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Choose Champion Build:
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Wizard Jungle Karthas
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Build 2 (No Defense)
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Build 3 (Some Def w/ Rylai)
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Other Builds
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Mana Hungry
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Recommended Items
Spells:
Smite
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Karthus Passive Ability
S6 Update
Long story short.
Early



My 1st Clear Order is [ Gromp (w/ smite nad leash)-> Wolves -> Blue (w/ smite)-> back if im dying ->Birds ->red (w/ smite) - Krugs (w/ smite)- Scuttle (w/ krug buff stun)
I am tempted to try to start blue, because when i do this, i end up being nearly dead after blue.
It is mildly hard to kill scuttles without krug buff (or quality Q skill), but it is a good place to try to fight the other jungler because you can ping and your allies may come to aid you.
Rush

Get

Get


Build appropriately. Often one should build something situational before completing

Common




Defensive


Situtaional










Dubious


Note: Rylai alone will not get you to 2200 HP, even at level 18. only to 2191. If you want to run Warmog, I would suggest taking a few scaling HP runes.
I have to go, but i will try to make this one look pretty some other time.
Pen for days.
I take 1 Flat Armor for safety in early clear. I take 2 Mobility quints because this allows you to win a foot race and often this will save your life.
Take flat armor over scaling to give you better early Clears.
Move speed because you gotta go fast or you are gauranteed to get caught. Every little bit helps.
I personally run 6x Scaling CDR blues, but this makes you suceptible to magic damage. I just run this on all wizards, it is likely not ideal, as CDR really only helps with Wall and Ultimate on Karthus.
*New- Pre-season 7* I have tried this since the new jungle changes. Sadly, it is a bit harder to clear now. This is why I suggest a few scaling Mana Regen runes, because once blue buff falls off, you are often low or out of mana when the tear has low stacks early in the game. Against aggressive junglers your team can fall behind because of the weakness of your ganks, and the scaling Mana regen is helpful in the middle levels when you might not have blue, as it surpasses standard mana regen at level six.
I take 1 Flat Armor for safety in early clear. I take 2 Mobility quints because this allows you to win a foot race and often this will save your life.
Take flat armor over scaling to give you better early Clears.
Move speed because you gotta go fast or you are gauranteed to get caught. Every little bit helps.
I personally run 6x Scaling CDR blues, but this makes you suceptible to magic damage. I just run this on all wizards, it is likely not ideal, as CDR really only helps with Wall and Ultimate on Karthus.
*New- Pre-season 7* I have tried this since the new jungle changes. Sadly, it is a bit harder to clear now. This is why I suggest a few scaling Mana Regen runes, because once blue buff falls off, you are often low or out of mana when the tear has low stacks early in the game. Against aggressive junglers your team can fall behind because of the weakness of your ganks, and the scaling Mana regen is helpful in the middle levels when you might not have blue, as it surpasses standard mana regen at level six.
This is a semi-pro guide; it loses strength in pro leagues because your susceptible to other traditional junlgers. Feel free to try it out if you are pro, but you are vulnerable.
I had never played karthas before making this guide. I learned he is a very difficult hero to play, and it takes a bit of effort to jungle effectively.
Karthas does not like to use his auto, so you should be spamming rightclick on monsters as well as Q when mousing over them. This build has a slow build and you are nearly worthless for a long time early as well as very fragile, but karthas can jungle effectively with runeglaive seekers and swiftness.
I have played build one and it works, but I am bad at karthas, but with some skill it could be somewhat applicable; he is a very difficult champ to play.
Played this (6/28/15) and got S-.
I had never played karthas before making this guide. I learned he is a very difficult hero to play, and it takes a bit of effort to jungle effectively.
Karthas does not like to use his auto, so you should be spamming rightclick on monsters as well as Q when mousing over them. This build has a slow build and you are nearly worthless for a long time early as well as very fragile, but karthas can jungle effectively with runeglaive seekers and swiftness.
I have played build one and it works, but I am bad at karthas, but with some skill it could be somewhat applicable; he is a very difficult champ to play.
Played this (6/28/15) and got S-.
Early Game
You die without armor.
Machete gives you some ability to not die.
Get both even if you have to go back after the leash kill.
Purchase Order
1.
Ranger's Trailblazer
2.
Cloth Armor
3.
Boots and
Sapphire Crystal
4.
Enchantment: Runeglaive (This can be taken before boots if you want to rush it)
5.
Seeker's Armguard
6.
Boots of Swiftness
7.
Needlessly Large Rod/
~
Spectre's Cowl /
Boots of Swiftness - Alacrity
8.
Zhonya's Hourglass
9.
Needlessly Large Rod or
Blasting Wand /
Spirit Visage
10.
Rabadon's Deathcap
11.
Void Staff
Mid Game
Ranger Blazer is the only thing keeping you in the jungle and not on the bench; aka sitting at the fountain.
Runeglaive is that wizard magic.
Arm-guard is the armor you want, and the AP is nice.
Boots of Swiftness- This is key for escaping ganks, running from lost team fights, being able to arrive at ganks fast enough, going from jungle to jungle and from base to jungle.
Boots - Alacrity- Move speed is everything, when you have this, it takes another hero with swiftness and alacrity just to keep up with you if you have not been slowed, so it is much more likely that you will escape.
End Game
Rabadon- This is the clasic wizard hat. It is good for wizards.
Hourglass- This is the only think arm-gaurd builds into that i know of.
Merc Treads HG - You're likely going back to base because you've got a heart of glass. This will help you get back into the jungle. You also don't have any MR so stay classy.
Visage- This gives you MR, Regen, and Health, which will help you stay alive, but the lack of AP makes your wizardry a bit less powerful. This can be replaced with mallet for an even more impactful auto attack if you do not need MR in case the enemy wizard threat is not impactful.
Without MR you can easily be one shot by casters.
Void- Take this if you are a strong independent woman that don't need no MR. You deal magic damage, and this helps you get past much more of the enemy's MR than Abyssal. This is the common 6th item as yo have no maigc pen. This will make you very fragile against wizards and thats not ideal for a jungler as you often go into fights with half health or something like that cause you're a wild animal from the woods. This can be replaced by an alternate item if the enemy does not have a deep magic threat. (I suggest taking this over Nashor because the CDR is meaningless when your spells end up doing little damage.)
You die without armor.
Machete gives you some ability to not die.
Get both even if you have to go back after the leash kill.
Purchase Order
1.

2.

3.


4.

5.

6.

7.

~


8.

9.



10.

11.

Mid Game
Ranger Blazer is the only thing keeping you in the jungle and not on the bench; aka sitting at the fountain.
Runeglaive is that wizard magic.
Arm-guard is the armor you want, and the AP is nice.
Boots of Swiftness- This is key for escaping ganks, running from lost team fights, being able to arrive at ganks fast enough, going from jungle to jungle and from base to jungle.
Boots - Alacrity- Move speed is everything, when you have this, it takes another hero with swiftness and alacrity just to keep up with you if you have not been slowed, so it is much more likely that you will escape.
End Game
Rabadon- This is the clasic wizard hat. It is good for wizards.
Hourglass- This is the only think arm-gaurd builds into that i know of.
Merc Treads HG - You're likely going back to base because you've got a heart of glass. This will help you get back into the jungle. You also don't have any MR so stay classy.
Visage- This gives you MR, Regen, and Health, which will help you stay alive, but the lack of AP makes your wizardry a bit less powerful. This can be replaced with mallet for an even more impactful auto attack if you do not need MR in case the enemy wizard threat is not impactful.
Without MR you can easily be one shot by casters.
Void- Take this if you are a strong independent woman that don't need no MR. You deal magic damage, and this helps you get past much more of the enemy's MR than Abyssal. This is the common 6th item as yo have no maigc pen. This will make you very fragile against wizards and thats not ideal for a jungler as you often go into fights with half health or something like that cause you're a wild animal from the woods. This can be replaced by an alternate item if the enemy does not have a deep magic threat. (I suggest taking this over Nashor because the CDR is meaningless when your spells end up doing little damage.)

Void staff is going to be the main item you want an alternate for. The armgaurd in Zhonas is key early on, and Visage is the only source of both MR and Health in this build.




Homeguard- This is the offensive enchant if you find you are not going back to the base very often to heal. This is more speed in the jungle and some more maneuverability within fights.

Q is your main blast. This is nice in the jungle. It deals double damage once you kill the minis.
W is for peeling and securing kills by slowing runners. Even one rank should be enough for you to escape. Having points in this is easily more useful than E, this build does not have the mana to sustain E for very long, so having a high quality slow to help secure kills and help you land Q on enemies is nice. This spell does nothing in the jungle.
E is terrible in the jungle if toggled on, it burns mana very fast and it is designed to kill 6 or 7 mobs that come with a wave in a lane. Only use this active when you have high mana and low health where you will die without extra dps, but you will not run out of mana from using it. This happens sometimes in early clears of jungle. Keep this toggled off and you get MP per kill which is nice.
R is great for a cowardly fighter like yourself to help your allies secure kills. Your fragile but this gives you the ability to do some damage anywhere on the map, as well as secure kills on runners. This can be used in the jungle so keep an eye on your allies trades so you can time this to help secure a kill.
The order is not important, but Q is the priority, and you get the most value per point in E with only one point, but it is also good for the minis in the jungle.
W is for peeling and securing kills by slowing runners. Even one rank should be enough for you to escape. Having points in this is easily more useful than E, this build does not have the mana to sustain E for very long, so having a high quality slow to help secure kills and help you land Q on enemies is nice. This spell does nothing in the jungle.
E is terrible in the jungle if toggled on, it burns mana very fast and it is designed to kill 6 or 7 mobs that come with a wave in a lane. Only use this active when you have high mana and low health where you will die without extra dps, but you will not run out of mana from using it. This happens sometimes in early clears of jungle. Keep this toggled off and you get MP per kill which is nice.
R is great for a cowardly fighter like yourself to help your allies secure kills. Your fragile but this gives you the ability to do some damage anywhere on the map, as well as secure kills on runners. This can be used in the jungle so keep an eye on your allies trades so you can time this to help secure a kill.
The order is not important, but Q is the priority, and you get the most value per point in E with only one point, but it is also good for the minis in the jungle.
Stay alive with those defense points, makes it a bit tougher to lock you down long enough to kill you, which can easily happen instantly to these points may be worthless.
Offense points. These are nice, look at the emphasis on wizard magic. That pinnacle Arcane Blade will put some flavor on your auto.
Offense points. These are nice, look at the emphasis on wizard magic. That pinnacle Arcane Blade will put some flavor on your auto.
Defense is key. Dying is bad. This is not meant to be the main wizard threat, so staying alive to provide the dual threat of support and kill secures as well as some decent damage is nice.
The flat armor is the best here. Late game you should not be taking hits. You start the game with the flat armor and this means you take reduced damage from jungle mobs which is key.
Cooldown Reduction because blasting that ultimate is essential. This also lowers cooldown on wall which is quality.
Magic Penetration because it is quality.
The flat armor is the best here. Late game you should not be taking hits. You start the game with the flat armor and this means you take reduced damage from jungle mobs which is key.
Cooldown Reduction because blasting that ultimate is essential. This also lowers cooldown on wall which is quality.
Magic Penetration because it is quality.
Spam Q and Right Click on the Mob you Are killing.
It is essential to aim Q in a way that it only hits one of the minis for the creeps that have them. This causes it to do double damage, which means that it kills the mini twice as fast and this means it does half the damage to you. Karthus is very fragile early on. (This is not needed on the small birds sometimes, especially after ranger smite, as you can kill them with one or two Q blasts that hit all 3 of them. This is very key on the Rock man, Red/Blue, and Wolves, as you take less damage. This is not hard to master.)
Using E is very ineffective in the early game and is still very mana hungry at all points in the game. Do not use it when jungling, use it if you are pushing a lane or clearing it back when covering for someone who goes back.
With Runeglaive you become an effective jungle but still very fragile. The runeglaive gives you unlimited mana.
It is easy to have the ultimate cancel because of moving mistakes. Dont try to use it during a fight if there is any chance the enemy can stun you or kill you; it has a long cooldown and this wastes it entirely. It is not very strong, especially without AP (this build has little ap sadly) but it can still help team fights and be cast from a safe spot in the jungle, just keep an eye on when enemies are in a position where they could be caught with low health <35% or so, and have a good deal of distance for them that they would need to retreat, and you also have an ally in good position to attempt to take them down.
I have caught many runners with R. These are quality kills and they help you get your build full much quicker. Keep an eye on team fights and see when/if someone has low health or runs away.
Karthas is a very good laning guy. Keep this in mind and be sure to help clear lanes and push lanes if you can.
It is essential to aim Q in a way that it only hits one of the minis for the creeps that have them. This causes it to do double damage, which means that it kills the mini twice as fast and this means it does half the damage to you. Karthus is very fragile early on. (This is not needed on the small birds sometimes, especially after ranger smite, as you can kill them with one or two Q blasts that hit all 3 of them. This is very key on the Rock man, Red/Blue, and Wolves, as you take less damage. This is not hard to master.)
Using E is very ineffective in the early game and is still very mana hungry at all points in the game. Do not use it when jungling, use it if you are pushing a lane or clearing it back when covering for someone who goes back.
With Runeglaive you become an effective jungle but still very fragile. The runeglaive gives you unlimited mana.
It is easy to have the ultimate cancel because of moving mistakes. Dont try to use it during a fight if there is any chance the enemy can stun you or kill you; it has a long cooldown and this wastes it entirely. It is not very strong, especially without AP (this build has little ap sadly) but it can still help team fights and be cast from a safe spot in the jungle, just keep an eye on when enemies are in a position where they could be caught with low health <35% or so, and have a good deal of distance for them that they would need to retreat, and you also have an ally in good position to attempt to take them down.
I have caught many runners with R. These are quality kills and they help you get your build full much quicker. Keep an eye on team fights and see when/if someone has low health or runs away.
Karthas is a very good laning guy. Keep this in mind and be sure to help clear lanes and push lanes if you can.
Q is the only thing doing anything in the jungle. E will cause you to go OOM very very quickly, especially without runeglaive.
With runeglaive E can be used sparingly. Use E in an emergency situation when you could die if you do not have added dps, and you also still have a lot of mana.
I am bad at aiming W, it will always be a wall in the direction you cast it, and often times this means it will be sideways or something when attempting to gank. Karthus is bad at ganks with no real stuns or slows, no bonus movement, a difficult control spell, Q is difficult to aim, and overall he is very hard to play, so keep that in mind.
With runeglaive E can be used sparingly. Use E in an emergency situation when you could die if you do not have added dps, and you also still have a lot of mana.
I am bad at aiming W, it will always be a wall in the direction you cast it, and often times this means it will be sideways or something when attempting to gank. Karthus is bad at ganks with no real stuns or slows, no bonus movement, a difficult control spell, Q is difficult to aim, and overall he is very hard to play, so keep that in mind.
Pros
Fast Jungle Clear Eventually (Once you have runeglaive. It is reasonable without runeglaive if you can skillshot Q to hit one mini at a time, but you take a good bit of damage early on; hence the armguard.)
Jungle is amazing mana battery
Jungle is a safe place to requiem. This is key to finish off runners and get assists in order to fuel the build.
Decent Peel
Decent Lane Pushing (not towers so much)
Mobile and Threatening with Swiftness, W, Q and R
Good Slow to secure kills.
Q is great against large groups of enemies if they are focusing on another champ that can stay alive and keep them clumped together.
Ultimate can secure kills on runners with low health from anywhere on the map.
Cons
Slow Build / Expensive without kills and assists (but what build isn't)
Fragile Early, to both champs and monsters.
Bad Damage input in Team Fights Early Game (And all game w/o skill with landing Q)/ Ganks
The damage input becomes reasonable with Skill of course, and AP. If you don't land Q you don't do any damage.
Susceptible to ganks (w/o swiftness; run away is far better than dying; use wall to avoid these)
Has to back very often, mainly in early game. I can get a reliable clear of gromp (w/ leash and smite), then wolves, then smite on turtle (turtle is difficult to kill without smite, it moves around rather than stands still like normal monsters, so it takes skill to even land your Q, your main source of damage). This backing issue is not usually a problem with even minimal gear, just bring potions, health more so than mana.
E is very mana hungry
Very Skill Based Champ. If you have trouble landing Q reliably you will not do well. You must aim it to where the enemy will be in about a half a second, so aim it in the direction that they are moving and they will likely walk over it if you have done it right.
Fast Jungle Clear Eventually (Once you have runeglaive. It is reasonable without runeglaive if you can skillshot Q to hit one mini at a time, but you take a good bit of damage early on; hence the armguard.)
Jungle is amazing mana battery
Jungle is a safe place to requiem. This is key to finish off runners and get assists in order to fuel the build.
Decent Peel
Decent Lane Pushing (not towers so much)
Mobile and Threatening with Swiftness, W, Q and R
Good Slow to secure kills.
Q is great against large groups of enemies if they are focusing on another champ that can stay alive and keep them clumped together.
Ultimate can secure kills on runners with low health from anywhere on the map.
Cons
Slow Build / Expensive without kills and assists (but what build isn't)
Fragile Early, to both champs and monsters.
Bad Damage input in Team Fights Early Game (And all game w/o skill with landing Q)/ Ganks
The damage input becomes reasonable with Skill of course, and AP. If you don't land Q you don't do any damage.
Susceptible to ganks (w/o swiftness; run away is far better than dying; use wall to avoid these)
Has to back very often, mainly in early game. I can get a reliable clear of gromp (w/ leash and smite), then wolves, then smite on turtle (turtle is difficult to kill without smite, it moves around rather than stands still like normal monsters, so it takes skill to even land your Q, your main source of damage). This backing issue is not usually a problem with even minimal gear, just bring potions, health more so than mana.
E is very mana hungry
Very Skill Based Champ. If you have trouble landing Q reliably you will not do well. You must aim it to where the enemy will be in about a half a second, so aim it in the direction that they are moving and they will likely walk over it if you have done it right.
Just showing up and throwing the wall out is enough to scare off some people. You may not be a damage threat early but people don't know this. You are just a reason for people not to chase kills, and if you can land Q effectively you become a real threat, but this is difficult.
Staying alive is key. Swiftness is really the only way to do this. This keeps you from being ganked and chased down 90% of the time, don't try to fight people solo unless you're built. If you're built and they have like 30% health or lower it is possible to hit E if they are melee and be lucky landing Q to score a kill; the real kills come from killing runners with R.
Try to peel for people when you can, show up in lanes sometimes. It is dangerous to try to get into the fight or in range to use E, but it can deter people from chasing an ally with low health if your also good at landing Q.
Landing Q takes practice but it is very strong if you can do it.
Landing the Wall can secure some ganks. It doesnt matter how straight or wall-like it is, if you can land it directly on the enemy it is solid. It is also good escape and great for protecting allies, swiftness helps a lot in getting to team fights.
Staying alive is key. Swiftness is really the only way to do this. This keeps you from being ganked and chased down 90% of the time, don't try to fight people solo unless you're built. If you're built and they have like 30% health or lower it is possible to hit E if they are melee and be lucky landing Q to score a kill; the real kills come from killing runners with R.
Try to peel for people when you can, show up in lanes sometimes. It is dangerous to try to get into the fight or in range to use E, but it can deter people from chasing an ally with low health if your also good at landing Q.
Landing Q takes practice but it is very strong if you can do it.
Landing the Wall can secure some ganks. It doesnt matter how straight or wall-like it is, if you can land it directly on the enemy it is solid. It is also good escape and great for protecting allies, swiftness helps a lot in getting to team fights.
2nd Build - This is for slow and heavy damage. This build is fragile.
3rd build- This is for slow and some defense. (E is worthless without defense)
4th build- This can take more damage, but the output is far lower.
6th item for 4th build. Take what you want. AP / Penetration / Mana regen / Armor (against strong AD carry) / MR against strong AP carry.
4th build would be used to support and peel for people more than secure kills.
Speed Build kind of a joke, but if you have teamwork you can help secure
Need for speed build; i dont think you can trigger two spellblades, even if one is on cooldown, but maybe you can, idk. If not, you can replace it with talisman or scimitar
3rd build- This is for slow and some defense. (E is worthless without defense)
4th build- This can take more damage, but the output is far lower.
6th item for 4th build. Take what you want. AP / Penetration / Mana regen / Armor (against strong AD carry) / MR against strong AP carry.
4th build would be used to support and peel for people more than secure kills.
Speed Build kind of a joke, but if you have teamwork you can help secure
Need for speed build; i dont think you can trigger two spellblades, even if one is on cooldown, but maybe you can, idk. If not, you can replace it with talisman or scimitar
I have yet to try this one. Results vary the way i play karthus in the original build. This is a new one.
Lessons learned. You realy want [tear of the goddess] because you get % mana back from runeglaive.
Alt Items- These Are for Seraph. If you dont have time to max another tear you might want one of these. You really want seraph though. It is easy to max the first tear as karthus because your spell CD is so low.
Gunblade- This is damage and AP. You push towers and so this is solid stuff. The spellvamp is only good if you can hit one monster at a time in the jungle with Q.
Zeyphr- Attack speed, cooldown reduction and move speed and tenacity. Everything you want.
Heart- If there is AD Carry you are soft like an AD carry, but you have no real scaling with AD.
Rod- Mana is good. Health is good.
Angel - Good All around item for defense.
Purchase Order
Jungle very much. If you are in a team fight and the enemies are not around, spam Q regardless, you want to get them tear charges.
Lessons learned. You realy want [tear of the goddess] because you get % mana back from runeglaive.
Alt Items- These Are for Seraph. If you dont have time to max another tear you might want one of these. You really want seraph though. It is easy to max the first tear as karthus because your spell CD is so low.
Gunblade- This is damage and AP. You push towers and so this is solid stuff. The spellvamp is only good if you can hit one monster at a time in the jungle with Q.
Zeyphr- Attack speed, cooldown reduction and move speed and tenacity. Everything you want.
Heart- If there is AD Carry you are soft like an AD carry, but you have no real scaling with AD.
Rod- Mana is good. Health is good.
Angel - Good All around item for defense.
Purchase Order
Jungle very much. If you are in a team fight and the enemies are not around, spam Q regardless, you want to get them tear charges.
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