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Katarina's current state and ideas to improve her. One of the less reliable assassins in the game.

Bloody Skarlet·12/16/2018, 6:22:59 PM·5 votes·1,399 views

Hello everyone, I apologize that I could not summarize this into a shorter message. But if you do take the time to read it, I appreciate it very much.

As you might have noticed, Katarina is one of my favorite champions but I won't let that affect my opinion nor do I plan on asking for any major buffs that could make her overpowered. The last thing I want is Katarina being overpowered because then she would be less special. Just to point out my knowledge on the champion without making it seem like I'm bragging, I've played her and have been dedicated to her since Season 2. I've went through many guides and have spoken with many Kat mains throughout the years, not only to learn but also to get an idea of their view on the champion.

Currently many people, both Kat mains and non-Kat mains, can agree that she is not doing so well. She used to be my absolute favorite and it's still hard for me to let her go but considering the fact she is not in a great spot compared to many other champions, I've really felt like I have limited options when playing her. I don't wanna drag this for too long so here are some ideas I would like to suggest that could help Kat rise from the forgotten dirt she has sunk into today:

So let's get the first idea out of the way: Does Katarina need a revert? The answer is no. Her current state is bad but the old Katarina was far too easy and I understand that Riot Games are doing their best to make champions more complicated to master but also more rewarding with Kata being a good example. A few changes to the current Katarina are more than enough to help her.

Riot Games made a specific change to every assassin which did not work out for some, one of them being LeBlanc. LeBlanc was reverted because her burst was too slow, which was exactly what Riot were aiming for. They wanted assassins to slow down a little so that is why every assassin received a small delay in their abilities (ex: Talon's W is slower, LeBlanc had a charging passive, Katarina's blades fall slower instead of having an instant spin). Unfortunately it did not work out for LeBlanc and I fear that Katarina might be facing the same problem so the first thing I want to suggest is to decrease the fall time on her blades in the late game. Her early game can stay the same regarding this change but in the late game it's EXTREMELY frustrating when you are ready to outplay someone but the fact that your blade falls so slow is what makes you lose the fight ESPECIALLY if you're a champion whose job is to go into the enemy team. Katarina's passive spin is one of her main damaging abilities and she has to rely on it a lot. There are assassins like Zed and Talon that work way faster and deal more damage than Katarina so I think we should try to get her close to being as good as them. A small change suggestion regarding this "issue": Katarina's blades fall 1.25 seconds after they are thrown > Katarina's blades fall 1.25/1.10/0.95/0.80 seconds after they are thrown (or somewhere under 1.00)

Another change would be in her damage in the early game. Now hold on there, I know what you're saying. Some people who dislike the champion would complain about the few decent Katarinas they've faced. But think about this: Katarina is an assassin who needs to enter the battle and rely on nothing but her damage. She has no CC, not even a slow unless she buys specific items. She does not have long range poke except her Q which hardly deals any damage at any point of the game. Compare Kata's Q to a W>E>Q combo by Zed. Zed does not have to risk getting in the battle, his shadow is a perfect poking tool and can set him up for an engage. Katarina is forced to engage just to be able to trade. Overall Kat is a riskier champion and I've played her against many weird champions and she seems to lose almost every trade if all abilities were to hit. So maybe a small buff to her damage and/or ratios in the early game would make her a more reliable pick.

Cons for Katarina: AP - Has a harder time farming against many champions or under tower. Not a lot of poke - Needs to absorb punishment while farming or make risky plays in order to trade or play safe. Easily countered - Many mid laners and even junglers can shut down Katarina because of powerful abilities in their kits. Item reliant - Katarina heavily relies on Gunblade which is a very expensive item compared to other first items and building it makes her early game even slower and more punishing. Overall most of Katarina's problems resolve around the early game. Her late game is either horrible or amazing but her early game is very frustrating and not fun.

A lot of people will disagree with my post and that's okay. I know a lot of people will dislike my suggestions. I might get a bunch of insults as well. I am simply stating my opinion and nothing more. If you read this to the end then thank you very much for taking a few minutes of your time.

I hope you have a wonderful day [katarina-love]

10 Comments

Hotarµ12/16/2018, 6:32:48 PM2 votes

But think about this: Katarina is an assassin who needs to enter the battle and rely on nothing but her damage.

I mean, that's all assassins. Zed, Talon, Kayn, Rengar, etc. Katarina also has the added bonus of having blinks on short cooldown all throughout the game, so if anything, she's more safe than your average assassin at most points because of how easy it is to juke with her.

Anyway, the main reason why I think Katarina is fine in her perfect state is because she has an unbelievably high skill ceiling. A good Katarina is one of the scariest things in the game because of how much potential she has. She's also got a 50% winrate (about 49-51% from different ELOs) and a fair playrate of what looks to be 5%.

Maybe she could use some minor tweaks but none of them should relate to damage, mainly just cooldowns or QOL stuff, like you mentioned.

Cats Are Food12/16/2018, 6:55:04 PM2 votes

Revert her Rework. She was fine. Give players control of their W back, instead of a basic MS boost.

Done.

Pals Before Gals12/16/2018, 6:24:22 PM1 votes

katarina

chipndip112/16/2018, 6:52:54 PM1 votes

Can we fucking stop with Katarina? I swear the Sona mains dumped all their "woe is me" nonsense in the Kat sub-reddit.

Noble Stareagle3/27/2019, 4:43:07 AM1 votes

Katarina goes all in with r current day she can deal about max 2k something dmg on burst 1 vs 1 and team fights. And i do say max because her q-e-w combo is too slow so, q-e-r about 2k combo give or take in 5 secounds. thats not a lot for an assasin when she in a teamfight needs her cd reset. And again its not instant its about 5 sec burst, Akali 1 vs 1 can just go invis or flash away invis thus avoid most dmg then return and fuck her upp easily enough. Kayle use r and block all dmg and hit her to death with lifesteal back health. tryndamere hits and on low hp just ulti and auto kill her. Ahri ulti away or just e... Fizz r and e then basic w and q... do i need to continue with the newer champs? Old katarina could deal 2k+ on about 3 and a half or 3,20 sec so yeah depending on computer x player skills old katarina could burst win if fed easily some games. Katarina needs a rework to be able to keep up however with changing items and new champions but riot don't want old level power kata champ back. Katarina back in s2 was somewhat op if one knew how to play her. i did many times 1 vs 5 an entire team alone not even full build if i was simply fed enough and manage to get a drop on them and it was vs same ranked skilled players as me in silver or when i was in bronze 2-1 those old time's. The problem is Riot refuse's to see that katarina with all new champions, with all new item changes ect she needs another rework or a reset to be able to have any comeback on low elo levels so ppl who can play katarina but gets bad teammates can climb, but riot well they are too afraid she is going to become too op. If they added her w to be instant and make her e's cd go to 0 and passive parts on w and passive to work as it does currently. she would't today be op really because of all the new champs and lots of reworked champs and boosted champs, but she'd be alot stronger on mid and late level games to even out the score. But riot is riot and we will never see a katarina old high power glory day's again... T_T i mean they don't need to increase her dmg just increase her burst time on her w and make her able to jump to wards again would be enough for ppl to make play's without silvers kata's being countered 24h all times even by low skill players like iron.. Btw, kennen sure deals on longer time same dmg as current katarina but his aoe is way higher and he has a stun and can use zonya for his r, katarina doesn and if you whine about ekko or Talon not having that burst with needing to go in so ALLOW ME TO.. remind you that both of those champs has 2 escapes. and ekko even has not only 2 escape or engage abilities he also has 1 stun/shield ability. His play's is way easier than katarina 10x safer. same with talon since he can jump over walls. kata can't wall escape after an engage she's an all or nothing. compare them and you understand all or nothing and not even having the burst dmg to it is fcking r%%%%%ed the way they have made her now.

The thigh guy3/27/2019, 4:47:26 AM1 votes

Reliability is what she sacrificed for having damage on every ability and mobility and sustain and low cooldowns and resets.