League of Legends: Karthus Guide

Karthus is widely regarded as one of the most powerful champions in League of Legends, thanks to his incredible damage potential and unique abilities. His kit sets him apart from many others, offering unparalleled global impact with his devastating ultimate, Requiem, which deals massive damage to all enemies regardless of their location. Karthus’ passive, Death Defied, allows him to continue casting spells after death, ensuring his presence remains impactful even when he falls in battle. Coupled with his spammable Lay Waste ability for sustained high DPS, Karthus becomes a formidable force in both team fights and solo skirmishes. In this guide, we’ll delve into how to play Karthus effectively, covering his best build, items, runes, and essential tips to help you master him. Let’s get started!

Karthus Overview

Karthus is a mage designed to unleash devastating magic damage on his enemies, excelling in team fights and skirmishes. Here’s a breakdown of his abilities that make him one of the most impactful champions in League of Legends:

• Passive - Death Defied: Upon dying, Karthus enters a spirit form for 7 seconds, allowing him to continue casting spells without consuming mana. This makes Karthus a threat even after death, as he can maximize his damage output during this time.
• Q - Lay Waste: Karthus launches a single-target blast that deals high damage to isolated enemies or moderate damage to multiple enemies. With no cooldown and low mana cost, this ability is Karthus’ main source of damage, particularly for poking and clearing minions.
• W - Wall of Pain: Karthus creates a spectral wall that reduces the magic resistance and slows enemies who pass through it. This ability is excellent for zoning, initiating fights, and ensuring enemies can’t escape his damage.
• E - Defile: A toggle ability that drains mana to deal sustained magic damage to nearby enemies. This is highly effective during team fights or when clearing jungle camps, especially when combined with his passive.
• R - Requiem: Karthus’ iconic global ultimate, dealing significant magic damage to all enemies on the map after a brief channel. This ability is perfect for finishing off low-health enemies or turning the tide of team fights.

Karthus thrives in prolonged fights where he can consistently deal damage with Lay Waste and Defile, while his passive and ultimate give him unmatched impact across the map.

Best Items for Karthus

Karthus is a high-damage mage who excels in both prolonged fights and team-wide skirmishes. Building the right items is crucial to unleash his devastating abilities and scale effectively throughout the game. Below is the ultimate guide to the best items for Karthus, ensuring maximum damage and utility in every match.

Core Items:
• Liandry’s Anguish: The go-to Mythic item for Karthus, providing ability power, ability haste, and a burn effect that deals percentage-based health damage. This item is perfect for shredding tanks and maximizing damage in prolonged fights.
• Sorcerer’s Shoes: Essential for increasing magic penetration, allowing Karthus to deal more damage to squishy and low-resistance targets. Against heavy crowd control, Mercury’s Treads can be a situational replacement.
• Rabadon’s Deathcap: A core item that significantly amplifies Karthus’ AP, boosting his damage output across all abilities. It’s critical for scaling into the late game and making his ultimate a true game-changer.

Additional Damage Items:
• Shadowflame: Great for dealing burst damage, especially against shield-heavy enemies. The bonus magic penetration ensures that Karthus’ abilities are effective even against moderately resistant targets.
• Void Staff: A must-have item when the enemy team starts building magic resistance. The percentage-based magic penetration ensures Karthus remains a consistent damage threat.
• Morellonomicon: Crucial against healing-heavy compositions, this item applies Grievous Wounds, reducing the healing of champions like Yuumi, Soraka, and Vladimir.

Situational and Utility Items:
• Zhonya’s Hourglass: Provides AP, armor, and the invaluable active stasis effect. This item allows Karthus to survive aggressive dives and continue dealing damage with Defile and Lay Waste while in stasis.
• Banshee’s Veil: Offers a spell shield and magic resistance, providing additional survivability against heavy magic damage and crowd control-heavy opponents.
• Demonic Embrace: A hybrid damage and defensive item that provides health and a burn effect, synergizing well with Karthus’ Defile for sustained damage in prolonged engagements.

Full Build Example:
1. Liandry’s Anguish
2. Sorcerer’s Shoes
3. Rabadon’s Deathcap
4. Shadowflame
5. Void Staff
6. Zhonya’s Hourglass or situational item

With this itemization, Karthus becomes a late-game menace, capable of obliterating entire teams with his ultimate and consistent AoE damage. Adapt your item choices to the specific needs of each match for optimal results.

Karthus Best Runes

The best runes for Karthus in League of Legends focus on maximizing his damage output and scaling potential, making him a late-game powerhouse. In the Domination tree, choose Dark Harvest as your keystone for stacking damage on low-health enemies, synergizing perfectly with his ultimate, Requiem. Pair this with Cheap Shot to amplify damage against impaired enemies from Wall of Pain, Eyeball Collection for bonus ability power from takedowns, and Ultimate Hunter to reduce Requiem’s cooldown, allowing more frequent impactful plays. For the secondary Sorcery tree, opt for Manaflow Band to ensure consistent mana regeneration for his ability spam and Gathering Storm for increasing ability power over time, scaling into the late game. Use +9 Adaptive Force for added AP, along with +6 Armor or +8 Magic Resist depending on matchups for better survivability. Alternatively, the Precision tree with Presence of Mind for mana sustain and Coup de Grace for finishing low-health enemies can be a strong choice, while the Resolve tree with Bone Plating and Overgrowth provides extra durability against aggressive opponents. This setup enhances Karthus’s strengths, ensuring maximum effectiveness across all stages of the game.

How To Play Karthus

To play Karthus effectively in League of Legends, focus on his unique playstyle, which emphasizes consistent damage output and leveraging his passive and ultimate for game-changing impact. In the early game, your priority should be farming efficiently with Lay Waste (Q), which deals bonus damage to isolated targets, making it crucial for wave-clearing and jungle camps. Position yourself safely behind minions or near your jungle camps to avoid early invades or ganks, as Karthus lacks mobility and is vulnerable to aggressive champions. Utilize Wall of Pain (W) to zone enemies, reduce their movement speed, and amplify your damage in trades or skirmishes.

During team fights, position yourself at the backline, constantly spamming Lay Waste for sustained DPS while staying safe. If an enemy dives onto you, your Defile (E) can deal significant AoE damage. When you inevitably die in fights, your passive (Death Defied) allows you to continue casting abilities for seven seconds, so use this window to deal as much damage as possible, especially your Requiem (R) to clean up low-health enemies across the map.

For roaming and objectives, Karthus excels at applying map-wide pressure with Requiem. Look for opportunities to use it when enemies are low from other fights, maximizing its global impact. Additionally, maintain strong vision control to protect yourself from being caught out, as Karthus is susceptible to flanking or surprise engages. Timing your Requiem alongside allied crowd control or after skirmishes ensures maximum value and can often secure key kills.

In the late game, focus on positioning, ensuring you maximize your damage output without being an easy target. Stack ability power and magic penetration through your build to shred both squishy and tanky targets. Use your passive strategically during fights to turn your death into a valuable damage phase, and coordinate with your team to make the most of Karthus’s map-wide influence.

Conclusion

Mastering Karthus in League of Legends requires a balance of precise positioning, strategic map awareness, and effective use of his abilities. By optimizing your build, items, and runes as outlined in this guide, you can maximize his immense damage potential and consistently impact games. Whether you’re dominating the jungle or carrying from mid-lane, Karthus is a powerhouse champion capable of influencing every stage of the game. With practice and patience, you’ll be able to unleash his full potential and carry your team to victory.