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Katarina Build Guide by 1Recycle Bin1

Middle -WIP- 1Recycle Bin1 | A Katarina Guide【11.21】

Middle -WIP- 1Recycle Bin1 | A Katarina Guide【11.21】

Updated on October 31, 2021
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League of Legends Build Guide Author 1Recycle Bin1 Build Guide By 1Recycle Bin1 138 20 339,586 Views 23 Comments
138 20 339,586 Views 23 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author 1Recycle Bin1 Katarina Build Guide By 1Recycle Bin1 Updated on October 31, 2021
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Katarina
    AP Katarina
  • LoL Champion: Katarina
    AD Katarina

Runes: Conqueror (My favourite)

1 2 3
Precision
Conqueror
Triumph
Legend: Tenacity
Coup de Grace

Domination
Sudden Impact
Ravenous Hunter
Bonus:

+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None



Welcome to my Glorious Guide for Katarina - The sinister blade

In this guide you should find the following:
Guide Details
x Guide Changes
x Who Am I?
x Streamers

Champion
x Pros / Cons
x Abilities
x Tips & Tricks
Pre-Game
x Runes
x Team Work And Team Fights


In-Game
x Items
x Laning Phase
x Match ups






x Top Lane Matchups

x Added Sustain Items to mid lane build

x Fixed some issues

x New looks

x ADDED: Swain's matchup details

x ADDED: Reslove tree runes with details

x ADDED: "Items" Chapter

x Started Working on the Match-ups Chapter(I'll be taking my time doing it, sorry for being lazy)

TEST SUCCESSFUL Conqueror Tank Katarina

5/16/18 (Patch 8.10) Jungle Kata *no, not a troll pick* with Runic Echoes is no longer viable due to the change from movement speed to mana *you can go for an ad start Warrior and continue the build normally*

5/19/18 Added Talon's Matchup to the Matchups Chapter

5/20/18 Added The Order of the Matchups but still didnt add how to deal with them, I also added "Back To The Top" feature which will help you get to whatever you want fast instead of scrolling upwards or downwards

3/6/18 Added Corki, Lux, And Cassiopeia's matchups

Patch 9.1 MY GOD SHE'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING
THE E BUFF IS A LIFESAVER
AS WELL AS THAT GUNBLADE BUFFERING MMMMMMMMMM
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

9/27/19 Decided to give the guide a new look along with adding Sylas's matchup in midlane

11/14/20 Updated guide based on what I tested in pre-season, changes might occur later on, but for now, I think this is the optimal katarina build



Back To The Top


My name is Basel, I'm from Jordan.
I'm a One Trick Gold *barely play ranked* Katarina main(500k+ combined with my other accounts)


I started playing this game at Season 6-ish and fell in love with Katarina's kit
I loved how easy it was to pop the enemy team and how amazingly satisfying it was to tilt the enemy team by playing good
I'm not one of the best katas out there but I'm sure I'm decent
You can find my account here

I don't play ranked a lot because it's boring



Back To The Top

Pros


+ high mobility
+ high AoE damage
+ Extremely Powerful(insta burst to squishies)
+ good at cleaning fights
+ ofc, no mana
+ aggresive in laning phase
Cons


- Squishy
- Hard to Comeback
- Hard to master
- Melee
- Tons of counters

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Passive: Voracity

Whenever an enemy champion dies within 3 seconds of Katarina damaging them, her cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds which means, assisting or killing 3 champions in late game means a free R

Daggers(Sinister Steel)



Whenever Katarina catches a Dagger or picks it up from the ground, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing 75 - 287 (based on level) (+ 100% bonus AD) (+ 55 / 70 / 85 / 100% AP) magic damage and reducing Shunpo's cooldown by 78 / 84 / 90 / 96%.
Daggers last 4 seconds before disappearing.

EFFECT RADIUS: 340




Q: Bouncing Blade

Katarina throws a Dagger to the target enemy that bounces to up to 2 nearby unaffected enemies, dealing magic damage to each target.
After bouncing to its targets, the Dagger then lands on the ground 350 units opposite from where it struck the first target. The Dagger always takes the same amount of time to land from the time it hits the first target.

MAGIC DAMAGE:
75 / 105 / 135 / 165 / 195 (+ 30% AP)
TARGET RANGE: 625
EFFECT RADIUS: 625
COOLDOWN: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7




W: Preparation

Katarina tosses a Dagger into the air at her current location, which lands after 1.25 seconds, and gains bonus movement speed that decays over 1.25 seconds.

BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90%
COOLDOWN: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11



E:Shunpo

Katarina blinks to the target location around the target unit or Dagger.
If the target is an enemy, Katarina deals them magic damage. Otherwise, she deals the same magic damage to the nearest enemy in range.

MAGIC DAMAGE: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+ 50% AD) (+ 25% AP)
TARGET RANGE: 725
COOLDOWN: 14 / 12.5 / 11 / 9.5 / 8


Death Lotus

Katarina rapidly spins in place and channels for 2.5 seconds, throwing a dagger every 0.166 seconds to each nearby enemy champion, up to a maximum of 3 at a time, dealing them magic damage and applying Grievous Wounds icon Grievous Wounds for 3 seconds.
Death Lotus cannot be cancelled by movement and basic attack commands in the first and last 0.25 seconds of channeling.

MAGIC DAMAGE PER DAGGER: 25 / 37.5 / 50 (+ 22% bonus AD) (+ 19% AP)
EFFECT RADIUS: 550
COOLDOWN: 90 / 60 / 45



Back To The Top


For Skill Sequence, you Get Q E W E E then continue maxing Q
that gives you a faster shunpo reset to run away when you need it.
> > >

ABILITY
SEQUENCE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Back To The Top


So
Runes

Usual Page






Now, to explain why I choose those runes:


Percision:


I go Conqueror

Because of how much sustain and damage you gain from it



I choose Triumph:

Because it completely negates an ignite kill if you're low and manage to kill the opponent laner first. It gives you HP and additional gold on kills, and just makes a snowballing Katarina that much harder to kill in mid-game teamfights. You take the precision tree over the sorcery tree purely for this mastery..

I choose Legend: Tenacity:
Because you’re getting free sustain, tenacity will help reduce how long the cc will last, which is super great for kata

and Coup De Grace:

Because it helps secure kills on low HP targets. Securing kills is what Katarina does best.


Domination:


I choose Sudden Impact

Because it synergizes amazingly well with Katarina's E, shunpo. It adds a small burst of magic penetration and lethality to your pre-hit stats, giving you stronger magic damage, and stronger auto attacks
I also choose Ravenous Hunter
Because it synergizes with the Gunblade and Conqueror pretty nicely.

You can also go Relentless Hunter for more roaming potential


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Starting Items:
You either start Doran's Shield or Long Sword but I DO NOT recommend the long sword starting for a new Katarina since it has some disadvantages if not played correctly

First Back:
You either get Double or if you have enough gold

Core Items:
I believe that is a must on katarina for it’s sustain and high burst damage

I also think that is a very important item on katarina since magic penetration deals high damage and is good for shredding tanks

Matchup/Sustain Items

Let’s say, you were against a , you lost early game or were camped by the enemy jungler, at that point, you should 1- ask for help(of course, but dont spam pings)
2- get yourself either a or a

now lets imagine you were against a / or any kind of high base AD champion and are losing the lane

you can get a and upgrade it into a If faced by a

and if faced by an Attack speed champion such as ,you'd get .

now, if you're faced by a high ap high cc champion like / /

you should get IF NEEDED or just get a like the matchup.

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As Katarina, Your job is to deal the most possible damage without dying, and you have to be patient.

Don't just Shunpo into the middle of 5 people and get blown to pieces. You're strong, but any form of CC in the middle of 3 or more champions will get you killed. That means using your Q to poke the enemy from afar, and when the enemies (or your team engages), you look for your strategically placed daggers to kill the enemy carries. As soon as you burst them down, pop your Zhonyas to let the rest of your team finish the engagement, and secure the objectives that you fought over.

Take teamfights slow. Look for the best opportunities. If you don't find one, then simply don't engage. If your team goes all in, you need to be going all in too, but that doesn't mean jumping in blindly. Always think one step ahead. If you jump in, how are you going to get out? Once you get out, are you going to have to re-engage? If so, how?

Back To The Top


Katarina is well known for being a mid game powerhouse

In Early Game (pre 6), your aim is to level up faster than your enemy laner, and use your level difference to poke him down, for instance, if you get level 2 before your laner, Q,E him immediately, that'll make him lose chunks of health.

At level 6, you should start roaming if it is possible for you(usually in botlane)
You push the lane and/or kill the laner then go roam depending on who's pushing and who's being pushed.

If you don't see any opportunity to roam you can just shove in the lane and then help with objectives such as,drake, towers, herald..etc

In Mid Game(where you shine) you need to do something called shot-calling. Mid-game is about pushing objectives, taking map control, getting deep vision and preventing your teammates from feeding your opponents.

You can think of your four teammates as shields. You want to stand in the middle of them, standing just behind the front line, and in front of the adc for any needed peel. Don't forget that dropping a simple dagger next to your adc can sometimes save them from an engage.


In Late Game, If you don't engage correctly or be patient, you're 100% guaranteed to die in that teamfight, play smarter,play safer, don't engage in any teamfight unless your team is all in.

Back To The Top



In this Chapter, I'll be sorting by the difficulty (for new players)
note that Green is Easy
Yellow is Medium
And Red is Hard
the darker it is the harder the matchup

Teemo: The Swift Scout

Early Game


Start Doran's Shield, trade him not too hard so you dont get out traded.
Its ok to lose some minions due to his blind.
Use E W Q combo on him if he's aggresive
All in him if you're sure to get the kill
you can also get Mercury's Treads if needed

Mid Game


Once you get or , he automatically loses the lane(unless you fed him in early game)

you should be able to oneshot him with an E W Q E R ignite(if needed)

Try to roam alot,push towers and never forget to get Oracle Alteration

Late Game


As kata, you dont want to get to late game phase because your damage output is lower since they'd be stacking up magic resist against you, but if you do get to Late game, one thing to do, do not enter the jungle without Oracle Alteration

Karthus: The Deathsinger

Early Game


Karthus is a very squishy champion, in every phase of the game.
In early game, if you're bad at dodging you can start Doran's Shield, otherwise start The Dark Seal.
You can kill him at level 2 or 3 depending on both your and the enemy karthus' playstyle

Mid Game


in mid game, you should still be winning the lane against him, so roam to your heart's content.
get Sorcerer's Shoes to deal more damage.

Late Game


the only thing you need to do in late game is to get Zhonya's Hourglass or any sustain item such as

Ezreal: The Prodigal Explorer

Early Game


you might want to get a Doran's Shield in this laning, because his W can pass through minions and would hurt(if he's aiming for ap Ezreal)
Just farm safely and trade when his E is down

Mid Game


at this point you should have at this part of the game, maybe even a if you're fed, keep out-trading him and you'll win the lane, again, roam when possible.

Late Game



Nothing much to say here other than buying sustain items depending on his build(if he's going ap or ad)

Twisted Fate: The Cardmaster

Early Game


Start The Dark Seal
in early levels try to poke him when his W is on cooldown(6 seconds)
his Q is slow so you can dodge it easily.
and that's the gist of it.

Mid Game


If you're having trouble laning against him, buy either Merc treads or QS.S, if not, dont let him farm because his late game is very strong
dont forget to ALWAYS tell your team when he leaves the lane because he can pop outta nowhere

Late Game


In late game, he's strong as hell, so you gotta get some magic resist items such as Banshee's Veil, maybe an Abyssal Mask

Azir: The Emperor Of The Sands

Early Game


Start Doran's Shield so you dont get poked alot
it's ok to lose some cs (as long as you're healthy in lane)
he's squishy in early game so poke him a bit and shunpo away so you dont get damaged too much from his sand bois
all in him if he overextends and is a bit low
do not forget that he gets a shield when he E's to a sand boi

Mid Game


In mid game you can all him and win the trade as long as you can dodge his ultimate
he might take advantage of you shunpo'ing to him when he's close to the turret by E'ing to a sand boi and using his R to throw you under it.
Just all in when you both are in the middle or if he has his R on cooldown (unless you're quite fed and he cant deal damage to you)

Late Game


Get Sustain Items and beware of his ultimate in the teamfights, that's it.
Aurelion Sol: The Star Forger

Early Game


Start Dark Seal against him, when he tries Q'ing you, stay close to him so you dont get stunned, keep closing the gap and poking and eventually you'll kill him.

Mid Game


Once you get you'll be able to oneshot him, close the gap and hard poke or all in if he's pushing/not close to tower
ofc beware of ganks and dont forget that his R knocks you up
it's also easy to know if he's near from his orbs

Late Game


Nothing much different other than getting sustain items since his knock up/stun might hurt you in a teamfight

Taliyah: The Stoneweaver

Early Game


you can either go for Doran's Shield or Dark Seal depending on how you're going to play the lane, if you want to be aggresive then get dark seal if not get shield so you can sustain more in lane, I'd also recommend going for Bone Plating with Second Wind in runes so you can have more sustain since her Q's hurt.
All in once her W(i think that's the knock up) on cooldown since she's squishy

Mid Game


she might deal damage at this point but she doesn't have any kind of sustain in lane,on the other hand you have to sustain and also so just keep poking and you'll eventually kill her.

Late game


At this point her damage will get to the point of oneshotting so get sustain items such as Banshee's Veil
Akali: The Rouge Assassin

Early Game


In early game, you gotta be careful of her passive, because she gains both movement speed and higher range once she hits an ability, keep in mind that her Q gives her a bit of health when used at a nearly full energy bar, if she's got shroud wait til she uses it and then attack her(once the duration is over)

Mid game


Mid game revolves around two things, who gets GB first, and who roams more, the one who wins them wins both lane and game

Late game


Akali is alot similar to katarina, her damage output is much lower in late game
try to let her burn her dashes and punish her with your team
Lucian: The Purifier

Early game


Start the lane with Doran's Shield
its ok to lose some cs in this lane(again, as long as you're healthy)
he's an adc so he's squishy, all in him once he burns his E

Mid game


Get to lower his attack speed and damage, all in him and he should die or survive at low hp, get him if possible and if not do not tower dive him

Late game


if he's too much of a hassle get either Thornmail or Randuin's Omen
Morgana: The Fallen Angel

Early game


Start either the dark seal or Doran's Shield
she's squishy, once she burns up her spells all in her

Mid game


when she uses her ultimate, shunpo away or go back if you can, or you can also try to get her before her ultimate finishes channeling
i'd rush against her

Late game


Do NOT underestimate her output damage, I repeat, Do NOT underestimate it, morgana is a very powerful mage with high cc, her damage in late game is pretty scary so get any sustain items like banshee's veil heck, maybe even an abyssal mask

Talon: The Blade's Shadow

Early Game


Talon, as an Assassin, is known for his high early game damage/burst, but you're Kat, not a mage.
so you can also burst him down with ease.
Start your game with DS and one health pot and go for the resolve tree as a secondary to deny his early W damage.
Keep poking him when possible with > and with AA's in between and eventually he'll get stomped on

Mid Game


For mid game, the assassin that wins the lane, wins the game.(this is applied to almost every game)
now since you were tanky in early game you should be at the lead(the one who's dominating the lane)
So,if you did win the early, use it to your advantage by roaming and getting objectives

Now, lets say you lost the early game,
3 things to do
1: warn your teammates when he's MIA (Missing In Action) because his roam potential is great

2: Play safer, keep farming,get , and ask for help from your team

3: Don't throw the game, support your team from behind and jump in when there's a kill without risk of getting one shotted and then flamed by your team (which results to losing the game)

Late Game


Talon falls pretty hard in late game, and this is where you shine if you lost the lane in the previous phases and they weren't able to finish the game
Since he falls pretty hard, that means there's a potential of shutting him down
Most talon's will go for the ADC or any squishy target so just bait him and shut him down, or lets say that you kept farming the whole mid phase since you lost, and you're back to the game now.
Go ahead, one shot everybody in the enemy team and get the "Stayed Cool" Honor!


Corki: The Daring Bombardier

Early Game



Start Doran's Shield for a safe play if he has barrier.
if not, go The Dark Seal and all in him at lvl 3, he's squishy as hell so a full rotation combo with ignite would kill him.

In some cases, you'll get snowballed early so dont give up/tilt yet because mid game is where you shine the most

Mid Game


Once you get Gunblade you'll render Corki Useless, do not ult if he has his package because he can easily get out of its range unless you're sure you're going to kill him

Late Game


Focus on objectives, corki wont be much of a threat against you but you should respect his kit because it deals hella damage.


Lux: The Lady Of Luminosity

Early Game


In early game, its ok to lose some minions in order to stay healthy, poke at level 2, and all in at level 3 if she's not respecting your kit by playing at a close range, if she's playing safe just ask your jungler for help especially if its a tank or a cc champ

Mid and Late Game

Lux's damage is pretty damn high in mid and late and what you gotta do is the same in both so i'll be putting them together.

unless you're sure you can kill her don't you dare try engaging, because if you get rooted you die instantly.

roam and focus on objectives, don't solo push and stay with team

Cassiopeia: The Serpent's Embrace

Early Game


Start Doran's Shield, dodge her Q, try not to get caught by her W, poke her with E W Q because she can cancel q e w with her W, all in when she's oom and rush boots if you need it

Mid Game


your mid game is stronger.
predict her R, all in her if it's on cooldown, keep snowballing and you'll win

Late Game


Be careful of her ult in a teamfight because you might lose the fight from it.
try to kill her as soon as possible in a team fight but DONT BE RASH and all in between 5 CC enemies!

Anivia: The Cryophoenix

Early Game


Start Doran's Shield, dodge her Q, stay behind minions watch out for her W, and dont forget about her egg

Mid Game


This is where you shine against this matchup, your damage is higher than her so keep snowballing and you should be fine

Late Game


Same thing with mid game except her damage is higher now, so don't try to 1v1 if she has an egg

Galio: The Colossus
*Soon*
Swain: The Noxian Grand General
*Soon*
Veigar: The Tiny Master Of Evil
*Soon*
Syndra: The Dark Sovereign
*Soon*
Zoe: The Aspect Of Twilight
*Soon*
Ahri: The Nine-Tailed Fox
*Soon*
Yasuo: The Unforgiven
*Soon*
Karma: The Enlightened One
*Soon*
Ekko: The Boy Who Shattered Time
*Soon*
Katarina: The Sinister Blade
*Soon*
Ziggs: The Hexplosive Expert
*Soon*
Cho'Gath: The Terror Of The Void
*Soon*
Viktor: The Machine Herald
*Soon*
Vel'Koz: Eye Of The Void
*Soon*
Gangplank: The Saltwater Scourge
*Soon*
Xerath: The Magus Ascendant
*Soon*
Gragas: The Rabble Rouser
*Soon*
Zilean: The Chronokeeper
*Soon*
Lissandra: The Ice Witch
*Soon*


*note* Im really sorry for not being able to add the matchups at the moment because Im busy with my Finals n *****

Back To The Top




There are various katarina combos to use


level 2 combos:



> > AA

> AA > Move towards the dagger > again

level 3 combos:



> > AA > > AA

> AA > AA > > > AA

level 6+ combos:



> > AA > >

> > AA > > > AA >

> AA > > > > AA >

> AA > > > > > AA



high skill combos:



> > + > > (used to dodge skillshots)


you can use your voracity passive to the fullest which will make you harder to catch and have **** tons of damage

This video by Katlife shows you the combos

You can use your W as an escape route in the jungle by placing the dagger near a thin wall and shunpoing at the edge of the circle

You can reset your shunpo by 100% if you place 2 daggers correctly(let's say you put a W then hit Q and it got placed next to it, you shunpo to them and get a free shunpo

You can also get up to 4 daggers thanks to voracuty(the passive) but its much harder than the double or triple dagger



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even though im a low elo player, i think the nerfs were needed because she stomped on every laner against her and could pop an adc with a Q hex gunblade and an E, I love doing that but she's at this point too good, same was with her E cooldown increase(she could poke and run before she gets poked by the laner which made her a stronger snowball)

the nerfs were made to decrease the output damage when she fails a combo(a way to punish a failing combo)
it might seem bad to some but to me i actually think its a good thing for 2 reasons
1- makes a person more focused and less aggresive
2- makes her less popular with the players and less bannable(which means: more kat for me :D)



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KatEvolved | Challenger Peak | Informative, Clickbait, Educational | Youtube | Twitch
Katlife | Challenger Peak | Informative, Clickbait, Educational |Youtube | Twitch
Katastrophical | Master Peak | Informative, Educational | Youtube | Twitch
Alnino | Platinum Peak | Informative, Educational | MobaFire Guide | Youtube | Twitch
Scarra | Challenger Peak | Informative, Clickbait | Youtube | Twitch
Flyerbek | Master Peak | Clickbait | Youtube | Twitch
LeagueofUno | Platinum Peak | Informative | Twitch

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Hello Again, Thank you for reading my Glorious Guide for Katarina - The sinister blade.


I really would appreciate it if you give me feedback for the guide, like: what would a person look for in a guide and so on...

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