Although this is my first guide, please comment and vote, to help it grow.

This build is for persons who likes supports, but would rather make more damage than a soraka support does.

If you feel like this, than go on reading.

This build will lead you to a powerful support that can easely make a huge difference ingame.

Please read the full guide as important parts concerns how she use all this, and how to play her with this build

Pros

• Can save a teamclash
• Have huge Shield and Heals
• Monstrous AOE with shield
• People wouldn't think she could damage this way
• Great survival possibilities with shield, heal, and bond to slow
• Karma's a *****

Cons

• Pretty Squishy when not shielded
• Mana hungry without blue
• Not an easy character

These runes are AP carry runes.
Why so ?

Because you're going to build like an AP carry, but not play like one.

: This gives you the magic penetration you need.
Greater Seal of Vitality : Important for early / mid game, because it can really make a difference when teamclashes breaks out.
: These are important because you are not going to aim for a good early game. You are going to aim for the perfect end game.

You may consider using Mana regeneration other life per level. This also works as karma is mana hungry when she farms all creep waves with her skills.
Although they are useful, a blue buff will correct that aspect as you may legitimatelly ask it from your jungler.

Her spells are made to hurt.
Given her passive Inner Flame, every times she gets hurt, this passive is augmented by Archmage. Add your rabadon and your passive can give you more than 100 AP within a teamclash.

The 9 points in the utility tree are made to sustain you in lane. As you have more mana, more mana regen, and buff durations augmented, you are ready to taunt your ennemies with shielding you, healing you, arms in the air like you don't care :p

The items i picked for karma will make you very useful in teamclashes.

Boots of speed: always start with them. you will need them to avoid ennemies spells and to farm with more ease.

Health potions: Take one tu sustain in early game when you'd rather spend 35 gold than 70 mana and a mantra for a better heal than the spell.

Mana potions : take two, because you will need them. your jungler may be mana hungry or not, you will most likely not have the second blue buff. It will help giving you half mana, and time to farm your before backing

Ionian boots of lucidity : I take them because they give you the cooldown reduction every karma needs. Her ultimate (Mantra) has a cooldown that can be reduced so the more CDR you get, the more mantras you can use

Morello's Evil Tome: the morello is a great item choice. It gives you 20% Cooldown reduction , 75 Ability power,12 mana regeneration and a passive that wounds the ennemy reducing their heals.
Let's say this item is multi purpose and serves karma well, because she needs everything this books can offer.

Rabadon's Deathcap : Although this item is expansive, it's the best caster item. 140 AP and 30% AP bonus ? Too good... Too good... :D

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: This item is something you want to use in teamclashes. Gives health to survive and a monstrous passive with karma. this passive gives a 15% slow on the area of the spell. (since karma has no unique target spells, she will only get the 15% than the 35%)
This items gives you the possibility to slow an entire team, or to make a succesful chase.
Must have

Will of the Ancients: this is an item that will help AP on your team. Whoever gets the bonus, it will be enjoyable since champions like soraka, amumu, and other AP champs will enjoy the little boost on their capacities, and you will enjoy the AP boost and the spell vamp.
Remember you are playing a support/DPS champ, and your teammates will appreciate this little attention.

Banshee's Veil: I take this Item rather lately, but it has good potential. While it gives you mana, health, and magic resistance, something you lack cause you will be at low magic resistance for a while, you will also gain a counter spell shield that helps a lot in teamclash. avoid a aoe stun, a nuke, a silence, is all you need to keep up saving your mates.


These items mix up well, and with the morello,, you will have a good boost on mid game.

Situational Items Choice

While you are looking for resistance against heavy AP teams, go with the Banshee's Veil or with Heavy AD team, you may want to consider buying an thornmail as it gives you the armor you need to survive alot more, while damaging the oponnent.

Keep in mind that your last item must be a defensive one as you want to be there for your mates.

Before you play karma, you will notice that she has a very unique gameplay, and that's what I use to make her very useful in team.

She has three spells she can get to LVL 6 and one ultimate that is given at the beginning of the game.
Everytime she uses a charge of her ultimate, she can power up one of her spells, giving her bonus effects or making the effects stronger.
Depending on how you will use them, they will change you in a good support, or just another boring AP carry.


Inner Flame :

This passive with karma is huge. The more an ennemy will take you low health, the more you will gain AP.

This means when you get under 30% health, you will get the ability to put huge shields and heals, saving you, or your partners, form certain death, by helping them, or nuking an opponent


Heavenly Wave :

This spell is something you will have to practice, because you want to use it right.

Karma sends a wave of blades damaging nearby ennemies in a cone.
Mantra Bonus : Allied units are healed in the zone.

Although the cooldown on this spell is pretty low, using it in teamclashes can make a difference.

Using it to lower the opponents HP is good, but doing it while healing your whole team is better. Be careful on when you use the spell, and wait a bit. This spell may be useful 2 seconds later than when you launched it, and you will regret not having it.
It comboes well with [icoon="soul shield"]soul shield.(see in combos section)


Spirit Bond :

this spell links you and an ally/ennemy speeding you and your ally, or speeding you and slowing the ennemy
It also makes noticeable damage when ennemies go through that bond.

Mantra Bonus : The speed effect is doubled.

This spell may seem useless. Not at all. Never forget this spell.

Although i max it at last, this spell helps your team make damage, slow someone running away, and in case of running away, speeding up your ally.
This comes very useful when placed right. when ganking, the ennemy will panic due to horrible slows you will land, within a huge range.



Soul Shield:
Places a shield on the ally target (including you)/
Mantra Bonus : Gives this shield a HUGE AOE damage.

This is your bread and butter skill.
Keep your finger on this key because you will have to react fast.
You will have the occasion to save many times your ally, and putting a shield right before someone attacks you, or a friend, it will deny the damage, or reduce it a lot.

This spell is what you will use to make you the big support nobody is.
By placing tha mantra shield on your tank while engaging, you will shield him with a monstrous 600 HP shield (when you have lots of AP) and you will make a 600 damage AOE right in the opponents team, and if you have rylai, you are also slowing them.

This skill has a huge potential, so always keep one mantra charge because you will never know when you will have to use it, or to use a heal instead.


Mantra :

Karma's passive charging ultimate.
Gains a charge every 30/25/20 seconds at level 1-6 / 7-12 / 13-18
this can be reduced with cooldown reduction so in late game the spells charges up in 12 seconds.

I choose teleport and flash.

Teleport is the spell you need to have. Whenever a teamclashes engages you have to be near your team. Karma is not supposed to bealone, when she's not farming.
This gives you the early possibility of "ten seconds back and go again" that is very useful to keep the mid out of destroying the turret, or free farming.
You might consider using it in various situations:

• Keeping up on your lane
• Whenever you see a gank and there is a ward near your jungler, or the ennemy jungler, go in and help your team kill the victim, or saving your buddy, making it 2v2 and not 1v2
• Going in a teamclash while being somewhere else
• Saving a tower of destruction (and also farm :p)

Flash is a must have. this spell comes pretty useful when you

• Want to avoid a Crowd control spell by the ennemy jungler when ganking
• Want to follow your tank or carry through forests or at long distance
• Want to get near an ennemy to insta-Mantra-shield and wave to kill them

You may want to use ignite instead of teleport, but this spell won't be useful as you won't seek for kills in early and when it comes to mid / late game you just stay at distance behind your team mates, and if you look for the heal reduction, you already have Morello for that.

This part of the build is the most important one.
Every action you do must be ruled by some rules.

[1] Whenever you have to choose between damaging and helping people, help them.
a healthy teem, with life and champs not dying is better than giving away a mate to get a kill. letting people get killed is not the spirit of karma.
[2] Karma is multi purpose. When you have the choice of what to do between hurting and helping mates, remember that you are multi purpose.
Try to help your teammate by shielding him while hurting the oponnents. they won't like it.
Try to heal your teemmate by using the wave. they won't like it much too.
[3] Never forget rule n°1 and rule n°2

You have to be multi tasking.
Its up to you when you decide to concentrate your spells to attack or to help.
A good karma knows what she can do at any time, and with this, she can decide what she has to do.

Example :
Your nearby AD carry is getting killed by a melee champ.
Try putting him a mantra shield and a heal while aiming for the melee, speed your friend, and the melee will have no choice but to go away, because you make your mate much harder to kill.

This karma is made to have a big burst while helping her team.
Having this AP oriented build makes her one of the strongest support in game.
She will get more powerful heals, shields, and damage. Yep that's what you need with karma.

Start your game at Mid.

You will be replacing a powerful AP carry, like Anivia or Annie.
Keep in mind that your team will be lacking some AP power that other AP can put

You go mid, and now you start to farm.
Farm as much as you can, because that's all you can do for now.
This build is active at mid/ late game.

We seek to empower karma to make her a huge difference ennemies won't expect.

Rush your boots and morello and you are normally set to do some teamclashes.
Keep in mind that you can use your allies/minions to land huge AOE's with your shield

try to move from your lane to help when pushing, tower diving, or ganking.
Karma may not be useful early game, but with your maxed shield, it's potential is huge to scare ennemies.

When mid game finishes, everyone should stick together, especially karma.
Karma must keep an ally within reach to help him.

Whenever an ennemy approaches, look who the ennemy's focusing and put a mantra shield on him.
Then if HP are going low, use your heal to damage and help.

This build is made so karma can have a huge impact on both teams.

Think of how you would use her in specific situations and you will get what it takes to use her properly.

As you go mid, remember you have to pull.
Wherever the jungler goes, tell him to do Wolves/Wraiths.
When the jungler pulls, mantra shield him and the monsters should be around mid life in 0.1 s.

Your jungler should have time to finish and come to the blue / red buff before it pops.
This is really appreciated.

When you have to farm, use your mantra shield then your wave.
Seems easy to figure out yourself, but still, positioning is important.

Try to rather target a friendly minion in mid lane as you will be out of range for the ennemy, while farming with the AOE, if required, finish with the wave

Try also to position the AOE whith going yourself in the minions pack.
This works best when no one is in the lane.

don't forget to damage with allies going in combat with mantra shielding them

This concludes my karma build.

This build may be hard to use, but whenever you master one support enough, your thoughts will guide you to help as you can your team.

Again, please comment and vote so i can understand the reasons behind the vote.
Thanks for reading this guide.

• v1.1) Updated items and added situational items