Wild Rift Katarina Guide: Best Build, Runes, Items, Combos

Katarina is a high-risk, high-reward assassin in Wild Rift, known for her explosive AoE damage and insane teamfight resets. With her ability to blink around the battlefield and reset her cooldowns after every takedown, Katarina thrives in chaotic fights where she can clean up entire teams in seconds. Her playstyle revolves around smart positioning, fast decision-making, and knowing exactly when to dive in. In this guide, we’ll break down the best build, runes, items, and combos to help you master Katarina and become a deadly force that dominates every skirmish and teamfight.

Katarina Abilities Overview In Wild Rift

Here’s a full overview of Katarina’s abilities in Wild Rift and how they work to make her a reset-heavy assassin that thrives in teamfights:

Passive – Voracity
Whenever Katarina picks up a dagger or gets a takedown on an enemy champion, her ability cooldowns are greatly reduced. This allows her to chain kills and abilities back-to-back in fast-paced fights, making her a deadly snowball champion.

1st Ability – Bouncing Blade
Katarina throws a blade that bounces between up to three enemies and lands a dagger at the final location. Use this to poke, wave clear, or set up a dagger drop for your combo.

2nd Ability – Preparation
Katarina blinks slightly backward and drops a dagger at her original spot. It also grants movement speed. This is key for mobility, escaping, or setting up an instant Shunpo dive onto a dagger.

3rd Ability – Shunpo
Katarina instantly blinks to a target (enemy, ally, or dagger) and deals magic damage. This is her main gap closer, repositioning tool, and combo starter. Picking up a dagger with Shunpo reduces its cooldown.

Ultimate – Death Lotus
Katarina spins rapidly, throwing daggers at up to three nearby enemies for massive AoE magic damage and applying Grievous Wounds. It can only be canceled by crowd control, so proper timing and positioning are key to getting full value out of it.

Katarina’s entire kit revolves around her daggers and fast resets. She’s deadly when you master her dagger placements, know when to engage, and clean up fights without getting locked down.

How To Play Katarina In Wild Rift

Best Summoner Spells For Katarina

The best summoner spells for Katarina in Wild Rift are Flash and Ignite.
• Flash gives Katarina an extra mobility option to either escape danger or reposition mid-fight for resets. While she already has strong mobility with Shunpo, Flash adds a critical layer of safety or surprise.
• Ignite boosts Katarina’s kill pressure in lane and during all-ins. It applies Grievous Wounds and helps secure early kills to snowball her lead—especially useful since she thrives off takedowns to reset her cooldowns.

This combo—Flash + Ignite—is the most aggressive and effective setup for Katarina players who want to dominate early and snowball hard into teamfights.

Best Runes For Katarina

The best runes for Katarina in Wild Rift are Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Bone Plating, and Hunter – Genius, giving her the burst, survivability, and cooldown reduction needed to thrive in fast-paced fights:
• Electrocute is the perfect keystone for Katarina, giving bonus burst damage when hitting enemies with three separate attacks or abilities—easy to trigger with her combos and resets.
• Sudden Impact boosts her magic penetration every time she uses Shunpo, making her burst even deadlier during engages or quick trades.
• Bone Plating helps reduce incoming damage when diving into fights, giving her more durability during her risky all-ins.
• Hunter – Genius grants bonus ability haste with every unique takedown, allowing Katarina to reset and reuse her abilities faster as she gets kills.

This rune setup gives Katarina strong early burst, better survivability during engages, and the cooldown reduction needed to chain kills and dominate teamfights.

Best Build For Katarina

The best build for Katarina in Wild Rift focuses on maximizing her burst damage, cooldown reduction, and magic penetration to secure quick resets and dominate teamfights. Start with Hextech Gunblade for hybrid damage and sustain—its active adds bonus burst and slows targets, making it easier to secure kills. Follow with Riftmaker to boost her damage in extended fights and give her bonus omnivamp. Next, build Rabadon’s Deathcap for a massive AP spike that turns Katarina into a real threat. For boots, go with Ionian Boots of Lucidity for cooldown reduction, and upgrade to Stasis Enchant to safely survive dives or reposition after going in. Finish the build with Void Staff for magic penetration against tanks and Morellonomicon for Grievous Wounds if the enemy has a lot of healing. This build gives Katarina everything she needs—sustain, burst, and resets—to snowball hard and carry every fight.

Best Combos To Learn For Katarina

Here are the best combos to learn for Katarina in Wild Rift to maximize her burst, mobility, and teamfight resets:

1. Basic Poke Combo (Safe Harass):
Bouncing Blade (1st) → Wait for Dagger → Shunpo (3rd) → Auto Attack → Back Off
Use this for quick trades in lane. Toss your blade, wait for the dagger to fall, then blink in with Shunpo to trigger AoE damage and safely disengage.

2. Standard All-In Combo:
Preparation (2nd) → Bouncing Blade (1st) → Shunpo (3rd) to Dagger → Auto Attack → Death Lotus (Ultimate)
Use 2nd to drop a dagger behind you, throw your 1st at the enemy, then blink to the dagger to trigger AoE and follow up with your ult for massive burst.

3. Reset Combo (Teamfight Cleanup):
Bouncing Blade (1st) → Shunpo (3rd) → Dagger Pickup → Auto → Death Lotus → Shunpo (3rd) to Next Target
After getting a kill or assist, your cooldowns reset. Instantly Shunpo to the next dagger or enemy, chaining damage across the fight. This is Katarina’s bread-and-butter teamfight pattern.

4. Engage with Flash Combo:
Flash → Death Lotus → Shunpo to Daggers as Needed
Flash into a grouped enemy team, instantly ult to start dealing damage, then use your resets to blink between targets. Risky but deadly if timed right.

Pro Tip: Always look for dagger placement. Katarina’s strength comes from picking up her daggers mid-fight, so plan your positioning around them to get fast resets and blow up multiple enemies in seconds.

Conclusion

Katarina is a fast-paced, reset-focused assassin in Wild Rift that rewards aggressive plays and quick decision-making. With the right build, runes, and mastery of her dagger-based combos, she can snowball early leads into unstoppable teamfight dominance. Her ability to blink in, burst multiple enemies, and reset her cooldowns makes her one of the most dangerous champions when played well. If you time your engages right and play around your daggers, Katarina can easily turn chaotic fights into highlight-reel moments and carry your team to victory.