Karthus Build Guide by dark chi
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Build Guide
Discussion (4)
Champion Build: Karthus
| Health | 3050 |
| Health Regen | 15.4 |
| Mana | 4172 |
| Mana Regen | 47.83 |
| Armor | 74 |
| Magic Resist | 115 |
| Dodge | 0 |
| Tenacity | 0 |
| Movement Speed | 405 |
| Gold Bonus | 0 |
| Attack Damage | 100.7 |
| Attack Speed | 0.849 |
| Crit Chance | 0%S |
| Crit Damage | 0% |
| Ability Power | 640.35 |
| Life Steal | 0% |
| Spell Vamp | 0 |
| Armor Penetration | 0 |
| Magic Penetration | 22.83 |
| Cooldown Reduction | 0% |
Recommended Runes
Ability Sequence
Mastery Tree Is Outdated
WARNING: These masteries are still using the old tree and have not been updated to the new tree by the guide author. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Introduction
Welcome to my Karthus guide :D
Karthus is a mage deathsinger who relies on skill shots and to finish enemy's, he is also one of the best 1 vs 1 champs ;) IMPORTANT: he is mid champ, but very bad at lane so you should always play mid Karthus...
First, lets introduce you with his abilities:
Death Defied - one of the best passive's in the game, especially in a teamfight when they kill you first (very rare), also good for pvp's
Lay Waste - your nuke spell, you should spam it on champion's (if you are better then them) or minion's (if you can't beat champ's 1 vs 1 so you need to farm some money)
Wall of Pain - good for chasing enemy's also reduces their magic resist so when you put the wall just spam Lay Waste on them
Defile - your close combat spell, you should turn it off as soon as the enemy gets out of the range cause this spell drains your mana big time...
Requiem - great spell to finish your enemy's, here are some hints about it:
1.NEVER,BUT NEVER use it in close combat or pvp unless your enemy's escape
2.Use it only when you are sure that you can kill the enemy
3.If your enemy escapes you should first go to any friendly turret,be sure that you turned off Defile and then you should use your ultimate
4. you should type at start of every game to your teammates to call your ulti when they need it, when they do so, first check that enemy, dont believe them too much...
Runes
For runes I use:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
Greater Glyph of Ability Power 
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power
Also good choices: 
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction and 
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration
you should make your own mind about these cause in my opinion only seals and marks are 100% required cause Karthus thirsts for mana and also its good to have at least litlle magic pen
Masteries
I use 9/0/21 masteries taking
Archaic Knowledge
in offense and all major mana regen masteries in utility:
Expanded Mind
Perseverence
Meditation
, also I take improved
Haste
... this choice is simple, as I said before, Karthus thirsts for mana and that's why you need big mana regen, because of that you should use mana regen seals,masteries and great items like 
Archangel's Staff
Items
Explaining items:
Archangel's Staff - your must have item... great at late game
Sorcerer's Shoes - not much to explain, standard caster boots
Banshee's Veil - great item versus casters, especially Malzahar...
Rod of Ages - gives enough mana and health. Also provides some AP, good passive
Void Staff - great for tanks, provides AP
Rabadon's Deathcap - must have late game item, OP passive
And now when we look at the stats:
2745 HP at lvl 18
3500 mana at lvl 18
128 magic resist
663 AP WITHOUT Archangel's Staff 's passive
looks like a Caster/Tank doesn't it but build is very expensive and I had it only once...
Skill Sequence
Not much explaining...
Max Lay Waste , take Requiem whenever you can. After Lay Waste max Defile and last max Wall of Pain . I dont reccomend any other skill sequence cause this is the proper one and you will fail with any other...
Summoner Spells
For summoner spells I use Ghost and Ignite but you can also use these: 
Clarity , 
Flash , 
Teleport or 
Cleanse
bad choices: 
Clairvoyance - well, usually supporters take it so DONT!!!
Exhaust - you have your Wall of Pain for slow and this spell is unnecesery
Rally - really bad choice for casters...
Pros/Cons
Pros: -Great at harrasing minions and champions (farming)
-One of the best and most efficient farmers in the game
-One of the best non-ult AoE CC abilities in the game
-High damage output in team fights
-Fun, active gameplay that rewards good positioning, placement and timing
Cons: -Must be very smart at consuming mana, especially for Defile
-needs good mouse clicking
-really bad vs ranged carries like 
Caitlyn
Farming/Unique Skill
Your main farming spell is Lay Waste SPAM IT ON THE MINIONS cause it costs low mana but good for last hitting...
Team Work
In teamfight your task is to harras their carry's wheter caster or AD carry's but also kill the supporter's. When the teamfight start's you should turn on Defile and start harrasing their carries and supporters with Lay Waste ...
if they kill you before teamfight ends you should use Requiem to help finish enemy's
Summary
This was my Karthus guide as I like to play him, be sure that he will not dissapoint you and if you have any ideas what else could I put in my guide pls comment and rate if you liked it :D Hope to see you in game ^^
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