Hello summoners and welcome to my (first) guide, 'Dive and Survive' for Katarina!
I'm Everglaid, a summoner in a low tier that believes if your items suits the way you play, it's going to be better then copy-pasting someone else's build. "I am never afraid to stray from the meta."

Katarina is a very bursty champion with probably the best clean up potential in the game.

The second build will focus on the players who want some defense at the side just to guarantee that they stay alive when they do her infamous combo.

Please know this: If you really want to switch an item, rune, mastery or skill/whatever, DO IT! These things are used to compliment the way you play, getting something you won't use might hinder your gameplay!

Pros ⚜ High burst damage ⚜ Good escaping ⚜ Can stick to target well ⚜ Manaless ⚜ High base movement speed ⚜ AoE heavy

Cons ⚔ Is lacking CC ⚔ Is melee (while most mid champs are ranged) ⚔ Stacking MR will negate a lot of her damage ⚔ Squishy early on ⚔ Interruptable ultimate ⚔ Passive might never be used

The changes from a common page:

Arcane Blade = you aren't ranged, even though someone like Diana can take it it's best to invest one point somewhere else.

Brute Force = One point here adds a few points of damage onto your ultimate and sinister steel.

With the defense tree, you can swap out Juggernaut for one point in mr/armor should you want to.

Like our masteries, this is pretty standard and common. This build focuses on building AP. Fairly obvious. She deals magic damage on all her spells, even should she build AD. Armor for defense against autoattacks is good as you are melee, and is strong for going against physical-damage oriented teams.

Other options:

(These are primarily personal preference.)

Greater Seal of Scaling Health

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power

greater mark of hybrid penetration

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

"There are people who put Flash on F, and there are people who need to die." - Avarona
I can't split the parts here?

Flash will change your game when used right. Jump over walls, juke into bushes and chase for a kill. I recommend taking this every time, unless you are not level 12 in which case you should take Ghost.

This will help secure kills, and counter enemies with healing properties. (and kill steal!) It's best to use this just after your full combo, as they will probably attempt to heal somehow after it, should they be able to.

Other spells:
Ghost for chasing/escaping, best when under lvl 12.
Teleport to get back in lane, come back from being behind, roaming, etc.
Cleanse Against super high CC teams.
Barrier Instant quick burst, LeBlanc, Veigar.
Exhaust Slow+damage decrease.

No-no's:
Clarity This is barely viable on anyone, but on a manaless champ? Come on.
Smite Okay, MAYBE, but clears are really slow and you have no CC. Unless people hug brush, just no.
Revive Long cd, will probably only be used 1-3 times per game.
Clairvoyance Maybe on.. Ashe? Jinx? I don't know.
Heal Better in a duo lane, baits are better with Barrier.

Main upgrade


Maxing Q lets you poke and trigger your marks more often and more powerfully.

Close and Personal


Maxing sinister steel first will allow quick burst damage on a low cooldown.

Skill Usage

Voracity is Katarina's passive- and the real reason why she can pentakill so easily. This cuts out 15 seconds of cooldown of skills. Getting an assist or kill will guarantee your Bouncing Blades, sinister steel and Shunpo an instant full reset. With proper CDR, Death Lotus will reset after 2 kills/assists.


Bouncing Blades is Katarina's main farming and poking tool. It is used at range, and once it lands, the 4 closest enemies (not from the one target, but from a chain, keep this in mind) will take 10% less damage with each strike. Being hit with this applies a de-buff. Using a skill or autoattacking on enemies who have this de-buff will take another bit of damage and remove the de-buff.



- Sinister Steel is an instant, small AoE burst damage tool, and when hitting a champion gives a brief movement speed buff.

Notes about this:


Shunpo instanty teleports Katarina behind the target. This damages enemies if they are the target.

Notes about this:


Death Lotus. This spell is really what defines a Katarina. How they use it, when they use it, and where too. This combined with your passive will wipe out teams easy. Death Lotus is an AoE burst tool that sends out tons of damage to the three closest targets.

Notes about this:

Skill Combos

You use Bouncing Blades, Shunpo to trigger the mark and a final sinister steel for the last damage and get-away movement speed.



You use Bouncing Blades, then sinister steel to trigger all the marks. Autoattack and Shunpo to finish off minons with health left.



Bouncing Blades first so after your rotation, it'll be up soon. Shunpo after to get in range, to get the CD up after Death Lotus, and to trigger the mark. You sinister steel, then run ahead, (ms bonus, remember?) then Death Lotus. This is to ensure the enemy stays within it's range while you ult. Finally you ignite to kill secure, and if you need to, Bouncing Blades and Shunpo should be up soon to finish them off.

Starting Items

I prefer picking up a Doran's Shield as the passive will negate a lot of auto attack harass, and when going for heavy trades you will regen your health back quicker than them. (presumably.) Health pots.. sustain. The warding totem is very effective on Katarina as it allows her to shunpo to it as extra safety.

Early Game

Katarina's most likely worst disadvantage is probably her early game. She does minimal damage, and her Q, W and E might even do less than your autoattacks.

Once you get level 4, you will get a small damage spike since Katarina's spells scale very well.


Goals:

- Farm. Seriously. Having double someone's CS even though they have a few kills may still mean you have more gold. It depends on the amount of deaths, but around 2-3 waves of CS is one kill. When your skills are strong, use Bouncing Blades or sinister steel to guarantee a cannon minion, as these give more gold.

- Poke. Poking down your enemy with Bouncing Blades or a quick combo will allow you to fully burst them without worry, or to help a jungler gank secure a kill.

Mid Game

You should be very powerful at this time. The enemy should be picking up some resistances later, and this is the time where you have bought damage items and can roam. You can quickly Q > E > W the wave, QQQQQQ all over the enemy laner or fall back, and head through river or jungle to gank a side lane.

Easy > Medium > Hard

Ahri

| Level: Medium | Ahri's early game is fairly good, but her Charm has a high mana cost and must be hit. Do not let her charm you, and should she waste it Bouncing Blades, Shunpo, sinister steel combo her. She can interrupt your ult, and she can use her Spirit Rush to escape it too. Use Shunpo to dodge skill shots, but beware of ganks as even if she is far back she can join a skirmish easy. Jumping onto her will guarantee a Fox-Fire.

Lux

| Level: Easy | While Lux might have a very long range, each of her high cool-down high-mana cost skills can be dodged with your Shunpo. Please don't dodge her Prismatic Barrier. Getting caught without your shunpo and unable to juke the super thin snare will probably mean you're going to be at 20% hp. Just keep shunpo up and zone her.