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- [RECONSTRUCTION] Vladimir - The Crimson Caster
- [RECONSTRUCTION] Katarina - The Katastrophic Kitty Kat
- [RECONSTRUCTION] Miss Fortune - The Candy Cane Killer
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Katarina - The Katastrophic Kitty Kat






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Spells:
Exhaust
Ignite
Ability Order
Voracity (PASSIVE)
Katarina Passive Ability
I. Introduction

Hello and welcome to my guide for Katarina, the Katastrophic Kitty Kat. I am relatively new to MOBAFire and this is my third build so all constructive feedback is appreciated. Also if you disagree with something please leave a comment before rating. :) Also, If you are going to -1 then if you could leave a comment as to why you are doing it, it would be appreciated. The whole reason behind this guide was to be as helpful as possible so please help me achieve that goal.
It seems that MOBAFire is not showing statistics properly. When I play Katarina I usually have much higher stats. :|
I know some of you may be getting tired of the layout of my guides but I believe that consistency is key. If you have seen my other guides you may already know your way around my guides so it will be simpler. Anyway, it's the information that counts and I think that the information in this guide is bound to make you "LEGENDARY"!
Now, to Katarina, the Katastrophic Kitty Kat. Katarina is a very interesting champion to play. Firstly, she does not have any mana and so she will be referred to as a "Cooldown Champion". The beauty behind cooldown champions is that you are able to use what you want and the only thing that can possibly get in your way is the cooldown. Katarina has recently been buffed and is now more deadly than ever. This buff may have given a definitive edge to the Ability Power Katarina because Bouncing Blade in now affected by Ability Power. In this guide I will try my best to teach you how to play Katarina, the Katastrophic Kitty Kat.
I am aware that after the patch Full Hybrid seems to be the way to go but I still prefer a High AP Katarina. The reasons as to why will be explained within this guide. Also, if I get any requests to do a Full Hybrid guide I will. :)
With the demand for warfare somewhat arrested by the tenuous peace settling over Valoran, Katarina sought the allure of violence in its last remaining haven: The League of Legends. Some might say it was an inevitability that Katarina's chosen path would draw her to become a champion of the League, continuing to enforce the will of Noxus and bring prestige of war to her noble family. There, she continues to perform her bloody work - esteemed and reviled, feared and adored.
Damage 53 Health 395 Mana 0 Move Speed 325 Armor 14.75 Magic Resist 30 Health Regen 1.39 Mana Regen 0 |
|
(+3.2 / per level) (+83 / per level) (+0 / per level) (+0 / per level) (+4 / per level) (+1.25 / per level) (+0.11 / per level) (+0 / per level) |
Pros
+ Amazing Burst if played AP.
+ Shunpo is a 600 - 800 damage nuke late game.
+ Killer Instincts and Shunpo will greatly reduce damage taken.
+ Death Lotus is capable of annihilating the enemy team.
+ A very in - > out type of champion.
+ Voracity will be a great tool for your in - > out playstyle.
+ A great assassin.
+ Pulchritudinous ;)
+ Kitty Cat Skin is epic. :D (Oh my god... she has a tail!!!)
Cons
- Very Squishy.
- Easy to counter.
- Death Lotus is channeled and is prone to interrupts.
- Likely to get targeted.
- Hated by many. :(






Some other choices of Summoner Spells could be:




















After a kill or assist, Katarina gains 25 gold and her cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds.
Hodayum! This is a very, very good passive. It takes off 15 seconds of your cooldowns for every kill and assist and you also gain a nice bonus of 25 extra gold. With this passive you are greatly enhanced. Think about it, you're fighting a 5 v 5, you send out a





Cost: N/A.
Cooldown: N/A.
Katarina throws a dagger that bounces from enemy to enemy, dealing magic damage.
Katarina throws a dagger that hits up to 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 enemies, dealing 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+) magic damage. Each subsequent hit deals 10% less damage.
Bouncing Blade is a great harassment tool that should not go underutilized. After the recent patch the

Be sure to use the

Cost: None.
Cooldown: 9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7 seconds.
Magic Damage: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+0.8 per bonus Attack Damage AND +0.35 per Ability Power).
Maximum Bounces: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6.
Range: 600.
Passive: Katarina's attacks deal increased damage. Active: Katarina's next basic attack has a bonus effect. Bouncing Blade deals full damage to every target hit and reduces incoming healing to the target, or after using Shunpo Katarina takes reduced damage for 3 seconds.
Passive: Katarina's abilities and melee attacks deal 8/12/16/20/24 additional damage each hit.
Active: Katarina's next basic ability has a bonus effect.
Bouncing Blade: Deals full damage to every target it hits and applies 50% healing reduction for 10 seconds.
Shunpo: Katarina takes 15/20/25/30/35% reduced damage from enemy attacks for 3 seconds.
Wow... 35% reduced damage after using a



Later in the game, when you have to jump into the midst of your enemies in a team fight to unleash the


Make sure to use this skill a lot. Use it while farming minions, use it while engaging the enemy with your team. In other words... Use it as much as possible and you will notice the advantages that it brings.
Cost: None.
Cooldown: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds .
Damage Increase: 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24.
Shunpo Damage Reduction: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 %
Katarina instantly moves to her target's location. If the target is an enemy, she deals damage.
Katarina moves to her target's location. If the target is an enemy, she deals 90/120/150/180/210 (+0.75) magic damage to the target.










Cost: None.
Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds .
Magic Damage: 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 / 210 (+0.75 per Ability Power).
Range: 700.
Katarina goes into a state of extreme focus, throwing daggers with unrivaled speed at 3 closest enemy champions for 2.7 seconds.
This is a very powerful ultimate but unfortunately it is very easy to counter. It is very rare for a Katarina to be able to use



A great ultimate but very, very easy to counter. You should still try to jump in and use

Cost: None.
Cooldown: 60 / 55 / 50 seconds.
Magic Damage: 40 / 50 / 60 (+0.55 per bonus Attack Damage AND +0.3 per Ability Power) per dagger.
Area of Effect: 550.
Daggers Thrown: 30 (Max: 10 per Champion).
Cripple 1/1 - Since I have taken

Archmage's Savvy 3/3 - This is quite self explanatory, Extra Ability Power for an Ability Power based Katarina. What more could you want?!
Sorcery 4/4 - This is a great mastery because it gives us cooldown reduction.. <3 to this mastery! It allows Katarina to use her abilities that tiny bit quicker.
Archaic Knowledge 1/1 - For a Magic Damage dealer, Magic Penetration is VERY important. This mastery provides us with just that. :) The extra Magic Penetration is a lovely bonus for us, so... why wouldn't you take this mastery?
Resistance 3/3 - Resistance provides us with... well... Magic Resistance. Katarina is rather squishy so this will help us lane longer.
Hardiness 3/3 - Hardiness gives us Armor, it is also going to be a nice addition to Katarina and help him stay in the lane longer. Just like Resistance, this is purely for extra survivability.
Evasion 4/4 - Extra Dodge Chance... YAY! This is just like the previous 2. Taken for extra survivability. :)
Nimbleness 1/1 - With the dodge chance from Evasion we can get a speed boost during our game. Although this will not be as effective on Katarina as on champions with high dodge chance (E.G. Sivir, Jax) but still... Every little bit helps. :D
Harden Skin 2/3 - Taken to reduce the effectiveness of DPS champions early game. Late game this mastery will practically be useless but in the early game, might just give you that little bit of an edge. Although this is highly unlikely, I have said it before, every little bit helps.
Veteran's Scars 3/3 - Exceptional boost to early game health. I usually take this to increase survivability as Katarina is very squishy.
Ardor 3/3 - This mastery provides us with an extra percentage of Ability Power and Attack Speed. This will be a great addition to your arsenal.
Tenacity 1/1 - Reduces damage taken by your champion. This is a spectacular mastery which should not be traded for something like Burning Embers. Since you will be targeted a lot you will greatly benefit from this mastery.
As you can see, I roll with the typical 9/21/0 Katarina. Taking 9 Offense, 21 Defense and 0 Utility. This provides us with Extra Magic Penetration, Extra Ability Power and a ton of Survivability bonuses. I do not take any points in Utility because most of them are mana related and as we do not have mana, it is COMPLETELY useless.






The core of this build is







Statistics: 20 Ability Power. UNIQUE Passive: Your champion gains 8 Ability Power per stack, receiving 2 stacks for a kill or 1 stack for an assist. This effect can stack 20 times: You lose a third of your stacks when you die. At 20 stacks, your champions cooldowns are reduced by 15%
While playing Katarina I believe that a



Statistics: Passive: 15% Cooldown Reduction. UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2.
Just a little bit more Cooldown Reduction for Katarina. If you do not require this you can feel free to use any other boots. E.G. Mercury Treads.

Statistics: 80 Ability Power, 500 Health. UNIQUE Passive: Dealing spell damage reduces the target's movement speed by 35% for 2 seconds (15% for multi-target spells)
This item is a beast on Katarina. It provides you with two very important things, Ability Power and Health. The Health is important because Katarina is squishy and Health will help you in the late game. The



Statistics: 155 Ability Power. UNIQUE Passive: Increased ability power by 30%.
I believe that the choice of this item is obvious. The insane amounts of Ability Power you get from it is outstanding and this item is definitelly one that should not be overlooked. Overall, this is simply an improved Zhonya's without the active.

Statistics: +50% Attack Speed +55 Ability Power +10 Mana Regeneration per 5 UNIQUE Passive: Reduces ability cooldowns by 25%.
The reason for why I use the


Also, with this item we can use our ultimate every 30 seconds (Approximately) and if we get 2 kills or assists it will come off cooldown.

Statistics: +70 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: +40% Magic Penetration
I believe that the

This is great as most of your damage is magic damage. Since you are a Magic Damage Dealer you will benefit from this item.

+70 Ability Power +57 Magic Resistance UNIQUE Aura: Reduces the Magic Resist of nearby enemy champions by 20.
I believe that this is an incredible item to have. It has an aura that harms all enemy champions so this item is very team friendly. The 57 Magic Resistance on this item is a very nice bonus too. I usually choose this item when the enemy team does not have too much Magic Resistance and my team has Magic Damage Dealers other than me. I love this item and the extra Magic Resistance is a very nice bonus as Katarina is a very squishy champion.
I have started to swap it for the


Statistics: 20 Magic Penetration. UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement Speed 2
The reason for why I used to chose to use the





+40 Ability Power UNIQUE Aura: Gives nearby allied champions +30 Ability Power and 20% spell vamp.
Another excellent item. The



+350 Mana +80 Ability Power +30 Magic Resist +7% Movement Speed UNIQUE Passive: 100% chance when an ability is used that your next physical attack deals an additional 100% of your Ability Power in damage. This effect has a 2 second cooldown.
I love using the




Statistics: +60 Attack Damage +75 Ability Power +20% Life Steal +20% Spell Vamp UNIQUE Active: Deals 300 magic damage and slows the target champion by 50% for 3 seconds (700 range). 60 second cooldown.
The



An amazing item for any Katarina. It is not listed in the Core because I really like the Magic Resistance that the

Now for some defensive items that you may need:

+76 Magic Resist +40 Health Regen per 5 sec +8% Movement Speed UNIQUE Passive: Restores 0.35% of your champion's health every second.
Hmm... What a great anti-caster item... The



+100 Armor UNIQUE Passive: On being hit by standard attacks, returns 30% of damage taken as magic damage.
The



+300 Health +90 Armor +25 Health Regen per 5 sec. UNIQUE Passive: 15% Cooldown Reduction and 20% chance on being hit to slow the attacker's movement and attack speeds by 35% for 3 seconds. UNIQUE Active: Slows movement speeds and attack speeds of surrounding units by 35% for 2 seconds + 0.5 seconds for each 100 Armor and Magic Resist. 60 second cooldown.
This is an item that is excellent when we consider the Health, large amount of Armor, Health Regeneration and Cooldown Reduction. The


+270 Health +18 Armor +24 Magic Resist UNIQUE Aura: +12 Armor / +15 Magic Resistance / +8 Damage to nearby allied units.
Not much to say about this really, a good, team friendly item that provides us with Health and a little bit of extra Armor, Magic Resistance and Damage. I am not a big fan of an


Statistics: +68 Armor +38 Magic Resistance UNIQUE Passive: Revives your Champion upon death, restoring 750 Health and 375 Mana, this effect can only occur once every 5 minutes.
The



Statistics: +450 Health +400 Mana +57 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Blocks one negative spell every 30 seconds.
The


Statistics: +920 Health +30 Health Regen per 5 sec Passive: Permanently gain 4.5 Health and .15 Health Regen per 5 sec per minion kill. Champion kills and assists grant 45 Health and 1.5 Health Regen per 5 sec. Bonuses cap at +450 Health and 15 health regen per 5.
Ok, now you're all probably thinking "WTF Vicarious?!" and I have to admit, I am thinking that too. I have decided to put this item up here because I have seen some very good Katarina's use it and they were very effective. It provides you with a ton of health so the squishyness problem is partly solved. Personally, I would never take a

Early Game: Level 1 - 9
Mid Game: Level 10 - 16
Late Game: Level 17 +
Early Game - Level 1 - 9
In the early game just farm. Farm like there is no tomorrow for Katarina NEEDS to be farmed to be effective. Harass your enemies with


Remember to stay in the brush and wait for your team mate to use their debuff on the target. Throw out a




Mid Game - Level 10 - 16
During the Mid game you should be farmed, fed and ready for battle. You and your team mates will annihilate the enemy in this part of the game. Make sure to jump into team fights when the enemy is busy fighting your team. This will ensure that you do not get targeted!
The Mid game, just like the Early game, is what will either make or break Katarina. You HAVE to succeed in this part of the game otherwise your power diminishes and your usefulness in battles does too.
Late Game - Level 17 +
Ahh, Late game... My favorite part. Your performance in the Late game will depend on how you did early on. If you fed hopelessly, well, then you will generally continue to fail. There is not much you can do in this situation except for go and take care of the big minion waves.
However, if you did brilliantly before, you should continue to do so! Dominate the other team. Become godlike! Hear "LEGENDARY!" after every kill! All a fed Katarina has to do is win. That is all that should be left for you to do. Enjoy the glory and praise of your team mates and make sure to spread the word about this guide. xD
Heh... Well... I lied about it being a "Champion Spotlight" but the video is still good. I do not agree with the item build used in this video but it is the gameplay that counts and I am quite sure that it is safe to say that the gameplay is great. I will make a few video's of me playing and upload them soon. :)

...and I though I might as well throw in another image of the epic Katarina, The Katastrophic Kitty Kat.




If you are in a team fight the same method applies but remember to engage only when the enemy is preoccupied by your lovely team mates. :)




This strategy can also be used to steal kills but that is not advised as that will not be liked by too many people. :|
Principle #1.
Use Bouncing Blade to harass. Bouncing Blade is a great harassment tool. Do not underutilize it! You can slap away at your enemies health and later, considering that they don't recall, you can pick up a kill.
Principle #2.
Killer Instincts provides for great defense. Be sure to use Killer Instincts when engaging a fight. The damage reduction is great and might just save your life in a fight. Especially a 1 v 1 where you will definitely be taking damage from your enemy.
Principle #3.
Shunpo is also an escape mechanism. Be sure to use Shunpo defensively if you have to. In many cases you will rely on it to get to safety so mastering the use of it is key. As it is on a short cooldown it can be used almost straight after you have used it to engage a fight.
Principle #4.
You have no mana. You have to remember that to you, the cooldowns of your spells are the limit. Don't be afraid of spamming skills as you do not have any mana and so you cannot run out of it. You are a Cooldown Champion, remember it, exploit it and win with it!
Principle #5.
Use the short Cooldown of your Ultimate to your Advantage. Death lotus has a very short Cooldown, especially with a Nashor's Tooth and a stacked Mejai's Soulstealer. Be sure to use it often as it is highly useful and will come off Cooldown quickly. Also, netting a kill or assist will make the wait even shorter.
Principle #6.
Abuse Voracity. As a Katarina player you must abuse your passive as much as you can. You see a champion recalling? They're low on health? There's a turret and minions nearby? Don't worry, with your passive you can jump in with a Killer Instincts imbuned Shunpo, throw a Bouncing Blade and their finished. Oh and what else? Your basic spells are ready to be cast again, Shunpo to a minion and you're safe.
- Try using Killer Instinct's active and Shunpo to increase your survivability while using Death Lotus.
- Try waiting until the other team is distracted with fighting your team, and use Shunpo to teleport into the fray and unleash a devastating Death Lotus.
- Using Shunpo on an ally or allied minion can be a great escape tactic.
Just a note: Please comment if you don't like the guide layout because when I make new guides I will use the same template. Comment now before it's too late for me to change anything!
I wish you the best of luck while using this build. Happy Casting. :) Also, ratings are welcomed. Please rate it a +1 if you believe that it is a good guide and a -1 if you don't think that it is quite good enough. Please make sure that after you -1 you check back later to see either an answer to your question or a change in the guide that I have made. Then you can feel free to +1 my guide. xD
NOTE : Just so there are no comments questioning my ability to spell... I do know how to spell Catastrophic, The K was in it for the Katarina Effect.
- Very Minor Spelling Correction.
- Fixed link.
- Fixed images that were not displaying.
10/1/2011
- Edited item build seeing as Zhonya's Ring was removed.
- Minor work on Explanations.
25/02/2011 (Re-Release) - Re-editing Stages
- Minor Adjustments to Descriptions.
- Rabadon's Deathcap info added.
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity info added.
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