Hello everyone and welcome to my very first guide on mobafire.

I am a relatively new player to LOL and i am only level 22 in game. Therefore this guide might be redundant for ranked games and high end gaming. However i built this guide because at the point where i am it makes Katarina a very strong char in any battle.

I had to make my own guide as i found none who would focus so much on damage as i am, making katarina a real beast of a glass cannon. however abit squishy so play accordingly.

+ Great assassin
+ Great for surprise attacks
+ Great for quicking finishing someone under tower in early game
+ Can almost not be outrun (SHUNPO!)
+ Shunpo!
+ Good AOE hero slaying ultimate
+ Hard to surprise/gank (SHUNPO!)
+ Great mid player against most opponents
+ No mana, no energy, NOTHING! Just spam your skills !
+ Does not necesarely require a great early game to be a good killer

- Squishy as hell ! must hit and run !
- Slow to get high amounts of damage
- Vulnerable to stuns-silences
- Ultimate interuptable - making it useless

I am currently using those runes listed above as i play mostly AP characters, however the specifics for katarina are the AP runes, the extra 23-24 AP makes a good difference during the first 3 levels which will get you your first kill, and a good headstart.
Magic penetration is always good as you focus on your AP abilities.
Cooldown reduction is also good as katarina needs her ultimate ready for almost every battle (Except late game)

I usually go with 'runs' if possible.
first run : Boots of speed + 3 health potions - to start off with.

second run: back in lane try to get a kill and get your ionian boots ASAP, speed and cooldown reduction !

third run: Blasting wand and tome - This is where you get a first sudden jump in damage, will surprise - get kill !

fourth run: the Giants belt

Fifth run: the staff Rylais crystal scepter

Sixth run: needlesly large rod - second dps jump + now you're slowing with rylais

Thereafter finish the rabadons deathcap reaching about 250 ap and get lichbane - which will allow you to kill towers inhibitors and stuff quite fast, also adding a nice hit on heroes.

Void staff and morello's are optional but i often go with them. However if i meet a strong mostly AD or mostly AP team i will take a defense item accordingly, like thornnail or force of nature instead of either of those 2 items.

Get Shunpo ASAP! Go mid lane and harass the hell outta people !
Shunpo is your bread and butter skill, it saves you, it kills your ennemies it is the most versatile skill in the league imo! Shunpo IS Katarina! Max it ASAP !! Also with your rylais you will slow enemies by 30% each time you shunpo them, above from making terrible damage !
Is tryndamere bothering you with undying rage ? shunpo out and follow him as he flees shunpo back in when its gone, getting ganked ? shunpo out to a nearby ally or minion or ward or mushroom (teemo) or cannon (heimerdinger) or whatever friendly is nearby ! are the ennemies all on low health ? close in with flash and shunpo them ! Remember shunpo cooldown refreshes on kill, so you can multikill with it if many ennemies are on low health! also you can shunpo out of battle after your kill ! Shunpo ! SHUNPO !!!

right, the sequence, use killer instincts before shunpo ! 15% less dmg after shunpo in to battle !! yes pls !

so killer - shunpo - bouncing - death lotus is most common combo

Death lotus: Also an excellent skill ! With rylais you even slow
make sure to anticipate the ennemies retreating route before you use it and try to stand in front of them, so more daggers hit them
(Death lotus = spin around a while and toss daggers to up to 3 nearby heroes - heroes only)
Watch out before using this that ennemies use their common stuns and silences, as it can be interrupted !

Killer instics and bouncing blades:
I like to combine these early on, sacrificing a level of shunpo (cries) to negate the ennemies potion if they buy many. use killer instincts and toss a blade whenever they pop a potion to half its effect - WARNING you have to get killer instincts at lvl 3 pushing back your shunpo to lvls 4 and 5 :/ not optimal unless ennemy is loaded with pots

First off, try and get mid !
Why ? Because you can kill most ennemies at lvls 2-4 very easily.
You are also great at harassing and denying your opponent hes exp and gold
You are not very good with minions though, so try to last hit the best you can with bouncing blades and auto attack !

Keep mid until you see opportunities for ganks ! being in mid you have fast access to lanes and you can easily shunpo into battle and finish off ennemies in lanes
Have your team cooperate ! Katarina is awesome early game killer/finisher/harasser fear her !

If you see someone going back to tower with low hp try and shunpo them for the kill, shunpo out again once hes dead (remember shunpo refreshes on kill/assist) Use flash if necesary.

Only one spell is mandatory - FLASH !
Combine flash and shunpo and you got miss teleport everywhere and brain****s any idiot in a huge range. flash gets you so many kills specially early game, where you want the headstart! See that guy twice the range outta your shunpo with hes little health bar ? annoying aint he ? Flash SHUNPO! dead ! shunpo out again if necesary ! (its ready again remember ?)

If you got voice, use your teammates as escape routes ! Very handy to gank specially if you see that guy under the tower with no hp and u got nowhere to shunpo out and no flash ready. ask your ally to be your shunpo target. Lane with stunners, when they stun/snare pop death lotus shunpo to finish.