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Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Ability Order
Voracity (PASSIVE)
Katarina Passive Ability
Introduction



In this guide I'm putting all my experience from playing


Thank you for reading my

You can find Abbreviations that could've been used here



Decreases skill cool downs by 15 sec after every kill/assist (only

- Allows you to make many surprising maneuvers, like sudden tower dive with
Shunpo which would be deadly to you after your kill, but thanks to it you can make your escape again with the same skill.


Bounces from 2-6 targets, on higher lvl you can use it to harass enemy from almost safe place, because it will bounce trough minions/enemies to your target (sometimes it will not jump like you want it to and might end not hitting the target you wanted).
- It deals magic damage (not physical like some think).
- Try to hit the furthest minion you can afford to hit your target, as it grants you the best chance to actually hit your enemy, as well as almost safe place, from which is easy to avoid enemy attacks.
- Every bounce without
Preparation results in damage lowered by 10% so try to reduce the count of bounces to get maximum damage output, although sometimes it may be not safe and not recommended.




Activating it before


- Activate it as often as possible or use it right before skills for some tactics.
- On lvl 2 of this skill duration is almost as long as cool down of this skill, so you can activate it earlier and wait for cool down almost to be up and then use it 2 times almost in the same time.
- Use
Preparation while the blade is going to the target (but before it hits). Thanks to it your power will not decrease after each bounce and you'll surprise enemy by sudden power up activation and half heal debuff. You may also activate it after it hits but it will sustain the damage that was lowered (not the full damage it had on beginning).
- Using it right before
Shunpo is probably one good habit, as it will help to lower damage you always receive and sometimes it is this the thin line that keeps you alive.


It's an instant movement to the target, which puts you behind the target and attempts physical attack right after using it. It can be used offensively as well as defensively. Closing the gap, dealing damage on target or using on nearby minion to dodge skill shot, widen the gap.
- Can be used to move to a nearby sight ward or
Noxious Trap etc. (it will reveal ward not sure about traps and so on)
- You can easily escape ultimates like
Bullet Time,
Absolute Zero or even
Death Lotus etc. (skillful ones may even evade ultimates like
Enchanted Crystal Arrow and so on)


Deals massive damage up to 3 enemies in range by throwing 10 daggers over 3 seconds each dagger deals 50/65/80 basic damage (+0,25 AP and +0,5 AD). But even though it's a powerful ultimate DO NOT BE CARELESS every stun/knockback/silence is able to break it and you'll be in a very uncomfortable position, so you need SOME common sense: be patient and watch carefully when enemies are throwing their CC skills, then use it.
Many times I have seen


Try to keep from using your ultimate unless in team fights, ganks or situations where you can guarantee dealing enough damage to kill your target(s).
- Try to use
Preparation+
Shunpo before
Death Lotus which will minimize damage you receive and may give you enough health to fully cast
Death Lotus, which also enables safer tower dives for your combo.
- Remember that most champions with CC will try to save a skill for your
Death Lotus like
Talon's cutthroat. Try waiting till everybody gets engaged in fight then use powered
Shunpo followed by
Death Lotus.
Death Lotus also hits units on stealth, you may also take advantage of it to notice incoming gank (because your ultimate becomes available whenever some champion is in its range).
- Be wary when using items, they break your ultimate on usage.

Pros:![]() |
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Cons:![]()
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Things needed to master
Katarina:
- Common sense
- Good reflex
- Map awareness (I still kind of lack in here xD)
- Good way of positioning yourself
- Good sense of timing
- Keeping calm in fights (sometimes you can just lose fight you could win,
because under pressure you panic)

Before we start on range/zone of your skills let’s look closer at the mechanics of



Bouncing Blades - Route of the blade:
2. Dark Blue Dot - first target
3. Light Blue Line - possible route to the 2nd target
4. Light Blue Dot - most probable 2nd target
5. Orange Line - way to the 3rd target (both ways possible)
6. Red Dot - 2nd/3rd target of

7. Red Line - way to the 3rd/4th target

So now that we know how the






Bouncing Blades - Full (possible) Range


Range of
Shunpo +
Bouncing Blades


And to put all that knowledge to work lets finish up with Zoning Tutorial by Shurelia

I have for you 3 skill sequences each has its good sides and require different style of play. I like to play using the Common skill sequence. However there was time I used Close Combat Style all the time

Common:
I use this build almost always on mid/side with ranged/mage enemy champions.
We maximize








Why I take 2 points into






A: On first lvl's








Although you should start from




Other case would be to be able to pull blue/red for your jungler
Conclusion:


Close Combat style:
Like the one before but we switch maximization of


Like the title of this sequence says it's more compact way of playing with




Risky one:
Truthfully now I'm practically not using this strategy anymore.
In those two we simply ignore





Killer Instincts:
I give 2 ability points in it because after you activate it lasts more/less as long as CD to the next

You also should activate






Farming:
Although


Mid-late game is where


It's a bit harder to farm while going with



Common abilities:
You should place yourself behind minions, sometimes far from minions (on the side or so) if enemy champion can get you easily even behind them (ranged like









Close Range:
I called it Close Combat because this strategy works best against melee range champions. Simply focus on enemy Champ you want to harass and use







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Greater seal of vitality
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Other possible runes are Greater seal of vitality. For some people those might seem more useful than ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Greater seal of vitality
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![]() ![]() ![]() Little math about scaling vs flat AP: ![]() ![]() meaning at lvl 6 we have more AP from scaling ones |
Other worth mentioning runes are ![]() ![]() |
Like previous runes ![]() |

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Basic Masteries:
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I take "9/21/0" mastery build.





The offensive tree is just like the old one and the new defensive mastery tree is very flexible for


Let’s play with math:
Let’s say that we have 4% damage reduction (1%


500 x 1% (not area effect) = 5 HP SAVED
But if we take 5 points in other masteries we would have






4 + 1 per 5 seconds = 5 HP SAVED // 1 point

2 + 3 per 5 seconds = 5 HP SAVED // no




6x4 + 1 per 5 seconds = 25 HP SAVED // 1 point

6x2 + 3 per 5 seconds = 15 HP SAVED // no




2 + 1 per 5 seconds = 3 HP SAVED // 1 point

2 + 3 per 5 seconds = 5 HP SAVED // no

Conclusion: The number of saved HP is small however we would spend our mastery points in those skills. For me



Offensive Masteries



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In those masteries I took "21/9/0" (first masteries) and "21/0/9" (second masteries). We are ignoring squishiness of


But there are very big Cons comparing to defensive masteries:
Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a must have, we cannot exchange it with any other situational item.
- Damage output is practically similar to "9/21/0" until we get
Rabadon's Deathcap.
Boots is the only viable starting item, taking
Doran's Shield is almost suicidal, you need to depend on dodging skill shots, you are too squishy to take them head on.

Descriptions and Comments of Used Masteries:
Offensive:
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Defensive:
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Utility:
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Recommended:
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![]() Defensive: If you have problems with escaping (no nearby targets to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Offensive: You see enemy under tower and some minions close by, you know that if you run towards him, he will run back not to be in your range of ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() Defensive: You know that enemy champion will kill you if he gets to you, ![]() Offensive: Your ![]() ![]() ![]() |

Other good spells for
Katarina:
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Not Recommended:
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Those are my preferred Core Items for






After Core Items I mix in Late Game Items with Situational Items, depending on what I actually need. You might find that making all the Items from cheat sheet above is not always beneficial to the games you are playing. (it's just that those are the most basic


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NOTE: Multiple target abilities (Bouncing Blade and Death Lotus) grant 1/3 spell vamp, 5% with the
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(1.0 - 0.4) * (1.0 - 0.1) = 0.6 * 0.9 = 0.54 = 54% of original resist that means:
1 - 0,54 = 0,46 = 46% penetration
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50 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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50 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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80 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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80 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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100 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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100 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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200 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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200 Magic Resistance vs ![]()
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Conclusion: Because most champions have less than 80 magic resistance (even with 1 MR item), we will deal more damage using



![]() ![]() |
At the beginning you need to choose how you want to start.
You should try to last hit minions as often as possible while using all your skills, if you can you should try to throw ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |

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Usually I go back first time when I have gold for both ![]() ![]() ![]() If I need to back off earlier and don't have cash for ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() From this point on you should start ganking, but do not neglect farming on minions, do it when you can and DO NOT force it while you know you'll be sacrificing tower. |
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You should back when you have enough cash for your Shoes (![]() ![]() ![]() You are past the point you needed to choose which boots you need to buy. If you went with Close Combat Style you'll probably want cool down reduction so go with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks to ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |

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For this Item you may need to go back to base twice or more times (depends on games, sometimes once will be enough). To maximize damage you want to get it as fast as possible, so on first back off you buy ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() NOTE:AD champions usually do not deal enough damage to kill you (without items on lvl 18 you will have above 100 armor) but if you'll still need some armor ![]() |
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Usually I go catch the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() If you went with CDR Core then you probably would want to go with some defensive item before grabbing ![]() ![]() |
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Past this point I mix in Late Game Items with Situational Items, depending on what I actually need. You might find that making all the Items from cheat sheet above is not always beneficial to the games you are playing.

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![]() ![]() ![]()
NOTE: If we want damage then Gunblade is better than WotA, if we look at price then its other way around.
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Not Recommended but Plausible:
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Even though, I still do not recommend it. For starters if we play









Survival Situational Items
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Team Play Situational Items
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NOTE: Preferably used as a substitute of
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Situational Items against CC
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![]() or champs like ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Very Risky Situational Items (Stackable items)
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I decided to mention


However, those are NOT the most reliable items, use at your own risk. If you are having a good game, try to pick it up early. If not, don't bother risking losing an item slot and a lot of damage AP/damage and some gold.
I'm not a fan of snowballs (stackable items) I used them early on but as games went by I decided not to use them, at least not on


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One of the champions that is not hard because of CC (which she has thanks to ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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Against him a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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He has 2 skills’ you need to watch out, ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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It's very annoying opponent, his ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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Has also 2 CC skills ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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Guess what? Yes 2 CC skills xD ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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Simply too many CC (![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Solution: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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Heard many times that this is problematic champion against ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Now the key of successful way of killing him is evading his 1st skill shot which probably will be ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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He has very bad passive working against ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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She's another champion that can almost 1 shoot you. Most critical is her silence in Sigil of Silence (after she strikes you with any other ability it gives silence). You won't be able to use skills for 2 seconds. But at lvl 6 she may silence you up to 4 seconds using Sigil of Silence and ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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You should be careful around her since she can stun you with 2 skills. First one ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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It's a bit tricky lineup her ball is able to deal pretty high damage and to dodge it you can't be looking at ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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It's one of the champions that making ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

Very hard against:
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He's very mobile thanks to his ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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A skilled ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

Rest of the champions is not posing too much of a threat (if I didn't forget any more annoying champions like those above) and can simply be solved with either:

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() Another great partner, his ![]() ![]() |

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(![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() Little ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() Very big massive slow from ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() if we place ourselves inside our ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() Being in the center of the ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

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I do not recommend champions such as:
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![]() ![]() Why? Well his ![]() ![]() |

All other champions that are considered good are those that have stun or a crowd control, I didn't speak of them here because it's simply disabling 1 opponent and are not as useful as those above.

Q: You got


A: Yes, since I use


Q: Should


A: It may be a bit related to my play style, but even tough





Q: Why

A: It has many usages,








Q: Why you don't add

A: Actually I never ended up making





Q: Have you considered


A: Actually yes I did consider it. Here you have calculations I made:







So it's 1525 difference in gold.


So it's still good to get



I would like to especially thank:

Jhoijhoi and her Guide to Making a Guide which enabled me to make most of the formatting made on this Guide. Also thank you for older banner and dividers(Jhoi's sig store).
LaCorpse for awesome guide bundle that came straight from LaCorpse's Signature Café.
I would like to thank all the reviewers that answered my requests and provided me with a great feedback that helped me making my guide even better: Jhoijhoi, SirSpankAlot, Icuonuez.
Everybody who have read and commented my guide :D

One of my best games:

Older Changes (main ones):
- Changed Core items in build order into full AP build.
- Added conclusion about
Hextech Gunblade changes
- Corrected Cheat Sheet Item Order
- Added Ability descriptions
- Added FAQ (it will be updated every once in a while).
- Full Grammar check (used some online free grammar checking, so I'm not sure if everything is ok now, if you manage to notice some errors then let me know about it in the comments)
- Corrected beginning of the guide (intro, appearance, organization etc.)
- Corrected Masteries
- Corrected visual appearance (I think I did it xD)
- Date changes in Change LOG instead of versions, also shortened change LOG since some of the changes weren't that important.
- Removal of the old masteries
- Corrected calculations in
Abyssal Mask vs
Void Staff in Core Item Section
- Added more runes.
- Added other possible masteries.
- Added CDR Core.
- Corrected guide visually.
- Made Range/Zone Section.
Hextech Gunblade back to cheat sheet after spell vamp nerf on
Will of the Ancients.
- WotA related info.
- MS Office Word spell and grammar check :D
Death Lotus info: all item usages (even pots) are breaking it (got to know it painfully last game)

To do List(for now at least):
- Any changes that I’ll find necessary
Low priority:
- Dominion part on
Katarina - I'm not sure if I even make part about it, since Dominion didn't get to me as much as I tough it would and I don't like playing it too much, but who knows maybe it'll change. (+ it's almost like writing a new guide within a guide since there are other priorities)
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