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A Much Needed Change for Karma

Makattack·5/17/2019, 4:58:44 AM·13 votes·10,708 views

#Intro

Hi! I'm a Karma mid OTP, and I am here to propose an idea that's pretty common throughout the community of Karma mains; I am positive that it would fit some of Karma's issues that prevent her from being a stable, viable mid lane pick in solo queue. I, for one, am not a fan of (nor do I enjoy) the shield-bot playstyle that is forced onto Karma, and I'd hope that this change would be able to push Karma away from that uninteractive playstyle to a more mechanically demanding, but satisfying-to-play playstyle.

#The Problem

Karma's Inner Flame (Q) and Soulflare (RQ) both have a direction-targetted casting paradigm with collision effects. This means that if Karma casts Inner Flame into an incoming minion wave (vertical), it will hit and stop at the first minion instead of passing through and hitting the minions behind. It is worth noting that there is a small radius from the impact where enemies are also damaged and slowed.

This casting paradigm on Karma's primary damaging spell makes it so that not only does she have trouble clearing minion waves in a vertical line, but she also has trouble damaging opponents later on in the game. I think the former completely turns renders RQ's initial purpose (damaging) null; it becomes a way for her to reset Mantra so she can just quickly RE again. I don't think that's how Riot envisioned team fighting on Karma to be, and I feel like if enemies aren't respecting her damage potential as they would with any other mage, they should take damage.

As for the waveclear issue, someone could claim that the poor wave clear is simply a weakness and that all champions have a weakness. I'd agree with that. Riot changing Soulflare's casting paradigm get rid of this weakness.

#The Solution

The solution to this issue is very simple. Making Soulflare ground-targetted would ensure that Karma mid can act as a reliable mage for her team while retaining her weakness of poor wave-clear.

I am fully aware that Karma's Soulflare maybe would be unbalanced if it were given a ground-casting paradigm with its current numbers. I think it would be fair to strip some of the damage away and maybe even decrease the slow if necessary to compensate. There would also obviously have to be a delay (similar to Xerath or Brand W).

#Karma's fine, why touch her? I believe Karma's generalist nature is best used in organized/pro-play, and that in solo queue, she just doesn't perform as well as other similar champions that have more focused kits. Changing the casting paradigm for her main burst tool would make Karma (in all roles, top, mid, and support) more viable in solo queue, and less dependent (but still dependent enough) on teammates.

#TLDR RQ being so easily blockable completely gimps mid lane Karma's DPS in the mid to late game. This makes her have to revert to a supportive shield-bot playstyle. I don't find that fun, balanced, or interactive for a mage. I'd like for Riot to change the casting paradigm of RQ.

80 Comments

SilverSquid5/17/2019, 3:32:55 PM6 votes

Hi there. I think I was the first to propose a Ground Targeted RQ (GTRQ). As such it would be wise to add a few things, because "awkward farming" isn't the main issue I have with current RQ: It's Karma's area of threat.

Karma has two ways of dealing damage, Q and W. However, W is most effective at close range (guaranteeing both damage ticks and root), while Q is somewhat neutral, but still slightly easier to hit up close. RQ turns it into an artillery spell, that is way more effective at longer ranges, due to it exploding at max range; this makes it hit people that would have ordinarily dodged it.

What this does to Karma is, that her main damage spell contradicts her usual threat range and muddies her identity; where is she supposed to be compared to where her enemy is supposed to be. At max range? Up close? There is no telling. Sure, currently Karma wants you to be exactly at MAX RQ range at all times, but if someone goes at ya, they can't even dodge your W damage/root. If W was a spell that worked at the same range - similar to how Vel'Koz spells work, hit and dodgeable at all ranges - it would be well and dandy, but currentlly the enemy is effed at max RQ range and at W range. Or not, if they are strong enough to tank through it, but then Karma has no options. Is that really what we want? That binary BS? No interaction or creativity?

I don't think that's how Riot envisioned team fighting on Karma to be, and I feel like if enemies aren't respecting her damage potential as they would with any other mage, they should take damage.

So here's a hard truth: They have no vision for Karma. The person who invented her is long gone, everyone who ever touched her had idas that weren't conherent or compatible with any one before it. Karma is also a bad mage, because RQ is 3/4ths of her damage, making her damage paradigm way too spikey to be healthy. On top of that, the current RQ is so unreliable in some fights you can't ever get the damage where it's supposed to be, sometimes only due to bad luck (minions randomly re-targetting, for example). On the flip side, you sometimes hit people who had no chance to dodge, which isn't fair either.

The damage of a mage should never be in 2 spells alone and it should not be that luck dependent. Because for a single projectile RQ's damage is incredibly high, but Karma's kit has rather little damage as a whole. This was not an issue before 5.10, because up to then putting all your damage into RQ was a CHOICE you made, since both W and E could carry that damage as well, giving Karma reliable options, that needed to be respected.

I hold that 5.10 was a mistake, due to a lack of understanding and vision for her kit, and now Karma's potential is rotting in the cellar of that idiotic shieldbot maiden they made her. Even in the only animation she has ever been in she did nothing but stand there and throw a single shield. The protector of her people, wielder of twin dragons, avatar of balance and LoL's hadouken girl #1 can do nothing but apply blurry turqoise bubble blobs? Give me a break.

KARMA NEEDS RELIABLE DAMAGE OPTIONS; BE IT WITH A MORE BALANCED RQ OR THE SIGNATURE SPELL SHE HAD FOR 5 FUCKING YEARS: SHIELDBOMB.

Ivern can have one, Neeko can have one, it was what she was known for and her absence made her a one dimensional luck based gimp. Fight me.

MagicFlyingLlama5/17/2019, 5:13:10 AM4 votes

This "problem" effects basically every mage with a skillshot, and making it ground-targeted would be a nerf to kiting with Q, and a buff to RQ in teamfights.

RQ being so easily blockable completely gimps mid lane Karma's DPS in the mid to late game.

Someone "blocks" it by letting it chunk half their hp. Same as every single mage with a powerful skillshot, dont blind fire it facefirst into a tank.

The solution is to not try to shoot a minion wave from the front... If you know how big the aoe is, what shape the projectile is, and aim it right, you can always hit all three caster or 3 melee minions with it, sometimes more.