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Recommended Items
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Karthus Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Zed
Your worst nightmare... I personally try to ban him. If that isn't possible then i would consider getting 2x armor quints before the game starts. I usually go catalyst for extra hp and sustain and lost chapter for extra armor. Then finish rod and zhonya after that.
Introduction

I am a mid Platinum EUW/EUNE player and I've made this guide for all my fellow Karthus enthusiasts. Karthus was my first champ that cost more than 450 IP and I've been maining him since I was lvl 15. I've been playing League since the start of S4 and have climbed from Bronze IV to Gold V in about 6 months during S4. In S5 I took a break from this game but have started playing again in the August of this year. I've created a new Karthus one trick account on EUNE where I reached my current mid Plat rank in about 100 ranked games played.
I've created this guide because I saw that there were no decent S7 ones on the site. I think Karthus is one of the most underrated champions in the game. Players generally dismiss him as either too boring due to a slow laning phase or as a PRESS R TO WIN GGEZ one trick champ. This guide was made so that we would have some more Karthus players in this game.
I have to apologize for my weak English skills. English is not my first language so my vocabulary/grammar might not be on the level of some of the more refined guides on this site. If you see some spelling mistakes that really bother you then please leave a comment or send me a message and I'll do my best to fix it.
I will keep updating this guide throughout the next season (as long as I don't lose interest in the game) and as I keep getting better in the game. For now consider this guide to be in a beta stage.
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Pros: -Requires a somewhat different playstyle -Easy to farm with ![]() -Amazing passive -Can "gank" by using ![]() -Incredible AoE damage in the mid and late game -Enemies will sometimes rage when you press R |
Cons: -Requires a somewhat different playstyle -Has no mobility -Weak early game -No hard CC -Teammates will sometimes rage if you pick him top |
DEATH DEFIED

-

-In the early game this passive can get you a kill in a duel or if the enemy jungler ganks.
-This ability allows you to play a lot more agressively in teamfights since you deal the same amount of damage in this passive as you were alive. When a teamfight happens I usually wait for someone with hard CC to engage. Immediately after that I go straight into the enemy team (using


-



-When in

-If you are in your lane with no mana and low hp, the enemy laner is nowhere near and you see enemies with very low HP you can try to run under the enemy turret to execute yourself. Spells in Death Defied cost no mana so you can ult the enemy to get the kill.
-


-Death Defied still counts as being (kind of) alive. This means that the death timer won't be 7 seconds lower. So the amount of time before you respawn = 7 seconds + death timer
-At lvl 1 before you get your first point in

LAY WASTE

This is both your main farming tool and your main damage dealing ability through the early game.
-It deals double damage if you hit a single target. The ap ratio scaling is also doubled (0.6 instead of 0.3).
-At level 1 Karthus outtrades almost anyone due to the fact that this spell only has a 1 second cooldown. What i like to do is only use my autoattack for the 1st wave while spamming q on the enemy. I can generally deal quite a lot of damage to the enemy before he even reaches lvl 2.
-To maximize your Lay Waste damage try to hit the enemy champion just as he is about to last hit a minion. He won't be able to to dodge it if timed just right.
-In teamfights try to use Lay Waste on enemy squishies. You can usually 3 or 4 shot an enemy


-With 3 points in Lay Waste you can kill enemy caster minions in 4 qs, with 4 points in 3 qs and with 5 points either in 2 or 3 qs (depending on your ap)
-Lay Waste gives vision in a small radius so use it to scout bushes.
-Lay Waste has a different sound effect when it hits a single target.
-Don't forget that it takes a while to truly become good at using q. Just keep practicing and you'll get there!
WALL OF PAIN

This is your slow and your only form of (soft) CC.
-Wall of Pain costs 100 mana which is insanely expensive. Early game you should try not to spam this spell too much and should only use it either for escape, during a duel or in a trade if you know you can follow it up with at least 2 or 3 qs afterward.
-Don't forget - the spell reduces magic resist of the enemies by 15%. This is something that should never be underestimated as together with


-Wall of Pain gives you vision and as such is perfect for checking drake/baron if you are out of wards.
-



DEFILE

TOGGLE ON: Karthus deals magic damage per second to all nearby units.
Your main source of damage in mid/late game teamfights.
-If toggled off it restores mana any time you kill a minion. This is the reason Karthus can last hit using


-You can use it to last hit creeps by toggling the ability on for 1 second then toggling the ability off (although you won't get the mana)
-Deals negligible damage while costing a ton of mana early game. Try to use it as little as possible early on.
-It automatically toggles on when

-In teamfights try to maximize the damage dealt with

-



REQUIEM

Karthus' most iconic ability. A channeled global spell that deals massive damage on the entire enemy team.
-With 1 point in

-The ability is channeled - which means it can be interrupted by stuns, displacements, taunts, fears, charms etc. Be careful where you decide to cast it.
-If the ability is canceled by the enemy spell you will not get any cooldown reduction.
-At lvl 1 with no CDR it has a 200 second cooldown (3 minutes 20 seconds). This means that you have to make every cast count. Do NOT use it unless you are 90% sure you or your teammate can get a kill.
-Do not be afraid to use it however - if you see for example that your botlane is going to get a kill with the help of your ult then don't hesitate to use it.
-Do NOT use it steal a guaranteed kill from your ally.
-In teamfights it is generally best to use it after you die and enter your

-

-Enemies might buy an item like


-Don't rely too much on teammates if they tell you to ult an "almost dead" enemy. This is especially true for lower leagues.
GOOD





I usually use

OK




DON'T TAKE



NOT SURE

I've honestly never run


Running







I think this one is self explanatory








This one is up to you. I personally use







My favorite of the three is





Obvious.
And lastly







I've seen people run







To me






STANDARD
Runes




ARMOR
Runes





Runes






The second set is the standard one that is generally used against AD assassins. It is just as good as the first set so just pick one you like more.
For top lane I often still pick the standard runes (without armor) vs some AD champs but only if I know the champion I'm playing against isn't as dangerous early game.
COOLDOWN REDUCTION
Runes








The tradeoff with this runepage is that you don't get the usual magic resist which makes your already weak laning phase even weaker. To offset this you can switch 3/6/9 cdr glyphs for 1/2/3 cdr quint although this reduces your starting AP by 5/10/15 which means weaker trades and weaker clear.
This runepage is definitely interesting to use and I will keep experimenting with CDR Karthus in the future. As I learn the intricacies of the playstyle a bit better I will update this part of the guide.
STARTING ITEMS




These items are a standard start for Karthus mid/top as they give sustain through

Selling Doran's Ring: if you have no space in your inventory you might consider selling your ring. I often see players selling the ring to buy an

1st ITEM:
Rod of Ages vs
Archangel's Staff
Both of these items are great for Karthus as each of them gives him mana, a lot of AP and HP/shield.
But let's first look at the components that we use to build these items.







So all in all I have to say I prefer




Lastly let's look at another possibility - building BOTH RoA and Archangel's. The reason Karthus has a strong mid game is his powerspike he gets when finishing his 2nd, 3rd and 4th item (not counting boots). Karthus simply becomes a beast when he gets either Rylai's or Zhonya and can win teamfights pretty much on his own. Building Archangel as a 2nd item will weaken your general powerspike as Archangel (when not fully charged) doesn't bring any utility or survivabilty and in return it only offers ~50 extra AP. Getting Archangel also means you can't take an item you usually would as it would take that extra item slot. This generally means you wouldn't be able to buy

2nd ITEM: BOOTS


Other boots that i would use are








WARDS
Always remeber to buy a

I like taking

3rd ITEM













In the build section above I listed

I get




Don't be afraid to build a



Incase the enemy laner is not as dangerous but the enemy team in general has a strong AP composition (for example, I played a game vs a support






4th & 5th ITEM







6th ITEM
I usually take either




Liandry is generally useful if they have a lot of very tanky champs with lost of HP and Magic Resist as the item gives 15 flat MPen and a passive that deals 3 or 6% of the enemy's HP in damage when you use an ability. I don't know how it stacks with


I sometimes switch Sorcerer's Boots for

SITUATIONAL ITEMS







Hextech Protobelt01 offers a great active that Karthus can definitely utilize very well in teamfights. Unfortunately it doesn't have amazing stats and it doesn't seem to fit into Karthus' build as it delays his powerspikes too much. I haven't really tested this item all that much on Karthus and when I get a better hang of it I will update this guide.


In this section I'll describe my way of playing the champ at all stages of the game.
MID vs TOP lane Karthus
In ranked Queue I usually take mid as my primary lane and top as my secondary. Even though mid lane is preferable Karthus can still do just fine on the top lane due to the long range on


EARLY GAME/LANING PHASE
At level 1 Karthus is actually surprisingly strong due to the fact that






I would suggest not to push your lane too much in the early game as you have no escape and low mobility and are therefore a sitting duck for the enemy if you pushed too far. This is especially true if you're playing Karthus top lane. I personally prefer to just freeze my lane near my tower if I can. You can freeze easily by letting your opponent clear your minions while you clear only on the enemy's melee minions. After that you let their caster minions push a bit and then you should stop them right before the turret range (so they are on your side of the map but out of the turret range). I only really push the lane if the enemy laner has gone back to the base or if he went for a gank on some other lane. I would also advise you to learn how to farm under the turret. it takes 2 turret shots and 1 Q to kill a melee minion and 1 turret shot and 1 Q to kill a caster minion. This will however require you to be very precise with landing your Qs so you only hit the minion that is under the attack from the turret.
I generally don't like going for ganks all that much with Karthus as he is very immobile and only really has his




In S7 I think clearing wraiths or birds (or whatever they're called nowadays) is not worth it anymore as it takes longer to clear and takes too much of your HP to tank. Taking wolves if your lanes is pushed, however can be worthwhile as long as your jungler doesn't mind.
Keep in mind that junglers usually start blue buff and then continue their clear towards the red buff. At the 3 min mark you can anticipate a gank from the jungler (usually from their red buff side) so be careful as Karthus is very immobile.
Remember to always buy



I usually use the control ward in the brush between blue buff and midlane. I also place the trinket ward by the enemy's wraiths. Alternatively I place the control ward in the brush between drake and the red buff and the trinket ward in the small brush in river.(Going to update this part of the guide with images at a later date) This generally gives me and my jungler complete vision of one side of the river so I can plan around the enemy jungler's movement.
At this point I have to dedicate a paragraph to Karthus' ultimate,

MIDGAME
By midgame I mean the phase of the game after you get your 2nd item. You will get a huge power spike and will become a beast during teamfights. By now you should switch from just passively farming and waiting for kills with



Their frontine will be forced to either move forward out of your E and Q range or suffer serious damage aswell. If you use Karthus correctly you should be able to pretty much split their front and blackline apart while dealing massive damage to everyone. This will allow your team to only focus on the enemy frontline, thus essentially creating a 3v5 scenario.
There are a couple of champs that synergize really well with Karthus. Generally they are champs who can hit multiple members of the enemy team with hard CC like


LATEGAME
By lategame I mostly mean a phase of the game after I get

By this time the enemies will generally get items like




Added description for

MASTERIES: Fixed

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