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League of Legends Champion KarthusKarthus is in the a tier of champions

Karthus

Mage
Karthus is a mageRolemage
DifficultyAverage
Power SpikeEarly-Game
Death Defied abilityp
Lay Waste abilityq
Wall of Pain abilityw
Defile abilitye
Requiem abilityr
StatsBuildCounters
Runes
Synergies
jungle
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Karthus Build

based on 33,687 matches
Win Rate
49.9 %
Pick Rate
3.5 %
Ban Rate
1.7 %

How We Come Up with Our Karthus Builds

We process over 1 Million League of Legends games every day to bring you the most accurate Karthus build so you can destroy your enemies and improve you win rate. We've broken down our Karthus builds by rank, position, and enemy team type, so you can find the most accurate set of Karthus core items and runes for any situation.

Karthus Build Summary

Karthus is a an average jungle champion in League of Legends. His best rune sets are Inspiration Domination. Adding the highlighted runes shown below in your Karthus build will provide you the additional bonuses to help him play well through the laning phase of the match and into the late game. Karthus players should start by leveling up his q ability first.

Best vsAll Build for Karthus

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Scorchclaw PupGustwalker Hatchling

Early Items

~5 Mins
Fiendish CodexLost Chapter

Core Karthus Items

~22 Mins
Liandry's AnguishRabadon's DeathcapVoid StaffSorcerer's Shoes

Optional Items

Rylai's Crystal ScepterMorellonomiconShadowflameDemonic Embrace

Summoner Spells

summonerexhaust summoner spell D
summonersmite summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Karthus to level upq
>
Second ability for Karthus to level upe
>
Last skill for Karthus to max outw

Runes

InspirationFirst StrikeMagical FootwearFuture's MarketApproach Velocity
DominationEyeball CollectionUltimate Hunter
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling
Karthus's passive ability p
Karthus's q ability q
Karthus's w ability w
Karthus's e ability e
Karthus's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
E
3
Q
4
W
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
E
9
Q
10
E
11
R
12
E
13
E
14
W
15
W
16
R

Karthus Matchups Overview

Karthus is Weak Against

VolibearVolibear45.4% winrateSejuaniSejuani45.9% winrateEvelynnEvelynn46.2% winrateShyvanaShyvana46.4% winrate

Karthus is Strong Against

GragasGragas60.5% winrateShacoShaco54.9% winrateEliseElise54.3% winratePoppyPoppy54% winrate

Top Synergies by Role

Nilahbottom+ 54.6% 687 GamesBrandsupport+ 55.2% 714 GamesQuinntop+ 55.7% 420 GamesNaafirimiddle+ 55.9% 823 Games

More Gameplay Tips for Karthus Players

Tips and Tricks

Lay Waste is a powerful skillshot that takes practice to perfect. It's worth it though because it can give you a significant advantage in mid lane.

Wall of Pain can be used to slow down enemies during teamfights or when someone helps gank your lane.

Karthus FAQs

Q: What is Karthus' greatest strength?

A: While many would argue that Karthus' greatest strength is his global Ultimate that can damage everyone, no matter where they are, we'd disagree. We believe his greatest strength is his ability to deal large amounts of AoE damage, even when dead. Karthus can continue to deal damage for a long time, even after his death. Adding <a href="/item/3116/" target="_blank">Rylai's Crystal Scepter</a> into your Karthus build can slow a large number of enemies and do more DoT. Because Karthus can deal damage even when dead, he's often not the priority of the fight. Killing him won't save them.

Q: What is Karthus' greatest weakness?

A: Karthus' Q is a powerful, offensive ability with low cooldown. However, it is very skill dependent and can be dodged. Furthermore, its damage increases if only one target is hit. In teamfights and in lane, there are often other nearby enemies that dilute his single target potential. Karthus' only reliable source of damage in the middle of a teamfight is his damage aura. Use your slow to keep enemies close. To reduce the danger of diving into the enemy's back line, include <a href="/item/3157/" target=_blank">Zhonya's Hourglass</a> in your build for Karthus.

Q: Is Karthus better in lane or in the jungle?

A: In the current meta, Karthus is best in the jungle. His powerful slow will help him gank while his global Ult allows him to participate in kills anywhere on the Rift. He's not just limited to a single lane or gank opportunity.

Additional Karthus Build Insights

League of Legends Karthus players could find him to be a confusing character to build out properly. You will find that his build changes when he is fighting either well-rounded or specialized team compositions, showing you should not follow the same Karthus build every game of League of Legends

The most important items to incorporate into your champion's build are: Liandry's Anguish, Rabadon's Deathcap, and Void Staff. Players who included these pieces in their gear had a better win rate than players who worked towards other item builds for Karthus. Likewise, if you are trying to beat a mixed enemy team arrangement, you should really consider grabbing yourself the Inspiration, and Domination runes. In recent games, he won the largest number of his matches when equipped with these runes.

We calculated our Karthus build guidance by examining 33,687 recently ranked League of Legends games with him in them. We only recommend the best winrate Karthus builds that were built by ranked LoL players enough times for us to reccomend them. With so many games in our data, we are confident in our suggested builds.