Welcome! I am a Level 6 Karthus player with a good winrate on him. I started playing Karthus early on due to his insane damage and teamfight presence. With Karthus, you have the ability to shred away at enemy's health, as well as the iconic global ultimate: Requiem. This guide is my personal playstyle of Karthus, and please, if you do not agree, rude comments are unnecessary. Have fun Singing the word of Death!

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Passive; Death Defied
Upon taking fatal damage, Karthus remains active for 7 seconds, rendering himself unable to move, to use basic attacks, or to use item actives/passives, but becoming untargetable and invulnerable for the duration as well as being able to use abilities at no cost.

Karthus' passive makes him a large threat in teamfights because when he dies he is able to unleash many spells without fear of mana costs or enemy interuption. This includes his ultimate. However, due to the 3 second channel on Requiem, it is only castable for the first 4.5 seconds, otherwise Karthus will die before the channel will complete. Try to fire off a few Q's on enemies, and put your W up in the congestion of the fight before ulting.



Q; Lay Waste
Creates a delayed blast at Karthus' cursor position dealing 40/60/80/100/120(+30% Ability Power) magic damage to each nearby enemy. If the blast hits only a single unit it deals double damage.
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Karthus' Q allows him to farm easily as well as poke and 1 v 1. Its double damage on single targets allows you to quickly chip away at enemy's health. When farming, try to angle the blast to touch only one minion. Karthus' farming power sets him apart from other mages, who have a hard time farming without spending mana too much. Additionally, Lay Waste reveals the area is blasts.



W; Wall of Pain
Creates a wall that lasts for 5 seconds. Enemies that pass through the wall have their Magic Resist reduced by 15% and Movement Speed reduced by 40/50/60/70/80% for 5 seconds (their Movement Speed gradually recovers over the duration).
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This is entirely utility. Wall of Pain does no damage, but slows for a fair amount, and lowers enemy's resistances. Use this when an enemy is escaping, or put it up in a teamfight to allow you and your other mages to deal greater damage. The mana cost is fairly high for a basic ability, but Wall of Pain reveals a large area around where cast.



E; Defile
Toggle Off: When Karthus kills a unit, he restores 20/27/34/41/48 Mana.
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Toggle On: Drains 30/42/54/66/78 Mana to deal 30/50/70/90/110 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage to nearby enemies each second.
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This ability is what makes Karthus a powerful teamfight champion. While is costs a very large amount of mana per second, it tears away at an enemy's health bar. Whenever you are about to be dived in lane, turn it on to punish enemies when they attack you. Furthermore, the toggled off passive on Defile functions similar to a dorans ring, and you virtually never run out of mana in lane when last hitting minions with Lay Waste.



R; Requiem
After channeling for 3 seconds, Karthus deals 250/400/550 (+60% Ability Power) magic damage to all enemy champions (regardless of distance).
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This is why you play Karthus. Well, in my opinion. To me, it's one of the best ultimate abilities in the game. Requiem allows you to secure kills that escape your allies, punish enemies for diving you, and clean up after teamfights. There are many ways to use this ability. When I play Karthus, I watch for duels or fights between my allies and enemies, then watch enemy health bars. If the enemy escapes below the max damage of Requiem, I ult. It is very important to CHECK THE ENEMY'S HEALTH before ulting. I only ult if the enemy is at least 30 hp below the max damage. Magic Resist can be deceptively strong against Karthus' ult. In teamfights, its recommended to ult if you die first. This chucks away all of the enemys' health and gives your team the upper hand. However, remember that Requiem is a channeled ability. That means it can be interrupted by crowd control, such as displacement ( Stand Aside, Seismic Shove) and silences ( Null Sphere, Reap) and stuns. Make sure you're in a safe place before ulting.

These are the masteries I take every game on Karthus.
-I prefer Deathfire Touch because Lay Waste and Requiem apply it, adding a burn affect to both abilities.
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- Expose Weakness increases Karthus' teamfight power, allowing his allies to do more damage whenever he damages an enemy.
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- Vampirism gives Defile and Lay Waste a healing affect to Karthus, providing him sustain in lain.
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-I love the new Season 7 mastery, Siegemaster , because it provides so much sustain in lane. By going near an ally tower, you gain a fair boost in resistances. This helps when the jungler ganks you, or when your laner dives your under tower. Surprisingly, this mastery works in conjunction with Shurima's Legacy.

When in lane with Karthus, use Lay Waste to last hit minions. Defile plus Doran's Ring gives you great mana sustain, as long as your Q kills the minion every time. If your opponent attempts to harass, return their harass with a few Q's. If they full on dive you, activate Defile and continue to hit them with Lay Waste. If you win the trade or another enemy will die to it, move back to your tower and begin to channel Requiem. Be sure to be in a safe place before ulting! Just one hit by CC will cancel your ult, and it will be put on cooldown for 3 minutes.
Your goals early game are:
-Farm to around 1000 gold and back.
-Buy Tear of the Goddess and Boots.
-Return to lane and farm to around 1250 gold.
-Rush Rod of Ages buy purchasing a Ruby Crystal and Blasting Wand.
-After RoA, finish your core items in order of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Sorcerer's Shoes, and Archangel's Staff.