As a militaristic state, it would perhaps come as no surprise that the primary responsibilities of Noxian women are raising strong children and providing succor for husbands who walk the path of soldiery. There are some, however, for whom nurture is not nature, and Katarina is just such a creature. Born the daughter of the feared Noxian General Du Couteau, the girl was always more interested in her father's knives than in the dresses, jewelry, and other trifles that her sisters spent so much time fussing over. A childhood dispute soon unveiled her uncanny knack for bloodshed, and her father, ever the opportunist, happily fostered her killer instincts. After training under the tutelage of the finest assassins the mighty city-state had to offer, Katarina first cut her teeth performing assassinations in the Ionian War. There, her ruthless mastery of the knife and dagger combined with her sadistic temperament to earn her the title Sinister Blade, a moniker that would follow her for the remainder of her career.

She is most famous, however, for her exploits in the campaigns against Demacia, especially those surrounding her engagements with the nation's champion, Garen; a rivalry that began when she recovered the remains of Sion from a vanguard under his protection.

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.

''The Sinister Blade of Noxus is like a black widow - beautiful, but deadly.'' - Garen, the Might of Demacia, following a skirmish in the field

Hello everyone, this is my first guide, and im making it on my favourite char, Katarina. I always play Kata mid. After reading this guide please comment telling me where i can improve, or if you want to add something, and please vote. =D Lets get started

Pros
- No Mana
- AoE Ulti
- Low Cooldowns (And Passive)
- Ganks Well
- Can solo against range (if played properly)
- Very easy to master

Cons
- Squishy
- CC'ed alot cause of ulti threat

My runes are simple and i believe if you play Kata you should have them too. I will explain why

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration This is needed cause Katarinas attacks are all ability power, so you will need magic penetration

Greater Seal of Armor Great for early game, adds adds a bit of armour, good especially when you are doing your ulti and someone is attacking you

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist For those pesky mages against you, again like the Greater Seal of Resillience adds more defence for you

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power This is very good for early game, gives u 15 AP extra off the bat, so in other words better harass as soon as you start

I have picked this 10/0/20 build, it has summoners wrath for exhaust and ignite, the AP boost, cooldown reduction, and magic penetration from the offence tree. The utility tree has the 3% spellvamp (might not seem like much but it helps), more cooldown reduction, 5% extra exp, and the new sage, 40 exp extra per kill.

I like to get exhaust and ignite for a few reasons

1. They both get boosted with summoners wrath
2. Exhaust is a great weapon vs high dps carries as you ulti them down or run away
3. Ignite will help against "lucky" people that get away with less than 300 hp
4. Lastly if you shunpo behind the target then exaust and ulti it is hard for them to get away, finishing them off with bouncing blade and ignite

Other summoner spells that are good for kata are:

Ghost - For chasing down and bouncing blade or shunpo on low health targets making a run for it
Flash - For tight situations were you have to run or chase
Heal - If you get ganked you can heal for higher success of escape, or in teamfights heal everyone in the group
Surge - Very good, before you go in with ulti open it up, and you get a great AP boost

Spells you should not get on kata:

Teleport - Kata is not a tower destroyer, and you usually have time so save your turrets if you plan ahead and get wards
Clarity - Uhmmm ..... No Mana

Other spells are not really for kata but you can get if you really feel like it will help

Alot of people say max out Shunpo first as it does more damage, i will say max out Bouncing Blades right away so you can farm minions more efficiently and hit champions that are beside the minions more, doing damage without sticking your neck out too far. Get at least one point in Preparation at lvl 4 so you can possition yourself were you want with Shunpo for your Death Lotus, and max it last. Ofcourse for Death Lotus like every other ulti max as soon as you can.

Katarinas items are all match dependant, if you are doing very good, go ahead and pick up a majais soulstealer.

The items i put are for durability, spell vamp, and AP

Other items you can get on Katarina:

Abyssal Mask - If you have alot of mages on the other team, good magic resistance
Deathfire Grasp - Mostly if the other team has tanks
Hextech Gunblade - Nice active that slows
Ionian Boots of Lucidity - Helps with the cooldowns

With Kata you have to be carefull in teamfights, you are not the tank, you cant jump in with shunpo and hope to live, let everyone else go in, throw your Bouncing Blades with Preparation activated to cut everyones healing by 50% then jump in with ulti and Shunpo to low hp targets to take em down and refresh your cooldowns by 15 seconds, i have had multiple teamfights were i was able to use my ulti twice cause of the kills cooling down my ulti.

Another option is your late for a teamfight and everyone has low hp, Preparation for survivability and Death Lotus to finish them off, if anyone escapes Bouncing Blades with its range you can get them, or shunpo if you killed someone and its cooldown reset

Katarina is very good especially when fed, but remember max Bouncing Blades so you can harass through creeps. Good ulti but your not invincible and you dont do that much damage so dont start the fights. And lastly have fun, comment on what i can improve on and rate =D