Katarina Build Guide by p1nkylt
Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.
Thank You!
Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
solo q
competitive 5v5
Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Guide changes
Added, why 
Hextech Revolver isn't good item to get on 
Katarina in Explanation about some items I don’t get chapter.
Added farming chapter. Match history photo.
Added Laning against certain champion chapter.
added quick note under all chapter if you don't have time to read the chapter in deep
added kage's lucky pick pick to items chapter.
added what to do in solo q in Runes and Items chapters.
added a video and some photos
Added Updating all guide. :)
Introduction
!!!! I will be playing with you guys on every Friday at 8p.m +2gmt. Remember server west just add me to your friend list if you want to play the game I will answer all of your questions when playing the game :)
Hello everyone I’m citronpineapple plat 1 west player. I’ve been playing Katarina for more than a year now I think and I´ve played mid for 2 years now. This is my first ever guide so I would love to get some good criticism from you about the guide and always feel free to ask question I will answer them all. And if you can’t contact me here just add me to friend list :)
P.S I hope you will like the guide :)
Some normal games before creating guide :)
From this: To this:
First ranked games this season going well :)
Pros / Cons
Bad things about katarina
One of the weakest base damage comparing to other ability power mid champions.
Can be cced easily.
Weak laning phase.
Gets focused in all team fights.
No cc.
Good things about katarina.
She has very, very high mobility. Actually one of the highest of all mid champs.
Incredibly high burst damage.
Not so bad roaming.
Lots and lots of aoe damage.
Easy farming.
No mana.
Can push easyly.
Runes
Solo q
There are 3 types off good seals in mid at the moment. Its mana reg witch Katarina don't need because she has no mana obviously. Ap per lvl. witch i found is good on range assassin like Ahri etc. but bad on melee champs like Katarina and armor witch is best on all mid melee champs (except gragas he is special).
Ap. per. lvl. glyphs just to get some damage because of her weak early. I'm using magic resist runes only when laning against hard counter lanes (like 
Kassadin le blank 
Syndra casiopeia)
Magic pen. Marks because there is no better marks for magicians atm.
Quintessence: I use ap quintessence against everybody now days, because I like to go very aggressive in early game. Ms. Quintessence I don't use them anymore but it depends on your play style if you don't like playing aggressive and prefer more passive role they are way better than ap quintessence than.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
5v5 competetive play.
I use magic pen mark because there just no other better marks for almost all mages in mid lane.
Hp per level seals are just to get survivability in lane so other mages can’t just 1 shot you.
2 magic pen glyphs are needed to get 10 magic penetrations from runes and it fills my build perfectly. 7 ability power per level runes is against weak enemy witch cant harass you a lot. Most of the time I use 7 magic resist glyphs.
Same as in solo q nothing changes. Just depends on your playstyle.
Masteries
I run standard 21/9/0 masteries focusing on every ability power bonus in offensive tree and getting magic resist, armor and more hp in defensive tree.
Summoner Spells
Flash is, in most cases, the best for every champion because it’s just to strong right now. You can engage fights, disengage fight, escape gangs, land good gangs with it most important you can get better placement in team fights. Overall just too strong not to get atm. 
Ignite is just to get more burst I take it 99% of the time. Some people take 
Exhaust for Katarina just for the slow so they can land all ultimate. I will repeat myself and say that katarina doesn’t need slow after her remake because she can land 90% of her ult without slow. But there is 1 time when I take Exhaust to. The only time I take exhaust is when I’m laning against 
Ahri which has really strong mobility with her 3 dashes and can one shot Katarina even if Katarina has lots of survivability you can Shunpo out of her first ult and you can exhaust her for second and third.
Quick Flash, Ignite 99% of the games.
Skill Sequence
Most of the time you will max Bouncing Blades first then sinister steel shumpo and ult when you can. Maxing Bouncing Blades you will give you good harass to the lane opponent and you won’t have to go to close range but there is situations that you want to max sinister steel first over Bouncing Blades. First of all sinister steel is good against melee champions like 
Fizz or 
Gragas because actually you can deal more damage with it than your Bouncing Blades because it has only 4 second cool down. The other time when you max sinister steel is when you laning against tank hard pusher like 
Galio you know you can’t kill Galio and harassing him with your Bouncing Blades won’t make anything because of his shield you just better let him push under your turret. Last hit some creeps with your Bouncing Blades and when minions come to your turret you just kill them all with your sinister steel.
Quick Max Bouncing Blades if you know you can harass your opponent frequently. If you can't harass your opponent with Bouncing Blades you should consider maxing sinister steel and when opponent lands skills on minions harass him with sinister steel.
Items
Solo q
you want to pop it in lvl 3 so this way you still have it in lvl 6. Rare champ can sustain Katarina pre 6 poke with blue pot
is just to get more damage.
Is most ability power you can get in mid game and that what you looking for in solo q
to get more burst in mid-late game, if you are fed. If not get
to get survivability in team fights and then
.
After that if enemy team got lots of magic resist get
(just to penetrate their magic resist) if not just get
(you can jump in back line with Katarina and don’t worry that you gonna die,
with and then
______________________________________________________________________________________________
5v5 Competitive play
First item
will give you lots sustain in lane and you won't be afraid of auto attack harass that much.
When you back first time there is 2 choices. First is to get
and 2 wards with pots this is good if you know that you can kill your lane oponenent if he don’t have lots of hp. And other way is to get
1st if you laning lets say 
Veigar you know you can’t kill him and he can one shot you so you need more sustain in lane. You will get
to have some magic resist, sustain again, so ability power carries doesn't one shot you. But the other big thing that you want from it is the magic penetration it gives so your spells will do a lot of damage.
Katarina has weak early game, one of the weakest actually compared to other ability power mid champs. The magic penetration will help you in early game and early mid game
give you 20magic pen, boots give you another 20, abyssal give you another 20 in aura, your runes give you another 10, so basically if enemy mid player has 70magic resist its equal to 0 for you because you just have to much magic pen and most of the ad carries and ability power carries have more than 70 magic resist only after like 25-30 mins. of the game.
will give you some sustain I started to like it more than
because you can use it when you want because it's active not passive and in season 3 riot will nerf
.
After that get
nothing fancy here all ability power mages get it because of its passive and how much ability power it actually gives to you.
After that you should get
. Lot of people say it’s bad after the nerf but they forget that they buffed its scaling and now after 100ap you get it give 5% not 4% so in late game when you have 600ap you can say that they nerfed it only by 4%. Next
because people will start building some magic resist and it give some nice ap.
If enemy got double ability power comp skip the
and get
. And if you´re laning against a champion which you can't kill 1v1 (watch in Laning againts certain champion chapter) skip the
to and just rush
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Always keep 2 wards in your inventory!! (unless you don't have any space or money ofc)
Quick boots of speed,
,
,
,
,
,
, sell
get
.
Explanation about some items i dont get.
First off all is the 
Hextech Gunblade lot of people like to have it. But after the Katarina remake she doesn’t benefit from ad at all because they even nerfed they ad ratio and got some ap ratio up so it’s not cost effective item anymore because 
Bilgewater Cutlass just don’t give stats that you need. Some people would say but it has active slow which even deal some damage. That slow is nice but why you should get item witch cost near like Rabadon's Deathcap just for slow? You could get way better items for slow than Hextech Gunblade.
Why I don’t get 
Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Rylai's Crystal Scepter just isn’t cost effective item right now after Katarina remake her ult lands faster so even without slow with simple shumpo ult she can land 90% of her ult down. So basically you pay for slow which you don’t need. And Abyssal Mask just give you everything you need so why you should get Rylai's Crystal Scepter when you can get Abyssal Mask?
Why I don't get Hextech Revolver. Well it’s because of weak Katarina early game. If you do some match it’s not cost effective. It's better to just get 
Blasting Wand and like 5 health potion it will give you more ability power more sustain in lane and it will even cost less for you. You may ask why it is that way. Spell vamp give you hp back based on how much damage you did and Katarina has really bad base damage on her skills, so you deal low damage and get even lower hp back. That’s why it’s not worth rushing it. :) And in late game you won't need it because you will have lots of survivability from Guardian Angel and Abyssal Mask so you won't need that spell vamp and buying it because of ability power is just not cost effective there is better items to get for ability power than Hextech Revolver.
P.S write in comment section about some other items you like getting in case I forgot something :)
Laning phase
As I said Katarina has the weakest base damage from all ability power mid champions that means that you can’t kill other ap mid champions unless you outplay them hard. So basically because of that you are force to play pasive in lane and just farm. There is nothing you can do (almost against all champions) before level 6 with Katarina you just have to deal with it. Try last hitting with your Bouncing Blades and sinister steel (you will find hard last hiting with sinister steel because it deals less damage than even auto attack!!. Try not to take lots of harass from enemy mid laner, don’t go to close just to get 1 cs. After lvl 6 Katarina starts to shine there is some lanes that you can just harass with ult because it has really short cool down. It’s temmo] 
Karthus 
Ryze these champion don’t have anything to interrupt your ultimate and after lvl 6 Katarina full combo deal more damage than theirs do basically you just throw your Bouncing Blades shumpo sinister steel ult and that is you back of and after that he is force to go back or after your Shunpo comes off could own you can just flash Shunpo Bouncing Blades sinister steel Ignite and he is dead 100% (most of the time depending on situation) If you kill your enemy in lane once don’t let him come back to the game try zoning him out (not letting him to get cs) harassing him when you can. And if you die in lane don’t start to freak out most of the time if you died against your lane opponent with Katarina it’s over for you won’t take him 1v1 don’t even try just focus on farming over farm her take your jungler wraiths do everything just to get farm but play passive don’t dye again wait for you jungler to gang see if you can kill her. Let’s say she has 1/0/0 and 100 farm and you have 0/1/0 and 130 farm (she is losing in farm because she tried to harass you didn’t took wraiths etc.) your situation is even better than her about 20 cs = to 1 kill so you can say you are ahead of her kills isn’t everything in this game. just chill after you die :) Other thing I forgot to say is never ever use Shunpo in lane unless you know you can deal more damage. Than your opponent to you and you know where enemy jungler is because in laning phase your Shunpo will be level 1 and level 1 Shunpo has 14 second cool down so basically if enemy jungler come you are screwed because you don’t have your escape spell.
Quick Katarina is weak in lane try not to be aggressive until level 6. Focus more on farm, don’t push the lane and create jungler the an opportunity to gang your lane.
Team fighting
In team fights your role is to take out ad or ability power carry. NEVER go first as Katarina because enemy team will just eat you alive before you can make anything and don’t go first second your team initiate ( or enemy team) because they will just cc your ult better just wait few second until they use all of their cc until their ad or ability power carry will lose there positioning and than just burst it down (that the best Katarina can do)
Quick don't go in first, wait for enemy team to blow their cc.
Roaming with katarina
Katarina has a great mobility but that doesn’t make her roaming champion like Ahri or etc. Katarina don’t have any cc that’s the huge problem that effects her roaming and how I see she doesn’t have strong early game. You need to be high skilled player to know when to go out of lane to other lanes and when not to. (For lower skill players I suggest not going from mid lane)
If you go out of your lane you need to get a kill if you get a kill its good if you get assist it’s okay but if you go from your lane and don’t gain anything you just missing the farm. Lets say you went from mid to top and been there for 20s doing nothing. That’s like 1/3 of level and like 10cs. Let’s say you done that 3 time when you come back in mid lane other enemy carry has 1 level advantage over you and 30minion kills 30minions kills don’t sound that much but when you think about the gold it’s like blasting wand that’s huge thing you are really behind your opponent.
Quick Katarina Isn’t good roamer, roam only if you are like 80% sure that you will get the kill or at least assist.
Farming
Katarina is really strong in farming after her remake. She can just Bouncing Blades sinister steel and 5 minions are dead (there is 6 in 1 wave). She can easily kill wraiths camp because she has lots of AoE damage with her skills. After Katarina remake, riot buffed Bouncing Blades range so I would call it long range spell now and her sinister steel isn’t that bad to. You may find little bit hard to last hit with Katarina skills in first levels because of her low base damage, but with time you will get used to it. :)
Quick Try farming at least until you get Haunting Guise. Farming is core in League of legends.
Ranked Play
Katarina is the best champion to carry game in ranked in my opinion. To be honest I carried myself to 1950elo with her at season 2. She just snowballs too quickly and can easily kill all team herself. If she kills the ad or ap carry in team fights all will be like 50% half from her AoE and other team mates members she will get refresh and eat others like a beast;). Just remember to be positive in ranked game 24/7 don’t rage at all. And you will find yourself slowly but surely going up with elo :)
Quick Best champ to carry to high elo.
Laning againts certain champion
Ahri Just get ap quins harass her as much as possible before lvl 6 try deny her from farming. After lvl 6 she can kill you almost in all circumstances if she is a bit skilled so just farm don't even go close to her. Notice good Ahri would never lose lane against Katarina
Annie just farm in lane, wait for jungler to gang. Absolutely nothing you can do to her in lane 1v1. Notice can be outplayed. (hard)
Brand you can poke him with your Bouncing Blades after level 6 you should try to bade his 
Sear to you and Shunpo over it to him (need good reaction for that) after that your combo deals more damage than his. Notice you can kill him in lane.
/edit/wiki-article?create=casiopeia
Notice impossible to kill in lane if she is skilled. (1v1)
Diana Just get ap quins harass her as much as possible before lvl 6 try deny her from farm. After lvl 6 she can kill you almost in all circumstances so just farm, don't even go close to her. TIP: Her E (moonfall, the one that pull you to her, and slows) DOES cancel your ult, so use it wisely Notice can be outplayed. (hard)
Elise don't know didn’t lane against her.
Evelynn She is really bad after riot nerfed it and Deathfire Grasp nerf. Just poke her with your Bouncing Blades prelevel 6 and kill her with your ult after lvl 6.
Fizz Focus on farm. If you walk up to him to hit Bouncing Blades he will land his combo on him and deal way more damage than you. If you going try ulting him he going ult you back than stand on his staff and that is gg for you. Notice don’t even try killing him 1v1.
Galio max sinister steel. Just get ap quints harass him as much as possible before lvl 6 try to deny him from farm. After lvl 6 he can kill you almost in all circumstances so just farm. Don't even go close to him. Notice can be outplayed (easy) but if you aren't really good with Katarina I would just suggest you to concentrate on farming.
Gragas max sinister steel every time he walks up to get a minion just hit him with your sinister steel and nothing he can do about it because of you Shunpo you can avoid all of his skills with your Shunpo if you got good reaction. Notice not hard lane can be killed 1v1 easy.
Karthus harass him with your Bouncing Blades until level 6. After lvl 6 harass him without ult. You just throw Bouncing Blades than Shunpo followed up by sinister steel and your ult will deal too much damage for him, and he will be force to back and lose cs. TIP: Zhonya's Hourglass is an epic counter to Karthus. just pop it 1,5 after he start using ult. Notice easy lane Katarina counters Karthus.
Kassadin Farm all the way. You can't do anything to him until level 6 and after level 6 you still can’t do anything to him if he zoning you just go take wraiths. Notice don’t even try killing him 1v1 focus on farm wait for jungler to gang.
Kennen harass him with your Bouncing Blades focus on farm. Notice skill match up whose is better with champion going win.
LeBlanc Hard counter for Katarina just farm all the time consider getting 
Negatron Cloak early so she won’t one shot you. Notice don’t even try killing her 1v1.
Lux same as Karthus. Just harass her with your full combo nothing she can do about it. Notice easy lane, Katarina counters Lux.
/league-of-legends/champion/malzahar-52
Notice can be outplayed (hard)
Mordekaiser Max sinister steel just let him push and beg your jungler for gangs because he don’t have any escape spells and all of his abilities push the lane. Notice can be outplayed (hard)
Morgana before level 6 every time she lands her 
Tormented Soil on to minions just throw Bouncing Blades Shunpo sinister steel and don’t be afraid if she and her 
Dark Binding you will deal more damage than her anyway. After level 6 don’t go in to close range because she can one shot you best way is to bait her Dark Binding and Shunpo to her so you avoid her Dark Binding and ult her you should deal more damage than her. TIP: Buy sorcerer's shoes as fast as possible. If you can avoid her stun, she is pretty useless in lane compared to everyone else. When she use ult on you, try to Shunpo out of it, place a ward you can Shunpo too If needed! Notice can be out played (easy)
/league-of-legends/champion/ryze-5
Notice easy lane Katarina counters Ryze.
Swain before level 6 if you can bait his 
Nevermove just avoid it by Shunpo to him and land Bouncing Blades sinister steel you will deal more damage than him. After level 6 it's easy just Shunpo over his Nevermove and land combo. It's like laning against Morgana. Notice can be outplayed (medium)
Syndra farm fest. She does more damage than you can interrupt your ultimate her 
Dark Sphere does more damage than your Bouncing Blades just focus on farming. Notice can be outplayed (hard)
Twisted Fate you can’t kill good Twisted Fate with Katarina but if he is bad and can’t pick a golden card well than just wait until level 6 and after that harass him with your ultimate. Notice skill match up who know the champion better wins.
Vladimir best way is just to wait for jungler because he does more damage than you can go to 
Sanguine Pool when you ult. Notice can be outplayed (medium)
Viktor Counters Katarina really bad. He is the worst champ for me to play against when I’m playing Katarina. Don’t even try harassing him because he will deal way more damage than you will. Focus on farming a lot get all wraiths wolves. Notice impossible for Katarina to kill him 1v1 (unless he is really bad or fails really hard)
Xerath No one play Xerath (I don’t even know why) but Katarina counters him with her high mobility you can avoid almost all of his skill and deal more damage than him. Notice can be outplayed (easy)
Ziggs Isn´t played often. Just farm and harass. TIPS: His W (
Satchel Charge, the thing he can blow you and himself away with) will cancel your ult. Be sure he doesn´t have it up when you go in to ult.Notice Can be outplayed easily, because all his spells are skill shot, you can just Shunpo to him whenever he goes for it. It´s so hard for him to hit with his ult, because it haves so long travel time, you can just Shunpo out.
Zyra you can harass her after you know that her spells are of cool down, you shouldn’t go all in after you get lvl 6. Notice. Can be outplayed (medium)
Some videos
Sory that it is not great, it's my first video ever :D
My second video I hope it's better :) (topbannana) is my brother acc in west. I play that acc when I have penalty for leaving solo q in Nordic or when I want to play with my class mates. You can add that acc to friend list because 70% of the time I’m online into that acc not my brother :D
The end
Shout out to CakewalkwithPIE who I can say forced me to create this guide, and helped with ALOT of things, and have used several hours to help me with this guide. :D Couldn´t be more grateful for the work he put into it, without having a reason to do it:)
Don’t forget to give some criticism in comment section :)
Hope you like the guide :)
I will be adding some videos and some photos to the guide and I’m working on it :)
Thanks to everyone that made this guide one the the highest rated Katarina guides, in so short time. :)
|
|
|
Guide Discussion (20)
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.