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Developement
Development Section - What you should know
Hi everyone, I did this section in order to explain some few things, and ask for some help.
This build is under construction and I'll try to complete it as fast as possible. Even if it's not finished, i would appreciate some comments, and feedbacks, if you have tried it, or simply what you think.
You will also notice that I'm not engligsh, and I will appreciate some help with the language. I try to write something easy to ready, with somes "jokes". So some grammar mistakes would be annoying.
This build is under construction and I'll try to complete it as fast as possible. Even if it's not finished, i would appreciate some comments, and feedbacks, if you have tried it, or simply what you think.
You will also notice that I'm not engligsh, and I will appreciate some help with the language. I try to write something easy to ready, with somes "jokes". So some grammar mistakes would be annoying.
Introduction - The Lunatic Blade
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Who I am :
First Of all, I play League of Legends for a very long time. And have a global knowledge over the game. I'm use to main Adc, but I really love to play some Assassin champions. I'm use to play very mobile champions with low Cool Down, in order to play with opponents and to ensure a high survivability. Kata is one of the first Champion i've played in the league, and she changed a lot since I began. Her kit got fully rework, she earned a new spell, and her gameplay had been totally tweaked. I've decided to make my own guide, because I think, my Katarina is quite unique, and pretty effective. But requires some skill in order to use it effectivly. So I'll try to explain with an high accuracy how I play in order to help you understand how to be a good "old" Kata About Katarina : During her life, Katarina changed a lot, and received a very important change to her Kit. On a single patch she lost an Ad Ratio on her bouncing blade, saw one of her spell deleted, and Sinister steel made an appearance. She then became an All-in Burst assassin, who mainly rely on her Ultimate. Even now most of the "recent" patches, buffed her Death Lotus So the reason why I explain that is because my guide is a kind of vestige of this Old Katarina. The gameplay is mostly centered on a mobil assasins, with lots of differents choices, and not a single spell champion. The hugest weakness of Katarina, is her weakness to Crowd Control, moreover during her Death Lotus This is why this guide will mostly learn you to play With and Without Death Lotus Because you will often get canceled or something. |
Important thing to Understand.
You're probably wondering why is this build so strange and why it doesn't scale as every other builds. So I'll try to convince you and teach you why I prefer this build over a classic snowballing Deathfire Grasp Katarina. The higher rank you are, the shorter games are. Cause better player know how to snowball and how to make their team win with this advantage. So if you seriously plan to hard carry a game, and think your level is almost Diamond or Something. You can check top-rated build on Mobafire and simply follow it. You will probably win if you're able to carry for 4 people. The Reason why I created this special Build, is to fulfill the lower elo ( Bronze -> Plat V-IV ) Where games are way longer. Most of the times players don't know how to carry properly and the game last a little bit more than expected. And Champion like Katarina, who relys a lot on a fast win, it's hard to stay strong when the game last longer and longer. Then I created this build, which is not all about early game but all about late game. Being Tanky, and everything centered around teamfights. |
Sum-up almost every single strange thing in my guide. Until I write it all.
There is a lot of strange things in my Build.
About Runes / Masteries , goals etc.
CDR Runes
I love CDR, because it allows you to use your spells more often. And Katarina is totally spell reliant. So In my opinion, 10% CDR free at Lv 1 will always be Good. I will almost ALWAYS take that over MR. Because it will allow to take more creeps with Bouncing Blades, survive with Shunpo. I will still consider some MR against some LeBlanc or Heavy burster.
AD Runes
Sadly almost EVERYBODY wont understand that Katarina scales with AD. These runes add 82.5 damages to Death Lotus at Lv 18 + damages on auto-hits.
Swaping Boots in the very late game for Lucidity is very important, due to the CDR which is Vital late game, because you will need to avoid as much as possible damages, by using Shunpo in order to deceive your opponents, and in order to use Death Lotus Twice in a teamfight.
I will also sometime pick Lucidity early when the opponent builds no MR and they mostly have carries.
Early Alacrity
I Pick Alacrity very early, often after Zhonya's Hourglass, because I want to ALWAYS catch my targets and I would appreciate to escape tight situations, with my extra movment speed boost + Sinister steel buff.
Mostly Resistances in the Build
I build lots of defensive items, which give damages to my spells. Why ? . . . Well First of all, Katarina naturally has tons of damages. And he doesn't need to be full Ap Builded in order to kill Carries. Katarina also benefits more of Magic Pen than Flat Ap. This is why Haunting guise and Abyssal scepter are my favorite ones. You will also need to stay alive, in order to not feed, and to keep the fight up.
An other reason is that you will stay low ealthed Longer. Then Malmortius Ad bonus will be even more reliant. And a weel casted shield will keep you close to death, but will also del the Maximum of damages.
So you probably understood that Malmortius is the MAIN item of the build. ( Death Lotus Benefits more from AD than AP )
You will also need a Guardian angel, because you will play with Death, in order to do your job.
Shield
It's really easy to understand that. ( I guess )
You don't need Ignite. You will not target tank anyways, and you have enough damages to take Carries down ANYWAY . But it may help you to Snowball easier early.
Barrier will grant you a huge shield, which will protect you during your Death Lotus it will also save your life early. Kata is seriously easy to kill early, and a Barrier will often avoid a death.
Skill Order FTW ?
Bouncing Blades is an important spell for lane presence. It allows you to harass, farm, and to damage the opponent. Upgrading it will also reduce CD. Best damages upgrade of the 3.
Shunpo is your movment spell. You WANT to stay alive, so you will need to lower the CD by upgrading it. Even it gives less damages than Sinister Steel. It will also allow you to use it twice on the same target. Or to chase.
Sinister Steel. I mostly consider it as a Tool in order to complete her kit. Not as an important spell.
About Runes / Masteries , goals etc.
CDR Runes
I love CDR, because it allows you to use your spells more often. And Katarina is totally spell reliant. So In my opinion, 10% CDR free at Lv 1 will always be Good. I will almost ALWAYS take that over MR. Because it will allow to take more creeps with Bouncing Blades, survive with Shunpo. I will still consider some MR against some LeBlanc or Heavy burster.
AD Runes
Sadly almost EVERYBODY wont understand that Katarina scales with AD. These runes add 82.5 damages to Death Lotus at Lv 18 + damages on auto-hits.
Swaping Boots in the very late game for Lucidity is very important, due to the CDR which is Vital late game, because you will need to avoid as much as possible damages, by using Shunpo in order to deceive your opponents, and in order to use Death Lotus Twice in a teamfight.
I will also sometime pick Lucidity early when the opponent builds no MR and they mostly have carries.
Early Alacrity
I Pick Alacrity very early, often after Zhonya's Hourglass, because I want to ALWAYS catch my targets and I would appreciate to escape tight situations, with my extra movment speed boost + Sinister steel buff.
Mostly Resistances in the Build
I build lots of defensive items, which give damages to my spells. Why ? . . . Well First of all, Katarina naturally has tons of damages. And he doesn't need to be full Ap Builded in order to kill Carries. Katarina also benefits more of Magic Pen than Flat Ap. This is why Haunting guise and Abyssal scepter are my favorite ones. You will also need to stay alive, in order to not feed, and to keep the fight up.
An other reason is that you will stay low ealthed Longer. Then Malmortius Ad bonus will be even more reliant. And a weel casted shield will keep you close to death, but will also del the Maximum of damages.
So you probably understood that Malmortius is the MAIN item of the build. ( Death Lotus Benefits more from AD than AP )
You will also need a Guardian angel, because you will play with Death, in order to do your job.
Shield
It's really easy to understand that. ( I guess )
You don't need Ignite. You will not target tank anyways, and you have enough damages to take Carries down ANYWAY . But it may help you to Snowball easier early.
Barrier will grant you a huge shield, which will protect you during your Death Lotus it will also save your life early. Kata is seriously easy to kill early, and a Barrier will often avoid a death.
Skill Order FTW ?
Bouncing Blades is an important spell for lane presence. It allows you to harass, farm, and to damage the opponent. Upgrading it will also reduce CD. Best damages upgrade of the 3.
Shunpo is your movment spell. You WANT to stay alive, so you will need to lower the CD by upgrading it. Even it gives less damages than Sinister Steel. It will also allow you to use it twice on the same target. Or to chase.
Sinister Steel. I mostly consider it as a Tool in order to complete her kit. Not as an important spell.
Pros / Cons - Expectations time
What You will Expect
The Side you'll love |
The Side you'll hate |
ยค Assassin ยค Can Carry a Game ยค Very Mobile ยค Short Cool Downs ยค Very High Damages ยค Pretty strong escape ยค SnowBalling Champion ยค Hard to shut down when well played ยค No mana ยค No real "Trick Shot" ยค Cool Down Reset upon Kills ยค French ยฐ^ยฐ |
ยค Melee range ยค Hard Weakness to CC ยค No Built-in CC ยค Long cast time ( Death Lotus) ยค You will hardly be focused ยค SnowBalling Champion |
In depth explanations
What She will Expect
Katarina wants that |
Katarina hates that |
ยค Smart-Cast ยค Fast Reaction time ยค Global knowledge over the game ยค A ward in your Bagpack ยค Tons of CC ( Your team ) |
ยค Hesitation ยค Tons of CC ( Opposite side ) |
Runes - When your IPs Boost your in game stats
Generic Runes
Runes
My Personal Rune Set
Runes
Greater Mark of Attack Damage Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage |
Generic choice : Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
You may probably want to go for these marks. For some reasons : you probably already have these runes on your account, while you probably don't have some Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage. These runes are also a pretty safe pick. They will grant you some damages, in almost every situation. You will always need your spells in order to deal damages, and will poorly be auto attack reliant. My Personal Choice : Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage Even if it looks strange to pick Attack Damage marks for Mage. I'm really use to pick that. The first reason why I pick that is because it helps you a lot to farm. Note: If you don't see any other reason to pick these marks instead of Magic Penetration. You should go for some Greater Mark of Attack Damage instead.Moreover, Death Lotus Scales a lot with attack damage. 3.75 magic damage per bonus attack damage. As these runes are more effective than flat at Lv 7, and will need it for Lv 6. You may consider to chose the scaling ones.An other reason why I like to pick both Attack damage and Scaling runes. Is because I farm jungle camps a lot when laning phase is ended. This attack damage will help you to clean faster because of the high use of auto attack. |
Greater Seal of Scaling Health Greater Seal of Armor |
Generic and Personal choice : Greater Mark of Scaling Health
I have almost nothing to say about that. It's almost the best choice in almost every situation. It will give you more survivability. No mana problem, only one option if you don't know your opponent. Options : Greater Seal of Armor If you have several rune pages. You can do another one where your replace the health seals for armor seals. You will need these runes against some Ad assassins such as Zed or Talon or almost any "Bruiser" such as Riven, Pantheon |
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction Greater Glyph of Magic Resist Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist |
Generic choice : Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
This is probably the most picked glyph for midlaners. Because you will almost always play against a magic damage based champion. It will help you to stay alive on lane, because they will mostly harass or burst you with magic spells. In other words, it will help you to stay alive longer, and to take a little extra farm, or to survive to an all-in burst ( LeBlanc if you're watching us ) My Personal choice : Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction I really love to pick these glyphs on almost every spell reliant champions. because it will give you 7.5% free cdr at Lv 1 ( 10% with the good quintescence ) You need your spells, and will sometimes be waiting for it at the very last second of Cd. Especially if you need an extra Shunpo or something. In lane you will also have less Cd on your bouncing blade. Which allow you to farm a little bit more than expected. Or to harass. The more often you will harass, the more your opponent will find you annoying, and the more he will lost control of his decisions. Later it will also help you to chase someone, by spamming your Shunpo which has a pretty low cooldown on high ranks ( 3.6 seconds at 40% Lv5 ) Other options : Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power/ Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration : If you plan to build damages instead of defense of utility. Chose Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration for early presence. Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power if you wanna go for better delayed damages. |
Masteries - Being level 30 helps you a lot
My personal Masteries
Pretty Masteries
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My personal Masteries :
This is what I prefer pick because it finely fits my play style. I'm use to play a very mobile kind of champion, then I easily go for Fleet of Foot(I NEED SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN ME HOW TO HAVE THE RIGHT ICON HERE :o). I also like to pick up some free damages which doesn't need support of items. ( Thinking about Archmage ) Q: Is that the best Page I could use ? Well I use to say: "Masteries are here to emphasize your play style, and it's a place where you can freely pick stats you like to have." In other words. You have to chose what you personaly wanna pick. You will probably want to go for a 21/9/0. Or maybe more points in Offense tree. Time to be creativ |
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