Karma Rework Thoughts

Karma: The Enlightened One

Seeing Karma’s potential rework get scrapped is bittersweet; it was nice to have her looked at in what has been a long time coming. But i’m glad that the proposed rework didn’t go through, as it felt more like a support-intensive Soraka/Zilean afterthought tacked onto her kit.

I love Karma. I played her back when Mantra had charges, Shieldbomb was a thing, and no one ever used the tether correctly. I like her role flexibility; she can support/mid/top/jungle (with a lot of help) and can change according to the game.

To me, her main problem was a lack of cohesiveness. Every part of her kit played around refreshing Mantra, except for her shield, once the damage component was removed. She had strong damage potential, but a stray minion could negate roughly 90% of her damage output. I liked the tether, but felt it was a somewhat underwhelming ability with an underwhelming reward for maintaining the link.

My goal for this proposed rework is to keep that versatility for her role in the game, while giving her a more cohesive identity as a character.

Karma: The Enlightened One

Health:522.44 (+83 per level) Mana:374 (+55 per level) Attack Damage:53.544 (+3.3 per level) Attack Speed:0.625 (+2.3% per level) Attack Range: 600

Health Regen:5.62 (+0.55 per level) Mana Regen:7 (+1.0 per level) Armor:20.384 (+3.8 per level) Magic Resist:30 (+0 per level) Movement Speed:340

Passive- Spirit of Ionia: Enemies affected by Karma's abilities are marked by Spirit of Ionia for 5 seconds. If Karma, or an allied champion attacks a marked enemy with basic attacks or abilities, they gain a burst of 20/25/30% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds. Subsequent damage refreshes the Movement Speed until the mark duration ends. Once an enemy is marked, they cannot be marked again for 45/35/25 seconds.

Q- Inner Flame

Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana Range: 950 Cooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds

Karma fires a blast of energy that explodes and deals 80/125/170/215/260 (+60% Ability Power) to enemies in the area, and slowing them by 25% for 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds.

Mantra Bonus: Soul Eruption: Deals an additional 25/75/125/175 (+30% Ability Power) magic damage, and leaves an area of effect that slows enemies by 50/50/55/60%. After 1.5 seconds, the area detonates, dealing 50/150/250/350 (+50% Ability Power) to all enemies inside. Soul Eruption passes through enemy minions but will explode upon hitting an enemy champion.

W-Focused Resolve

Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Break Range: 1000 Cooldown: 12 seconds

Karma creates a tether between herself and an enemy champion. Deals 75/100/125/150/175 (+75% Ability Power) over 6 seconds and roots them for 1.5/1.75/2/2.5/2.75 seconds if the link is not broken. The cooldown of this ability begins when the link breaks, or the full duration is reached. The damage is split into thirds; the initial cast, 3 seconds into the duration, and the conclusion of the ability.

Mantra Bonus: Siphon: While tethered, Karma is healed for 10% (+1% per 75 Ability Power) of her missing health each time she deals damage to the enemy, up to a cap of 2/2/3/4/5 times. If the tether is not broken, the root becomes a stun, and Karma is healed for an additional 20% (+1% per 100 Ability Power) of her maximum health.

E-Inspire

Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Range: 800 Cooldown: 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds

Karma shields herself or an ally, absorbing 60/90/120/150/180 (+75% Ability Power) damage for 4 seconds. While shielded, ally basic attacks and abilities trigger Mantra’s cooldown reduction for 50% value.

Mantra Bonus: Defiance: After a 2-second delay, the target is shielded for an additional 60/90/120/150/180 (+75% Ability Power), and gains 5% damage resistance for each enemy/ally in an area around the target. When the shield is broken or expires, deals 30/60/90/120/150 (+50% Ability Power) damage in an area around the target.

R-Mantra

Cost: None Range: Self Cooldown: 60/56/52/48 seconds.

Passive: Karma reduces Mantra’s cooldown by 1/1.5/2 seconds every time she damages an enemy champion with basic attacks and abilities.

Active: Karma empowers her next ability within 8 seconds, to do an additional effect. Mantra is available at level 1 and does not require an initial skill point.

Soul Eruption: Karma deals additional magic damage, and creates a circle of magic that slows enemies, that passes through enemy units for more guaranteed damage.

Siphon: Karma heals for a portion of her missing health every time she damages the tethered target, and stunning them if the link is unbroken

Defiance: Karma creates a stronger shield based on surrounding allies/enemies, and deals damage when the shield is broken.

This is how the new kit functions. Her old passive has been combined with Mantra, to give her the opportunity of having a passive that plays into her role as a spiritual leader of Ionia.

Spirit of Ionia gives her a thematic addition to her kit, allowing her to empower herself and allies when they damage marked enemies, and adding nuance to her ability to empower allies. Karma players will need to think beyond just poking an enemy, as the window of opportunity to capitalize on the mark is brief. But timing her abilities can create great opportunities to take out an enemy.

A big problem that Karma has is having the majority of her damage negated by a minion walking into the way of RQ. While the aiming component is unchanged, removing creep collision on RQ makes her damage a little more reliable.

Focused Resolve/Siphon have an increased duration to allow more counterplay, and have a greater incentive for maintaining the tether. A longer duration adds additional ticks of damage to proc Mantra, with a slightly increased break range. But the extended duration makes it more possible for enemies to escape the root/stun. And now the healing from the tether is tied to Karma’s ability to weave auto-attacks and abilities properly to gain the healing benefits of Siphon.

Inspire is changed to actually benefit her kit. Now, when it’s active, the effectiveness of your shielded ally can greatly increase your cooldown on Mantra. And the new Mantra bonus returns the shieldbomb with the ability to play around it for enemies/allies alike. The shield values on Defiance aren’t much higher, but now nearby enemies and allies empower the shield further with damage reduction.

Karma still possesses similar weaknesses: Squishy No real escape tool Reliant on Skillshots and positioning Windows of power that can be exploited Poor decision making with her various spell uses

But now she has a kit that consistently works together in all aspects.

TL:DR

• Spirit of Ionia is a new passive that grants Movement Speed to Karma and allies who damage enemies marked by Karma’s abilities

• Soul Eruption is easier to aim since it won’t stop at enemy minions

• Focused Resolve/Siphon has an increased duration to afford a stronger payoff, and more counterplay

• Renewal is renamed to Siphon; now heals based on how many times Karma can damage the enemy while tethered, and incentivizes maintaining the link by changing the root to a stun, and the final heal to be based on maximum health.

• Inspire can now utilize Mantra’s cooldown reduction, but no longer grants Movement Speed

• Defiance no longer shields all allies, but grants damage resistance to the target based on nearby enemies/allies, and adds a delayed shieldbomb when the shield is broken

• Mantra cooldown slightly increased, now that Inspire/Defiance can trigger the cooldown reduction, and Focused Resolve/Siphon has an increased duration with damage ticks

Let me know what you all think!