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Karma Build Guide by Chrys_Barber

Top Never Fear Change │ Invincible Top Lane Karma

Top Never Fear Change │ Invincible Top Lane Karma

Updated on May 14, 2022
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Chrys_Barber Build Guide By Chrys_Barber 877 61 2,321,902 Views 55 Comments
877 61 2,321,902 Views 55 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Chrys_Barber Karma Build Guide By Chrys_Barber Updated on May 14, 2022
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1
stxlid (1) | August 29, 2022 9:47am
hello there im new to karma and i really like ur guide thanks
1
amalija | June 7, 2022 3:47pm
Hey! Been a fan of your guide here for a long time. I'm wondering if you still recommend Moonstone after the recent changes to healing. Thanks!
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | June 8, 2022 2:58am
Hey! Thank you for supporting the guide!

Contrary to what most players expected, I believe Moonstone Renewer is still performing really well with our build this patch. I have been testing the durability patch changes with different builds, and aery/moonstone has given me the best results so far.

Due to the durability changes, I might consider Fimbulwinter as a core item too (works great with Spirit Visage and Moonstone Renewer, you have more time to stack it, extended fights need more mana and the shield can proc more often). The game got slower and there is no need to rush resistances as much as before, so buying only magic resist/armor components and not finishing them until later on seems like the way to go. Try experimenting with Moonstone->Fimbulwinter and see if the playstyle suits you.

Slowing down the game also means longer fights and more time to cycle through your abilities in skirmishes and teamfights - also giving you and your team more value out of Moonstone Renewer than before 12.10 (the main strength of this item is the shielding/healing it provides to your team and longer games mean more of these!).

To be honest, I also expected the W nerf to feel worse, but it does not, due to the longer fights karma excels at.

Grievous wounds have been hit really hard too, which is great for healing builds (for example, based on numbers alone even lifesteal against grievous wounds is stronger than before this patch, even if unreduced healing got weaker).

Overall, the build is in a good spot. I still need to test Sunfire Aegis/Divine Sunderer builds more, but Moonstone Renewer seems very viable and gets more value as the game goes on.
1
Peketa | April 13, 2022 3:19am
Do you recommend using relay or comet?
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | April 14, 2022 3:42am
If by relay you mean Rylai's Crystal Scepter, no, I do not. The lack of ability haste makes it not worth an item slot with tank playstyle. The slow is not of use to us either, as your Q and E are enough to chase down or disengage.

Comet is good on mid (mage playstyle), but not so much with our ability haste based tank build. It simply does not provide the insane versatility and teamfight potential aery or phase rush give. Aery can also proc on auto-attacks, which makes your poke better than comet as you want to AA often. Comet is also outperformed by the sustain and scaling of grasp if you want to dominate the lane.
1
h3ntainerd | February 22, 2022 6:19pm
is there anything you would change for a season 12 update?
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 3, 2022 8:57am
Hey! Not much has changed, but the current prefered build became Moonstone Renewer. I have updated items a bit too.
1
Una banana feliz | October 23, 2021 1:17am
Estoy ansioso por ver como haras la nueva build de karma en la nueva temporada!!
2
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 3, 2022 8:59am
No hablo bien el español, pero seguro que intentaré probar cosas nuevas. ¡Gracias por el apoyo!
1
MiningRicK (2) | July 28, 2021 12:25am
One of the best Guides on Mobafire!
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 3, 2022 9:00am
Thank you wholesome person! (And sorry for not replying earlier)
1
samiralover | June 6, 2021 3:26am
love this build <3<3<3<3<3
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | July 12, 2021 6:41am
Thanks a lot!
1
Adamikcz2 (6) | May 21, 2021 10:03am
Best Karma guide i have ever seen, great matchup section, very good item section and great builds!
2
Chrys_Barber (3) | May 24, 2021 6:54am
Thanks for the kind words! I will try to update the guide more often after my university exams, so stay tuned!
1
pokeplayer59 | April 27, 2021 6:39pm
Are you planning to update this guide for 11.8/9?
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | April 28, 2021 12:25am
I definitely want to update it but my time is very limited due to university work, so it may take longer than usual. Sorry for the inconvenience!
1
quills | March 17, 2021 9:42pm
loving the top karma build, quick question: when do you try to go for rift herald (if you should in the first place) thanks
2
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 18, 2021 7:18am
Glad to hear that! I would say that depends on your jungler. If you have a lot of spare time (for example if your opponent is passive and you pushed a huge wave, or you do not want to take fights but he freezes) and your jungler is around, it might be a good idea to go for Herald, as you win most 2v2 skirmishes due to the survivability you can provide both to you and to your jungler.

If you want to get better at calls and more comfortable with them, the only thing I can say is: Do not be scared of doing them. Bad calls are good for learning, so call your jungler for that herald, push, or whatever else objective there is to take. You learn more from mistakes than you do from games that go perfectly well - it makes you a better player in the long run!
1
quills | March 18, 2021 10:30pm
thanks for the advice, but i meant more like what lvl/items should you have before you can solo
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1
IkorasBadIdea (1) | February 26, 2021 12:02pm
I love the build, Karma has so much sustainability that people wouldn't usually see at first glance
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 1, 2021 3:56am
Thanks, glad you like it! Indeed, her sustainability is unexpected most of the time - and that plays right into our cards.
1
Invisiblehearts | February 7, 2021 10:14pm
hey so I've loved karma ever since I started play 4 years ago, and have gotten her to mastery 6 as a support, but I'm finding it difficult to play her as a support because I always end up feeding with my aggressive playstyle. But then I started playing her top, and oooo baybee it was marvelous, except the current meta is having her be a support in the top lane. I started playing her top with the current meta, but it didn't give me what I wanted. I was still feeding but this time in the top lane.

That is until I found this build. AND IT HAS BEEN SO MUCH FUN PLAY MY GFURL AS A TANK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND FOR MAKING THIS GUIDE
1
Chrys_Barber (3) | February 8, 2021 3:34am
Thank you so much for your kind words! Glad to hear that you are enjoying your time with my build. I believe Karma is made for top lane, so you definitely made a good choice!
2
Foolyz | March 4, 2018 2:44pm
I honestly cannot thank you enough for this guide. It has single-handedly changed how I play the game. For a little background, I have not mained any champion since Hecarim in late 2012, choosing instead to hop around to any champion that I feel like playing at the time. Since discovering this guide, I have played nothing except tank/support Karma, experimenting with builds and gameplay. I must say that my technical gameplay has improved in almost every aspect, and this playstyle is almost completely adaptable, meaning that I can bring a LOT to the table in almost any composition. In addition to all of this, the pick is fairly unexpected, meaning that most players in my elo go for bad engages thinking that they are able to burst a squishy Karma, only to be punished by my lockdown and burst.

A couple things that I have found during my journey towards 70% win-rate:

    -Phase Rush is absolutely core, in my opinion. It does lose value in lane against all-in champions that do no have a slow, but the speed boost still shines as a disengage tool in these situations. Otherwise, this rune is a serious hard counter to certain skills, such as Wither and Mocking Shout (it is very difficult to lose lane against Nasus and Tryndamere for this reason).

    -I think the minor runes are more adaptable than the major runes. In most games, I will take Conditioning and Revitalize. However, the champions I have the most trouble with in lane are all-in AD champions with Electrocute. In these situations, I will take Iron Skin and Bone Plating to prevent being shutdown before my tank stats can get out of hand. In some cases (AP top and AP jungle), I will take Mirror Shell instead of Conditioning. The main reason I prioritize Conditioning is because reaching the 10 minute mark is fairly easy in most games, with little to no threat to you as a top laner that can root under tower. Reaching this point in the game is a huge spike for your tank stats, as the flat resistances are higher than either Iron Skin or Mirror Shell alone, and the bonus resistances are active 100% of the time instead of being a proc.

    -The purchase of a Sheen is a deceitful damage spike if it is your first item. Abuse the damage that this provides to make last-hitting easier and harassing doubly potent for only 1050g. Once you get IBG, be wary of your AOE potential when last-hitting from here on out. I sometimes notice a lull in my CS because I'm harassing more often with IBG if I'm still in lane, which usually means minions are taking AOE damage from the IBG proc in addition to my Q's. Conversely, IBG makes it easier to control your minions if you focus on wave management. It is a very versatile item for Karma.

    -I almost always ask my bot lane to get an early deep ward for my first TP because Karma's lockdown, engage/disengage and burst damage are downright bonkers in the early stages of the game when the enemy doesn't have any ultimates yet. I will usually get two kills or assists if they do not respond, one kill or assist if the enemy jungler counters, or it turns into a stomp if our jungler is near bot to join us. As always, communicate with your team to ensure that they are aware of the plan beforehand.

I hope these tips give a little more insight on how rune and item choices play out in a real game, and help anyone that wants to give this incredible champion a try.

If you have any tips for me on how to improve my play, or counter those all-in AD champions with Electrocute (seriously, Riven, Kled and Renekton are the collective bane of my existence), please share them with me!
2
Chrys_Barber (3) | March 5, 2018 6:49am
Hey!
You sir, made my day. Your comment is exactly what keeps me positive about writing the guide!

First of all, I have been experimenting with different runes and playstyles for Karma and agree with most of the points you pointed out. Currently, I do not have enough experience for Electrocute opponents at my elo, but I will look into those. I believe Bone Plating is a great rune and definitely a way to go against any assassin or all-in matchup, as those champions are not going to give you as much time to heal yourself up, so yes, reducing the damage itself is a huge buff to tanks.
Conditioning is a good choice if you want to heavily depend on later stages of the game, yet Iron Skin and Mirror Shell are at maximum potential through the whole game, even more so when you are able to spam your healing.

For the IBG, you have two options of laning. First, you are against a opponent with a good wave clear or second, you are against a bruiser/fighter, focused on trades. For the first one, i would advise you to abuse your poke Sheen powerspike and zone out the opponent out of the wave, where you can poke him without pushing. You can use bushes for that, so you will poke and get rid of minion aggro right away. You can also Inner Flame ranged minions and finish them out with one auto-attack of IBG to clear them and continue poking. This is a bit risky, as it gives the enemy jungler a chance to gank whenever you are slowly pushing, yet most opponents will try to keep the minions out of their tower, so you will win trades and force them to either lose farm or sacrifice health.
Then, the second one - against fighters, you want to freeze the wave and provoke them for a fight in your minion wave, yet with IBG, you are likely to push the wave without your intention, right? In that case, you want to do a hard push to force them to farm under their tower. With your range, you should be able to poke them there too. Again, there is the risk of enemy jungler having a free gank, yet by that time, enemy laner should be poked down a chunk, making it hard for him to follow the gank fully. I believe you are mobile enough to escape, even if this does not work out.
These playstyles differ from champ to champ, but almost always work out.

Always try to feed up your marksman. You are to be fed from assists and your own lane anyway, most of the time. Try helping your jungler get ahead in counter-jungling, if possible. It is really easy to set a trap with your kit alone.

I have written an Riven matchup and played several Kled opponents - but they are often running the Precision tree instead of Domination. I can look into that, of course. Renekton players tend to be aggressive and vulnerable to ganks, as they abuse their cooldowns. Call for that early gank.

Thank you for the feedback. Updates will keep comming and if you want, we can discuss this further. Just PM me! ^^
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