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Welcome to my first guide on Mobafire, I am making this one for my favorite champion, and one of the most underplayed champions in the game. Karma, the Enlightened One. If you don't know who Karma is, That is normal. (very few people have the honors of seeing Karma being used in game). But don't let this discourage you from using her, She is godly when placed in the right hands.

Karma is a highly versatile AP caster, But can also be played support. She does both effectively as long as you have an AD carry who can keep up with your poke, sustain, and shields. Play Video
And one last warning, Do not expect to get good with Karma in just two or three games, She takes alot of time, effort, and patience to master. But more to the point, With this guide I will be covering my most common build in which I have had alot of success with, Each in lane and late game team fights.

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For those who have no idea who Karma is, Let me enlighten you (pun intended)
Play Video

Pros Highly versatile kit Strong team fight presence Great burst damage (for utility mages) Hard to gank Can trade effectively with Inspire

Cons Can't pull of epic bait shields anymore with her rework Situational hard CC with

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Support

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Viable summoner spells.

Primary Summoner Spells
A really good pick for support. adds extra CC, A good kill securing ability, and an escape move for the carry if they get in trouble. Best offensive choice for support.

This spell is just so useful for any situation really, But it is insanely helpful on support Karma to. Jumping over walls, escaping ganks, and it also has tons of offensive uses also. Another one of those spells with to many uses I can list.

Other good choices
If your going against a kill lane, or any real aggressive opponents like , This spell can be a life saver, not just for you, but for your carry also. Only really take this if against aggressive lanes, and you have a passive ad carry like

I've used this in a few games, and on support , I've had mix results. If against enemies who push the lane hard and need to get back to lane fast or the tower will be lost, This spell is a good choice in those situations.


NO, JUST NO

Just not useful for anyone on this map. Except maybe ...

Is alot stronger, more reliable, and is targeted. 100% better then this summoner spell.

Starting Items
A good gold generation item, as long as your AD carry is keeping up on those last hits, you should be seeing a noticeable difference in your own gold. Plus the extra sustain is quite nice.

First Trip back

These are the 3 items you want to get on your first or second trip back. As you primary gold generation item at this point, For saving more gold on wards, and For obvious reasons...

Choice of boots
Are what you should get every game, The extra CDR will help a ton with your utility and mantra cooldown.


Why these Items?

Talisman of Ascension A very useful item on supports, especially Karma. an amazing active that synergizes really well with , and the extra cooldown reduction is always nice.

An extremely useful active effect that can change a team fights direction when used right, and some great mana regen. Also the extra magic resist is always nice.

Saves money on wards. Not much else to say.

Extra CD reduction, strong active effect in teamfights, and synergizes with for a massive AoE team shield. The aura is also something every team should have.

Decent AP, magic resist, movement speed, and an active thats great for spotting ambushes or catching someone out of position.

I get this boot enchant on all supports, Helps when a team fight is going badly and your the first one to try and retreat, Also makes pushing a lane easier when your needed to. Homeguard works to if your having to go back often and need to return to the fray alot.


Final Build If you have been following this guide fully, Your late game build should look a bit like this

Talisman of Ascension
Situational Items

You won't be dealing much damage to the enemies, But if the enemy team has some massive healing like or this will be a great buy. The cooldown reduction and AP are just bonuses. This item is also pretty cheap to pick up.

If the enemy team is stacking magic resist, This may be a good item for you, but it's better for the tank / melee fighters to get this.


Choice of Trinket

I prefer the extra ward over the clarvoyance active. But the Orb can be especially useful if your watching for a jungle invasion or checking key locations that are out of range of normal warding. If your playing an agressive counter warding game, The sweeping lens trinket is your best friend.

Make sure someone on your team has a sweeping lens when team fights break out. This is vitally important for map control after laning phase.

A decent passive, rewards you for agressive play by giving you a lower cooldown on



Your primary poke spell. Even if you miss the primary target, it will still take damage if it hit something else like a minion. Upgrades to with Mantra active.

Same as but leaves an AoE slow at the impact zone, After a few seconds the AoE will detonate, dealing more damage to enemies in it, This is your primary initiate for when the jungler comes.



Your only hard CC for a support, Deals light damage over time to the enemy you link and slows them while the bond holds. If they don't get out of range soon, they are immobilized. This is another tool for initiating a gank with your jungler. Upgrades to when Mantra is activated.

Same as but heals Karma for the damage it deals. If your low on health, Go ahead and use this to heal up, just don't overextend to do so. Or else you will probably take more damage then you will be healed for.



Your primary support tool, and can allow for your carry to trade with the enemy nicely. The speed boost is also nice for escaping, chasing. Or even towerdiving. Upgrades to when Mantra is activated.

Any old school Karma player will remember this ability, The blast shield has been majorly upgraded to apply a portion of the shield and full speed boost to all allies in the blast radius. Can also be used for surprise poke, or good initiaton.



This is what makes Karma unique, You have this ultimate at level 1 and level it up like normal at 6 / 11 / 16. When activated, your next spell will be super charged into something else. No longer has charges, but instead a base cooldown that drops with each rank, And cooldown being dropped every time you damage an enemy champion, making it possible to get 2 or 3 off in a teamfight if used right.

Insane early game damage, with low late game scaling, So abuse this advantage and go crazy on the enemy carry like no tommorow. makes it really hard to escape Draven. Another great matchup with the new Karma.

Still a great matchup with Karma after her rework. Great poke, alot of defense capabilities, and alot of burst damage. Its like lanes are always going to be good. Still my favorite matchup.

Low burst damage, but tons of CC and utility. Your probably going to be forced into playing safe early game since Ashe is a teamfighter. And has a relatively weak early game.

A nightmare for the enemy team. Both of you have insane poke, Caitlyn also has good brush control and is hard to gank. Take advantage of this early game domination since her late game is garbage.

Another lane where you are going to play safe in. Vayne's early game is garbage, but she 2 shots everything late game. Just keep her alive with and use your CC to peel for her, and this lane will go well.

Another poke from hell lane. Keep on poking the enemy carry hard, and kill them often, Ezreal is also rather balanced throughout the game, so he doesn't really fall off late game like other strong early game carries like

With the rework of 's kit, this lane is alot more enjoyable now. If signals he's going in, the carry and his insane damage will take care of the rest. Wait till after he exits stealth to use for the best effect.

Another agressive lane. him when he uses to safely trade with the enemy carry. If he's going in for a kill. and his work really well together.

An aggressive lane. Both of you have strong poke, And you can shield him making him trade very effectively. works really well with his also.

Yet another agressive lane. Not much I can say about this, and is a guaranteed kill almost.

Rarely seen, but strong if played right. She has build in sustain with , And her freakin hurts if it lands both trips on the same target. So make sure it hits both times by slowing with

Late game hyper carry! Keep her alive during lane phase and she will destroy everything in her path late game. is still a good combo when she initiates.

Decent early game, late game hyper carry. Keep him alive through his early game, and go for the occasional kill, and he's going to snowball like mad.

A very strange carry, but effective if played right. Tie in your when she ults to make none escape.

Widely considered trash tier, but his popularity is rising lately. Not the best matchup with Karma, Lucian generally wants massive lockdown from his support, Karma has some. But he generally works best with Thresh / Leona.

Weakness with her is her very low movespeed and range, Karma makes up for both with her , Letting Jinx get in, deal damage and get out. Decent matchup, but I still prefer carries with a bit more range when using Karma.

More of an anti carry, but he is viable bottom lane to fill this role in some situations. His poke can be a nightmare if he lands his , so use your to really help him with that.

Your entire purpose in laning is to keep your carry alive, ward important places, and occasionally poke at enemies with . If you need a guide on proper ward spots. I have a chart below of exactly where to place wards for the most effectiveness.

Green dots: Sight Ward spots
Pink dots: Vision Ward spots

If the enemy is being aggressive, Keep the lane brushes warded.

Your main focus in team fights is obvious, Keeping your team alive, using on the enemy carry to help lock him down. You can also use when your tank initiates to deal some nice AoE burst to start the team fight.
But try not to take to many of the kills, Its important they go to the AD carry, AP carry, and other prime damage dealers.

Another main goal of yours in team fights is to make sure enemy assassins are beating on your instead of their targets actual health.

I hope this guide has made you want to use Karma as much as I do already. She is alot of fun if your team knows how to handle her abilities properly. Who knows? You may even get someone to say the sacred words of "Karma OP" in endgame chat if you do well.

And if you have any questions, Or want to see some Karma action in game, Feel free to let me know in game. (Summoner name: Rykaal) Thanks for reading this guide and good luck with using Karma.

And on a final note, Her Sakura skin is awesome, definitely worth the 520 RP if you play Karma.

5/15/2013: Completely reworked the guide for her new kit.
11/26/2013: Added matchup info with Lucian and Jinx, updated items with the preseason stuff.