Siris: "I will free the Worker and with these weapons he forged, I will end your 'immortal' life."
  • Thane:"You think to betray us, and harvest the Worker's secrets for yourself? Then you are more of a fool than I imagined. You will not unlock this vault, traitor, no matter how many times you are reborn. For I am Thane - first blood of the Deathless, high lord of house Ix, and shield of the Great Pact. I will destroy your body, hunt down your bloodline, and imprison your soul for all time!"
• Third fight - before battle
  • Thane:"You... will not... release... the Worker!"

Gallery

Screenshot by Nyarkll

Screenshot by it’s bruce