Views: 1174 SKarma: a Rework gone wrong
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Skarma is an abomination. While I do find it fun to play her, I don't consider her viable in any way. Old Karma had a better kit that only needed some minor tuning to make it viable.
Old Karma's kit emphasized 'karma' and duality. If you damaged her, she would hurt you back even more. Her Q did Damage/Heal. Her W was a Slow/Speed. Her E was a Shield/Damage. Even without Mantra's, her abilities did what they needed to do (W was undertuned though).
Karma's old kit should be brought back and polished.
This is my take on Skarma's current abilities. Her kit is not cohesive, the abilities fight each other, and she is like a Mordekaiser that deals no damage. And Riot never fixed any of the issues Karma had such as long CDs, needing too many stats at once, and poor CC.
Passive: This passive suffers from Shyvana and Renekton Passive syndrome: it's not a 'real' passive and should be moved into her kit and be given a new passive.
Q: This is Damage + a Slow ranged Poke. Mantra'd makes it deal more damage and leaves a circle that deals more damage. But the poke is easily blocked by minions and the circle is easily walked out of. All together this is a bad ability.
W: This is a poor Leblanc's tether/snare that is very easy to break. It deals some damage. The mantra'd version gives her 40% of her Missing Health back. This is a broken ability! No Champion should have this. It puts Karma into a weird position where building health on what is supposedly an AP Mage is better than actually building AP. And the only reason this ability exists is because her kit cohesion is so badly put together the only way Riot can honestly call her 'better' is by overloading her abilities. If you waste a Mantra on this ability, then you are not going to be dealing any damage. Just imagine if a bruiser like Vi had this ability, people would be calling out for nerfs.
E: The new Shurelia's/Locket-of-the-Iron-Solari shield is weak. I like the movement speed bonus it gives, but the Mantra'd AoE shield is weak sauce and so is the damage it deals if you bother to waste a Mantra on it.
R: With the new kit, her possible potential for damage is slightly higher, but her actual damage output is low. 1 Mantra means she can only empower one ability at a time. And since a lot of her damage needs mantra's on Q and E to access it, since you cannot mantra both, this means only half of her actual damage is available at any one moment.
My Karma Rework
Passive: Inner Flame
Passive A) Karma gains increased 0-35 Magic Penetration corresponding to her % of missing Health.
Passive B) Karma gains increased 0-40% Armor and Magic Resistance corresponding to her % of missing Health.
Reasons: Karma's Old Passive gave bonus AP corresponding to her % of missing Health. Riot found this old passive to be too problematic. Passive A) makes Karma's abilities hit harder when she is lower on Health, but it would not boost her shield or healing which scales with AP. Passive B) makes Karma much more durable. Karma's spells require her to get in close proximity to her opponents and puts her in harms way. Karma is the master of baiting, and this would explore her tanky side. B) operates similar to Singed, the closer she is to death, the harder she is to kill.
Q: Heavenly Wave: 6 CD Range: 600
(Active) Karma sends forth a wave of hidden blades from her fans, dealing 70/120/170/220/270 (+60% AP) magic damage to units in a cone in front of her.
Mantra Bonus: In addition to dealing damage to enemies, Heavenly Wave will also heal Karma and her allies in the cone. Allies heal for the greater value between the flat amount and a percentage of the target's maximum health. Flat amount 45/70/95/110/135 (+20% AP) or 6% of Maximum Health plus a flat amount equal to 20% AP.
Reasons: Karma's original Q showed duality, Damage/Heal. Even without Mantra, the base ability worked well. Riot claimed that her Mantra Q was a problem since she could use two Mantra's in a row on Q quickly and her heal could hit all allies, her healing was undertuned so even if she hit 5 Allies, ADCs and tanks didn't ever feel like they healed enough. Also, the Missing Health mechanic meant that there were diminishing returns on multiple Q's. My idea inspired by Warwick's Q which does either the flat amount or the percent of maximum Health, whichever was greater. This means tanks and ADCs will be healed for an amount they find pleasing.
W: Mantra Old CD 46/43/40/37/34/31
Karma gains a charge over time and stores up to 2 charges. The refresh rate is reduced by cooldown reduction and does not progress when having max charges. Both charges may be queued for application on the next 2 abilities. Reload begins when Mantra is activated, not when the charge is applied to another ability. Mantra is available at level 1 and does not require a skill point. Each Enemy Champion dealt damage with any of your abilities causes the CD on Mantra to reduce by 1 second.
Passive: 3/6/9/12/15% CDR
Reasons: I reverted to the old 2 Mantra system and cooldown because that system worked well, even though the abilities were undertuned. Karma's actual damage with her old kit is better than her current kit. With the Old kit, she could actually use her Mantras on 2 abilities at the same time. The Passive CDR I added in so that Karma was not as strained by having to build multiple stats at once. Also, it gives her another reason to level up her W.
E: Soul Shield: CD 10 Range: 650
(Active) Karma summons a protective shield on an ally or herself that absorbs 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% AP) damage for 5 seconds and grants the target bonus movement speed 40/45/50/55/60% for 1.5 seconds.
Mantra Bonus: In addition to casting the shield, energy radiates out from the shield dealing 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% AP) magic damage to enemy units around her target and are rooted for 1/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 Seconds.
All allies in the shield damage radius gain 60% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds
Reasons: Karma's old Mega Shield was da bomb. Literally it was a shield bomb. Karma was iconic for her 1000+ Mega Shield. The Movement Speed bonus that the new kit gives is nice, and because I removed W with it's Slow/Speed up, it is only appropriate to put it on this ability. Another idea I have is that since Karma is a medium range mage and likes to build Health, she should be rewarded by having one or two abilities scale with a percentage of Health or Bonus Health.
R: Defiance: Target Ally Champion gains 50/100/150 Armor and Magic Resistance for 6 seconds. In an AoE around the target Ally Champion (roughly the size of the AoE on her Mantra'd shield), Allies gain 10% (+01% AP) of Max HP +14/17/20% of their missing Health. (This ability cannot be mantra'd)
CD: 130/100/70 seconds
Reasons: Since I moved the Mantra's to W, Karma now has space for a real Ultimate. This Ultimate could be anything, but I will suggest one that I think emphasizes her great combination with melee Champions and teamfights. The bonus Armor and Magic Resist is a great asset for a melee initiator running into the middle of the Enemy team or for an unlucky Ally who got caught. The healing portion could turn a bad fight into a good fight. This Ultimate I suggested is simply a placeholder.
Whether or not you like Skarma, her kit has problems that need to be addressed by Riot. I would like to see Old Karma again on the fields of Justice.
Old Karma's kit emphasized 'karma' and duality. If you damaged her, she would hurt you back even more. Her Q did Damage/Heal. Her W was a Slow/Speed. Her E was a Shield/Damage. Even without Mantra's, her abilities did what they needed to do (W was undertuned though).
Karma's old kit should be brought back and polished.
This is my take on Skarma's current abilities. Her kit is not cohesive, the abilities fight each other, and she is like a Mordekaiser that deals no damage. And Riot never fixed any of the issues Karma had such as long CDs, needing too many stats at once, and poor CC.
Passive: This passive suffers from Shyvana and Renekton Passive syndrome: it's not a 'real' passive and should be moved into her kit and be given a new passive.
Q: This is Damage + a Slow ranged Poke. Mantra'd makes it deal more damage and leaves a circle that deals more damage. But the poke is easily blocked by minions and the circle is easily walked out of. All together this is a bad ability.
W: This is a poor Leblanc's tether/snare that is very easy to break. It deals some damage. The mantra'd version gives her 40% of her Missing Health back. This is a broken ability! No Champion should have this. It puts Karma into a weird position where building health on what is supposedly an AP Mage is better than actually building AP. And the only reason this ability exists is because her kit cohesion is so badly put together the only way Riot can honestly call her 'better' is by overloading her abilities. If you waste a Mantra on this ability, then you are not going to be dealing any damage. Just imagine if a bruiser like Vi had this ability, people would be calling out for nerfs.
E: The new Shurelia's/Locket-of-the-Iron-Solari shield is weak. I like the movement speed bonus it gives, but the Mantra'd AoE shield is weak sauce and so is the damage it deals if you bother to waste a Mantra on it.
R: With the new kit, her possible potential for damage is slightly higher, but her actual damage output is low. 1 Mantra means she can only empower one ability at a time. And since a lot of her damage needs mantra's on Q and E to access it, since you cannot mantra both, this means only half of her actual damage is available at any one moment.My Karma Rework
Passive: Inner FlamePassive A) Karma gains increased 0-35 Magic Penetration corresponding to her % of missing Health.
Passive B) Karma gains increased 0-40% Armor and Magic Resistance corresponding to her % of missing Health.
Reasons: Karma's Old Passive gave bonus AP corresponding to her % of missing Health. Riot found this old passive to be too problematic. Passive A) makes Karma's abilities hit harder when she is lower on Health, but it would not boost her shield or healing which scales with AP. Passive B) makes Karma much more durable. Karma's spells require her to get in close proximity to her opponents and puts her in harms way. Karma is the master of baiting, and this would explore her tanky side. B) operates similar to Singed, the closer she is to death, the harder she is to kill.
Q: Heavenly Wave: 6 CD Range: 600(Active) Karma sends forth a wave of hidden blades from her fans, dealing 70/120/170/220/270 (+60% AP) magic damage to units in a cone in front of her.
Mantra Bonus: In addition to dealing damage to enemies, Heavenly Wave will also heal Karma and her allies in the cone. Allies heal for the greater value between the flat amount and a percentage of the target's maximum health. Flat amount 45/70/95/110/135 (+20% AP) or 6% of Maximum Health plus a flat amount equal to 20% AP.
Reasons: Karma's original Q showed duality, Damage/Heal. Even without Mantra, the base ability worked well. Riot claimed that her Mantra Q was a problem since she could use two Mantra's in a row on Q quickly and her heal could hit all allies, her healing was undertuned so even if she hit 5 Allies, ADCs and tanks didn't ever feel like they healed enough. Also, the Missing Health mechanic meant that there were diminishing returns on multiple Q's. My idea inspired by Warwick's Q which does either the flat amount or the percent of maximum Health, whichever was greater. This means tanks and ADCs will be healed for an amount they find pleasing.
W: Mantra Old CD 46/43/40/37/34/31Karma gains a charge over time and stores up to 2 charges. The refresh rate is reduced by cooldown reduction and does not progress when having max charges. Both charges may be queued for application on the next 2 abilities. Reload begins when Mantra is activated, not when the charge is applied to another ability. Mantra is available at level 1 and does not require a skill point. Each Enemy Champion dealt damage with any of your abilities causes the CD on Mantra to reduce by 1 second.
Passive: 3/6/9/12/15% CDR
Reasons: I reverted to the old 2 Mantra system and cooldown because that system worked well, even though the abilities were undertuned. Karma's actual damage with her old kit is better than her current kit. With the Old kit, she could actually use her Mantras on 2 abilities at the same time. The Passive CDR I added in so that Karma was not as strained by having to build multiple stats at once. Also, it gives her another reason to level up her W.
E: Soul Shield: CD 10 Range: 650(Active) Karma summons a protective shield on an ally or herself that absorbs 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% AP) damage for 5 seconds and grants the target bonus movement speed 40/45/50/55/60% for 1.5 seconds.
Mantra Bonus: In addition to casting the shield, energy radiates out from the shield dealing 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% AP) magic damage to enemy units around her target and are rooted for 1/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 Seconds.
All allies in the shield damage radius gain 60% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds
Reasons: Karma's old Mega Shield was da bomb. Literally it was a shield bomb. Karma was iconic for her 1000+ Mega Shield. The Movement Speed bonus that the new kit gives is nice, and because I removed W with it's Slow/Speed up, it is only appropriate to put it on this ability. Another idea I have is that since Karma is a medium range mage and likes to build Health, she should be rewarded by having one or two abilities scale with a percentage of Health or Bonus Health.
R: Defiance: Target Ally Champion gains 50/100/150 Armor and Magic Resistance for 6 seconds. In an AoE around the target Ally Champion (roughly the size of the AoE on her Mantra'd shield), Allies gain 10% (+01% AP) of Max HP +14/17/20% of their missing Health. (This ability cannot be mantra'd)CD: 130/100/70 seconds
Reasons: Since I moved the Mantra's to W, Karma now has space for a real Ultimate. This Ultimate could be anything, but I will suggest one that I think emphasizes her great combination with melee Champions and teamfights. The bonus Armor and Magic Resist is a great asset for a melee initiator running into the middle of the Enemy team or for an unlucky Ally who got caught. The healing portion could turn a bad fight into a good fight. This Ultimate I suggested is simply a placeholder.
Whether or not you like Skarma, her kit has problems that need to be addressed by Riot. I would like to see Old Karma again on the fields of Justice.
Old karma players unite!@