AP Bruiser Kat. Discuss. :: League of Legends (LoL) Forum on MOBAFire

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I decided to play a tanky Katarina build on a whim a while back in some normals and was surprised at how well it consistently worked. After quite a lot of good performances I decided to try my luck with the same build in ranked and, well:

And this is the general build I've been using:

Item Sequence

Other Items: , , , (rarely)

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

Flat MR runes for mid lane, obviously.

Masteries: 9/21/0. and all resistance masteries.
Skill Order: > sinister steel > >

Laning Phase: Harass with Q-W while holding onto E for necessary escapes, using the speed boost of W to escape without taking too much return damage. Max W for better wave clear, then Q for harass, obviously taking ult when necessary. Play aggressively when ahead, and passively against really tough lanes like (though usually just avoid laning against her period). Against tough bruisers like at top just avoid slugfests and abuse long ranged Q-W harass. You'll probably have to farm at tower though.

Teamfights: Instead of going assassin mode like AP Katarina you try to hit as many targets with your AoE as possible. Firstly because your single target burst usually isn't high enough to eliminate carries from full health, but also because you need assists to become a wrecking ball. You should try to get a full ult off, but it's actually not a huge deal if it gets interrupted. Focus on whoever looks like they'll die the fastest. Once even one enemy champion dies, **** gets real. Rinse and repeat, using your ult again when it comes up.

Yes, I'm aware that AP Kat has the potential to do this as well and deal more damage, but honestly, it's much more possible to get 2 or even 3 ults off in a teamfight if you have the bulk to survive focus. The point of this build is to present the enemy team with a lose-lose scenario - focus you, they're essentially targeting the tank, don't focus you, they eat a thousand knives for about 500-700 AoE damage potentially several times.

I know top bruiser Kat was a thing back when Voyboy did it in early S3 with OPmogs still around but dropped off after the and nerfs. I played it a bit back then to relative success but dropped it after the nerfs. When I tried it again now I was surprised at how well I was doing. There've been games where my teams and I don't do so well early on but I've been able to carry through aceing teamfights with my AoE damage output while being extremely hard to take down.

I'm withholding judgment for now. I consider myself as far from a consistent Diamond tier player, been stuck at D5 for a while now and the people I play with range from Platinum to up to D2-3 so I'm really not sure where I'm at. This is not me trying to say "OMG tank kat 2gud" but the truth is: I'm considering making a guide based on the above since I've never seen one on MF thus far, but I'm still hesitant to since I suspect reception will be cold at best. I'd like at least a little opinion as to whether I should abandon this effort.

[quote=SpawnOfHell]I decided to play a tanky Katarina build on a whim a while back in some normals and was surprised at how well it consistently worked. After quite a lot of good performances I decided to try my luck with the same build in ranked and, well: [img=http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/8374/dezz.png] And this is the general build I've been using: [items=http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/item-purchase-planner#&item=23-27-99-40-57-56-153-85-43] Other Items: [[randuin's omen]], [[void staff]], [[abyssal scepter]], [[locket of the iron solari]] (rarely) [runes=http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/rune-page-planner#&rune=351:9-262:9-283:9-259:3] Flat MR runes for mid lane, obviously. Masteries: 9/21/0. [[perseverance mastery]] and all resistance masteries. Skill Order: [[death lotus]] > [[sinister steel]] > [[bouncing blade]] > [[shunpo]] Laning Phase: Harass with Q-W while holding onto E for necessary escapes, using the speed boost of W to escape without taking too much return damage. Max W for better wave clear, then Q for harass, obviously taking ult when necessary. Play aggressively when ahead, and passively against really tough lanes like [[riven]] (though usually just avoid laning against her period). Against tough bruisers like [[shyvana]] at top just avoid slugfests and abuse long ranged Q-W harass. You'll probably have to farm at tower though. Teamfights: Instead of going assassin mode like AP Katarina you try to hit as many targets with your AoE as possible. Firstly because your single target burst usually isn't high enough to eliminate carries from full health, but also because you need assists to become a wrecking ball. You should try to get a full ult off, but it's actually not a huge deal if it gets interrupted. Focus on whoever looks like they'll die the fastest. Once even one enemy champion dies, shit gets real. Rinse and repeat, using your ult again when it comes up. Yes, I'm aware that AP Kat has the potential to do this as well and deal more damage, but honestly, it's much more possible to get 2 or even 3 ults off in a teamfight if you have the bulk to survive focus. The point of this build is to present the enemy team with a lose-lose scenario - focus you, they're essentially targeting the tank, don't focus you, they eat a thousand knives for about 500-700 AoE damage potentially several times. I know top bruiser Kat was a thing back when Voyboy did it in early S3 with OPmogs still around but dropped off after the [[warmog's armor]] and [[katarina]] nerfs. I played it a bit back then to relative success but dropped it after the nerfs. When I tried it again now I was surprised at how well I was doing. There've been games where my teams and I don't do so well early on but I've been able to carry through aceing teamfights with my AoE damage output while being extremely hard to take down. I'm withholding judgment for now. I consider myself as far from a consistent Diamond tier player, been stuck at D5 for a while now and the people I play with range from Platinum to up to D2-3 so I'm really not sure where I'm at. This is not me trying to say "OMG tank kat 2gud" but the truth is: I'm considering making a guide based on the above since I've never seen one on MF thus far, but I'm still hesitant to since I suspect reception will be cold at best. I'd like at least a little opinion as to whether I should abandon this effort.[/quote]